Chapter 1245: First Volume, Chapter 1245: Elder Sister Has Arrived

First Volume, Chapter 1245: Elder Sister Has Arrived

The less combat-experienced the soldiers, the more easily their morale collapses, leading to a complete rout.

To kill ten thousand pigs, you must slaughter them one by one; but to defeat ten thousand new recruits, you only need to break their morale— the rest will flee in a panic.

Liu Ming certainly understood this principle, but still, this was an army of ten thousand.

Once Qin Feng can no longer bear the pressure, the Southern Border forces' advantage will snowball, growing larger and larger until it crushes Qin Feng outright.

"General Sun, I know you're saying this so lightly just to reassure me."

"Though I rarely set foot on the battlefield, having served beside the Prince of Qin for so long, even through osmosis, I've learned countless military truths."

"The true purpose of this ten-thousand-man force is not to directly crush the Prince of Qin, but to generate military pressure."

"When the Southern Border forces learn that ten thousand reinforcements are coming, their morale will surge, while the Prince of Qin's troops will sink into despair."

"The greater the disparity in morale between the two sides, the faster the Prince of Qin will lose."

Hearing Liu Ming's analysis, Sun Bo's smile vanished instantly—he had never expected this spy chief to understand military affairs so well.

Indeed, Sun Bo's remarks were meant to calm nerves.

With both sides nearly fighting like pigs with dog brains, Gusu City still managed to send out ten thousand troops—this was like adding frost to snow for Qin Feng.

Yet Sun Bo had no way to deal with these ten thousand enemy troops; to prevent military morale from crumbling, he deliberately belittled them as new recruits.

Now that Liu Ming had pierced this veil, Sun Bo no longer concealed his thoughts and let out a long sigh.

"The current difficulty is that my main force is utterly exhausted and utterly incapable of reinforcing the Eastern Front—we can only watch helplessly as these ten thousand enemy troops march onto the battlefield."

"Right now, not even the Central Plains or the Northern Border can send reinforcements in time—nor can Lingzhou."

"We have no choice but to leave it to fate."

If these words had come from anyone else, as Supervisor of the Army, Liu Ming could have immediately accused them of "undermining military morale."

But Sun Bo was the Main General, fully aware of the entire battlefield situation—if even he said this, then the battle had truly reached a desperate impasse.

Ultimately, any clever stratagem or trick was now meaningless.

The only way to reverse this decline was to request reinforcements.

But where could reinforcements come from? The Central Plains and Northern Border were too far to help; Lingzhou's garrison needed at least two days to arrive.

There were four thousand garrison troops on Gusu City's Western Front—but they were entrenched in the mountains, blocking the western side of Gusu City, and could not be moved, or it would be like cutting off one's own arm.

As for the cavalry operating south of Gusu City, they bore the critical task of severing supply lines and ambushing reinforcements—they too were stretched too thin.

Even Liu Ming, master of calculation, now faced a cook without rice—he could not think of a single unit that could be deployed.

Just as Liu Ming and Sun Bo sank into despair, a messenger suddenly rushed into the camp.

"General! A distinguished guest has arrived!"

A distinguished guest?!

Sun Bo and Liu Ming exchanged glances, both baffled—who would come to the front line now? And a "distinguished guest" at that…

Liu Ming cut in sharply: "What distinguished guest? If it's some insignificant person, throw them out! Coming to the front line now is nothing but trouble!"

The messenger hurried to explain: "The visitor is… Elder Sister Shen Qingci."

What?!

Liu Ming froze, then leapt to his feet, exclaiming in shock: "How did Elder Sister get here?!"

"Why now? Of all times? This place is too dangerous—if Qin Feng finds out, he'll be distracted!"

"Send troops immediately—escort Elder Sister away from the front line to Lingzhou for safety!"

Sun Bo was also startled—he knew too well how vital Shen Qingci was to Qin Feng; if she suffered even a scratch, this battle would be over before it began.

Yet despite Liu Ming's order, the messenger shook his head repeatedly, his voice tense yet excited.

"Your Excellency, you don't understand—Elder Sister did not come alone. She was escorted by a large force."

A large force?

Liu Ming frowned: "How many?"

With the entire front line in chaos, nerves frayed, and every shadow suspected of being an enemy, the Jin Yi Wei operatives operating nearby had been restricted.

Moreover, all attention was focused on Gusu City, so Liu Ming knew very little about the rear.

The messenger quickly replied: "Five hundred Tianji Camp Guards, one thousand Servant Soldiers."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ming's mouth slowly opened in disbelief: "How did Elder Sister bring so many? And… five hundred Tianji Camp Guards?!"

You see, if it were only five hundred Tianji Camp guards, their impact on the battlefield would be almost negligible, since Tianji Camp guards aren't built for grueling combat.

What truly excited Liu Ming was that thousand-strong contingent of auxiliary troops.

Having auxiliary troops along meant all five hundred Tianji Camp guards could be equipped in heavy armor—in other words, this amounted to a reinforced heavy-armor battalion!

According to the messenger, the reason Shen Qingci suddenly came to the front lines was because of three women: Liu Hongyan, Xie Yun'er, and Princess Qiyang.

These three young ladies had secretly slipped out of the capital and come to the front lines to join Qin Feng, and so far there had been no word from them at all.

Li Xiaolan and Jing Qianying were deeply worried, so they entrusted Shen Qingci to go to the front lines and bring the three women back.

Qin Tianhu knew the front lines had been continuously engaged in battle; to keep Shen Qingci from running into danger on the road, and also to lend Qin Feng a hand, he dispatched this unit to escort Shen Qingci southward the entire way.

Upon learning the whole story, Liu Ming and Sun Bo were instantly thrilled.

Sun Bo was so delighted he stamped his feet: "Hahaha, wonderful! I was just fretting over having no troops to deploy. Now with this unit thrown into the battle, it will surely take a tremendous amount of pressure off the Qin King."

Liu Ming no longer hesitated and immediately gave the order: "Quickly invite the young lady over!"

Before long, escorted by layers upon layers of soldiers inside and out, Shen Qingci appeared at the main camp.

Liu Ming immediately cupped his fist in salute: "Commander of the Jinyiwei, pays respects to the young lady!"

Shen Qingci had already learned that the front lines had endured two days and a night of fierce fighting; without any pleasantries, she asked bluntly: "Where is Feng'er!"

Nowadays, Shen Qingci has gradually come to possess the commanding presence of the Qin family's matriarch; nearly every matter, big or small, is decided by her.

Liu Ming knew he couldn't hide anything from Shen Qingci, so he laid out everything that had happened on the eastern front, exactly as it occurred.

Upon learning that Qin Feng had endured two days and one night of harrowing peril, Shen Qingci's little face grew even colder, using it to mask the panic in her heart.

"Liu Ming, I'm entrusting all fifteen hundred men I've brought to you. You must help Feng'er win this battle!"