freenovelworld Chapter 959 Joining the Battle
Chapter 959 Joining the Battle
Li Lin stopped his horse on a high slope, raised his monocular telescope to observe the battlefield situation in the distance, and his cavalrymen rushed past him on both sides like a tide.
Seeing that the Shu army had trapped a much larger number of Qiang and Man troops in a desperate situation, he couldn't help but marvel: "This Lady Luo is truly an extraordinary woman!"
I thought Yang Xuan was already a heroine, but I never expected there was another woman in Sichuan who was no less than her.
Li Lin put down his binoculars and said to He Conglong, who was riding beside him, with admiration, "They managed to drive these barbarians into a dead end with their inferior forces. That's remarkable!"
He Conglong, a veteran of the battlefield, could naturally see the tricks of the trade and nodded in agreement: "His troop deployment is exquisite. In terms of command ability alone, he would probably rank among the top five among the many generals of our Fengtian Army."
He Conglong sighed inwardly as he said this.
Some people are born for the battlefield; they're blessed with natural talent.
He, on the other hand, relied entirely on experience and diligent study. No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't compare to those with natural talent.
Li Lin's gaze swept over the Shu army's lines, then turned to the restless barbarian soldiers in the valley. He frowned slightly: "The Shu soldiers are physically weaker and poorly equipped. They have been fighting for days and are now exhausted."
"If we allow them to launch a general offensive on their own, even if we win, it will be a Pyrrhic victory, and our own casualties will be enormous. We can't wait any longer; we must join the battle as soon as possible!"
In Li Lin's eyes, the Shu Army and the Qing Army were all subjects of Lao Liu, his own brothers.
Although weakening the Shu army would be more beneficial to the Qing army, Li Lin really didn't want to see these loyal and brave warriors die at the hands of the barbarians.
Upon hearing this, Jie Ming, standing behind him, immediately clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Your Highness, Duke of Xiangguo!"
"This humble general believes that the Shu army is still unaware of our intentions and is wary of us."
"If our troops approach rashly, they will surely divide their forces to defend, which may even cause misunderstandings and delay our opportunity to win the battle."
"We should try to inform Luo Yueniang and make our army's position clear."
Li Lin nodded: "Yes, that makes sense. Let's send a few clever scouts over there."
Jie Ming volunteered: "Your Highness, sending only scouts may not be enough to gain trust. This humble general requests permission to go see Luo Yueniang and explain the situation!"
Li Lin looked at him, his brows furrowing: "I've heard that Luo Yueniang hates the Qing army to the extreme and sees us as enemies. It's too dangerous."
Jie Ming laughed heartily, his face full of confidence: "Your Highness, rest assured, I am, after all, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, personally appointed by His Majesty. Although Luo Yueniang is a woman, she is not unreasonable and will never kill me directly."
Seeing Ming's resolute expression, Li Lin knew that he had made up his mind and that what he said made sense.
He pondered for a moment, then patted Jieming on the shoulder heavily: "Alright! Then I'll trouble you to make this trip!"
"Remember, your own safety is the most important thing. If things become impossible, retreat immediately."
"Your subordinate obeys!" Jie Ming clasped his hands in acceptance, then pulled on the reins, and his warhorse shot off like an arrow from a bow, breaking away from the Qing army's main force.
When they reached a hundred paces from the Shu army's formation, Jie Ming reined in his horse.
The Shu army was in perfect formation. A faint sound of bowstrings being pulled reached their ears, indicating that the archers were in position and could turn Jie Ming into a pincushion with just a command.
Jie Ming, however, showed no fear and shouted loudly, "Soldiers of Shu, listen up! I, Jie Ming, the Marquis of Daqing, have come here not to be your enemy, but to support you on the orders of the Prince of Yan, to fight against the barbarians together!"
Having said that, he took out a seal from his inner armor and held it high: "The Marquis's seal is here. General Luo Yueniang, please answer my question on the battlefield!"
Upon hearing Jie Ming's words, a commotion arose within the Shu army ranks.
The officers dared not act on their own initiative and immediately sent messengers on horseback to report to the central army.
Before long, several Shu cavalrymen rode out and escorted Jie Ming into the formation.
Passing through layers of spears and halberds of the Shu army, and under the wary gazes of the soldiers, Jie Ming arrived in front of Luo Yueniang, who was standing on horseback under the central army flag.
He dismounted and looked up at the female general before him.
Her silver armor was covered in dust from the battle, yet it couldn't hide her tall and heroic figure. Her face looked haggard from days of fighting, but her phoenix eyes remained sharp.
At this moment, it is looking down at me with a cold, scrutinizing gaze.
"General Luo," Jie Ming said, bowing respectfully.
Luo Yueniang's voice was cold and hard: "You just said that the Qing army came to help me?"
Jie Ming met her gaze frankly and said sincerely, "That's right. The barbarians who invaded Shu and slaughtered ordinary people are the common enemy of our China."
"The Prince of Yan and the Duke of Xiangguo have said that they cannot stand idly by while foreign tribes ravage our land. Our army of 20,000 iron cavalry has arrived and is willing to fight alongside the general!"
Luo Yueniang said calmly, "What proof do you have? How do I know you didn't come to join the barbarians in attacking our army from both sides?"
Jie Ming took a deep breath, his gaze open and honest: "My life is proof enough. If my royal army fires an arrow at the Shu army, General Luo can immediately cut off my head on the battlefield!"
Luo Yueniang frowned, not easily swayed: "How can I verify the authenticity of your identity? Who knows if your title of marquis is real or fake?"
"We can't find out." Jie Ming shook his head and said, "General, you must know that there is no foolproof solution in this world. At this moment, General Luo, you have no choice but to trust me!"
Upon hearing this, Luo Yueniang fell silent, her jade-like hands gripping the reins tightly as she gazed into the distance.
The Shu generals surrounded Jie Ming in the middle, waiting for Luo Yueniang's decision.
Just as the stalemate was at hand, a deafening battle cry suddenly came from the direction of the distant valley.
Unlike the Fengtian Army, the Shu army did not have signal guns to transmit messages, so Luo Yueniang used the phase of the moon as a signal to roughly plan the attack time.
At this moment, the Shu army troops responsible for encircling from other directions, seeing that the time had come and unaware of the changes in their rear, launched an attack on the Qiang and Man troops in the valley according to the original plan.
In ancient times, communication was inconvenient, and once a military order was issued, it was difficult to change.
Once the encirclement and attack began, it was like an arrow shot from a bow—there was no turning back; the entire battle situation had been completely ignited.
Jie Ming also heard the sounds of fighting at the valley entrance. He turned to look in that direction, then looked at Luo Yueniang: "General Luo, the battle at the valley entrance has begun. The barbarians are fighting like cornered beasts, and the Shu army brothers are fighting a bloody battle."
"Please believe me, General. My Fengtian Army has never been at a disadvantage in the fight against foreign invaders, and has never let down our comrades who fight alongside us!"
The Shu generals around her also looked anxiously at Luo Yueniang, after all, the soldiers at the front were bleeding, but the troops at the rear were not moving.
Every moment of delay now will cost the Shu army more lives.
Luo Yueniang gritted her teeth, a resolute glint in her eyes, and ordered sharply, "Send word to the rear guard! Cease the standoff with the Qing army and clear the way for them!"
"Frontline troops, heed my command! Target: the barbarians in the valley! All troops, attack!"
After giving the order, she turned to Xie Ming and said coldly, "Lord Xie, if this is a trap, I will be the first to cut off your head!"
Instead of being afraid, Jie Ming smiled with relief: "Thank you for General Luo's trust. You will not regret your choice today."
. . . . . .
The valley had now become a meat grinder.
The Shu army and the Qiang and Man armies collided violently like two torrents of flesh and blood, splashing blood everywhere.
The Shu army's lines were as solid as a rock, steadily advancing forward.
When the soldiers in the front row fell, their comrades in the back row immediately stepped forward fearlessly to fill the gap.
Spears stood like a forest, and swords flashed like snow, as they used their flesh and blood to build a death cage against the Qiang and barbarians.
In contrast, the Qiang and Man soldiers fought wildly and without any strategy.
Like wild beasts driven to the brink of desperation, they brandished a variety of weapons and launched one attack after another against the Shu army's lines with brute force alone.
The Duzhang Man and Baicao Qiang were originally tribes that lived in the mountains surrounding Shu for generations. They nominally submitted to the Shu government, but never truly integrated into it.
In order to control these destabilizing factors, the government imposed strict controls on them:
They were not allowed to enter the city at will, nor were they allowed to marry into the Qing people, yet they still had to bear heavy corvée labor and pay taxes.
To some extent, the prosperity and peace of Sichuan were also due to the blood and sweat of these barbarian people.
Even so, they were still contemptuously referred to as barbarians by the Qing people.
While the wealthy in the city lived in luxury, they could only endure hardship and exposure to the elements in the barren mountains.
Why? How unfair is this world?!
The pent-up resentment of generations turned every Qiang soldier into a bloodthirsty monster, unleashing their fury upon the Shu army before them.
Fight to the death, never retreat, until we are dead!
Even if it means biting with my teeth or banging my head against it, I will tear a bloody gash in this injustice!
The Shu army cannot retreat either!
Behind them were their hometown's rural houses, and their unarmed parents, wives, and children.
They had witnessed firsthand the devastation the towns had suffered at the hands of barbarian soldiers: corpses littered the ground, nine out of ten houses were empty, women were raped, and children were slaughtered...
That was a true hell on earth!
If we cannot completely wipe out these barbarians here today, our own family members will suffer in the future.
Both sides had reasons why they could not back down, and the battle entered a fierce stage from the very beginning.
The dull thud of weapons piercing flesh, the wails of the dying, the frantic shouts... all intertwine to form a bloody symphony.
Vast patches of blood soaked the valley floor, turning the once green grass dark red.
The leader of the Duzhang Barbarians, wielding a sharp axe, charged at the front lines like a ferocious humanoid beast.
His bare upper body was covered with hideous scars, and his bulging muscles made him look like a savage beast.
"Roar--"
With a single axe strike, a Shu soldier was sent flying, shield and all. The axe blade, still powerful, slammed into another soldier's face.
puff-
With a horrifying sound of skull shattering and eyeballs bursting, half of the soldier's cheek instantly caved in, and he collapsed to the ground dead without uttering a sound.
The barbarian chieftain stepped on the still-convulsing corpse, pulled out his battle axe stained with red and white substances, and roared to the sky, looking like a madman.
Seeing this, the surrounding barbarian soldiers became even more eager to fight.
However, at that moment, the barbarian chieftain's ears twitched.
To make a living in the mountains, one must have excellent hearing; otherwise, one could not have become a leader.
At first, the sound was extremely faint.
Mixed in with the clamor of the battlefield, it was like a faint rumble of thunder from the horizon.
But soon, the sound became clearer and more frequent!
Thump, thump, thump thump...
That wasn't thunder!
Something heavy and swift was striking the earth at a terrifying speed, causing the entire land to tremble slightly!
Da da da da da——
He finally heard it clearly: the thunderous sound, like raindrops hitting banana leaves... was the sound of horses' hooves!
It was the terrifying sound of thousands upon thousands of warhorses galloping at the same time!