Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 260 - 259. The Outbreak of War
259. The Onset of War
Another fierce battle took place on Jiantian Cliff after General Zhang Qilan led the main army to merge with Ye Li and Feng Zhiyao’s troops. Yet, compared to the anticipated scenario, this turned out to be far better. At least, they managed to fight on Jiantian Cliff without being oppressed from higher ground again, and Lv Jinxian had already lost most of his thirty thousand troops. Their own losses, however, did not even reach ten percent. Every time he thought of this, Zhang Qilan couldn’t help but want to roar with laughter.
Tens of miles from the small city, Mo Xiuyao stood outside the main camp, staring at the isolated city with its gates tightly shut, and sighed helplessly. Yun Ting and Chen Yun, who were with him, looked at him curiously, wondering why the Prince was sighing. Unable to hold his tongue, Yun Ting asked, "Prince, what is bothering you?"
Mo Xiuyao shook his head. "Lv Jinxian over there probably can’t hold out for many days." Neither Yun Ting nor the usually composed Chen Yun could believe it. Chen Yun frowned. "Jiantian Cliff is a natural stronghold. Even if General Zhang has a hundred thousand soldiers, it will probably be hard for him to deploy them effectively. Prince, why do you say that?"
Mo Xiuyao handed the battle report he held to Chen Yun. "From the start, Ah-Li and Third Feng haven’t been seen in Zhang Qilan’s army. I suspect they’ve taken some soldiers to circle around to Lv Jinxian’s rear. If that’s the case, the defenses Lv Jinxian set up twenty miles from Jiantian Cliff are as good as useless. Once both armies are on Jiantian Cliff, even if Zhang Qilan’s hundred-thousand-strong army can’t be fully deployed, they can still wear down Lv Jinxian’s ten or twenty thousand men by taking turns attacking."
Upon hearing Mo Xiuyao’s explanation, both Chen Yun and Yun Ting’s expressions changed. Yun Ting said, "Prince, I am willing to go and reinforce General Lv!" Mo Xiuyao turned to him and calmly said, "Reinforce? Where would we get the troops to reinforce them? Besides, even if I gave you ten or twenty thousand men, what good would they be against a hundred thousand soldiers?"
Yun Ting was left speechless. "Then... what should we do?" Mo Xiuyao turned his gaze to the isolated city in the distance and said in a deep voice, "Attack the city with all our might. We must take this city before Zhang Qilan’s men arrive." Chen Yun and Yun Ting solemnly acknowledged the order.
Although Mo Xiuyao ordered a full-scale assault, this small city was not easy to take. Yuan Pei, a veteran general of the Mo Family Army, was especially skilled in defending cities. With Mo Xiuyao’s forces not holding a clear advantage, as long as Yuan Pei ignored everything else and focused solely on holding out for reinforcements, Mo Xiuyao really had no way to deal with him for the time being. No matter how many stratagems Mo Xiuyao devised, Yuan Pei remained as steadfast as a mountain, paying them no heed. Even though Yun Ting and a few others shouted curses below the city walls every day, the city gates remained shut, and they refused to come out and fight, leaving them helpless.
On Jiantian Cliff, after a standoff of four or five days, Lv Jinxian’s remaining force of over ten thousand men was completely annihilated, and Lv Jinxian himself was captured by Zhang Qilan. These two had worked together for over a decade, often engaging in struggles where victories and defeats were shared. Therefore, Lv Jinxian didn’t feel it was too shameful to lose to Zhang Qilan this time.
Watching his subordinates being annihilated, and having fought to the point of exhaustion, Lv Jinxian readily tossed his weapon aside and said to the exceptionally smug Zhang Qilan, "I’ve lost." Zhang Qilan, his face wreathed in smiles, personally pulled him up and chuckled. "Victory and defeat are common in warfare; don’t take it to heart." Lv Jinxian snorted. "Just by yourself, you absolutely could not have broken through my defenses so quickly. Where is the Princess Consort?"
The young officers observing from the side were all startled. Although Prince Ding’s Mansion still had a Princess Consort from a previous generation’s Prince, who refused to leave Great Chu and was secretly protected in the Capital of Great Chu by Leng Haoyu under Mo Xiuyao’s orders, in the hearts of the Mo Family Army soldiers, the current Princess Consort was only that one. But... how did they not know the Princess Consort was in their army?
All eyes instinctively turned to Zhang Qilan, as he was the commanding general. If even he didn’t know the Princess Consort’s whereabouts, then no one else would. Zhang Qilan gave a couple of dry, awkward laughs and looked towards Ye Li, who had come up shoulder to shoulder with Feng Zhiyao from behind. Lv Jinxian was startled for a moment, somewhat failing to recognize Ye Li. However, he was very familiar with Qin Feng and Wei Lin, who were behind Ye Li. It was self-evident who could have both Qin Feng and Wei Lin accompanying them. Looking closely again at Ye Li standing beside Feng Zhiyao, he immediately realized that it was clearly the Princess Consort.
"Your subordinate pays his respects to the Princess Consort." Lv Jinxian stepped forward and saluted.
Ye Li gave a helpless, bitter smile. Looking at the crowd in front of her that seemed to have turned to stone, she said, "General Lv, please dispense with the formalities."
Lv Jinxian cupped his fist and smiled. "To be defeated by the Princess Consort, this subordinate is thoroughly convinced."
Ye Li smiled gently. "The General is too kind. Ye Li merely exerted a little effort." Lv Jinxian didn’t mind; in any case, he would absolutely not admit defeat to Zhang Qilan, at least not to his face. "There’s nothing more for this subordinate to do here, so I shall take my men and bid farewell first. I wish the Princess Consort a smooth journey ahead." Ye Li nodded. "Thank you for your kind words, General."
Watching Lv Jinxian casually lead away the soldiers who had been declared ’killed in action’, the remaining people were silent. Wishing the enemy’s Chief General a smooth journey... was that really okay?
Once past Jiantian Cliff, although the road ahead wasn’t exactly flat plains, it was quite open. Not daring to delay in the slightest, the contingent raced towards the distant solitary city to reinforce General Yuan Pei.
Meanwhile, on the tower of the small, solitary city, Mo Xiuyao, dressed in white and not even wearing his battle armor, stood leisurely. Looking at the elderly General Yuan Pei, he said with a smile, "Old General, this Prince has won this time."
Veteran General Yuan Pei, his hair and beard gray, looked at the man before him—whose hair was white as snow yet who still stood as proud as the wind. A trace of gratification and joy flashed in his eyes. He nodded. "Indeed, the Prince has won. This old man concedes defeat." In terms of military strength, Mo Xiuyao was only slightly superior to Yuan Pei. Attacking a city was inherently far more difficult than defending one. Previously, Xiling’s army of over a hundred thousand couldn’t breach the small city of Jiangxia, yet now Prince Ding had managed it in just a few days. This was a testament to his ability. Yuan Pei was not someone who refused to admit his age or concede defeat; he would only feel greatly gratified that King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion had a successor.
"If this were a real battlefield, this Prince wouldn’t have taken this city so easily." This solitary city was truly solitary because it was newly built and hadn’t even had time to settle residents. A city with basically nothing like this wouldn’t appear on a battlefield. Yuan Pei laughed heartily. "Thank you, Prince. But if it were a real battlefield, the Prince wouldn’t have come to attack a city with just these mere tens of thousands of troops, would he?" The two looked at each other and smiled, clearly in good spirits.
"Reporting to the Prince, troops are approaching this way!" a soldier observing from the city wall rushed over to report.
"Oh?" Mo Xiuyao gazed into the distance. Indeed, the faint sound of hooves and rising dust could be discerned. In less than an hour, Ye Li, Feng Zhiyao, and Zhang Qilan had led the main army to the foot of the city. Mo Xiuyao looked down and saw at least eighty to ninety thousand troops, and couldn’t help but praise, "To be able to annihilate Lv Jinxian’s forces while losing less than twenty thousand. That’s quite good." Looking down at the assembly from his high vantage point, he smiled faintly. "General Zhang, Third Feng, Ah-Li, you’re all late." Feng Zhiyao was so regretful he gritted his teeth incessantly. Given the situation, if only they had arrived two to four hours earlier, things would have been completely different. Unfortunately, on the battlefield, sometimes a delay of even a quarter of an hour can completely change the outcome of a battle. "Princess Consort?"
Ye Li looked up at the man in white standing on the city tower, a faint smile slowly touching the corners of her lips. She lifted her right hand slightly, and her voice, soft yet clear, carried across the entire battlefield, "Attack!"
On the city tower, Mo Xiuyao watched with a helpless expression as the army below began preparations to attack. Standing beside him, Yuan Pei couldn’t help but laugh heartily. Looking at Mo Xiuyao with a smile, he said, "Prince, it seems this battle of ours isn’t over yet."
Mo Xiuyao smiled wryly. "You’re right, Old General. It seems this Prince celebrated too early." According to the rules of the exercise, it would naturally conclude when the city was breached, meaning they had won. But since it was an exercise, it was natural to train these new recruits to the fullest extent. Besides, on a real battlefield, there’s no rule saying a city cannot be recaptured after it has fallen. Thus, a spectacular battle to assault the city once again began.
This time, the battle to take the city was even more arduous than Mo Xiuyao’s previous assault. Both sides fought for seven consecutive days without a clear victor.
In the end, they could only declare it a draw, as the city Mo Xiuyao held had run out of military rations. It was a completely isolated city. Although there were no civilians consuming extra food, it also meant there was absolutely no food to be found in the city other than the military rations they had brought. Moreover, Yuan Pei had "destroyed" the rations originally meant for the defenders on the very day the city fell. Mo Xiuyao’s men not only suffered casualties but also had no food and had to defend the city on empty stomachs. The army outside the city wasn’t much better off; due to a lapse in their vigilance, men sent out by Mo Xiuyao had managed to destroy most of their provisions.
As the fighting drew to a close, neither side was willing to concede. Seeing that everyone was about to collapse from exhaustion, Veteran General Yuan Pei had no choice but to step out and call a halt. In the end, both sides agreed to call it a draw.
When Prince Ding and Princess Consort Ding, on the city tower, declared the exercise over, many soldiers couldn’t help but weep with joy. This wasn’t, of course, because they felt they had won, but because they could finally eat. Despite large stockpiles of provisions both inside and outside the city, they had to watch their "killed in action" comrades eat and drink heartily while trying to convince themselves that they had run out of food. These days were truly ten, even a hundred times, harder to bear than actual starvation. The moment the exercise ended, everyone dropped everything, set up camp right where they were, and started cooking. The soldiers who had been fiercely fighting just moments before were now amicable again. Especially when they saw that their opponents were also so starved their eyes seemed to gleam green, a peculiar sense of camaraderie welled up.
Inside the small city, the generals, having just eaten and drunk their fill, also gathered. Because the siege battle had lasted so long, even Lv Jinxian, who had already departed, had returned to observe. Now that the fighting was over, both sides had their share of victories and defeats, so no one lost too much face, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious and joyful.
However, the young officers of the East Route Army who had followed Ye Li still looked somewhat dazed seeing her, still in men’s white attire. Over the past few days, they had been overwhelmed by the hectic battles and hadn’t had the mental space to dwell on it. Now that the fighting was over, the young men finally remembered how they had, whether intentionally or not, ostracized and ridiculed ’him’. They also recalled that the young master in white, whom they had vouched for to General Lv, was none other than the Princess Consort Ding they had always deeply admired. This intense shock left the group of young men utterly discomposed.
"Pri— Princess Consort..." After some pushing and shoving, the young men finally pushed forward an unlucky fellow. "Princess Consort, we were blind before and offended you. We beg the Princess Consort to mete out punishment."
Zhang Qilan glared askance at these good-for-nothing juniors. "You brats still have the nerve to say that? I repeatedly instructed you all to be polite to the Princess Consort! What in the world did you do?" Everyone silently glared at him. You were talking about Mr. Chu, not the Princess Consort, weren’t you? Seeing the aggrieved looks of the young men, Zhang Qilan also fell silent. He chuckled sheepishly and, looking at Ye Li, said, "Ahem... Princess Consort, this subordinate didn’t explain things clearly to them. Please don’t take offense."
Ye Li smiled gently. "General Zhang, you’re being too serious. This was originally my own intention. Besides, it’s unavoidable for young people to be a bit hot-headed. General Zhang and the other generals have guided them well; these young officers are all promising talents." Being praised by the Princess Consort, the young men merely felt their lips twitch. They were young, true, but most of them were older than the Princess Consort, who was just twenty-one or twenty-two. To be called young and impetuous by such a Princess Consort made them all blush with shame. Off to the side, Yun Ting silently grumbled in his heart: What’s this? When this lord first met the Princess Consort, she was only fifteen or sixteen!
Hearing Ye Li praise them so, the faces of the other generals also lit up with smiles. Although these young men were with Zhang Qilan this time, they were not all his subordinates. Among them were also men under Lv Jinxian, Yuan Pei, and even Sun Yan, who was stationed far away at Feihong Pass. They were all elites of the younger generation, and their being praised also brought honor to their commanding generals.
Hearing the Princess Consort say she held no grudge, the young men finally breathed a sigh of relief. Young people are naturally curious, and though from a distance, they all began to size up the Princess Consort, thinking they were being discreet. After all, they had heard of Princess Consort Ding’s deeds even before joining the Mo Family Army; how could they have imagined that one day they would not only see her in person but even fight alongside her? However, they didn’t realize that their supposedly discreet actions had already displeased a certain someone. Consequently, after returning to the army camp, without even a chance to catch their breath, they were thrown into some training camp or other to be tormented for two or three months. They could only assume it was because the generals were dissatisfied with their performance in the exercise.
「The exercise had ended.」
Leaving Zhang Qilan and Lv Jinxian to clean up and handle the follow-up, Mo Xiuyao took Ye Li, Feng Zhiyao, and others, and hurried back to Licheng.
Upon returning to Prince Ding’s Mansion, before they could even enter the study, they encountered Young Master Qingchen approaching. Just one look at his face was enough to tell that Young Master Qingchen was extremely displeased with the irresponsible Prince who had once again dumped all the administrative affairs of the Northwest on him. Xu Qingchen glanced calmly at Mo Xiuyao, whose complexion looked even better than usual after nearly half a month of marching and fighting, and asked softly, "It seems the Prince has had a good time these past few days?"
Mo Xiuyao, in a cheerful mood, chuckled. "I haven’t moved about for several years. It’s rare to get some activity; it truly feels good." Xu Qingchen smiled faintly. "Oh? Then congratulations, Prince. In the future, the Prince can engage in such activities more often."
Eh? What does that mean? Mo Xiuyao looked at Xu Qingchen in confusion. Xu Qingchen sighed and waved the battle report he had just received in his hand. "The army of Great Chu has suffered successive defeats in the Northern Territory. In less than a month, four cities have already been lost to the Northern Territory’s army."
Mo Xiuyao was silent for a moment, then raised his head and smiled faintly at Xu Qingchen. "That doesn’t really have anything to do with us." The Mo Family Army and Great Chu had severed all ties of loyalty and obligation long ago; whatever happened to Great Chu had nothing to do with them.
Xu Qingchen nodded calmly. "As long as the Prince understands, that’s fine. Also, news has come from Beirong: the Beirong army is also stirring restlessly. If Great Chu’s war in the Northern Territory goes poorly, Beirong will certainly advance south next spring." While listening to Xu Qingchen, Mo Xiuyao continued walking towards the study without stopping and asked, "Any news from Nanzhao?" Xu Qingchen replied, "The Heir of the Southern Garrison Prince is leading an army of 300,000, already deployed at the Nanzhao border. The two countries are currently in a standoff; it’s still unknown when fighting will break out."
"Will war actually break out?" Mo Xiuyao turned his head to ask.
Xu Qingchen was silent for a moment, then answered in a grave voice, "Yes."
Mo Xiuyao paused in his steps. "Good. Once war breaks out, Xiling will likely be too preoccupied to attend to other matters for some time."
Feng Zhiyao, following behind, frowned and asked, "Prince, should we also begin preparations?"
Mo Xiuyao thought for a moment, then nodded. "After Nanzhao and Xiling go to war, issue a conscription order within the Northwest region." Feng Zhiyao acknowledged. Xu Qingchen, receiving the look Mo Xiuyao cast his way, shook his head. "I don’t understand matters of marching armies and fighting wars. You all can decide how to handle it."
Mo Xiuyao nodded to Feng Zhiyao. "Go and prepare."
After Prince Ding’s Mansion began its rule in the Northwest, the implemented conscription system underwent multiple explorations and reforms, making it somewhat different from the prevailing military service systems. All young men in the Northwest who reached the age of eighteen were required to serve two years of military duty, after which they were demobilized and returned to their fields. However, even after this, they still had to undergo one month of military training each year during the agricultural off-season. Most importantly, this two-year military service was not just for commoners; merchants and even scholars had to participate, though for scholars, it could be appropriately shortened to one year. Therefore, among the students currently studying at Lishan Academy, all those who had reached the age of eighteen had already completed their military service.
In addition, the Mo Family Army also maintained a standing army of 900,000. The soldiers in these units had all served for more than five years, and their entire term of service could reach thirty years or even longer. They were the true fighting strength of the Northwest. Furthermore, unlike the two-year conscripts who received no pay, and unlike the majority of soldiers in other countries who received virtually no pay, these soldiers received a certain amount of military salary each month, and there was also a pension provided if they were killed in action. Although this placed a certain financial strain on Prince Ding’s Mansion, it also, from another perspective, enhanced the combat effectiveness and solidarity of the Mo Family Army.
Although, compared to the other three states which boasted armies in the millions, the Mo Family Army’s 900,000 troops, sandwiched between them, might not seem like much. But once war truly broke out, the moment a conscription order was issued, Prince Ding’s Mansion could instantly organize an army of over a million who had received formal training. Although their combat strength might not compare to the true Mo Family Army, they were definitely superior to some armies that were thrown onto the battlefield immediately after being conscripted. At the very least, they had all been trained by actual Mo Family Army officers.
Watching Mo Xiuyao’s retreating figure, Feng Zhiyao sighed softly and looked up at the sky. Once Nanzhao and Xiling go to war, Beirong will inevitably try to get a share of the spoils from Great Chu. And Prince Ding’s Mansion will absolutely not be able to remain aloof. After so many years of preparation, is it finally about to begin?
