Cultivation Begins with Caring for Sister-in-law-Chapter 459: Harassment
The hour has passed into the Xu period.
On the guard tower outside the Jin Xia Central Army Tent, Tie Muer held up the Thousand-Mile Mirror, gazing toward the distant Chen Army camp, and said to Yelv Nuku below the guard tower, "Are you ready?"
Under the firelight, Yelv Nuku’s expression was particularly grim as he replied, "The orders have been given."
"Good, remember firmly, just keep harassing them in turns, do not launch a reckless attack, make the best use of our cavalry’s mobility," said Tie Muer.
Yelv Nuku nodded.
...
...
On the bed, the two of them slept in their clothes. Anticipating a tough battle the next day, Chen Mo naturally couldn’t keep indulging indefinitely, so he eventually stopped.
Thud, thud, thud—
At that moment, the ground started to tremble.
Still unaware, Zhi Ning thought Chen Mo was teasing her, grabbed his mischief-making hand, and said, "Enough, that’s enough."
Chen Mo’s face turned dark as he patted her hand, saying, "It’s not me, be quiet."
A moment later, Chen Mo suddenly sat up, exclaiming, "This is not good, these are hoofbeats, the enemy is launching a night raid."
Having been on the battlefield many times, Chen Mo quickly recognized that these were the sounds of hoofbeats.
The Great Song lacked warhorses, especially quality ones. The Brave Cavalry Guard had developed to only about two thousand riders, and some of the horses they used were just ordinary ones.
But the hoofbeats now, rapid yet orderly like a muffled thunder, and devoid of any sound other than the hoofbeats, had an aura of an elite force.
So densely packed, they could only be the iron cavalry of Jin Xia.
Chen Mo and Xia Zhining almost simultaneously got out of bed, helping each other don their armor.
Soon, Sun Meng’s voice echoed from outside the commander’s tent: "Marquis, it’s not good, the enemy is attacking."
By now, Chen Mo had calmed down, saying while putting on his armor, "Act according to the plan discussed during the day."
During the day’s discussion, Chen Mo had considered the possibility of a night raid by the enemy and had prepared a response.
"Understood."
Sun Meng withdrew.
When Chen Mo and Xia Zhining emerged from the commander’s tent, the increasingly distinct hoofbeats suddenly faded away.
At this time, Chang En and Sun Meng approached together.
They said that the Jin Xia cavalry had merely fired a volley of flame arrows near the camp perimeter before retreating.
...
On the other side, Yelv Nuku, who had retreated back to their camp, complained to Tie Muer, "I didn’t expect the other side to be so astute, there are arrow towers outside their camp, we can’t get close."
In the plan, they were supposed to approach the Chen Army camp and then use flaming arrows to set it ablaze. The dry weather meant those arrows, carrying incendiaries, would ignite instantaneously.
They excelled in mounted archery, and their bows could shoot further than those of the Song people. By the time the Chen Army reacted and wanted to pursue, they would have already fled.
But Yelv Nuku never expected that when they were 500 paces from the Chen Army camp, they discovered obstacles, followed by arrow volleys from the towers.
At this distance, it was unlikely they could shoot into the Chen Army’s camp.
Upon hearing this, Tie Muer felt a bit disappointed but also anticipated, saying, "If it achieves the purpose of harassment, then it’s fine. Let the second squad go in a quarter of an hour."
"Understood."
...
In the Chen Army camp, after Chen Mo had finished instructing to strengthen defenses and returned to the commander’s tent, those familiar hoofbeats echoed once more.
Sun Meng came to report that the enemy was attacking again.
Fortunately, Chen Mo had not yet removed his armor. By the time he reached the frontline, the hoofbeats had again faded away.
While everyone was unsure what the Jin Xia intended at this point.
A quarter of an hour later, the hoofbeats resonated once more in the night sky.
"Marquis, what on earth do these wretches want? They come, launch a volley of flame arrows, and then leave," Sun Meng said with a frown.
"They’re applying a delaying tactic on us, harassing our army," Chen Mo said.
"I never thought Jin Xia would resort to strategy. I remember my father used to say that four hundred years ago, Jin Xia relied solely on brute force in battle, recklessly charging forward, and was eventually defeated one by one by the Grand Ancestor Emperor," Xia Zhining said in surprise.
"Times have changed. I’ve heard that after being defeated by the Grand Ancestor, Jin Xia was unified by the Tuoba Tribe, reflecting on their losses. For centuries, Jin Xia people have visited Celestial River supposedly to exchange culture, yet they’ve headed to the Imperial Palace’s Library Pavilion every time. I believe they came under the guise of cultural exchange but were actually learning stealthily," Chen Mo said.
Before coming to Qingzhou, Chen Mo naturally gathered a lot of information about Jin Xia.
"My father also told me this, but at the time the Great Song was strong, neither the Emperor nor the ministers paid attention to these barbarians, finding their actions ridiculous. The current history books even state that this was an act of admiration toward our Great Song by a small barbarian nation," Xia Zhining said.
"That’s the price of underestimating the enemy," Chen Mo sighed.
When the Grand Ancestor Emperor first established the Great Song, to stabilize the current situation, he did not advance further after repelling Jin Xia.
Later, when the Great Song stabilized, the emperors after the Grand Ancestor fully had the ability to annex Jin Xia, but under Jin Xia’s feigned submission, they believed there was no need to worry.
Gradually, they watched Jin Xia grow stronger step by step.
Realizing the threat came too late.
"Marquis, what should we do next? Should we ignore them since they won’t truly attack?" Sun Meng asked.
"We cannot," Chen Mo and Xia Zhining said almost simultaneously.
We must not ignore it.
This tactic has another effect, which is to numb the opponent.
Once you think the opponent is only harassing and won’t truly attack, thus relaxing your guard.
Then they will indeed strike.
And if we take countermeasures, we must remain vigilant, preventing rest due to constant disturbance.
With the opponent’s cavalry’s high mobility, shooting and retreating means we cannot catch up to them even if we try.
"Have the Divine Courage, Divine Martial, Xianzhen, and Jiangdong Army take turns standing guard, changing shifts at each hour for rest," Chen Mo said, noting that although the enemy’s cavalry came to harass with concentrated hoofbeats, their numbers weren’t many, clearly coming in turns. Chen Mo saw no need to exhaust the entire army on them.
"Understood."
...
Returning to the commander’s tent.
Xia Zhining watched Chen Mo remove his armor while she kept hers on, saying, "You should sleep. I’ll keep watch. The army can’t do without you; you need proper rest."
Chen Mo was taken aback but then relented, reaching out to touch Xia Zhining’s face, "Zhi Ning, it’s hard on you."
"It’s all your fault, acting impulsively," Xia Zhining glared at Chen Mo, admitting she was somewhat tired.
"My fault."
...
The next day, just entering the Chen period.
"Thump, thump, thump..."
The deep sound of drums resounded across the Guan Mountain Plain, and within the Chen Army camp, the soldiers were somewhat numb as they murmured, "Again, don’t these barbarians get tired?"
"No, listen carefully; it doesn’t sound like hoofbeats. It’s the sound of war drums."
"Gasp, indeed it’s the sound of drums."
