Chapter 20: The Best Defense

The next day, as the first light of dawn began to shimmer, Su Yao opened his eyes exactly as the rooster outside his window stretched its neck to crow.

He checked his automatically refreshed clothing and the breakfast already laid out on the table, devouring it in a few quick bites. Yesterday, the Wang family had promised to provide free supplies during his squad’s stationing, but Su Yao, determined not to break his "sharing joys and sorrows" buff, had specifically instructed them not to offer him any special treatment during these wartime conditions.

After finishing breakfast, tidying up, and double-checking his status, Su Yao burst out the front door, ready for another delightful day of hacking and slashing.

Or so he thought.

The moment he rushed out, he collided head-on with Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang let out an "ouch" and stumbled back two steps, barely managing to keep his footing and avoid making a fool of himself. Considering he was a man renowned throughout Bing Province for his martial prowess, could he really be getting old? That couldn't be right; he hadn't even reached the age of forty.

"Young brother, steady, be steady," he said, eyeing the youth before him. He realized this was the first time he had seen the boy looking so neat and well-groomed, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart—what a remarkably heroic and extraordinary young man.

Standing over eight feet tall, with refined features and eyes like bright stars, he was in no way inferior to Fengxian in his youth. What a fine lad; with that face and that upright stature, he only needed to stand quietly in a crowd to draw the lingering gazes of countless young maidens.

Unfortunately... the boy was neither quiet nor capable of standing still. The only saving grace was that he was surprisingly kind-hearted.

"Officer Zhang, are there any missions available? Is there anything troubling you? Do you know if anyone here needs help?"

While reciting the lines for requesting a mission, Su Yao was already pushing Zhang Yang toward the door. His eyes didn't even look at him, scanning the fortress courtyard below instead, searching for new plot triggers or quests.

"Slow down, young brother."

Zhang Yang grabbed Su Yao’s shoulder, forcing him to stop. "Brother, you are an officer of the Great Han now, not a wandering knight-errant. Helping others is fine, but one must prioritize what is urgent and important..."

"..."

After blinking through a forced sequence of boring dialogue, Su Yao finally gleaned a bit of valuable information. Zhang Yang had come to say goodbye.

"Fengxian’s injuries have stabilized, and Cheng Lian will be back shortly. I cannot leave my boys in the mountains to fend for themselves. Since you are on good terms with the Wang family, leave the care of this place to you. Do not venture out until the Hu tribesmen have retreated; just hold this position. If there is any urgent military intelligence, send a horse to report to my camp."

"Wait, we’re not taking action?"

Su Yao was shocked. He had assumed that with yesterday’s intelligence, Zhang Yang would issue a mission to annihilate the Xiongnu today, or at the very least, offer some bounty quests. How could it be a "defend and wait" order? The mission deadline was expiring in a few days, and he hadn't even killed the boss yet. This wouldn't do!

Yet, Zhang Yang truly gave him a "no action" mission.

"The Hu are not attacking the fortress this time. Relying only on small groups to harass the area, they cannot gain a foothold in Jinzhong. As long as we hold our ground, they will naturally retreat."

...

"Zhishu’s desire for stability is understandable."

Lying on the bed, Lü Bu subconsciously reached up to touch his bandage-wrapped neck. He couldn't deny that over the past two days, he had repeatedly imagined the scene of meeting this boy again. But none of his imaginings looked like this—Su Yao, with an indifferent expression, completely ignoring their previous conflict and combat, simply asking to go out and fight.

"Although your raids have caused them significant losses and yielded great results, have you ever considered the reaction of the enemy to such a commotion? There is a thousand-man cavalry unit here, and there is no guarantee that other Hu in the region won't come to support them. We only have two hundred men, divided between two locations. Once something goes wrong, it could be a total catastrophe."

Lü Bu endured the sting of being ignored and lectured the young man. As he spoke, he felt a slight sense of comfort. No matter how strong an individual you are, you cannot fight a thousand alone. In the army, if one could win simply by relying on martial prowess, he, Lü Bu, would have been enfeoffed as a marquis long ago. *Hmph*, whether in terms of vision or battlefield experience, kid, you still have much to learn.

"I didn't expect the legendary Lü Fengxian to be so conservative." Su Yao rubbed his hands. "The best defense is a good offense. As long as the enemies are all lying in their graves, no one can steal our flag."

*Pfft.*

Lü Bu nearly burst his wounds open. He rubbed his face, secretly disparaging the strange analogy while trying to teach him as seriously as possible. "To be a soldier is to obey military orders. Since Zhishu has tasked you with guarding the Wang family fortress, you cannot defy it. Save your own ideas for when you can lead an army of your own."

"Hmm? Is this event a siege defense battle?"

"Huh?"

"Understood. Rest well, Lord Lü. I shall go now to reinforce the defenses and urge the laborers to work."

"..."

Watching Su Yao open the window and leap out, Lü Bu was stunned for a long time before pressing his temples. "Lü Fengxian, what kind of person did you actually lose to?"

...

Thanks to the addition of the captive laborers, the renovation efficiency of the Wang family fortress improved significantly. Squads of laborers, under the supervision of armed militia, brought cart after cart of soil from outside the village to rebuild the walls.

Wait, soil?

"Are you using rammed earth to build the walls?"

"Does my benefactor also understand the art of construction?"

By mid-morning, Wang Ling was still yawning; he had been dragged out by Su Yao at the crack of dawn to run back and forth. As a son of a prominent family, he had never experienced such a schedule; it was truly difficult for him.

Ignoring the sluggish Wang Ling, Su Yao tilted his head, eyeing the high walls under repair, and pinched his chin. "I know a little."

So-called rammed earth construction involves using wooden poles (also known as rammers) to pack yellow soil densely. Wooden frames are used to hold the soil, which is then filled with clay or gravel and packed layer by layer. This technique dates back to the early Shang Dynasty. By the Qin and Han periods, the Great Wall and palace walls were built using this process, and even in the Tang Dynasty, the imperial city and palace walls of Chang'an were made of rammed earth.

The biggest reason for this is that rammed earth walls not only have sufficient defensive power—blocking enemy infantry and cavalry and resisting cold steel weapons in the pre-firearm era—but more importantly, they use local materials and are easy to construct.

However, there are many drawbacks. For instance, the sand content and stickiness of the soil directly relate to the wall's sturdiness. If the yellow soil has too much sand and not enough stickiness, it tends to crack after drying.

The Wang family fortress might have been built in too much of a rush or by unskilled hands, leading to irregular placement of wooden reinforcements within the earth. This made the walls prone to cracking after heavy rain or strong winds, or even partial collapse.

As for now, the biggest problem was that even ignoring the foundation, rammed earth walls required a curing period of about ten days. So, despite this bustling construction site, the wall was essentially a facade—the kind that might fall if he kicked it a few times. It would never be ready in time for a siege that could arrive within days.

"???"

As Su Yao pointed out the defects and areas needing attention one by one, Wang Ling’s hand, which had been covering a yawn, froze. You call this "knowing a little"?

"The art of construction is usually the closely guarded secret of master engineers. Does my benefactor have such a background in his family?"