allonlinenovel Chapter 199 Blue Wolf Flag
Chapter 199 Blue Wolf Flag
On the 27th day of the first lunar month, Xu Zheng, under the order of the Qi Emperor, led an army of 100,000 to support Bashan. Meanwhile, General Fu Shouguang also left Shuoliang at full speed and dispatched 100,000 troops to Huai and Xi provinces to support Ningtang on the border between Qi and Zhou.
On the day Xu Zheng and Fu Shouguang left Shuoliang, an urgent report of military situation from 800 miles away was transmitted to the palace. The hesitation in delivering the message wasted time, and during the few days when the Qi court was hesitant, the war in the northern border of Qi had intensified. The Chen army did not choose to continue to attack Zhengye Pass in the south, but instead broke through two states and seven cities near Bashan, burning, killing, looting, and causing earth-shaking chaos. Millions of people in Qi were displaced, and the northern border fell into chaos.
Tang Ling led 4,000 men to defend Bashan, while Qi Xiao divided the remaining 2,000 men into hundreds of groups, changed into ordinary people's clothes, hid knives in large and small bags and luggage, mixed with the refugees, scattered, entered the two nearby states, launched a surprise attack at night, and killed many people when the Qi army was caught off guard.
Bashan had been captured, and rumors were spreading. When blood, heads, and corpses appeared on the city walls and in the streets, the entire city was in chaos, with cries and shouts deafening, and everyone was trying to escape. The defenders, having lost their commander, were already in a panic, and when they saw the people rushing towards the city gate, they wanted to stop them but couldn't, and they didn't dare to attack them with their swords. They thought it would be better to say that it was the Chen army that broke into the city than to say that it was the Chen army that caused the chaos and the people themselves that broke into the city.
The Chen army was just like the ghostly soldiers in the rumors. They came and went without a trace. They descended from the sky and killed people. Raging fires burned the streets and the city walls were filled with corpses and blood. Not only were the people terrified, but even the Qi army defending the city began to panic.
Without waiting for the Qi court to issue an imperial decree, the various prefectures and government offices, without even having time to communicate with each other, all chose to seal off their cities, blocking all refugees from entering and forbidding the citizens from leaving. This action seemed to keep the demonic Chen army out, but it also caused even greater panic among the people.
The refugees who hadn't managed to escape to the city ran for hundreds of miles, hungry, exhausted, and freezing. Soon, the road was filled with the desolate sight of frozen corpses. More people began to cry out, "Heaven is destroying Qi! Heaven is destroying Qi!"
***
The bow and arrow of the Sirius appear, and the flute and drum are expected to set the prairie on fire.
I don't know when, and I don't know who, added a sentence to the hexagram: The dark soldiers descend, and the bloody swords slaughter the city gates.
Tang Ling stood on the city wall, enjoying the night breeze, and casually threw the note into the brazier and burned it clean.
Qinglan accompanied Tang Ling and looked at the darkness in front of them, not knowing what Tang Ling was looking at.
Standing on the north tower, one could see Xingtian Pass, Jialin Pass, Fenglin Mountain, and the border of Chen State to the north. Standing on the south tower, one could see Zhengye Pass, Huaiyan Pass, and the Qi capital, Shuoliang, to the south. But human vision is limited. Even someone as gifted as Qi Xiao, who could see at night, would have difficulty making out anything in the pitch darkness.
Tang Ling spent far more time on the North Tower than on the South Tower. Qinglan assumed they were isolated and deep in the enemy's territory, and that once the Dingyuan Army crossed Fenglin Mountain and arrived to support them, they would be able to breathe a sigh of relief. That's why Tang Ling had been waiting there for news. But her expression was filled with a hint of worry, which Qinglan couldn't understand.
Qing Lan looked at Tang Ling's red face and purple lips from the cold and couldn't help but sigh: "Master, it's cold in late spring and the night is chilly. Let's go back."
Bashan is truly cold. From Fenglin Mountain to the northern border of Qi, it's mostly mountainous. Even in early spring, February, there's still the occasional snowfall. It's much colder than in the Great Zhou. If it were in Shaoyang, the magnolias would be in bloom by now.
"Dangdangdang..." The sound of hurried footsteps was getting closer. Tang Ling turned around and saw Lu Xiulin and a group of people walking towards him.
"Master Tang, Xu Zheng's army has arrived at Zhengye Pass."
Tang Ling seemed relieved and actually laughed: "You came so quickly."
"It only takes three to five days to get from Zhengye Pass to Bashan. Xu Zheng has come all the way here, and after a short rest at Zhengye Pass, the main force will attack. We have at most five days to prepare."
"Just in time." Tang Ling walked down the tower and asked, "Is Bai Xiqiao back?"
"Yes, I'm back. I'm on the South City Tower."
"Let's go over there."
It only takes half an incense stick of time to ride from the North City Tower to the South City Tower. Although Tang Ling and Lu Xiulin arrived quickly, Bai Xiqiao still felt like he had been waiting for a long time. As soon as they entered the door, Bai Xiqiao didn't even think about exchanging a few words of greeting and started talking about serious matters.
"The creek has been sealed with iron fences, ensuring no one can enter Bashan through it. Repairs to the north and south towers are also complete. I personally counted the armory and granary, and they're enough to last us two months. We're not afraid of Xu Zheng coming, we're just afraid he won't."
Tang Ling nodded, then sat down with Lu Xiulin and asked, "Where are the Qi garrison troops in Bashan?"
"A bowl of porridge a day will keep you from being full but not starving."
"Did Han Chaosheng speak?"
Bai Xiqiao shook his head: "He's used to being beaten twice a day, morning and evening, and he doesn't say a word."
Centurion Huang Dawei busied himself around Bai Xiqiao day and night, but he couldn't understand why. He couldn't help but ask, "Why are we keeping Han Chaosheng here? He won't talk, and it's just a waste of food. We might as well hang him up on the city wall so Xu Zheng can keep an eye on him. Aren't Han Chaosheng and Chen He like his father and son? I want to see how Xu Zheng plans to attack the city."
Tang Ling took a sip of water and said nothing. It was Bai Xiqiao who spoke first: "No matter who you hang on the city wall, even if it's the Emperor of Qi, when it comes to attacking the city, Xu Zheng will not show any mercy."
"If the Emperor of Qi were really captured and hung on the city wall, Xu Zheng would be so overjoyed that he wouldn't even have time to react."
Lu Xiulin agreed with Bai Xiqiao's words. Xu Zheng had led troops for half his life, facing the enemy with only military orders, not imperial decrees. He had dedicated his life to protecting the Qi kingdom. As long as the emperor's surname was Yu, it didn't matter to Xu Zheng who sat on the throne. But Lu Xiulin didn't understand why Tang Ling said Xu Zheng would be happier to see the Qi emperor hanged on the Bashan Tower.
Huang Dawei didn't understand and asked, "What does that mean?"
"The Emperor of Qi has two sons. The eldest is the legitimate son of the late Empress, while the second is the legitimate son of the current Empress, who was then the Imperial Noble Consort. The Emperor of Qi favors the second son and has long intended to make him the crown prince. However, the senior officials in the court have tried their best to dissuade him and have recommended the eldest prince as the crown prince. Guess which side Xu Zheng is on?"
Bai Xiqiao imitated Tang Ling and took a sip of tea: "Don't keep me in suspense."
"It's the eldest prince."
"Hmph, they've already taken Bashan, so why are they still fighting for the position of Crown Prince? It's still unclear whether they can keep this kingdom."
Bai Xiqiao said this, but what he was thinking about were the nobles in Yuanjing City, the missing military pay, the corruption in the Ministry of Revenue, the case in the Dali Temple, and Concubine Lin... If Qi Xiao did not leave Yuanjing, he would only get deeper and deeper into trouble.
"We only have 4,000 men. To defend Bashan and deal with Xu Zheng, we have to rely on Qi Xiao. Do you know where Qi Xiao is?"
"I was just about to tell you, I received a letter by carrier pigeon last night, saying he has entered Huaiyan Pass."
Tang Ling nodded. It would be best if Qi Xiao was safe.
"It seems that Qi Xiao's situation is progressing smoothly. We just need to delay Xu Zheng. Let's proceed according to the plan."
***
On the third day of February, avoid traveling far.
At the exact time of Mao, when Xu Zheng's army was about to break camp from Zhengye Pass, they saw a crowd slowly gathering towards Zhengye Pass, and the crowd kept increasing, surging towards Zhengye Pass like a tide.
"Help……"
"Give it to Stutter..."
"Let us in!"
There were over 70,000 civilians in Xingtian Pass, and Qi Xiao's men had captured several cities in quick succession, leaving tens of thousands of refugees. They were displaced and aimless, and Qi Xiao assigned his men to mingle among them, gathering and spreading information. Just like this time, Tang Ling had simply announced that on the third day of the third month, the imperial court would distribute grain outside the northern suburbs of Zhengye Pass. This naturally attracted refugees to Zhengye Pass, blocking Xu Zheng's army on the road.
Although this is a delaying tactic, Tang Ling's intention is not just to delay Xu Zheng for a while.
The refugees were hungry, homeless, helpless, with no one to turn to for help, desperate and sad. They surrounded Zhengye Pass and Xu Zheng's army, clinging to him as if he was their last straw, begging for a bite to eat.
Some refugees began to knock on the gates of Zhengye Pass, and soon some people tried to take advantage of the chaos to steal food and supplies from Xu Zheng's army.
With such a commotion, Xu Zheng naturally couldn't break camp on time. He had no choice but to retreat to his base camp and request the soldiers guarding Zhengye Pass to suppress the riots, clearing the way for Xu Zheng's army. After a tumultuous battle from dawn to sunset, Xu Zheng's army finally set foot on the official road northward toward Bashan. Zhengye Pass, however, was caught in a dilemma because the refugees refused to disperse, and their efforts to suppress the riots only made it more difficult.
Zhengye Pass couldn't accommodate so many refugees. Xu Zheng's army of 100,000 had just withdrawn all the grain stored at Zhengye Pass, leaving them with no food to distribute. But these people under the city walls were also citizens of Qi, including infants and toddlers. How many soldiers guarding the city could turn a blind eye?
Not only the soldiers and generals of Zhengye Pass felt sorry for the situation, but Xu Zheng and his fellow soldiers could not help but sympathize and sigh. However, before the military order, they could only obey Xu Zheng's orders and march towards Bashan. Only by retaking Bashan and killing all the invading Chen army could they let the displaced people return home.
It was already night when Xu Zheng arrived at Bashan. He ordered the entire army to set up camp and rest twenty miles away from Bashan, and attack the city the next day.
Originally, Xu Zheng hadn't planned to attack the city so quickly. The military intelligence report didn't reveal how many Chen troops were stationed in Bashan, and Bashan was considered easy to defend but difficult to attack. He had originally planned to surround the city without attacking, sending men to sneak in to gather information before making his plans. If they couldn't get through, he would surround Bashan and wait for the scattered Chen troops stealthily attacking other areas to return, where he could then effortlessly defeat them one by one.
Xu Zheng had commanded the army for many years, and he had seen all too well the tactics of Tang Ling and Qi Xiao. If the Chen State truly had a large army approaching, they would not have stopped at Bashan. Instead, they would have taken advantage of his absence to advance directly into the northern border, leaving them no chance to breathe or counterattack. Their decision to defend Bashan simply demonstrated their lack of manpower.
Moreover, the snow on Fenglin Mountain hadn't melted yet. How could the Chen army carry supplies and baggage across the mountains? It was clearly difficult to sustain, which was why they were bluffing.
Surrounding without attacking is the best strategy against the enemy, but it is not the best strategy for dealing with the current situation.
There were tens of thousands of refugees. If he delayed any longer, there might be a civil uprising in the northern border. Furthermore, the Zhou army was still eyeing Ningtang covetously. The longer he delayed, the more likely it was that there would be unrest in the court. He was afraid that the Grand Tutor and the Second Prince would take the opportunity to slander him to the Emperor, accusing him of avoiding the battle and harboring ulterior motives...
Xu Zheng stood on the hillside, looking at the Bashan City Gate from afar. The flag on the city gate had been changed. It was not the red background with black stripes that Xu Zheng was familiar with. But because it was dark, he could not see the new flag very clearly, but it seemed to be a wolf totem.
"Hmph." Xu Zheng snorted, thinking of the hexagram with disdain. "Heavenly Wolf, the God of Death, descended upon the world!" How ridiculous. However, this ninth prince of Chen, though unknown, possessed the courage to march alone against Qi, the means and cunning to defend Bashan and disrupt the northern border. He shouldn't be underestimated.
But this young boy is really ignorant of death and has no fear of death.
When attacking the city tomorrow, Xu Zheng wants to see for himself what kind of opponent he is and how capable he is compared to Bai Liu.
***
As the sun rose, Xu Zheng's army lined up at the southern city gate of Bashan. It was a dark mass, and the war drums beat as if they were going to shake the city gate of Bashan down.
Even if every soldier of the 100,000-man army took a single brick from the city gate, Bashan City would collapse. Even the veterans of the Dingyuan Army couldn't help but feel nervous at this moment. They only had a few thousand men, so they couldn't help but feel guilty. Fortunately, they were high up on the city wall, so Xu Zheng couldn't see their expressions clearly.
Lu Xiulin, wearing armor, stood on the city wall as the commander-in-chief, with Bai Xiqiao standing beside him. Although Tang Ling was also on the city wall, he was hiding in a corner. He could see Xu Zheng, but Xu Zheng could not notice him.
"Release." As Bai Xiqiao raised his hand, the two flags hanging on the city wall fluttered open and fell down.
The two blue wolf flags were three feet long and extremely huge. They were hung on both sides of the city gate. Compared with the flags planted on the city walls, these two blue wolf flags were not only for Xu Zheng to see clearly, but also for everyone in the world to know about them.
Before arriving in Qi territory, Qi Xiao had never thought about the military flag. They quietly crossed Fenglin Mountain and launched a surprise attack on the northern border of Qi. There was no chance to hang a flag. When they arrived at Bashan, they could just use the flag of Dingyuan Army, but Tang Ling disagreed.
The current flags were specially made by Tang Ling after she arrived at Bashan. The one she used was the Blue Wolf Flag that Qi Xiao used during the hunting at Baiyan Mountain last year. It matched the hexagram he deliberately released, which was perfect.
Xu Zheng squinted his eyes and looked at the city gate, his face ashen. Chen Jun's provocation was obviously intended to provoke him.
"Go challenge!"
Just as Lu Jing, the deputy general who had been following Xu Zheng for many years, was about to move, Xu Zheng's gaze fell to the other side and looked at another deputy general, Ye Kaiqi.
Ye Kaiqi was not a direct subordinate of Xu Zheng. Before leaving Shuoliang, the emperor assigned Ye Kaiqi from the Imperial Guards to Xu Zheng, saying that he would serve as a vanguard. Ye Kaiqi was a subordinate of Grand Tutor Zhou Ran, and everyone knew this. Xu Zheng did not look down on him, but he did not trust him either.
Ye Kaiqi received Xu Zheng's order, rode his horse and drew his sword, and went to the foot of Bashan City Gate, challenging Lu Xiulin and Bai Xiqiao on the city wall.
"I am Ye Kaiqi, the vanguard general of the Zhenbei Army. I invite the Ninth Prince of Chen to fight!"
Whether on the city walls or outside the city gates, all eyes of the two armies were focused on Ye Kaiqi. He was not a direct descendant of Xu Zheng and had no prestige in the Zhenbei Army. He came out to challenge the Ninth Prince of Chen State today, and he wanted to become famous in one battle.
The corners of Xu Zheng's mouth lifted slightly, but if it was a smile, it was not noticeable to others.
Tang Ling thought about it. He didn't remember there was such a person in the Zhenbei Army. Even among the generals who led the troops of Qi State and were stationed in various places all year round, there was no such Ye Kaiqi. He could only be someone who was suddenly stuffed into the Zhenbei Army.
"I'm going to meet this Ye Kaiqi."