My Cultivation Starting from Archery

"Shanshi, they are not my father's men. My father's men would never act like this."

Sun Buqi was afraid the young man in front of him would misunderstand, "That man surnamed Cao, is the Crown Prince's Heir, the toady next to him is the son of the Minister of Ministry of Industry. The Youzhou Army, they are not part of the Eight Camps, but rather belong to the Left Army Governor's command, under the control of the Military Affairs Department."

"In the Northwest Three States, You State, Liang State, and Yan State each have their own commanding general."

"Although during wartime, my father can allocate the distribution of all hands, but he only has authority over their deployment, not their administrative affairs."

"Only the Eight Camps are truly our own people."

"Even so, in recent years, efforts have been made to decentralize power, appointing provincial governors, and trying to transfer people elsewhere. The eldest apprentice brother, too..."

"He's right."

Sun Li spoke feebly: "The Eight Camps are not the forces of a single region. Although they were initially recruited and assembled in Liang State to fight against the barbarian marauders, they were later moved to wherever the need arose, staying in the southern regions before being sent to the east to fight against Qing Country.

"And then, three years ago."

"It was when the barbarian marauders began to stir again that the Eight Camps were readjusted to the Northern Territory."

Chen Sansi understood this practice.

To prevent them from becoming too rooted in one state and turning into local tyrants.

It's possible that each time they leave, the local supporters of the Eight Camps, the Family Clans and Sect officials, also have to suffer a purge...

Everything must be under the control of the court.

This matched the Emperor's style of resorting to despicable methods like poisoning to silence people and kill them.

But if it were truly so.

Could one really tolerate it?

Chen Sansi asked himself if he would be able to endure it if he were in that situation. He definitely would not.

Why can Supervisor Sun endure it?

Unless...

He was about to die.

Only a man on the verge of death, with something left to care for, would have no choice but to suffer in silence.

Although it was merely a conjecture.

Chen Sansi felt that only this could make all the logic make sense.

Otherwise.

If one is among the supreme powers in the human realm, commanding eighty thousand elite troops, why endure? What would be the reason to tolerate anything?

Beyond this.

There was the identity of the people participating in the Selected Point.

Identities so precious.

The Crown Prince's Heir.

That is, nominally, the Emperor after the next.

Would such a person lack resources or Cultivation Techniques?

Why would he run to participate in Selected Point and become a disciple of Supervisor Sun? What could be so tempting?

These were not matters to consider at the moment.

"Counterattack?"

Soon, the martial arts halls were gathered together, and upon hearing the command issued by the "commander," they all looked at each other with puzzlement.

Obviously, they were somewhat confused by the meaning of this phrase.

Counterattack naturally meant killing the enemy.

But their thousand or so men, going to kill twenty thousand?

Who knows how many among them were in the Refining Internal realm?

How could they counterattack?

"One day."

Chen Sansi spoke firmly, "It will take another day before the villagers ahead can start crossing the river. We want to delay for one day. It's not possible on the plain, so we need to enter the mountains to counterattack!

"Xu Wencai, I give you half an hour to come up with at least three blocking points. If you can't find them, I'll chop off your dog head!

"The rest of you..."

"Go and see your families one more time.

"This might be your last words, so you can choose not to come back. After half an hour, if you choose to come back, be prepared to die."

With that said.

The others finally understood.

"Yes, sir!

Not a single one raised an objection."

All the men gradually dispersed.

"Junior brother..."

Seeing him, Sun Li asked, "Aren't you going to talk to Sister Lan? She's in the carriage up ahead."

"I won't,"

Chen Sansi took up the old scholar's writing brush and hastily wrote a few words. After sealing the letter, he handed it over, "Senior Sister Sun, please help me give this to Sister Lan, and then make sure you personally ensure her safety."

"You're really not going?" Sun Li emphasized her question.

Chen Sansi shook his head again.

He didn't tell Sun Li that he was scared.

Fearful that after seeing the only relative he had in this world, he wouldn't dare to go and intercept the enemy.

Seriously speaking, he himself didn't know how he ended up in this peculiar situation.

Perhaps it was because his family was in front of him.

Perhaps it was because his subordinates were willing to die for him, driven by a sense of responsibility or something else; he just couldn't bear to abandon them.

Or perhaps...

It was because he came from another world.

He knows it sounds pretentious, extremely pretentious, but that's simply the truth.

If there had to be a motive or logic, it would be that.

In Chen Sansi's view, there were no upper-class people or lower-class people, only those who deserved to die and those who didn't.

Those who deserved to die, he would kill.

Those who didn't deserve to die, he would try his best to help.

He also knew that if word of this battle got out, there would certainly be those who accused him of being a hypocrite, of feigning righteousness.

But Chen Sansi didn't care.

If worse comes to worst, he would "pretend" for the rest of his life.

"You all..."

Chen Sansi looked at the nephews that Wang Zhi had left behind and added their followers, also amounting to around two hundred people, "Do you also plan to stay behind? Your families aren't up ahead."

"We won't disgrace General Tang!"

The crowd exclaimed in unison.

"Good!"

Chen Sansi nodded his head.

Lastly, there was Sun Buqi, who showed no intention of leaving.

To blast him away in these circumstances would be an insult.

As for Xu Wencai, bereft of relatives or kin long ago, he lay on the ground studying the maps.

...

Half a day later.

Yellow Earth Ridge.

"Hurry up!"

"We must intercept them before the Sheng people cross the river!"

Several Witch God Sect Followers mixed within the troops, uniformly holding Vajra Pestles used to collect blood,

among them the Refining Internal Leader took command, "Not a single one should remain after the killing. Remember to collect the Heart Blood promptly!"

"What about Master Amugu?"

The Cavalry commander Bilege inquired, "Why don't I see him?"

The more than twenty thousand pursuers, everyone above Hua Jin, were all called away to attack An Ding Prefecture.

Only a few of them with the skill of Refining Internal remained, indeed somewhat afraid to command such a large army.

The only Witch God Sect Meridian Passage master had also disappeared.

"Master Amugu has gone to pursue a Refining Organ Little General, and his current whereabouts are unknown; he might be waiting for us up ahead," the Squad Leader urged. "Let's speed up!"

"Refining Organ?"

Bilege found it interesting, "Using Sheng people's words, this is called 'using a cleaver to kill a chicken.' Master Amugu acts ruthlessly, personally taking action and leaving no routes of survival for the Sheng people."

"I received a carrier pigeon message, ordering us to collect the Heart Blood of about ten thousand people as a reserve within two days, and then to retreat at top speed without engaging in prolonged warfare, and directly leave Yunzhou."

The Squad Leader stated coldly, "Without that White Horse Refining Organ, there's no more Refining Organ commanders up front, posing no threat. Only Bone Training Realm remains, so we may pursue as we please."

"Speedy retreat?"
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Bilege pondered, "Retreating from the Northwest so soon?"

A war, especially a decisive battle for life and death, should at least last a year or half a year.

Retreating after just over two months indicates there was never a real commitment to see it through to the end.

"We simply follow orders."

The Witch God Sect Squad Leader reminded, "The Sheng people up ahead are about to cross the river. If we don't speed up, there's a high chance they'll escape successfully, and both you and I will bear grave punishments for failing the mission."

"Rest assured, after breaking out of the mountain range, we'll catch up within half a day!"

"Hush!"

As the two spoke, with sounds of chaos and men and horses toppling over, the vanguard suddenly halted.

"What's happening?"

"Sir, there's an ambush ahead!"

"Traps are everywhere!"

"Move it!"

Bilege personally went to inspect.

He saw that the not-so-wide path through the mountain range had been dug full of deep pits, rudimentary traps set within them. Moreover, every passable spot was also blocked by mounds of loose stones.

The most troublesome part was the presence of several carts used to transport supplies, stuck in the middle, loaded up with dry wood and kindling, burning fiercely and preventing the vanguard cavalry from passing.

Bilege wasn't in a hurry and loudly ordered, "Clear the obstacles!"

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—"

No sooner had a group of soldiers gone to handle it than a troop of enemy crossbowmen emerged, firing a volley of arrows from the distance.

"Child's play!"

Bilege said calmly, "Bring the thick shield bearers from the rear to the front to bear the brunt!"

Among the more than twenty thousand troops, it was impossible for all to be cavalry.

The vanguard consisted of five thousand cavalrymen.

The rest were foot soldiers.

Infantry with shields defended while others cleared the way.

After half an hour, they had cleared the path for travel.

However, they hadn't gone far when they encountered similar obstructions, happening two or three times consecutively, each delaying them by more than half an hour, unbeknownst to them, adding up to half a day.

"General Bilege!"

The Witch God Sect Squad Leader said anxiously, "We can't keep this up; they are merely delaying time."

"Do you think I can't see that?"

Bilege said through gritted teeth, "They're clearly forcing me to lead the troops through a side path, but I don't understand. Unlike the previous canyon, the slopes on both sides here are low, totally unsuitable for an ambush. Even if we oblige and go that way, it will still come down to a direct clash of weapons.

"Their forces at most number a thousand people, plus three hundred horses. Even if our cavalry can't fully deploy to form an encirclement, it would just cost us some troops and horses to crush them. What are they trying to achieve..."

"General, the situation is urgent. Since you feel there's no ambush on the side path, let's hurry through it," the Witch God Sect Squad Leader said, disturbed. "As long as we can move swiftly beyond Yellow Earth Ridge, some loss of troops and horses is acceptable."

"Alright,"

Bilege quickly decided, "Cavalry, follow me on the side path; infantry, go around the obstacles and proceed on the main road. I want to see what kind of trick they are really up to!"

The barbarians split their forces in two.

To save time, all five thousand cavalrymen took the side path, including Bilege, summing up to five Refining Internal practitioners.

Bilege led at the forefront, advancing cautiously and slowly, racking his brain about the possible ambushes in such terrain. When he reached the fork where they would leave the mountain range, he finally encountered the Sheng army at the end of the side path, on the wide, open ground.

There was no ambush here.

What lay ahead was merely a formation of no more than three hundred cavalrymen and a few hundred foot soldiers. A significant number of them didn't even have their own armour, wearing that stripped from the Xi River tribes instead, and the weapons in their hands were of the grassland make, terribly conspicuous. They simply blocked the exit of the mountain range, ready for battle.

At this moment,

Bilege finally understood why the enemy went to such lengths to push them onto this path.

They planned to use their lives to buy as much time as possible for the civilians ahead to cross the river!