retreat
The walls of Weizhou were in ruins, the smoke of gunpowder had not yet dissipated, and the scorched earth was filled with a thick, inextricable smell of blood, mixed with the painful groans of the wounded, weighing heavily on everyone's heart.
Ning Lingyi rode his horse slowly across the battlefield that had just experienced a bloody battle. His black armor was covered with dust. Wherever he looked, there were fallen corpses, broken weapons, and shattered flags.
When the soldiers defending the city saw her, they struggled to stand up and salute. Their faces, stained with blood and dust, looked exhausted, but their light was rekindled by her arrival.
"Long live His Majesty!"
Hoarse cheers rang out one after another.
Ning Lingyi felt an unbearable dull pain in her heart.
These were all her soldiers from the Southern Dynasty. In just a few days, tens of thousands of dead souls were added to the city of Weizhou. They might have been the darling children of their parents and the husbands relied on by their wives yesterday, but now they have turned into cold corpses, sleeping here forever.
She couldn't bear to watch it anymore, but she had to watch it.
In the past, when she was defending Heshuo, she may have focused only on the gains and losses of this piece of land and the survival of her soldiers. But now, as the regent princess, holding the power of the world, her gaze must look beyond the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and look beyond.
The gains and losses of a city or a place, and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, although of great importance, have to be measured in the chessboard of the entire world.
In war, there will inevitably be casualties. Not just one person, but tens of millions of people. To end war with war and to defeat force with force is the way of war.
Ning Lingyi looked up at Beishuo's flag, then at the scorched earth beneath her feet.
She helped up a soldier who wanted to salute, and finally made up her mind to retreat the Beishuo troops, but she could not lose the Southern Dynasty soldiers again.
*
At this moment, the atmosphere in the Beishuo camp was also not relaxed.
After days of fierce attacks, the Weizhou defenders' resistance was more tenacious than expected. The Beishuo soldiers were also exhausted and suffered heavy casualties. Especially after learning that Ning Lingyi had arrived in person with a large army, the army gradually began to retreat.
Several core generals gathered in Tuoba Hong's tent with serious expressions.
"Great Khan, the Southern Dynasty reinforcements are massive, with Ning Lingyi leading the charge personally, and their morale is high. Our army is exhausted from the long battle. If we continue to camp within the fortified city, we will be attacked from both inside and outside. We should retreat to Zhenzhou temporarily and plan our future strategy."
Tuoba Hong tapped the table lightly with his knuckles and remained silent.
To withdraw troops directly would be tantamount to admitting defeat in this battle, which would be a loss of face and might also embolden the Southern Dynasty. Even if one wants to leave, one must do something before doing so.
His eyes were deep as he finally made a decision: "Form a battle array outside Weizhou City. Set up your formation and wait for Ning Lingyi to arrive! This king wants to see what kind of demeanor this new ruler of the Southern Dynasty has now."
He wanted to meet Ning Lingyi. Even if he had to retreat, he had to surpass her in momentum to gain more bargaining chips for possible subsequent negotiations.
The next day, the two armies faced off in the wilderness outside Weizhou City.
The Beishuo cavalry was like a dark cloud pressing in, their swords and spears shining in the sun, grim and murderous.
The Southern Dynasty's black armor army was also on high alert, with flags flying and the military appearance in full force.
The battle flags fluttered in the wind, and the air was filled with tension that was about to break out.
Tuoba Hong stood in front of the battle formation, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure under the command of the opposite central army.
After several years, the former beauty of Princess Mingzhu can still be vaguely seen, but it is covered by a deeper toughness, like a mountain, like an abyss, and all emperors and saints are like this.
He was filled with emotion. Every time they met, she always amazed him. From a prisoner to a commander, and now to the regent princess who was in charge of the Southern Dynasty, she always made him feel dazzled.
However, this is a battle for the whole world, a fight for the destiny of nations.
Even though there had been an engagement, even though there were complex and unspeakable feelings in his heart, in Tuoba Hong's heart, these were far from comparable to Beishuo's hegemony.
In war, there are only enemies.
Behind Tuoba Hong, a general rode out, shouting a series of pre-prepared obscenities in his half-baked Chinese: "Listen up, Southern Army! Your mistress, Ning Lingyi, has a long-standing engagement with the Great Khan of Beishuo and is the Queen of Beishuo! Now that you're invading our borders, are you disrespecting your husband?"
Before he finished speaking, a burst of laughter and an even more unbearable clamor suddenly rang out from the Beishuo camp. Thousands of soldiers shouted in unison, the sound shaking the sky:
"The Queen has returned! Dismount and salute immediately!"
"Instead of staying home to raise a prince, you come to the battlefield and cause trouble. How disgraceful!"
"If you anger the Khan, I'll divorce you with a letter of divorce!"
"Women should stay in the tent and serve men! Hahahaha!"
The vulgar and lewd shouts were like poisonous arrows, shooting towards the Southern Dynasty army formation in an overwhelming manner, bringing extreme humiliation.
"How dare you, you bastard!"
"Your Majesty! I beg your command! I will chop off the head of this beast!"
"Kill them! Tear their mouths off!"
The Southern Dynasty's formation exploded instantly. Generals such as Xue Cheng were furious and their blood was boiling. They drew their swords and asked for battle. The soldiers were also very angry, and their calls for battle drowned out the clamor from the opposite side.
Ning Lingyi sat upright on the back of the jade lion, her face as calm as water, as if those dirty words were just the breeze passing by her ears.
She raised her hand gently to stop the surging wave of requests for battle behind her.
Her gaze pierced the clamor of the battlefield, locking onto the distant figure under the banner of the Beishuo Central Army. She sneered inwardly, "Tuoba Hong, you used to pride yourself on being a hero, but now you're resorting to such despicable tactics. Do you realize you have no chance of victory and are resorting to this to disrupt our morale and dampen our fighting spirit?"
She refused to let him have his way.
Ning Lingyi called over a civil servant who was known for his boldness, carefulness and eloquence, and whispered a few instructions to him.
The messenger accepted the order without any fear on his face. He straightened his clothes, rode out alone, and headed straight for the Beishuo army.
When the Beishuo soldiers saw that the Southern Dynasty had only sent a civil official, they laughed even more wildly and heard all kinds of mocking words.
The envoy remained calm until he was led before Tuoba Hong's horse. Facing the arrogant and powerful generals surrounding him, he snorted coldly, his voice clear and resonant, drowning out the clamor: "My lord, Princess Mingzhu, has sent me to ask the Great Khan of Beishuo: Your troops have stationed themselves in our territory and uttered such nonsense, are you prepared to fight to the death? If so, our powerful Southern Dynasty army will immediately accompany you! If not, please withdraw immediately and stop making noise!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the laughter in front of Beishuo's formation stopped, and then broke out into even louder curses.
A fierce Beishuo general drew his sword and shouted angrily: "Arrogant southern barbarian! You're seeking death!"
The envoy showed no fear. Instead, he laughed heartily, his laughter filled with sarcasm: "Neither fighting nor retreating, merely venting his anger on others – truly ridiculous! Do you know how greedy people are, when they occasionally earn a little money or a bit of attention, they dare to become arrogant and bark wildly?"
"Little did I know that the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind! My lord, with his brilliant foresight, has already dispatched a special force to strike directly at Huanglong! By now, Zhenzhou has likely returned to the territory of our Southern Dynasty! The land of Heshuo is entirely within my lord's control! You are isolated and stranded, your retreat cut off, yet you still don't realize it, yet you are still speaking nonsense here, are you just waiting to be killed?"
These words were like pouring ice water into boiling oil, causing an uproar in the Beishuo camp!
The generals' faces suddenly changed and they all looked at Tuoba Hong.
If Zhenzhou is lost, it will not only mean the complete failure of this southern expedition, but also mean that the door to Beishuo is wide open, and the Southern Dynasty's troops can directly attack its heartland.
Tuoba Hong's pupils also suddenly contracted, and he felt confused and uncertain.
The remaining troops in Zhenzhou were not weak, so how could they be easily lost? Ning Lingyi's deployment of troops was ingenious, but the main force was here, so where would the remaining force be to attack Zhenzhou? This was most likely a deception.
However, war is a treacherous path.
What if? What if Ning Lingyi really had a backup plan and launched a surprise attack while his army was away?
He didn't dare to take the gamble.
"Khan! Don't listen to the nonsense of these southern barbarians! I am willing to return to Zhenzhou immediately to find out what is going on!" A general requested.
"Kill this madman as a sacrifice!" Some angry people even wanted to swing their swords at the messenger.
The envoy stiffened his neck, glared, and shouted, "Kill me? Perfect! If you kill me today, my Southern Dynasty army will immediately crush your camp and avenge me! You will all be pulverized into dust!"
It was so imposing that it temporarily calmed the situation.
Tuoba Hong's face was as gloomy as water, and he raised his hand to stop his restless subordinates.
He stared at the messenger, trying to find a flaw in his face, but the messenger had a stern expression.
"What a Ning Lingyi..." Tuoba Hong sighed in his heart, but ultimately did not dare to take the risk.
He waved his hand, his voice unrecognizable as either happy or angry: "Send him back."
The messenger snorted coldly, straightened his robe, and under the murderous gaze, he calmly turned his horse's head and returned to the camp.
After the envoy was sent away, the atmosphere in the Beishuo central army tent did not ease, but became even more solemn.
Tuoba Hong looked around at the generals under his command and saw that everyone's faces were filled with surprise and confusion.
An impatient captain was the first to break the silence, gruffly saying, "Great Khan! Ning Lingyi's main force has arrived, making Weizhou even tougher to tackle. It would be unwise for us to stay here and fight her head-on! We should withdraw our troops immediately and return to Zhenzhou to make plans."
As soon as he finished speaking, another more cautious veteran immediately retorted, "Retreat? That's easy to say! The Southern Dynasty envoy said with certainty that Zhenzhou has been lost! If that's true, wouldn't we be walking into a trap if we retreat now? If Zhenzhou really falls into the hands of the Southern Army, our retreat will be cut off, and our food supply will be cut off. We will be trapped like a turtle in a jar, a beast in a cage! If Ning Lingyi sends troops to set ambushes along the way, the consequences will be disastrous!"
"Are we just going to sit here and wait for death because of a few big words from a southern barbarian?" the former captain of ten thousand men angrily said, "I think the envoy is clearly bluffing, trying to disrupt our army's morale! Ning Lingyi's elite troops are all here. Where will she find the troops to take Zhenzhou?"
"But she's always been cunning in her tactics. Who can guarantee she doesn't have a hidden agenda?" the veteran general worried. "Don't forget how she took Youzhou and Weizhou! If it's fake, it's all a wasted trip. But if it's true, all of our Beishuo elite troops will be wiped out!"
An argument broke out in the tent. Those who wanted to retreat were afraid of being attacked from both sides, while those who wanted to stay suspected that their retreat had been cut off. Both sides held their own opinions, and both had their reasons.
Tuoba Hong listened to the arguments among his subordinates in silence. Finally, he spoke slowly, his voice suppressing all the noise: "There is no need to argue anymore."
The generals immediately quieted down and all their eyes were focused on him.
"Staying is too risky. If Zhenzhou is lost, we'll all be dead," Tuoba Hong calmly analyzed. "Retreating might risk an ambush or a wasted trip, but it still offers a chance of survival, and we can confirm the strength of Zhenzhou."
He stood up suddenly and made a decision: "Pass the order down, break camp tonight, and retreat to Zhenzhou with all your strength! If Zhenzhou is safe and sound, we will rest in the city and make plans later; if not..."
He paused, a stern look flashing in his eyes. "If Zhenzhou has truly been lost, there's no need to linger in the battle. Immediately circle the city and return to Beishuo. Preserving our army's strength is paramount!"
"Yes! Khan!" The generals responded in awe.
That night, the Beishuo camp quietly withdrew, and the soldiers took advantage of the darkness to quickly retreat towards Zhenzhou. Tuoba Hong rode on his horse, looking back towards the direction of Weizhou City, and the premonition that he was being played a trick on him became stronger and stronger.
After galloping for several days, they finally saw the Beishuo flag still flying over the walls of Zhenzhou. The city was safe and sound. The garrison commander came out to greet them, puzzled, "Great Khan, why did you suddenly return? Everything is fine in Zhenzhou, and there is no trace of the Southern Army."
Tuoba Hong reined in his horse and gazed at the intact Zhenzhou City. He remained silent for a long time, which eventually turned into an extremely complex sigh: "I've fallen for her trick of sending a false attack again. Ning Lingyi, ah Ning Lingyi..."
With just a few words from a messenger, he forced his tens of thousands of troops to return empty-handed and in panic.
This mental strength and courage made him both annoyed and admired.
Just as he entered the city with mixed feelings to settle his troops, another envoy from the Southern Dynasty arrived on horseback, delivering a letter written by Ning Lingyi.
Tuoba Hong opened the letter. It contained only a few words, yet they made him frown. "Don't worry, Great Khan. I'm temporarily sending Zhenzhou to you. I'll personally prepare a generous gift and send it to the Beishuo royal court soon. Please accept it."
Tuoba Hong pinched the letter paper, applying slight pressure with his fingertips.
Last time you lied about taking Zhenzhou, and this time you say you want to give gifts?
He sneered and crumpled the letter into a ball.
"Bluffing, repeating the same old tricks."
He made up his mind, "How could I be fooled by you again?"
But for some reason, a vague sense of uneasiness quietly filled his heart.
Riding his horse and looking back to the south, Tuoba Hong's eyes were deep. He knew that this game was far from over.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
