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Chapter 354

In the midst of this grave dilemma, Fang Heng found himself unable to eat or sleep well, and spent the New Year with a furrowed brow, unable to relax.

"Captain, you don\'t really need to worry too much about the Northern Frontier," Jiang Seven and Jiang Eight gathered around. "Before you came, life in the Northern Frontier still went on, didn\'t it?"

The brothers met this with unanimous contempt.

Life in the Northern Frontier certainly went on without Fang Heng, but since he arrived, he had saved so many lives, and killed so many Northern Nomads.

Aside from his illustrious military merits, the fact that he became captain of the Fifth Company at the age of fourteen meant he must have won some battles to be ashamed of.

If he were a few years older, he might even have become captain of the Third Battalion.

The fact that he was conflicted and worried meant that he truly cared about the people of the Northern Frontier.

"If only we could make the Northern Nomads apprehensive," Jiang One and the others helped brainstorm, "Even if we can\'t drive them back, as long as they are apprehensive and afraid, and fewer commoners are harmed, that would be enough."

But how could they make the Northern Nomads apprehensive?

Recalling the previous time, it was when Jiang Five and the others had hidden in the ox cart, posing as traveling merchants.

The same method certainly wouldn\'t work again. Now when the Northern Nomads saw ox carts with large merchants, they didn\'t dare intercept them easily, for fear that an ambush would emerge.

But this also showed indirectly that their tactic of impersonating ordinary people had worked, it made the Northern Nomads apprehensive.

Fang Heng pursed his lips, pondering what kind of suggestions his elder and younger brothers might offer if they were here.

Eldest Brother had the most steady mind, he would probably have the soldiers carry out a new ambush.

Fifth Brother had the most ingenious angle, he would probably find bait to make the Northern Nomads thoroughly convinced.

But what kind of bait could make the enemy completely convinced and completely undefended as they walked into it?

Fang Heng\'s gaze wandered as he vaguely saw two older women walking over, bamboo baskets hung over their arms containing half-finished clothes and some needle and thread.

They were survivors from the villages massacred by the Northern Nomads. Unwilling to leave this land yet unable to wield long blades, they could only follow along to help with the cooking and cutting meat and vegetables, and occasionally sew a few pieces of clothing.

With so many Northern Frontier soldiers, even just the Fifth Company had four or five hundred men, so the older women definitely could not sew clothes fast enough for everyone to wear. At times like these they preferred those they liked, who would then get new clothes.

Jiang Ba had a baby face and was missing a finger, so the older women were especially fond of him.

He had come over now because his clothes were half done, worried they might not fit him well, so he specifically came to try them on.

"That brat Jiang Ba has a mouth smeared with honey, so the older women dote on him so much to always sew clothes for him," Jiang Liu said sourly on the side.

The others nodded, scheming to borrow the clothes from the brat later to try on themselves.

Even if they didn\'t fit, they had to get a good feel.

Sitting in the main general\'s seat, Fang Heng suddenly felt something drift by that he grabbed tightly.

Clothes, older women, villages, survivors.

He suddenly stood up, every thought opened up. "I\'ve got it!"

The Northern Nomads loved to raid villages, loved to slaughter commoners of Da Yu who were unable to fight back. Whenever they caught sight of smoke they would be excited, awaiting their spoils of war.

If the Da Yu soldiers could disguise themselves as traveling merchants, why couldn\'t they disguise themselves as a village?

As long as the Northern Nomads believed it, as long as the Northern Nomads charged in, it would be the end for them.

After enough times the Northern Nomads would also be afraid. When they saw a village they would have to ponder deeply whether these were really commoners or a group of soldiers lying in ambush to counterattack.

No one would know.

As captain of the Fifth Company, Fang Heng had absolute power and prestige. At his command, even if everyone was puzzled, they still moved into action.

First they found a sparsely populated village and persuaded the commoners to hide for a few days. Next they had the officers and soldiers take off their uniforms and put on coarse cloth clothes, then labored in the village.

It was truly laboring, and could not exactly be called difficult, because before joining the army they had originally been children of destitute families.

Digging earth, herding sheep, planting vegetables, sifting manure, carrying water, repairing walls.

Everyone was busy and lively, strangely feeling as if they had left the cold Northern Frontier and returned to their hometowns to live in peace and joy with their parents.

The biggest difficulty here was probably the women. Even the smallest village, women made up half the population. On the other hand, among the officers and soldiers who could wield blades, there were scarcely any who could be picked out to play the role of women.

Jiang Ba took the lead, Jiang Wu reluctantly agreed, then they found a few younger soldiers and forcibly made them up to look like young women.

Old women were played by older women doing the cooking. Although afraid, when they recalled their loved ones\' terrible deaths, they still gritted their teeth and agreed.

In just half a month, the "Village of Life" was built.

Any outsider who barged in wouldn\'t be able to notice anything amiss without close scrutiny. They were all veteran soldiers playing their parts.

One could only see them joking and quarreling, carrying water and living life, trails of cooking smoke filling the air amidst complaints and scoldings, no different from any ordinary village in the Northern Frontier.

To attract the Northern Nomads over, the "women" led by Jiang Wu and Jiang Ba would go to the riverbanks to chop ice to wash clothes or catch fish, and fires burned ceaselessly, as vigorously as possible.

Around seven or eight days after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the village finally attracted the Northern Nomads\' attention.

Now they had to go against expectations. Everyone extinguished fires, expressions tense, moving carefully, completely playing the part of commoners intimidated by the Northern Nomads.

"With their vigilance, observing for two or three days with no mistakes should be enough, they will mostly take action then," Fang Heng disguised as the eldest son threw firewood on the ground and instructed in a lowered voice, "Everyone stay alert, absolutely no mistakes allowed at the critical moment."

"Rest assured, Captain," Jiang Wu disguised as the mother nodded, occasionally smudging soot on his face, "I\'ll notify everyone right away."

Fang Heng slightly dipped his head. Just as he was about to turn around, from the corner of his eyes he spotted a tall horse standing at the village entrance.

He immediately turned back and bent down, bowing respectfully, "Mother, rest assured, your son will be careful outside, absolutely not letting the Northern Nomads discover our village."

Jiang Wu could only smile benevolently, "Good child, stay safe."

The two turned around, truly containing some flavor of motherly love.

The Northern Nomad at the village entrance nodded, determining there were no masters in this village, nor anyone who could resist. Finally at ease, he left.

The third day.

Crouching to listen, Jiang Yi disguised as the father excitedly jumped up when he heard the loud approach of many footsteps. "They\'re here, they\'re here!"

He had never been so eager for a Northern Nomad invasion.

Everyone who had been working themselves tired, shifting from missing loved ones to recalling battles glanced at where blades were hidden, and worked even harder.

When the Northern Nomads arrived, what they saw was thriving prosperity.

Women taking care of children, men farming the fields, elderly basking in the sun, youths chasing each other playfully.

This was the current condition of every village in the Northern Frontier, and was also what countless people could not even dream of returning to anymore.

Moreover in the Northern Nomads\' eyes these were fat sheep to be slaughtered, these were the women and granaries, the battlefield to massacre as they pleased.

Someone raised their arm, seemingly shouting "charge!"

Over a hundred burly men on horseback burst in, the first blade hacking towards the heads of the adult men.

If this wasn\'t the Village of Life, if these weren\'t veteran soldiers in disguise, then this head would have flown into the air before falling at their feet, buried together with the body until decayed.

Fortunately this was the Village of Life.

The Northern Nomad swinging the blade did not hack off the head. The laboring man drew out a long blade with agile movements, avoiding harm before stabbing the horse\'s belly.

As the horse whinnied and reared up. the arrogant Northern Nomad was thrown to the ground, welcomed by the long blades aimed precisely at their throats.

The once peaceful little village descended into slaughter, only this time those being massacred were no longer the commoners of Da Yu.

Rather it was the completely undefended Northern Nomads!

Kill! Charge! How much blood must be spilled to make the enemy apprehensive?

Chop! Slash! How many heads must roll to make the enemy tremble?

When the sun finally set in the west, the village regained its tranquility. Everyone\'s feet were stained no longer with muck but pools of crimson blood, and Northern Nomads who could no longer close their eyes.

Fang Heng sheathed his long blade, gazed towards Fengjing and spoke plainly, "Next."

From New Years to the fifteenth, from the fifteenth to February.

Disguised as villagers four times, they massacred over eight hundred Northern Nomads and seized over six hundred warhorses.

What glorious battle achievements, what resounding battle merits!

Not only was the commanding officer deeply appreciative, even the Northern Nomads shivered in fright. Their previously most leisurely village massacres were now given a wide berth.

Fang Heng felt relieved in his heart, and was finally able to take leave to visit relatives. With six personal guards in tow, he set off in grandeur toward Fengjing.

They rode on horseback, their youthful vigor unable to conceal their heroic spirit, their tragic nobility unable to cover up their surging excitement.

They bid farewell to the warriors, waved to friends, and nodded to elders.

Under the gaze of countless people, they slowly turned around.

When they had set off they were still naive, juvenile boys.

When they return they will already be iron-blooded frontier men.

"We have arrived, Fengjing!"