nycdaug Chapter 277: Cut off your own head as a gift!
Chapter 277: Cut off your own head as a gift!
It was already late at night when Zong Yanli made a brief deployment of troops and learned about the situation in Shouxi County.
The bloodshot eyes had not faded, and her voice had become hoarse from the frequent talking. After making sure that there were no omissions, she finally had some time to rest. Her brows were filled with fatigue, and she leaned back in the chair without moving, as if she had fallen asleep.
Gao Feilin carefully lifted the tent and took a look. Seeing this, he lowered the tent curtain and turned to look at the two generals Wang Yi of Gao State and Yu Jinghui of Jin State and said, "General, please take a rest. If there is nothing important, please come back tomorrow."
Wang Yi and Yu Jinghui looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
Zong Yanli did not sleep well that night. He was worried about his father's injury and concerned about the war situation. He dozed off for a while and then woke up. Seeing that it was still early, he simply stood up and lay down on the bed for a while.
Both Zong Yanhongjing and Qian Zhixing were seriously injured. Qian Zhixing still had hope of recovery, after all, he was in his prime. But Zong Yanhongjing was different. Due to his old age, his various functions declined, which was not enough to support his recovery from his injuries.
Even because of defending the city gate, he worked day and night and his health was deteriorating. Now he suffered such a serious penetrating wound, which was really critical for an old man.
When Xiao Tianhe told Zong Yanli about Zong Yanhongjing's physical condition in detail, Zong Yanli's heart sank bit by bit.
"General, there is no elixir of immortality in the world." Xiao Tianhe knew that the truth was cruel, but there were some things he had to say.
"The old general has been through many battles, and he has many old illnesses..." Xiao Tianhe sighed deeply, and said to Zong Yanli: "General, make plans early and think carefully about whether to send the old general back home."
Every word Xiao Tianhe said made Zong Yanli's heart ache. She sat there in silence. No one else in the tent dared to say a word. The atmosphere was depressing and silent.
Lu Hao came in and broke the silence in the tent. His face was also filled with unspeakable grief. He stood in front of Zong Yanli and said, "The bodies and belongings of General Yang and General Peng have been properly buried. According to the general's wishes, the coffins have been carried back home."
"Okay..." Zong Yanli raised his head, took a deep breath, and straightened his bent back little by little.
At this moment, everyone seemed to feel the heavy burden on Zong Yanli's straight back. She sat in the tent and held her breath and said, "Send all the wounded soldiers in Shouxi County back home, and submit the names of the brothers who died in the battle to His Majesty."
Zong Yanli called out calmly and clearly, "Gao Feilin."
"Escort the general home for me." Zong Yanli raised his head, his eyes seemed to be filled with tears, and he said in a hoarse voice with a bitter taste in his throat, "Please apologize to my mother for my unfilial behavior and for not being able to protect my father."
"With the enemy at hand, I was unable to fulfill my filial duty by my father's sickbed. I had no choice."
"I, Zong Yanli, swear here that I will conquer the northern land, cut off the heads of the enemy generals, and avenge my brothers who died in the Pingnan Camp!"
Everyone in the tent looked at Zong Yanli. At this moment, they seemed to be able to feel the sadness and helplessness in her chest towards her family and father. In order to protect her country and her mountains and rivers, she had no choice.
Perhaps sending his father home this time will be the last time they see each other.
How could Zong Yanli not know this?
But she could only do so. Zong Yanli knelt in front of Zong Yanhongjing, bowed solemnly, and said in one voice: "You are an unfilial child!"
Zong Yanhongjing looked at his child with tenderness and love. He raised his rough and scarred hands with great effort and finally placed them gently on Zong Yanli's head. Over the years, he had been extremely strict with his "son" and placed high hopes on his mind.
There had never been much intimacy between father and son, but today, at this parting moment, it was her father who was caressing her in the most intimate way.
Zong Yanli could no longer bear it, she gritted her teeth and lowered her head, tears welling up in her eyes but she did not dare to look up at her father's departing back, her father...
It seemed like a long time had passed before Zong Yanli stood up. With red eyes, she stared deeply at the carriage and horses going out of the tent. Her gaze slowly moved up to the military flag standing in front of the door. She clenched her hands to suppress the surging emotions in her chest and turned around.
"Call all the generals to the meeting camp." Zong Yanli said in a hoarse voice and turned to walk towards the meeting camp.
"The Northern Army is stationed here, but they haven't made any offensive or defensive moves. I'm afraid they might be planning to withdraw to the north." Long Feiguang stepped forward and said, "We have been closely monitoring the enemy's movements these days. The Northern Army has already set out to the north..."
"Send a message to Sha Haoqian, ordering him to intercept the northern army from the north." Zong Yanli stood in front of the sand table map, his face showing a very calm expression as he said, "The Lu State must have gone through Jin State to borrow a passage to retreat. General Yu will lead the Jin State troops to intercept them here."
"General Wang, cross the river from Gaoguo and block it from the left side."
"Fourth Uncle, go west from Yongmen Pass, cross the mountains and surround from the right side."
Zong Yanli’s meaning was very clear, that is to make sure they never return!
The generals in the tent responded in unison. Zong Yanli reorganized his troops as quickly as possible. On the second day, he put on his armor again and chased directly in the direction of the Northern Army.
At this time, Yi Tiangan and Baines broke out into a quarrel in the enemy camp. They did not expect Shouxi County to be so difficult to conquer. They were just a little bit away from entering Shouxi County and occupying the advantageous terrain. They also did not expect that Qi State was so useless and Zong Yanli came so quickly.
"Zong Yanli would rather give up the fat meat in his mouth to Wuhuan and come back to help!" Yi Tiangan learned that Zong Yanli did not send troops to Qi at all, but directly gave up on conquering Qi and gave such a big piece of fat meat to Wuhuan for nothing!
"Staying here any longer is simply courting death!" Yi Tiangan said anxiously, "We should retreat immediately!"
"General Yi, what do you mean? If we retreat like this, it will be like leaving our tail to Zong Yanli." Baines said with a sullen face, "Do you think we can still leave now?"
"I am the leader of this coalition army. Shouldn't I stay behind to cover our retreat?"
"I stay behind to cover your retreat?"
Baines laughed angrily, glared at Yi Tiangan and said, "How is this different from staying here and waiting to die!"
Yi Tiangan was also furious. He was the one who charged into every charge during the coalition forces' attack. However, the Lu army was unwilling to stay behind to cover their retreat. Judging from the military strength, the Lu army was obviously stronger than the Northern army.
The two of them argued endlessly about this, and finally Yi Tiangan angrily slammed the table and said, "Since we can't reach an agreement, let's fight on our own! Good luck to you!"
At this point, the alliance between the Northern Army and the Lu Army collapsed. Baines had just the same intention, so he parted ways with Yi Tiangan. The two of them evacuated in the direction of the Northern Kingdom and the Lu Kingdom respectively, and divided their troops into two groups, intending to withdraw to the north and make further plans.
"General, it's not good!!!"
"Zong Yan, Zong Yanli is coming to kill us!" Just when Yi Tiangan was about to break camp, he heard a report from the front.
"What?" So fast! ?
Yi Tiangan felt a chill on his back, and he quickly commanded his troops to meet the enemy.
The flag of Zong Yan clan was flying in the wilderness. A huge army was approaching. Yi Tiangan sat on the general's platform, looking at the flag with his heart tightening slightly. He stared deeply for a long time and saw Zong Yanli walking out of the army.
On the black warhorse, she was wearing black armor as usual, and the wolf-que long sword at her waist was very familiar.
"Come!" She stood in front of the army, drew out the long sword from her waist, the black blade glowed with a cold light, pointed the tip of the sword directly at the Northern Army and said: "I'll give you a chance, Yi Tiangan! Do you dare to fight me!"
Zong Yanli's voice seemed to carry an inner breath, and it reached the ears of the Northern Army soldiers in a high-pitched voice, and naturally also reached the ears of Yi Tiangan.
His body was tense, and he did not feel the slightest desire to fight when hearing Zong Yanli's challenge. He just felt that there was no difference between this challenge and being called out by the King of Hell.
Yi Tiangan took a deep breath and sat still, frantically thinking of a countermeasure in his mind. If he did not fight back and wait for Zong Yanli's attack, he would be waiting for death. If he ordered his generals to fight at this time, it would seem like he would be encouraging Zong Yanli's arrogance. The current situation really made him to be torn.
"Zong Yanli, why are you staring at me!" Yi Tiangan gritted his teeth, walked out and said loudly: "The strategy for this battle was all ordered by Baines, I am just following orders!"
"The power of the Northern Kingdom is far inferior to that of the Kingdom of Lu." Yi Tiangan laughed twice and said as if he was negotiating: "How about we stop fighting and become friends?"
Zong Yanli listened to this as if he had heard a huge joke. He squinted his eyes and looked at Yi Tiangan in front of him and said, "Do you think you have the qualifications to negotiate with me now?"
Zong Yanli sneered twice, drove his horse forward two steps again and said: "If you cut off your own head as a gift today! I am willing to let the Northern Kingdom submit to my Daqian!"
What she said was not to establish friendly relations, but to submit and surrender!
Yi Tiangan listened to Zong Yanli's arrogant words, his expression changed, and his eyes became even more angry. He looked at Zong Yanli coldly and said, "Zong Yanli, I only respect you a little, don't push your luck! My Northern Army may not be powerless!"
"Really?" Zong Yanli shook the spear in his hand and said with a cold smile: "Then let's try it!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zong Yanli mounted his horse and swung the long sword in his hand towards Yi Tiangan with the force of thunder.
At this point, Yi Tiangan had no choice but to accept the battle, so he drew his weapons and fought with Zong Yanli.
Yi Tiangan is not a leader without ability, he is also considered a fierce general in the Northern Kingdom. He had boasted in the past that he would fight with Zong Yanli, but now that he has really fought with him, he can't help but complain. Zong Yanli's offensive is really scary!
The pitch-black Wolf-Que sword seemed to have a force of a thousand pounds every time it was swung down, and the collision of the weapons made Yi Tiangan's hands numb.
Yi Tiangan fought and retreated at the same time, and seeing Zong Yanli's murderous intent, he did not dare to fight for the slightest, let alone the humiliation of being a deserter. Seeing that the situation was not going well, he galloped back to the army and did not fight with Zong Yanli anymore.
Zong Yanli looked at Yi Tiangan who had sneaked into the military formation, his eyes turned cold, and he turned around and directly ordered a charge.
The sound of war drums rang out, and the soldiers behind them shouted and rushed towards the enemy's formation.
The two armies fought, and Yi Tiangan commanded the troops to resist, but it was obvious that the situation was not optimistic. Under Zong Yanli's offensive, the Northern Army's defense was completely defeated and the front-line defense was easily broken through.
Yi Tiangan was shocked and immediately ordered a withdrawal.
"Chase!" Zong Yanli would never let him go so easily, and immediately ordered his men to chase after him.
In the scorching heat of June, Zong Yanli held on to the Northern Army and engaged in an extremely long tug-of-war with it. Or it could be said that Zong Yanli was gradually eroding and devouring the Northern Army.
Yi Tiangan led the Northern Army to hide from place to place and was besieged on all sides by Zong Yanli, who exhausted their food and military supplies. Yi Tiangan was quite smart. He took advantage of the terrain and escaped many times and occasionally fought back. However, in Zong Yanli's view, the counterattack was completely useless.
They also looted the surrounding towns, which made Zong Yanli very angry.
They chased the Northern Army all the way from June to July and finally forced it into a dead end. Yi Tiangan had never been in such a miserable situation before. He tried his best to return to the North, but was surrounded by Zong Yanli when he was just one step away from entering the North.
"Cough cough..." Yi Tiangan knew that he had no way of retreating this time. He took a deep breath, covered his chest and coughed weakly while looking at the soldiers surrounding him from all directions.
"Yi Tiangan, surrender." During the past few months of encirclement and hunting, Zong Yanli had never shown any mercy and had killed countless Northern Army soldiers along the way. Now that things had come to this, there was really no need to talk about persuading the enemy to surrender.
There were less than a thousand soldiers left beside Yi Tiangan. At this moment, they were still holding swords in their hands, looking at the enemy troops that were surrounding them, and protecting Yi Tiangan tightly behind them.
Yi Tiangan looked at this scene, seeming a little unwilling, but there was nothing he could do.
He was defeated, perhaps he had been defeated since the day he faced Zong Yanli.
Yi Tiangan clenched the long sword in his hand and said to Zong Yanli: "Men from the Northern Country will never surrender!"
“Brothers, follow me and kill!” Yi Tiangan issued the last military order, which was obviously an order of life and death.
At the border of the northern country, tens of thousands of Northern Army soldiers were almost all buried there. The Northern Army General Yi Tiangan died in the battle, and the number of remaining soldiers who escaped back to the north was almost negligible. Zong Yanli naturally had no intention of continuing to pursue those remnants.
On the other side, Long Feiguang failed to intercept the Lu army and was unable to suppress the Lu army with his military strength. In the end, Bearns retreated to the north and returned to Lu.
Zong Yanli was not surprised when he heard the news. He just nodded calmly to show that he understood, and then entered a short stage of raising troops. After fighting for many years, the loss of troops was also huge for Daqian.
"How is the war between Wuhuan and Qi going?" Zong Yanli returned to Shouxi County and began to inquire about the situation in the north, especially the war between Wuhuan and Qi.
"Maybe it's coming to an end..." Lu Peibai stretched out his hand and handed over the letter sent from the north.
Zong Yanli took it and looked at it, then he felt a little relieved and said, "Let Lu Hao recruit soldiers as soon as possible. Yi Tiangan is dead, so the Northern Kingdom has nothing to fear."