Chapter 1295 – Defeating Huang Song, Unifying Dongqing (Thirty-Seven)
“Bad news from the front line again?”
The next day, Han Yu sharply noticed that their Lord was in a foul mood, exuding a gloomy aura that was downright terrifying.
After some thought, the only plausible answer was more bad news from the frontline.
“Nope! If there was bad news, the Lord would have summoned us in the middle of the night!” Yang Si leaned in close and whispered, “The Lord has passed the age of youth, meaning she has grown up. Adults have their off days too.”
Yang Si mysteriously patted Han Yu on the shoulder, as if Han Wenbin had come in too late to pick up on certain clues.
Han Yu was about to correct him that “youth” referred to males and that females should be described as “ripe like peaches and plums,” when he suddenly realized something.
“What do you mean…” Han Yu’s face darkened a couple of shades as he scolded, “Yang Jingrong, you’ve got guts, daring to slander the Lord!”
“Isn’t this just stating the obvious? Even the sages said, ‘Food and desires are part of nature’,” Yang Si crossed his arms, “If even sages can’t avoid such topics, why can’t we speak of it? Without that, how does one continue the bloodline? If you don’t say it out loud, who’s going to know I said it?”
Han Yu was nearly driven to laughter by Yang Si’s antics.
He exclaimed, “The Lord is still a woman! Spitting such words is nothing but slander against her reputation!”
Yang Si paused, a bit sheepish, “Oh, I must’ve just forgotten… It’s all the Lord’s fault for being so heroic that I keep forgetting!”
Han Yu: “…”
He wished he could strangle this idiot!
Frustrated, Han Yu said, “This concerns the Lord’s reputation; how can you speak so thoughtlessly?”
A female Lord is already a tough role to play, and Yang Si’s flippant attitude could mean disaster if his words got twisted and spread around.
Outmatched by Han Yu, Yang Si could only hang his head in defeat, resigning himself to the scolding since Han Yu was his senior brother after all.
Once Han Yu had finished reprimanding him, Yang Si turned to seek solace from Nong Qin.
But she remarked, “Military Advisor Han is quite right; you were indeed in the wrong. What’s there to feel wronged about? The Lord’s reputation is the most important!”
Yang Si: “…”
What a heartless woman.
Jiang Pengji was indeed extremely irate, but with the war underway, there were plenty of outlets for her anger.
Her fighting spirit was high, inspiring the soldiers below, making them look like they could charge headfirst into battle against the enemy.
There wasn’t a hint of gloom among the troops, as if they’d banished the shadow of the lost Zhuhuang County. Quite a novelty!
Jiang Pengji summoned everyone to discuss matters, setting a massive sand table at the center of the tent, depicting mountains and rivers.
Glancing at the Zhuhuang County marked with Huang Song’s label, Jiang Pengji cursed a couple of times in the interstellar tongue. Her voice was soft, but many heard her—though they didn’t understand. However, the viewers in the live stream recognized the sounds.
Having been live-streaming for nearly ten years, Jiang Pengji inadvertently let slip words in the interstellar language from time to time, even if she didn’t mean to.
The idle viewers gathered tidbits over the years and managed to translate a few words.
Old Driver Alliance: The host seems particularly irritable lately, is it because of Ber Gao?
Jiang Pengji was generally restrained and avoided using the interstellar tongue, except in one situation—
When she was extremely furious!
In such cases, cursing in her mother tongue meant little else.
Genius Guo Fengxiao: The host has the upper hand; Huang Song shouldn’t be enough to make her this mad. She’s probably cursing the local forces in Hujun for betraying her. I remember she didn’t touch Liu Zhi because she cared about his face, but who knew they’d choose now to turn against her when she “was ill”?
Luckily, Jiang Pengji was just feigning illness; had she been genuinely sick, this betrayal from Hujun could have led to catastrophic loss.
Hujun had critical strategic significance.
If Huang Song seized the grain supplies in Hujun, he wouldn’t need to worry about food this winter.
Conversely, Jiang Pengji’s side would face dire straits.
Even in the freezing cold, Huang Song could rally troops to attack Wanzhou, and Jiang Pengji might not be able to hold her ground.
With that thought, Jiang Pengji’s curse on the white-eyed wolves of Hujun made all too much sense.
Little did she know—
Switching languages, Jiang Pengji’s gaze blazed, “It’s getting cold. Let’s send Ber Gao off!”
Don’t Get Your Hopes Up: Cold, cold Huang Po?
Xing guy: Did you see? That’s my brain king!
Pepsi: Up there is just outrageous; that’s my brain king!
Money and Wild Man: Isn’t the brain king above me @CocaCola?
The idle ones continued to veer off-topic, but Han Yu and company remained focused.
“The Three Mountain Gorge isn’t an easy place to defend or attack. If Huang Song assaults it with strong forces, General Luo and the others won’t hold for long.” Han Yu said seriously, “Previously, asking General Qin Gong to send troops for a sneak attack on Huang Song’s rear was to tie up their forces, but that will only delay them for a moment.”
Jiang Pengji said, “I also know that the Three Mountain Gorge isn’t a vital stronghold; Luo Yue and his troops certainly can’t hold it. We need a quick resolution; the time is ticking. Ber Gao should have received news from Chenzhou by now, and he surely won’t sit still—he’ll either abandon Hujun County and retreat, or he’ll go all in and attack the Three Mountain Gorge to seize the entire Hujun!”
Hujun is indeed a hot potato; the terrain dictates that it’s easy to attack but hard to defend.
There’s only one outer line of defense for Hujun, and it requires a massive troop deployment to hold.
Unfortunately, the white-eyed wolves inside Hujun are self-destructing, colluding with Huang Song and breaking through Hujun’s defenses.
Han Yu stated, “Chenzhou’s importance is far less than that of Hujun; Huang Song won’t give up the opportunity for Chenzhou.”
In other words, Huang Song is much more likely to launch a strong attack on the Three Mountain Gorge than to abandon Hujun.
If that were to happen, Jiang Pengji would certainly need to dispatch troops to intercept Huang Song.
While she could accept losing all of Hujun, she absolutely feared the possibility of her elite troops sent to Hujun being lost as well.
However, quick resolution is easier said than done; how to deploy the troops and strategize all required intricate planning.
The group frowned deeply, discussing for over an hour before finalizing the attack strategy.
As the meeting was adjourned, Jiang Pengji added, “Within seven years, we will pacify five nations! Ber Gao must be eradicated!”
Han Yu frowned, not wishing for his Lord to be overly ambitious.
He hesitated, “If we can take down Huang Song this year, East Qing will basically unify, but the other four countries—”
Jiang Pengji scoffed, “With the full power of a nation, can we not flatten a gathering of small-time bandits?”
Dongqing, Xichang, Nansheng, Beiyuan, and Zhong Zhao—these five countries are essentially a patchwork of warring lords. Though Dongqing wasn’t the first to fall into chaos, it would be the first to unify! With the entire national military at her command, she didn’t believe she couldn’t crush those fragmented neighboring countries!
It’s akin to starting a business.
Gathering the initial capital of a million is the hardest part; after that, making another million is far simpler than starting from scratch.
She spent nearly seven years unifying Dongqing; could she not trample the other four nations in the remaining seven years?
On the surface, Han Yu seemed calm, yet the blood in his chest was beginning to boil.
He had been under Jiang Pengji’s banner for a while, and aside from one discussion about surrendering, she had never expressed ambition for the other four countries.
Now she spoke of toppling the other four within seven years; even the usually rational Han Yu felt his eyes moisten with excitement.
Wei Ci: “……”
