Chapter 67

Chapter 67: First Battle (1)

Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) entangling ground; (3) temporizing ground; (4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.

Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called accessible.

Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called entangling.

When the position is such that neither side gain by making the first move, it is called temporizing

ground.

With regard to narrow passes, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.

With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.

If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage. -Sun Tzu, Art of War

Meeting at the plains of Jiangxi, an accessible ground, there are three units that the Wulin Alliance deployed. The White Dragon Troupe is composed of martial artists from the Southern Edge Sect, the Pearl Warrior Unit of the Jin Family and the Blue Swordsman of the Gongdong Monastery.

"Are you sure about their numbers?" Asked the Commander; The Thundering Fist Hwangbin.

"Yes, commander, our group confirmed it." His aide; the leader of the Spy Unit, answered.

He has been here for three weeks organizing the unruly forces of Jiangxi Province. Since the three forces were usually at each other's throat they were hard to cooperate with, if not for the command of the Great Leader himself the three forces wouldn't have gathered.

Before the battle a spy group was sent to scout the movement of Demon Cult, and by their movement the Cult was still a month away from them.

"I don't know… there's something off… I don't know where to put it but there's something off…" Hwangbin muttered. The Leader of the Spy Unit tilted his head in confusion and asked.

"What is it that is bothering you, commander?" He asked.

"We have six hundred warriors while the cult only has two hundred. In terms of numbers we have a numerical advantage. And we have the ground advantage too."

"Sigh… I don't know…." Hwangbin answered.

"Call the three Unit Leaders." He commanded. He wants to meet them to check up on them to ease his uneasiness. The latter nodded before calling in the three Unit Leaders.

The three unit leader was Ji-hoon Kim of the Southern Edge Sect, leading the White Dragon Troupe. Jin-soo Park of the Jin Family leading the Pearl Warrior Unit and finally Min-seok Lee of the Gongdong Monastery leading the Blue Swordsman.

"Commander." The three greeted with their cupped hands. Although the three were in the same army there was tension between the three of them. Each of them was giving the other the dirty eye.

Seeing this Hwangbin can't help but curse inside his mind but he didn't let his dissatisfaction show outside since this would put the army in further chaos if they were to learn that their Commander was unsatisfied. He must not be weak, a weak commander is not a good commander.

"Give me the status of each of your units and the completion task I have given." Hwangbin commanded with a stern tone.

"The White Dragon Troupe is in optimal condition. We have also secured supplies from the nearby merchant groups, so our food is sure to not run out before and after our clash against the Demon Cult." Replied Ji-hoon Kim of the Southern Edge Sect. They were given the task of securing supplies from the nearby merchant groups since they have a good relationship with them due to them conducting many escort business with them.

Almost all of the merchant group Jiangxi goes to Southern Edge Sect when they are delivering goods, to have them escort them towards their destination. Since many bandits are always on the road, merchant groups are always in danger on the road during transportation of goods, so in order to protect themselves from pirates and bandits they acquire service from the Southern Edge Sect to protect them during delivery. Thus the result of their good relationship.

"That's good Unit Leader Ji-hoon." Compliment Hwangbin.

"And what about your unit, Unit Leader Jin-soo?" He asked sternly looking at Jin-soo Park. When Hwangbin's gaze fell on him, he sported a confident smile and answered.

"Two hundred spearmen of the Jin Family all in top condition ready to fight. As for the weapons, they are all secured, fresh from the forge."

As for the Jin Family. They are known as great spearmen and blacksmiths of Jiangxi, that's why the task of securing weapons was given to them.

"Stats." Said Hwangbin.

"Four hundred swords, two hundred spears, one hundred bows, and one thousand arrows." Replied Jin-soo with a confident smile.

"Great job Unit Leader Jin-soo." He complimented once again.

"Don't mention it, Commander." Jin-soo replied.

And finally Hwangbin looked at the last unit leader. The ascetic of Gongdong Monastery.

"And finally, Unit Leader Min-seok." He looked at the last man wearing a blue ascetic robe and asked.

"All two hundred Blue Swordsmen are in great condition. As for the towns we are going to march through, they have all given their consent." In order for them to make a smooth march towards their destination they are going to have to pass through dozens of towns, of course many people would be unsettled if they see a six hundred army filled with martial artist march through their town so the Gongdong Monastery was given the task to go through every town they were going to pass through and inform them of their arrival to not startle them and commit a mistake.

Since the Gongdong Monastery force was composed of Ascetic they are held in high regard by the common people, so they are the one given the task to negotiate with the common people.

After hearing everyone's good news he heaved a sigh of relief. This eased him a lot and made him feel better.

"Good Job everyone. I want all of you to rest a bit, the Cult's force is still a month away and we have a lot of time to spare. Loosen up the soldiers so that they can be more productive when the enemy nears."

If the soldiers were not given any rest within the time period before the clash they will be tense all throughout the month meaning they could be stressed a lot affecting their mental state before war. Which is a catastrophe so Hwangbin decided since the Cult's force was still away they still have time to rest.

"Dismiss." He commanded and everyone left the tent with a smile, that included the leader of the Spy Unit.

"I'll go and meet up with the rest of my unit, commander" He said to Hwangbin.

"Alright." Hwangbin allowed him.

Strangely enough the Spy Unit Leader didn't head to the quarter of the Spy Unit instead he headed to the forest nearby the camp and hid in the shadows of one of the trees.

Then he pulled the edge of his face removing a skin like mask. The face revealed an unfamiliar face, this was not the true Spy Unit Leader. No, he was not, because this man is the Supreme Sovereign of the Sovereign Dominion's Sky Demon Order, Cheon Mujin.

"Hehe, those fools, they are all relaxed. They do not know that everyone in the Spy Unit is dead. They do not know that my army is just three days away, not a month." He snickered and laughed to himself.

"Oops I need to apply glue to these masks again."

*****

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