Warring States Odyssey

  After Li Mu left, Gao Yuan lay back on the bed and started thinking about what to do next. Although his mind was also in a mess at this time, it was a habit he had cultivated over the years to have a plan and direction for everything he did.

  Now that I am in 230 BC, the war of Qin's destruction of the six states is about to begin. From the perspective of historical development, Qin will destroy Han this year and Zhao next year. Should I follow history and defect to Qin or stay in Zhao and change the course of history? Although I'm not a historian, I know that at this time, Qin's overall national strength is the strongest among the seven warring states, and no other country, even if two or three countries join forces, can rival Qin. Can I, as a modern person familiar with history, change this course?

  Defect to the Qin state and join forces with the victor, of course, is the safest approach. Gao Yuan still remembers that in his previous life, there was a book where the protagonist hooked up with young Emperor Qin Shi Huang, and as a result, he became famous in the Qin state, with many wives and concubines.

  But this road seems easy, but the feasibility is not great. The current Qin Shi Huang is no longer a confused teenager, but an adult who has fully grasped the power of the Qin state. He also gathered a group of capable and elite civil and military officials under his command, all of whom are the best talents in this era. Simply put, the cake of the Qin state has been basically divided up, so even if one were to arrive at the Qin state, it would be difficult to have an opportunity to stand out.

  In addition, after Qin Shi Huang unified the six states, the situation also underwent a huge change. Later historians generally regarded Qin Shi Huang as a tyrant, mainly referring to the Qin Shi Huang after unifying the world, such as the Fengchan ceremony on Mount Tai, burning books and burying Confucians, building the Great Wall, and building the Epang Palace. Therefore, working under such an emperor is not a pleasant thing, and if things go wrong, you may even lose your life. Gao Yuan still vaguely remembers that the protagonist of that book finally left Qin State and went to the border to establish his own country.

  Now the highlands will not think of establishing their own country, they cannot go to Qin State, so they can only stay in Zhao State. Anyway, Zhao State can still hold on for more than two years now, and Li Mu seems to be quite good to himself, really treating himself as a star descending from heaven.

  Thinking of this, Gao Yuan couldn't help but smile wryly. This identity as a Star Descendant was both advantageous and disadvantageous to him. On the one hand, people in this era were very superstitious, and such an identity could indeed intimidate many people. If utilized properly, it would be a very beneficial condition. However, on the other hand, it could also easily bring great disaster upon himself, as being born with an unusual appearance was something that any ruler would be extremely wary of. As for how to make good use of his own identity, Gao Yuan had no idea at all. But from the current situation, at least Li Mu seemed to trust him unconditionally, so staying in Li Mu's large camp for now was still safe.

  The highlands soon thought of Li Mu's fate, and it can be said that the destruction of Zhao Guo is directly related to Li Mu. Because Li Mu was the only general in this era who could resist the Qin army's attack, if not for the fact that Zhao Guo fell into the Qin Guo's anti-espionage plot and killed Li Mu, destroying the Great Wall, Zhao Guo would at least be able to hold on for a while longer. So should he change this course of history and save Li Mu? Even if he couldn't save Zhao Guo, he could still fight for more time for himself.

  Gao Yuan had been thinking wildly for half a day, but still hadn't gotten anywhere. Just then, the tent flap opened and a soldier wearing armor but no helmet came in. He looked to be around 27 or 28 years old and was carrying a pile of clothes. "Mr. Gao, General has ordered me to bring you these clothes," he said, placing them on the small table. "I'll be waiting outside. If Mr. Gao needs anything else, just let me know." After speaking, he put down the clothes and retreated back out.

  Gao Yuan shook his head, it seemed that before he had a plan to return to his own body, he could only temporarily stay in Li Mu's camp for the time being. So Gao Yuan also got out of bed and dressed, although wearing ancient clothes was a bit awkward, but his own clothes were already tattered and couldn't be worn again, so he could only wear these clothes. However, Gao Yuan had short hair and didn't tie it up like people in this era, so even though he wore this set of clothes, he still looked somewhat out of place.

  He put on his clothes and walked out of the tent, only to find that it was already midday with the sun shining brightly in the sky. He found himself in a large military camp, with tens of thousands of tents like his own, each group consisting of several dozen tents, separated by war chariots, wooden fences, and horses, forming roads. Although it seemed chaotic, it was actually arranged according to some rules, but Gao Yuan couldn't figure out the underlying logic. From time to time, groups of soldiers patrolled back and forth in the camp, occasionally with a few warhorses galloping by.

  The small campsite where the yurt was located was roughly shaped like a "凵" character, with a large empty space in the middle. On the outside, there were twenty or so soldiers, some sitting and some lying down, with some wearing armor and others dressed casually, while several people had their upper bodies exposed. Around them were parked over ten warhorses, with some people sharpening swords, brushing horses, and adjusting their own armor, while a few people sat together in a circle, seemingly engaged in some unknown activity. In the middle of the empty space stood several large cauldrons, with firewood burning beneath them, emitting a thick, meaty aroma that wafted through the air. Several people were adding meat broth to the cauldrons.

  Gao Yuanzi observed that the helmet and armor style of Zhao's army were similar to those of Qin, but they wore red clothes, so it was easier to distinguish. The saddles and bridles of the war horses were also the same as what he saw yesterday, without stirrups, and the horseback only had a curved front end and a flat rear end.

  Gao Yuan came out, and the other soldiers also stopped what they were doing, staring at Gao Yuan as if he was a monster, making Gao Yuan's heart feel hairy. The soldier who had just brought clothes to Gao Yuan rushed over, smiling: "Mr. Gao, you're up, come have some food first." Then he turned his head and said to a small soldier: "Little Liu, go get Mr. Gao another bowl of meat soup and find some good meat."

  The soldier responded with a sound, picked up a large bowl, came to the edge of the pot to add soup, and then carried it in front of Gao Yuan.

  Gao Yuan nodded and said, "Thank you." He took over the large bowl, which was a ceramic bowl about the size of a small basin, filled to the brim with meat soup and several large pieces of beef.

  The soldier who had previously given clothes to Gao Yuan said, "Eat up, it's all thanks to Mr. Gao's good fortune that the general has ordered ten cows to be slaughtered today to treat the soldiers, so everyone gets to drink meat soup."

  Gao Yuan smiled and said, "How did I get lucky?"

  The soldier smiled and said, "Yesterday evening I followed General Zhang to see it clearly. Mr. Gao first descended from the sky with a large fireball, then single-handedly killed more than 200 Qin soldiers, which was too powerful. Moreover, we also obtained more than 30 Qin swords last night, and I got one of them. Mr. Gao probably doesn't remember me."

  The plateau also had some embarrassment, and said: "It was too dark last night, so I didn't see it. By the way, what is your surname and full name?"

  The soldier smiled and said: "Mr. Gao is too polite, how can I be called a great name? My name is Du Yi, now serving as a battalion commander under the general's command, Mr. Gao can just call me Little Du."

  Actually, Du Yi's age is absolutely older than Gao Yuan, so Gao Yuan would not call him Little Du. As they were talking, several soldiers also gathered around, one of them said: "Mr. Gao really killed more than 200 Qin soldiers alone last night?"

  Du Yidao said, "Is there still any doubt? I, General Zhang and General Zhao all saw it with our own eyes. The bodies of the Qin army were scattered all over the ground, severed hands and feet, and heads rolling everywhere."

  Because no matter how strong an individual's combat power is on the battlefield, it is ultimately limited. In a situation where the quality of both armies is roughly the same, if one person can kill more than a dozen enemy soldiers, they are already considered a strong warrior. Being able to achieve a hundred kills is rare and only characteristic of fierce generals. Stories about someone being able to take on thousands or millions alone, or charge into an enemy formation seven times and emerge unscathed, are just that - stories. Therefore, if there was someone who could single-handedly kill more than 200 enemy soldiers on the battlefield, it would be a miracle. In fact, at the beginning, Gao Yuan had only killed around a dozen Qin soldiers, which was already his limit.

  Gao Yuan smiled and said, "At that time, I also went all out, because if I didn't fight desperately, I would have died at the hands of the Qin army. Later, I was almost exhausted too. If it wasn't for General saving me, I probably wouldn't be alive either."

  The soldiers originally had some awe for the plateau, because a story about the plateau spread in the military camp that morning, which was mysterious and profound. However, after the conversation opened up, and since the plateau didn't have any airs or pretenses of being superior, the soldiers all relaxed and started asking questions left and right. Of course, most of them were related to the plateau, such as where it came from, how it wasn't burned in the big fireball, why it didn't die after falling from the sky, whether it would use magic, etc. The plateau was exhausted from responding, so it had no choice but to deceive and bluff its way through, half-truthfully and half-falsely, managing to deal with these soldiers.

  Of course, Gao Yuan also feared that he would lose his words, so he asked them many questions. It turned out that Zhao Jun was currently in a stalemate with Fan Wu and Qin Jun, Li Mu ordered strict defense of the camp, did not engage in battle with the Qin army, and practiced soldiers every day. Every three to five days, several cows were slaughtered to reward the soldiers. The two sides have been at a standstill here for more than three months. During this period, every morning, Li Mu personally directed the array method, trained the team to fight, and in the afternoon, he trained the personal qualities of the soldiers, which was the responsibility of mid-to-low-level military officers. Du Yi was a mid-level military officer.

  During the Warring States period, the military systems of various states were roughly the same. They were originally organized into units of five men as a squad, ten men as a company, and then divided into units of fifty men, one hundred men, five hundred men, and one thousand men in sequence. The names of officers at each level were also roughly the same, including Squad Leader, Company Commander, Battalion Commander, Army Lieutenant, Deputy General, and General. Du Yi was an Army Lieutenant, directly commanding 500 soldiers under him.