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◎ Qin Bing's imagined self on the battlefield was not like this!◎

More than a month after leaving Beijing, Qingyang finally took a good bath in a room with a roof and windows.

But now is not the time to indulge in pleasure.

Still tying the hair that was not completely dry into a knot at the back, Qingyang took Jie Yu to the second meeting hall.

Fan Zhong personally led a team of imperial guards to guard the courtyard. When they saw the little princess, Fan Zhong nodded in greeting. The team of guards did not look away and did not move, standing there solemnly like swords.

Jie Yu stopped at a corner of the corridor, and Qingyang went in by himself.

Emperor Xingwu and the Crown Prince were standing in front of a hanging map, whispering something. Seeing his daughter, Emperor Xingwu waved.

Qingyang walked to his father's side and looked at the map first. He found that this map covered the entire northern border of Wuwei. More than 20 passes were marked along the winding Great Wall. Among them, Wuwei Pass, six miles north of Wuwei City, was the most dangerous.

"If this battle were handed to you, knowing that the Western Hu cavalry could attack at any time, how would you deploy your defenses and where would you set up your ambush?"

Emperor Xingwu touched the ends of his daughter's damp hair and asked casually, as if the three of them were not in Wuwei but in the capital, and this was just a test question for him.

Qin Hong had already thought about this problem. After pondering for a moment, he was about to speak when he suddenly remembered his extremely intelligent sister and subconsciously looked at her.

If he is alone, it would be wrong if he said something wrong. If he said it wrong first and his sister got it right...it would be better to let his sister speak first.

But what Qin Hong saw was his sister tilting her head and concentrating on looking at the map.

Qin Hong was almost amused by his sister's serious look. Yes, although his sister was intelligent and knowledgeable, she was still too young to understand the border map, let alone deploy troops.

Since his sister still had no idea, Qin Hong pointed to the nearest Wuwei Pass and said, "Although this place is closest to Wuwei City, my father is in the city. The Western Hu will definitely think that my father will deploy heavy troops here, including the two nearby passes. Therefore, the Western Hu will definitely not choose these three places for a surprise attack, and we don't need to send more troops there."

Pointing his finger at the Huaian Pass, seventy miles northwest of Wuwei, Qin Hong said, "The terrain around Huaian is flat, making it relatively easy to breach even with the Great Wall. Furthermore, once the Western Hu cavalry enter, the road from Huaian to Wuwei will be almost smooth. Therefore, Father should deploy heavy troops to defend this area. The Western Hu should be able to anticipate this, so they won't choose to attack the Huaian Pass."

Emperor Xingwu nodded.

Finally, Qin Hong pointed to the Shiheling Pass, fifty miles northeast of Wuwei. "This area is mountainous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The Western Barbarians have never attacked here in the past. If Your Majesty pretends to send a few more troops to defend this area, the Western Barbarians will surely think that Your Majesty is relying too much on the mountainous terrain and is therefore planning a surprise attack from Shiheling. Therefore, Your Majesty can arrange ambushes along the road from Shiheling to Wuwei. The hills on both sides of this road are perfect for infantry ambushes."

After saying this, Qin Hong looked at his father with unconcealed nervousness.

Emperor Xingwu smiled and patted his daughter's shoulder: "What do you say, Lin'er?"

Qingyang looked at his elder brother with admiration: "I don't quite understand, but I think what he said is right."

Qin Hong was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard his father snort. "The Hu people have been fighting the border troops for several dynasties, and they probably know the terrain of the border better than we do. They are used to galloping across the grasslands, and they hate the mountain roads around Shiheling the most. Now they already know that I only have 30,000 soldiers. Forget about dispersing 30,000 soldiers to these northern passes. Even if I cram all 30,000 soldiers into the Huaian Town Pass, 30,000 reinforcements plus the original 3,000 defenders will not be able to stop their 200,000 cavalry charge."

"So, instead of taking the difficult and highly ambushed Shiheling Mountain Road, Xihu will definitely take the smooth road of Huaian Town."

Qin Hong's face flushed red. Seeing this, Qing Yang said unhappily, "Father, you really just want to show off your wisdom in front of us, right?"

Emperor Xingwu laughed and said, "I'm showing off, but I'm also teaching you that when there's a huge disparity in strength between the two armies, the one with fewer troops will cautiously strive for victory through tactics, while the one with more will prefer a direct assault, especially the fierce and courageous Hu cavalry."

Qin Hong learned his lesson.

There was a sound of footsteps in the courtyard, followed by He Yuanjingtong saying, "Your Majesty, General Lü Zan requests an audience."

Emperor Xingwu took his two children to the main hall.

Lü Zan: "Your Majesty, the city defenses have been deployed."

Emperor Xingwu nodded and asked the prince to go for inspection.

After the Crown Prince left, Emperor Xingwu looked at the little princess beside him and asked curiously, "Did you really not expect that just now, or were you deliberately saving face for your elder brother?"

The little princess cunningly asked back, "Which one does my father want me to be?"

Emperor Xingwu smiled and casually asked his daughter another question: "Even if your Majesty guessed that the Hu cavalry would launch a surprise attack from Huaian Town, there is no suitable terrain for an ambush along the way to Huaian Town. Lin'er, aren't you worried that the Hu cavalry will reach Wuwei City directly?"

Qingyang: "Father's troops have just won a tragic victory and have come a long way, so they are exhausted. The longer Father stays in the city, the greater the possibility that troops from other border areas will be mobilized to protect him. Therefore, tonight is the best time for a surprise attack by the Western Hu. Since it is night, the darkness provides the best cover for Father's ambush, so there is no need to use the hills."

Emperor Xingwu waved to his daughter.

Qingyang walked up to his father.

Emperor Xingwu simply touched his daughter's head and asked, "Where is your third brother?"

Qingyang didn't know: "...Fuan said that the third brother was lying on the couch to dry his hair, and then fell asleep."

Emperor Xingwu: "...We should send him to the battlefield as well to see if he can still sleep."

Qin Ren slept until dusk, when Fu An woke him up. When he came to his father's side with a guilty conscience, he saw that his father, elder brother, and sister had already started eating. Seeing him, his elder brother looked helpless, his sister didn't look at him, and his father glanced at him but seemed not to see anything.

Qin Ren sat down next to his sister awkwardly, picked up his bowl and started eating.

Emperor Xingwu said: "There are not enough soldiers to defend the city. You will be on guard at the city gate tonight."

Qin Hong and Qing Yang looked up at the same time in shock.

Qin Ren stared blankly at his father with a mouthful of rice. Seeing his father staring at him without allowing any rejection, Qin Ren blinked, closed his mouth, nodded, and continued eating.

The little princess was reluctant to let go, so she secretly pulled her father's clothes from the side.

Emperor Xingwu was still glaring at his son. Originally, he just wanted to scare this careless son, but he didn't expect that he still underestimated the carelessness of the third son. Going to the city gate to guard the night did not affect the third son's appetite!

"Forget it. I'm afraid you'll fall asleep on the city gate and embarrass me. You'd better stay in the yard."

When the third brother finished his meal and was about to leave while looking back every few steps, Emperor Xingwu said with a cold face.

.

The north wind was howling and the night was as dark as ink. At about the second watch, the left and right generals of Xihu led an army of 200,000 to the outskirts of Huaian Town.

There were several lights swaying in the wind hanging on the pass, and two teams of soldiers could be vaguely seen walking back and forth on the city wall. Looking at the motionless figures of the soldiers, they were far more numerous than the usual number of troops on this side.

The Right General sneered and said to the Left General, "The Emperor of Qi is indeed a cunning man. He's deliberately sending more troops here to lure us into attacking Shiheling. Haha, we won't fall for his trick!"

The Left General was more cautious than the Right General. Even with the Qi Emperor, a piece of juicy meat, right before his eyes, he still retained some common sense and made arrangements: "This pass is not difficult. You take 150,000 men to attack the city and capture the Qi Emperor. I will take 50,000 men to stay here to prevent the Qi Emperor from withdrawing cavalry from Zhangye to cut off our retreat."

The 70,000 cavalrymen that Yuan Zhaoxiong led to fight the emperor were completely wiped out, but nearly 20,000 cavalrymen could be mobilized from Zhangye and Dunhuang in the west. Once this pass was occupied, it would be equivalent to trapping all of their 200,000 cavalrymen inside the Great Wall, so he had to be on guard.

"Okay, let's go!"

The right general was eager to make a great contribution, so he flicked his whip and led his troops away with a roar.

In less than half an hour, 150,000 Western Hu cavalry broke through the Huaian Town Pass. Because there was a Qi emperor in Wuwei, the Western Hu cavalry neither bothered to kill the fleeing pass guards nor looted the small town a few miles away. The 150,000 cavalrymen ran towards Wuwei City, which was 70 miles away, as if they were familiar with the route.

The journey was indeed smooth, but when the last group of Hu cavalry passed a certain place, there was a sudden sound of breaking through the air, and a firework exploded in the high night sky.

The nearby Hu cavalry turned around one after another, and at the same time, fireworks bloomed one after another on the road ahead of them.

When the fireworks rising into the sky behind them had not yet dimmed and the 150,000 Hu cavalry realized that something was wrong, countless sharp arrows had already flown out from both sides of the darkness.

There are not ambushes on every section of the road, but the cavalry that are not ambushed will encounter a constant rain of arrows regardless of whether they run forward or backward.

"Retreat, retreat quickly!"

The right general who was leading the group shouted loudly.

When the roars of the fleeing Hu people got closer and closer and finally reached the ears of General Zuo outside the pass, he immediately turned his horse around and ran back. However, after running only a dozen miles, rows of ghostly figures suddenly appeared on the grassland he was familiar with, followed by a meteor-like rain of arrows.

"Run, go around from both sides!"

However, a rain of arrows also flew out from the east and west sides. Just when the arrow formation was about to lose its blocking effect, three cavalry units rushed over from farther away. They were the 30,000 cavalry units led by Deng Chong, Meng Ji and Hou Wanzhong, the deputy general of Liangzhou.

Deng Chong, sword in hand, charged at the Hu cavalry, his horse excited as a wolf hunting at night: "Kill! Let these Hu bastards see how powerful our Central Plains soldiers are!"

In the blink of an eye, the sounds of fighting broke out.

Qin Bing was arranged at the rear of Meng Ji's cavalry. Seeing that the Hu cavalry were charging towards him but he had not seen any trace of them, he was so anxious that he wanted to go around to the front from the side.

Zhang Su tried to stop him: "Marquis Meng said that we should wait for his order!"

Qin Bing: "Bullshit, I'll wait for you, I'm going!"

Zhang Su couldn't stop the man, so he had to follow the second prince closely.

Just then, a few Hu cavalrymen were running towards this side. Qin Bing held on to his spear and urged his horse to run faster. However, when they got closer, he could see the ferocious faces of the Hu cavalrymen in the distance through the torches of the archers. Their aura was even more brutal than his. Qin Bing suddenly felt panic in his heart, and the spear in his hand began to tremble slightly.

With a "swish", Zhang Su swung his gun forward and shot dead the Hu cavalryman who was about to attack the second prince.

The second Hu cavalry followed closely, and Zhang Su had no time to tell the second prince anything, so he focused all his efforts on fighting the enemy.

Only after Zhang Su and his personal soldiers had killed almost all the Hu cavalry on this side did Qin Bing's hand holding the gun stop trembling. However, he no longer dared to rush forward and only targeted the lone Hu cavalry.

When the gun in his hand actually pierced the chest of a Hu cavalryman and he looked at the other's wide-open eyes, Qin Bing suddenly felt like crying.

This is not how he imagined himself on the battlefield!

【Author’s words】

Here I come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~

ps: It’s time to reveal the settings I gave to the three brothers. The eldest is cowardly and depressed [dog head], the second is arrogant and cowardly [dog head], and the third is pure and kind [dog head]