Amidst the chaotic battlefield, the barbarians blew their ox-horn trumpets for retreat.
The barbarian soldiers, who were fiercely battling the Great Yu Empire soldiers, no longer desired to fight. Instead, they turned their horses and headed towards Jinzhou City.
For a time, the battlefield was filled with fleeing barbarian cavalry.
Lei Ming was overjoyed. He immediately led his cavalry in pursuit. Some barbarian cavalry, too slow to escape, were cut down from their horses by the cuirassiers.
However, the barbarian cavalry retreated very quickly. And to prevent the Great Yu Empire’s cavalry from pursuing, Wuzhugu specifically left a portion of cavalry to cover their retreat.
After killing all these rearguard barbarian cavalry, when Lei Ming looked again, most of the barbarian cavalry had already fled a long distance.
“Army Commander, should we continue the pursuit?” a cavalry division commander asked.
“No need. Although Wuzhugu has retreated, his strength remains considerable. A rash pursuit might play right into Wuzhugu’s hands. You are to now clear the battlefield and count the casualties,” Lei Ming said.
Luo Xin did not shout. His tone was very calm, as if he was stating a very ordinary thing, but anyone could see from his trembling hands how excited he was.
Lei Ming lightly nodded. Suppressing the wild joy in his heart, he said, “Yes, we won. On the grasslands, we defeated the barbarians. From now on, we will continuously achieve victory.”
The two simultaneously looked at Pingzhou City. Exchanging glances, they headed into the city.
After days of fierce fighting, this city on the grasslands finally fell into their hands.
Inside the city, Lu Fei was surrounded by cheering soldiers. They had fought from the South City to the North City. Now, Pingzhou City was completely under their control.
Looking at the excited soldiers, Lu Fei laughed heartily. Niu Ben had given them three days, and now they had captured Pingzhou City in just one day.
With this city on the grasslands, they now had a fortress for attacking the barbarian heartland.
However, he was not carried away by victory. After capturing the city, he still had many things to do. The barbarians might return at any time. Now, he needed to repair the city walls and at the same time transform Pingzhou City into a fortress for the Great Yu Empire.
So he gathered his subordinate generals and, after assigning them their respective tasks, finally felt at ease.
And at this moment, Luo Xin and Lei Ming also arrived in the city. The three exchanged glances and laughed heartily. Their fighting together these past few days had made them even closer.
“Now I can finally get a good night’s sleep,” Lu Fei said.
Lei Ming yawned. He said, “Now that you mention it, I really am tired. These past few days have been really tough.”
“No matter how tough, it’s over now. I have already dispatched hunter cavalry to send the battle report to Shanhai Pass. I wonder what orders His Majesty will give next,” Luo Xin said.
Lu Fei looked at the smoke-filled battlefield. At this time, a dim light enveloped the entire battlefield. Smoke, shattered flags, and wounded soldiers helping each other, while others cleaned the battlefield, formed a tragic picture of the aftermath of war. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
After a moment of thought, he said, “The barbarians suffered heavy losses this time, and our casualties are not small either. The soldiers need time to rest. This Jinzhou City is different from Pingzhou City; taking it will be more difficult.”
Lei Ming and Luo Xin nodded. Although the barbarians had retreated this time, they still retained a large number of troops. If these troops gathered in Jinzhou, it would again be a tough battle.
The next day, a hunter cavalryman from Pingzhou, shouting about the great victory in Pingzhou City, rushed into Shanhai Pass.
The soldiers guarding Shanhai Pass immediately cheered upon receiving this news. The message quickly reached Xiao Ming and the others.
Upon receiving this news, Xiao Ming immediately summoned Niu Ben and Luo Quan.
The three, in the General Staff Department, planted the Great Yu Empire’s dragon flag on Pingzhou City on the sand table. Now, this place would be the territory of the Great Yu Empire.
“Something’s not right. How did the barbarians reinforce Jinzhou just as Luo Hong’s men set off?” Despite the victory, Niu Ben was still puzzled.
Xiao Ming said, “It’s simple. Qi Guangyi must have done what we intended to do. This general has always been bold and resourceful. This allowed us to reclaim Pingzhou City two days ahead of schedule.”
Niu Ben nodded. That was the only possibility now.
Luo Quan’s expression was excited. At first, he harbored pessimistic thoughts about the northern expedition, because in his view, the Great Yu Empire’s military strength was almost equal to the barbarians’.
The Great Yu Empire had firearms, but the barbarians had excellent cavalry. Now, the war turning out this way indeed surprised him somewhat.
“Now that Pingzhou City has been captured, and Liaozhou City should also be taken if nothing unexpected happens, Jinzhou City is effectively under attack from two sides. Your Majesty, should we launch an attack on Jinzhou now?” Luo Quan asked.
After a moment of thought, he said, “Temporarily halt the attack. With the barbarians’ defeat this time, their morale will surely be dampened; they will no longer be as rampant as before. Moreover, although we won, according to the hunter cavalry, Lu Fei and his men also suffered considerable losses. Most importantly, Liaozhou and Pingzhou are not yet stable enough. Don’t forget the barbarians in the city; they will seize every opportunity to create chaos.”
“Your Majesty is absolutely right. Continuous combat will make the soldiers discontent. Why not let Lu Fei and his men rest in Pingzhou City for a month before taking action again?” Niu Ben said.
Xiao Ming agreed, and he had another purpose. He said, “I have received news that the military machinery department has manufactured the first batch of aiming scopes. I need time to train a group of sharpshooters.”
Luo Quan and Niu Ben exchanged glances. Although they didn’t understand what aiming scopes were, they knew it would certainly help in warfare.
As the three were speaking, a hunter cavalryman suddenly appeared outside the door and loudly said, “Reporting to Your Majesty, Army Commander Ye Qingyun has sent word that they have successfully captured Liaozhou.”
“Hahaha… Ye Qingyun truly did not disappoint us!” Niu Ben took the dragon flag and planted it on Liaozhou City on the sand table.
Xiao Ming smiled slightly. Pingzhou City was in the south, Liaozhou City in the north, and Jinzhou was in the middle. If Jinzhou were captured, then half of the Northeast would be under his control.
Looking down at the sand table, Xiao Ming was ambitious. The victory in the war gave him hope of reclaiming the entire Northeast. For him, this place was currently a source of urgently needed slaves.
At the same time, this was also the foundation of the Golden Tent Khanate’s power. Once lost, the barbarians would lose ninety percent of their population and once again become purely nomadic tribes.
By then, the barbarians would no longer have enough population to wage wars of attrition with him.
Thinking of this, he said to the hunter cavalryman, “You go back and tell Ye Qingyun to keep the usable barbarians in Liaozhou City and send all the unusable ones back to the Great Yu Empire.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the hunter cavalryman took the order and left.
At this point, Xiao Ming said, “Since the war is going smoothly, I will not linger at Shanhai Pass. I will visit the soldiers in Pingzhou City for the next two days and then prepare to return to Qingzhou Province. This barbarian defeat will surely force them into a defensive stance. After recuperation, we will attack Jinzhou, giving the barbarians no breathing room.”