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The candlelight flickered on the huge sheepskin map of northern desert, casting the outlines of mountains and rivers in a dim and intermittent manner.
Overjoyed at receiving Chu Yiran's support, Su Jing grabbed Chu Yiran's wrist and led him to the table, his fingertips tracing the vast area above the map.
“Aran, look—” Su Jing said confidently, “This is Jinwei Mountain in the northern desert, the royal court of Northern Qi is right here! They have occupied this place for too long…” His fingertip then moved south, pointing to the border between Southern Su and Northern Qi, and he sneered, “What Northern Qi, what Southern Su… these are just names that the Hu people used to forcibly divide the world with our dynasty after they established their own state. Who still remembers that our dynasty’s original name was ‘Su’?”
His finger returned to the map of the northern desert, and his expression became solemn: "Since the founding of our dynasty, no large army has ever truly set foot in the heart of the northern desert. At most, we have dealt with their cavalry on the border. These maps," he tapped on the somewhat blurry marks on the map, "are mostly pieced together from relics of the previous dynasty and scattered records of caravans. They may not be accurate, but they are sufficient."
He picked up his pen and drew three clear routes of advance on the map: "I have already thought it through. Our army will be divided into three routes. You and I will personally lead 30,000 elite cavalry to cut straight in from this route and head straight for Jinwei Mountain!" He drew the middle route, which was the thickest and most dangerous. "The other two routes will each lead 100,000 troops to support the left and right flanks, forming a pincer movement. This will protect the flanks of the central army and also sweep away and annihilate the surrounding tribes, preventing our army from being attacked from both sides."
Chu Yiran stared at the map, his brows furrowing slightly: "Who do you want to be the commander of the left and right wings?"
Su Jing did not hesitate: "I prefer Tian Mu for the left flank. He was promoted by Huo Yan and fought bravely in this Northern Expedition. He is quite resourceful and capable of this task."
"Tian Mu?" Chu Yiran frowned. "What about Huo Yan?"
Su Jing's gaze calmed, and his voice lowered slightly: "Huo Yan must stay in Yanjing. You and I are both far from the central government, and the capital cannot be left unattended. That old fox Shen Ji... I must be wary of him." A cold glint flashed in his eyes, "Only with Huo Yan holding military power in the capital region can we travel north with peace of mind."
Chu Yiran nodded, then asked, "What about the right flank army? With 100,000 men, we need a respected veteran general who can stabilize the situation." Several names flashed through his mind, but he saw Su Jing suddenly fall silent.
The candlelight crackled, illuminating Su Jing's profile. He looked up at Chu Yiran, his gaze complex, carrying a barely perceptible hint of probing, and slowly began, "Right Road... I'd like to ask your father—"
"My father?!" Chu Yiran blurted out, his expression changing drastically. He resolutely refused, "No! This is absolutely unacceptable! He is old, and..." and his resentment towards you and me has not yet subsided—Chu Yiran did not say these words aloud, but his eyes revealed them clearly.
"I know!" Su Jing interrupted, his tone urgent and sincere. "Just this once! Aran, just this once! I promise you, once we achieve victory in the northern desert and return in triumph, I will immediately issue an edict to bestow upon him the title of Marquis of Zhenyuan, grant him gold, and release him so that he and your mother can return to their hometown in peace and retire. I will never again trouble him with matters of state or military affairs!"
Seeing Chu Yiran's furrowed brows, he further explained, "How many veteran generals in the court are left who can stand alone and command an army of 100,000? The Marquis of Zhenyuan's military talent is evident to all. This time, the right flank army is not the main force. As long as we proceed steadily and provide support from the rear, we will not let him venture into dangerous territory! I need his prestige and experience to stabilize the right flank!"
Chu Yiran pursed his lips, his heart churning with inner turmoil. He knew his father's abilities well, but he was also acutely aware of his father's unresolved feelings towards Su Jing.
Seeing that he was still hesitant, Su Jing softened her tone: "Aran, this battle concerns the fate of the nation and cannot be lost. Please trust me one more time, okay?"
In the candlelight, Su Jing's eyes were burning and honest.
After a long silence, Chu Yiran finally nodded heavily and very slowly.
——
When the army set off, the autumn chill in Yanjing had not yet dissipated, but everyone knew that this battle had to be ended before the cold winter. Su Jing and Chu Yiran personally led 30,000 elite cavalry, who were the first to surge into the vast northern wilderness.
However, this battle was more difficult than they had imagined. For those soldiers who had grown up in the water towns of Jiangnan and the fertile lands of the Central Plains, the northern desert was another world. The dry and biting wind was like sandpaper, leaving patches of redness and itching on their skin; their nasal passages were extremely vulnerable to the relentless sandstorms, often bleeding unexpectedly; and the stark temperature difference between day and night tormented everyone's bodies.
The medical skills that Chu Yiran learned from Master Jingyang at Taixu Temple came in very handy at this moment. He taught the soldiers to crush herbs and apply them to their faces to relieve the burning and dryness of their skin. He also instructed them to cover their faces with damp cloths when they went to sleep to ward off the biting cold at night. He also worked with the army doctor to take the pulse and prepare medicine for the soldiers who were vomiting and having diarrhea due to the change in environment, patiently soothing every anxious heart.
The greatest difficulty, however, stemmed from the geomantic map in their hands, on which Su Jing had placed such high hopes. The rivers on the map had long since changed course, the marked oases had turned into barren salt flats, and deadly quicksand traps that swallowed men and horses appeared from time to time along the way. They were like a group of ants blindly traversing a giant maze, repeatedly missing their targets and adjusting their direction again and again based on scattered clues.
Scouts were sent out in waves, but the reports they brought back were often contradictory. More than a month passed in endless searching and disappointment, and morale gradually waned under the erosion of the sandstorms.
Su Jing's pressure increased daily, but his sharp eyes never lost their light. He carefully compared each of the rough new maps brought back by the scouts, and Chu Yiran assisted him in observing the stars. Together, they deduced the possible location of the royal court by analyzing the migration traces of wild horse herds and the orientation of abandoned herdsmen's camps.
As the saying goes, perseverance pays off. Before long, the scouts brought definite news: a huge camp of the Northern Qi royal court had been discovered in the valley area at the foot of Jinwei Mountain!
After discovering the traces of the Northern Qi royal court, Su Jing ordered his army to set up camp in a sheltered mountain valley ten miles outside the royal court, and did not rush to launch an attack.
Su Jing, accompanied by Chu Yiran and several trusted generals, ascended a nearby high ground. Using the last rays of the setting sun, they carefully examined the vast camp, its lights gradually coming on. The royal court, nestled against the mountains and beside the water, appeared loosely laid out, but in reality, it adhered to military strategy, with watchtowers at every pass and patrols constantly moving about.
“The Helian clan certainly knows how to choose a location.” Su Jing sneered, his gaze sharp as a hawk, scanning every possible path in and out. “Unfortunately, he forgot that the greatest advantage of the northern desert is its vastness, and its greatest disadvantage is also its vastness—once their retreat is blocked, they are trapped like turtles in a jar.”
Chu Yiran frowned, "Aren't they being a little too quiet? With Helian Chong's personality, is he really willing to stay here after just losing a battle?"
"Don't worry, Aran. Once Tian Mu leads his army to join us from the inside, let's see where they can escape to!" Su Jing was confident. After returning to the camp, he immediately wrote a letter, affixed the secret seal, and handed it to his most capable messenger.
"Send this to General Tian Mu as quickly as possible, instructing him to immediately lead his troops at full speed upon receiving the signal, maneuvering to Eagle's Beak Gorge northwest of the royal court, and at all costs, block the Hu tribe's escape route to the north!"
The messenger received the order, mounted his horse, and quickly disappeared into the dark night.
Su Jing's plan was meticulous and ruthless: he personally led the main force to exert pressure head-on, even launching a feint attack to keep the Northern Qi army firmly lured near the royal court, while allowing Tian Mu's 100,000-strong army to complete a fatal encirclement. At that time, the Northern Qi royal court would have no way to escape.
Everything seemed to be going according to his plan. Tian Mu received the order, and the left flank army set off overnight, surging towards Eagle's Beak Gorge like a silent tide. Su Jing's main force also began to advance step by step, preparing for a general offensive at any moment.
However, when Su Jing believed the encirclement was nearing completion and finally ordered a general offensive, 30,000 elite troops pounced on the royal court like tigers descending a mountain, only to encounter unexpectedly weak resistance. They tore through the outer defenses with almost no effort and stormed into the core area of the royal court.
But the sight before them stunned all the South Soviet soldiers—
Most of the tents were intact, and some campfires were still burning, with mutton sizzling on the grills, but... where were the people? Apart from a few old, weak, and disabled soldiers who were fighting desperately and were clearly left behind to cover the retreat, the expected Northern Qi royal family and elite main force had all disappeared without a trace. The entire royal court was almost an empty camp.
A blood-soaked, captured old general from Northern Qi looked at the ashen-faced Su Jing, but instead of fear, he burst into a wild laugh, mocking him in broken Chinese: "Emperor of Southern Su, did you think you could capture the eagles of the grasslands? Hahaha! The Khan, with divine foresight, has already led the golden family's divine eagles to even more fertile pastures! You've missed your target! Foolish Han..."
Su Jing flew into a rage, instantly drawing his longsword and placing it against the old general's neck, demanding sharply, "Speak! Where did they move to?"
The old general's laughter abruptly ceased, his face contemptuous and mocking. He lunged forward, the sharp blade instantly severing Su Jing's throat, blood spurting out. He fell to the ground, his face frozen in that mocking smile, as if silently proclaiming Su Jing's defeat.
"Damn it—!" Su Jing's face turned ashen.
He meticulously planned, traveled day and night, and devoted countless efforts, only to find an empty camp! This humiliation of being mocked and looked down upon fueled his rage.
After a moment's thought, Su Jing said indignantly, "Go after them now! They brought their tribe's elders and children, cattle, sheep, and supplies; they couldn't possibly have gone far!"
As he spoke, he rushed out of the tent, and Chu Yiran quickly stepped forward to stop him: "Calm down, Su Jing! Don't let yourself be blinded by anger! The northern desert is not the Central Plains, and the Hu tribes are not an enemy army that can hold out in one city. They live by following the water and grass, coming and going like the wind, and their tracks are hard to find. Our Southern Su army has penetrated deep into this barren land. How difficult is it for our supplies to be transported? If their various tribes coordinate with each other, cut off our supply lines, and harass our exhausted army, how can we outlast them?"
He pointed to the vast wilderness, his voice filled with worry: "Moreover, we don't even know which direction they went! The northern desert is so vast, where are we supposed to chase them? Your Majesty, do not pursue a desperate enemy, and do not stop the retreating army!"
Su Jing closed his eyes, regaining a sliver of reason: "Then what do you suggest we do?"
Chu Yiran paused, met his anxious and sharp gaze, and said, "Withdraw the troops. Only by returning to the capital immediately can we minimize the losses."
Su Jing frowned: "Aran, what have we been doing for the past month or so, enduring wind and rain, traveling day and night? We've wasted so much manpower, resources, and food, and you want me to just go back like this? How am I supposed to face those old foxes in the court if I go back? Helian Chong has just been defeated, and Northern Qi has suffered a great loss of strength. There won't be another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this!"
Looking at Su Jing's ambitious yet anxious appearance, a deep sense of sorrow and helplessness welled up in his heart: "Su Jing, you've changed. When you were a hostage in Northern Qi, you suffered all kinds of humiliation and torment, yet you still knew how to endure and bide your time. Now... why have you become so impatient now, unable to listen to a single piece of advice?"
Su Jing's chest heaved violently. His eyes were complex, tinged with pain and obsession. His voice was low yet sharp as a blade: "No, A-Ran, it's you who's changed—"
“I have never changed. I have always been striving towards our shared aspirations. It is you who have changed. You no longer believe in me. You have begun to hesitate, to waver, and to question every decision I make! Ever since I returned to Jinling, you have stopped believing in me. You do not believe that I can carve out a path through this treacherous world and ascend the throne step by step. You do not believe that once I sit on that throne, I can be an emperor whom the people admire. You do not believe that I can quell the chaos within the court, appease the people, or lead troops north to reclaim the lost territory inch by inch. Now that things have come to this, even when I am about to exterminate the barbarian tribes that are disturbing my territory, you still refuse to believe me.”
Su Jing brushed Chu Yiran's hand away: "It doesn't matter, whether you believe it or not now, it doesn't matter—I will prove it to you."
The final words struck Chu Yiran's heart like a hammer blow. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar Su Jing before him, he felt a chill creep through him, freezing the last vestige of warmth between them. The rift in his heart was, at that moment, so clear it was suffocating.
Su Jing stopped looking at him, stepped forward, and shouted to the army, which looked bewildered and dejected after missing their target: "The Helian clan has fled in cowardice, leaving behind only an empty camp to humiliate us! Can you tolerate such a disgrace?!"
"No—!" the soldiers shouted in unison.
"Very well!" Su Jing drew his longsword, pointing it straight into the vast depths of the northern desert. "They can't escape! Even if they flee to the ends of the earth, I will bring them to justice! Issue my military order—"
He swept his gaze across his generals: "The entire army must reorganize and divide into four routes! The first route, which I will personally lead with 40,000 men, will pursue them to the north; the second route, with 30,000 men, will search to the northeast; the third route, with 30,000 men, will explore to the northwest; and the fourth route, with 30,000 men, will search to the west! Any suspicious traces must be reported immediately!"
"All units must converge at Langjuxu Mountain within ten days, regardless of whether any discoveries have been made!"
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