Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 136. Jiangxia
136. Jiangxia
After the heavy rain, Ye Li rode at the head of the army, her eyebrows knitted in deep thought. Marquis South and the others followed her, curious about her silence. "What’s troubling the Princess Consort?" Marquis South asked.
Ye Li shook her head. "Nothing much, just a bit worried about the situation in Xinyang."
Marquis South raised his brows in confusion. Xinyang City’s fall was already a foregone conclusion, so what was there to worry about?
Ye Li’s gaze was drawn to the side of the road. Because they were not taking the official road, the areas they passed were littered with refugees fleeing from the Northwest. Seeing the destitute and desperate state these people were in, Ye Li felt a mixture of emotions. The current one-sided state of the war was primarily due to the infighting within the imperial court. If preparations had been made earlier and reinforcements dispatched in time, things wouldn’t have reached this stage. In any era, the common people always suffered the most in wars. Ye Li vaguely recalled a saying her teacher from a past life had taught her: when the state prospers, the common people suffer; when the state falls, the common people suffer.
"Princess Consort." Zhuo Jing approached her on horseback, pulling up half a horse-length behind before leaning in to speak quietly.
Ye Li slightly pulled on the reins to slow down, turning to look at Zhuo Jing. Zhuo Jing spoke in a grave voice, "We’ve just received word. Xinyang has fallen."
Ye Li nodded, her expression remaining steady. The fall of Xinyang was within everyone’s expectations. After a moment of thought, she asked, "What about General Yuan?"
"General Yuan has already retreated to Jiangxia. However..." Zhuo Jing hesitated. "We just got word. The Xiling Army... massacred Xinyang City!"
"What?!" Ye Li’s face turned sullen, her usually gentle eyes instantly clouded over with a lethal frost. Marquis South, who was closest to them, obviously heard Zhuo Jing’s words; his grip on his reins trembled but quickly steadied. He stared fixedly at Zhuo Jing without uttering a word. Zhuo Jing whispered, "After the Xiling Army entered the city, they clashed with the civilians. Zheng Bian, the general leading the charge into the city, then ordered the massacre of Xinyang City."
"What does the Southern Garrison Prince of Xiling mean by this?"
"The Southern Garrison Prince wasn’t on the front lines. By the time he ordered them to stop, it was already too late. At least two-thirds of the civilians... of Xinyang were brutally murdered..." Zhuo Jing’s voice was somewhat hoarse. This was the first time a city had been slaughtered since the founding of Great Chu, and many soldiers found it hard to accept.
Ye Li gave a cold laugh and spurred her horse forward. Marquis South was stunned for a moment, looking at Zhuo Jing beside him with some confusion. Zhuo Jing hesitated for a moment, then followed. Ye Li hadn’t gone far; she stopped by the roadside, silently watching the fleeing refugees pass by. Zhuo Jing said softly, "Princess Consort."
She turned to look at him, casually playing with the whip in her hand as she said, "Someone once told me that letting ordinary civilians experience war firsthand is a disgrace to both soldiers and the nation."
Zhuo Jing tried to console her, "This is not your fault, Princess Consort."
Ye Li shook her head and laughed coldly. "Zheng Bian, is it? His head is claimed by the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion. This Princess Consort wants his head to commemorate the heroic souls of the people of Xinyang City!"
"Understood. I guarantee that Zheng Bian’s head will be hanging on the walls of Xinyang City within ten days!"
「Seven days later.」
When the Southern Garrison Prince’s forces were about to besiege Jiangxia, Lei Tengfeng, who had remained to guard Xinyang, sent a secret message. Zheng Bian, who had also stayed in Xinyang City, had been killed in his room. His head was hung on the city wall of Xinyang City, and beside it was a ’Ding’ character written in ornate calligraphy, clearly indicating the assassins were from the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion. Upon receiving Lei Tengfeng’s secret message, the Southern Garrison Prince’s face turned grim. After a moment of contemplation, he sent Lei Tengfeng a reply and then ordered an intensified attack on Jiangxia.
Jiangxia was a small city, just over two hundred *li* from Xinyang. Its area was less than a third of Xinyang City’s, narrow and surrounded by mountains on three sides. Yet, against this small city, the Xiling Army had expended forces equivalent to the sum of those used to conquer several previous cities. The Xiling Army, which had previously advanced like a hot knife through butter, seemingly invincible, finally witnessed the true strength of the Great Chu Army before this small city. Even the Southern Garrison Prince, who hadn’t personally overseen the capture of a large city like Xinyang, now stood behind his army on a hill. He watched with his own eyes the relentless, life-or-death struggle between the two armies below. He saw warriors in black on the city tower, seemingly tireless, constantly striking down enemies who attempted to scale the walls.
"Your Highness," a general standing behind him asked in a low voice, "we didn’t expect a mere small city with only fifty thousand defenders to be this tenacious. Shouldn’t we devise another plan?" His gaze towards the black figures on the city tower was filled with frustration and a sense of foreboding. This was the mark the Mo Family Army had seared into the hearts of every enemy over the past hundred years, with countless sacrifices of blood and lives.
The Southern Garrison Prince sighed softly and said, "Fortunately, the Emperor of Great Chu doesn’t fully trust the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion."
None of the generals behind him asked why, because they all shared the same sentiment of relief. If the monarch and ministers of Great Chu truly understood and trusted each other, how could the realm not be at peace?
"Attack relentlessly, day and night! We must take Jiangxia before the reinforcements from Prince Ding’s Mansion arrive!" the Southern Garrison Prince ordered sternly.
"This general obeys!"
On the distant city wall, the gray-haired veteran, General Yuan Pei, stared intently at the enemy forces below, which seemed as if they would never retreat, his sharp brows deeply furrowed. His eyes, which had seen through the ways of the world, were bloodshot and weary, yet his spine was ramrod straight. His gaze, fixed on the battle beneath, was filled with the resolute determination to stand or fall with Jiangxia.
"General Yuan." Leng Qingyu hurried over. It had been less than a month since the expedition began, yet Leng Qingyu’s youthful, usually cold and aloof face was already etched with the marks of hardship and frustration. Yuan Pei looked at him, shook his head, and sighed softly. "General Leng, is something the matter?"
Leng Qingyu glanced at the place where banners fluttered in the distance, then frowned and said, "General Yuan, if we keep the city gates closed and don’t go out to fight, I’m afraid it will severely damage the soldiers’ morale."
Yuan Pei said, "General Leng, rest assured. The morale of the Mo Family Army will absolutely not be crushed by just these few days. Everyone knows that our army currently lacks the strength to fight Xiling head-on. Fortifying our defenses and waiting for reinforcements is the only thing we can do right now."
Leng Qingyu glanced at the soldiers steadfastly defending the city wall, and his eyes darkened. Yuan Pei was right. It wasn’t the Mo Family Army’s morale that was truly affected, but that of the less than ten thousand city-defending soldiers he had brought from Xinyang City. After that major defeat, these remnants of a defeated army were already completely broken. The Xiling Army’s relentless attacks these past few days had made them like birds startled by the twang of a bowstring. If this continued, trouble would likely erupt even before Jiangxia fell.
"This is a battlefield, and this old man’s duty is to hold Jiangxia. General Leng, a momentary fit of pique will bring no benefit to the current situation. The Xiling soldiers are no pushovers either. If our mere tens of thousands charge into their army of hundreds of thousands, it’s no different from a drop of water entering the ocean. We’ll just be swallowed by them," Yuan Pei said earnestly.
Leng Qingyu remained silent. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what Yuan Pei said, but rather that he found the current stalemate unbearable. To fall into such a state on his very first time leading an army... In truth, the outcome of this war no longer had much to do with him. He could foresee that in the near future, even if he wasn’t punished by the Emperor, he would undoubtedly be sidelined for life. He would never again have the chance to lead troops on an expedition. Attacking cities, defending cities.
The warriors on both sides fought tirelessly day and night. Beneath the city tower, corpses piled up like hills, and blood flowed like rivers. The bodies of their own men and those of the enemy were long indistinguishable. Everyone seemed to be fighting purely on instinct. However, Jiangxia’s forces numbered only fifty thousand, and this figure included those who had died fighting in support of Xinyang. In reality, their numbers were less than forty thousand. Even with the addition of the remnants of the defeated army from Xinyang, they still numbered less than fifty thousand. Their enemy, however, was an elite force of more than two hundred thousand strong. These were troops that the Southern Garrison Prince had spent countless efforts cultivating over the past dozen years; they were also the elite of the elite. Jiangxia’s defending forces dwindled. It seemed as if the city gates would be breached at any moment. But time passed, moment by agonizing moment, and the banners flying from the city tower still belonged to Great Chu and the Mo Family Army.
Behind the Xiling Army, the Southern Garrison Prince solemnly gazed at the tightly shut city gates in the distance.
"Your Highness, they can’t hold out much longer."
The Southern Garrison Prince didn’t speak, but his eyes were filled with respect for his enemy. Five full days and nights of relentless, fierce attacks. With only tens of thousands of troops, even he himself wouldn’t dare guarantee they could have held out this long. This wasn’t something achievable merely by a resourceful and capable Chief General; the entire army also had to possess unparalleled conviction and determination.
After a long moment, the Southern Garrison Prince said in a deep voice, "Continue! Take Jiangxia within two hours!"
A little over two hours later, the main gates of Jiangxia City finally collapsed, heavy and slow. Atop the city tower, Yuan Pei, drenched in blood, casually tossed aside his tattered battle robe. He swept his gaze over the remaining warriors on the tower and roared, "Charge and kill!"
All the soldiers’ eyes were bloodshot with fury. For a city guarded by the Mo Family Army to be trampled by the enemy was their shame. And they were duty-bound to wash away this shame with the enemy’s blood. All the soldiers, heedless of their own safety, threw themselves at the nearest enemy. On the city tower, at the city gates, in the streets—fighting was everywhere.
Leng Qingyu stood at a street corner, watching the slaughter before him, his eyes so bloodshot they seemed as if they would drip blood. Behind him was a group of remnants of a defeated army; having fled from Xinyang, they were no longer able to fight, and no one was asking them to take up arms again. Leng Qingyu turned to look at them and said in a low, heavy voice, "Do you see them? They are soldiers of Great Chu, just like you! Both our cities have fallen. What have they done, and what have we done? It was this general’s incompetence that failed to defend Xinyang. You... should consider your own paths!" With that, he drew his sword and charged out.
The defeated soldiers looked at each other in dismay. After a long while, one man gripped the saber in his hand and charged out after him. Then another, and yet another...
A group of soldiers, dressed completely differently from the black-clad Mo Family Army, rushed out from the street corner, pouncing on the enemy troops pouring in from the city gates. Being obstructed upon entering the city further aroused the Xiling soldiers’ brutality. They howled like beasts and lunged at every Great Chu soldier. Instantly, blood stained the street red.
RUMBLE—
An earth-shattering rumble approached from the distance, and everyone couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned. The faces of the surviving Mo Family Army soldiers lit up with ecstatic joy and renewed vitality. "The Black Cloud Cavalry! The Black Cloud Cavalry are here! Reinforcements have arrived!"
On the wide street, a dense mass of figures in black armor, exuding an unstoppable momentum and a sharp, killing aura, charged forward. At their head, a man in red galloped swiftly forward on horseback. His clear and resonant voice was filled with killing intent: "Block the city gates! Don’t let a single one of the invading bandits escape! Left and right flanks, to the city walls!"
"Yes, sir!"
