pertwk Chapter 79: Suppressing Eight Directions
Chapter 79: Suppressing Eight Directions
"Advance payment!"
[Martial Arts Skills Already Paid in Advance: Introduction to the Eight Directions Stance]
[Subduing Tiger and Suppressing the Mountain: The blade's momentum is initially solidified, as heavy as a crouching tiger; a single strike can shatter solid rock.]
[Next Phase Advance Payment: Zhenbafang Xiaocheng]
[Raging Waves Subdue the Sea: The blade's energy transforms into a tidal wave, layer upon layer of surging waves, its immense power capable of severing a raging torrent.]
The essence of the brand-new sword technique was instilled into his mind.
Twenty breaths later, Wu He came to his senses.
He then silently unfastened the Plum Blossom Knife from his waist and took a huge Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) from the sword rack in the training ground.
With a light tap of his toes, and a clang, he simply swung the knife and began to slash.
call!
call!
Gone was the sharp, clean cut of the blade slicing through space; instead, heavy whistling sounds filled the air as the powerful winds whipped up by the heavy broadsword swept across the surrounding yellow sand.
After a simple warm-up, Wu He's eyes sharpened, and he slashed fiercely with his knife!
boom! !
The broad blade slammed heavily onto the ground, instantly causing the sand and gravel to vibrate, crack, and shatter. This was followed by a series of cracking and popping sounds, the force of which had reached five meters underground, which was extremely terrifying.
Feeling the stinging pain from the tiger's mouth, Wu He was not displeased at all, but rather overjoyed.
It truly lives up to its reputation as a stoker of all directions!
Within the Imperial Guard's armory, it belongs to the lower-grade Earth rank, its advantage being its immense power and strength, making it particularly effective at breaking through heavy armor.
Back then, Zhang Yichao's Guiyi Army's Armor-Breaking Battalion relied on this martial skill to break through several enemy strongholds on the Hexi battlefield, becoming famous for a time.
Actually, as a low-level martial art, Wu He's current cultivation level, which has just advanced to the late stage of Bone Strengthening, is not suitable for him to cultivate, as it is somewhat ahead of his time.
However, he possessed the Jade Tiger Bone, which compensated for his lack of strength, so he chose it when selecting martial arts techniques.
With a fierce blade, he could subdue all directions.
There are no fancy moves, only pure power!
In this way, one can better unleash the power of one's Jade Tiger Bone.
"This knife is nice."
Wu He weighed the Mo Dao in his hand; its slightly heavy weight was quite suitable for martial arts.
After choosing Zhenbafang, he sought out Qiao the Cripple in advance and commissioned him to forge this 120-jin (60 catties) Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword).
It is eight feet long, forged from a single piece of fine sandstone, and the wooden handle is wrapped in matte black walnut wood, making it suitable as a future main combat weapon.
……
In the following days, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.
The Xiongzhou battle line was narrow and lacked depth, while the Liao and Northern Han armies held an absolute numerical advantage. After several initial probing attacks, they gathered all their elite troops and finally broke through the defenses of several camps along the Baigou River.
However, this was exactly what the Zhenguan Army had expected. From the very beginning of the battle, they did not intend to rely entirely on the Baigou River to keep the enemy at bay on the north bank. They only needed to build defenses along the river and eliminate as much of the enemy's manpower as possible.
Under these circumstances, Liu Qing concentrated all his forces to defend the three-city defensive perimeter, with Xiongzhou City as the main city and Waqiao Pass and Rongcheng as secondary cities.
Xiongzhou City is located at the crossroads of the frontier official road. As long as it is defended, the Liao army will never dare to bypass it and invade the Central Plains.
The city had stockpiled a large amount of grain and supplies in advance, which would ensure that the logistics for this defensive battle would be in no condition.
According to the strategic plan, now that the state funeral is over, we only need to wait for the main force of the imperial court to launch a northern expedition, and then we can turn defeat into victory.
only……
boom!
He slammed his hand on the table in anger, his handsome and resolute face filled with displeasure.
"How dare this tiny Later Shu take advantage of our weakness to invade!"
The tent was completely silent. Wu He sat to one side, his brows slightly furrowed.
Just now, the imperial court sent a letter stating that while the Liao and Northern Han were invading the Great Zhou, the Later Shu in the western border suddenly invaded Guanzhong, also intending to take advantage of the Great Zhou's preoccupation with the Liao and Northern Han to seize Guanzhong.
With enemies to the north and west, the imperial court, after weighing the options, chose to seek stability and temporarily suspended the Northern Expedition, sending troops to Guanzhong to suppress them.
As a result, their plan to turn defense into offense while waiting for the Northern Expedition in Xiongzhou City was shelved.
This battle to defend the city may never end.
Faced with this situation, the generals in the tent, though their expressions were serious and solemn, were not overly worried.
After all, Xiongzhou City is currently well-equipped with strong troops and ample supplies, so holding out for several months should not be a problem.
In fact, even if they didn't want to defend it, they had no choice.
Left with no other choice, Liu Qing had to once again focus on strengthening the defenses of Xiongzhou City.
The Tiger Swift Army led by Wu He was guarding the east gate of Rongcheng County.
Rongcheng County is a small county with a population of just over 300,000 within Xiongzhou, and the two are about 40 li apart.
Although it has a small population and area, Rongcheng has been ravaged by war over the years. The troops stationed here have repaired and reinforced it several times, making it a formidable military city with walls ten feet high.
Wu He's more than 800 Tiger Elite Army soldiers and more than 1,000 border troops guarded the east gate. After several days, the defense was complete, and no enemy had been able to climb over the city wall.
He rushed back from Xiongzhou City just as the Liao army launched a new siege. He used his flying goose technique to weave his way into the city amidst a rain of sword strikes.
At this moment, a Khitan warrior who had just rushed into the city wall under the cover of heavy armor glared angrily and saw Wu He, who had also landed on the top of the wall.
"Ha!"
Holding two Xuanhua broadswords, he roared and began spinning like a top on the narrow city wall, slaughtering everyone in sight. In an instant, blood filled the air and severed limbs flew everywhere.
With such a fierce general charging forward, the surrounding soldiers were clearly no match for him and had no choice but to temporarily retreat.
Wu He took the Mo Dao from his back, strode over the crowd, and delivered a fierce slash.
The burly man still wanted to use his strength to withstand the attack. With his late-stage Bone Strengthening cultivation, what was there to fear from someone of the same cultivation level in front of him?
Click!
But then came a crisp cracking sound, and his raised double axes shattered like tofu, the broad blades cleaving his body diagonally in two.
[Progress completed (Introduction to Zhenbafang): 50/100]
After several days, this was the first person to die under the Eight Directions Blade of Wuhe Town.
Look at its power, it's truly gratifying.
Wu He then took his twenty-stone heavy bow, drew it and released it immediately. He barely aimed, but each arrow pierced the enemy's armor, killing off the Khitan soldiers who were about to climb the city wall one after another, thus directly making up for the lack of defenses here.
The power of the heavy crossbow was nothing more than that; it was like the King of Hell calling a roll, and whoever he pointed at would die.
[Progress completed (No Return Arrow Skill maxed): 480/500]
……
[Progress completed (No Return Arrow Skill maxed): 500/500]
[The progress on the No-Return Arrow Technique has been completed to perfection; this volume will be temporarily stored away.]
Over the past few days, Wu He's progress in mastering the No-Return Arrow Technique has been rapid, and it has now been fully mastered.
The enemy's invasion did not last long; they withdrew their troops after breaching a section of the city wall.
"Repair the wall, collect the arrows, and rest."
Wu He let out a soft breath and gave the order.
Craftsmen and volunteers from within the city climbed the city walls to begin repairing them and preparing defensive equipment such as stones and wooden stakes.
A moment later, the casualty count was completed. In this battle, the East Gate, which was the point of the enemy's feigned attack, suffered more than 30 casualties, all of whom were border troops with insufficient combat strength. Wu He's Tiger Swift Army suffered almost no losses, making it a fairly standard defensive battle.
However, at the temporary meeting after the war, Fang She, the commander of Rongcheng, the fifth adopted son of Guo Guiyuan, and the deputy commander of the Zhenguan Army, looked worried and pointed to the map.
"In recent days, although the enemy's attacks on the city have been fierce, the longest they have lasted no more than three hours."
"As the saying goes, 'The first attack is followed by a decline, and the third by exhaustion.' Their intermittent fighting is a major taboo in military strategy. What are they trying to achieve?"
The captains exchanged glances, all falling silent and lost in thought.
Wu He was the same; even he, who hadn't studied military strategy much, knew the principle of striking while the iron was hot, then weakening, and finally exhausting.
The enemy's attack on the city in this manner is truly amateurish.
Just then, Wu He suddenly heard urgent calls from outside the tent.
"General! General!"
"Fire!"
A fire broke out, sending everyone scrambling outside, but it was too late.
It was only then, seeing the raging fire burning in the direction of the granary, that Wu He understood the enemy's purpose over the past few days.
……
Meanwhile, on a cliff ten miles south of Rongcheng.
A hunched-over, shifty-eyed middle-aged man sat on the edge of the cliff, quietly gazing into the distance at Rongcheng, which was heavily surrounded by soldiers.
A moment later, a person came and bowed respectfully beside him.
"Lord Tanlang, Wu He is currently in Rongcheng. The one with the highest cultivation level by his side is Fang She, the adopted son of Guo Guiyuan, who is currently in the early stage of the Blood Burning Realm."
Upon hearing this, the Earth-Rank Assassin, Greedy Wolf Spider, nodded almost imperceptibly.
Then, in a hoarse voice, he said, "Wait until nightfall, then take his head."