"What? Yongjing Pass was also lost?"
All the generals exclaimed in unison, and everyone thought of the same word - unstoppable force!
This is impossible, this is absolutely impossible!
Yongjing Pass is the most important pass leading to Nanzhao City. It has steep terrain and is heavily guarded. The person guarding the pass is Fang Zhiyong, the mighty general most valued by the King of Nanzhao. He is well versed in military tactics, brave and good at fighting, and has the courage to resist thousands of men. How could he let the Yunyang Army break through the pass so easily
"Could it be that Luo Ping has personally taken to the battlefield?" someone asked.
"Luo Ping can't leave Yunyang. If he leaves, who will take charge of Yunyang?"
"But apart from Luo Ping, who else in the Yunyang Army can compete with General Fang?"
"Could he be the son of General Wu'an? It is said that he has inherited General Wu'an's true teachings. Last winter, he made many military achievements in the northern border and was General Wu'an's vanguard."
"It can't be him. He's just a young boy. How could he be a match for General Fang?"
"Morale, morale!" said the General Liu. "You see, this is what I mean by a concerted effort..."
"General Liu, you are here again!"
"Alright, stop arguing!" The King of Nanzhao slammed the table, interrupting the noise in the tent. "If you keep arguing, the Yunyang Army will enter Nanzhao City. Can you say something useful?"
“…”Everyone fell silent.
In the brief silence, Song Huai bowed and clasped his fists to ask for battle: "Father, I want to personally lead the troops north to stop the Yunyang Army. Please allow me."
"No!" King Nanzhao rejected his request without even thinking about it.
Zhao Jingyu is coming with great force and his strength is unpredictable, so he cannot let his son take the risk.
Finally, it was General Liu who stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to meet Zhao Jingyu!"
"No hurry." King Nanzhao said in a deep voice, "Don't lose your composure just because you lost a few cities. We were not well prepared before. After the 20,000 troops led by General Zhang Ke arrive, we will unite with the local troops along the way and will definitely stop their offensive."
"Your Highness is right." Someone followed up on King Nanzhao's words and analyzed, "They only have 10,000 men in total, and they are divided into several groups. They have been fighting for half the night, so they must be exhausted. Facing our 20,000 troops, even the strongest morale will be weakened."
"Yes, and they are marching in a hurry, without enough food and grass. As long as General Zhang Ke can stop them on the way and delay them for three to five days, they will starve to death!"
"This is a good idea. Why not transfer our troops north of Yunyang and up to Huya Pass, and attack them from both sides together with General Zhang Ke to trap them to death!"
"No, the troops in the north still have to defend the imperial court, so they cannot be moved."
"Yes, yes, the tiger's teeth cannot be moved."
"Then transfer another 10,000 men from the North City camp and take a detour to get behind them..."
"Report, Majiaying has been lost!" Another scout came to report from outside.
No one knew whether they were too shocked or had become numb; they all remained silent, and no one spoke a word.
Nanzhao Wang Fu An asked, "Where is General Zhang Ke marching to now?"
"Once we reach Qipan Mountain, we will meet the Yunyang Army in another hour. However, there is a Cao family camp in the middle, and I am afraid they will be lost." The spy replied.
King Nanzhao nodded and asked, "Have you found out about the enemy's food and grass reserves?"
"They didn't bring any food or fodder. Each person only carried one day's worth of dry food and horse feed," said the spy.
"One day, do they want to capture Nanzhao within one day? This is too arrogant!" someone exclaimed.
"Even if they fail to capture the city, they can still replenish supplies in the captured counties. They call this traveling light."
"Isn't this outfit too light?"
"In a nutshell, they want to win the war quickly, so what we have to do is to prevent them from winning the war quickly. We have more people and sufficient preparations, so we can just hold them back."
"But if we delay for too long, the imperial army may arrive soon. It only takes half a month to march from the capital to Nanzhao."
“…” The tent fell silent again.
In this case, we still have to fight and try to eliminate the Yunyang Army before the imperial army attacks, so that we can focus on fighting the imperial army.
"Then let's fight. What are you waiting for? Send more troops to reinforce us."
"Father, there is a simple way." Song Huai said.
"What method?" asked King Nanzhao.
Everyone listened attentively.
"This method may be a little despicable..." Song Huai hesitated.
"My Lord, are you trying to say that we can use the daughter of the Phoenix to force Zhao Jingyu to surrender?" someone took over his words.
"..." The generals looked at each other. This method was a bit despicable, but it was still a good idea. They just needed to tie the girl with the Phoenix destiny to the city wall and see how Zhao Jingyu would shoot arrows.
King Nanzhao pondered for a moment, neither saying yes nor no, and after a while he said, "Let's see if General Zhang Ke can defeat the enemy."
The implication is that if Zhang Ke cannot defeat the enemy, then he should adopt this strategy.
Everyone quieted down and returned to their seats, waiting anxiously, hoping for the spy to report, but also afraid to hear the long-drawn "report".
The night was like a curtain soaked in ink, which was put into the river by a skillful woman to be washed. After each wash, the color became lighter. After another wash, it became lighter even lighter. As it was washed, it turned into blue, and then gradually turned into fish belly white.
When the last star disappeared into the clouds, the latest battle report came from the front.
General Zhang Ke lived up to expectations and intercepted the Yunyang army outside Qingyang Prefecture.
The generals, who had been worried all night, could finally put their minds at ease, and the expression of King Nanzhao, which had been tense all night, also relaxed.
This was the first time in Song Huai's life that he participated in a war, and he experienced such a thrilling night. He couldn't describe how he felt in his heart.
King Nanzhao said: "Since the situation is temporarily stable, you can go back to the mansion to wash up, change clothes, and rest for a while. Also, ask the steward whether he has delivered the things I asked him to deliver."
"What is it? Where to send it?" Song Huai asked.
"You just need to ask, there's no need to ask anything else." Prince Nanzhao didn't want him to know that Song Meiwei and Song Meiying had left the palace, for fear that he would think too much.
Song Huai didn't ask any more questions and returned to the palace.
Although he hadn't slept all night, he didn't feel sleepy. After washing and changing his clothes, he asked someone to prepare breakfast and summoned the steward to question him.
"Have you delivered what your father asked you to deliver?"
"Your Highness, we have delivered it. Please tell His Majesty not to worry." The steward replied.
"What is it?" Song Huai asked.
The steward bowed his head and did not answer.
Song Huai sneered: "You are loyal."
"This is a servant's duty." said the steward.
"Okay." Song Huai nodded, "You can go down!"
The steward bent over and retreated.
Song Huai finished his breakfast with an expressionless face, then got up and went to the ear room where Xie Nanjia was imprisoned.
Xie Nanjia had already woken up and was taking the handkerchief for wiping her face from Zhu'er through the window.
When Zhu'er saw Song Huai, she bowed hurriedly. Song Huai gently waved his hand, signaling her to leave.
Zhu'er left with the basin of water. Song Huai stood in front of the window and asked calmly, "Did you sleep well last night?"
"It's not bad, but the bed is a little hard." Xie Nanjia combed her hair with her fingers, with a slight smile on her face, and seemed to be in a good mood.
Song Huai suddenly became suspicious, feeling that she must have done something behind his back again.
"What did you do?" he asked, frowning.
"I can't even get out of the room, what do you think I can do?" Xie Nanjia asked back.
Song Huai couldn't put it into words, but he always felt that something was strange.
"You'd better behave yourself." He said quietly, "I just came back from the North City Camp. Everyone suggested to my father that he tie you up and send you to the front to threaten Zhao Jingyu. I spoke up for you and my father agreed to wait and see. If you do something behind my back, I will take you there and let Zhao Jingyu kill Xie Nanfeng in front of the two armies."
"..." Xie Nanjia looked at him steadily and sneered, "I didn't expect you to have such a despicable side. You should have made the suggestion. It seems that Zhao Jingyu scares you, otherwise how could you use such a despicable trick? Could it be that he has forced you into a corner?"
"You!" Song Huai couldn't help but get angry again.
He was a little annoyed. He had clearly planned not to visit her anymore, so why didn't she learn her lesson and had to come to her to be humiliated
"It seems to be true." Xie Nanjia said, "Then, let me guess, Zhao Jingyu should have passed Yongjing Pass by now and almost reached Qingyang Prefecture. Qingyang Prefecture is the largest city in the direction of Nanzhao. If you can't even defend Qingyang Prefecture, Zhao Jingyu will enter Nanzhao City before lunch."
"You wish!" Song Huai said angrily, "Zhao Jingyu has been blocked outside Qingyang Prefecture by our 20,000 soldiers. He can only dream of entering Nanzhao!"
"Tsk tsk!" Xie Nanjia smacked her lips, "I still like the little prince who used to be so cheerful and talkative. This angry and frustrated person is not like you at all. But judging from your expression, I guess I'm right again."
"..." Song Huai was stunned. He had tried his best to maintain his dignity and elegance, but for some reason, he couldn't remain calm whenever he heard her speak.
He gritted his teeth, turned and left.
Xie Nanjia laughed behind him: "You angered Zhao Jingyu, so just wait to bear his wrath. You can't stop him."
"..." Song Huai quickened his pace and fled away from there.
After returning to the main hall, he planned to take a short rest before going to the North City camp. Just as he leaned on the head of the bed and closed his eyes, a servant outside the door came to report that after dawn, the Yunyang Army had lost any trace outside Qingyang Prefecture.
"What does 'lost trace' mean?" Song Huai was shocked. He lost all desire to sleep and got out of bed.
The attendant followed him, also looking confused: "It's gone. We searched everywhere outside the city, but couldn't find anyone."
"How is this possible? There are 10,000 soldiers and horses. How could they disappear out of thin air? This is ridiculous!" Song Huai strode out of the palace gate and asked people to prepare the horses.
When they arrived at the North City Camp, the camp was in chaos. King Nanzhao and several generals were sitting around a sand table in the tent, studying where the Yunyang Army might have gone.
Song Huai walked over, grabbed a general and asked about the general situation.
It turned out that as soon as Zhang Ke's army arrived in Qingyang, Zhao Jingyu's troops stopped advancing. It was dark and the terrain was dangerous. In order to prevent the other side from cheating, Zhang Ke decided to defend himself and did not engage them immediately. He planned to launch a full-scale attack after dawn and force them back to the outside of Yongjing Pass.
Probably knowing that the two sides had a huge disparity in numbers, the other side did not attack rashly and stopped in the wilderness 20 miles away from Qingyang.
The soldiers who had captured several cities in a row were already exhausted. They didn't even set up tents. They just slept on the spot with their clothes on and their weapons under their heads. After a short while, they were snoring loudly.
The spy brought back the news, and Zhang Ke ordered not to alarm them, but to wait until daybreak and then quietly lead the army to attack and kill them by surprise.
Unexpectedly, before dawn, the spies suddenly brought news that the Yunyang army had disappeared silently in the wilderness.
"This is really weird." The general said, "With 10,000 soldiers, even if the people don't make any noise, the horses won't make any noise either. How is it possible that there is no movement at all?"
"We need to ask those spies. Is there really no movement at all, or are they just lazy and fell asleep?" Song Huai had a gloomy face and was so angry that his lungs were about to explode.
From last night till now, Zhao Jingyu has subverted their cognition time and time again. Although he has not met Zhao Jingyu face to face, he felt that his face was hurt by Zhao Jingyu's slap.
"Father, we can't just sit there and wait for death. No matter how Zhao Jingyu disappeared and where he went, his ultimate goal is Nanzhao City. We should immediately send more troops to guard the four city gates and make careful deployment outside the city. This way, no matter which city gate Zhao Jingyu attacks from, we can make sure he never returns."
"Your Highness is right. Your Highness, please dispatch all the troops from the East and West camps to the four city gates. Also, tell General Zhang to give up the search for Zhao Jingyu and rush back to reinforce."
"What if General Zhang leaves and Zhao Jingyu returns to Qingyang?"
"If he fights back to Qingyang, he will eventually come to Nanzhao City. Rather than letting him lead us by the nose, it is better to wait for him at the doorstep."
"Yes, and bring the Phoenix-born girl with us. Send her to the city gate from whichever direction Zhao Jingyu is coming. With her around, Zhao Jingyu will definitely not dare to act rashly. Then we can take the Phoenix-born girl with us to negotiate with him and force him to withdraw. We can also have archers ambush around the city gates in advance and shoot him to death when he is least prepared."
"This plan is feasible. We should send someone to the palace to bring the Phoenix-born girl here right now."
King Nanzhao looked at Song Huai amid the chatter of the crowd, "What do you think?"
Song Huai picked up the whip, his eyes grim: "The girl of Phoenix Fate is not only the key to our defeat of Zhao Jingyu, but also the key to our future attack on the capital. In order to prevent any mishaps, I will personally escort her here."
King Nanzhao hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Go ahead!"
Song Huai walked out of the tent without saying a word.
Using a woman to win a war is indeed not a glorious thing, but there is a huge gap in strength between them and the imperial court, and they have almost no chance of winning without some despicable means.
In a war, as long as you win, who cares whether it is glorious or not? Even the emperor sitting on the dragon throne at this moment, didn't he use all means possible to get to the top, even stepping on the corpses of his brothers
He comforted himself in this way in his heart and rode his horse all the way back to the palace.
When he arrived at the gate of the palace, before he had time to dismount, he saw the steward and two guards running out in panic.
“Your Highness!” The chief steward knelt down on the ground as soon as he saw him, “I was just about to send someone to inform you that Miss Xiu’er, she, she is missing!”
(End of this chapter)