Chapter 128: Calm Before the Battle
Ning Shu walked along the top of the majestic city wall and looked down at the corpses hung below. Then, she shifted her gaze towards the distance. Beyond the vast prairie were snowy mountains. This was the magnificence that could be witnessed at the border.
Cai Sang, who was in armor, followed behind Ning Shu and asked, “Princess, the people of North Mongolia has such vast lands, so why do they still insist on stealing our things?”
“Stealing can become addictive, and it is so easy to reap without sowing. Tartars aren’t people that can bring themselves to endure the hardships of sowing and nurturing,” said Ning Shu mildly.
Perhaps it was because He Lianying had gotten injured, for no Tartars came to disturb the border lately. Every day, other than practice martial arts, Ning Shu would only practice martial arts while thinking about ways to defeat the Tartars’ cavalry.
The strongest force the Tartars had was their cavalry. Their horses and their people both had very strong physiques, so she had to come up with a way to deal with them. There was no way they could really use a hundred people’s lives to exchange for the life of one North Mongolian Tartar. If they did that, Ning Shu’s heart would crumble. It’d practically be throwing lives down the drain.
There was definitely some other way.
As Ning Shu walked along the city wall leisurely, she bumped into Duan Xinghui. Duan Xinghui came up and cupped his fist in salute. “This general greets Princess.”
Ning Shu gave a cold ‘en’ in reply and walked past him. Duan Xinghui saw that Princess Jiahui didn’t even bother to glance at him and stop himself from asking, “Princess Jiahui, will you leave with the Second Prince of North Mongolia?”
Ning Shu stopped walked and turned around to look towards Duan Xinghui with a frown. “Bodyguard Duan, this matter doesn’t seem to have anything to do with you? Also, it’s not your place to question the matters between this princess and the second prince of North Mongolia. If you dare to spread this sort of rumor in the military, this princess won’t let you off!”
Duan Xinghui bowed slightly and said, “This general understands.”
Ning Shu gave a cold humph and returned to the barracks with Cai Sang.
The Tartars specialized in looting, so their infantry couldn’t compare with their cavalry at all.
Large snowflakes drifted down from the sky like light feathers. In less than a day, everything was blanketed with snow.
Shen Feng’s expression became very serious. It was typical for sheeps and cows to freeze to death in this type of weather, and that was the time Tartars usually came to plunder. He sent a lot of elite soldiers out to scout the areas.
Ning Shu still hadn’t come up with a way to deal with the cavalry, but the most effective way was to just use bows and arrows to shoot the Tartars to death.
Shen Feng wasn’t young anymore and didn’t have much confidence in being able to obtain a victory. Hence, his mindset was not to achieve victory, but to avoid mistakes and protect the border.
Meanwhile, Ning Shu wanted to inflict serious damage on the Tartars, so she gave Shen Feng the suggestion of putting a lot of bows and arrows on the city wall.
Shen Feng nodded in response to her suggestions and arranged for it to happen. Duan Xinghui had been following Shen Feng’s side this entire time and helping with all sorts of things. Now that a huge battle was on the brink of starting, Duan Xinghui felt that he should try to comfort Ning Shu. “Princess, in reality, we only have to protect the city walls for it to count as our victory.”
Ning Shu was made pretty speechless. What did Duan Xinghui mean by telling her this?
Ning Shu was also making preparations for the incoming battle.
“Princess, please let us come along this time.” Cai San entreated Ning Shu. “All of them want to go as well.”
The moment Ning Shu stepped out of her tent, she saw the female army standing in neat rows in front of her. These women were not very beautiful and did not have alluring figures, but no man could compare with the imposing aura they possessed.
Their expressions were serious. When they saw Ning Shu come out, all of them knelt down on one knee. “Greetings, Left Vanguard.”
In response, Ning Shu shouted, “Rise! In a while, there will be a large battle. Are you scared?”
“We’re not scared!” The voices of the women were not as low as those of men, so when they mixed it made a very melodious sound.
“From now on, start practicing with the bow and arrow. When shooting a bow, you should pay particular attention to arm strength. A crossbow is the best way to defeat Tartars, so start practicing now.”
Ning Shu pointed at the target. “Shoot towards the target.”
Ning Shu demonstrated, drawing the bow back and releasing the arrow towards the center of the target. The arrow shot off with so much force that it pierced straight through the heart of the target.