As the captain gave the order, the narrow path was once again crowded with Dangxiang soldiers.
However, in the next second, several spear-like arrows flew out from the bushes dozens of metres above, completely blocking the path.
As a result, more than a hundred Dangxiang corpses littered the ground.
This stunned even Zhuoba, who was commanding from the rear, and he quickly ordered the remaining men to retreat.
With such ferocious weapons guarding the path, sending more men would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths.
“Didn’t they say the Iron Forest Army only had a few heavy crossbows? How can there be so many?” Zhuoba asked, his face ashen.
But no one could answer his question.
Little did Zhuoba know that the heavy crossbows now used by the Iron Forest Army had been modified by Jin Feng.
Although the number remained the same as before, their firing speed was several times faster.
The heavy crossbows now used by the Iron Forest Army, in terms of firing speed, were equivalent to seven or eight of the previous ones.
The path was narrow, and a few heavy crossbows firing in rotation could completely seal it off.
The Dangxiang were not afraid of death, but they could not senselessly send men to die.
Unable to find a way to counter the heavy crossbows, Zhuoba ordered a temporary halt to the attack and retreated down the mountain to consult Li Jikui.
Before even approaching the main tent, he heard Li Jikui raging inside.
“What’s going on?” Zhuoba, not rushing in, pulled aside a guard at the tent’s entrance and asked.
“Just now, a scout reported that someone built a canal, diverting water from the lake at the waist of Grey Wolf Mountain to the base, flooding the path. It’s now a new lake, impassable,” the guard, seeing Zhuoba as a key figure in the Dangxiang army, answered frankly. “The commander is furious about it.”
“No wonder the Iron Forest Army attacked the grain convoy and burned the granary. That was their plan,” Zhuoba, valued by Li Jikui not only for his bravery but also for his wits, quickly pieced things together.
The advisor’s guess was correct.
The two pillars of smoke were indeed linked to the Iron Forest Army.
Grey Wolf Mountain flanked the road, and digging a canal there would be too easily noticed, so the Iron Forest Army attacked the grain convoy to provoke an assault on the mountain.
When that plan was thwarted by the advisor, they burned the granary.
All this was to distract attention, creating an opportunity for their team at Grey Wolf Mountain.
But it was too late to realise now.
The Iron Forest Army’s plan had succeeded.
There was only one road from Clearwater Valley to Weizhou City, so they either had to cross the lake or take a detour.
However, the Dangxiang, hailing from the northwest, had few who could swim, and since the enemy had planned this, they would surely be prepared, not letting them cross easily.
With mountains separating Dangxiang and Dakang, a detour meant retreating from Clearwater Valley to Dangxiang, then travelling hundreds of miles west along the border to find a suitable entry into Dakang.
Even then, entering Dakang required crossing over a thousand miles of desolate Gobi Desert to reach Guanzhong.
For such a large army, the daily cost of food for men and horses was substantial, and an extra thousand miles might mean the spoils plundered from Dakang wouldn’t cover the expedition’s expenses.
Thus, for years, Dangxiang’s southern campaigns always chose Clearwater Valley.
Realising the gravity of the situation, Zhuoba knew things had spiralled out of control.
He hurriedly lifted the curtain and entered the tent.
Inside, many Dangxiang generals were gathered, heads bowed, sighing heavily.
The advisor stood aside, his brows furrowed like the character for “river.”
Li Jikui, seemingly exhausted from shouting, sat drinking water. Seeing Zhuoba enter, he looked up and asked, “Have you taken Clearwater Mountain? Where’s Qinghuai’s head?”
“Commander, forgive my incompetence. I failed to take Clearwater Mountain,” Zhuoba knelt on one knee, head lowered, pleading guilty.
“Damn it, nothing is going right today,” Li Jikui smashed his water bowl on the ground. “The Iron Forest Army has been starving for days. I gave you two divisions. How could you not take Clearwater Mountain?”
“Commander, Clearwater Mountain’s terrain is treacherous, with only one path up. The Iron Forest Army somehow acquired many heavy crossbows, completely blocking the path. We lost over three hundred men and couldn’t break through,” Zhuoba reported, head bowed.
“If three hundred can’t break through, send five hundred. If five hundred fail, send a thousand!” Li Jikui roared, eyes glaring. “I refuse to believe we can’t break through!”
“Commander, don’t be rash,” the advisor interjected before Zhuoba could respond. “Commander, our priority now isn’t attacking Clearwater Mountain but urgently securing grain supplies.”
Li Jikui paused, then nodded.
He had indeed been impulsive.
With the granary burned to ashes, the cooking camp’s reserves could last one or two meals at most.
If they didn’t find food, they’d go hungry tomorrow.
Forcing himself to calm down, Li Jikui asked, “What’s the situation at Grey Wolf Mountain? Can we wade through?”
The southern campaign was for plundering, so when learning of the grain shortage, Li Jikui’s first thought wasn’t to source grain from Dangxiang’s rear but to press on to the Guanzhong Plain, plundering Dakang to sustain the war.
“No,” the advisor shook his head. “According to the scouts, there’s a forest at the base of Grey Wolf Mountain. The tallest trees, over three zhang high, are now submerged, and the water spans over thirty zhang. It’s impassable.”
“When it rains in the mountains, water accumulates quickly. Why hasn’t water pooled at the base of Grey Wolf Mountain before?” Li Jikui asked.
“There was a drainage channel that carried the water away,” the advisor, anticipating the next question, explained. “The channel has been blocked, and to reopen it, we’d need to cross to the other side first.”
The tent’s atmosphere grew even heavier.
Li Jikui’s face darkened, as if it could drip water.
In past southern campaigns, others had swept through, reaping vast rewards.
This year, having finally secured the chance to lead the campaign, he was losing men and generals at Clearwater Valley.
Worse, they were now stuck, unable to move forward.
How would he explain this upon returning?
“Forget it. Zhuoba, pause the attack on Clearwater Mountain for now. Ada, take men to retrieve the grain from the valley, then go back and gather some grain from nearby cities,” Li Jikui said wearily, waving his hand. “Advisor, quickly devise a plan to reach Weizhou City.”
“Yes!” The general named Ada bowed and left the tent.
Yesterday, the Iron Forest Army attacked the grain convoy, scattering it with heavy crossbows. The granary was burned that night, but a few carts of grain survived and remained in the valley.
However, an army of tens of thousands needed more than a cart or two of grain.
Ada assembled three hundred cavalry and a thousand infantry, pushing carts in a grand procession toward Clearwater Valley, completely unaware of what awaited them.
