Chapter 121 You Come and I Go
A fierce attack lasted for seven days.
The entire Qingfeng Gorge seemed to be cut in half! Both the gorge and the ground were stained red with blood. Because the weather was slowly getting hot, the whole gorge was stinking and flies were flying everywhere.
Every time the Hun soldiers charged, they would leave behind a lot of corpses in the canyon. There were soldiers from Liangzhou, Baiya, and Pingzhou... They pulled back cartloads of corpses, and no one knew what to do with them.
War is so brutal.
War is so ruthless.
As a general who pacified the Di people, Zheng Yuxing was already accustomed to war scenes, but he could not help but feel grief in his heart. He could only try to numb himself and not think about the soldiers who lost their lives while defending the Longyan Dynasty.
A qualified general should treat the battlefield and his soldiers as a chessboard.
More mechanical, more cold-blooded, more standardized, and more routine.
This is the only way to ensure the general's calmness, because every small mistake made by the general will cause countless casualties.
"General, the Hun soldiers are retreating again!"
"Our losses..."
"The damaged works are being repaired!"
"General, we are running low on food again!"
"And arrows!"
On the high building, military reports were coming one after another, and they had not stopped since dawn. Zheng Yuxing listened quietly with a blank expression on his face. Three more days had passed. The Pingzhou army of King Lu who came to help were full of confidence, but who knew that when facing the Xiongnu soldiers, the Pingzhou army was still not good enough.
The Hun soldiers became more and more ferocious, coming and going like the wind.
Zheng Yuxing gritted his teeth and said, "We'll just take the Xiongnu's extended scimitar. Is that the only solution?"
"Rest well and prepare for the next round of attack!"
"yes!"
According to the habits of these days, the next attack of the Huns will begin in half an hour.
At this moment, a neatly dressed general on horseback came running from behind. He arrived at the foot of the tower, stopped proudly, looked up at Zheng Yuxing, and shouted: "General Pingdi, listen to my orders! The prince is leading 50,000 troops to help us. You are to go to Longhu Pass ten miles away to greet him immediately!"
The prince is coming?
A group of generals looked at each other.
Zheng Yuxing stood up and frowned, saying, "The war is intense, there is no time to welcome you!"
The general's face changed drastically, and he shouted angrily: "General Zheng, do you want to disobey His Highness's order? Who gave you the courage?"
The generals were all furious.
A mere lieutenant general, only a fifth-rank military officer, dared to speak so rudely to Zheng Yuxing, looking down on others. Who wouldn't be angry? Zheng Yuxing has been guarding the northern border for so many years and is quite popular in the army. He is the god of war in the hearts of these soldiers in the northern border. Anyone who dares to disrespect him is like insulting them!
Zheng Yuxing waved his hand, signaling everyone to calm down, and replied loudly: "The prince's orders should be obeyed. But the Xiongnu army is about to attack, I must guard Qingfeng Gorge and cannot leave even a step! I have a responsibility, and I cannot obey the king's orders when I am away. I hope Your Highness will forgive me!"
"you you you……"
The lieutenant general pointed at Zheng Yuxing angrily and cursed him for having evil ambitions and deceiving the emperor, then he rode away angrily.
“This fellow…”
"General, isn't this prince's airs a bit too big?"
"They asked you to go ten miles away to meet them?"
"How can a general on the front line go to greet others? Even His Majesty would not ask for this!"
Everyone stood up for Zheng Yuxing.
"Shut up!"
Zheng Yuxing said with a dark face: "The prince came to reinforce, and he is also determined to fight the enemy. How can we speculate and slander at will? General Luo!"
"I'm here!"
"Go get ready and go meet the prince!"
"yes!"
At this time, the Xiongnu army launched another fierce attack. The drums of war shook the sky, the shouts of killing shook the fields, and Qingfeng Gorge was about to usher in another large-scale battle. It was another test of Longyan's army's combat effectiveness, logistical support capabilities, and the general's ability to coordinate.
…
"What? Did Zheng Yuxing really say that?"
Your Excellency, Crown Prince Xie Fang had a gloomy face and slammed the table in anger: "Who the hell is this Zheng Yuxing? How dare he bully me like this!"
The lieutenant said sinisterly: "Prince, this Zheng Yuxing is the uncle of the Third Prince. He must be deliberately humiliating the Crown Prince!"
The third prince?
Hearing these three words, Xie Fang's face became even uglier: "So what? I am the real prince! This time, my father asked me to resist the Huns. If I succeed, I will be the heir to the throne! This Zheng Yuxing, I will deal with him sooner or later!"
"Let's go, I'll go and ask him for an explanation!"
"Your Highness, absolutely not!"
"General Zheng is a national treasure, Your Highness should respect him!"
When others heard this, they hurried to dissuade him.
Xie Fang's eyes flashed with a sinister look, and he angrily said, "Shut up! Zheng Yuxing insulted me, which is an insult to my father. If I don't teach him a lesson, how can I save face if I go to the battle myself?"
Everyone tried to persuade him again, but Xie Fang would not listen.
His 50,000-man army deliberately stopped ten miles away, waiting for Zheng Yuxing to come and greet them in person. In the capital, as the crown prince, Xie Fang had to keep his tail between his legs every day. This time he went out in person, so he naturally wanted to show off his power, especially to Zheng Yuxing, who was closer to the third prince Xie Ling. He wanted to get back at him.
So he stopped here without caring about the war ahead.
When General Luo came out to greet them, although the procession was quite grand, Xie Fang gnashed his teeth when he saw that it was not Zheng Yuxing who came in person: "This General Pingdi is insulting me too much! Tie him up!"
Everyone was shocked and shouted that it was not possible.
However, General Luo was soon tied up by the prince's personal guards.
General Luo glared at the prince: "Why did you tie me up, prince?"
Xie Fang sneered, "Zheng Yuxing disregarded the prince's order, he deserves death! You yelled at me, it seems that the Liangzhou soldiers like to take advantage of their favor and become spoiled, fight!"
The prince's personal guards whipped General Luo in various ways, causing him to scream in agony and eventually he was beaten into a bloody mess.
Prince Xie Fang then smiled with satisfaction: "Let's go and meet Zheng Yuxing first! If he can't even handle the Xiongnu, what's the point of having him?"
The 50,000-strong army set out again.
…
And at this time.
The Third Prince Xie Ling's troops followed the Crown Prince's army at a leisurely pace.
"Your Highness, why don't we go first, but let the prince go first?"
Someone asked Xie Ling.
Xie Ling laughed: "Why bother arguing about who comes first? The prince is narrow-minded and very suspicious. It's a good thing to let him get in touch with his uncle first."
Because of Zheng Fu's relationship, Zheng Yuxing is Xie Ling's official uncle.
"Besides, do you really think that his 50,000-man army can really resist the Huns?"
Xie Ling laughed loudly: "Do you think he is worse than your uncle? If he goes to do something that your uncle can't do, he will be even worse!"
Just then, Xie Ling's scouts came to report.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, the Crown Prince is outside Longhu Pass. He is angry that General Zheng did not come out of the city to greet him. He openly whipped General Zheng's subordinates and tied them up. He wants to demand an explanation from General Zheng!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Ling was surprised and said, "As expected, I knew it! I knew it! Haha, this prince is really stupid!"
The military advisors around him also showed joy on their faces: "Your Highness's chance has come!"
Xie Ling smiled and said, "Immediately arrange for the baggage and supplies troops to prepare a hot meal for the soldiers at the front. Replace all the quilts, mosquito nets, and mats with new ones! Instruct the doctors to go to Longhu Pass first. Don't be stingy with the various medicinal materials and do your best to help treat the wounded!"
"yes!"
"Your Highness is so kind!"
"Your Highness has won the support of the army!"
Soon, the third prince made arrangements.
…
"Look, what did I say?"
Liu Zheng walked along the way, reading the military newspaper in front of him. He felt like he was reading a storybook and laughed out loud.
The prince whipped his deputy general in public and angrily rebuked Zheng Yuxing. Zheng Yuxing, who was commanding the battle at the front, was furious, but he was the prince after all, so he could only hold back his anger and come back to confess in person, and the prince calmed down. But the generals of the Liangzhou Army and the Pingzhou Army were all angry but dared not speak out.
Without Zheng Yuxing's command, Qingfeng Gorge was almost breached by the Hun army.
The third prince Xie Ling, who had just arrived at Longhu Pass today, was very different from the prince. As the emperor's most favored prince , he had no airs at all. He walked into the city from Longhu Pass and did not look for Zheng Yuxing or the prince first, but went to visit the wounded soldiers. When Xie Ling heard that he had arrived there, he burst into tears and was speechless. Everyone who saw him admired him and everyone who heard about him cried.
The third prince's actions included delivering food, bedding, mats, wound medicine and doctors.
He immediately overshadowed Crown Prince Xie Fang.
A total of 100,000 troops from both sides rushed to help. Under the command of Zheng Yuxing, they finally won a victory and forced the Xiongnu army back 30 miles! This battle was the heaviest loss for the Xiongnu army since the war broke out.
After a victory, the morale of the whole army was boosted and they finally felt proud.
"Young Master, should we stop rushing?"
Jiang Xuan asked.
He was exhausted from the rapid march these days.
Now that we've won the battle, there's no need to rush over.
Liu Zheng laughed: "That may not be the case. A victory at this time may not be a good thing. Do you really think that the Huns cannot be defeated?"
Jiang Xuan and Qin Changfeng were both stunned.
This is a victory, isn’t it ?
Liu Zheng laughed loudly: "It seems that there are also capable people in the Xiongnu army! The Xiongnu is strategically avoiding the battle! He must have known that the Crown Prince and the Third Prince have come to help, and he also clearly understood the situation here, so he retreated. In fact, he is not vulnerable!"
Jiang Xuan's eyes lit up: "Young Master, are you saying that the Huns are about to counterattack?"
Liu Zheng laughed and said, "It's not a counterattack, but an ambush!"
He pointed at the map and said, "After Qingfeng Gorge, there is Rongshan Pass! If the prince is arrogant and overconfident at this time, he will definitely want to take back Rongshan Pass. In this way, it will be easy for him to fall into an ambush by the enemy!"
Everyone was shocked.
If this is true, then after a great victory, there will be a great defeat!
