Chapter 1141 – Attacking Xu Pei, The First Kill of the Lords (11)
“Khan Military Adviser, there’s less than half an hour until dawn—”
Xie Ze looked seriously at Han Yu, his brows tightly knitted together.
After a night of chasing, they were less than a quarter-hour’s distance from the enemy, yet the enemy was cunning, always managing to create a gap. It was as if they could foretell everything, escaping at critical moments. Though so close, capturing them proved impossible.
Just as Yang Si had said, Han Yu was still acting too much like a gentleman; dealing with someone as reckless as Yang Si truly meant losing out.
Not only was his positioning troublesome, but his maneuvers were also breathtakingly chaotic.
“Less than half an hour?”
Han Yu raised his head to gaze into the night, blinking his dry, parched eyes until he forced out a few tears, finally feeling a bit better.
A sleepless night chasing after the enemy was quite the burden for Han Yu.
Xie Ze remarked, “Calculating the distance, they should reach the Qichuan Plain border before dawn.”
The night was already growing lighter, visibility was much better than before, and the difficulty of moving was thus lowered.
“The Qichuan Plain?”
Xie Ze sighed, “We miscalculated this time; we shouldn’t have waited until nightfall to launch a sneak attack.”
Han Yu replied helplessly, “The soldiers under Liu Xi are not just your ordinary elite. If we opted for a frontal battle, leaving behind this ten thousand wouldn’t be challenging, but the losses would still be significant. To kill a thousand while losing eight hundred ourselves—how could the Lord agree to such a trade?”
Han Yu had never seen the combat strength of Jiang Pengji’s elite firsthand, but based on his analysis, they could definitely be considered the best in the world.
If Jiang Pengji lacked even that bit of confidence, how could she dare to sever ties with the Northern Frontier and the Meng Clan and then still go after Xu Pei?
“Letting the dragon into the sea, releasing the tiger to the mountain.” A trace of seriousness flashed in Xie Ze’s eyes, “This will surely lead to endless troubles.”
Han Yu huffed lightly, saying, “It’s not like we can’t intercept them—”
After being toyed with by Yang Si all night, if he didn’t redeem himself, wouldn’t that just show everyone his weaknesses?
“The Qichuan Plain is actually a good place.”
Xie Ze looked puzzled, not understanding what was so special about the Qichuan Plain.
Yang Si asked, “What comes to mind for you when mentioning the Qichuan Plain, Officer Xie?”
Xie Ze, being a flatterer and half a Northerner, naturally didn’t grasp the situation of the southern regions.
However, speaking specifically of the Qichuan Plain—
“The Qichuan Slaughter of the Qiang?”
“Exactly.” Han Yu said, “Yang Jingrong dug a grave for himself and unwittingly jumped right in.”
“What makes you say that?”
Han Yu explained, “The Qichuan Slaughter of the Qiang recounts how before the establishment of the Great Xia Dynasty, Prime Minister Huangfu used black oil and fire at the Qichuan Plain to annihilate five hundred thousand Qiang soldiers. This tale is well-known, but Officer Xie, do you know the details of that great battle?”
Xie Ze’s understanding of the “Qichuan Slaughter of the Qiang” was limited to historical records.
“Is there more to it than that?”
“Not exactly inside information, just more detailed.” Han Yu continued, “The historical records are correct but too brief. The Qiang clan was the ancient ancestors of the Northern Frontier, excelling in horsemanship, riding like the wind with few equals. Their advantage lay in speed. Prime Minister Huangfu, having feigned defeat multiple times, sacrificed twenty thousand soldiers’ lives to lure the Qiang into carelessness, which drew them into the Qichuan Plain—this was just one step of a multi-layered strategy. If our communications couldn’t outpace the Qiang cavalry, they would surely regroup to break through. To prevent that, the Prime Minister secretly constructed watchtowers on the Qichuan Plain in advance.”
“Later, when order was restored, those watchtowers were either dismantled or abandoned.” Han Yu sneered, “Two years ago, Yang Jingrong represented his Lord Liu Xi in an alliance with our Lord. For the greater good, our leader joint forces with Lord Wen to oppose the then Hu County governor, Wu Ma Shang. They too fought at the Qichuan Plain, and Yang Jingrong mentioned the watchtowers, reigniting those forgotten structures for communication between the two locations—”
Xie Ze’s eyes widened slightly as he caught on to what Han Yu intended to do.
Even if they couldn’t catch up with Yang Si’s army, the speed of the torches relaying messages through the night was far faster than that of a horse. Lighting the watchtowers would allow them to mobilize their stationed troops in the Qichuan Plain ahead of time to surround or ambush the enemy, even if they couldn’t completely annihilate Yang Si, they could at least send them into disarray.
And all of this, Yang Si was still unaware of.
“Less than half an hour until dawn—”
Yang Si rode on his horse, subtly adjusting his position.
After riding for so long, his backside felt a bit numb, and his skin between his legs had been rubbed raw.
“This night, I fear, even the elderly won’t forget—”
The mountain air was a bit chilly, and Yang Si clasped his hands together, breathing warmth into his palms while sporting a look of exhaustion from a sleepless night.
His expression was weary, yet his mood was quite joyful.
Qin Gong chuckled, “Thanks to the military advisor’s brilliant planning last night—”
Yang Si hummed a little tune, feeling secretly pleased.
“Han Wenbin must be fuming right now.”
“Before dawn, the army should be able to enter the borders of the Qichuan Plain.” Cheng Yuan noted, “According to Xu Pei’s reactions, it will take half a day for the news to reach Qichuan. Their stationed troops are few, their defenses weak; we can take advantage of their unpreparedness to break through swiftly.”
The Qichuan Plain was not a true flat plain, as its borders featured gentle hills and winding waterways.
It was merely because the overall terrain of this area was relatively flat, broad, and fertile, with lush green pastures, that it was referred to as the Qichuan Plain.
Jiang Pengji’s troops were primarily elite soldiers, and breaking out onto flat ground would actually prove advantageous for them.
Just as Yang Si was about to respond, his keen eyes noticed a small glimmer of orange light in the distance.
Their current elevation was slightly higher than Han Yu’s, allowing them to see more clearly.
“What is that?” Yang Si frowned, “Am I seeing things?”
The orange light flickered momentarily, and after a while, Yang Si observed another spot glowing orange.
However, this time, the orange light did not disappear.
Like a relay, another orange light lit up after a short distance—
“The military advisor isn’t hallucinating; that seems to be a beacon fire?”
A beacon fire?
Yang Si’s heart sank with an ominous premonition.
The direction the beacon fire was signaling was clearly towards the Qichuan Plain.
Qichuan Plain, beacon fire?
The watchtower?
Suddenly, an idea struck him, and Yang Si slapped his thigh, startling his chestnut horse into a commotion.
“Military Advisor?”
Yang Si exclaimed, “The whole army must move quickly; if we don’t hurry, we risk being surrounded in front and behind.”
Catching the enemy off guard was one thing, but being caught off guard by the enemy was another.
Yang Si clenched his teeth in regret.
If only there was a way to turn back time, he would go back several years and strangle his past self for coming up with such a rotten idea.
What was the point of digging a pit? He almost buried himself alive.
The beacon fire’s light was visible not just to their own side but also to the enemy.
Before the sky brightened completely, scouts discovered the beacon fire ignited within Hu County and quickly relayed this information to Jiang Pengji.
“Is anyone still playing with beacon fires nowadays?”
The ancient technology of signal fires once again shocked Jiang Pengji’s standards.
“Can we determine where the beacon fire is from?”
As the Lord, Jiang Pengji could express her irritation, but Wei Ci and Qi Guanrang could not afford such laziness.
The beacon fire wasn’t important; what mattered was that it was lit in the direction of Hu County.
