Chapter 172: Night Raid

Looking at the rising flames and listening to the shouts of battle that pierced the clouds, Li Mu knew the night raid had been a great success.

Judging by the situation on the battlefield, the emergency contingency plan prepared earlier would no longer be needed.

The enemy forces, plunged into chaos, were completely unable to dispatch anyone to pursue them.

The bait released by the enemy was now useless; all that remained was to wait for dawn to send out troops and mop up the remnants.

"Seventh Uncle, did you personally join the fray?"

Seeing Jing Yifeng covered in bloodstains, Li Mu asked with annoyance.

A few hours ago, when he went out to scout the enemy's situation, this Seventh Uncle had even accused him of being reckless.

In the blink of an eye, Jing Yifeng had simply led troops into the battlefield himself.

On the battlefield, blades and spears have no eyes; even with personal guards protecting him, it was still full of risks.

"Hmm!

You must keep this a secret for me.

You absolutely cannot let word get back, otherwise, I'll just say it was you who told me to go."

Jing Yifeng said, looking slightly exhausted.

The smile between his brows directly betrayed his good mood.

Every man has a hero's dream; no matter how cautious one is usually, once the atmosphere is right, one cannot help but show off a little.

At first, he was just commanding the soldiers to fight, but once the battle broke out, the hot-blooded Jing Yifeng could not control his emotions and joined the combat himself.

"Let this be the last time!"

Li Mu said with a helpless expression.

The thing had already happened; saying anything now was useless.

Don't look at the plays where the commander often charges into the front lines; those are just stories.

In fact, as early as a thousand years ago, it was no longer fashionable for high-ranking generals to charge into battle.

The Great Dayu Code even strictly forbade commanders from engaging in combat themselves.

An army of a thousand is easy to find, but a single general is hard to come by.

The cost required to cultivate a qualified high-ranking general far exceeds that of cultivating a thousand ordinary soldiers.

Using such rare talent as cannon fodder is something no one can afford to waste.

Most importantly, if an accident happens to the commander, it easily leads to the entire army falling into chaos.

The losses caused by that are far from being compensated by the commander hacking down a few enemies on the battlefield.

"You're a loyal friend!

Don't worry, later I will definitely treat you to a trip on the Qinhuaihe to properly relax.

In the future, if there's anything that needs covering up, your Seventh Uncle here will absolutely not hesitate!"

Facing Jing Yifeng's empty promises, Li Mu directly chose to ignore them.

No matter how many promises are made, there must be an opportunity to fulfill them.

Grand Secretary Xu's actions were too generous—one Regional Military Commissioner and one Regional Commander.

The most powerful positions in the Guangxi Army were given to them, which destined that the two could not work together for long.

Once the great war ends, at least one of the two will be transferred away.

The court's personnel appointments need to consider checks and balances; since the Jing and Li families are political allies by marriage, they cannot be allowed to completely control the military power of a province.

In the future, when the two want to meet, who knows how long it will take, let alone going to the Qinhuaihe together to enjoy themselves.

"Seventh Uncle, you'd better get some rest first!

We still have to clean up the aftermath tomorrow morning; we can only make do here for the night.

The conditions are harsh, and I don't have the means to provide you with hot water to wash up; I'm afraid you'll have to suffer.

If you still have energy, then hurry and deal with the bloodstains on your armor."

Li Mu said with schadenfreude.

In this wilderness, regardless of whether one is a soldier or a commander, everyone receives the same treatment.

Being soaked in sweat all over and having to endure a layer of bloodstains is not a pleasant feeling.

The middle and lower-ranking officers are from humble backgrounds, so a little suffering is nothing.

For a noble scion like Jing Yifeng, it is absolutely a form of torture.

Time passed second by second, and the chaotic battle continued.

The soldiers of the three clans, eyes red with killing intent, entered a manic state.

Not only did they kill soldiers of the other two clans, but if camps from the same clan had grudges, they would also engage in infighting.

"Retreat!"

Meng Qingfeng ordered decisively.

Unable to stop the soldiers who had fallen into chaos, he could only lead the soldiers who had not yet joined the battle away.

Traveling in the pitch-black night was full of danger, but staying in the camp was even more dangerous.

Once caught in the chaotic battle, it would be difficult to escape.

Even calling a halt to the infighting was impossible; the soldiers of the three clans only listened to their own clan leaders, and no one could command the entire army.

Once a high-ranking official came out to stop the fighting, they would be met with the full-force attack of the other two clans' soldiers.

Occasionally, scenes of one's own people stabbing each other in the back would appear; the main theme was settling old scores and grievances.

The great battle lasted until dawn; the once-noisy camp now became deathly silent.

The soldiers who were lucky enough to save their lives were either trembling in place or quickly fleeing the camp.

When Li Mu led the army into the rebel camp, he was stunned by the scene before him.

Apart from the raging fires still burning, there were only corpses everywhere.

"Pass the order down: immediately clean up the battlefield.

After collecting the remains of our soldiers, retreat immediately; let the rebels come to collect their own dead!"

Li Mu ordered decisively.

The enemy had fought each other too fiercely; the original plan of finishing off the survivors had now turned into collecting corpses.

The remaining enemies, even if they hadn't gone mad, had been scared out of their wits by the battle.

Rather than taking these people back and wasting food, it was better to leave them for the rebels to affect their morale.

As for spoils of war, there was absolutely nothing to count on.

The Tusi army was even poorer than during the Battle of Lianzhou.

During the last great battle, they were all holding iron weapons and even had some firearms.

The Tusi leaders could even wear cowhide armor.

Now, let alone armor and firearms, they couldn't even equip everyone with iron weapons.

Many soldiers were holding long spears with bone-tipped heads, and some soldiers were even using bamboo spears directly.

It was clear that the weapons in the hands of the Tusi had been lost in the last great battle, and the White Lotus Holy Kingdom had not provided them with enough ordnance.

War is not child's play; making do with weapons would inevitably affect combat effectiveness.

History books are full of cases of winning wars by sharpening bamboo into spears, but those were low-probability events under desperate circumstances.

If a real fight broke out, the gap in weaponry and equipment would directly affect the army's combat power.

"It seems we wasted a night for nothing!"

Jing Yifeng said, frowning.

Last night's suffering had been in vain.

Had they known the rebels could fight to such an extent, they could have just left a small force to mop up the remnants.

"It wasn't a waste; at the very least, we annihilated thirty thousand rebels.

Judging by the number of corpses on the ground, there are at least twenty-three thousand.

With so many heads captured, we will have more leverage when we go to Grand Secretary Xu to demand money and grain."

Li Mu said calmly.

The rebels killed each other; they just needed to know that themselves.

Later, by embellishing and beautifying the battle report, it could become a night raid on the enemy camp, routing the fifty-thousand-strong main rebel force and capturing twenty-three thousand heads.

Anyway, with the rebel heads as proof, the military merit would be set in stone, and no one would care about the specific details.

"Clan leader, the enemy is not pursuing; let's rest for a while!"

Hearing the news brought by his personal guards, Meng Qingfeng breathed a sigh of relief.

"Stop and rest for half an hour before continuing the journey."

After giving the order, he looked back at the team following him, and the smile on Meng Qingfeng's face vanished instantly.

Yesterday, there was an army of ten thousand; now, a zero had been directly removed.

While some had fallen behind or scattered on the way, more of his clansmen had remained on the battlefield forever.

Losing a battle is not scary; what is scary is this kind of muddled defeat.

Recalling last night's battle, Meng Qingfeng couldn't help but let tears well up.

The soldiers of his clan hadn't died on the battlefield but had died in infighting with pig-like teammates.

The enemy's provocation was one aspect, but more of it was the hatred accumulated over the past, which had been ignited in the darkness.

"Send someone to notify the Marquis: tell him we were besieged by the pseudo-dynasty's imperial army and, after a bitter night of fighting, were nearly wiped out.

We are unable to participate in subsequent battles.

Please ask him to convey to the Holy Emperor that our loyalty to the Holy Kingdom is..."

Meng Qingfeng ordered, suppressing his grief.

Having suffered such a great defeat, he dared not go to see Marquis Zhongxiao Kong Siliu at this time.

If that guy suddenly turned hostile, he, with only a few remnants left, wouldn't even have the room to resist.

Having suffered such heavy losses, the Meng Tusi had already done enough for the White Lotus Holy Kingdom.

Taking advantage of the fact that the other Tusi were still on the battlefield, returning to his old lair early was the right path.

If it were a few days later, after the news spread, whether he could return to his lair safely would be an unknown.

Deep in his heart, Meng Qingfeng was full of anxiety.

Including the last Battle of Lianzhou and last night's battle, the losses of the young and strong in his clan directly exceeded ten thousand.

If the troops in Nanning followed the same path as here, the Meng clan would be finished.

What "First Tusi of Guangxi"—it was all fleeting; preserving the family foundation was the key.

"The vanguard force was defeated?"

"This is impossible!"

"They haven't even left our control zone; did the enemy fall from the sky?"

In the early morning, Kong Siliu, who had just woken up from his sleep, issued a soul-searching question.

"Marquis, the news was learned from the mouths of the routed soldiers.

Last night, the enemy raided the vanguard camp, and the three major Tusi clans broke out into fierce infighting, leading to the total annihilation of the vanguard force.

If there are any survivors among the three Tusi, I reckon it won't be long before they report the detailed news to you."

The words of the trusted general left Kong Siliu speechless.

Now, he was left only with annoyance.

Had he known the three major clans were riddled with contradictions, he shouldn't have arranged for them to act together.

When it came to deep-seated hatred, the internal hatred of the three families was much deeper than their hatred for Great Dayu.

If there were a chance to kill the other side, none of the three families would go soft.

That the contradictions had intensified to this point was also the fault of the White Lotus Holy Kingdom.

Had they not deliberately provoked the infighting among the Tusi, even if everyone was still killing each other in private, it wouldn't have spiraled out of control all at once.

With most of their energy spent on sabotaging teammates, it would be a problem if such an army had any combat effectiveness.

However, he didn't feel there was a problem with his deployment; the vanguard force being wiped out was because his subordinates were too useless.

After all, his positioning for the vanguard army was "cannon fodder" and "bait"; the level of combat effectiveness didn't matter.

If only these three Tusi had been a bit smarter and hadn't given the enemy an opportunity, they wouldn't have ended up being wiped out.

"Pass the order down: let the cavalry attack.

You must keep the pseudo-dynasty's imperial soldiers here for me.

Send someone to hold the local garrison accountable: why did the pseudo-dynasty's imperial army cross the border without them receiving any news?"

Kong Siliu said, suppressing his anger.

Having set such a large "bait," even if he couldn't catch a big fish, he had to catch a few small ones.

If he couldn't even catch shrimp, he would become a joke.

After the news was sent back to the Holy Capital, he would be laughed at by his old brothers.

"General, the Xunzhou garrison general is outside asking for an audience!"

"Let him roll in!"

Kong Siliu said with annoyance.

Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.

Just as he was about to settle scores with someone, the main culprit had delivered himself to his door.

"Your subordinate..."

Before he could finish speaking, Kong Siliu kicked him.

"Last night, the rebels raided the vanguard camp in your jurisdiction; why didn't you discover it in advance?"

If there wasn't a reasonable explanation, his blade would be sharpened today.

(End of chapter)