In the face of national crisis, no matter how much the emperor hates his son Chu Jinghuai, he will not joke about the country of Daxia.
If Chu Jinghuai fails to defend Qingzhou, the Turks, Wanfan, and Beizhao will join forces to attack it, and Daxia will inevitably be in chaos.
Therefore, Daxia cannot lose this battle.
The emperor glanced at the ministers and asked, "What do you think?"
Duke Qi took the lead and said, "Your Majesty, I believe we should immediately send troops to support and strike hard at the Wanfan bandits. We must let them know that Great Xia is not to be trifled with!"
The emperor frowned and asked, "Which general do you think is suitable to lead the troops?"
Duke Qi stroked his graying beard and said, "Although I am old, I am willing to lead the troops to fight and enhance the prestige of Great Xia."
"Old Duke, you are too kind. You are already over sixty years old and it is time for you to enjoy your retirement. If you were to let you lead the troops to war, wouldn't it make us, the men of Great Xia, ashamed? What do you think?"
"Your Majesty is wise. I am willing to lead the troops to the battle to enhance the prestige of our Great Xia nation." Fang Cai stepped forward and said.
Xia Yuan and Zhou Zhengyuan looked at each other and couldn't help frowning. This guy's leg healed very quickly. Should they break his other leg as well?
Fang Cai suddenly felt a dull pain in his legs. Could it be a flare-up of his old cold legs? At this moment, Fang Cai also noticed that Xia Zhou and the other two had strange looks in their eyes. They kept staring at his lower body. What did this mean?
The emperor smiled with satisfaction, "Okay, pass on my order. Appoint Fang Cai as the commander-in-chief and lead a force of 100,000 to set off immediately."
"I obey your command!" Fang Cai bowed.
"Your Majesty is wise."
Chu Jinghuai and his party secretly criticized: What you have done as a king and a father is really not enough. You gave your own son 20,000 soldiers and asked him to fight against the 100,000 elite soldiers of the Turks. Are you afraid that your son will not die?
Giving this loser 100,000 soldiers and horses to fight against Wanfan's 30,000 soldiers and horses, and more than a thousand mastiffs, are you afraid that this loser will die?
If Fang Cai was not only ten years younger than the emperor, they would have suspected who his biological son was.
The emperor looked at the minister who was complimenting His Highness and nodded with satisfaction.
In Prince Su's Mansion, Chen Jingxi's face turned ugly when he learned that the emperor had asked Fang Cai to lead troops for support.
"Princess, do you feel something is wrong?" Han Yu asked. She now admired Chen Jingxi's political acumen very much.
"I heard from the prince that Fang Cai is not a talent for leading an army. Maybe I am too suspicious." As long as Fang Cai brings people to Qingzhou, the soldiers will definitely obey Chu Jinghuai's command.
Han Yu said with some concern: "Should we notify the prince first?"
Chen Jingxi waved her hand and said, "No need. The prince should have thought of it."
At this moment, Chu Jinghuai, who was far away in Qingzhou, had a trace of worry on his brow.
A hawk landed on a bare branch.
"Your Highness." A secret guard appeared silently behind him.
"What's the news?"
The secret guard said, "Just as Your Highness expected, the Emperor has sent Fang Cai to lead a hundred thousand troops."
Chu Jinghuai sneered and said, "Father is always so impatient. Is Yanmen ready?"
"Just waiting for the prince's order."
Chu Jinghuai nodded and waved away the secret guards. He looked up at the bright moon in the sky, his eyes gradually becoming gentle. His princess was still waiting for him, and this battle must end as soon as possible.
Chu Jinghuai summoned Ma Yu and made his intentions clear.
Upon hearing this, Ma Yu immediately said, "Your Highness... our army has less than 5,000 soldiers left. We can't stand a chance against the Turks and the Wanfan. Why not hold off for a few more days and wait for reinforcements?"
After saying that, Ling Ying sneered, "General Ma is so naive. If we don't take action, will the Turks and Wanfan also take action? What are they doing here? Are they just foolishly waiting for your reinforcements to arrive before fighting you? Are you crazy?"
"But now we have only 5,000 soldiers against 100,000 enemy troops, and more than 1,000 mastiffs. Do we still need to fight? We can just admit defeat." Ma Yu said in self-deprecation.
If you fight, you lose; if you don't fight, you lose too. What else can you do? I originally thought that by following the War God Prince, I could easily pick up military merits. I never thought it would turn out like this.
That damn Wan Fan, he's just relying on a few mastiffs to act so arrogantly. One day, he'll beat him so badly that even his grandfather won't recognize him.
"If it were the prince's Black Armor Guards, we wouldn't be afraid of a hundred thousand enemy troops, let alone a thousand beasts. Even if they came with another hundred thousand soldiers and horses, we wouldn't be afraid."
Ma Yu's face flushed and then paled. Doesn't this mean that his soldiers are no good? If he had the Black Armor Guards, he could still be just a fourth-rank deputy general.
Even though the soldiers he brought with him were not good enough, he would not tolerate others saying anything. He felt sorry for their children. "Since you know these are not the Black Armor Guards, you should understand that if we continue to fight like this, the whole army will be wiped out."
"How can you protect your home and country if you are afraid of death? You should take off your armor and go back to nurse your children."
Ma Yu was so angry that his beard exploded. "You ignorant bastard, what do you know?"
"I don't understand, you understand best."
"Pa..." Chu Jinghuai slapped the table, "Have you guys quarreled enough?"
"Your Majesty..." The two people who had been arguing fiercely a second ago immediately fell silent when they heard Chu Jinghuai speak.
Chu Jinghuai snorted coldly in annoyance.
With a thud, the two men knelt down at the same time, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I know I was wrong."
Chu Jinghuai acted as if he hadn't seen it, and said coldly: "Wait a moment, go down and get the Ten Military Sticks."
The two generals made bitter faces and said pitifully, "Yes."
The Ten Military Sticks can't hurt the root, but it just makes it impossible to sit. You can still go to the battlefield.
Chu Jinghuai lowered his eyes, brushed his sleeves lightly, and stood up and said, "The Turks and Wanfan are not without weaknesses either."
Hearing about the weakness, Ma Yu immediately perked up, "Please tell me clearly, Your Majesty."
"Those thousand mastiffs are carnivorous dogs, and their daily meat needs are enormous. Long marches often take months, and the army usually has dry rations. The amount of meat eaten by a thousand mastiffs in a day is equivalent to that of 50,000 soldiers."
Ma Yu laughed after hearing this. This is not a mastiff at all, it is a big Pixiu. It only goes in and never leaves. It will burn your granary. He wants to see what this big Pixiu eats.
"I understand."
Chu Jinghuai looked at Ma Yu, his eyes much calmer this time, "Before dark, I want to see your battle plan."
"yes."
——
The next day, Fang Cai led his troops away in a hurry. Chen Jingxi, who was standing at the city gate to see him off, looked at the army going away, but her tightly furrowed brows did not relax.
When the imperial army arrived in Qingzhou, Chu Jinghuai led a force of 100,000 to push the Turks and Wanfan outside the Beiliang Pass. News from the border arrived day by day, and the atmosphere in the court became more and more joyful. The New Year was finally over.
On the 26th day of the first lunar month, news came that His Royal Highness Prince Su had been ambushed and his whereabouts were unknown.
"princess."
In the study, Chen Jingxi looked up at Wu Kuan at the door and asked, "What's going on? Why are you so flustered?"
Wu Kuan said in a deep voice, "Lord Xia and Lord Zhou requested an audience. The prince was ambushed and disappeared."
"Missing?! How could it be..." Chen Jingxi was stunned.
Soon, Xia Yuan and Zhou Zhengyuan arrived at the door. Chen Jingxi personally stood up to greet them, stopping the two who wanted to salute and said, "Uncle, what's going on? Why did the prince disappear?"
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