Chapter 334: Fierce Battle in the Abandoned Village

Early in the morning, three hundred thousand troops stood ready to march. Jiang Jiang Mingyu tightened his cloak and leaped onto his horseback. In the biting cold wind, he loudly warned the entire army: "Everyone, we are about to set out; our target is the Ducheng of Other Xi Xia!"

"This is the final battle; our One Da Jiang will surely win!"

Tu Tu Kesiluo gripped his long sword and shouted: "Everyone must be careful. Although we outnumber them, do not forget that Your Majesty's sister-in-law is also in Other Xi Xia. A woman harboring resentment is harder to deal with than anything else."

Jiang Jiang Mingyu's expression grew solemn, and he said in a deep voice: "I have my own measures. This time, we must cut off the fate of Other Xi Xia completely!"

"Soldiers, raise your whips!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu waved his hand, and the army, solemn and heavy, advanced slowly through the accumulated snow.

In this freezing land where not a blade of grass grew, the soldiers shivered from the cold, their lips turning purple. Jiang Jiang Mingyu felt uneasy; he knew that Other Xi Xia held all the advantages of heaven and earth.

"Damn, we are playing with our lives!" a young private complained. "We're going to freeze like dogs!"

"Shh!" another private covered his mouth with one hand. "Try talking nonsense again?"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu sighed: "I know everyone is enduring a hard time. Hold on a little longer; the Wang Cheng of Other Xi Xia is right before our eyes..."

"General, to be honest with you, sir," an old soldier spoke up, "this time we have the advantage of numbers and overwhelming strength; Other Xi Xia will surely lose. But you know the situation as clear as a mirror; aren't you afraid the Wang Fei might play some trick?"

"Rest assured," Jiang Jiang Mingyu's expression turned solemn again. "I have my judgment."

After speaking, he raised his whip and galloped straight ahead, his expression as cold as an ice sculpture.

Five hundred li outside the Wang Cheng of Other Xi Xia, a scout from the Treading Snow Camp rode in at full speed: "Reporting! An abandoned village was discovered three li ahead; it is highly suspicious!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu's mind was shocked: Could this be a trap set by Zhang Zhang Jiaqi?

"Send one hundred mounted archers to search! The rest of the troops rest on the spot!" He waved his arm to give the order. Tu Tu Kesiluo, standing nearby, responded first, swiftly assembling a squad of elites who galloped out with the momentum of an arrow.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu furrowed his brows, staring at their retreating backs. "Your Majesty, do you think this abandoned village might hide the main forces of the Other Xi Xia army?" a Captain raised a doubt.

"Unlikely," Jiang Jiang Mingyu pondered. "I guess it is more likely a decoy—a carefully laid trap!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of fierce fighting suddenly came from the distance. The clanging of hooves came one after another, merging into a single roar. Jiang Jiang Mingyu's heart skipped a beat—Could it be that we have fallen into an ambush?!

"Quick, all troops on alert, prepare to meet the enemy!" He shouted loudly, and three hundred thousand troops instantly lowered their spears, standing ready for battle.

However, at this moment, thorny bushes on the left and right rustled, and the one hundred mounted archers reined in their horses, ready for battle. Dozens of men in black clothes leaped out from several thatched huts by the village, holding curved swords and long bows. "Encircle from both sides! Fire!" a hoarse voice commanded, and the men in black attacked from all directions.

"Be careful! Shoot to kill!" Tu Tu Kesiluo shouted loudly, raising his hand to order the archers to fire simultaneously. After more than ten rounds of bitter fighting, casualties on both sides exceeded half. Tu Tu Kesiluo was hit by an arrow and had to break out. Fighting his way back, forty-two were dead and forty-nine were wounded; the squad was almost annihilated.

A ragged squad of scouts rushed in, the captain leaping off his horse and kneeling before Jiang Jiang Mingyu. "Reporting! The squad was ambushed by the Other Xi Xia army; the losses are heavy! There is likely a trick here!"

"I knew it!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu's eyes were as cold and sharp as knives. "Is Tu Tu Kesiluo injured?"

"The Prince Regent only suffered minor injuries and has already led the remnants back."

"Get up; it is not your fault." Jiang Jiang Mingyu's mind raced. "It seems the main force of the Other Xi Xia army is lying in ambush around this abandoned village! We have fallen into the enemy's trap after all..."

"General, what should we do? Should we retreat and redeploy?"

"No!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu's gaze was resolute. "While we are here, we will intercept their three relief forces! Directly besiege the abandoned village and annihilate the patchwork remnants of the Other Xi Xia army!"

The three relief forces arrived quickly, surrounding the abandoned village and launching a fierce battle. Jiang Jiang Mingyu actually had no confidence in his heart and could only wait for the result with his eyes wide open.

"Ambushing the vanguard of our One Da Jiang, Tuoba Ji Qian, you underestimate me too much!" His eyes blurred, and he suddenly remembered the scene from the day he first met Zhang Zhang Jiaqi many years ago. Could she be in this abandoned village, watching this slaughter with cold eyes?

Three days later, the relief forces arrived outside the village. Bloodstains lay scattered everywhere, but where was a single enemy? "It's an empty city! We've been tricked!" The commander of the relief forces punched his palm. Tu Tu Kesiluo finally realized—the enemy was merely bluffing; their true purpose was to delay our army's offensive! "Sneaky and treacherous! Laozi will definitely take revenge for this arrow wound!" he said hatefully.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu silently lamented that he had fallen into the trap and considered that Tuoba's move was mainly to buy time. It seemed that heavy troops must be stationed inside the Wang Cheng of Other Xi Xia! The key to victory in this battle still depended on whether we could break through the defenses of the Wang Cheng!

Inside the palace of the Wang Cheng of Other Xi Xia, it was warm as spring. The Wang Fei sat by the fireplace, looking at the howling cold wind outside the window with a complex expression.

After a while, Tuoba Ji Qian strode in, sat heavily beside the Wang Fei, poured himself a cup of wine and drank it down, and let out a long sigh: "My dear, the situation is very grim... Jiang Jiang Mingyu is leading three hundred thousand troops and will soon surround us."

The Wang Fei frowned slightly and asked coldly: "How are the defensive troops deployed? Is the weapon storage on the city walls sufficient?"

"All these have been arranged." Tuoba Ji Qian smiled bitterly. "I only fear we cannot win the war. That fellow Jiang Jiang Mingyu is hard to deal with; once he starts fighting, he won't let go."

The Wang Fei rolled her eyes at him and said coldly: "I told you long ago not to underestimate Jiang Jiang Mingyu. These useless talents under your command are all good-for-nothings!"

The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, and she slammed her fist hard on the table: "I could have killed Jiang Jiang Mingyu and wiped out my past shame! Hmph, it's just because your subordinates are incompetent, losing more than half of the territory of Other Xi Xia. It makes me so angry!"

"My dear, you are wronging me..." Tuoba Ji Qian smiled apologetically. "This war came too suddenly; I could not have predicted it."

The Wang Fei let out a cold snort, her eyes complex as she gazed at the howling, biting cold wind outside the window. Countless whirlpools rose in her heart, and her full chest of hatred had nowhere to vent.

"Tell me, will Jiang Jiang Mingyu lead the army to attack the city in person this time?" she suddenly asked.

Tuoba Ji Qian was stunned for a moment and said: "My dear, what are you planning to do?"

A flash of cold light passed through the Wang Fei's eyes: "I have waited for him for so long. This time, right here in this Wang Cheng, I will personally end him!"

"You are crazy! With our current strength, we cannot defeat Jiang Jiang Mingyu!" Tuoba Ji Qian was greatly alarmed.

"Rest assured, I have my plans..." The flames of revenge gradually ignited in the Wang Fei's eyes as she stood up and paced back and forth in the hall.

The veil on the Wang Fei's face trembled slightly, as if she was smiling: "Your Highness, I have a brilliant strategy. We will use a trick to lure Fang Hang deep into Other Xi Xia, then set an ambush to surround and annihilate him. In this way, Jiang Jiang Mingyu will surely be thrown into chaos, and we can take advantage of the void to turn the situation around in one stroke."

Tuoba Ji Qian was suspicious: "How exactly should we operate? Fang Hang's army is strong and powerful, while we are exhausted and out of food; where do we get the strength to deal with him?"

A glimmer of conspiracy flashed in the Wang Fei's eyes: "Has Your Highness heard how desperate the people of the entire city have become? Jiang Jiang Mingyu's secret agents are everywhere, refugees are rushing about everywhere, and how long our military grain can last is already common knowledge. Fang Hang will surely hasten his journey."

"Precisely because of this, we will set traps at key locations, damaging his combat power bit by bit. By the time Jiang reaches the Wang Cheng, Fang Hang will already be exhausted. And we will send a small number of troops to provoke Fang Hang."

Tuoba Ji Qian frowned tightly: "This is almost suicide; winning against a larger force with a smaller one?"

Tuoba Ji Qian now felt some regret; declaring war on One Da Jiang by killing the envoy back then was indeed too rash.

Like the Wang Fei, he had never expected that Jiang Jiang Mingyu's troops would be so powerful.

What he could not imagine even more was that his own troops, hailed as elites, would collapse so quickly.

If he had delayed Jiang Jiang Mingyu and One Da Jiang under the name of peace talks and prepared more thoroughly, things would not have turned out this way.

He originally thought that Jiang Jiang Mingyu would never dare to use troops against Other Xi Xia in the harsh winter, but Jiang Jiang Mingyu chose to go against the grain.

"No," the Wang Fei smiled mysteriously. "Once my arrangements are complete, I guarantee that Fang Hang will retreat voluntarily. At that time, without worrying about military grain, if Your Highness leads the great army to campaign, you will surely wipe out your past shame."

Before the Wang Fei finished speaking, Tuoba Ji Qian's coarse and heavy eyebrows had already twisted tightly into two black lumps of flesh.

"My beloved, isn't this too risky? Can this work?"

He never dreamed that this usually cold and arrogant woman in front of him would propose such a crazy plan.

The Wang Fei, however, did not care.

"Your Highness, rest assured. Since I dare to say this, I have at least an eighty percent chance of success. Just wait for good news."

Saying this, she strode out without any delay.