On the last day of the fourth month, Hua Kai, Han Jinsheng, and Tang Lei set off on their journey to the north.
This time, they planned to enter Yiqu from the east of Qin, then from Yiqu to Xiaoyue, and finally from the southwest of Xiongnu.
Although this would increase the journey by about 1000 miles, most of the roads were flat and spacious. With three horses each, they could travel 1000 miles in less than a day.
With two divine chariots and seven BMW, Hua Kai traveled 1400 miles on the first day and entered Qu County, which was in the north of Wei.
Perhaps it was because the north was close to the grassland, Hua Kai felt that the Wei State lacked the prosperity of the Handan State of the Zhao State and had the murderous aura of a warrior. Actually, Hua Kai had thought of this. After all, the Wei State was the neighbor of the Qin State!
Qin was the most powerful country in the world. Hua Kai had read about Qin in books that its soldiers were greedy for military exploits and were not afraid of death. Usually, three to five of them would fight to the death and after they won, they would cut off the head of the loser.
These words were derogatory. Scholars all over the world did not like Qin's cruel methods. They said that Qin was a nomad from the north and that the five elements were guiding the powerful countries in the central plains to fight against Qin.
Although Qin was the most powerful country in the world, it was not vast. In the north was Yiqu, in the east was Wei, in the south was Chu, and in the west were Ba, Shu, and Qiang.
None of the countries he faced were weak. Moreover, Qin had always been at war with these countries.
Yiqu was a semi-nomad and could be said to be the most powerful force in the grassland. Yiqu had a population of more than three million, more than three times that of Qi and one million more than the population of the entire Qingzhou.
Chu was the second most powerful country in the world, and Wei was one of the seven. In addition, Qiang, Ba, and Shu were in the top 20 countries in terms of combat power. Qin could only focus on its own combat power. Its days were the most difficult of all the countries.
Two days later, the three of them arrived at Gaolu City, which was one of the closest cities to Qin. The city walls were tall and majestic, with a height of more than 12 meters. This was already the standard construction of an impregnable pass.
The armored Wei soldiers on the city walls were constantly patrolling. When they saw Hua Kai and the others, they asked about their origins and collected the entrance fee before allowing them to enter the city.
In the city, Hua Kai saw that the people here wore leather armor. The streets were filled with various armor workshops and some ordinary wooden weapon workshops. There were about 10,000 people in the city, but Hua Kai saw close to 10 armor workshops.
From this, Hua Kai could see how seriously the Wei State was on guard against the Qin State. He believed that the Chu State, the Ba State, and the Shu State were the same. The war between the Qin State and the Yiqu State had never stopped for decades. The power of the Qin State had been consumed all the time. What Hua Kai was most worried about now was that if the Wei State, the Yiqu State, the Qiang State, and the Shu State were unable to suppress the development of the Qin State one day, giving the Qin State a chance to accumulate power. If the Qin State wanted to take revenge on the surrounding countries for years, who could stop it?
On the 4th of May, Hua Kai entered Qin's territory for the first time.
Compared to Wei's obvious war preparations, Qin's territory seemed very peaceful.
Qin had built many villages on the roads. Many people were planting food outside the villages. They were not afraid of being attacked by wild beasts.
Hua Kai struck up a conversation with the people of Qin. The people here were very friendly, completely contrary to the teacher's description of Qin's ferocious attitude of cutting off people's heads.
Most of the people here were old people and women. Hua Kai did not see many strong young people. After asking, he found out that their men had all gone to the battlefield.
A village full of women, old people, and children. If it was in Qi, this village would not be able to survive a winter.
However, every winter, the king of Qin would organize soldiers to clean up wild beasts in all areas of the country. This allowed the people to plant their crops outside the city without being afraid of being attacked by wild beasts.
What did it mean to plant their crops outside the city walls?
It meant that the entire Qin had basically driven all the wild beasts out of the areas where the people gathered. The wild beasts bred very quickly. How could they be cleaned up?
How could those powerful beasts resist?
These were not easy to solve in a short period of time. They needed to be cleaned up over a long period of time. The Foundation Establishment cultivators of the aristocratic families of Qin dared to fight with the beasts.
Walking into Qin gave him a different feeling. The people here lived relatively free lives. They all paid attention to their inner world.
The women were the main force in farming. Their men had all gone to the battlefield, but they did not seem to be worried at all. It was as if their men dying on the battlefield was a very normal thing.
Hua Kai went all the way to Changwu County of Qin. The mountains here were steep and it was about 600 miles away from the capital of Qin, Xianyang City. However, there were many mountains in the Guanzhong region. It would take at least 7 or 8 days to get to Xianyang City.
Changwu County had a population of less than 5,000. It was one of the northernmost cities of Qin.
Hua Kai came to Changwu County. Although the people here lived a poor life, they were very united.
There weren't many manors in Changwu County, only the county yamen looked decent. This rumored number one country in the country paled in comparison to Guang County, and there weren't any people on the streets wearing brocades either.
There seemed to be no aristocratic families in this county. Hua Kai had heard of no more than 10 aristocratic families in Guang County. The aristocratic families of Qin were always inconspicuous.
Arriving at an inn, Hua Kai gave the innkeeper 2 taels of gold and asked him to feed the nine horses.
After eating a meal of mutton noodles, he went to the pharmacy in Changwu County and asked if they had any spiritual herbs for sale. He did not expect that the innkeeper would report him to the patrolling guards.
"Young master, from your attire, you don't look like someone from Qin. Our country prohibits the sale of spiritual herbs. All spiritual herbs must be sent to Xianyang City to be refined into pills and sent to the frontlines. Since you did not do it on purpose, I will not punish you." A patrol captain brought a few soldiers and said to Hua Kai.
This was the first time that Hua Kai had heard of a country that could send all the elixirs to the capital to be refined. Just thinking about it made him afraid. With so many elixirs in the Qin Dynasty, how many powerful people could they cultivate? Thinking about how there were not many aristocratic families in the Qin Dynasty, Hua Kai began to admire the Qin Emperor.
After resting for a day in Changwu County, the three of them continued north. Once they left Changqing Pass, they would be in the territory of Yiqu Country. The mountains here stretched for hundreds of kilometers. Here, they could see the sturdy relay stations built by the two countries. Both countries had declared their sovereignty over this area and had fought for decades without any results.
In just half a day, Hua Kai had traveled more than 200 kilometers on his horse. Although the mountain roads here were better than those in Taishan County, the horses could not run at all. The three of them could only ride slowly.
Along the way, they saw four relay stations belonging to the Qin Country. After climbing over a mountain, Hua Kai saw a battle in front of him. Looking closely, it was the soldiers of Yiqu Country attacking the relay station of the Qin Country.
There were about 500 soldiers of Yiqu Country. They were all riding tall horses and wearing armor. They slowly approached the relay station of the Qin Country.
Hua Kai saw that the walls of the relay station were made of yellow soil. It was completely unable to withstand the attack of the Yiqu Country's cavalry. The people in the relay station were basically finished, unless they had many Qi Realm warriors.
(Why was it made of yellow soil?
Because there was a lack of stone resources in the yellow soil plateau. Therefore, the walls were made of yellow soil.)
The Yiqu Country's soldiers quickly broke through the yellow soil wall of the relay station. Many of the cavalry charged through the gap in the relay station. Hua Kai turned his head and did not look there. He, Han Jinsheng and Tang Lei tried their best to stay away from the battlefield. It would not be good if they caused unnecessary trouble.
Unexpectedly, when Hua Kai thought that the relay station would definitely be breached, the cavalrymen who had broken into the relay station began to retreat. Some of the cavalrymen who were too slow were caught up and killed by the Qin soldiers behind them. Hua Kai saw a group of Qin soldiers wearing heavy armor made of fish scales.
These soldiers were in groups of three to five and charged towards the nearest Yiqu Country's soldiers. Most of these soldiers were in the Initial Yuan Realm. Occasionally, he saw a few Qin captains who were in the Qi Transformation Realm.
A few Yiqu Country's cavalry charged towards three Qin soldiers. One of the Qin soldiers' eyes was filled with hatred. He held a spear in his hand and stabbed towards one of the cavalry. The spear pierced through the cavalry's chest. The cavalry fell off his horse. The other Yiqu Country's cavalry raised their spears and charged towards this soldier.
This Qin soldier saw that the enemy was approaching him. He threw away the spear in his hand and quickly took out a short knife from his waist. He jumped up but was hit by a galloping horse.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and hugged the horse's neck. The short knife stabbed into the horse's neck. The Yiqu Country's cavalry's spear pierced through his chest. Both of them fell to the ground at the same time. Just like this, the Yiqu Country lost two Initial Yuan Realm soldiers. Not only did the Qin Country prevent the Yiqu Country's soldiers from charging into their ranks, they also exchanged one for two.
All three of them were injured. As for who would survive after the battle, that was a matter for the future. At least for now, the Qin Country used an ordinary Initial Yuan Realm spearman to exchange for two Initial Yuan Realm cavalry soldiers. This was a huge profit.
Hua Kai was shocked by the Qin Country's soldiers' strategy of only seeking results.
The Qin Country only had 300 soldiers. Among them, there were no more than 50 elites. Yet, they were able to chase after the Yiqu Country's cavalry. This was simply unimaginable.
Hua Kai watched from afar. After the Yiqu Country's cavalry had all retreated, Hua Kai saw that there were only 100 Yiqu Country's corpses outside the relay station. However, there were close to 200 Qin Country's corpses. Out of the 50 elites of the Qin Country, only a dozen survived. They cheered in victory.
"This should be the Qin Country's elite soldiers!
Legend has it that the Qin Country's elite soldiers are valiant and do not fear death. Today, I can see that the rumors are true. Under such circumstances, they were able to turn defeat into victory. This is simply unimaginable. "Hua Kai seemed to be talking to Han Jinsheng and Tang Lei, but also seemed to be talking to himself.
The Qin Country claimed to have "300,000 elite soldiers." If they really had 300,000 elite soldiers with such strength, then who in the world would be able to stop them?
As Hua Kai was thinking, he saw the dozen Qin Country's elite soldiers chasing after them with weapons. This was the relay station area of the Qin Country. Hua Kai did not want to have a conflict with the Qin Country. He brought Han Jinsheng and Tang Lei and quickened their horse stance. Soon, they broke away from the pursuit of the Qin Country's soldiers.