Time slowly came to dawn. Smoke was still lingering on the battlefields, many tents and wooden fortifications were still burning, and the main camps of the Zu Yue army were almost littered with corpses.
The Dazhen soldiers patrolled back and forth with weapons in hand, checking whether there were any enemy soldiers pretending to be dead on the battlefield. In addition to the corpses in various miserable states, there were also many Zuyue surrendered soldiers who all huddled together and shivered. It was not that they were really scared, but they were mainly cold. Last night, the Dazhen army attacked, and many soldiers were still in their beds. Some were hacked to death, and some were pointed at with weapons and dragged out of the tent. They all wore only a single piece of clothing and could only huddle together to keep warm.
Yin Zhong, holding double halberds, patrolled the battlefield accompanied by three personal soldiers. He was originally located in one of the three main camps of the Zu Yue Army, which contained elite soldiers from the imperial court directly under the Zu Yue Song family. After one night, some were killed and some surrendered, and only a small number escaped.
This was also the end point after Yin Zhong attacked several camps last night. In the previous few places, he often rushed in at the fastest speed immediately after defeating the enemy camp. The attack was so swift that it was faster than the speed at which those Zu Yue soldiers fled.
Yin Zhong's clothes and armor had been dyed blood red, and the pair of black halberds in his hands were covered in blood, showing a mottled dark red. When many Zu Yue surrendered soldiers saw Yin Zhong coming, they subconsciously huddled closer with their companions. Many people had witnessed the horror of this pair of black halberds last night. It often took less than a second strike to dismember a person and tear a horse apart.
A soldier trotted up to Yin Zhong and saluted with his fists clasped.
"General Yin, our troops have lost about 800 men, with more than 100 seriously injured. The status of the rest of the troops is currently unknown. We only know that the offensive is going smoothly."
Yin Zhong nodded and looked at a burnt tent not far away. In front of the tent lay a headless corpse wearing silver armor. Last night, this Zu Yue general was beheaded by Yin Zhong himself.
"Have Li Dongjiao and Jian Hui been caught, or killed?"
"It is said that they killed many bandit officers in the chaos last night and are searching for them now."
Yin Zhong didn't say much and just pushed his hands.
"Got it. Let's go down."
"yes!"
After fighting hard all night and under a high level of mental tension, even Yin Zhong felt a little tired, not to mention the ordinary soldiers. However, all the soldiers were in high spirits. What could be seen in them was high morale, which was like fire, as if it could dispel the severe cold, so that the soldiers all had rosy faces.
Last night's battle was mainly a clash between the two armies, and those heavenly masters and wizards who usually made both sides fearful did not seem to play much of a role.
On the one hand, this is because many talented people on both sides are fighting each other, and on the other hand, the evil spirit of the army formation is also very strong. When thousands of soldiers charge bravely together, practitioners with low Taoism will also be affected. In particular, there are many martial arts masters in the army. Those Taoist priests may be killed in the army formation if they are not careful.
After Yin Zhong's final inspection, he left a few instructions and specifically reminded the soldiers that although they could not drink alcohol tonight, there would be plenty of meat to make up for the New Year's Eve dinner. Then he left amid the cheers of the soldiers. He was going to start drafting the battle report, and because of his status as the second son of the Yin family, the army preferred him to write the battle report.
The results of the battle that night were gradually confirmed in the following few days. Not only the raid on the camp, but also Mrs. Bai's magic to repel the enemy at Yongding Pass, and even the movements of Ting Qiushan were spread among the armies of both countries.
Especially the last piece of news, which was somewhat ambiguous and difficult to confirm, but the impact it brought was much greater than many soldiers had imagined. At least it was no less than an earthquake in the monk circles of the two armies' respective camps.
Although there is no accurate evidence about the Tingqiu Mountain incident, at least the Zuyue side can confirm that five highly skilled Heavenly Masters disappeared when they tried to cross the Tingqiu Mountains to rescue Qizhou, and have never appeared since.
Whether Dazhen is able to kill such a powerful immortal master, or the mountain god of Tingqiu Mountain takes action, it will be a bad thing for the Zuyue Army, especially the latter.
After Du Changsheng, several cultivators from Tingqiu Mountain, explained this situation to Yin Zhong, Mei She and other generals of the Dazhen Army, Yin Zhong directly recommended Marshal Mei to continue to attack while they were victorious. Regardless of whether this was true or false, it was the enemy that they needed to be wary of, and in a war, they needed to take advantage of any available opportunity to win.
Therefore, before the previous battle report was finished, the offensive of Dazhen was launched immediately, and some civilians and auxiliary soldiers among the Zuyue surrendered were recruited to launch a new round of offensive together.
…
More than half a month later, the first detailed battle report was delivered to Dazhen Gyeonggi Prefecture. The riders responsible for expedited delivery of the report had been shouting at the top of their lungs since they entered the east gate of Gyeonggi Prefecture.
"Great victory in Qizhou... Great victory in Qizhou... Great victory in Qizhou..."
"Great victory in Qizhou..."
Fast horses galloped or trotted all the way along the main road of the capital city straight to the palace. The people along the way who heard the news were all very excited. They clapped their hands, cheered, and ran to tell others.
The emperor and ministers in the palace were also ecstatic. They did not expect to achieve such a great victory on New Year's Eve. They then expanded their victory and recovered half of Qizhou's territory in one go. They even recovered the capital and were on the verge of switching from a defensive to an offensive position.
In the file room of the Imperial Observatory, Ji Yuan was still flipping through books. Yan Chang, with an excited look on his face, quickly walked into the file room and hurried towards the direction where Ji Yuan was.
"Mr. Ji, Mr. Ji, good news, good news! Our army has won a great victory, our army has won a great victory!"
Yan Chang usually never spoke too loudly when he came here, let alone shouting like he was doing now, but at this moment he couldn't help but feel excited and couldn't help but want to share it with Ji Yuan.
"Sir, great victory in Qizhou, our army has won a great victory!"
Yan Chang walked quickly to Ji Yuan and saw a pot of wine and two wine glasses at Ji Yuan's feet, both of which were already filled with wine. Without saying much, he squatted down, picked up the outer glass and drank the wine in one gulp. Immediately, a spicy and stimulating feeling rushed into his mouth, and Yan Chang almost choked.
"What a strong drink!"
Yan Changhao then saw Ji Yuan pouring the wine directly into his mouth. He didn't expect that the wine was so strong. Ji Yuan looked at Yan Chang's appearance, put down the bamboo slips and smiled.
"Have a drink upon hearing the good news. Strong liquor can complement the military situation."
"Sir, did you know that already?"
Ji Yuan picked up his wine glass, drank it all and nodded.
"I knew it a little earlier."
Having said that, Ji Yuan was about to pour wine for Yan Chang again, but the latter quickly covered the cup.
"Oh, no, no, I can't handle the alcohol. By the way, sir, do you think that Dazhen can reverse the offensive with this battle and directly attack Zuyue's territory? I heard that there are some powerful immortal cultivators helping us in our army now!"
Ji Yuan did not comment. If there really was such a powerful person, Bai Ruo would definitely be able to calculate. Besides, the Dazhen Army should have a few transformed monsters and some independent cultivators with decent skills. Although Taoist Qingsong's skills were not very high, his divination skills could seize the destiny of heaven and had a strong auxiliary effect. Since few people could see through his skills, he was very good at bluffing people.
However, compared with Zuyue, Dazhen is still not enough. After all, Zuyue Kingdom has been rampant with demons and monsters for a long time. Because of the situation in Wuya City, Ji Yuan believes that the influence of ghosts should be much less, but it is hard to say about the others. Dazhen has much fewer "resources" in this regard.
As for the righteous immortal palace like Yu Huaishan, it will never interfere in the dispute between humanity. Instead, some cultivation families that have close ties with Yu Huaishan may intervene.
Ji Yuan would not express the complicated thoughts in his mind and just smiled at Yan Chang.
"The matter of war is not so simple, but Dazhen will eventually win. The fate of humanity ultimately depends on people. Relying on crooked ways will only bring temporary happiness."
"Well, I still have a lot of documents to read. I am still not satisfied. I will read them again next time."
Yan Chang was slightly stunned and looked at Ji Yuandao.
"Sir, are you leaving? But, but Dazhen is fighting with Zuyue right now, sir..."
Yan Chang felt a little panicked. In his mind, the existence of Mr. Ji was like a stabilizing force. Even if Mr. Ji seemed to have no reaction, he knew that if Dazhen was really in danger, Mr. Ji would definitely take action.
Yan Chang was not sure how powerful Ji Yuan was, but he knew that he was definitely more powerful than those so-called immortal masters that appeared on the battlefield. Du Changsheng once said to Yan Chang in private: "The rest of them are all cultivators, but you are an immortal." This sentence almost separated the immortals from the mortals.
Ji Yuan shook his head and smiled.
"Master Yan, why are you panicking? Dazhen will not lose. I'm going to take a look at Tingqiu Mountain. I won't go far."
After saying a word of comfort, Ji Yuan stood up holding the wine jug, and Yan Chang also subconsciously stood up from his squatting position. Ji Yuan waved his sleeves casually, and a pile of bamboo slips and paper books on the ground all floated up and flew back to their respective bookshelves.
After doing all this, Ji Yuan picked up the wine jug and cups and walked out slowly. Yan Chang came back to his senses and hurriedly followed him, speaking in a slightly excited tone.
"Sir, are you going to Jinzhou or Qizhou? Are you going to take action?"
Ji Yuan grinned and reached out to take the other cup back from Yan Chang.
"I just want to go and see the mountain god of Tingqiu Mountain."
As the words lingered, Ji Yuan stepped out of the file room. Because of the parallax, the bright sunlight outside made Ji Yuan's back appear a little blurry in Yan Chang's eyes.
But when Yan Chang, who was a few steps away, also came outside, he could no longer see Ji Yuan.
"Sir? Sir? Sir—"