Chapter 276

Wagang Fort was defeated; the loss of manpower is insignificant—even if ten or twenty thousand died, it would be nothing. There are many refugees who cannot survive in this world; recruiting people isn't hard, is it? But once Li Mi's prestige in Wagang Fort collapses, things become difficult. Originally he could rely on the prestige of victory to gradually absorb Zhai Rang's forces, eventually bringing the entire Wagang Fort army under his control, but now this plan is surely bankrupt.

"Only do it now!" After flexing her fingers a few times, the woman directly clasped her hands before Li Mi and said. Huo Bing and Zhai Rang were at this moment; Li Mi was also a resolute hero, at least this defeat hadn't robbed him of his reason—he merely pondered a moment then nodded. Even if he couldn't now fully grasp those few senior commanders who lead troops in Wagang Fort, he must launch the plan to eliminate Zhai Rang.

Bai Lang didn't care about that; the people he had killed could pile into a small hill, but he still hadn't caught a bigger fish than Wang Bocang. In this charge, Bai Lang's entire body was stained red with blood, his killing intent surged skyward—if one could sense qi, they'd see a blood aura like a wolf smoke shooting straight to the ninth heaven. Killing so few wouldn't normally provoke such intent, but Bai Lang inherently bears the aura of the White Tiger Breaking Army; in previous worlds he had also slain tens of thousands.

This was merely drawing out Bai Lang's own killing intent; in this battle both sides suffered heavy losses, Envoy Zhang Xutu withdrew his troops to Xingyang City, along the way taking in many scattered Sui soldiers; upon returning to the city and taking stock, the original Sui force of over ten thousand had dwindled to just over seven thousand. Now it was necessary to hunker down in Xingyang City to tend wounds—venturing out to fight again would likely be impossible.

But there was good news: the Wagang Fort army was also withdrawing from Xingyang Commandery, abandoning the towns they had occupied one by one, and even leaving without dragging many people along. Another piece of news was that Zhai Rang seemed to have died...... yet the Wagang Fort army did not split, though its morale dropped significantly—because everyone believed Zhai Rang had been wounded and killed in battle against Envoy Zhang Xutu.

"So in fact the Great Sui won a pyrrhic victory? They killed Zhai Rang and still achieved the goal of driving the Wagang Fort army out of Xingyang Commandery?" Bai Lang, at this time in the house assigned to him in Xingyang City, said the same to the visiting Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin, and others. Since that battle, these few fierce generals of the Great Sui have been wholeheartedly convinced by Bai Lang; to be able to move freely among tens of thousands of troops like a fierce warrior of one's own is something rarely seen since ancient times—perhaps the Hegemon-King of Western Chu is one such...

Zhang Xutu likewise sought merit for Bai Lang—just his achievement in slaying Wang Bocang was enough to grant him the rank of Colonel. Though the world is in turmoil, the speed at which fierce generals are promoted is swift. As long as Henan Circuit remains stable, the Great Sui's rule won't collapse so quickly—Yang Guang is no fool; on the contrary, he is quite clever and naturally sees the crux of the matter. But back-and-forth takes time, so Bai Lang temporarily cannot hold an official post; Zhang Xutu could first appoint him as Commandant.

The Commandant of Xingyang Commandery, who commands the troops of the commandery—yet this commandery hardly had any troops to begin with, and it was uncertain whether Xingyang City even had five hundred. Bai Lang was no expert in leading troops, and he hardly bothered with his nominal subordinates—"Without a dispatch from the Ministry of War and an imperial edict from His Majesty, this Commandant is merely a title. If you're not in the position, you don't manage its affairs—what's the point of holding it?" Bai Lang said as much, and all day he merely drank and made merry with Luo Shixin and the like.

The fighting had more or less ended; as of now Zhang Xutu lacked sufficient troops to eliminate the Wagang Fort rebel forces, his utmost being to hold Xingyang Commandery and block the Wagang Fort's route. Because of Zhang Xutu's presence, some people felt a bone stuck in their throat and could no longer endure. Prior assassination attempts against Zhang Xutu had already occurred several times, but now it seemed only truly formidable figures would make a move. Bai Lang considered Zhang Xutu a national hero, wondering what sort of death he would meet—"This is an essential part of fulfilling the role of a national hero! If Zhang Xutu died and the world became beyond redemption, then as a national hero he would have reached the pinnacle." Bai Lang thought thus.

Should he try to stop the other side's assassination attempt? If he could meet him, he would certainly intervene—after all, he had enlisted and become a subordinate of Zhang Xutu; if he saw a superior being assassinated and did not come to his aid...... could he still be considered human? "He who rides in another's carriage bears their misfortune; he who wears another's clothing bears their worries; he who eats another's food deals with mortal affairs." These were the words of the peerless national hero Han Xin, and Bai Lang felt he too ought to follow them.

But Bai Lang was not a personal guard; it was impossible for him to stay by Zhang Xutu's side at every step—even if Bai Lang himself proposed it, Zhang Xutu would not agree. "How can a state's great general serve as my personal bodyguard? Moreover, White Jade Pillar, you also underestimate me too much, don't you?" Bai Lang could almost picture Zhang Xutu saying those words, and he had indeed confirmed that Zhang Xutu really spoke that way. Zhang Xutu was in fact a very proud man, his pride residing in his innermost heart and very bones.

Even someone as close as Luo Shixin, Zhang Xutu did not assign him personal bodyguard duty for twelve double-hours a day. He regarded all these subordinates as state-level generals, and he had considerable confidence in his own martial ability. "Speaking purely of martial skill, among those I've seen now he'd probably rank among the best—roughly comparable to Yuwen Huaji. If we speak of battlefield martial skill, he's probably about a third stronger than Yuwen Huaji."

If Zhang Xutu were in the city and Bai Lang likewise present, probably few in the world could assassinate Zhang Xutu. However, Zhang Xutu is a military commander leading troops, the Henan Circuit Expeditionary Commander. He faces not only the Wagang Fort rebel army, but also numerous other rebel armies within Henan Circuit's Xingyang Commandery—for instance, Luo Shixin, Qin Qiong, and Bai Lang each have to detach troops to suppress rebel armies, making it impossible for them to constantly attend to Zhang Xutu's side.

Bai Lang, leading his several hundred commandery troops, also confronted a rebel army—"Heavenly King who calls to heaven? I feel I've heard that name somewhere." Bai Lang was still wondering, but his movements were not slow; he already leapt onto his horse, brandished his halberd, and shattered the enemy's formation. The so-called Heavenly King who calls to heaven commanded several thousand, shouting as they came; Bai Lang's several hundred men all lost color and wanted to flee, while Bai Lang himself spurred his horse forward, paying no heed to the troops behind him.

Amid the astonished gazes of the troops, Bai Lang broke through the enemy formation, slaughtering all the foes before his horse and making straight for the enemy's main banner. With a single strike he cut down the Heavenly King who calls to heaven, who was fleeing on horseback, together with his banner; the rebel forces collapsed in rout. Only then did the commandery troops find the courage to surge forward and pursue the fleeing rebel armies. Bai Lang did not stop either; he galloped after them for more than ten li, slaying nearly all of the several thousand rebel troops. He ordered the corpses of the slain rebels to be gathered and a memorial mound erected to display his martial prowess and intimidate those who refuse to submit.

Bai Lang swept clean the rebel armies near Xingyang City; every force he struck was broken, he beheaded dozens of leaders and slaughtered over ten thousand of the conscripted masses. For a time, Xingyang was tranquil.