Wei Mingshan lowered the knife in his hand. This general of the Quanrong army, who had experienced countless bloody battles, showed a look of loss on his face.
"It is so rare for a ruler and his subjects to trust each other and not be suspicious of each other." Wei Mingshan looked at the enemy surrounded by torches, who was riding his horse slowly down the dark hill.
He sighed, "General Mo, I am not as lucky as you."
Mo Qiaosheng frowned, he had a feeling that things were not going so smoothly.
As expected, Wei Mingshan lifted Yang Sheng, who was tied up with ropes, onto his horse's back, glanced at Mo Qiaosheng through the firelight, and spoke loudly,
"The hatred between our clans is deep, and I will never be a Han minister."
He pointed his blade forward: "Break through!"
The Western Rong warriors tightly surrounded Weiming Mountain and quickly gathered into a cone-shaped formation.
Everyone rode their cavalry, raised their scimitars, and charged fearlessly towards the heavy encirclement.
…
When the sky was getting light, the smoke of the battlefield gradually stopped.
The military flag of Jin State was finally hoisted on the city wall of Zhengzhou.
At this time, the city gates were wide open everywhere, and the mighty soldiers of the Jin State marched into this huge, devastated city with the heroic steps of a victor.
Thick fog filled the fields.
After the war, the land was soaked in blood and piled with countless broken limbs.
Whether they were enemies or comrades, at this moment, they all became lifeless corpses without any difference.
The soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield walked back and forth in the messy battlefield after the war. Occasionally, when they found an enemy who was still alive, they would raise their spears and hit him hard.
With a slight "pop" sound, a spray of blood splattered out, and a life was ruthlessly taken.
They cut off the enemies' heads one by one and piled them neatly into a tower at the city gate.
Of course, these heads collected afterwards can only be counted as collective merit.
The heads harvested by individuals on the battlefield had been registered and checked one by one on the spot by the secretaries who were responsible for recording them during the battle, and the heads were placed in the area belonging to their own square at the city gate.
The morning mist was drifting around, and beneath the city walls that had just experienced war, there were neatly lined up bloody towers of human heads, showing everyone the achievements of different formations.
Those bloody, unrecognizable heads terrified the residents of Zhengzhou and the surrendering enemies.
But it made the soldiers of Jin State very happy.
They even gathered in groups of three or five beside the "human tower" belonging to their own formation, excitedly discussing last night's great victory, while silently counting on their fingers the land and titles they could get this time.
Yang Luhou sat in his camp.
The camp after the war was in disarray.
Occasionally, a few soldiers would support their injured companions and walk out with difficulty over the piles of corpses.
Last night, this was one of the areas where the fighting was the most brutal.
The enemy's general Wei Mingshan led 5,000 elite troops in an attempt to break out, but was surrounded by General Mo's army.
The fearless charge of the Quanrong cavalry left thousands of corpses, and only a small number of them finally broke through.
For others, it's a big win worth celebrating.
But for Yang Luhou and his brothers who came out of the slave camp together, they lost the most important person.
Their captain Yang Sheng was captured by the enemy.
Yang Luhou covered his head and stared at the blood-stained land in front of him with wide eyes.
Why am I so useless? It was me who harmed Brother Sheng. It was me who harmed Brother Sheng.
He closed his eyes, and the roars from last night's battlefield seemed to still echo in the silent camp.
In order to save him, Brother Sheng was surrounded and captured by the enemy.
General Mo led his troops to pursue the enemy.
Their team of a thousand men received the order to rest.
However, he and many soldiers in the camp stubbornly stayed where they were and waited.
Although the hope was slim, they were still waiting for their centurion to return.
The morning mist dissipated.
The clear light descends upon the world.
A group of people and horses slowly returned on the ancient road.
The leader was wearing black armor, his body and face stained with blood, but he excited all the people waiting, because he was holding a horse with a person on its back.
People in the camp stood up one after another.
Yang Luhou rubbed his eyes, he couldn't believe it.
General Mo really brought back their centurion.
Mo Qiaosheng personally carried the seriously injured Yang Sheng off the horse and handed him over to Yang Luhou and others who were extremely excited.
"General." Yang Sheng, who was carried on a stretcher, spat out the blood in his mouth. He propped up his upper body and looked at Mo Qiaosheng unwillingly, "Is it because of me that the Rong dog escaped?"
General Mo, who was known as the King of Hell Mo, smiled for once.
"If it weren't for you, I might not have been able to surround them in time."
"Weimingshan wanted to leave himself a way out, so he spared your life. Don't worry, we will have a chance to meet him again in the future."
In Zhaiyang County, dozens of miles away from Zhengzhou.
Wei Mingshan, who had escaped from the pursuers with great difficulty, led the remaining troops to rest in a dense forest.
Five thousand of the most elite cavalry followed him out of the city, but now there are only a few hundred people left by his side.
These soldiers who fought desperately to protect him and break out of the siege now sat silently around him, with grief and anger in everyone's eyes. They fought bloody battles, but they might be abandoned by their own people. Everyone was confused at the moment.
Agu took off the sheepskin water bag he was carrying and handed it to his general.
"General, where are we going now? Back to Haojing?"
"Return to Gaojing?" Wei Mingshan gave a bitter smile. "Mo Qiaosheng is right. Zhengzhou has been lost. If we return to Gaojing now, we will only end up dead."
"No, General. Let's explain it to the Queen Mother." A Gu was a little flustered. "The Queen Mother is always wise. She will definitely understand your difficulties, General."
"There's no need for me to explain. The Queen Mother will figure it out soon. But what can we do about it? At a time when she and Your Majesty are arguing over their mother and son, it's impossible for her to admit that she made such a big mistake. This mistake can only be borne by me."
Wei Mingshan stood up and looked towards the sky in the north: "Let's go back to the grassland first, back to our hometown. But one day, I will return to this land. Return to my battlefield with dignity. Fight Mo Qiaosheng again."
The news that the Jin army defeated the famous Quanrong general Wei Mingshan and captured Zhengzhou in one fell swoop quickly spread everywhere.
Beigong Hou Luzon, who was far away in Jinyang, read the intelligence in his hand.
He handed it to his trusted general Gongsun Nian.
"The State of Jin took over Zhengzhou on its own?" Gongsun Nian said in disbelief.
He was deeply impressed by Wei Mingshan, the great general of the Quanrong. When the allied forces of the princes attacked the Quanrong, their troops were defeated by this man in Zhengzhou.
Of course, one of the reasons was the shortage of food and fodder.
But he also had to admit that Wei Mingshan was indeed an enemy general who used troops like a god.
"General Gongsun, do you still remember Jin Yuehou?" Luzon asked.
Gongsun Nian thought for a moment and remembered that this was a young prince with handsome appearance, weak character, and timidity.
During that campaign against the Northern Rong, he was so frightened that he turned pale on the battlefield and vomited several times on the spot.
Later, this man even dared not to go on the expedition with the army, and took the initiative to ask to stay behind, becoming a laughing stock among the princes for a time.
"So it's the Marquis of Jin Yue. You can't judge a person by his appearance." Gongsun Nian said with emotion.
"We were all wrong. He was just a fool pretending to be a pig and trying to eat the tiger." Lu Song said bitterly, "All the princes were defeated by the Quanrong at the front line, but he was the only one who was able to defend Bianzhou by himself. I should have noticed that he was extraordinary."
Li Wenguang stood in front of the map.
"First it was Bianzhou, then from Qixian to Zhongmou. Now they have Zhengzhou."
Li Wenguang pointed his finger at the map, frowned and talked to himself.
"Unconsciously, the territory of Jin has expanded so much."
His Liang Province had long been occupied by the Quanrong. He had previously refused to defend Nanyang, but was defeated by the army of Mo Zang and Pei Zhen.
Now they had no choice but to retreat to Hanzhong, which was adjacent to Chu.
Yao Tianxiang's elder brother, Duke Heng of Wei, Yao Hong, was in the palace of Wei State, looking at the same intelligence with his adviser Shen Wenxiu.
Shen Wenxiu sighed: "At that time, I let this tiger go by a single step. Now it's too late for me to regret."
Yao Hong clenched the intelligence in his hand and said, "At that time, my brother-in-law was submissive and indulged in sensual pleasures in front of me. Who could have expected that he would be so hidden. In time, he will become my number one enemy."
"No matter what, my lord, you should make plans early." Shen Wenxiu advised, "I heard that Marquis Jinyue and Princess Tianxiang are in love and in harmony. Marquis Jinyue doesn't mind that the princess is from Wei. He doesn't avoid her and often takes her to participate in government affairs. My lord, shouldn't you send someone to contact the princess regularly? Don't break the brother-sister relationship."
Yao Hong nodded: "Wenxiu's words make sense. Tianxiang is my biological sister after all, and she is the princess of our Wei Kingdom. She can marry another husband, but I will always be her only brother. As long as I send someone to persuade her, she will still side with our Wei Kingdom."
In Chaowu Palace in Bianzhou, Cheng Qianye looked at the stack of victory reports in his hand and laughed.
She held Yao Tianxiang's hand and said, "Look, Tianxiang, my generals are so capable. With such little casualties, they have captured Zhengzhou, a strategic location that is easy to defend but difficult to attack."
"Of course, the one who contributed the most here is Zhang Fu. Now that the mission is accomplished, I will write to him and ask him to evacuate from Gaojing as soon as possible."
Yao Tianxiang held her hand and said, "It's not just as simple as taking Zhengzhou. We took the city from the Quanrong, which is of great significance. It immediately established our prestige among the vassal states."
"Look, recently, the timid Duke Xiang of Song has been sending me gifts to show his support. It's my brother..." Yao Tianxiang glanced at Cheng Qianye with a little worry, but decided to tell the truth.
"Even my brother, who had ignored me since I got married, has started sending people to contact me."
Cheng Qianye glanced at Yao Tianxiang and increased the strength in his hands: "Tianxiang, I want to go to Zhengzhou. Can I leave Bianzhou to you temporarily?"
Yao Tianxiang was surprised: "You, you're going to hand over Bianzhou to me?"
She lowered her head: "Qianyu, are you really not worried? After all, I am the princess of Weiguo."
Cheng Qianye smiled: "It doesn't matter which country you and I were from. What's important is that we agreed to build a new country together. In this process, you will definitely stay by my side, right, Tianxiang?"
"You." Yao Tianxiang turned her eyes away and murmured in a reproachful tone.
She bit her lower lip and said softly, "Of course, I will always be with you. I will also open girls' schools all over the country."
Cheng Qianye looked at the woman in front of him who had a bright color like a blazing flame. Her red flame was surrounded by a firm golden border very early on.
Cheng Qianye silently apologized in his heart: I'm sorry, Tianxiang. You trusted me so unconditionally. But I am ashamed. I probably relied on external forces to strengthen my confidence in you.
At this moment, Gaojing
Xiao Xiu could hardly suppress her inner excitement.
He controlled himself and tried to keep his voice down, "It's done, sir, we did it."
Zhang Fu smiled and glanced at Xiao Xiu who was very excited in front of him. A glimpse of real joy flashed through his usually curved eyes.
"Then we should prepare to evacuate from here, right?" Xiao Xiu said excitedly, "Today we received a secret letter from the Lord, instructing us to leave this place immediately."
The author has something to say: Weimingshan: I will come back.
Mo Qiaosheng, Yu Dunsu, Helan Zhen: Let me tell you first, how many times are you going to have to do this before it’s enough
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Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. I will spend a day with my family and take a rest. Thank you for your support for so long. I wish you all a happy new year in advance!