Whoever Touches Little Xinye (5)
"General, if we fail this time too, it's pretty much game over for us, right?"
"Yeah. With all this reinforcements from the troops, and we still screw it up? That'd be the end of our careers as generals."
Lei Bo and Chen Lan led Yuan Shu's elite soldiers out toward Xinye. They called themselves bandits, but aside from not flying any banners, they were essentially a chunk of Yuan Shu's main force that had broken off.
"Seize Xinye and dominate Jingzhou."
That was the core of Yuan Shu's plan. His subordinates in the east were still putting up a fight against Sun Bo, but it was a losing battle—Yuan Shu's forces were steadily bleeding away. They were at the point where they couldn't even afford honey water anymore.
"Someone I know once said, 'Even if a rich man goes bankrupt, he can last three years.'"
"That means he's broke after three years."
"Right. But that's only if he's scraping by. We're not there yet."
Lei Bo sighed and spurred his horse onward. His armor, which had gleamed just three years ago, was now too ragged to even repair properly, the wear and tear plain for all to see.
"Zhong is done for. It's all because of that damn sense of loyalty making us look like beggars."
"It's not loyalty—it's that even if we run now, our future's the same, isn't it?"
"That's what makes it loyalty. From Han's perspective, we're traitors; from Zhong's, we're betrayers. ...Is there really no other way?"
Lei Bo lowered his voice so the other soldiers couldn't hear. "What if we become real bandits?"
"You want generals of a nation to turn bandit?"
"We hole up somewhere quiet, raid for a living. Call ourselves the Zhong Outlaws or something, since we're bandits from Zhong."
"The name doesn't matter, but we've eaten Yuan's salary this long—let's give it our all one last time."
Chen Lan tried to steel his resolve and made the suggestion anyway. "Who knows? If we take Xinye, maybe Zhong can rebuild. Didn't Elder Zhang Xun say that? Even if we have to abandon all the land we've taken so far, with Jingzhou as a base, we can make a comeback."
"Yeah... But then why send us instead of Ji Ling? That guy's been calling shamans and holding rituals like he's lost his mind. They're all going crazy. Still acting like their granaries are full, whining about honey water."
The two generals' griping didn't stop until they crossed the forest. And then they arrived.
"......We got wrecked here last time."
"Yeah. But something's off."
What caught their eyes was a fence that looked anything but ordinary at first glance. Like watchtowers, but broader than that—too small for a proper soldier outpost, yet sturdier. A single trebuchet could smash it if they were sieging a castle.
"Too bad. If we had a trebuchet, we could've just bulldozed it."
"Tell me about it. ...Still, to be safe, should we go around?"
Lei Bo and Chen Lan exchanged glances and nodded.
"Right. What if bells start ringing from there out of nowhere? Bandits could pour out from behind that stockade and massacre our men."
"Exactly. We're generals, after all—we can't get caught with our pants down like idiots again."
Lei Bo and Chen Lan shouted orders to their troops.
"Send out scouts! Figure out what that mystery stockade is!"
"Find a way around it. Even if only three hundred are holed up there, who knows what tricks they've got."
"If need be, we'll surround and annihilate them."
"Good call. Think three hundred can break through ten thousand encircling them? No chance."
Under the generals' command, the soldiers sprang into action. And the scouts soon reported back on the stockade's true nature.
"Arrows came flying the second we got close. Looks like a small firing position."
"The area's full of them. Planted thick every set distance."
"Soldiers inside each one. They targeted the scouts, but not a huge volley—arrows fired from within."
"......The main road to Xinye Castle is set up to take fire from two shooting positions at once."
"What the hell."
Lei Bo and Chen Lan snorted in disgust.
"They're toying with us. General! Charge! We'll smash them one by one—they won't know what hit 'em."
"Send in the heavy infantry. Topple the fences wholesale."
"Hell yeah! Let's go!"
Lei Bo and Chen Lan charged the most protruding firing position. Protected by shield-bearing soldiers on the run, they closed in fast, ready to tear down the stockade.
But then.
BANG!!
Something exploded with a thunderous crack, and the lead soldier flew backward.
The charge halted in an instant as they checked the fallen man.
"......Three arrows?"
Forehead, throat, solar plexus. Perfectly aligned at precise intervals.
"What the—"
No time for shock.
WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH!!
Another explosion, and a massive volley rained down in a blink.
* * *
When facing a large enemy force, people like me, Seo Seo, or even Pang Tong—not to mention Sima Yi—rely on overwhelming numbers and quality to crush them.
But Zhuge Liang was different. Was it because she hated seeing people get hurt? Or was she just optimizing to minimize our losses? Either way, her defensive tactics drastically reduced what humans had to do.
"This is the archer's walkway..."
I climbed up alongside Zhuge Liang. Sturdy wooden fences reinforced to avoid collapse, sloped roofs to keep arrows from flying in easily. The top was open, sure, but unless they shot from point-blank range, they couldn't hit anyone inside. They'd hit the stockade or roof first—or get sniped by our soldiers.
"Come here, dear husband. Normally it's closed like this, but when enemies come or we need to scout..."
Rattle.
Zhuge Liang slid open a panel. A slit wide enough for one person to aim a bow outward appeared before me.
"This protects our archers while letting them fire."
"Whoa... When did you come up with this?"
"Ages ago."
Zhuge Liang gave a wry smile and pointed north.
"When Xuzhou's people were massacred by Cao Cao without mercy. I wondered what if we'd had these then."
"......"
As always, the Xuzhou massacre was an oddly sore spot for us. Distant history for me or Sima Yi, but Zhuge Liang had lived through it. And now, with Sima Yi serving under Cao Cao, things were even messier.
"Liang..."
"I still hate Cao Cao."
Zhuge Liang spoke calmly.
"......But I get it a little now. If Uncle Liu Biao brutally killed you, I'd want to burn down all of Jingzhou, not just him."
"Liang?"
"Just saying. What Cao Cao did was wrong and insane, and I have zero intention of serving her... But people change as they live."
She tapped her feather fan against her palm.
"......You don't have to go serve her just because Sima Yi did."
"Thanks for the thought. Hehe, I wasn't planning on heading to Heodo anyway."
Zhuge Liang stepped close and nestled into my arms.
"I'll always be by your side, dear husband."
"......Liang, I appreciate the words, but..."
I pointed beyond the slit.
"They've come."
"......Tactless fools."
I nodded instinctively at Zhuge Liang's icy tone. We'd had the perfect mood for a quick moment, staring into each other's eyes, but these clueless bandits ruined it. Time to grab bows.
"To your positions! Ready to fire!!"
Thump, thump, thump.
Drums rolled, and soldiers rushed onto the firing platforms. They assumed stable stances, aiming their held items forward...
"What's this?"
"Something I've wanted to make for ages. Dear husband, what's the biggest risk of an archer's walkway?"
"......Getting overwhelmed and surrounded by sheer numbers?"
"Exactly. It's not a stone fortress—just wooden fences. Not enough to stake our lives on. So the soldiers here are..."
Zhuge Liang pointed below to countless lives.
Horses. Over a hundred cavalry mounts lined up in perfect ranks.
And where were the riders? Right beside me. Holding unusual bows unlike standard ones—they were the mounted archers.
"These are specialist cavalry trainers. Even with general training, cavalry mastering archery like infantry isn't easy, right?"
Zhuge Liang picked up the bow a soldier had brought for her, claiming it as hers.
"So I tweaked the design a bit. Even a weak woman like me can fire it easily—anyone who understands the mechanism can."
"......A crossbow?"
"Not for stones, so not quite... Hmm. If we name it..."
Zhuge Liang aimed through the slit.
"Yuanrong Crossbow—Mark One."
"Mark One? The first?"
"Yes. Right now it loads three arrows like this."
Roooar!!
Bandit cheers echoed from afar. Zhuge Liang calmly poked the Yuanrong Crossbow out the wall.
"But later, ten at a time."
"Fire at will!!"
Twang!!
The body released, and three loaded arrows fired simultaneously.
"Oh..."
The cheers faltered. I swallowed hard at Zhuge Liang's shot. Three arrows per volley? Theoretically, drop three enemies at once. Range shorter than a regular bow, but flying straight downward? Devastating power.
"Dear husband."
Zhuge Liang handed me the Yuanrong Crossbow. I'd barely tugged, and three arrows were already nocked.
"Want to try?"
"......"
Whoosh, whoosh.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
"......Like autumn leaves in the wind."
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
"Die, you traitorous scum."
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh