Chapter 1148 – The Attack on Xu Pei, First Kill of the Lords (Part 18)
“Xie School Officer, sound the retreat order—”
Han Yu didn’t hesitate for a second, even abandoning the fatty meat almost within his grasp, he forced himself to let Yang Si go.
Xie Ze, who was busy leading his troops in slaughtering the enemy, received such an order and nearly spat blood from the wild swings of emotions.
The vice general’s eyes turned red with anger, blurting out, “Military adviser is being foolish—”
Xie Ze gritted his teeth secretly, deciding to follow Han Yu’s judgment and give the order to withdraw.
“The military adviser’s actions must have their reasons; we must obey.” Xie Ze stiffened his face, his eyes bloodshot from battle, “No matter the grievances in our hearts, military orders are like mountains—who can question them in the heat of battle? Enough with the chatter, retreat—fall back!”
The vice general was so furious he felt he could vomit blood.
The role of a military adviser, while having the authority to oversee military affairs, was essentially that of a subordinate officer to the commander, primarily focused on strategy and tactics.
The status of military advisers varies across different lords; some are mere strategists without any command authority, some have partial command, while others are supreme commanders. Han Yu wasn’t your average military adviser, but Xu Pei didn’t completely relinquish power for him to become a general.
To sum it up, Xie Ze as the commander didn’t need to listen to Han Yu blindly.
Come on, can’t you have a mind of your own?
The vice general was nearly driven to madness by Xie Ze’s actions, yet he didn’t dare disobey orders and could only choose to retreat.
As they retreated, he realized that their rear troops were almost obliterated by the enemy, chill creeping up his spine.
How many enemies had attacked them?
Ten thousand? Or twenty thousand?
In fact, Jiang Pengji only brought three thousand troops to support quickly; the remaining seven thousand were still en route, needing another quarter of an hour to arrive.
Having personally seen the valley of Guanxi littered with bloated bodies, rolling stones, arrows, and burning oil, her fury reached a boiling point.
“Lord, the bodies in the valley are fewer than ten thousand, and many still carry warmth, indicating that the fierce battle just occurred not long ago—” Nong Qin also had a serious face, her brows tightly knitted, icy eyes devoid of unnecessary emotion, “Please allow me to lead the troops to pursue.”
Jiang Pengji snickered coldly, saying, “No need, I’ll go!”
Thus, she led her three thousand troops ahead with lightning speed.
To her embarrassment, even at full gallop, they couldn’t catch up to Xiao Bai, who left them behind by hundreds of yards.
She didn’t bother with the enemy’s front or rear, attacking whatever she saw, showing no mercy.
Jiang Pengji’s expression was darker than ever, her blade, Zhan Shen, did not pause for an instant, and whenever its edge gleamed, it guaranteed the harvest of lives.
Clang—
A dull crash resounded as the enemy’s rear reacted, attempting to counter with shields and swords.
With a flick of her wrist, Jiang Pengji sliced through several tiger-head bronze shields in half, the cut smooth and tidy.
Xiao Bai lifted her hooves, stomping twice, directly trampling the dazed enemy shield-bearers.
The edge of Zhan Shen remained bright as new, showing no signs of wear or scratches.
“Looking for death—”
Jiang Pengji had already plunged into the enemy formation. In this scenario, enemies usually targeted her mount first.
She saw dozens of soldiers hiding behind their shield wall, brandishing long spears, all aiming at Xiao Bai beneath her.
To the enemy, Xiao Bai was just her steed, and even if the battle gear was intact, if she got speared, she would lose control from the pain, thereby affecting Jiang Pengji on her back. If she fell, how could this silver-armored, blade-wielding little general still soar?
Little did they know, Jiang Pengji had always been up there, never coming down.
She saw through their intentions, her wrist twisting, the blade of Zhan Shen spinning like a flower.
In an almost ghostly speed, she sliced through the horizontal and vertical blades of the spears, leaving only smooth wooden stubs.
The stubs flew at Xiao Bai’s fish-scale armor, akin to a regular person being randomly hit by a baton while walking down the street. Xiao Bai snorted in pain, anger surging, and charge ahead with even greater ferocity, her hooves adding to the souls lost that day.
“Kill—”
Jiang Pengji burst deeper into the enemy ranks for dozens of paces just as her three thousand troops arrived.
Seeing their foes, both sides turned into a bloodbath, the sounds of killing cries soared to the heavens.
Jiang Pengji’s side surged with momentum, having ambushed the enemy’s rear, catching them completely off guard.
As if that wasn’t enough, Jiang Pengji’s brilliant performance stirred the battlefield, single-handedly shattering the enemy’s formation.
Her soldiers were already filled with pent-up rage, having witnessed their former comrades perish in Guanxi Valley, their anger now mixed with grief.
Now, all those emotions transformed into a vengeful fury.
With only three thousand troops, they repelled the enemy’s seven thousand rear.
Jiang Pengji alone had no idea how many lives she’d taken, the blade Zhan Shen stained with blood, exuding an increasingly chilling aura.
“Who exactly is that?”
The vice general, Xie Ze, was frightened to his core, now lacking the time to complain about how Xie Ze was so obedient to Han Yu’s orders.
He asked Xie Ze what to do, how would Xie Ze respond?
Han Yu was far, far away, only able to see a blurred figure, yet that figure was painfully familiar to him.
Suddenly, Han Yu clenched his fist tightly.
When he saw through Yang Si’s scheme, he knew Wanzhou would send reinforcements to help Yang Si, but he never expected that the reinforcements would be Liu Xi!
One lord would risk their own safety, putting themselves at stake to save their subordinate—
Truly, was it to say that Yang Si was unlucky or fortunate?
With such an emotional lord, it was certainly not a good thing for a strategist.
But—
Silently, Han Yu felt a tinge of envy towards Yang Si.
“Xie School Officer, mobilize the archers, we must ensure that silver-armored little general loses her life!”
The biggest disadvantage for Jiang Pengji here was the lack of ranged forces.
After all, in a rush to save someone, many heavy supplies couldn’t be brought along.
Xie Ze had no doubts and directly complied.
Yang Si was the first to catch wind of Han Yu’s actions, turning livid enough to look like thunder. This Han Wenbin had already recognized the lord’s identity.
“Qin School Officer, quickly go protect the lord, dispatch troops to hold down the enemy’s center, we must not let Han Wenbin’s scheme succeed!”
Qin Gong immediately responded, charging out on horseback, but his reflexes were just a beat slow to comprehend what Yang Si had just said.
Protect the lord?
Wait—
The lord is here?
Qin Gong looked cold and ruthless on the outside, but inside he was shaking in fear.
It wasn’t that Qin Gong didn’t recognize Jiang Pengji; in general, he had only seen her twice.
During those two occasions, Jiang Pengji had been disguised as a woman, and anyone not blind wouldn’t make a mistake about her gender.
Now clad in male armor, exuding an imposing aura at two meters and eight, slicing through enemies like chopping vegetables, it would be strange if Qin Gong could recognize her. After the shock, Qin Gong felt both moved and worried, fearing for Jiang Pengji’s safety.
No wonder the military adviser had sent him to protect the lord; they’d seen the identity of the lord too!
