mtl008 Chapter 262: Can Save or Destroy a Country
Chapter 262: Can Save or Destroy a Country
He saw the fragments of the ice dragon under Yingli's feet, and the dazzling ice chips finally made Min Wenshan remember.
Perhaps Zong Yanli did not have the ability to reach into the Qi Palace, but Yingli could. He vaguely remembered that a fellow disciple of Yingli died in the palace, and Yingli came out of the palace and appeared beside him that year.
What a pity, what a pity that he forgot...
Perhaps he looked down on women from the bottom of his heart. He held a high position and controlled the military power of Qi State, second only to the emperor. How could he look down on such an insignificant woman?
That's why he always ignores such trivial things, and it is such trivial things that led to his defeat today.
"Kill!" The city gate that had not yet been closed was broken, and the section of the city wall that had just been pushed down became a breakthrough point for the enemy. Bai Xiuyun and his men easily climbed up the city wall, with the flag of Daqian in their hands flying high in the north wind.
He raised his hand and knocked the soldier guarding the city to the ground, then turned around and chopped down the Qi army flag, and firmly inserted the Daqian army flag into the gap.
The flag seemed to be dyed with the color of fire. When the soldiers attacking the city below saw the Daqian flag standing on the enemy's city wall, they felt their blood boiling and rushed into the city, stepping on the ice and frost, roaring and fighting.
"Retreat, retreat quickly!" The moment Qiu Wu saw Min Wenshan being shot by an arrow, he was terrified. He turned around and shouted, wanting to evacuate with his men.
"General! General! The enemy is coming from the rear!" Just as Qiu Wu was about to turn around and withdraw his troops, he heard a loud noise from the rear. The soldier who stumbled over said with a panicked look on his face, "We can't stop them, General!"
"How is it possible?" Qiu Wu almost lost his voice and screamed, "We are backed by Qiu Dingjiang River, how can the enemy cross the river?"
"I saw it with my own eyes. That...that enemy soldier slid over here on the ice!"
When Qiu Wu heard this, he felt like his scalp was instantly exploding. It was simply unimaginable that Zong Yanli could have predicted something like this. He also knew about the freezing of the Qiu Ding River, but at that time Qiu Wu was only worried about the water source in the city and had never thought of walking on the ice!
Most of the soldiers were wearing heavy armor and holding swords. The ice on the river was not too thick. He never expected that Zong Yanli would take such a risk!
Qiu Wu tried his best to calm down his emotions. Seeing that Min Wenshan had been killed, how could he dare to stay here for long? Zong Yanli's troops rushed into the city in an instant. Qiu Wu simply left Min Wenshan's soldiers behind and ran away with his own men.
The soldiers in Taoyang City who were originally under Min Wenshan's command were either killed or wounded. Some fought to the death and died tragically in the end. Some fled after seeing that they had no hope of defending the city. Some even threw away their weapons and surrendered.
The north wind blew down the flag of Qi, as if silently announcing the defeat of a country.
Zong Yanli stood in the city with blood all over her body and a knife in her hand. There were corpses everywhere. She took a lot of effort to turn out Min Wenshan's body.
Lu Peibai's face was also covered in blood, and she was holding a long, slender sword in her hands, with sticky blood on the sword and her hands. Although she was a woman, she was never weak. She was good at using the rapier, and the sword flowers she made were the most beautiful.
Once, Min Wenshan celebrated the country's victory for the generals in the army and asked her to dance with swords in front of the army.
Perhaps Min Wenshan never knew that the sword in her hand could also kill people, and it could kill people with one blow without mercy.
Just like she didn't know that what she was planning could save the country or destroy it.
Zong Yanli stretched out his foot and kicked Min Wenshan's body, turning him over. The completely dead Min Wenshan still had an expression of disbelief, shock and panic on his face, his eyes were dead, and he was just a pile of dead meat lying on the ground.
"Mr. Mingxi, from now on you are no longer 'Oriole'." Zong Yanli glanced at Min Wenshan, then raised his eyes to look at Lu Peibai and said in a low voice.
Hearing this, Lu Peibai felt her heart suddenly tremble, her eyes were filled with sadness, and she turned her head to look back at Zong Yanli with a smile on her lips. When she met her dark and determined eyes, her heart seemed to have broken free from the last shackles. She bowed to Zong Yanli and said, "Thank you, General. From now on, Mingxi will spare no effort to repay your kindness for the rest of my life."
Zong Yanli reached out his hand to help her up and said, "I am lucky to have your help."
From this moment on, the relationship between Zong Yanli and Lu Peibai as monarch and minister was completely established. The battle of Taoyang City also made Lu Peibai famous, laying an extremely important foundation for her to become the world's number one female strategist.
Countless years later, Lu Peibai could never forget this day when she recalled it. Zong Yanli, who was standing in front of her, wearing a black armor, had deep and tough black eyes, which had a power that convinced her. It was this power that drove her to climb to the top of the mountain step by step.
After Taoyang City was uncovered, Lu Peibai told everyone about her own abilities. Her unparalleled wisdom finally convinced many of Zong Yanli's generals.
This plan was to repair the plank road in the open while secretly attacking Chencang. Even the height of the ice dragon was taken into account, forcing Min Wenshan to push down a section of the city wall himself, which accelerated the capture of the city. He also took the initiative to mention to Zong Yanli that although the ice surface was too dangerous for the entire army to go together, they could take risky moves and cross the river cleverly.
With Duzhe's defection and internal strife in front to confuse the enemy, short and light soldiers can be selected on the glacier to launch a surprise attack on the rear during the siege, disrupting the enemy's vision and defeating the enemy's morale.
Every move she made was so perfect, and when this plan was successful, even Pei Liang and others were filled with admiration.
Lu Peibai understood the hearts of those in high positions too well, and he also understood the embarrassment of Min Wenshan's identity as the emperor's uncle. However, the title of "common ruler of the world" made him dizzy. He was a real dragon...
A mere folk song coming from the capital city had already captivated Min Wenshan's vision, one thing after another, not a single step was wrong.
"What a pearl covered in dust." Pei Liang and Zhan Haoyue were deeply moved by this, saying that Min Wenshan could not tell the difference between a fake and a pearl. If Min Wenshan treated Lu Peibai well, with her scheming, it would be hard to say who would win the battle with Qi.
"Mr. Mingxi is extremely intelligent and admirable," Zhuang Chengbi also praised.
"It's just one plan, how can it compare to the countless plans you have given to the general." Lu Peibai smiled faintly. She had taken off her armor and put on her green clothes again. She tied up her long hair like a scholar, and her eyebrows were relaxed with a hint of smile.
"Haha, Mr. Mingxi, there's no need to be modest." Pei Liang praised and said with a straightforward smile: "The general has always been particular about rewarding people according to their merits. Mr. Mingxi played an indispensable role in the capture of Taoyang City this time."
"Yes, we originally thought that you might not be able to stay in the army for long because of your female identity." Zhan Haoyue was even more outspoken, "Now it seems that we are superficial, please don't blame me, Mr. Mingxi."
The smile on Lu Peibai's face grew even wider, and he smiled at Zhan Haoyue and the others, finally feeling their acceptance clearly.
She was enjoying the glory that belonged to her alone at the moment. So this is what it felt like?
But before I could enjoy it for long, I came back to live...
The gains from the capture of Taoyang City were not small. As the accounts were recorded and sent in, Lu Peibai was like a skilled worker, following Pei Liang and others to calculate and classify the accounts day and night. On the other side, Zong Yanli was also busy, and took his men to chase Qiu Wu.
Long Feiguang stayed in Taoyang City to take over the city, while Monk Qi and others went around clearing out the remaining soldiers. It had been a few days since the reorganization.
When Zong Yanli came back again, he was dragging a person behind him, leaving a very conspicuous trail in the snow.
"The general is back!" Cheers rang out outside the tent. Lu Peibai and others came out of the tent with dishevelled hair and dirty faces. They saw Zong Yanli dismounting from his horse swiftly, and the man behind him who had been dragged all the way without knowing whether he was dead or alive was dragged in front of Lu Peibai.
"Mr. Mingxi, please identify this person. Is he Qiu Wu?" Zong Yanli raised his chin and said.
Lu Peibai looked in the direction Zong Yanli pointed. Monk reached out and grabbed Qiu Wu's hair to force him to show his face. The man who was caught like a dead dog was Qiu Wu who escaped from Taoyang City.
Lu Peibai nodded and said, "It's him."
Zong Yanli was finally satisfied. He turned sideways and looked at Qiu Wu and said, "Mr. Mingxi's guess was correct. I chased him all the way to Ningtong Gorge and captured him. He was wearing a soldier's armor. I thought I had captured the wrong person..."
He was quite clever, as he exchanged his armor with that of his personal soldiers, attempting to escape unscrupulously.
Unfortunately, Zong Yanli was not an ordinary person. He could tell at a glance that Qiu Wu was different. Although he was wearing soldier's armor, the sword in his hand was clearly unusual, and the warhorse he was riding looked even more majestic. How could he look like a small soldier?
So Zong Yanli arrested the man, but couldn't tell the left from the right, so he brought him back to let Lu Peibai identify him.
I didn't expect that I was so lucky and caught the right one.
"Lock him up." Zong Yanli waved his hand and said, "After the New Year, we will march to Baishui Pass and cut down the sacrificial flag to add to the prestige of our army!"
"The general is mighty!!!" Monkie and others shouted immediately and dragged the half-dead Qiu Wu away and locked him up.
Zong Yanli returned to his military tent, changed his armor, washed off the blood, bandaged the wounds of varying degrees, and finally had time to sit down, catch his breath, drink some hot soup and eat something.
While Zong Yanli was eating, Long Feiguang was reporting the situation in Taoyang City.
Zong Yanli nodded and said, "Everything can be left as usual. The New Year is coming, so don't move the troops for now. Have a good New Year here. General, strengthen the defenses of the central army a little bit, and have scouts take turns to go out for inspection."
"Also, have Sang Caijie's people pay attention to the movements of Qi, Lu, and the Northern Kingdom."
"Finally, let Pei Liang and others write a document about the marching strategy and spread it to the world." Zong Yanli sighed and said, "Although the chances are very small, we should still make the truth known to the world..."
Zong Yanli even slowed down her eating, feeling that there might be an unofficial history in the future, telling the story of the "grudge over wife-stealing" between Zong Yanli and Du Zhe.
Zong Yanli sighed, feeling a little helpless but not thinking too much. She was thinking about how to properly apologize to Du Zhe so as not to leave any grudge in his heart. It would be bad if he really thought that she was a good wife.
She quickly finished her meal and gave Long Feiguang instructions on what to do next. Then she stood up, put on a heavy fur coat, and walked out of the tent to check military affairs.
After winning the battle, they could naturally have a good New Year. Zong Yanli called Zhao Mingcai and sent him to purchase wine and meat, chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and all the fish and meat that could be arranged. Although the quantity might be difficult to guarantee, some of each had to be available.
"Isn't this too extravagant, General?" Zhao Mingcai couldn't help but tremble at the sight of Zong Yanli spending money like water.
"How can it be considered extravagant to reward the soldiers?" Zong Yanli waved his hand and said, "This is what they deserve."
"We are thousands of miles away from home. How pitiful it would be if we couldn't even eat meat during the New Year." Zong Yanli sat up straight and said to Zhao Mingcai, "Only when we have enough food can we win the battle, and a happy army lays the foundation for a stable morale."
Now it’s not enough to just eat enough, you have to eat well!
After capturing so much food and military supplies by conquering cities one after another, if she cannot feed the soldiers well during the New Year holidays, then what is the point of her being a general?
After listening to Zong Yanli's words, Zhao Mingcai was finally convinced. He immediately leaned over to agree and turned to prepare. He took people out to purchase the supplies that day.
Because this is a strategic location, it is not easy to get chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep. You need to go to a big city far away to buy them, and the round trip takes a lot of time.
There was still some time before the New Year, so Zong Yanli forced Pei Liang and Zhan Haoyue to write furiously about the fall of Taoyang City and Lu Peibai's plan, in order to wash away the dirty water on himself and clear Queen Sai Ya's name.
Although books and newspapers have been published, there are always people who make irresponsible comments in secret, and spreading rumors is what people are most keen on.
Zong Yanli had no control over it and could only hope to remain innocent in the world to the greatest extent possible.
"Is General Du here?" After being busy for several days, Zong Yan finally went to Du Zhe's army to look for his whereabouts.
"The general is in the tent!" Zong Yanli went in after hearing this. Du Zhe saw that Zong Yanli's face did not look very good. He squinted his eyes and stared at Zong Yanli, then snorted and did not get up.
Zong Yanli didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he walked forward and asked, "General Du, are you still angry with me?"
She sat down in front of Du Zhe and said helplessly, "It is difficult to find a perfect plan in a war situation. This time, thanks to the help of Wuhuan, I have asked someone to propose a clarification. General Du, please don't take it to heart."
Du Zhe kept silent with a stern face. Zong Yanli pursed her lips and whispered, "I know that General Du and the Queen are deeply in love, and I believe that the Queen will never betray the General?"
"Of course." Du Zhe glared at Zong Yanli, as if he was dissatisfied with Zong Yanli for saying such unpleasant words!
His queen would never do such a thing!
Even if I face Zong Yanli, I won’t do that!
Zong Yanli nodded in agreement, and then said, "General Du, if you trust the queen so much, why does he care so much?"
"Haha." Du Zhe stared at Zong Yanli and said, "My princess is so outstanding and beautiful, who can guarantee that there won't be people with evil intentions?"
"..." Zong Yanli, who was labeled as having evil intentions, fell silent for a moment.
Who? Her?
Zong Yanli pursed his lips and thought for a long time, and finally said quietly: "I like women from Jiangnan. Queen Saiya is good, but she is not my type. The general is overthinking."