The Bodyguard King's CEO Wife-Chapter 1391: The Wolf Clan’s Provocation

The group hurried along as quickly as possible, finally arriving at the foot of the Great Wall before dawn. Ye Shikai estimated that at this time of year, it would be an hour before dawn. They had arrived ahead of schedule.

In the darkness, Ye Shikai could barely make out the full view of the battlefield. This section of the Great Wall was built atop rugged mountains, naturally advantageous in terrain. Now, with sturdy walls and countless soldiers armed with excellent weapons, it wouldn’t be easy for the Wolf Clan to launch an attack.

Tonight, there was no moon. Ye Shikai could only look into the distance with the torches lit on the Great Wall. The Wolf Clan hadn’t attacked, instead camping ten miles outside the Great Wall’s defenses. To the naked eye, it was hard to see clearly, but to have the entire flat land filled densely with camps was quite a "spectacle." Ten miles was a risky distance; the Wolf Clan’s cavalry could attack in the blink of an eye, and even foot soldiers wouldn’t take long to charge over. Meng Tian made the correct decision by having the army gathered. If they waited for the Wolf Clan to invade before heading out, it would be too late. Furthermore, such a long defensive line could collapse if a single "point" failed.

"Chiliarch, there’s no battle happening yet, but you’ve urgently called over two hundred thousand soldiers. Isn’t this too much trouble?" Man Cang was rather disgruntled, initially thinking they were already in combat, only to find that the Wolf Clan was taking a snooze outside the Great Wall.

"You big lug, if the Wolf Clan attacked the city now, could you fly over from Ji County?" Xue San took the chance to jest with Man Cang. In terms of courage in battle and martial skills, the Wei Wu Zuo were undoubtedly the best in the world, but as for command and strategy, Man Cang was lacking. Of course, he was once a warrior, and a warrior only needed to obey; the less one thought, the higher the obedience.

"You kid, do you believe I won’t beat you right now?" Man Cang threatened to move, but Ye Shikai quickly stopped him.

"This is a battlefield. What are you trying to do? Stand down and take care of your men."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"General Meng has ordered the troops to wait here, no noise," shouted a mounted soldier as he sped by, passing on the command. In ancient times, without phones or texts, transmitting orders to over two hundred thousand soldiers required mounted messengers.

Not long after, the sky began to brighten—dawn was approaching. Ye Shikai sensed the light, and his view broadened significantly. The troops, having not slept all night and traveled dozens of miles, appeared quite fatigued. Some leaned on long spears, squinting, while others sat directly on the ground to rest.

"Rest here for a while. I’ll go up and take a look," Ye Shikai ordered, and with that, he took his sword and ascended the Great Wall. With the sky clear, Ye Shikai could clearly see the densely-packed Wolf Clan camps, thousands of warhorses running on the prairie, and the Wolf Clan treating everything outside the Great Wall as their racetrack, even resting within ten miles of the defensive line.

"They’re provoking us," Ye Shikai understood the intentions of the Wolf Clan. At such a close distance, daring to entertain so brazenly was clearly sending a signal to the Qin Army—they weren’t worried about the Qin Army engaging them. In other words, they were certain the Qin Army wouldn’t dare to come out, hence their arrogance.

The Great Wall, built on mountain peaks, was an unparalleled defensive barrier. Any commander knew the importance of terrain; timing was less crucial than the terrain. No commander would willingly abandon such sturdy walls, forsake their own advantage, and confront the plains where the Wolf Clan cavalry excelled at wild warfare and charges. This would be to attack enemy strengths with one’s own weaknesses.

The purpose of the Great Wall’s construction was to prevent Wolf Clan invasions—its initial and most basic goal. The Wolf Clan had large numbers, primarily cavalry, coming without trace but able to retreat entirely even if defeated. Though they might retreat a thousand miles, with their mobility, they could return in a day and night.

Thus, occupying their territory had little impact. Such vast land, even if filled with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, wouldn’t matter once they spread out. It would offer the Wolf Clan opportunities for defeat one by one. Essentially, the Wolf Clan tactics were "advance if you retreat, retreat if you advance; if defeated, escape easily; if victorious, send tens of thousands of cavalry to chase the enemy." Against such foes, the only resolution was to build the Great Wall and block their entry into the Central Plains.

Ye Shikai was uncertain if Meng Tian would lead the army to strike the Wolf Clan here, but as a renowned general, he likely had a plan.

A camp barrack could probably house over ten soldiers. Ye Shikai also estimated the number of warhorses, concluding there could be more than 150,000 there, with seventy percent being cavalry. To rashly deploy an array for battle, if defeated, tens of thousands of soldiers couldn’t all rush back into the city at once, leading to massacre.

"Old Ye, have you seen enough from up there?" came a call from Shangguan Jian below. Cooks had already delivered breakfast, and with tens of thousands of soldiers here, many laborers had brought food from Ji County to the foot of the Great Wall.

Ye Shikai took a flatbread and ate heartily. There was rice porridge too—the provisions seemed decent. But if they crossed the Great Wall, the situation might be different.

"Old Ye, did you see anything up there? Is the Wolf Clan preparing to attack?" asked Shangguan Jian, curious while eating.

"If war was imminent, could we still peacefully enjoy breakfast here?" Ye Shikai replied, "They’re all outside galloping around. I’m unsure what they intend to do."

"Isn’t our effort wasted if they don’t leave? If they won’t leave, we can’t either," Man Cang said excitedly. With the Wolf Clan stirring trouble outside, they couldn’t leave the city to fight.

"General Meng brought us here but won’t let us fight. What’s the reasoning behind that?"

"The Wolf Clan traveled thousands of miles with so many people, and food is inherently scarce here. They can’t stay forever; the horses might graze, but people will starve first," Ye Shikai explained.

"Old Ye makes sense. These Wolf Clan members have rabbit tails; they won’t last long."

"As the Wolf Clan’s morale is strong now, if I’m not mistaken, General Meng wants to wait till their supplies run low and then launch a decisive attack."

"That makes sense. So, brothers, eat well and rest up before fighting the enemy."