Martial Arrogance Dragon Soul-Chapter 303 - 291: Qin Qing Comes Out of Retirement
Everyone was caught off guard when Zhao Danchen actually knelt down.
The commander-in-chief of a million-strong Great Qian Army actually knelt before a teenager...
"General Qin!"
The other generals also spoke up at this moment.
Zhuiri Ancestor looked coldly at these people. He was about to explode in anger, but at this moment, the tent flap was lifted, and Qin Qing walked out.
"General Qin!"
Seeing Qin Qing emerge, Zhao Danchen hurriedly greeted him.
But Qin Qing simply waved his hand, and a slap landed directly on Zhao Danchen’s face!
This slap left everyone dumbfounded!
Qin Qing actually slapped Zhao Danchen across the face, and in front of so many generals at that, truly sparing him no dignity!
Zhao Danchen was also stunned.
He had not expected Qin Qing to make such an unorthodox move.
As the commander-in-chief of a million-strong army, to be slapped in public—if word got out, where would he place his face?
"Zhao Danchen, are you not convinced by this slap I gave you?" Qin Qing said coldly, looking at Zhao Danchen.
Zhao Danchen did not speak, only looking at Qin Qing.
"The slap I gave you is actually quite light."
"First, you have made a mistake in marching. You advanced rashly, were careless, and completely failed to observe the battlefield situation!"
"Second, you did not heed advice. Where do you place the lives of the soldiers? If you had listened to me, would so many soldiers have died in vain?"
"Third... there is no third reason, I just wanted to slap you."
Zhao Danchen’s face was suddenly covered in black lines.
However, he still felt some displeasure inside.
After all, he was the grand marshal, and he knelt to Qin Qing of his own accord.
But he had never anticipated Qin Qing slapping him.
However... now Zhao Danchen dare not voice any complaints.
If he irritated Qin Qing at this crucial juncture, Qin Qing might truly withdraw from the war, and the last hope would be lost...
"General Qin!" Zhao Danchen clasped his fists, "You must have heard what I said earlier. Now our army is in peril, I implore you..."
Zhao Danchen had not finished speaking when Qin Qing waved his hand, cutting him off, and said at the same time, "You all go back to the camp and wait for me. I’ll be right there!"
Upon hearing Qin Qing say this, Zhao Danchen said nothing further. He immediately went back to the camp, and the other generals followed him, returning to their tents.
"General Zhao, isn’t that Qin Qing too excessive? He... he actually dared to hit you?" Wei Huo said with dissatisfaction.
"He really thinks he’s something, doesn’t he? We turn to him for aid considering the greater situation. Besides, it’s not guaranteed he can turn things around!" another person chimed in.
"Regardless, he shouldn’t have raised his hand against General Zhao," Liao Chong added. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
"Enough. Stop talking about it!" Zhao Danchen waved his hand, signaling for everyone to drop the subject, "Now is not the time to discuss this matter. It doesn’t matter what happens to me personally; as long as we can stabilize the battle situation and ensure the Mohe Pass is held... even if I Zhao Danchen received this slap, it would be worth it!" Zhao Danchen declared.
"Hmph!" Liao Chong snorted dismissively, "I think, that Qin Qing may be able to identify the problem, but it’s not certain he can solve it. He’s so young and has no experience in leading troops into battle; what can he change? If he cannot alter the situation, then for the slap you took, General Zhao, I’ll be the first to get your face back!"
"Exactly! If he’s just bluffing and can’t affect the battle situation, I’ll be the first to strike him!"
Zhao Danchen was also holding back his anger.
But he was restraining himself now and didn’t wish to explode in anger.
If Qin Qing truly couldn’t change the battle situation, then he didn’t want to let the slap he received pass so easily.
...
Qin Qing had told Zhao Danchen and the others to return to the camp first, while he borrowed the Bodhi Eagle from Zhuiri Ancestor and quickly surveyed the Mohe Pass battlefield from above.
Soon, Qin Qing had a clear understanding of the entire war situation.
"The Northern Yuan’s troops are definitely not as weak as they seem on the surface... on the contrary, their warfighting capabilities are also extremely formidable."
"The situation is truly passive now!" Qin Qing frowned even more deeply.
The current situation was worse than he imagined—the Great Qian army was on the brink of total collapse, about to lose its hold completely. If they did not retreat, it was feared that the million-strong army would be entirely wiped out.
Qin Qing flew back to the campsite, all the while pondering hard for a solution.
Shortly after, he returned to the tent.
Zhao Danchen and the others had been waiting inside the tent for quite some time.
By then, some people were already showing signs of impatience.
When they saw Qin Qing walk in, these people’s mood eased slightly.
Qin Qing looked at these people with a cold sneer and said in a cold voice, "One by one, you’ve been defeated in battle, yet you act as if you have great merits. Quite a temper, isn’t it?"
Qin Qing’s words made these people feel as if they had swallowed flies.
Clearly choking, yet they didn’t know how to retort.
"General Qin, shouldn’t we focus on discussing how to fight the enemy, and put other matters aside for the moment?" Zhao Danchen said.
"Put other matters aside?" Qin Qing sneered. "Weren’t you all having a lively discussion before I came in? If the situation can’t be turned around, are you going to blame it all on me alone?"
"You really amuse me!"
"Do you mean to say that the defeat of the Great Qian Army and the current predicament are my doing, Qin Qing?"
"And... about that slap I gave you, you can’t accept it? Want to save face?"
Qin Qing scoffed, "Because of your recklessness, because of the stubbornness of you and others, so many soldiers died at the hands of the enemy. You’re not the least bit ashamed, yet at this time, you’re still thinking about saving face?"
"General Qin!" Guo Ziyi spoke up at this time: "Actually... we also feel very guilty. It’s just that... these generals have been heroes on the battlefield for many years. It’s inevitable that they have their pride, and after all, General Qin, you are too young. On the battlefield, it’s the military achievements that speak!"
"If... General Qin, you can command the Great Qian Army to turn the tide of the battle, thus protecting Mohe Pass from the enemy’s invasion into our Great Qian territory. Then I believe that everyone here will be truly convinced by you!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Qing just sneered coldly, "Do I, Qin Qing, need your approval? I just don’t want to see more soldiers under Prince Zhennan’s command sacrifice needlessly."
With that said, Qin Qing walked over to the sand table.
"Military Advisor Guo!"
Qin Qing pointed at the sand table: "Next, the Northern Yuan’s forces will definitely attack these three points."
Qin Qing pointed to the three spots on the sand table.
"Oh? So we need to station heavy troops at these points?" Guo Ziyi asked.
"No!"
Qin Qing shook his head, "That would be unwise. Doing so would lead the Northern Yuan forces to immediately shift formations and besiege these points. Look... this is the current deployment of the Northern Yuan forces. On this mountain range, they have ten thousand troops visible, on this side of the valley, they have a cavalry brigade of twenty-seven thousand elites. And over there, at Mohe Valley, heavy forces are stationed as well."
"If we position heavy troops at these three points, then their nearby armies will immediately converge, creating an encirclement akin to a dumpling wrapper, directly cutting off the connection between our forces!"
This analysis by Qin Qing instantly enlightened Guo Ziyi.
"Indeed..." Guo Ziyi inhaled deeply, "It has been so before. Every time I could see their deployment, predict their next move. But when I responded, they changed their battle array first, causing us heavy losses."
Although Zhao Danchen and the others had had unpleasant exchanges with Qin Qing, after listening to his analysis, each of them found much sense in it, looking at him with changed expressions.
It seemed that the contents Qin Qing left in the Jade Slip were no coincidence; he truly had substantial skills.
At that moment, an intelligence soldier walked into the military tent.
"Commander-in-Chief, we’ve found out."
"The Northern Yuan’s military advisor is Tu Alar!"
The intelligence soldier stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and reported with a fist cupped in the other hand.
"Tu Alar?" Zhao Danchen’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he nodded before gesturing the soldier to leave.
"Who is Tu Alar?" Someone immediately asked.
"Tu Alar is a famed military expert of Northern Yuan. A hundred years ago, he led Northern Yuan to war against our Great Qian, a war that caused us heavy losses. It’s said Tu Alar is also a Spiritual Pattern Master. Although a hundred years ago, his expertise in Spiritual Patterns was rather ordinary... it seems during this century, he has been studying the art of Spiritual Patterns in Northern Yuan, and moreover, he’s combined the Spiritual Pattern Technique with the Battle Array."
The one speaking was an old general.
This old general had served many years in the army of Northern Yuan.
He had even been stationed in the Northern Borderlands longer than Prince Zhao Tianyin.
Originally, his status should have been above the Prince’s, but because of some family issues that implicated him, his peerage rank was slashed three levels.
Moreover, during all these years in the army, he had not been promoted.
Nevertheless, Prince Zhao Tianyin treated this old general named Xu Kang with great care, always keeping him by his side.
This time, in the battle for Mohe Pass, although Zhao Danchen held the title of Grand Marshal, in truth, it was Xu Kang who was the real stabilizing force.
"General Qin, I’ve looked over the suggestions you left in the Jade Slip," Xu Kang looked at Qin Qing with all seriousness, "and I deeply agree with your views. Now it’s proven that you guessed correctly—the enemy’s military advisor is indeed an expert in both Spiritual Arrays and Battle Arrays. This old man hopes General Qin, you won’t take to heart the excessive words of others. Here, I kneel in apology for them!"
With that, Xu Kang was about to kneel down and personally apologize to Qin Qing.
But how could Qin Qing accept his kneeling?
"No, old general!" Qin Qing extended his hand, and a force supported Xu Kang.
This surprised Xu Kang.
The others were equally astonished.
They could all see that Xu Kang truly intended to kneel in apology for them; Xu Kang was a Golden Core Realm old general, a Martial Dao Master!
Yet as he tried to kneel, the force from Qin Qing supporting him was not in the least bit inferior to Xu Kang!
What did that mean?
It meant that Qin Qing’s power was not inferior to Xu Kang’s!
This Qin Qing, he himself also possessed the strength of the Golden Core Realm?
If that was the case, then most of those present had to admit that they had underestimated Qin Qing...
To possess Golden Core Realm strength at such a young age, if not a peerless genius, then what?
Qin Qing paid no mind to their reactions at the moment; he had no time to guess what they were thinking. He said to Xu Kang, "Old general, rest assured, I will do my utmost."
Guo Ziyi’s eyes lit up instantly, saying, "General Qin, from this moment on, you will take up the position of military advisor for the Northern Pass army. From now on, every word you say will carry the authority of a military advisor."
Qin Qing nodded slightly, then immediately turned to the sand table: "Now, all soldiers listen to my command..."
