259 Initial Signs of War
woman in the capital, was still a rare beauty. Furthermore, her composure and propriety did not resemble that of someone who could not act properly on the grand stage, as described by Lady Ye Zhaoyi....The Most Honored Consort of the Capital 259. The War Begins to Unfold
259. The War Begins to Unfold
After Zhang Qilan brought his troops and reunited with Ye Li, Feng San at Jiantian Cliffs, they naturally fought a bitter battle there, but compared to the original situation, it was already much better than expected. At least they were on equal footing on Jiantian Cliffs rather than being overpowered again by the enemy from above, and besides, Lü Jinxian's 30,000 troops had suffered heavy losses. In contrast, their own forces only sustained less than a tenth of their numbers in casualties. Thinking about this, Zhang Qilan couldn't help but want to laugh out loud.
Outside a small city dozens of miles away, Mo Xiurao stood outside the camp and looked at the isolated city gate tightly closed on the barren land ahead. He sighed with some regret. The people who accompanied him, Yun Ting and Chen Yun, both looked curiously at the prince regent, confused why he was sighing. It was finally Yun Ting who couldn't hold back his words and asked, "Your Highness, is there something troubling you"
Mo Xiurao shook his head, saying, "Lü Jinxian won’t be able to hold out for many more days." Even though Yun Ting didn’t believe it, Chen Yun, who was usually rather steady, also had doubts. He frowned and said, "Jiantian Cliffs is a strategically important location; even if General Zhang has 100,000 troops, he might not be able to fully utilize them here. Why do you say…"
Mo Xiurao casually handed the battle report in his hand to Chen Yun and said, "Firstly, I haven’t seen Ah Li or Feng San appear since Zhang Qilan’s army arrived. It's likely that they’ve taken their troops around Lü Jinxian from behind. If this is true, then the defenses set up twenty miles ahead of Jiantian Cliffs by Lü Jinxian would be rendered meaningless. Once both sides arrive at Jiantian Cliffs and Zhang Qilan’s 100,000 troops cannot fully deploy even if they tried, they will still gradually wear down Lü Jinxian with their sheer numbers."
Hearing Mo Xiurao's explanation, Chen Yun and Yun Ting couldn’t help but change expressions. Yun Ting said, "Your Highness, this subordinate is willing to go for reinforcements for General Lü!" Mo Xiurao turned his head sideways and calmly said, "Reinforcements Where do we have troops from to send as reinforcements Moreover, even if you were given 10,000 men, how much difference would that make in the face of an opposing army of 100,000"
Yun Ting was speechless and said, "Then… what should we do" Mo Xiurao turned his gaze toward the isolated small city ahead and sternly ordered, "Attack the city with all our might. We must capture it before Zhang Qilan’s troops arrive." Chen Yun and Yun Ting solemnly stood up to say, "This subordinate accepts your order!"
Although Mo Xiurao said they should attack the city with everything they had, this small fortress wasn’t easily taken down. Yuan Pei was an old general of the Mo Family Army and especially skilled at defending. In a situation where Mo Xiurao's forces didn't have a numerical advantage, as long as Yuan Pei focused solely on holding out and waiting for reinforcements, there wouldn’t be much Mo Xiurao could do to force him in the short term. No matter how many schemes Mo Xiurao devised, Yuan Pei remained steady like a mountain and ignored them all. Even though Yun Ting and others repeatedly shouted insults from under the city walls every day, they were unable to coax the gate open for battle.
On Jiantian Cliffs, both sides had faced off for over four or five days before finally wiping out Lü Jinxian’s more than 10,000 troops. Zhang Qilan personally captured him himself. In their decades of working together, these two often competed with each other and always ended up evenly matched; even though Lü Jinxian lost this time to Zhang Qilan, he wasn’t going to lose face over it.
Seeing his troops wiped out entirely, the exhausted Lü Jinxian threw away his weapons in defeat. He looked at the smug Zhang Qilan and said, "I’ve lost." Zhang Qilan smiled broadly and pulled him up personally, chuckling, "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war; don’t take it to heart." Lü Jinxian snorted and said, "You could never break through my defenses that quickly. Where is the Princess Consort"
The young officers watching nearby were all stunned for a moment. Even though there was still one former prince regent’s princess consort in Dachu who refused to leave and was protected by Mo Xiurao's order, leaving Cangjing under Cold Hao Yu’s secret protection, the current princess consort of the Prince Regent’s family was only that one person. But… how did they not know where the princess consort was
All eyes were involuntarily turned toward Zhang Qilan; after all, he was the commander-in-chief. If even he didn’t know where the princess consort was, no one else would either. Zhang Qilan chuckled awkwardly twice and looked at Ye Li who had walked up alongside Feng Zhirao from behind him. Lü Jinxian was initially stunned for a moment but couldn’t quite recognize Ye Li. However, Qin Feng and Wei Lin following her were very familiar to him. Who could have both Qin Feng and Wei Lin serving them on the side was obvious without saying more. Upon taking another careful look at Ye Li standing next to Feng Zhirao, he immediately felt that she must be the princess consort.
"This subordinate greets the Princess Consort," Lü Jinxian bowed formally.
Ye Li helplessly smiled bitterly and looked at the people in front of her who had turned into stone statues, saying, "General Lü, you don’t need to kneel."
Lü Jinxian clasped his hands and smiled, "To lose to the Princess Consort's hand, this subordinate is fully convinced.
Ye Lü smiled and said, "General, you flatter me. I merely did my part."
呂近賢也不以為意，反正他是絕對不會承認輸給張起瀾的，至少不能當著他的麵承認，“後麵也冇有在下的事了，在下就先告辭。祝王妃一路順風。”
Ye Lü nodded and said, "Thank you for your kind words."
Seeing Lu Jinxian leave with the soldiers declared dead, everyone was silent. Was it really okay to wish the enemy's main general a safe journey
The road past Jianguan Cliff was not completely flat but still very clear. They did not dare waste any time and rushed to reinforce Yuan Fei.
Meanwhile, on the small city’s watchtower, Mo Xiuyao dressed in white said to the old General Yuan Fei, "Old general, this time around I have won."
The mustached old general looked at Mo Xiuyao whose hair was as snow-white but still as proud and strong as ever. He nodded with a look of satisfaction and happiness, "Your Highness, you are correct. This old man concedes defeat." In terms of military power, Mo Xiuyao had only slightly outmatched Yuan Fei. The city had always been harder to defend than attack. When the Western Capital’s army of more than 100 thousand could not take down Jiangxia City, it was natural for Ding Wang to break through in a few days. This was all thanks to Mo Xiuyao's prowess. Yuan Fei was not a man who refused to admit defeat or deny his age; he would feel reassured if the royal family of Ding Kingdom had successors.
"If this were an actual battlefield, I wouldn’t have been able to take over your city so easily," said Mo Xiuyao. This city was truly isolated as it was a newly built city that had yet to be populated by civilians. On the battlefield, there would not be such a barren city either. Yuan Fei laughed out loud and said, "Your Highness, thank you very much for your kindness. But on an actual battlefield, Your Highness wouldn’t only bring in several thousand people."
Both men smiled at each other; clearly their moods were still good.
"To the King!" A soldier reported while looking out from the city walls.
Mos Xiuyao raised his eyes and saw horse hooves and dust rising up in the distance. In less than half an hour, Ye Lü, Feng Ziyao, Zhang Qilan arrived with their army at the foot of the city walls. Mo Xiuyao looked around and estimated there were about 10 thousand soldiers and said to himself, "It’s commendable that they managed to completely wipe out Lu Jinxian's troops with a loss of less than 20 thousand people." Looking down from his position on top of the wall, he smiled at them and said, "General Zhang, Feng San and Miss Ye, you are late." Feng Ziyao gnashed his teeth in regret; if they had arrived two hours earlier, things would have been completely different. However, on battlefields, even half an hour could change the outcome of a battle.
"Your Highness," said Ye Lü as she looked up at the man in white standing on top of the city wall and smiled faintly. She raised her right hand and shouted clearly for all to hear, "Attack!"
On the watchtower, Mo Xiuyao helplessly watched the soldiers below who were preparing to attack the city. Standing next to him, Yuan Fei laughed heartily and looked at Mo Xiuyao with a smile on his face, saying, "Your Highness, it looks like we still have to continue our battle."
Mo Xiuyao said with a bitter smile, "Old general, you are right. I am too excited." According to the rules of the mock war, the war would be declared over when the city walls were taken down and they had won. However, since it was only a mock war, they should use this opportunity to train their new recruits as much as possible. Moreover, there weren’t any regulations on battlefields that forbade them from taking back a fallen city. Thus, an intense attack once again began.
This time the war was even more difficult than Mo Xiuyao’s previous assault; after seven days of fighting, neither side had won.
They could only call it a draw as there were no rations left in Mo Xiuyao's city. It was an isolated city; although they didn’t need to worry about civilians who would require extra food supplies, this also meant that no other food supplies existed apart from the rations brought by them. Yuan Fei had already burned all the supplies of the defenders when he broke through their defenses. Mo Xiuyao not only lost soldiers but also ran out of food; his men starved while guarding the city. The army outside was not in a better situation either as they were careless and most of their rations were destroyed by people sent by Mo Xiuyao.
Both sides refused to concede defeat, and finally, the old general Yuan Fei had no choice but to call it quits. At last, both sides agreed on an inconclusive draw.
When Ding Wang and his wife announced that the mock war was over from atop the watchtower, many soldiers couldn’t help crying with joy. They were not because they felt like they won; rather, it was because now they could finally eat again. Although there was still a large amount of rations inside and outside the city walls, they had to pretend their brothers “killed” in battle were eating well while pretending that they too had run out of food. This was even harder than actually being short on food supplies. Once the mock war ended, everyone disregarded everything else and set up tents and started cooking right there. The soldiers who just fiercely fought with each other were now getting along very well. Especially when seeing how green their eyes were due to starvation, a special kind of camaraderie was born.
In the small city, after having their fill of food and drink, the generals gathered together as well. The prolonged siege warfare had even brought back Lu Jinxian to watch the battle. After the fighting was over, both sides had achieved a draw; no one felt humiliated, so everyone remained amicable.
However, several young officers who had followed Ye Li previously still looked at her in disbelief when they saw her still dressed as a man in white clothes. Preoccupied with the war earlier, they did not realize that the young officer they had deliberately belittled and mocked was actually their esteemed Princess Consort whom General Lu promised to treat with respect. This sudden realization shook them.
"P-P-Princess Consort…" The youngsters reluctantly pointed at one of them who then bowed and said, "Princess Consort, our subordinates were disrespectful earlier. Please forgive us."
Zhang Qilan gave the young men an annoyed look. "You have the nerve to say that I warned you several times to be polite to Princess Consort! What did you do" The officers looked at him blankly; they thought he was talking about Mr Chu, not Princess Consort Ye. Zhang Qilan fell silent when he saw their confused looks and chuckled. He then turned to Ye Li and said, "Well…Princess Consort, it's my fault for not explaining this clearly earlier. Please don't be offended."
Ye Li smiled faintly. "General Zhang is too kind. Besides, young people often act rashly; you have done a good job educating them." The officers felt their mouths twitch at her compliment; most of them were older than the twenty-one-year-old Princess Consort. To be told they were acting rashly was rather embarrassing for them. Cloud霆 muttered to himself that when he first met Ye Li, she was only fifteen or sixteen years old.
Ye Li's words caused a smile to spread across everyone’s faces. Although these youngsters had followed Zhang Qilan this time, not all of them were his subordinates. Some belonged to Lu Jinxian, Yuan Pei and even Sun Yan stationed far away at Feihong Pass. As the cream of their generation, they deserved praise from their superiors.
Hearing that Ye Li would not blame them, the youngsters heaved a sigh of relief. Curious as young men were, despite being far away, they secretly observed Ye Li, who had become famous even before joining the military for her deeds as Princess Consort. They never thought they’d actually see and fight alongside her one day. However, what they didn’t know was that their secret observation had already angered someone. As a result, after returning to camp, without even catching their breath, they were sent to some kind of training camp for two or three months; they could only attribute this to the generals’ dissatisfaction with their performance.
After the exercise ended, Mo Xiyaoyao left behind Zhang Qilan and Lu Jinxian to clean up after him as he returned to Li City with Ye Li and Feng Zhirao.
The moment they arrived at Ding王府 (Ding Manor), they encountered Qingchen. Judging from his expression, it was clear that Prince Consort Mo’s irresponsible behavior of leaving the administration in North Western Region to him had displeased Qingchen. Glancing calmly at Mo Xiyaoyao who looked better after almost half a month of battles, Xu Qingchen asked coolly, "It seems like Your Highness has been enjoying yourself"
Mo Xiyaoyao replied with a happy smile. "I haven’t moved for years; it’s refreshing to be active." Xu Qingchen smiled indifferently. "What Congratulations then, your highness can now frequently move about."
Huh What does that mean Mo Xiyaoyao looked puzzled at Xu Qingchen who sighed and waved the war report he had just received. "The Imperial Army of Great Chu has suffered consecutive defeats in North Western Region. In less than a month, four cities have fallen."
Mo Xiyaoyao fell silent for a moment before saying coolly, "This doesn’t concern us." The Mo Family’s army and the Imperial Army were no longer related; it didn’t matter what happened to Great Chu.
Xu Qingchen nodded. "That’s fine then. Also, news from North Rong says that their forces are becoming restless. If Great Chu is at a disadvantage in the north, they will certainly invade next spring." As he walked towards his study while listening to Xu Qingchen, Mo Xiyaoyao asked, "How about Nanzhao"
Xu Qingchen replied, "Prince Zhuannan is leading an army of three hundred thousand soldiers stationed on the border of Nanzhao. The two countries are facing off; it’s uncertain when they will start fighting."
Mo Xiyaoyao turned around and asked, "Will there be a war"
Xu Qingchen fell silent for a moment before answering gravely, "Yes."
Mo Xiyaoyao paused, then said, “Alright. Once the war starts, Western Ling will likely have no time to spare.”
Feng Zhirao frowned and asked, "Your Highness, shouldn't we start making preparations"
Mos Yao thought for a moment before nodding. "After Nanzhao declares war on Xiling, issue a conscription order in the northwest." Feng Zhirao responded affirmatively. Xu Qingchen received the look Mos Yao sent his way and shook his head. "I don't understand military matters, so do as you see fit."
Mos Yao nodded at Feng Zhirao and said, "Go ahead and make preparations."
After the Dingwang Estate took control of the northwest, their conscription system had undergone several explorations and reforms. It differed from the current military service system in that all young men aged eighteen or above within the region were required to serve two years of mandatory military service before returning to civilian life. However, they still needed to undergo a month of military training annually during the agricultural off-season. Most importantly, this two-year conscription was not limited to commoners and merchants; even scholars had to participate, though their service could be shortened to one year at discretion.
Additionally, the Mo Army maintained a standing force of nine hundred thousand troops. These soldiers were those who served for more than five years and would complete their entire military career spanning thirty or even longer years. They represented the true combat power in the northwest. Unlike the two-year conscripts with no salary or most soldiers from other countries who hardly received any pay, these standing forces had a certain amount of monthly stipends and compensations upon death. Although this put financial pressure on the Dingwang Estate, it also enhanced the Mo Army's combat effectiveness and cohesion.
While the nine hundred thousand troops in the Mo Army were fewer than the million-strong armies of other three countries, once war broke out, a conscription order could mobilize an army of over one million trained soldiers within moments. Although their combat capability might not match that of the regular Mo Army, they were certainly superior to those drafted and sent to battle immediately without proper training, as they had been trained by real Mo Army officers.
As he watched Mos Yao leave, Feng Zhirao sighed and looked up at the sky. Once Nanzhao declared war on Xiling, Beirong would inevitably take a share of Great Chu's spoils. The Dingwang Estate could not remain aloof either. After all these years of preparation, was it finally time to begin
Extra: I recommend my friend Ji Rao Feixue’s new work "Doctor Imperial Consort" .
I Ronghua, daughter of the wealthiest family in Jiangnan, after five years of marriage, had her tendons severed and her elder brother killed by a close relative. She watched helplessly as her cousin, whom she treated like a younger sister, gradually usurped her position and took away all that was rightfully hers!
After enduring so much, she finally found a way to end it all, vowing before death that if reborn, she would kill whoever stood in her way without mercy.
Fate smiled upon her, granting her the chance for another life. Now watch as she methodically takes back what was stolen from her!
Also, sigh... those who read pirated versions, please don't leave comments here...
And remember to respect authors' rights...
(Translator's Note: The author appears to be addressing readers of unauthorized copies and emphasizing the importance of respecting copyright.)und them so easily."Your Royal Highness, Her Lady." Dark Guard No. 2 straightened up from behind the tree and bowed to the two approaching people. The dark guard on the tree silently landed and follow...