Chapter 412- The Mantis Stalks the Cicada
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
On the surface, Ouyang Shuo's target was Peng City, but in truth, it was the nearby Su County.
When Song Yi led the troops to save Zhao, West Conquering Army Commander Liu Bang was camping in Dang Prefecture.
Liu Bang sent out troops from the Dang Prefecture, going up north and clearing up the scattered troops of Chen Sheng and Xiang Liang. Then, he went down to attack the Qi Army, destroying Wang Li's forces.
The Wang Li forces around this area were just 150 thousand fringe members.
Following which, he led his troops through the west, where he met Peng Yue and Chang Yi.
The two of them joined hands to attack Chang Yi, but they failed. Liu Bang returned with his troops to Su County were he met the Gangwu Lord and took over his troops. As a result, he increased his numbers to over four thousand.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo needed to face a county with around six thousand troops. Although they did not have high numbers, Liu Bang had a flurry of famous generals by his side.
Xiao He, Cao Can, Zhoubo, Fan Kuai, Luwan, Xia Houying….
A series of names, enough to make one dazzled.
Apart from that was Liu Bang's luck. In history, trials and tribulations filled Liu Bang's road to becoming a ruler, and he was pushed to the brink many times. However, he miraculously survived it all.
One had to say that he had really high luck.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo did not dare act careless. When the troops reached outside of Su County, Ouyang Shuo ordered them to set up camp. Following which, he sent out scouts to investigate the enemy.
In the afternoon, although he did not receive any intel on the county, he received some very surprising news.
The scout reported that east of the county, a player army hid in the forests seven kilometers from them.
This group arrived a little earlier than Shanhai City, and seem to have nefarious intentions on Su County. Ouyang Shuo was impressed. It seems like there were many talented lords; he really could not underestimate them.
Ouyang Shuo ordered solemnly, “Immediately investigate their background!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Before understanding anything about this neighbor, Ouyang Shuo did not dare to make any moves.
Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo summoned Wang Feng and ordered the troops to hide themselves. Within five kilometers of the camp, they needed to camouflage and cover their tracks. They could not let the enemy scout realize their presence.
At nightfall, the scouts submitted a more detailed intel report.
Who knew that the enemy was actually an ‘old friend’.
The enemy was actually Sha Pojun and his two allies, a total of eight thousand men. One had to say that Sha Pojun was really ambitious. He broke away from the Yanhuang Alliance at this time to hunt alone.
He probably received some advice from a genius.
Even so, Ouyang Shuo could become the mantis stalking its prey.
When night fell, the entire army seemed totally invisible. Since they used military grain pills, they did not need to start a fire to cook.
Only the scouts were out there paying close attention to the movements of Sha Pojun's troops.
Morning of the next day, Sha Pojun camp.
Sha Pojun was well dressed. He looked like he had slept really well; he seemed energized, as he walked out of the tent.
"Lord!"
A general guarded outside the tent and bowed upon seeing Sha Pojun.
This general was built like a cow, with a full beard on his face; his eyes looked like a copper bell. He was Hua Xiong, one of the famous generals during the Three Kingdoms Period, and the only famous general under Sha Pojun.
Hua Xiong was a general under Dong Zhuo during the ending years of East Han, becoming a governor for him.
191 BC, Guandong Army went up against Dong Zhuo, and the Changsha Prefecture Chief Sun Jian killed Hua Xiong.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms wrote this period of history differently, saying Guan Yu killed Guan Yu; this story was termed as ‘warm wine behead Hua Xiong’ and was spread down to later generations.
Sha Pojun nodded his head, “All troops proceed, we must take down Su County.”
"Yes, my lord!"
The eight thousand strong elite army walked out of the forest they were hiding in and waltzed toward Su County.
Liu Bang's troops were housed in Su County, and they were monitoring the Battle of Julu. Before the Battle of Julu reached a certain outcome, Liu Zhang would not randomly take the risk to enter the west.
Who knew that not only would they not receive any battle reports, they would instead welcome a huge army.
Based on the settings of the battle, if players attacked the NPC in their same camp, not only would they not gain any battle contribution points, they would also receive punishment.
The most important line would be that they could not receive a single merit point. If their luck was bad, their own camp could even list them as a wanted person, and they would get hunted down.
Undoubtedly, this was a red line.
However, sometimes, some lords would step across this red line for huge gains.
Sha Pojun was one of them.
He gave up the sizeable battle contribution points in hopes of obtaining one or two famous generals. If they could capture and recruit all of the generals around Liu Bang, that would be for the best case scenario.
For this, Sha Pojun had been planning for such a long time.
He tried so hard and contacted many people before he managed to purchase an invaluable ‘Punishment Exemption Gold Medallion’.
After use, one could freely move in the battle map and would not be wanted or punished.
It was only with this gold medallion that Sha Pojun felt no fear. To ensure that he could take down Liu Bang, Sha Pojun had also contacted his two closest allies.
To prevent the others from trying to make their own schemes and plans, Sha Pojun naturally needed to skip past the Yanhuang Alliance.
Truthfully, the position of Sha Pojun in the Yanhuang Alliance was really awkward. Di Chen was obviously split off from him, while Chun Shenjun's attitude was not clear, making him feel totally out of place.
This treatment naturally filled Sha Pojun with hatred.
Especially after Di Chen deserted him during the Battle of Lianzhou. His hatred for Di Chen was even greater than the hate he felt for Ouyang Shuo.
Sha Pojun was not a magnanimous person. If he was, he would not have hated Ouyang Shuo so much.
Attacking Su County was Sha Pojun’s final roll of the dice, and it was also his crucial chess move.
If he succeeded, Sha Pojun could make a comeback. If he failed, not only would he lose the medallion, he would also lose a huge chance to earn merit points.
If he really failed, Shura County would be totally squeezed out of the top few territories in China.
Hence, Sha Pojun needed this battle to succeed.
Apart from using the medallion, Sha Pojun also fully equipped his eight thousand elite troops. Military grain pills, elite armor and weapons, more elite war horses, and the like.
Eight thousand elites represented Sha Pojun's ambition.
Hence, his forces were able to reach Su County even faster than Ouyang Shuo.
Two days allowed Sha Pojun to gain some intel about the inner city. However, he could not wait any longer.
He was more worried that other lords had the same plans, and they would snatch Su County from his hands.
At 10 AM, the forces reached outside Su County.
When Liu Bang heard the news, he was discussing matters in the town hall with Xiao He.
Facing the enemy attack, Liu Bang was shocked; Su County was not prepared to defend.
Based on Liu Bang's thinking, the troops around Su County were all uprising armies. It was fine if he did not bully others, who would have expected others to attack them?
"Is that Chang Yi's army?"
Liu Bang looked up at Fan Kuai, who came over to report.
"No it's a player army!"
"Player army?" Liu Bang frowned, “Why will they be here?"
"They have bad intentions!"
Xiao He also frowned. This morning, he had a bad feeling. As expected, something big happened.
"Hei, they really think that I, Liu Bang, am soft!"
The feeling of being underestimated was just too uncomfortable.
"How big are their forces?"
Fan Kuai took in a deep breath, “They have around seven to eight thousand men. Their numbers won’t exceed nine thousand."
Liu Bang scoffed, he pulled out the Chixiao sword by his waist. The sword shone with a red light, as he shouted, “Fan Kuai, gather the troops and follow me out of the city to welcome them."
"Yes!"
Fan Kuai was a person that loved to fight, so he directly ran out of the town hall.
"You can't!"
Xiao He immediately stopped them.
"En?"
"The enemy is attacking us. We have the advantage, so we should just defend."
Liu Bang shook his head, “They only have eight thousand men. What do we have to fear?"
During this period of time, resentment was building up in Liu Bang's heart. Especially when he learned that Xiang Yu killed Song Yi. Not only was Xiang Yu not punished, he even took over control.
The current Xiang Yu was probably doing really well in Julu.
What about him? Housed near Peng City, he was stuck in a totally useless state. Even to attack Chang Yi, he could not do so. With only six thousand soldiers, how could he fight with Xiang Yu?
Comparing the two, how could Liu Bang not feel anxious?
Who would have thought that even in such a case, someone would attack him.
Such underestimation was simply what Liu Bang could not bear.
When Xiao He saw that, he gave out a long sigh and did not stop him. He understood what Liu Bang meant. If he did not vent this anger, it would build up.
Who cares, it would just be a simple battle.
Most importantly, Xiao He did not think that the eight thousand men army could do anything to them. Although the standard of their troops were not fantastic, they still had many strong generals.
As they said, a soldier could handle one man, while a general could handle a group of them.
A General would provide a very obvious buff to the combat strength of an army.
Not to mention that Fan Kuai was the strongest general under Liu Bang's charge. In the early years, he was a dog slayer, and he saved Liu Bang during the Hongmen Feast.
Xia Houying was in charge of the horse stables in the early years. After Liu Bang gained power, he followed Liu Bang to fight all around; he was also a great general.
Cao Can worked as the Pei County prison warden, and he was an old friend of Xiao He. His descendants remembered the term of ‘Xiao setting the rules and Cao following’. He was great in martial arts and administrative matters, becoming the second minister of west Han.
Zhou Bo was born poor, but he loved martial arts and practiced on his own. After living in Pei County, he weaved reeds, worked on silkworms, and took the role of drummer during weddings or funerals to maintain his livelihood.
Similar to Cao Can, Zhao Bo was good at martial arts and administrative matters. He became a minister in the end.
In addition to Lu Wan, they formed an incredibly extravagant lineup.