coobybook Chapter 957: 1 to the outside world
Chapter 957: 1 to the outside world
Inside the central command tent of the Qing army camp.
After seeing off Luo Yueniang's envoy, Li Lin sat imposingly on his command seat, stroking his short beard and revealing a playful smile.
"Interesting... This little wench dares to look down on me like this?"
The generals all wore smiles, having thought they would be lingering in Shu for a while, but unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better.
"Still young... Exposing your back to the enemy, and expecting them to be righteous?" Li Lin chuckled, then turned to the outside of the tent and said in a loud voice, "Someone! Go immediately to General He Conglong's troops and invite the Duke of Xiangguo to come for a meeting!"
"Yes!" The messenger took the order and left.
Seeing Li Lin's words, the deputy general Xie Ming frowned and couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, shall we... fight or not?"
Li Lin turned around, his smile unchanged, but his eyes were sharp as knives: "Fight! Of course we must fight! This is a golden opportunity, a piece of meat delivered right to our mouths, why wouldn't we take it?"
He scoffed and said contemptuously, "This female general of the Shu army is still young and impetuous. She doesn't understand our Fengtian Army and expects us to stand by and watch... Heh!"
"The Fengtian Army has fought in battles outside the Great Wall for years. They have emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. When have they ever been afraid of battle? When have they ever hidden behind others and watched the outcome of a battle?"
Upon hearing this, Jie Ming looked worried: "Your Highness, I believe that taking advantage of someone's misfortune in this way will damage the reputation of our 'Royal Army' and invite criticism from the people of the world."
"Furthermore... His Majesty often teaches us that we must consider the greater good of the nation and unite to resist foreign aggression. If we attack the Shu army now, how will we explain it to His Majesty?"
Jie Ming was also an old man who had followed Li Che for a long time, and he knew that if Li Che were here, he would never take advantage of someone in distress.
Li Lin stopped smiling and stared at Jie Ming for a moment.
Upon seeing this, Jieming felt a chill run down his spine.
Immediately, Li Lin beckoned Jie Ming to come closer and whispered a few words in his ear.
No one knows exactly what Li Lin said to Jie Ming.
When Jie Ming strode out of the tent with the military order in hand, there was no longer any doubt on his face, only an eager fighting spirit.
Soon after, another commander, He Conglong, also arrived at the camp on horseback.
The two veteran generals dismissed their attendants and held a private discussion in the tent for about half an hour.
When the tent flap was lifted again, Li Lin and He Conglong gave the order together:
All infantry units immediately advanced to their designated positions on the front line to consolidate the defenses and gather refugees from the Shu region.
All the cavalry of the two armies joined forces and were personally commanded by Li Lin and He Conglong, with their target being Chengdu!
. . . . . .
Time flies, and two days have passed in the blink of an eye.
Luo Yueniang personally led the main force of the Shu army away from Rongcheng, traveling day and night to the rear to fight against the combined forces of the Duzhang Man and Baicao Qiang.
The vast city of Chengdu was now left with only a few elderly, weak, and disabled soldiers, as well as some temporarily conscripted militiamen, making the city's defenses more vulnerable than ever before.
Luo Yueniang was indeed a talented general. She knew that she could not hesitate at this moment. If she were to divide her troops to guard Rongcheng, she would not be able to gain anything from either side.
Therefore, she took a desperate gamble, concentrating all her main forces in order to defeat the barbarian army as quickly as possible and then swiftly return to defend.
That night, the stars and moon were not shining.
The Shu army general in charge of defending the city looked at the dim night sky, feeling uneasy.
He climbed the city wall again and again, looking anxiously to the north.
Luo Yueniang's trip was nothing short of a high-stakes gamble, placing the fate of the entire city and even the whole of Shu on the moral high ground of the Daqing army.
Although the garrison commander trusted General Luo, he still couldn't help feeling uneasy, after all, the stakes were just too high.
suddenly!
On the northern horizon, a moving patch of fire suddenly lit up without warning.
At first, it appeared as tiny specks, but then it spread rapidly, like a raging fire dragon speeding towards Chengdu.
The sound of hooves grew closer and closer, eventually coalescing into a deep, thunderous roar that made the city walls beneath their feet tremble slightly.
"Enemy attack—the Qing army is here!!!"
The lookout soldier shouted, and then alarm gongs were sounded all over the city wall.
The sound of gongs instantly pierced the night sky of Chengdu, plunging the city walls into chaos, and despair spread in an instant.
The garrison commander looked at the overwhelming torrent of cavalry, his face ashen.
Only one thought crossed my mind: "It's over! I lost the bet!"
He drew his sword and shouted hoarsely at the surrounding soldiers, "Brothers! The time has come to serve Chengdu! Prepare for battle!"
The Shu soldiers suppressed their fear, gripped their rudimentary weapons, and prepared for a fierce and inevitable battle to defend the city.
Even the bravest soldiers could not suppress the fear deep within their hearts at this moment.
After all, the Fengtian Army had a formidable reputation, and the cavalry group was a formidable force.
Even the boldest person would feel like an ant in the face of a torrent of tens of thousands of cavalry.
However, just before the cavalry was about to crash into the city wall of Rongcheng, an unexpected scene unfolded.
Like Moses parting the sea, the massive cavalry torrent split in two just as it was about to reach the limit of crossbow range.
The cavalry transformed into two surging tides, galloping across the open fields on the east and west sides of Chengdu without stopping.
The dust kicked up by the horses' hooves resembled two giant, earthen-yellow dragons, their immense power and momentum were terrifying, yet not a single rider charged toward the city gate, and not a single arrow was shot toward the city wall!
Under the dumbfounded gaze of the Chengdu garrison, the Qing army swept across the city and sped straight south!
Atop the city wall, all was deathly silent.
The commander slowly lowered his sword, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief.
"They...they didn't come to attack the city?" a young soldier muttered to himself, as if he were dreaming.
"They actually headed south?" The garrison commander rubbed his eyes, his doubts overshadowing his elation at escaping.
How could the Qing army cavalry turn a blind eye to the easily attainable Rongcheng?
. . . . . .
Rewind to that morning, inside the Qing army's central command tent, the secret words Li Lin spoke to Xie Ming:
"We want to fight, but not the Shu army! We want to fight those ignorant southern barbarians!"
Jie Ming looked bewildered: "You mean?"
But Li Lin's eyes flashed with a cold light, making no attempt to conceal his deep hatred for the foreign race:
"Those damned Du Zhangman and Baicao Qiang, when did it become their place to kick us when we're down in our own Daqing affairs?"
"We must fight! Not only must we fight, but we must fight fast and fight to the death!"
"Gather all the cavalry, send in light cavalry directly, and catch those bastards off guard."
"Since these barbarians dare to come out of the mountains, then they shouldn't go back!"
Jie Ming then came to his senses and couldn't help but ask, "What about the Shu army?"
Li Che snorted coldly: "That little wench was lucky to run into us; she guessed she made the right bet."
"Just like you said before, we and the Shu army are all from Daqing. When it comes to national righteousness, we must naturally unite against the enemy!"