Chapter 971: Rolling Smoke of War

The third day of battle, the fourth day of battle, continued still.

Xiao Qian, who had always known the combat effectiveness of the Wa army, did not expect that the Wa army this time would be so capable of fighting.

Too capable of fighting.

Regarding the Wa army this time, putting aside their pure combat effectiveness for a moment, their mental fortitude was truly too strong.

It was as if this were a giant war machine that simply did not know fatigue.

"Kill!"

"Charge!"

Wave after wave of charges. Not only did this demonstrate the depth of the Wa army's bench and the intensity of their rotations, but even more so, it demonstrated the mental fortitude of these Wa soldiers who did not fear death.

Too strong!

Xiao Qian could not help but knit his brows.

Four days.

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Today is already the fourth day of battle; it is fortunate that he deployed his Longyan Army on the second day. Otherwise, if it were entirely the Li Dynasty army, he feared that in these four days, the Li Dynasty side would have lost one hundred thousand troops!

In four days' time, under Xiao Qian's meticulous command and strategic planning, they still lost fifty thousand.

Fifty thousand!

Fifty thousand corpses piled together—can you imagine that scene?

The Longyan Army, well-equipped, naturally had no lack of mental fortitude.

But after all, there were only fifty thousand regular Longyan soldiers; the other troops were still from the Li Dynasty.

The losses were heavy.

Xiao Qian shook his head decisively tonight.

His own Longyan Army had already lost ten thousand!

How could they keep fighting like this?

In ancient times, when two sides fought, there was an unwritten rule: they fought during the day and rested at night. When resting at night, they could go to collect the corpses, each side collecting the corpses of their own camp. Both sides did this, using large carts, small carts, and pushcarts, cart after cart of corpses, which made Li Zhenzhu burst into tears once again.

He did not know how many times this fellow's tears had fallen these past few days.

"No, we can't hold them off."

Their samurai elite had almost no losses; the thirty thousand lost were all those Foot Soldiers.

If this continues.

This battle simply cannot last long.

It has only been four days.

In history, in wars where hundreds of thousands of troops confronted each other, which one didn't last for a year or half a year, or even several years? Yet, in just four days, the total loss was sixty thousand! His own Longyan Army alone had lost ten thousand!

But what about the Wa side?

Xiao Qian gave a bitter smile: "General Li, do you not see it yet? The Wa army is determined to take Qinghe Town this time! If it goes on like this, the cost will truly be too great."

Li Zhenzhu said firmly: "No matter how great the cost, Chungcheong Province cannot fall!"

"No matter how great the cost, Chungcheong Province cannot fall!"

"General Xiao, reinforcements are already on the way."

"Great General."

Li Zhenzhu and the others urged him again.

In short, he did not have much confidence in this great battle.

It was too difficult.

There was not even a place left to dispose of the corpses overnight. Both sides could see the raging fires in the other's camp, burning the corpses of these men. War was never a good thing. Yet, it made people follow one after another.

"General Xiao!"

A group of generals also expressed their stance.

Xiao Qian sighed deeply.

There were many dead, and even more wounded.

If reinforcements did not arrive soon, he feared they would have to screen some of the lightly wounded from among these casualties to go back onto the battlefield to kill the enemy.

Just at this moment.

Fortunately.

On the fifth day, a small group of reinforcements from the Li Dynasty finally arrived.

Thirty thousand reinforcements, three hundred physicians, and some supplies and medicinal herbs allowed Li Zhenzhu and Xiao Qian to breathe a sigh of relief at the same time.

The Horse Carriage continued to travel, bumping along.

In the Li Dynasty, it began to rain.

A letter reached Xiao Qian's hands.

It was from Vice Minister Liu.

He opened the letter, took only one look, and his expression changed instantly: "What?"

"Will the sword really be borrowed?"

Lu Yao, beside him, asked coldly again.

Outside the Horse Carriage, the sounds of various shouts and cries, the hurried passersby, and those rushing to reinforce Qinghe Town showed the level of tension in the Li Dynasty at this time.

In the blink of an eye, it was almost the plum rain season. Liu Zheng thought of Xie Tianyao's birthday last year, which seemed to be around this time. A year had passed just like that; time passed truly quickly. Xie Tianyao's remaining lifespan probably wouldn't be much.

He had to resolve the war in the Li Dynasty as soon as possible and then return to his country.

It was a headache.

The man beside her seemed capable of turning the tide and saving the situation from collapse.

Liu Zheng chuckled: "I can, it just depends on when."

Lu Yao hesitated for a moment: "Can you travel alone, young master?"

Although Lu Yao was a member of the jianghu, she was, after all, a person of the Li Dynasty.

The war currently facing the Li Dynasty weighed on everyone's heart.

But Lu Yao knew.

Liu Zheng was slightly stunned as he heard this, looking at Lu Yao in disbelief.

You must know.

Before this, Lu Yao had possessed an icy temperament. She was indifferent to matters that did not concern her, and she held absolute hostility, especially toward men.

"What?"

Liu Zheng looked astonished.

Lu Yao took a deep breath: "Since you said that Wa pirates will attack Baoning Port, then I ask that you drop me off at Baoning Port; I want to gather people from the jianghu to go and provide support!"

Liu Zheng laughed heartily and slapped his thigh: "Then what does it matter if I, Liu Zheng, travel alone? I will wait for good news from Miss Lu on the battlefield!"

"Good!"

Lu Yao also smiled.

He had not expected that by following him along this journey, her temperament would actually change.

Lu Yao sensed Liu Zheng's puzzled gaze and, for the first time ever, smiled gently: "When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. Since I have a sword of my own, I shall use it; why would I need to borrow one?"

"Good!"

The seventh day, the eighth day, ten days.

Finally.

Although the war at the border was tense, the court in Hancheng had stabilized.

"It's a deal!"

"It's a deal!"

Li Hang, Zhao Shixi, Min An, and others were all in high spirits; their thoughts these past few days had been entirely on this election—Cabinet Members! Cabinet Elders! These were not mere Ministers or Vice Ministers; these were positions that could exercise the greatest power.

Who wouldn't want that?

Likewise, regarding the compromise made by the royal family for this constitutional monarchy reform, Li Xuanya would also become the Prime Minister of the nation in this election.

The parliament was finally officially established and formally inaugurated.

This day also signified that a new Li Dynasty would be ushered in.

All civil and military officials began the first parliamentary vote, and this time, the official Cabinet members would be elected.

The Cabinet members were led by Li Hang, Min An, and Jin Xianji, but what made people drop their jaws was that among the remaining six, two were representatives with senior qualifications, but there were also four young, vigorous members whom people had never even heard of before. These young members did not even belong to the Southern Faction or the Western Faction, because previously, they had no qualifications to take sides at all.

The court of the Li Dynasty finally began to shake off the partisan strife that had lasted for hundreds of years.

It was back on the right track.

In Liu Zheng's plan, the Prime Minister was actually a position parallel to the Cabinet. That is to say, the nine of you Cabinet members combined could equal one Prime Minister. The specific duties of the Prime Minister were mainly to manage the parliament: leading the parliament, participating in politics, deliberating on politics, making decisions, and announcing major policy regulations.

The meeting was very successful.

The Prime Minister, Li Xuanya.

She actually had a premonition in her heart long ago.

As her status changed, as she became increasingly important to the Li Dynasty, and as she devoted her heart and soul to state affairs, she would drift further and further away from that young master who haunted her dreams.

She was very afraid.

This meeting also received supervision from the general public.

It was filled with joy.

Li Xuanya, this newly appointed Prime Minister of the Li Dynasty, was now in formal attire, looking far off toward the south.

A large number of Wa pirates suddenly appeared at Baoning Port in the Li Dynasty's Chungcheong Province; these Wa pirates were elusive, and as soon as they appeared, they completely annihilated the two-thousand-strong army guarding Baoning Port.

The entire Li Dynasty was in an uproar upon hearing this.

Wa pirates?

She hadn't even had time to say goodbye to him.

This day.

Another piece of bad news arrived.

Throughout the Li Dynasty, people even turned pale at the mention of Wa pirates.

And at this moment, almost all the troops of Chungcheong Province were on the road to reinforce Qinghe Town; this could be considered being caught in a pincer attack by these Wa pirates!

The anger of the people was imaginable.

One hundred thousand Wa pirates?

For a time, the tense atmosphere surged again. The war in Qinghe Town was still in a grim situation, and now Wa pirates had come here too? Was Heaven trying to destroy the Li Dynasty?

Over these years, the Wa pirates had naturally not only wreaked havoc in the coastal regions of Longyan, but they had also not spared the coastal regions of the Li Dynasty.

This was something people had not expected.

These behind-the-lines Resistance Forces, without a doubt, played a major role in this great battle.

One hundred thousand Wa pirates, while sounding terrifying, actually had Weaponry and Equipment that were just a mess of random things. Moreover, these remaining Wa pirate groups had no strict military training; they were very formidable at sea, but once on land, their combat effectiveness was merely average. The current Wa pirates could not be compared to the Wa pirates of the past at all; the previous Wa pirates were mostly elites, but now, only a bunch of rabble remained.

However.

The parliament had just been established, and the Cabinet had just been formed.

Just as the Li Dynasty was about to move in a historic direction, you come to cause trouble? At this time, the Li Dynasty was unprecedentedly united. The common people near Baoning Port spontaneously organized Resistance Forces. In an instant, these Li Dynasty Resistance Forces sprang up like bamboo shoots after a rain.

However, the advantage of the Wa pirates was that they were here to destroy, not to build. Burning, killing, and looting were their themes this time, so the confrontation between the two sides became completely devoid of any order.

The Li Dynasty once again fell into the chaos of war.

Almost every nation was watching the movements of the Li Dynasty at this time.

Damn it!

Very quickly.

The Resistance Force engaged in a life-and-death struggle with these Wa pirates; relying on their home-field advantage and familiarity with the terrain, these Resistance Force members actually managed to forcibly stall the advance of the Wa pirates.

Could Vice Minister Liu, who was still rushing on the road, turn the tide once again this time?

This time, could he still reverse the situation?

The twelfth day.

Another one hundred thousand arrived.

A grand army of five hundred thousand!

This time, could the Li Dynasty hold them off?

Because Xiao Qian was truly too exhausted.

Ten consecutive days of commanding meant he could not sleep at all at night.

On the eleventh day, he finally spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.

The Li Dynasty's first rout had arrived.

On this day, the annihilation of thirty thousand troops cast a lingering shadow over the entire Li Dynasty.

Thirty thousand troops and five generals all died for their country.

It seemed the Wa army had dispatched far fewer Samurai this time, with the majority being Foot Soldiers. This made Li Zhenzhu overjoyed, as he assumed that the elite Samurai of the Wa nation, after ten days of high-intensity combat, were finally exhausted and had undergone a large-scale rotation. After all, even someone as strong as Xiao Qian had collapsed from exhaustion by this time, hadn't he?

Consequently, this time, he sent out all the Longyan elites to coordinate with the Li Dynasty soldiers, intending to finally hold his head high.

The Li Dynasty truly needed a victory, even if it were only on a small scale.

Seeing this situation, Li Zhenzhu had no choice but to take the field again.

And so, this disastrous defeat arrived.

During this confrontation, Li Zhenzhu committed a grave error once again.

The result was as one might expect.

Of the fifty thousand Longyan troops, only twenty thousand remained after this defeat.

In the formation of the Wa nation's charge this time, Samurai who had deliberately changed into Foot Soldier clothing made up the majority, a higher proportion even than the Samurai of the previous ten days.

However.

What people did not expect was.

The Li Dynasty.

Was in imminent peril.