Chapter 370 Zhao Ye
Shen Yuexi rushed out of the tent, Qiang Lin drew his sword and followed her, and together they retreated to the rear camp far away from the enemy.
"Princess An, the Iron Buddhas are fighting in the front camp. I'm afraid the border troops can't hold on," Qiang Lin urged her as they walked. "Hurry up and get out of here. I'll escort you back to the coalition camp."
Shen Yuexi remained silent, looking through the numerous tents towards the front camp.
The border army camp was over three miles long and wide, divided into three camps: front, middle, and rear. She was in the middle camp. The enemy, after breaching the southeastern fence, rushed into the front camp, setting fires everywhere. Many tents were ablaze, and thick smoke billowed into the night sky. Soldiers ran out of the burning tents, some engulfed in flames, thrashing about, rolling and howling. Soldiers who were not on fire took up their weapons and engaged the advancing Iron Pagoda.
In the firelight, the Iron Buddha soldiers, covered in black armor, charged back and forth, wielding their halberds. The border troops, unable to form a battle formation, were no match for them. Soldiers were constantly being stabbed down by the Iron Buddha's halberds, leaving the ground littered with corpses. Soldiers, aware of the Iron Buddha's power, hid in the shadows and fired arrows, but the arrows simply hit the Iron Buddha and fell off.
By the time Shen Yuexi and Qiang Lin reached the stables, hundreds of Iron Pagoda warriors had already rushed into the central camp and engaged. Thanks to the soldiers in the front camp, they had bought some time, allowing the central camp commander to organize his troops and launch a counterattack. Shen Yuexi watched as Qiu Liming led over a thousand crossbowmen, forming two rows and firing arrows at the distant Iron Pagoda warriors. Ten shots were fired at a time, leaving only the clang of hammers and a shower of scattered arrows.
She was extremely anxious. If the fighting continued like this, the border troops would probably be completely destroyed.
Qiang Lin led Zhaoye Jade Lion Horse to her and handed her the reins. Seeing that she was still looking at the fighting in the distance, he said anxiously, "Princess An, there is no other way. Let's retreat quickly."
Shen Yuexi took the reins and struggled in her heart.
It would be easy to escape. Tiefutu was fighting in the central camp. She only needed to escape through the rear camp and take a detour back to the coalition camp. But the border troops would surely be annihilated. The enemy still had 50,000 troops here, and they would surely attack Xiao Zhuo together with Tiefutu.
The battle between Xiao Zhuo and Xiao Beiheng raged on for several days. Xiao Beiheng had proven himself to be no pushover, able to fight Xiao Zhuo back and forth. Xiao Zhuo could gain an advantage in the battle, but he could not achieve a decisive victory. If the enemy troops from the north and the Iron Pagoda came to support Xiao Beiheng, Xiao Zhuo would certainly not be able to hold out.
She was hesitating when a group of soldiers, numbering several hundred, came running towards her in a chaotic manner. The leader, a tall and strong man, shouted:
"The Iron Pagoda is charging in. We can't defeat them. Let's run away."
Many border troops had already drawn their weapons to attack the Iron Pagoda, but seeing their comrades lose their fighting spirit, infected by the panic, they also threw down their weapons and joined the ranks. By the time they rushed to Shen Yuexi, they had gathered into a thousand men.
Shen Yuexi looked in the firelight and noticed that the leading soldier was wearing a small, ill-fitting frontier uniform. At first, she thought he had put on the wrong clothes in his haste, but after a closer look, wasn't this the same Iron Pagoda soldier who had mocked them during the day?
The man was tall and conspicuous in the crowd. She had spoken to him a few times during the day, and he had left a deep impression on her. This soldier was imprisoned in the front camp, and it seemed that the Iron Pagoda who rushed in had released him. He had disguised himself as a border guard and was shouting and causing panic.
"Qianglin, kill that man!" She pointed decisively at the man. "He's an enemy in disguise, trying to create panic."
Qiang Lin heard it clearly and immediately rushed towards the man with his sword, chopping him to the ground with one blow. The border guards following him were already panicking, but when they saw Qiang Lin appear and kill the leader, they all stopped in their tracks.
Shen Yuexi jumped on his horse, stopped in front of the team and said loudly:
"I am Princess An. Where has the courage of you grown men gone? Are you not as good as a weak pregnant woman like me? Pick up your weapons and follow me." After saying that, she pulled the reins and rushed towards the central military tent.
The situation is critical, she must first stabilize the chaotic situation and let the generals regain control of the soldiers.
Qiang Lin was horrified and raised his hand to call out to Shen Yuexi, but after a moment's hesitation, he lowered his hand and called out to everyone, "Everyone, pick up your weapons. Follow the white horse if you want to live."
If another woman shouted like this, he would definitely treat it as a joke, but Shen Yuexi was different. He followed Shen Yuexi all the way and saw with his own eyes how Shen Yuexi commanded the battle.
The border soldiers were still a little hesitant, but when they saw Qiang Lin had spoken, they all followed Shen Yuexi and shouted at the same time.
"Everyone follows the white horse."
"The soldiers who can't find their leader will all join the white horse."
The Jade Lion Horse, known as Zhaoye, was a snow-white beast. At night, the moonlight reflected off it, creating a jade-like glow, as if the horse itself were luminous. This made it particularly conspicuous in the darkness, hence the name Zhaoye. Many soldiers, unable to find their leader, heard the shouts and immediately spotted the luminous white horse, flocking to join Shen Yuexi.
When they rushed to the central army tent, Shen Yuexi had already gathered nearly 10,000 soldiers. Several generals such as Wei Liang and Qiu Liming also joined the team along the way. With their coordination, the shaken morale of the border troops gradually stabilized.
"Where is the general?" Shen Yuexi didn't find Zhao Mu, so she turned around and shouted to Wei Liang.
Now the whole camp was filled with the sounds of killing and weapons clashing, and it was a mess everywhere. She had to shout so that others could hear her.
"I don't know," Wei Liang shouted from the crowd. "When the enemy raided our camp, the general seemed to have taken his men to the front camp. I've been searching everywhere, but I haven't found him."
Shen Yuexi finally understood why the camp was in such chaos. With Zhao Mu, the commander-in-chief, gone, it was no wonder the soldiers were running around like headless flies, and the defense was in tatters.
"General Wei, have everyone pick up anything that can be ignited," Shen Yuexi pointed at the Iron Pagoda fighting in the distance, "and throw it at the Iron Pagoda. They must be afraid of fire."
Wei Liang and the other generals suddenly realized their mistake. They had been attacked at night and their formation had been thrown into disarray. Now Shen Yuexi had reorganized the army and instructed them on how to deal with the Iron Pagoda. They lit torches and rained down their fire on the Iron Pagoda.
The torches hit the Iron Pagoda's armor and sparks like fireworks burst out. Although they could not ignite the armor, the torches continued to burn when they fell to the ground. The Iron Pagoda's horses could not bear the scorching flames and retreated to avoid the flames. Thousands of soldiers threw torches, and for a moment the ground was full of flames, forcing the rampant Iron Pagoda to be unable to move forward.
Shen Yuexi was giving orders when Qi Shengjue rushed out from the shadows and approached her, saying, "Princess An, the general was shot in the abdomen while organizing the defense in the front camp. I just rescued him. The general has something to tell you."
Two soldiers carried Zhao Mu over on a stretcher. Shen Yuexi jumped off the horse and came to the stretcher. Wei Liang and other main generals also rushed over.
Zhao Mu was struck by an arrow in the abdomen, blood soaking through his armor. His face was filled with pain. He said to Shen Yuexi and the others, "The camp can no longer be defended. Lead the entire army to retreat north. There is a valley five miles to the north... called Jutie Mountain. It is where our food is stored."
"I understand," Shen Yuexi stood up and mounted her horse, saying to Qi Shengjue, "You escort the general to evacuate to Jutie Mountain first, and leave the rest to me."
Qi Shengjue agreed and led his soldiers to escort Zhao Mu away. Shen Yuexi mounted his horse and said to Wei Liang and the other generals, "Generals, have all the soldiers from each camp gather at Baima. We are withdrawing from the main camp."
Although torches can force the Iron Pagoda back, they cannot be thrown endlessly, and they cannot burn the Iron Pagoda to death. You have to retreat quickly while you still have torches in your hands.
After Wei Liang and the other generals left, Shen Yuexi called over Qiu Liming again, "General Qiu, lead 5,000 crossbowmen and use torches to hold the line. If the Iron Pagoda pursues us, use the torches to stop them."
The generals acted separately, some went to gather the defeated soldiers, the soldiers who held the line used torches to force back the Iron Buddha, and most of the soldiers followed Shen Yuexi's white horse in the dark, retreating towards Jutie Mountain with one step forward and one step back.
This time, the enemy's raid on the camp caused more than 5,000 border troops to be killed or wounded. Although the remaining 40,000 border troops evacuated safely, many of them were not wearing armor or even weapons in their hands. They all ran out empty-handed.
Shen Yuexi kept looking back all the way, afraid that Tie Futu would catch up with her, but the other party seemed to be only satisfied with occupying the camp and did not pursue her, so she breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the camp filled with flames, her heart felt heavy as if a huge rock was pressing on it.
The main camp had been lost, and the entire army had retreated to Jutie Mountain, where the border troops stored their food. With food and fodder, the army could hold out for a while, but the enemy would certainly not give up. They would definitely continue to pursue them, and many of the border troops didn't even have weapons. What should they do?
…
You Bingjun and Jiao Yong stood on a high place, looking at the border army camp with flames rising into the night sky, both with satisfied expressions.
This time, they followed the order of Empress Dowager Pei Jingyun and led the Iron Pagoda to support Xiao Beiheng. Xiao Beiheng knew that Zhao Mu had defeated the northern route, so he sent the newly arrived Iron Pagoda to the northern route, and finally won a great victory.
A general just reported that the Iron Pagoda had completely occupied the frontier army camp and killed more than 5,000 enemies. However, both the troops and soldiers were exhausted and unable to pursue the defeated frontier army.
"General Jiao, your proposed night attack is indeed very effective," You Bingjun praised, stroking his graying beard. "It seems the enemy has already abandoned their camp and fled. I wonder where they'll go?"
Jiao Yong said, "Where else can we go? We can only go to Jutie Mountain. It's a pity that Tiefutu can't pursue us, otherwise we could celebrate the victory tonight."
You Bingjun also lamented, "That's true. Although the Iron Pagoda is invincible, both the men and horses, wearing such heavy armor, can't fight for long. Just raiding the camp has exhausted the horses to the point of foaming at the mouth, making it impossible to pursue them."
After he finished speaking, his eyes lit up and he added, "The Iron Buddha is tired. How about letting the remaining 50,000 troops make a concerted effort and attack overnight?"
Jiao Yong waved his hands repeatedly, "Brother You, don't give us such bad advice. Even though they've been defeated, they still have five thousand crossbowmen in the formation. Only the Iron Pagoda can deal with them. Let them escape."
"I heard that Shen Yuexi was also in the enemy army," You Bingjun said, "It's a pity that she and the Queen of Xiliang were not captured in Daliang Village. The master said that she and Xiao Zhuo must die, and anyone who has any connection with that woman must not survive."
He was sighing when Jiao Yong patted him on the shoulder and said, "Brother You, the enemy has retreated to Jutie Mountain. The food and supplies there can sustain them for a month or so, and they have crossbows there. I have an idea, I wonder if you're interested."
"What idea?"
"The enemy has even lost their main camp. We've already won a resounding victory, so there's no need to waste time here any longer. I plan to lead my troops to encircle Xiao Zhuo's rear early tomorrow morning. Brother, you stay here and lead the Iron Pagoda to hold them back. As long as Xiao Zhuo is defeated, these defeated troops will naturally surrender when they see no hope. What do you think of this plan?"
You Bingjun frowned and thought for a moment, then immediately gave a thumbs-up. "Brilliant, truly brilliant. Your Majesty and Xiao Zhuo are evenly matched. As long as our 50,000 troops join Your Majesty... Xiao Zhuo doesn't even have a repeating crossbow. What a brilliant plan!"
The two men discussed and agreed that Jiao Yong would lead 50,000 troops south to encircle the rear of Xiao Zhuo's coalition forces, while You Bingjun would lead the Iron Pagoda to block the border troops at Jutie Mountain, preventing them from breaking out and joining Xiao Zhuo.
Early the next morning, Jiao Yong led his troops south and began to encircle the rear of Xiao Zhuo's coalition forces.
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