Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 6: One Rider's Power
Sima Shang's victorious return will not be mentioned. On the military road inside Yanmen Pass, a man wearing a bamboo hat and riding a warhorse galloped all night. He arrived at the military camp and sneaked into the general's tent. He took off his bamboo hat and revealed a familiar face. When Lan Xue saw him, she shouted in surprise, "You're finally back!" and opened her arms to embrace him.

Li Mu hugged Lan Xue, stroked her hair, and whispered, "Where's Zhan'er?"

Na Lanxue said softly, "Sleep!"

"Thank you for your hard work!"

"It's not hard at all, but I'm almost scared to death!"

Li Mu asked in surprise: "By the way, I heard along the way that the Huns were invading and I scared away 30,000 cavalrymen. How did you do it?"

Na Lan Xue pushed Li Mu away, sat down, and told Li Mu the whole story of how Li Zhan scared off the Huns without losing a single soldier. It took a long time, and Li Mu became happier as he listened. He stroked his beard from time to time and nodded in approval.

After listening to Lan Xue's vivid narration, Li Mu thought for a long time and said, "My son first used my wife and his eight-year-old child to set up a suspicious formation to confuse the enemy. Otherwise, if the Huns attack directly, Yanmen Pass will be handed over to others. He is so bold and meticulous. Cleaning up the hoof prints is obviously to cover up the truth, but in fact it makes the hoof prints just stepped on solid. Scattering beans to make soldiers, extinguishing cooking smoke is obviously to destroy corpses, but in fact it is to confuse right and wrong and confuse people's eyes and ears. Opening the city gate is obviously to invite you into a trap, but in fact it is to create something out of nothing. Piling up rolling logs and stones is bluffing, killing war horses is to be suspicious, shaking the mountains and forests is to make flowers bloom on trees. This series of meticulous arrangements is intended to attack the hearts of the Huns. How can they not be scared? Even if I lead a team to attack, they dare not attack rashly. My son is a genius in soldiers!"

Na Lan Xuejiao laughed and said, "I missed one more. Zhan'er said he used 'the fox borrowing the power of the tiger' and the general's 'terrified at the first sign of trouble'!"

Li Mu laughed loudly. Lan Xue covered Li Mu's mouth with her slender hands and whispered, "It's late at night, and you still want others to sleep!"

……

The sunrise outside the Great Wall always comes very early, the night is very quiet and cool, and the days pass very slowly, which makes people inadvertently evoke homesickness. The occasional roar of tigers and howls of wolves only sweep away the loneliness.

Li Mu, along with his soldiers, rode back from outside the pass with game such as roe deer and elk that they had killed, and they were laughing. Lan Xue, who was on the city wall, was eagerly welcoming him with her beautiful hair fluttering. Li Zhan looked at the vast blue clouds and thought, how wonderful it would be if time could stop at this moment!
If Li Mu were given a choice, he would rather guard the border and be an unknown person than return to Handan and be the Marquis of Wu'an. He did not want to think about the political intrigues, but as long as the people of Zhao called him, he would go without hesitation.

The good times did not last long. Perhaps due to the climate, the intervals between Li Zhan's illness attacks became shorter and shorter, and he coughed up a lot of blood every time. It happened that King Zhao Qian issued an edict ordering Li Mu to defend against Wei and Han. Li Mu sent his wife back to Handan, left some money, ordered people to search for famous doctors everywhere, and rushed to southern Xinjiang with 50,000 Zhao troops. He was away for three years.

Li Zhan tried all kinds of folk remedies, secret recipes, elixirs, and even poisons, and finally managed to last two years.

That summer, a major earthquake occurred in the northern part of Zhao State. Many volcanoes erupted and the earth shook violently for a whole hour. Landslides occurred, river banks burst, houses collapsed, the ground cracked, the sky was blood red, and there was no sunrise. Red sand fell for a month. All lives were lost, the land was devastated, and crops failed. Due to years of war, Zhao State had no food to provide disaster relief, and the people were starving to death.

Rumors spread among the people: "King Qian of Zhao is incompetent and obsessed with beauty, which has angered the gods, and they have brought down punishment from heaven. If you stay in Zhao, you will surely suffer."

"The world has been divided for a long time, and the people have suffered terribly due to years of war. The gods came down to help Ying Zheng unify China and save the people from disaster."

"Since Jiang Shang helped King Wu defeat King Zhou and was deified on the Conferred God Platform, it has been nearly a thousand years, and no one who practices Taoism has ascended to heaven. If you help King Qin unify the six kingdoms in Shandong and achieve great achievements, you will have the opportunity to attain Taoism and be deified."

There are also rumors that "the gods only want to be free and easy, and have no worries. How can they care about the people in the lower world? For hundreds of years, there have been wars one after another. Have you ever seen gods descend to the earth to guide the light, save the people, and save the people from fire and water? All we see are demons making trouble, disasters are frequent, treacherous people are in power, villains are successful, and bully the people."

"The path to immortality has been cut off, and no one will be able to achieve immortality in the future. The lower world has been completely abandoned, and all living things are left to fend for themselves."

During this year, Qin had been preparing for two years and had a strong army and sufficient food and grass. However, the Zhao government was in chaos, with ministers fighting for power and plotting to usurp the throne. At the same time, a natural disaster occurred that had not occurred in a thousand years. The people were miserable and fled Zhao one after another.

In 229 BC, Ying Zheng believed that the time had come and appointed Wang Jian as commander-in-chief, Li Xin and Yang Duanhe as deputy commanders. He led an army of out of Hangu Pass and advanced in three routes, passing Shangjun and approaching Jingxing. With the support of Meng Tian's troops defending against the Huns in the north, this expedition intended to capture Handan in one fell swoop and destroy Zhao.

When Zhao State heard the news, the whole country was panicked. This time, King Qian of Zhao did not listen to Guo Kai's advice and took the initiative to recall Li Mu. Perhaps he smelled the scent of the country's demise, so he barely gathered 200,000 Zhao troops, with Sima Shang as the deputy general, and went to fight against the Qin army despite the shortage of food and grass.

Li Mu stayed in the mansion for only an hour. His son Li Zhan had grown taller, but his face was paler than before. His eyes were still as clear and beautiful, and his chest rose and fell violently with every breath. Li Mu knew very well that this expedition might be a one-way trip and he would die in the battlefield, but he realized that this was his best destination, so when the military situation was urgent, he came back to meet Na Lan Xue and Li Zhan.

Li Mu stroked Li Zhan's thin face and said sadly, "I have a clear conscience towards the people of Zhao, but I feel extremely guilty towards you. I ignored you and spoke coldly to you. You still hate your father, right?"

Li Zhan looked up at his father and said, "Father, you got it wrong. I feel guilty towards the people, not me. I don't blame you for not caring about it. This is my fate."

Li Mu frowned and asked, "How can a father feel ashamed of the people?"

"My father has been fighting for years, and the soldiers cannot go home. I feel so sorry for the soldiers. I have used up all the food and grass of Zhao State, and the people have to live frugally. I feel so sorry for the people."

"If I don't fight, the country will be destroyed, and the people will become slaves of the country, living under the roof of others and being slaughtered by others."

"Father, what you said is wrong. Why did the people in the cities occupied by the Qin army let themselves be slaughtered? In the cities that were not occupied, the people suffered terribly and had difficulty surviving. Those words are just deceiving the people."

Li Mu smiled bitterly and said, "If you say so, I, your father, have become a sinner of the State of Zhao. But as a citizen of Zhao, how can I forget those soldiers who were buried alive in the Battle of Changping!"

"He buried the soldiers, not the people. If the soldiers could no longer fight, they would not have done that. They wanted to destroy the army of Zhao, not the people."

Li Mu was slightly angry and said, "If the city is broken and there is a shortage of water and food, they will bury the people of Zhao alive. Even if they don't bury them alive, they will make the people their slaves and do corvee labor. You have read so many books, don't you know this about history?"

"Father, who do you think is a wise ruler, the King of Qin or the King of Zhao? Is it worth it for father to fight for a foolish and unjust king?"

Li Mu's face was tense. He knew what Li Zhan was going to say. He stared at Li Zhan and said coldly, "Do you want your father to become a sinner who turned against his allies in battle and bear eternal infamy?"

Na Lanxue walked into Li Zhan's room and saw the father and son. One of them had his eyes wide open while the other held his head high and was neither humble nor arrogant. She hurriedly said, "Look at you two, you get angry as soon as you talk. Can you talk calmly?"

Li Zhan said: "Only this method can save the people of Zhao. Father said that he doesn't care about fame, but he is unwilling to endure humiliation. Father only wants to gain fame on the battlefield, and he doesn't think about the people at all."

Li Mu smashed the table with one palm, and his hand trembled above Li Zhan's head, almost slapping it down, and said angrily: "I eat the salary of King Zhao and the grains of the people. I am a Zhao man in life and a Zhao ghost in death. Although King Zhao is incompetent and treacherous ministers are in power, I, Li Mu, will never do anything that goes against my conscience!"

Na Lanxue shouted, "Li Zhan, how can you say that about your father? Kneel down and confess your guilt to your father! Kneel down now!"

Li Zhan knelt on the ground with a plop and said firmly: "What the child said is right!"

Na Lan Xue cried angrily, "You..." but she had nothing to say.

Li Mu retracted his hand and said fiercely: "You are not my son after all. I, Li Mu, will never have a son like you!" He flicked his sleeves and left. A loud laugh came from outside the door: "I, Li Mu, am destined to have no children. Haha, I am destined to have no children. I gave birth to a curse, a curse!"

After they left, Na Lanxue wiped her tears and asked Li Zhan, "Why did you make your father angry?"

Li Zhan knelt on the ground and said calmly: "I just want to keep him!"...

Li Mu's army met Wang Jian's 400,000-man army at Jingxing. Wang Jian did not attack rashly, but surveyed the terrain, adjusted for more than a month, made detailed deployments, and then prepared to launch an attack. Wang Jian had a long beard and wore a battle robe and armor. He stood on a cloud chariot, holding a command flag, and looked at Jingxing Pass in the distance. The 400,000-man army under him was divided into five battalions. One battalion was an infantry battalion. The soldiers wore heavy armor, held spears, halberds, and shields in their hands, and had daggers and short knives on their waists. The arrow-blocking carts, tow trucks, and arrow trucks were in front to open the way, located at the head of the formation, and behind them were the arrow-blocking carts, tow trucks, and arrow trucks. The second battalion is the mechanical barracks, with thousands of siege equipment, ladders, crossbow carts, kerosene carts, and catapults spread out on a flat surface. The three battalions on the left wing are the Iron Cavalry Battalion. The war horses are all armed with armor. The cavalry are holding spears, sabers, and meteor hammers, with short bows and arrows on their backs. The four battalions on the right wing are the mobile battalions. The soldiers wear soft armor and carry various equipment. They can dig trenches and fill earth and are capable of both fighting and defense. There are five battalions at the end of the formation, the supply battalion. The five battalions are spaced far apart to avoid crowding and hindering each other, making it easier to maneuver, and there are formations within formations between the camps.

Seeing the Qin army's battle formation, Li Mu said brazenly: "Wang Jian is steady in his use of troops, has good command, sharp insight, and a proper battle formation, which makes people intimidated. He is worthy of being a veteran who has experienced hundreds of battles!"

Wang Jian saw a dashing man sitting on a white horse on the hillside, wearing a silver armor and holding a long gun. He confirmed that it was Li Mu without a doubt and sighed, "He defeated my Qin army twice, used his troops swiftly and was brave and fearless. He is really a mountain for my Great Qin to conquer the world. He is really admirable. If he hadn't bribed Guo Kai and ordered him to go out of the city to fight and win a quick battle under the pretext of shortage of food and grass, he would have used the two mountains as a support to defend the city. Even if my army of one million had been defeated, Jingxing Pass would have been buried. He knew it was dangerous, but he resolutely fought. Such loyalty is reflected by heaven and earth. It is a great pleasure to be able to fight against him in this life!"

Li Mu shouted to the Zhao army: "In the Battle of Changping, Qin killed 200,000 of our surrendered soldiers. Are we Zhao people willing to surrender again?"

The Zhao army shouted: "Fight to the end, fight to the end!"

Li Mu said loudly: "The Qin army is cruel. Taking advantage of the famine in our country and the displacement of the people, they led an army of 400,000 with the intention of destroying our Zhao army and destroying our Zhao country. Even if our lord is incompetent, even if the soldiers are hungry, even if the enemy is strong and we are weak, why should we fight?" He paused, "We are fighting for the blood feud between Zhao and Qin, for the land, and for the people of Zhao. As long as we are still alive, we will never let a single Qin soldier set foot on Zhao land!"

The Zhao army shouted: "Fight to the end, fight to the end!"

Wang Jian saw the Zhao army shouting in unison, and said in a clear voice: "This army is the army that defeated the Qin army twice, bringing shame to the Qin people and humiliating the Qin army. This Jingxing Pass blocked the Qin army's benevolent army from conquering the four directions and saving our Chinese compatriots from the water and fire. Now they are in front of us. As the passionate men of Qin, what should we do?"

The Qin army shouted in shock: "March forward bravely and avenge our previous defeat!" The shouts shook the sky and resounded through the clouds.

Wang Jian raised his hand, the cheers stopped abruptly, he slowly raised the command flag, waved it vigorously, and shouted: "Shoot!" The war drums immediately roared.

Thousands of sword rains roared into the sky and swooped down towards the Zhao army on the mountain. Huge rocks and kerosene rose up and smashed onto the hillside. Li Mu shouted, "Defense!" The Zhao soldiers immediately hid in the trenches and put up their shields. The sword rain shot onto them with a loud rumbling sound. Many arrows pierced through the shields and hit the soldiers' bodies. The kerosene immediately turned the entire hillside into a sea of ​​fire.

Although Li Mu had made preparations and dug ditches between the trenches to separate the kerosene, countless soldiers were still killed by boulders and crossbows.

It was unknown how long it had been, but Wang Jian saw that the time was ripe, so he waved his flag and shouted, "Attack!" An army of 50,000, led by Zhang Han, rushed towards the hillside. In the thick smoke, Li Mu shouted, "Release the logs and rocks!" In an instant, huge wooden blocks and boulders rolled down the mountain like a landslide and tsunami, crushing hundreds of Qin soldiers to death and screaming in agony.

The 50,000-strong army failed to advance after a long attack and had to retreat. When the rolling logs and rocks stopped for a while, they launched another attack, but were pushed back again. Over and over again, more than half of the 50,000-strong army had been killed or wounded, but the Zhao army's rolling logs and rocks were also few in number. Wang Jian waved another flag, and Huan Xi led another 50,000 Qin soldiers to rush up the mountain. Zhang Han retreated to reorganize.

When Li Mu saw Huan Qi coming to attack, and when the Qin army was halfway up, he shouted, "Open the floodgates!" Suddenly, flood mud roared down from the mountain. Wang Jian was shocked. The terrain was so high, how could the flood come from? The 50,000-strong army was immediately pushed down. Although there were not many casualties, they were in a miserable state. Especially since the mud could not be wiped off and was heavy on their bodies, making it difficult for them to move, and the burned skin was burning with pain.

Li Mu ordered his soldiers to carry the water up the mountain bucket by bucket. The mud was a mixture of lime and water that had fallen in the northern part of Zhao State for a month. Wang Jian looked at Li Mu from afar and sighed: "Li Mu is a master of military tactics. He is truly the strongest enemy I have ever faced!"

At this time, Wang Ben stepped forward and said, "I am willing to go, take the hilltop, and capture Li Mu alive!"

Wang Jian looked at his son and said, "Yes, if there is a sudden change, retreat immediately and do not attack by force!"

"Understood sir!" Wang Ben led another 50,000 Qin soldiers slowly up the hillside. As the hillside was slippery, the war horses could not go up, so Wang Ben could only lead the infantry.

At this time, Li Mu ordered "Attack!" Twenty thousand cavalry and fifty thousand infantry rushed down the mountain. Relying on the terrain, their speed became faster and faster. The cavalry pulled their short bows and shot swords at the Qin army, killing many of them.

In an instant, the two armies collided halfway up the mountain, and nearly ten thousand Qin soldiers were trampled to death or stabbed to death.

Li Mu rushed to the front of the formation, wielding his spear. With one strike, several Qin soldiers were pierced through. His force was unstoppable.

Wang Ben was also brave. Seeing Li Mu rushing down the mountain, he ran back to his warhorse, thrust his saber, flew into the air, landed on the warhorse, slapped the horse's buttocks hard, and rushed towards Li Mu.

Seeing Wang Ben rushing towards him with murderous intent, Li Mu swung his spear, killed several Qin soldiers in front of his horse, cut a bloody path, and rushed towards Wang Ben on his horse.

The two men and their horses collided, each using all their strength. Li Mu thrust forward with his spear, while Wang Ben swung his sword across. The two horses collided, and there was a loud "clang" sound. The swords and spears collided, and sparks flew.

Li Mu's arms shook and his palms felt numb, but fortunately he clamped his legs tightly around the horse's belly, stabilizing his body and not falling off the horse.

Wang Ben's whole body was shocked and he fell off the horse. He hurriedly tapped the ground with the tip of his knife and flew back to the horse. Just as he righted himself, he thought to himself, "That was a close call!" While he was still amazed, his back was violently shocked and Li Mu shot him off his horse. Li Mu turned his horse around and swung his spear, trying to kill Wang Ben.

Wang Jian was on the ladder, and when he saw his son about to be killed by Li Mu, a flash of despair flashed through his heart.

Wang Ben fell to the ground, spitting blood. Seeing Li Mu rushing towards him, he thought he was dead. With his life hanging by a thread, Li Xin rode his horse and swung his spear to block Li Mu. With a "clang", he blocked Li Mu's spear and the two men fought each other.

When Wang Jian saw Wang Ben being rescued, he breathed a sigh of relief, and cold sweat soaked his clothes.

At this time, the Qin army and the Zhao army fought together, and the Zhao army was unstoppable. Wang Jian saw that Li Mu had abandoned the mountain and was going down. This was the best opportunity to trap the enemy, so he ordered the left wing cavalry battalion to encircle the enemy and the front battalion to form a battle array to resist, in an attempt to encircle Li Mu's troops in the middle.

Seeing that the Qin cavalry was outflanked, Sima Shang led 50,000 infantry to rush down the mountain. Wang Jian saw that the situation was not good. If this continued, the cavalry would be surrounded and would not be able to play to their advantage. Even if they could destroy the Zhao army, there would be only a few left. These were the most elite cavalry of the Qin State. If there were too many casualties, how could they continue to conquer other countries? He decisively gave the order to call back the troops.

Li Mu was brave and had unique tactics. Li Xin could not defeat him. Yang Ruihe also rushed in and joined forces with Li Xin to fight Li Mu, but they could not gain any advantage. Hearing the horn, Li Xin shouted, "I admire General Li's wisdom and courage for being here today. See you later!" He and Yang Ruihe urged their horses to leave. The Qin army was well-trained and they were not in a panic even when they were withdrawing their troops. They retreated slowly. Li Mu did not order a pursuit and retreated back to Jingxing Pass.

……

Wang Jian returned to the military tent and said to the generals, "I have fought for half my life and experienced hundreds of battles, but I have never seen such a tragic battle as today. Li Mu is indeed worthy of his reputation. Today I have learned a lot!"

Li Xinxin said: "Commander-in-chief, what should we do next?"

Wang Jian said: "Hold the troops still and wait for an opportunity. We are currently invincible in the battle against Li Mu. If we don't get rid of Li Mu, we won't be able to capture Jingxing Pass!"

"If we don't move, we certainly can't afford it. We have 400,000 troops and are far from Xianyang, while the Zhao army is not only closer to Handan, but also has more than half as many soldiers as us. If this goes on for too long, the King of Qin will surely get anxious."

"You don't know our King Qin. He is a man of foresight and has calculated things more clearly than we do. This battle with Zhao is a crucial one. If there are too many casualties, the destruction of the six kingdoms will end. He has already prepared enough food and grass. The reason why he sent me here is that he hopes this battle will not be lost. I will explain the situation here and request a delay in the attack on Zhao. I think the King Qin will understand me."

Yang Ruihe said: "We can't afford to waste time, and Zhao can't afford to waste time either. If we continue like today, the morale of the soldiers will be completely destroyed. If we fight again, we must win."

Wang Jian said: "As long as Li Mu is not here, we can easily capture Jingxing Pass. Send someone to inform Guo Kai and ask him to do everything possible to transfer Li Mu away from here."

(End of this chapter)