Chapter 355: Hard Defense
It was almost dusk when Shen Yuexi arrived at Baixiu Mountain.
In the dim light, she could see from afar that Baixiu Mountain was filled with dazzling flames and thick smoke.
"Princess An, don't go any further," a cavalryman stepped forward and grabbed her reins. "Looking at the situation on Baixiu Mountain, the Western Rong army has been defeated."
Shen Yuexi stopped Xiaobai, spun around in place, and looked towards the direction of Baixiu Mountain.
Baixiu Mountain is the only strategic point on this route. If Xiao Beiheng has already broken through here, he will then lead his army straight in and cut off Xiao Zhuo's entire retreat. How are my sister and Qiang Lin?
Thinking of this terrible consequence and worrying about Chen Lan and Qiang Lin, she no longer hesitated and urged her mount to charge forward.
Zhaoye Yushishi rode swiftly, leaving the cavalry behind in a few strides. The following cavalry were horrified and urged their mounts to give chase, shouting, "Princess An, stop now! It's dangerous to go any further!"
Shen Yuexi turned around and shouted, "We can't just guess about something this important. Let's move on and see."
Seeing that Shen Yuexi insisted on going, the cavalrymen followed closely.
Shen Yuexi hurried along the road toward Baixiu Mountain. The sounds of shouting and fighting on the mountain gradually became clearer, and the sound of swords clashing could be heard. More than a dozen flags of Xiao Beiheng's army were scattered among the forest, but halfway up the mountain, amidst the flickering flames, the royal flag of the Western Rong army still stood tall.
"Sister and Qianglin are still holding on!" She turned around and shouted happily, "Hurry up and follow me, let's rush up the mountain."
"Yuexi, good luck," the parrot Liuli, who was standing on her shoulder, whispered in her ear, "Yuexi, good luck."
Shen Yuexi gritted her teeth in pain and raised her hands to cover her ears: "My ears are not peanuts, stop pecking at them, you stupid bird."
Really, if I don't bring it, it will pick at its own fur. If I bring it, it will peck at her ears.
Rounding a bend, a mountain of rubble appeared before us, completely blocking the road. Countless rocks piled on the road, like a landslide. Among the rocks, one could see tilted flags, broken gun barrels, and even a human hand poking out from the cracks.
Shen Yuexi spurred her horse off the road, turning up the hillside and standing on the higher ground, looking out at the avenue before her. Rocks blocked the entire road, and at its end, a corner of the parapet of the military camp emerged, its fluttering flag bearing the large Chinese character "Xiao."
That was Xiao Beiheng's main camp. The rocks along the road were likely thrown down by the Western Rong army. Xiao Beiheng's army had to capture Bai Xiushan's main camp, otherwise they wouldn't be able to bypass it directly.
She was looking at the terrain when someone on the hillside not far away shouted, "Princess An is here."
Following the sound, dozens of Western Rong soldiers stood up on the hillside and waved to Shen Yuexi, saying, "Princess An, quickly come up the mountain from this path."
Shen Yuexi and the cavalry rode up the mountain along the path. The Xirong soldiers came up to them and said:
"Princess An, we are monitoring the enemy's movements here to prevent them from bypassing Baixiu Mountain. The main road is now almost completely blocked by the rocks we dropped, so we only need to be wary of small groups of enemies."
"You did a great job," Shen Yuexi praised. "Where's King Qianglin?"
The soldiers looked at each other and fell silent. One soldier reacted quickly and said to Shen Yuexi, "Princess An, I will take you to the camp on the mountain. The enemy is attacking our camp fiercely. We will go up from the back mountain."
Seeing everyone hesitating, Shen Yuexi felt a flicker of unease. She followed the soldiers along the path back up the mountain toward the Xirong Army camp.
The main camp of the Western Rong army was set up halfway up Baixiu Mountain, facing the enemy camp at the foot of the mountain. When Shen Yuexi and his group arrived at the Western Rong army camp, the fighting had already ended and the Western Rong army had successfully repelled the enemy's attack.
"Let the uninjured rest quickly. As for the injured, as long as they can still use bows and arrows, place them on this platform... The damaged fence in the northeast corner must be sealed immediately. The enemy will know it's open and will likely focus their forces there in the next attack."
When Shen Yuexi walked through the crowd and arrived in front of the Xirong Army's general's tent, Shen Lan was nervously giving orders to the captains inside. The captains received their specific orders and left the tent one after another.
"Sister, I'm here." Shen Yuexi waited until the last centurion left the general's tent before she entered the big tent.
Shen Lan had just lowered her head to look at the map on the table when she heard Shen Yuexi's voice. She looked up and suddenly screamed, "Sister, why are you here?"
"Where's Qiang Lin? I'm here to look for him." Shen Yuexi looked around in the big tent but didn't see Qiang Lin.
Chen Lan walked around the table and came to her and said, "Sister, the situation here is extremely critical now. Don't stay here. Leave quickly."
"Where's Qiang Lin?" Shen Yuexi stared at Shen Lan motionlessly. "Did something happen to him?"
Chen Lan hesitated at first, then sighed and said, "He fell for Xiao Beiheng's provocation and his whereabouts are unknown now."
Shen Yuexi said: "What happened? Tell me quickly."
Chen Lan said, "At first, our defense was very successful. The enemy's front troops were helpless against us. Later, the central army led by Xiao Beiheng arrived..."
She and Qiang Lin had always believed that the enemy was led by Zhao Mu. When Xiao Beiheng appeared, they were both shocked. Qiang Lin, seeing his enemy, was extremely jealous and was about to lead his troops down the mountain to fight Xiao Beiheng to the death. Chen Lan tried to persuade him.
"King Qianglin, look at my left hand!" Chen Lan raised her artificial hand. "My left hand was chopped off by Xiao Beiheng. My husband Xiao Kai was also killed by Xiao Beiheng. I hate him as much as you do. But we must prioritize the overall situation. The enemy has an army of 100,000, and there are 50,000 reinforcements to follow. If we abandon the natural defenses of Baixiu Mountain and rush down, we will be like a sheep walking into the tiger's mouth."
The reason why the Xirong army was able to fight against the enemy's 100,000 with only 20,000 men was because of the advantage of Baixiu Mountain. Once this advantage was abandoned, they would not be able to match Xiao Beiheng's army on flat ground.
Qiang Lin stopped, breathing heavily, turned around, holding the hilt of his sword tightly, and stared at Chen Lan's raised prosthetic hand.
After a while, he finally spoke: "Military Advisor Shen, you are right. I shouldn't have acted impulsively. Fortunately, you reminded me, I almost made a big mistake."
"Let's have the soldiers continue to reinforce the camp," Shen Lan breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as we can hold on for fifteen days, my brother-in-law will definitely be able to defeat Zhao Mu's army and come to support us. I believe in my brother-in-law."
"I also believe in Prince An. He is a warrior blessed by the gods," Qiang Lin said, turning around. "I will have the soldiers reinforce the camp fence now."
After hearing what Shen Lan said, Shen Yuexi felt that the situation was still under good control, and couldn't help but interrupt: "Sister, haven't you persuaded Qiang Lin?"
"We all underestimated Xiao Beiheng's cunning. When he learned that it was King Qianglin's Western Rong army that was blocking him, he devised a plan. He had two women dress up as Madam Li and Miss Li Wan, disguise them as corpses, and then pushed them to the front of the battle line, deliberately for King Qianglin to see. I couldn't persuade him, so he led 10,000 men down the mountain to recapture Miss Li..."
Shen Yuexi sighed, "He was consumed by rage. He rushed down the mountain without verifying the truth. He was courting death."
"I watched him rush down from the mountain, helpless," Chen Lan said. "He was surrounded by Xiao Beiheng's army. After half a day of fighting, his entire army was wiped out, but he should have led the remaining troops out. If he died in battle or was captured, Xiao Beiheng would definitely use him to his advantage, given his character."
Shen Yuexi felt slightly relieved upon hearing the news that Qiang Lin had broken free from the encirclement. Then she remembered a worrying fact.
"We only have 10,000 people left?"
Chen Lan gave a helpless smile. "The enemy has been attacking us fiercely. Over 3,000 soldiers have been killed or wounded. Now there are less than 7,000 soldiers able to fight. The camp fence has also been breached in one place. I have ordered people to repair it as soon as possible. Xiao Beiheng is also attacking us with rockets. Fortunately, there is a mountain spring in the camp to put out the fire."
Shen Yuexi took a breath of cold air.
She had rushed here without delay, but she hadn't expected the situation to be so critical. Before leaving, Xiao Zhuo had warned her that neither Qiang Lin nor Chen Lan were strong enough to deal with Xiao Beiheng, and Xiao Zhuo's words had proven true.
Now it was seven thousand versus one hundred thousand. She wasn't Xiao Zhuo, and neither was Chen Lan. The wisest move would be to retreat, otherwise the last seven thousand wouldn't be saved.
If they retreated, Xiao Beiheng would lead his troops to encircle their rear, and the fifty thousand combined forces of Xiao Zhuo and Mei Dai would face annihilation. If they didn't retreat, these seven thousand men would all be dead in a matter of days. Armies require long-term training; they can't be conjured up on the spur of the moment. If their troops were completely destroyed, how could they resist an attack by an enemy force of hundreds of thousands?
Just as Shen Yuexi was feeling worried, a captain rushed into the tent: "Military Advisor, Princess An! The enemy is charging again!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com