Chapter 112: Warhorse

"My Lord, let's retreat!"

A hint of fish-belly white appeared on the distant eastern horizon.

More than two hours had passed since the city gates were thrown open at midnight.

During these two hours, Kutu's heart had been in his throat.

He had counted on Muto and the soldiers who entered the city to turn the tide of battle, defeat the Yan Wang's soldiers inside, and welcome him into the city.

But as time passed, his heart grew colder and colder.

When the Yan Wang's soldiers appeared on the city walls again, he understood that this siege had failed completely.

Pushed onto his Warhorse by the Thousand-Man Commander of the Thousand-Man Guard, he glanced at Yancheng, as if to carve this city into his heart.

After a moment of silence, he raised his horse whip and urged his Warhorse to head north.

The Cavalry of the guard protected Kutu's flanks closely; they would protect Kutu as he returned to the Grassland.

After fleeing for some distance, Kutu reined in his horse and looked back at Yancheng once more, his gaze like ice in a thousand-year-old cold pool.

He knew very well that this disastrous defeat would ruin his reputation on the Grassland.

The great Khan might even fly into a rage and strip him of his Viscount title.

But he did not care.

He only wanted to be able to lead his troops to the foot of Yancheng again and return the shame of this defeat to Yan Wang.

And Muto.

Among his subordinates, he admired him the most; the North Territory people's beliefs were like wolves, and if a wolf's companion died, it would certainly return to give the enemy the most brutal revenge.

They, the North Territory people, were the same.

Even if only for revenge, he had to return.

Yancheng.

The fighting inside the city was proceeding in a one-sided manner.

Four days of fighting had long since left the North Territory people without a numerical advantage.

And the surprise attack brought about by the mixed Quicklime Firecrackers had caused many North Territory soldiers to lose their combat effectiveness.

Relying on the sturdiness of their Armor and a well-organized formation, the Wangfu Army soldiers quickly mopped up the enemy troops in the city.

When the first ray of sunlight fell, the sounds of killing in Yancheng vanished.

The people of Yancheng, who had been terrified all night, cautiously poked their heads out from their courtyard gates at this moment.

Seeing the North Territory soldiers lying in pools of blood at their own doorsteps, they were frightened and shrank back inside.

"Your Highness, Kutu fled last night. Our Cavalry did not find them outside the city, but I have already sent men to notify the three northern counties to block the roads and do their best to capture Kutu," Chang Wei said, following behind Zhao Xu; both of them now had panda eyes.

Neither had slept well these past few days.

Especially last night, the two of them had been commanding in the city, constantly sending out soldiers to convey military orders.

"Send all the Cavalry out. While searching for Kutu, clear out all the remaining North Territory soldiers so they don't continue to cause destruction in Yan Commandery," Zhao Xu ordered.

Although most of the North Territory soldiers were wiped out inside the city, a portion of them had seen that the situation was dire and escaped from the city walls at the time.

It was only after they later mopped up the North Territory soldiers in the alleys that they reoccupied the city walls.

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei immediately sent men to pass the order to Chen Hu.

Before long, the sound of hoofbeats arose.

Chen Hu took the lead, taking the soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army toward the outside of the city.

"Ah..."

Zhao Xu was walking on the main north-south street when a North Territory soldier suddenly stood up from a pile of corpses.

The North Territory soldier raised his Curved Blade and charged at Zhao Xu with a ferocious expression.

"Clang!"

Two Long Spears immediately pierced the North Territory soldier's body, and the North Territory soldier slowly collapsed.

Zhao Xu's expression remained unchanged; when he inspected the battlefield in the morning, this situation had happened more than once.

There were even Wangfu Army soldiers who had been injured because they were caught off guard.

"In the future, there will inevitably be a life-and-death battle between the Great Song and the North Territory," Chang Wei said, frowning as he looked at the dead North Territory soldier.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly.

He could feel the malice the North Territory soldiers held toward the Song People.

This malice was the malice of a wolf pack toward its prey.

Had the Song People committed crimes against the North Territory people?

No.

Then why did they repeatedly raid the borders and kill the Song People?

It was very simple.

They simply wanted your land, wanted your wealth, and wanted your women.

This was primitive wildness; this was a struggle for living space.

Such struggles have run through human history.

Where are the Indians of North America now?

Where are the aborigines of Australia now?

Who is on the land where they once lived?

Sometimes, war is just unreasonable, because it does not need a reason.

The world is a jungle, and the weak can only give up everything they have to survive.

Not to mention ancient times, even in the so-called civilized society of the present day, this principle still holds true.

Therefore, he would not pity these dead Northern Di soldiers.

If the killer requires pity, then who will pity the killed?

Since that is the case, then let each rely on their own abilities.

If you win, you take everything I have.

If I win, I will sever your head.

Walking from the south of the city to the north, Zhao Xu looked at corpses along the way.

Gradually, the commoners' courage also grew.

They came out onto the street, pointing at the Northern Di soldiers and not forgetting to spit on them.

There were also some bold commoners who took up sticks and, together with the Wangfu Army, cleared out the Northern Di soldiers who were still attempting to resist.

At this moment, Zhao Xu and Chang Wei stopped in front of a residential ward.

This residential ward, enclosed by earthen walls, contained over a hundred households, and now it had burned into a patch of ash.

It was here that the Wangfu Army had set the fire last night to create a false impression.

Of course, the commoners had already been relocated beforehand.

And after the war, the Wangfu would need to compensate these commoners with a large sum of Silver.

The two were gazing at the pitch-black ruins.

At this time, a Colonel ran over, his face full of excitement, "Your Highness, General, the horses captured inside the city and the horses captured outside the city total sixty thousand; they are all good Warhorse."

"So many?" Chang Wei was overjoyed, revealing two rows of white front teeth.

Zhao Xu's eyes also curved into crescent moons as he smiled.

Because the defeat was too swift, the Northern Di left behind a large number of horses in their encampments.

These horses were now all his property.

If there were two people per horse, these horses could fully form a Cavalry of thirty thousand men.

Zhao Xu was happy for a while, then asked, "How many poor-quality horses are there now?"

During the battle, quite a few horses were injured or killed.

"About ten thousand or so." The Colonel scratched his head; this portion had not yet been tallied.

Zhao Xu nodded and said to Chang Wei, "Raise these injured horses; if they can still be used, then use them. As for the dead horses, drag them back to the main camp for the kitchen staff, have them make cured meat, and let the soldiers eat it normally. However, the oil rendered from boiling the meat must be saved for this Prince; this Prince has a great use for it."

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei acknowledged, not understanding why Yan Wang wanted animal fat.

Zhao Xu did not explain; this was merely taking precautions for the future.

While sixty thousand horses were certainly worth being happy about, the forage these Warhorse ate was not a small amount.

When the Northern Di raised horses, there was natural pasture on the Grassland.

But for his horse-raising, forage plus beans was the bare minimum, and the amount eaten in a single day was not small.

Therefore, the pace of earning Silver could not stop.

"Also, clean up the battlefield as quickly as possible; the war has not yet ended." Zhao Xu's expression suddenly became serious.

Although Kutu was defeated, he did not bring only these twenty thousand troops.

Moreover, there was still the Zhang Family watching the show.

Now, it was time to deal with them as well.