Jiang Cheng shook his head repeatedly, "My lord, let's rest for a couple more days. Even if we're in a hurry, a little more time won't make a difference! Besides, the barbarians are already at their last gasp, barely clinging to life. As long as we advance, they will surely collapse and retreat completely back to the grasslands..."
Li Laosi patted him on the shoulder, interrupting him, and laughed, "Don't worry, stop nagging. The Marquis is going to the front lines, and I'm leading the vanguard. How could I let the Marquis get tired?"
"Wait patiently for our return. Today was just a test; we have a meeting tonight to discuss matters."
Jiang Cheng then fell silent, sighed, and stepped forward to lend Wei Erniu a hand...
Soon, Li Laosi led the vanguard battalion of two thousand men out of the camp.
The Marquis, clad in golden armor, sat high on his horse, a precious sword hanging at his waist, and led two thousand soldiers to press forward, assisting the vanguard.
The entire camp of soldiers, seeing this, all breathed a long sigh of relief.
There are no secrets in the world that can be kept forever!
Although a gag order was issued, too many people had witnessed the Marquis being shot with an arrow.
No matter how much precautions were taken, the news slowly spread throughout the camp.
The power of public opinion lies in the fact that a story can be altered by the addition of different people's interpretations and ideas.
In the end, it's considered good if a cat is mistaken for a tiger.
Sometimes, a cat can become a metaphor for a man favoring his concubine over his wife, who eventually remarries the leader of a gang of thugs, and the man ends up being hacked to pieces!
It may be an exaggeration, but it certainly didn't happen.
In the past few days, there has been a temporary ceasefire in the camp. The soldiers have nothing to do but train and patrol, so their brains have been put to good use.
Some say the general lost an arm, others say the marquis was uninjured and this was a ruse to mislead the enemy, and still others say... the marquis died in battle!
Now that the Marquis has set off on his campaign in such a magnificent manner, all the rumors have been instantly shattered!
The war god of Tianwu is still here, and the pillar of the Northern Expeditionary Army has not fallen!
This is more important than anything else!
As a result, the patrolling soldiers stood tall and became even more spirited, and the training soldiers worked even harder.
Even the cooks in the kitchen had scooped up two extra ladles of cornmeal and poured them into the pot!
Li Laosi has always been brave and invincible, and in the Northern Expeditionary Army, he has long overshadowed the Marquis.
The vanguard soldiers were most willing to follow him into battle, not for any other reason than the sheer joy of it.
No matter how many barbarians we encounter, it's like cutting melons and vegetables!
It's unfortunate that the fifth prince of the barbarians was like this. If the Marquis hadn't been injured last time, he would have been hanging on a pole and dried out by now.
These past few days, he'd been kept under the old Han King's wing, but once he got over his initial shock, he couldn't resist the urge to go out and seek death again.
Li Laosi and his men approached the border by fifty li, and were even on the distant walls overlooking the border when they encountered the Fifth Prince with five hundred barbarians.
It wasn't that the Fifth Prince didn't want to bring more people; it was just that after so many years of fighting against Tianwu, the already pitifully small number of grassland subjects had all died.
Otherwise, why would they have allowed the Northern Expeditionary Army to cease fire these past few days? They would have attacked long ago.
It will take at least half a month for reinforcements to be brought in from deep within the grasslands!
Li Laosi was overjoyed; he'd gotten away with killing two birds with one stone, his luck was incredible.
At a single command, the vanguard charged forward.
The fifth prince wasn't really stupid; he clearly knew he was at a disadvantage because his side was outnumbered, so he turned and ran.
The vanguard army, like cats chasing mice, intercepted them from both sides, killing wave after wave of them. In the end, the Fifth Prince escaped with a dozen or so men.
Jia Dun angrily cracked his whip and yelled, "That brat got away again!"
Another captain, who was on good terms with him, rolled his eyes and cursed, "Idiot! The general let this kid go on purpose!"
"Ah!" Jadun couldn't understand. "Why? Why didn't you kill him?"
Li Laosi flicked the reins and gently slapped him, laughing, "If all your children and grandchildren were killed by the enemy, would you risk everything to seek revenge?"
If you only had a grandson left, and an enemy army was pressing in, wouldn't you think, "As long as the living are alive, there's always hope," and that preserving your bloodline was the most important thing?
Jadun blinked twice, as if he understood.
The junior officer couldn't stand it and offered him some explanation.
"We have been campaigning in the north for so many years, and we are about to drive the barbarians out of the border. Victory is in sight."
The Marquis and the General didn't want too many casualties, so they left a prince for the Khan, which made him hesitant to retreat to the grasslands. They didn't want to commit all their troops to fight us to the death!
Jadun retorted, "Impossible! If all our troops were killed in battle, what would become of the steppe? The Khan would never do that!"
"The Khan's entire family is dead, so what does it matter if it's a grassland or not? Maybe he'll be reborn as one of us Tianwu people in his next life!" Li Laosi added, which made the surrounding guards laugh.
After the battlefield was cleaned up, the Marquis arrived with his troops.
The surrounding terrain had already been surveyed, and the Marquis had a clear understanding of it. He then asked, "Well, have you discovered anything new?"
Li Laosi recounted the Fifth Prince's escape, and then pulled out a ration bag from a barbarian's corpse, adding, "My lord, even the barbarians have nothing to eat! These men followed the Fifth Prince and ate better than ordinary soldiers and slaves, but it was only grass seed powder; there wasn't even any dried meat!"
After examining it carefully, the Marquis nodded.
"In the past ten years or so, although our Tianwu has retreated to Jiangnan, we have high grain yields. Our national strength has not only not declined, but has also recovered and become much stronger."
"The barbarians have occupied Jiangbei. They don't know how to grow crops or produce grain, and most of their manpower has flocked there to enjoy themselves. As a result, no one is herding cattle and sheep on the grasslands anymore."
"With one rising and another falling, it's not surprising that things are like this now."
"Let's go back. We'll discuss matters tonight and strive to drive the barbarians a hundred miles beyond the pass in one fell swoop. We should eliminate as many barbarians as possible, so that they won't be able to recover their strength for at least twenty years, and also ensure the peace of Tianwu for twenty years!"
Li Laosi replied, "I hope so, that's all..."
With so many people around, he couldn't be too explicit, but he still asked, "The problem is that we haven't found that person, which is still a potential problem. Should we wait a little longer..."
"We can't wait any longer; the opportunity will be fleeting." The Marquis waved his hand, his gaze towards the distant border deep and unwavering.
"That person is targeting me. Even if something really happens, it's just me alone. Compared to the ten-year northern expedition and the imminent recovery of our lost territories, my personal safety is nothing to worry about!"
Li Laosi wanted to persuade him further, but ultimately swallowed his words.
The Marquis treated him like a brother, trusting him implicitly.
But once the Marquis has made a decision, he will never change his mind.
At that moment, he couldn't help but think of his daughter.
If my daughter were here, she would surely persuade the Marquis to change his mind.
pity……
Just as everyone returned to the camp, Ye Shan brought news from the new capital.
The Empress has passed away!
Li Laosi sighed, having no reason to persuade the Marquis anymore.
Since the person in the palace has already released the news of the Empress's death, it means that he has done everything he needed to do.
After the Empress's funeral, the Northern Expeditionary Army will undoubtedly be the first to suffer.
Whether it's using underhanded tactics to assassinate someone or openly seizing power and credit, it's extremely troublesome.
Now, the best course of action is to go all the way and drive the barbarians out of the border, ending the northern expedition!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The deep drumbeats of the rallying ceremony resounded, and the main tent was brightly lit!
Today's update is here~~·
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