The Crown Prince of Dawei, Yuan Zhao’s troops arrived too quickly for Su Rong to wait for Zhang Mao and Jiang Zhu to gather their troops. Cursing under her breath, she retreated hastily with her hundreds of thousands of troops.
Even if she had to abandon the front line and her homeland, there was no way she could resist.
An army of 800,000. Just thinking about it made Su Rong feel like her jaws were aching from the tension. This 800,000-strong army wasn’t just a threat to Nanchu, but could make Yan Huisheng swig a whole jar. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
The one leading the way was Nangong Zheng, who had an intimate understanding of Nanchu. He had already met and dealt with Zhou Gu and Su Rong, so he was even more capable of predicting their retreat route. So, the 800,000-strong army pursued relentlessly.
After marching for about a hundred miles, Su Rong finally met up with Zhang Mao, Jiang Zhu, Ning Ze, and others who were regrouping with 300,000 soldiers on a low slope.
Ning Ze, squatting on the ground, brightened at the sight of the incoming troops. Spotting Su Rong in front of the crowd, he shouted enthusiastically, "Princess!"
Without waiting for him to finish, Su Rong quickly said, "Quick, break camp. Follow me and retreat to Heiya Pass. Crown Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei is leading 800,000 troops, with Nangong Zheng as his guide. They are only a few dozen miles away."
"What?" Ning Ze shot up in surprise.
Su Rong nodded and commanded, "Hurry up!"
Looking both stunned and flustered, Ning Ze hastily echoed Su Rong’s command, "Quick, the princess has ordered us to break camp. Retreat quickly!"
The 300,000 troops that had been resting for a day promptly got ready to move upon hearing about the imminent attack of 800,000 Dawei troops led by the Crown Prince himself.
Although it took a while for the 300,000 troops to pack their belongings and start moving, they eventually caught up with Jiang Zhu, Zhang Mao, Ning Ze and the others.
Zhang Mao said, "We have kept moving with the 300,000 troops until we received the news from Princess and Nangong Zheng about the peace talks and the hostage exchange. We were told Nangong Zheng was retreating with their troops, so we didn’t feel the need to be in a hurry. We stopped here for a day for the sake of the soldiers who were tired from the journey. But how did it happen that Nangong Zheng returned with Crown Prince of Dawei?"
Su Rong answered, "Nangong Zheng probably didn’t know that Crown Prince Yuan Zhao would personally lead 500,000 troops to attack Nanchu when he decided to retreat. He probably thought that without reinforcements, even if he did end up fighting us and using the Nangong Family Clan as a bargaining chip as he initially planned, he might not kill me or gain any tangible advantage. So, weighing the pros and cons, he chose to withdraw. However, by the time he retreated to the border, he unexpectedly met Crown Prince Yuan Zhao’s troops, naturally listened to him, and returned."
"So that’s the case. 800,000 troops..." Zhang Mao began, "The difference in military strength is too great. Even if we retreat to Heiya Pass, can we resist the 800,000 troops of Dawei?"
"It’s tough, so I’ve already sent a hawk messenger to request the 200,000 troops stationed at Nanchu’s border by Daliang." Su Rong said, "700,000 against 800,000, there’s still some chance of victory. But before that, we have to hold out at Heiya Pass. At least for half a month."
After all, even if they were to travel day and night from Nanchu’s border to Heiya Pass, it would still take half a month to get there.
Zhang Mao nodded in agreement.
All this while, Ning Ze had kept quiet. Now, scratching his head, he remarked, "Princess, it seems we’re moving too slowly. If we had arrived earlier, we could have caught Nangong Zheng."
"You’ve done your best. It’s perfectly normal for the soldiers from Daliang, who are entering Nanchu for the first time, to not adapt to the dense forest and the cold, gloomy weather here." Su Rong didn’t conform with him, "What difference does it make whether we caught Nangong Zheng or not, when we have been able to save Uncle Xie?"
She knew better than anyone else that killing the clan members of the Nangong Family meant certain death for Xie Yuan. Even if they let Nangong Zheng go, Xie Yuan would still be in danger. She didn’t want him to die. In the future, she wanted him to teach her children.
Ning Ze lowered his hand, and muttered resentfully, "Dawei really has a wolfish ambition and never give up their wicked intentions. We have fewer troops, and we can’t fight back properly."
"We will eventually be able to fight back properly." Su Rong clenched her jaws, contemplating whether she should ask Yan Huisheng to attack Dawei. Would it be more advantageous to distract Dawei’s forces and relieve the pressure on Nanchu?
Just after thinking about this, she immediately asked Ning Ze, "What do you think if I send a hawk messenger to the Crown Prince, suggesting Daliang should take this opportunity to launch a full-scale attack on Dawei?"
"Huh?" Ning Ze was startled, pointing to himself, "Princess, are you...are you asking me?"
"Yes, I’m asking you."
Ning Ze was at a loss. He always considered himself insignificant in the presence of such brilliant minds. Although after several months everyone complimented his potential and he felt he had improved, he dared not make casual suggestions regarding matters of such great importance.
He timidly responded, "Maybe you should ask someone smarter?"
Su Rong stared at him without a word.
Ning Ze felt uncomfortable under Su Rong’s gaze, and his muddled mind began to work rapidly. After a while, he said, "Dawei is attacking Nanchu, with Crown Prince Yuan Zhao leading an 800,000-strong army. Such a large number implies that Dawei cannot have many troops left, perhaps only 200,000 or 300,000 at most. Dawei already has difficulty supporting a million troops, how could it possibly support 800,000 more? So...I think...your plan of having the Crown Prince of Daliang attack Dawei could...could work..."
"See, you can talk." Su Rong returned her gaze to the front, "You’re correct, Dawei could only have at most 300,000 to 400,000 troops remaining. 1.2 million troops is the limit of what Dawei can support."
She quickly instructed Fen Ling to bring the hawk. Swiftly, she wrote a short missive, tied it to the hawk’s leg, and sent it off.
Ning Ze was dumbstruck, "Prin...Princess, don’t...don’t you need to discuss with others? Did...did you just make the decision like this?"
"Didn’t I discuss it with you?" Su Rong responded.
Ning Ze was silent.
He thought he had finished his speech, but little did he know that Su Rong would make the decision without consulting anyone else.
This was a major decision.
Dazed, he asked, "Princess, is this alright?"
"Why wouldn’t it be?" Su Rong looked at him amusedly, "Stop shrinking, stand tall. You, alone, are capable of undertaking an important role. Even you think it’s feasible, others would think so too. Decisiveness is essential for leaders and for generals. Hesitation and indecisiveness are the worst traits. You should be happy for my decisiveness."
Ning Ze promptly straightened up and declared a loud, "Yes!"
Zhang Mao and Jiang Zhu, who had been by Su Rong’s side the whole time, witnessed the entire exchange. Although Su Rong didn’t ask them, they said nothing. They agreed with the Princess’s stance on the critical situation in Nanchu. While Dawei was aggressively attacking and Su Rong was leading the army in defense with Daliang as backup, they might be able to withstand it. However, asking Daliang to seize this opportunity to attack Dawei, would put Dawei in a tough spot, needing to decide whether to continue the attack or withdraw troops to save Dawei.
Thus, it was sufficient to ask Ning Ze.
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