Chu Mingzhu had long heard of Xuan Yuanche's unpredictable temperament, but she never expected that what seemed like an inconspicuous soldier was actually a squad leader of the Divine Eagle Guard.
She had thought that Xiao Yi was a general at the front, and dealing with a mere soldier would be a piece of cake. Who knew she would run into such a tough opponent? Now, she couldn't even think about getting revenge for Xiao Yi; she was terrified that he would find out her identity and come knocking on her door.
After all, given Xuan Yuanche's status, if he were to whip her, she would have no recourse.
Xie Yushu is indeed her nemesis. She only went out to check if Xie Yushu was dead or alive, and she ended up getting into trouble with such a jinx. What bad luck!
Chu Mingzhu cursed inwardly for a long time, but eventually she behaved herself.
Meanwhile, at the front lines, after listening to Xie Yushu's story, Pei Jie selected the vanguard to fight in advance. He then estimated the location of the battlefield and set up several fire and mine arrays near the dense forest not far from the battlefield. With everything ready, he waited to lure the enemy into the trap.
People who have led troops in battle for a long time tend to have similar vision and thinking. In addition, they have all done their homework in advance, so they almost all have a clear understanding of the opponent's combat tactics and the strength of their subordinates.
While Pei Jie was investigating Suhebalu's background, Suhebalu also focused on learning about Pei's family army, as well as Pei Jie's background and personality.
The only thing we didn't expect was that Pei Jie had Xie Yushu's suggestion, which was a stroke of genius that caught everyone off guard.
Sure enough, after a day of rest, the two armies set up their battle formations.
This time, before the Tatars could send out their troops, Pei Jie took the initiative to lead his men to attack.
The entire Northwest was in danger after being attacked by the Tatars. They almost ran themselves ragged to come and provide support. Everyone was holding their breath and wanted to teach the Tatar barbarians a lesson!
After a day of rest and recovery, Pei Jie led his men in a swift and unexpected attack.
Just as Han Zhongyu had said, the Tatars were terrified of fire and had set up camps in many places around Hangu Pass. If we rashly entered, we might really be divided, surrounded, and eaten up by them.
This time, although Pei Jie rushed in, he changed his tactics. Instead of a protracted battle, he launched a surprise attack. He had the people who had infiltrated report their positions, then divided into several teams to carry out precise strikes and retreat after the attack.
Therefore, in his first attack, Pei Jie can be said to have turned the tide brilliantly, quickly wiping out more than a dozen Tatar camps.
The Tatars dispersed, which prevented them from being burned en masse. However, this also made it difficult to provide support if they encountered enemy activity. Therefore, by the time those behind realized something was wrong, came to check, and then went back to regroup before Pei Jie's men arrived, they had already succeeded in their attack and made a successful retreat.
This battle not only boosted the morale of the Qi army but also enraged Suhebalu.
In all his years of fighting, he had never been so humiliated, losing more than a dozen enemy battalions in his sleep.
So Sukhbaatar mustered his troops overnight, and before dawn, he led them out.
Pei Jie had anticipated his actions and was just waiting for him!
The opponent will not be willing to engage in a one-on-one duel without fighting on the front lines.
When large armies clash and the outcome is uncertain, it's impractical to wipe out the entire force. Therefore, the vanguard or deputy generals are sent out to challenge the enemy generals, aiming to kill them and demoralize the enemy army.
Therefore, throughout the entire day, Sukhbaatar's Tatar army and Pei's army were engaged in fierce fighting.
Pei Jie led the main force to engage the Tatar army head-on, while Xiao Yi and another deputy general harassed them from the left and right flanks respectively.
Because they had repeating crossbows and their left and right flanks were hidden in the woods, the Tatars only felt arrows flying from all directions when they went into battle, and they couldn't tell how many men Pei Jie had.
The arrows were so dense they seemed to pierce two targets with a single shot, and the battle cries were deafening. Fifty or sixty thousand men somehow managed to project the momentum of over a hundred thousand, putting a lot of psychological pressure on the Tatars.
When the fighting started, the arrows stopped, but the Qi people were like they had been injected with chicken blood. They roared and charged forward, each one wanting to jump up and chop them on the head. In just one day, they were completely transformed, and the Tatars didn't know why they had changed so much.
After fighting for most of the day, no victor had emerged. Instead, the Tatars gradually showed signs of weakness. As their numbers dwindled, some Tatar soldiers began to retreat. One led the way, and others followed. If it weren't for the supervisory team behind them, they probably would have all fled.
Even with a supervisory team, they could keep an eye on the men, but they couldn't control their fighting spirit. When Sukhbaatar saw that if they continued fighting like this, he would really become a commander without troops, so he had to withdraw his troops in frustration once again.
Everything went as Pei Jie had predicted. The two sides were evenly matched, and it was impossible for him to wipe out Sukhbaatar's army in one fell swoop. In any case, the traps were already prepared, and he was just waiting for Pei Jie to challenge him!
Pei Jie was waiting for the fish to take the bait, while Suhebalu was thinking about revenge and even a decisive victory.
Given the current situation, it's impossible for him to take down Daqi by force. He can only resort to some means. In the past few days, people from Daqi have been constantly infiltrating this area, and Suhebalu has also sent spies to Daqi.
According to a spy, there is a beloved younger brother of the Great Qi Emperor in Tianshui City. He is said to be a lawless person spoiled by the Great Qi Emperor and is the apple of the eye of the Great Qi Emperor and Empress Dowager. If we capture that prince, there is a possibility of negotiation.
A prince in exchange for a set of blueprints for a repeating crossbow or a few cities—I believe the Emperor of Qi would be willing to do that. So my efforts wouldn't have been in vain, and I could give the King an explanation for Fu Guang's death.
Then there's that princess who invented the repeating crossbow.
If we really can't catch that prince, then we'll catch that princess surnamed Xie.
When the time comes, we'll subject her to severe torture; I don't believe she can withstand it.
Once we've subdued them, we can have them draw a copy of what they gave the Emperor of Daqi. In three to five years, the Tatars will surely be able to catch up with Daqi. Even if they don't, they won't become meat on a chopping block.
So, after withdrawing his troops, during the rest period, Sukhbaatar not only selected generals to fight, but also secretly sent three hundred of his Tiger Guards to sneak into Tianshui City from the woods under the cover of night, preparing to take advantage of the opportunity to attack Xuanyuan Che or Xie Yushu.
He calculated that Pei Jie's army had already come out to fight him, and now Tianshui City should be the weakest point in the defense. Even if there were troops left to defend the city, they should mainly be distributed around the city walls.
As far as he knew, the prince and princess were now surrounded by only some wounded soldiers, who were not a threat. As long as their men acted quickly enough, they were quite confident that they could capture one of them.
Xie Yushu and the others hadn't expected Sukhbaatar's crazy idea.
Normally, when the enemy wants to kidnap someone, they kidnap the family members of the general to threaten him into retreating. It would be understandable if they kidnapped princes or nobles, since they were of high status!
The key point is that, despite being so unreliable, Xuan Yuanche still managed to get on the enemy's blacklist.
As for herself, she really didn't think much of herself and never even considered that someone would specifically try to kidnap her.
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