Conferred Gods: Start with a Phoenix clone

Chapter 414: Battle between Han and Qi
The main forces of Qi and Han formally lined up on the north bank of the Si River, with flags waving and murderous intent in the air.

The Han State flew the fiery red flag of "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" and the large flag with the Chinese character "Han". The generals each flew the battle flag with their own surname. Deng Xiu and Deng Chanyu flew the large high-ranking banner with a red background and gold pattern, and the Chinese character "Deng" surrounded by the sun, moon and stars.

The soldiers wore dark red armor, with over 60% wearing it. This armor was essentially a scaled-down version of infantry armor. Wearing such heavy armor was due to the exceptional physical fitness of ordinary people in the prehistoric world. A normal soldier, let alone possessing so much armor, wouldn't even be able to bear the weight of dozens of kilograms. They couldn't even walk, so how could they fight? Among the Southern Song army of over ten thousand soldiers, only a few hundred were "fit enough to wear armor."

Now the physical fitness of the Han soldiers is much higher than that of the Southern Song Dynasty. The only shortcoming is that they do not have enough armor. If they can survive for another two years, the armor rate will be almost over 80%.

When Deng Chanyu whispered, "A group of mutes came from the south, and a group of lamas came from the north," the Han army was like a cloud of fire, aggressive like fire and immovable like a mountain. They all crossed the Si River, stood quietly on the river bank, and then began to form a battle line.

Most of the troops brought in this Northern Expedition were professional soldiers who originally belonged to the Shang Dynasty.

Initially, Deng Jiugong had an army of 200,000 at Sanshan Pass. Excluding auxiliary troops, there were more than 100,000 elite soldiers. Later, Huang Feihu, Su Hu, Li Jing, Zhang Guifang, and the northern generals went south and successively took away more than 300,000 regular troops of the Shang Dynasty.

The Shang Dynasty was extremely wealthy, but during its heyday, it had only about 600,000 to 700,000 veteran soldiers who had undergone rigorous training, had been freed from work, and had rich battlefield experience. Almost half of them were taken away by the Han State at once.

No matter whether one is born as a farmer or a merchant, as long as he fights a few battles on the battlefield, he will eventually become a veteran. The northern princes fight every day, and the gap between new recruits and veterans will eventually be narrowed. However, in this process of survival of the fittest, the death rate is very high.

Deng Chanyu called Biaozi back. He was wearing a light blue Taoist robe and riding on a horse. He looked at the group of "lamas" in the north who were waving the blue dragon flag, and felt a little contempt in his heart.

The community-style organizational model of Qi State, with one leader and two hundred princes, is too inefficient.

The battle formation was slow and chaotic. You sent out 300 men and I sent out 500 men among the 200 princes. Finally, with the addition of Jiang Huanchu's 20,000 troops as the main force, we formed an army of more than 100,000. This led to an extremely chaotic command system.

Deng Chanyu looked up and saw more than ten princes in gorgeous clothes praying to the sky. Then they took out something similar to a pottery jar and put something into it one by one.

Daji was worried that her two brothers, who were so picky about food, would be in danger, so she rushed from Mount Emei to help them overnight.

She was a little confused by the actions of the northern princes, so she asked Deng Chanyu, "What are those guys doing?"

Deng Chanyu was a little speechless. Who said China wasn't democratic? This was very democratic. These nobles voted for the vanguard in front of the two armies, choosing who would go first and who would go last!
“They’re supposed to be voting.”

Daji's eyes were full of surprise. Isn't it too late to vote now?
Deng Chanyu sighed, "It's okay. The letter of challenge stipulates that the battle will officially begin at 3:30 am. There's still time."

Wars these days are still very polite, with a set of established rules that prohibit sneak attacks before the time agreed upon in the declaration of war.

When the Han State crossed the Si River, the Qi State would not attack them halfway across the river, so they could cross the river with confidence.

Now that the enemy is forming a battle array, the Han Kingdom will not rush over and chop them down while shouting the slogan "waaaaagh".

This was also very obvious during the war between Zhou and Shang.

Whenever Jiang Ziya couldn't defeat the Jiejiao immortals, he would immediately hang up a banner refusing to fight. This broken wooden sign seemed to create some powerful magical barrier; as soon as it was hung, the Jiejiao would immediately cease their attacks. The reason for this was that this was still an age of respect for etiquette, both in life and on the battlefield. Anyone who broke the rules would be despised by all. At 2:30 am, the Qi army was finally in formation. The Han army had already taken off their armor and rested for a while. Seeing that they had only 15 minutes left, they stood up calmly, facing each other in pairs, helping each other put on their armor. The cavalry and charioteers fed their horses some more fodder, preparing for the next battle.

The surrounding terrain is extremely open, so this is a fair and open field battle between soldiers and generals, with no room for strategy.

The generals of the Han State lined up in a row, and the brave general Wei Ben was ready to take the lead.

As if they felt there was still some time, the veteran general Lu Xiong from Qi State rode out on his horse, followed by a man and a woman, two Taoist priests in strange costumes.

Lu Xiong's dress is very normal, and he can be considered a standard military general of this era.

The strong man on his left is Huanxitian, and the charming woman on his right is Benzaitian.

Joyful God is the future Joyful Buddha. Now this Asura has an ugly face, with his chest exposed. There is a murderous look on the left half of his face, and a lustful look on the right half of his face. He looks very indecent.

This person was at the Xuanxian realm before. After joining the Western Religion, he changed his cultivation method and regressed from the late Xuanxian stage to the middle Xuanxian stage. However, his magic power was much more condensed than before. He held a vajra in his hand, which was very characteristic of the Western Religion. He had a body of copper skin and iron bones, and seemed to have amazing defense.

Benzaiten is a female Asura with beautiful appearance and graceful figure. Every time she moves her hands and feet, she exudes fragrance, showing her charm. Behind her, misty water vapor appears faintly, and she is obviously a Taoist who controls water magic.

Lu Xiong came to the front of the two armies and started to take advantage of his seniority.

"My dear nephew Deng, you have no idea of ​​weather and geography. You have invaded our territory without any reason, and yet you dare to shout like that? You must know that our king has sent a million soldiers today, and they will arrive at any moment. When we do, we will destroy you all and turn you into dust."

The voice of Qi's veteran general Lu Xiong was spread by Bian Caitian's magic. The veteran's tone was full of ease, and he laughed as if no one was around. It seemed that the Han army had fallen into his ambush and would soon be surrounded by Qi's "million-strong army."

Deng Xiu glanced at his sister. He was a practical man and didn't like this kind of nonsense before the battle. He always felt that such nonsense was completely meaningless.

Deng Chanyu rolled her eyes and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

If an old man dares to say a few words, there is no reason why they shouldn’t dare.

She whispered a few words to Deng Xiu.

Deng Xiu was extremely embarrassed, but at this time he could only laugh awkwardly.

"Hahahaha, old general, you've lived to be seventy-six. What's the weather like? What's the geography like? Little do you know that we are fighting against the rebels with the will of heaven and the will of the people. These hundred thousand soldiers and horses you have hastily assembled will be destroyed in three drum beats."

The veteran general opposite him was furious. "The Shang King is unjust, the world is in chaos, and the people are in dire straits. Is this the will of heaven that Your Highness speaks of?"

(End of this chapter)