Chapter 972 Iron Cavalry Tramples Mountains and Rivers

The Prince merely replied with an "Oh." It wasn't to flaunt his composure.

Though surrounded by layers of Jinyi guards, they were all a distance away.

Panicked?

Not really.

Happy?

Not quite.

A moment before his nap, he had suddenly realized that he had finally learned how to wage war.

So the subsequent military reports were nothing more than a model student from the Fengxin City academy receiving an exam paper from his teacher.

The questions weren't strange or tricky, just perfectly ordinary.

All that was left was to solve them, answer them.

Once the questions were done, the paper could be handed in, and he could go back and see what kind of dumplings his mother had promised for dinner.

The Prince wasn't even in a hurry to get out of his chair. It was cold outside, and his python robe was thick and warm. Combined with the brazier, it felt like being in an icehouse in the middle of summer… oh, while wrapped in a quilt, a sense of cozy indulgence.

Because it was so comfortable, he wanted to laze around a little longer.

Unfortunately, it seemed that was a luxury.

The Chu army began to move overnight. No, to be precise, the Chu army's movements had already begun during the day, and by now, it had progressed to the point where even the night couldn't conceal it.

Along the sprawling defensive line, bugle calls rose and fell. The Yan army's system, sensing the clear threat from the outside, began to operate instinctively.

Many eyes began to converge on the command tent.

And some began to look past the command tent, searching for the figure on the throne.

Si Niang arrived, her sleeves flowing, bringing a gust of fragrant wind.

When she walked to Zheng Fan's side, Zheng Fan was actually a little embarrassed. When everyone else was busy, to be caught loafing around felt awkward, no matter how thick-skinned one was.

He couldn't laze around any longer; Zheng Fan had to get up.

However, Si Niang was, after all, the woman most compatible with Zheng Fan. This wasn't simply referring to her excellence and strengths, but rather her ability to perform the so-called "husband sings, wife follows" to its best.

"My lord, what would you like for a late-night snack?"

"Is there still fish paste?" Zheng Fan asked.

The fish from the Wei River was delicious, perfect for making fish paste.

"Yes, there is."

"Then let's have fish paste soup."

"Very well, my lord."

Zheng Fan walked ahead, Si Niang at his side. They left the city wall and made their way to the command tent.

Outside, it was already crowded with people. Inside the tent, there were many people as well.

Seeing the Prince and Princess arrive, everyone knelt and paid their respects.

The old but not dead Yao Zizhan had, in recent years, gradually begun to let go of his so-called literati restraint and started to write articles and stories to mock and satirize the Yan Kingdom;

This actually reflected, ever since the Three Kingdoms War, after the capital of Qian was broken, and in the years that followed, with the Yan Kingdom steadily recovering and accumulating strength, the… impotent rage of the Qian people.

And this emotion not only circulated among the common people of Qian, but also permeated its upper echelons.

When your opponent can only distort and smear you through these vague stories, it proves that they really have no other tricks left.

The Qian people used to want some dignity, but now, they don't even want that anymore.

However, there was one point that Yao Zizhan criticized that wasn't entirely wrong;

He said that the Jin Dong region of Yan Kingdom didn't value etiquette but rigidly adhered to rules, seeking rules without etiquette, putting the cart before the horse.

The Yan Kingdom had opened the imperial examinations during the reign of the late Emperor, and it had been many years now, but in Jin Dong, with its ever-growing population, the number of people going to Yingdu to participate in the examinations each year was decreasing year by year.

The wind of culture and education was not prevalent in Jin Dong. The people of Jin Dong preferred their children to join the army, work in the Prince's mansion, or become masters in workshops after graduating from the academy.

Therefore, Yao Zizhan used this point to say that Jin Dong didn't pay attention to etiquette and was in a state of moral decay;

The emphasis on rules, on the other hand, was that many places in Jin Dong had blind men creating a set of very rigorous etiquette based on their lord's aesthetic preferences;

The characteristics of these etiquette were… good-looking, good-looking, and good-looking.

To some extent, it didn't conform to the habit of the various Xia rites, where every action and every link could find a specific annotation from the "rites."

For example, when the Regent Prince ran to a mountain and directly performed the fengshan ceremony (imperial sacrifice), he even changed the name of the mountain after the ceremony. In the eyes of serious literati, this was simply nonsense. It wasn't just disrespecting the rites; it was creating the rites themselves. Creating was one thing, but you didn't even explain what you created.

"Your Highness!"

"Your Highness."

A group of generals knelt on one knee, right hand clenched into a fist, placed on their heart.

The Jin Dong Army was an army composed of proud and valiant soldiers, because it had never lost since its formation at Cui Liu Fort. It was fed by one great victory after another.

Therefore, most of the time, Zheng Fan's role had shifted from giving his subordinates a pep talk before the battle to pouring cold water on everyone to prevent them from overheating;

Pouring cold water was really more difficult than giving a pep talk, and only the Prince himself could do it.

"Rise."

"Yes!"

The Prince and Princess separated. The Princess went to the adjacent tent to prepare a late-night snack, while the Prince walked into the command tent.

At this time, all the generals above the rank of Youji General were standing in the command tent. After the Prince entered, the generals outside filed in, lining up on both sides.

Zheng Fan sat down on the command seat and glanced at Liu Dahu.

Liu Dahu nodded, opened the military reports, and began to read the military intelligence sent from various places since nightfall;

At this time, these generals needed to have a clear understanding of the overall situation.

The general situation was that, according to reconnaissance, the Chu army had begun large-scale military movements. The three counties had many fortresses and cities, and the real garrison locations, that is, the armies that could be deployed for field battles, were roughly divided into five major camps. Four of them were main camps, each with more than 100,000 soldiers, and the remaining one was an auxiliary camp, with less than 100,000 soldiers.

Now,

All five camps of the Chu army had begun to move. This was definitely not a simple rotation of troops.

Such a large-scale military mobilization could only lead to two results:

One was that the Chu army would choose to retreat across the board; this was obviously impossible. If the Chu army retreated again, they would really have to retreat back to the Jingji region. If the Yan army pressed forward again, the Chu Emperor could stand on the city walls of the capital and watch military exercises without even buying a ticket;

The second possibility,

Was that the Chu army was going to launch a full-scale attack!

After Liu Dahu finished reading,

The eunuch Huang standing next to him shouted:

"Please, Generals, speak your minds."

Some things really had to be shouted by the eunuch to have the right feel.

Eunuch Huang's shout really brought out the majestic sense of "If you have something to report, step forward; if not, withdraw."

For a moment, several generals stepped forward, and many others were preparing to speak.

"Your Highness, this general…"

"Your Highness, this general…"

At this moment, the curtain of the command tent was lifted, and the Princess walked in, carrying a bowl of soup.

The fiery atmosphere in the command tent instantly quieted down.

Si Niang carried the bowl of soup, walked to the side of the command seat, put down the bowl and spoon, and whispered:

"My lord, would you like some vinegar?"

The Prince shook his head and said, "Add a little pepper powder."

"Your concubine has already added it."

"Good."

Zheng Fan picked up the spoon and took a sip of the soup.

Fish paste soup was easy to make. The fish paste, prepared in advance, was added to boiling water, sprinkled with chopped green onions, a drop of sesame oil, and a little pepper powder. The taste was very delicious, and the tender white fish paste floating on top was also very refreshing.

While the Prince was drinking the soup, Si Niang raised her head and clapped her hands.

Jinyi guards brought in a large pot of soup, as well as several stacks of clean bowls, chopsticks, and spoons.

Si Niang smiled and said, "Generals, please have some to warm yourselves."

The generals bowed and saluted in unison:

"Thank you, Your Highness."

If it were an ordinary Princess, such as Xiong Liqing, the generals would still respect her, but Si Niang was different. She had been in charge of finances for nearly ten years, and everything from military salaries and supplies to the monthly allowances and benefits of the standard households had to go through her hands;

Some things, others didn't know, but how could those who were standing in this command tent not know?

Therefore, these generals had some fear of Si Niang.

Next, everyone began to ladle soup. Some with heavier tastes would add some extra salt, and some would add chili powder.

To this, the Prince sitting on the command seat could only shake his head slightly in his heart. It was a waste of such a treasure. Eating everything as if it were hot pot, wasting this deliciousness;

Probably, the Prince had really forgotten that the hot pot eating method had become popular because he liked it.

Everyone had a bowl of soup in hand, discussing military affairs while drinking the soup.

The mood suddenly eased.

The Prince, on the other hand, was just listening, not commenting. However, midway, the Prince called out Gong Wang and organized some military discussions to come up with a plan.

The differences were actually not that big.

If the Chu people dared to take the initiative to attack, then we would just fight back. There was nothing to say.

But in terms of methods, they still advocated using the defensive line constructed from the earthwork projects of the past half-year to first wear down the Chu people before seeking an opportunity to counterattack.

After listening to the entire military discussion, Zheng Fan couldn't help but laugh in his heart.

The reason was simple. The entire war plan against Chu, even Gou Moli and himself, was only tacitly understood, not explicitly stated. This battle was about the information gap, the Chu people's temper, and the impulse to lay down their cards and go all in;

Therefore, in fact, the understanding of the war situation by these generals present was not much different from that of the Chu people on the other side.

And it was in this situation that they were still maintaining this extremely optimistic attitude. This confidence…

And in the military discussion, everyone seemed to be deliberately avoiding the issue of the defense being weakened due to troop deployments. Were they afraid of embarrassing themselves?

Perhaps this was the sorrow of those in high positions;

To some extent, it could also be said that his prestige in the army was too high, suppressing all doubts and causing a backlash.

Everything had two sides. A military discussion, a group of roughnecks from the military, had actually played out the flowers and taboos of the court;

The only thing worth celebrating was that the advice given by their military discussion was to defend first and then seek a counterattack, instead of really losing their minds and choosing to take the initiative to attack directly.

Defend first and see. If the situation was not good, everyone could retreat, retreat back to Shanggu County, or retreat back to Zhennan Pass, leaving the Prince some leeway.

Zheng Fan didn't reprimand anyone, nor did he reveal these words and explain them clearly. After Gong Wang made a summary,

Zheng Fan simply nodded silently,

And said:

"Let's arrange it like this for now."

……

The Chu army's offensive came much more fiercely than expected.

In fact, since the first clash between the forces of Yan and Chu in Jin Dong, the most losses and casualties had always been suffered by the private soldiers of the nobles. The Chu imperial family's guards had suffered casualties, but had never been fundamentally hurt.

This Chu force, the largest in scale and the highest in combat power, finally ushered in its first full display in front of the Yan people after the superiors made up their minds.

The Chu people also gave the Yan people a lesson, letting them see what true peak infantry combat power was.

The Chu army was divided into four routes of attack,

One route was led by Zhao Han, mainly composed of the Zhao clan's troops;

One route was led by Shi Yong, which was a part of the imperial guards;

One route was led by Xiong Tingshan, which was the imperial guards plus the Shan Yue army;

One route, which was the central army, was personally led by Xie Yu'an, with the most troops and the largest scale, all of them were imperial guards.

However, there was still one route hanging at the end, not participating in the real offensive, obviously prepared for a retreat.

The Chu army's trebuchets and siege equipment showed extremely sharp war effects. In Xue San's words, the Chu people had learned from Jin Dong;

Although they were not as accurate as the Yan army's trebuchets, they had actually improved a lot compared to the past.

Next, the Chu army advanced with infantry phalanxes in coordination with archer phalanxes. When the Yan army did not choose to take the initiative to attack, the Chu army began to uproot all kinds of military strongholds and fortifications built by the Yan army in the past six months with extremely high efficiency.

Wave after wave, batch after batch, the efficiency was very high.

For the Yan army, the effect of the three-day defense battle was not very good. Not only was the outer defense line completely broken by the Chu army, but even the last line of defense had begun to be eroded by the Chu army.

And if the Yan army had not launched a proactive attack on the third day, delaying the Chu army's offensive pace, the Chu army might have already broken through the Yan army's last line of defense.

The Chu army's four routes of attack were all strong in strength, and there was no such thing as a feint to draw attention. They brought great pressure to the Yan army's defense line, making the Yan army feel overwhelmed.

But the fundamental reason for the Chu army's rapid progress was not that they had suddenly descended like divine soldiers. In fact, the one who caused this situation was none other than the Regent Prince Zheng Fan himself.

Because it was the Prince who ordered the Yan army to build too many fortifications and military strongholds. This thing was not to say that the more you built, the more positive effects it would have. Building too much would instead disperse the Yan army's defense forces. After spreading out, when facing the Chu people's full-scale attack, it would be an emergency everywhere, and it would be impossible to defend anywhere.

If two or three larger castles were built here, even if all the other military strongholds were eliminated, the Yan army could be more calm when defending and delaying.

"My lord is wise, even defeat can be so justified."

The blind man standing next to the Prince gave a very standard and unique flattery.

Zheng Fan looked at the blind man, smiled, and said, "I really forgot about this."

The blind man also smiled.

In this world, how could anyone really be able to calculate everything without error?

Zheng Fan really hadn't thought of this beforehand, but it didn't matter. As the blind man said, this kind of "rout" was also pretty good.

This battle was about the time difference. If they were to get stuck here with the Chu people, and the news from Chuxi were to be transmitted here, then all the arrangements would become bubbles.

It wasn't a loss. The Yan people didn't actually lose anything;

But the problem was that from a businessman's point of view, saying that they lost so much was that they originally expected to earn a thousand taels, but they only earned five hundred taels, so they "lost" five hundred taels.

And the deal in front of Zheng Fan was based on the "country" to discuss the gains.

"I ordered them not to defend to the death if they couldn't hold on, to retreat backward if they could, and they followed my orders well," Zheng Fan said.

The blind man nodded and said, "They think that you should have realized that your arrangement was wrong and that you were planning to retreat."

"Yes, they are afraid that I can't afford to lose."

"You misunderstand them. They are actually more afraid of your failure than you are. In their eyes, you are a god of war."

"In the future, the army should reform and set up something like a general staff. We can't have a one-man show anymore."

"Actually, there has been one in the army for a long time."

"Oh?"

"Because you are personally in charge, so… it doesn't make much difference whether there is one or not. No one dares to disobey your orders, and Liang Cheng and the others are not here, so naturally no one dares to stand up."

Zheng Fan nodded, and Si Niang walked over and put a cloak over Zheng Fan's shoulders.

"Okay, let's retreat as well. Let's retreat to the north of the Wei River and let the Chu people continue to chase after us. They have already shot their arrow and can't turn back."

"Your scheme makes your subordinate admire you. What your subordinate plays with is people's hearts, at most, a group of people. What you play with is the will of a country.

Whether to die like a frog boiled in warm water, or to desperately seek a possibility.

When you tell a drunk person that he is drunk, he will retort and say that he is not drunk;

A person who has become red-eyed from gambling will not leave the table until his chips are gone."

"Are you flattering me again?"

"Sincerely."

"Oh, so you used to be insincere."

"This…" The blind man.

The blind man frankly nodded and said, "Who would have thought that you, who had just woken up in the Tiger Head City Inn and were still a little timid about this unfamiliar environment,

Could have reached this point?

The seven of us are gradually recovering, recovering to our original appearance.

And you have been constantly improving."

"Okay, stop complimenting me. I just learned how to fight."

"Your subordinate understands, a little knowledge."

"Hahaha, you."

Zheng Fan, wearing a black and gold cloak and a python robe, began to retreat under the protection of a group of Jinyi guards.

Next, all the Yan army south of the Wei River would retreat because once the last line of defense was broken by the Chu army, it would easily be completely surrounded.

The reason why the Chu army gave up the Wei River defense line and retreated on their own initiative was also because they were afraid of this.

When the team was about to cross the river along the crossing bridge,

Liu Dahu opened his mouth and said:

"Your Highness, please allow us to dig out the corpses of our fallen comrades buried here and take them back to prevent them from being insulted by the Chu people."

In the first battle across the river, Tiantian led the Jinyi guards to meet the Chu Kingdom's Prince Ding, Xiong Tingshan's direct line cavalry. In that battle, they repelled the Chu army, but the Jinyi guards themselves suffered a lot of casualties.

After the battle, Zheng Fan ordered that the bones of the Jinyi guards who died in battle be buried south of this Wei River, and said that this place would be the territory of Great Yan in the future.

But now, the Yan army was about to retreat to the north bank, and when the Chu army chased over, the location of these inscribed monuments would inevitably be dug up and the corpses exposed by the Chu people.

The Jinyi guards were an independent team. They were absolutely loyal to the Prince and also had extremely strong internal cohesion.

Obviously, the reason why Liu Dahu made this proposal was because the Jinyi guards below had reported this request to him.

Strictly speaking, Liu Dahu was now the deputy commandant of the Jinyi guards;

After Liu Dahu finished speaking,

He knelt down,

Immediately after,

The Jinyi guards who had been protecting the Prince's retreat all knelt down,

And said in unison;

"Please, Your Highness, grant permission!"

This was not forcing the palace, nor was it remonstrance by force;

What they requested was to leave with the bones of their comrades. They did not want to see their comrades who had lived together day and night suffer humiliation after death.

The Prince looked around at the Jinyi guards kneeling on the ground,

And said:

"I, do not allow it."

The guards kneeling around were a little stunned, but no one dared to stir, and after the Prince made a decision, they stood up one after another. Obeying the Prince's order was their instinct.

The Prince pointed to the cluster of graves erected on the bank,

And said:

"I believe,

The comrades who are resting there will be very happy to be 'invited' out by the Chu people;

Because soon,

They will witness with their own eyes,

How our iron cavalry

Will slaughter the Chu people on both sides of this Wei River, causing blood to flow like a river!"

——

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