The reason why Miao Youfang put down his bow and arrow, and realised something was wrong with these people was not because of his intelligence, but because his martial artist’s danger sense did not give any feedback.
This indicated that the flying beast troops had no hostile intent.
“Something’s not right?”
Xu Erlang raised his hand to fend off the centurion who tried to forcibly escort him away, and turned to look at Miao Youfang.
Miao Youfang then described the characteristics of this group of people and explained,
“They have no hostility.”
After listening, Xu Erlang immediately made a judgement,
“Southern Marches?”
With their dark skin, naturally curly hair, and mixed azure and blue clothing alongside animal skins,
Whether according to the records in books or from having witnessed in person (meaning Lina), Xu Erlang could be certain these were people from the Southern Marches.
People from the Southern Marches… Miao Youfang slapped his forehead and exclaimed in delight,
“I understand!”
He did not explain further, simply tossed aside his bow and arrows, stood on the battlements, and waved his arms excitedly at the approaching flying beast troops.
The leading flying cavalry, seeing a response, guided his beast out of formation and dived down to the city wall, while the others circled warily overhead, keeping their distance.
“Whoosh…”
The membranous wings whipped up a fierce wind, sending stones and sand flying as the black-scaled giant beast landed on the rampart, folding its wings.
Miao Youfang ran up eagerly and asked in an urgent tone,
“Are you people of the shaman clans?”
The middle-aged man on the back of the black-scaled beast spoke,
“My name is Tamo, commander of the flying beast troops of the Heart Gu tribe, sent by Chief Chunyan to support Qingzhou.
“The Heart Gu tribe has already reached an agreement with Silver Gong Xu.”
His spoken Great Feng mandarin was not very standard, and Miao Youfang had to listen three times before he understood.
As expected, they were invited here by him… Miao Youfang breathed a sigh of relief. He and Xu Qi’an had parted ways on the way to the shaman clans’ territory, and for the shaman army to appear at this moment, showing no hostility to the Great Feng troops,
Anyone could easily guess that these people were reinforcements brought by Silver Gong Xu.
Miao Youfang turned back, nodded towards Xu Erlang to indicate everything was safe, and then waved his hand.
Xu Erlang, flanked by the wary centurion, came to Miao Youfang’s side.
“I told you, I parted ways with Silver Gong Xu on the way to the shaman clans,” Miao Youfang explained offhandedly, then said excitedly,
“They are reinforcements called in by Silver Gong Xu.”
Reinforcements called in by Silver Gong Xu… The centurion was dumbfounded on the spot.
Miao Youfang had shouted loudly, so the distant defenders all heard it. The previously tense and hostile soldiers were suddenly stunned.
Xu Erlang scrutinised the Southerner on the giant beast. He had dark skin, thick lips, a lean but not weak build, and instead, his taut muscles showed explosive strength.
Xu Erlang’s eyes flashed, and he asked calmly and steadily,
“Did my elder brother send you?”
“This is Silver Gong Xu’s cousin,” Miao Youfang interjected.
When Tamo heard that, his attitude toward Xu Erlang changed at once, his respect now tinged with flattery,
“Yes.”
Xu Erlang nodded, appearing casual as he asked,
“How did you find this place?”
Normally, his elder brother would have instructed the shaman reinforcements to go to Qingzhou first to liaise with the higher-ups there, and there was no reason for them to come directly to Songshan County.
He pretended to ask in passing, but was actually probing Tamo’s response.
“It was Silver Gong Xu who sent us. He also gave us a map of Songshan County,” said Tamo, pulling a map from his chest as he spoke. “Although I visited the Great Feng many years ago, I still lost my way en route, we should have arrived last night.”
He glanced at the Great Feng banner atop the wall, and said with some relief,
“Fortunately, we’re not too late.”
Big brother sent them to Songshan County… we’re saved, Songshan County is saved, the people are saved… Xu Erlang closed his eyes, his body trembling slightly.
He took a deep breath, suppressed all his emotions in his heart, nodded gently, and asked,
“How did my elder brother know I was in Songshan County?”
This was very much in keeping with his brother’s style.
He just did not know how his brother had known he was stationed here.
Tamo shook his head, indicating he did not know.
He then asked,
“May we land?”
Seeing Xu Xinnian nod, Tamo looked up and gave a loud whistle.
The flying beast troops circling in the sky received the order and descended in an orderly fashion, landing steadily on the battlements. But as there were too many of them, most black-scaled beasts could only land outside the city walls.
A distant soldier, gripping his weapon, cautiously approached and asked,
“Sir Xu, just now General Miao said these are reinforcements invited by Silver Gong Xu?
“The- the brothers all want to know if that’s true.”
Xu Xinnian’s gaze swept past him and saw several wounded soldiers in the distance, gathered together and looking eagerly toward him.
Retracting his gaze, Xu Xinnian looked at the young soldier and nodded vigorously,
“Yes, these are the flying beast troops of the Heart Gu tribe, reinforcements invited by Silver Gong Xu.”
The young soldier’s face suddenly twitched, his whole body trembling in excitement. Yet tears welled up in his eyes and began to fall.
Miao Youfang leapt onto the battlement, his gaze sweeping from left to right over the black-scaled beasts on the wall, then peered down to see even more below.
His eyes shone, glittering with tears.
He took a sudden deep breath, held back the sting in his nose, and roared,
“Brothers, our reinforcements have arrived, Silver Gong Xu has brought us reinforcements. We have flying beast troops now as well!”
His voice echoed far and wide.
The defenders and militia suddenly erupted in emotion, a clamour of ecstatic voices breaking out.
Some people, tears streaming down their faces, muttered, “We’re saved.”
Some became flushed with excitement and shouted at the top of their lungs.
Some rejoiced, waving their hands and feet, cheering endlessly.
After the militiamen outside the city found out, they ran through the streets and alleys, spreading the news.
They told the people in the city that reinforcements had arrived, and that it was Silver Gong Xu who had brought them.
For a while, cheers echoed through every corner of the small county town.
Xu Xinnian took a deep breath, suppressed his surging emotions, and said,
“Sir Tamo, the Heart Gu tribe’s flying beast troops have travelled far to come here. In principle, I ought to arrange quarters for you, but in war, time is of the essence, and the opportunity for victory is fleeting.”
Tamo slapped his chest,
“Sir Xu, please give your orders.”
…
When Zhuo Haoran received the scout’s report, he was in the military tent entertaining himself with the camp prostitutes. Some of these women had been captured during the march, while others were beauties seized from the counties when the first defensive line of Qingzhou was conquered.
The act of taking women as camp followers was something that even Grand General Qi Guangbo could not intervene in.
This was because, in any army, camp prostitutes were considered an indispensable component.
For those in power, the necessity of camp prostitutes lay in boosting morale and relieving the tension soldiers suffered on the battlefield.
At times when the tide of war turned unfavourable, their effects became particularly pronounced.
Hundreds of mounted flying beast cavalry?!
Upon hearing the news, Zhuo Haoran’s first reaction was to believe the scout was reporting falsely.
When had Qingzhou ever possessed a flying beast corps of such scale?
It was simply fantastical.
He immediately pulled up his trousers, grabbed his weapon, rushed out of the camp, soared into the sky, and gazed towards the city walls.
It was only after seeing it with his own eyes that he had to accept the “absurd” report.
The city walls were crowded with enormous black-scaled beasts with folded membranous wings.
“When did Qingzhou acquire such a large flying beast corps?”
Zhuo Haoran clenched his fists, his face twitching uncontrollably.
With the city about to fall, the defenders had suddenly received the aid of hundreds of flying beast cavalry. Zhuo Haoran was so furious his chest seemed about to explode. He landed and hurried back to the camp, his very first order being retreat.
The Vermilion Bird Army in camp comprised just over thirty riders, utterly incapable of resisting the defenders’ flying beast forces.
Whether he admitted it or not, the tables had turned. Now it was their turn to flee.
There was no other choice but to retreat.
The camp descended into chaos at once. The few hundred remaining soldiers dropped everything, abandoned all supplies and belongings, mounted their fastest horses, and under Zhuo Haoran’s command, galloped out of the camp in a cloud of dust.
The thirty-odd Vermilion Bird cavalry spread their wings and took to flight, retreating at top speed.
But what Zhuo Haoran had not expected was that, just as his side began to withdraw, a deep resounding roar rang out from behind.
The cavalrymen turned to look, and were petrified with terror: behind them, the sky was dense with flying beast cavalry, surging forward like a tide of black clouds.
The enormous black-scaled beasts beat their wings and rapidly overtook the cavalry. The heart Gu Masters upon their backs let out resounding cries.
In an instant, the well-trained warhorses lost all steadiness, collapsing to the ground mid-gallop, tumbling down along with their riders, throwing the retreating ranks into chaos.
The heart Gu Masters cast bombs and barrels of fire oil downwards, or drew bows and rained arrows upon the fleeing army below.
“Xu Xinnian!”
Zhuo Haoran howled towards the sky.
All six thousand elite troops had perished at Songshan County, his life’s reputation ruined in an instant.
…
An hour later.
Within the half-collapsed gatehouse, Xu Xinnian sat behind a desk, sweeping his gaze across those gathered, and said with a smile:
“The flying beast cavalry annihilated three hundred of the enemy horsemen, capturing twenty-eight. They wiped out twenty Vermilion Bird riders, taking three prisoner, eight managed to escape.
“Zhuo Haoran and his deputy have fled and are missing.”
Xu Erlang had never expected the flying beast cavalry to capture a fourth-rank martial artist, that was far too difficult. The present achievements were more than satisfactory.
Those present included the last two centurions of the garrison, Zhu Jun, Miao Youfang, and Tamo, leader of the heart Gu flying beast cavalry.
After listening to Xu Erlang’s “report”, the faces of all present brightened, sweeping away the gloom of defeat.
“I really never thought that, with Silver Gong Xu down in the Southern Marches, he could still strategise and win victories from a thousand miles away.”
“Of course; don’t forget, Silver Gong Xu is an eminent military strategist, author of military texts.”
The two centurions spoke in turn, animatedly discussing, revering Xu Qi’an like a god.
Even Zhu Jun, normally stern, was smiling.
Xu Erlang looked at Tamo and smiled:
“The heart Gu flying beast cavalry saved the Great Feng from immediate disaster. Later, I’ll write a letter for you to take to Qingzhou city. As for the alliance, we can leave it to Administrator Yang to handle.”
The alliance between the shaman clans and the Great Feng was, as yet, only a “verbal promise”. Yang Gong would need to petition the imperial court for formal documents, and only with official consent would the alliance be formalised.
In Xu Erlang’s view, the court could not possibly refuse, but due procedure still needed to be followed.
“If Administrator Yang knows that Silver Gong Xu has brought five hundred flying beast cavalry to Qingzhou, he will be overjoyed.”
The smile at the corner of Zhu Jun’s mouth deepened.
Tamo seemed to suddenly remember something and said,
“I forgot to mention, besides our heart Gu division, there are also brothers from the strength Gu, corpse Gu and dark Gu.”
Within the gatehouse, the room fell silent at once.
Xu Xinnian’s breathing quickened. He pushed himself from the table and asked,
“There are more? How many? Where are they?”
Tamo pondered for a moment and replied,
“Combined, the three clans number about a thousand.
“As to where they are, I don’t know, the forces split up after leaving the Southern Marches. After all, the flying cavalry can’t carry everyone.”
The fact that the three shaman clans together still had over a thousand men left Xu Xinnian and the others shaken with excitement.
Anyone familiar with the Battle of Shanhai Pass would understand just how formidable the shaman warriors were.
Though the shaman clans were small in number, unable to field the tens of thousands seen in the Great Feng’s armies, their bizarre and troublesome Gu arts had on many occasions caused heavy losses for Great Feng at Shanhai Pass.
If used wisely, these thousand or so shaman warriors, combined with five hundred flying beast cavalry, would undoubtedly excel on the battlefield.
Xu Xinnian’s face flushed with excitement, and his hand trembled slightly as he gripped his brush.
“I’ll write to Administrator Yang right away.”
Turning to his deputy, he added: “Go back to Qingzhou with Tamo.”
Soon after, Tamo, carrying the Great Feng’s banner, rode a black-scaled flying beast alone out of Songshan County, heading to Qingzhou.
…
Two days later, at the provincial Administrator’s office.
Inside the main hall, Yang Gong was leaning over his table, staring at the map with his gaze locked on the words “Songshan County,” and said in a sombre tone:
“We must be psychologically prepared for the loss of Songshan County.”
Li Mubai and the other advisors were weighed down with anxiety.
Though no word had yet come from the dispatched scouts, comparing the military strength at Songshan County with the enemy disposition, the outcome was all too easy to infer.
Li Mubai sighed:
“The reinforcements are ready and waiting, as soon as we receive detailed intelligence from the scouts, we can march on Songshan County and retake it.”
According to the general situation at the second defensive line, their plan was to protect Songshan County first. The reason was simple: Dongling could continue fighting in the field, able to advance or retreat, without much risk.
Wan County, on the other hand, was besieged by Yunzhou’s main force with the flying beast corps overhead; to break this siege could consume unthinkable resources, and even then, success was uncertain.
In comparison, recapturing Songshan County was the most sensible option.
Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy had only just seized Songshan County, and would not have time to garrison it with Yunzhou’s main force, the odds of retaking it right now were high.
Then they could station troops there and defend to the death, holding on to the last stronghold of the second line.
Erlang is well-versed in the art of war, not the zealous sort, he shouldn’t die with the city, Li Mubai prayed in his heart.
Yang Gong looked around:
“Does anyone have a good strategy to counter the flying beast corps?”
One advisor spoke up:
“The best way to deal with flying beast cavalry, of course, is to have a flying beast cavalry of our own.
“Beyond that, we could modify the ballistae for anti-airfire, this might restrain the enemy cavalry. If our forces are evenly matched, sending fourth rank experts into action is also an effective solution.”
As he spoke, an official came rushing in, loudly announcing:
“Administrator Sir, there’s a flying rider outside the city carrying the Great Feng’s standard, claiming to be from the shaman clans.”
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