r18novel Page 415
Page 415
Zhong Shentong, who rode his horse into the city, looked extremely grim, because the Northern Barbarians had lost another 50,000 men in this battle!
It's truly unbelievable that with such a huge numerical advantage, annihilating 20,000 veteran soldiers of the Fish Drum Battalion resulted in a loss of twice their own strength.
Based on this calculation, the Northern Barbarians lost a total of 300,000 troops in the major defeats at Rouran Mountain, the defeat at Yanjia Lake, and the battle at Beilao Pass!
The Northern Barbarians lost a large portion of their western territory and only received Youzhou, which was offered by Xu Fengnian. They really lost out big time.
"Excellent! A mere 20,000 Northern Liang infantrymen have wiped out 50,000 Northern Barbarian warriors!"
"The army continues its southward march, slaughtering any city that resists!"
"The women and property within the city belong to their respective armies; I will not interfere with them!"
Upon hearing Zhong Shentong's words, the Northern Barbarian generals, who had been somewhat disheartened, instantly regained their morale!
Youzhou still dares to resist stubbornly; they should see the consequences of their actions!
In fact, the Northern Mang Kingdom has been established for hundreds of years and has hardly carried out any massacres. However, the current situation is special. If we don't put pressure on Youzhou, we don't know how much more military strength we will lose.
Moreover, these arrogant and fierce generals of the Northern Barbarians have suffered such heavy losses. If we don't let them vent their anger, how can we appease the morale of the army?
Occupying Youzhou is just the beginning. We still have to fight a decisive battle with Li Chang'an, and then compete for the Central Plains. We don't know how many tough battles we will have to fight. The morale of our troops cannot be low!
Sure enough, cheers erupted from the Northern Mang army!
Why did they fight so bravely, risking their lives? What did the grand undertaking of expanding territory and unifying the world have to do with them?
Money and women are the greatest motivations!
Half a month later, in Tai'an City.
Emperor Zhao Chun fell into deep despondency and irritability. He couldn't understand why, after four years of diligently governing the country, he had brought chaos to the land.
Li Chang'an occupies the four prefectures of Sha, Liang, Shu, and Qing, and is currently engaged in a major battle with the Northern Barbarians in the northwest. Xu Fengnian, on the other hand, has turned his attention to conquering Hezhou and Yongzhou, and together with the original Lingzhou, is making rapid progress in the north.
Instead of assisting in suppressing the rebellion, King Zhao Bing of Yan, under the pretext of purging corrupt officials from the court, launched a rebellion in the south and won a series of victories, capturing several prefectures.
"I only suffered one defeat, how did it cause such chaos throughout the land!"
The entire Liyang court only had 100,000 troops available near Tai'an City; it couldn't spare any attention for other areas.
Even the great strategist Yuan Benxi could not have imagined that the failure to besiege Li Chang'an would cause the situation in the world to deteriorate so rapidly.
Xu Fengnian suddenly dropped his pretense and directly raised the flag of rebellion. Yan Chiwang, disregarding all decorum, took advantage of the chaos to plunder. The development of events had far exceeded his previous plans.
Zhao Chun, who should have been in the prime of his life, first lost his beloved daughter, then the country fell into chaos, with news of defeats and losses every day. Now his health is deteriorating and he is showing signs of premature aging.
"Teacher, Zhong Shentong massacred ten counties in Youzhou, killing tens of thousands of people! This is the work of Xu Fengnian!"
Yuan Benxi sighed, "Xu Fengnian also slaughtered a city in Yongzhou to avenge the humiliation Li Chang'an caused him back then."
"King Yan also massacred three cities in Jiangxin County to weaken the imperial army's will to resist..."
Zhao Chun was completely devastated. He had never been on the battlefield; all he knew was how to govern the country, ensure the people's well-being, consolidate power in Liyang, and ensure Liyang's prosperity for generations to come.
However, now, the massacres that were common in the Spring and Autumn Period are being staged again in the world of Li Yang, and the impact of this is enormous.
In other words, he was a complete failure as emperor, bringing Liyang back to its pre-unification state. With the Northern Mang's southward invasion, the situation became even more dire!
Exhausted both physically and mentally, Zhao Chun finally fell seriously ill after more than a month of sleep deprivation.
"Teacher...please assist the Crown Prince in managing state affairs..."
Crown Prince Zhao Zhuan is indeed young and intelligent, but given the current situation, even if Zhao Li were to be resurrected, he would likely be unable to save the situation.
Dunhuang City.
Li Chang'an gathered his army and returned directly to Dunhuang City, without sending anyone to occupy the land of Northern Mang.
The Northern Barbarians still have an army of 700,000. Dividing their forces to occupy these places will only increase the trouble. The people's hearts in those places are not yet ready to be won over, so there is no need to spread the spoils too thin.
Qingzhou could infiltrate Huainan, and Western Shu could begin infiltrating Nanzhao; both of these directions are much more reliable than managing Northern Mang.
Li Chang'an did not send troops to fight with Northern Mang for Youzhou because he did not want to pay for Xu Fengnian's mistakes. Moreover, Xu Fengnian did it intentionally, hoping that Li Chang'an would fight with Northern Mang.
After suffering two major defeats, the Northern Barbarians finally managed to catch their breath in Youzhou. Their morale is high now, so it's not the time for a decisive battle.
The five-pronged attack on Shazhou by the Liyang Dynasty has brought about many changes, and Li Chang'an needs to replenish his troops to stabilize the situation.
On this day, Sweet Potato met Bluebird at the palace gate.
When the bluebird saw the sweet potato's alluring appearance, it planned to walk past with a cold face, but the sweet potato was different today, and it also had a cold face.
Bluebird was somewhat surprised, because Sweet Potato always had a big smile on her face whenever she saw her, even though Bluebird always had a cold expression, the two of them always had something to talk about.
Today's sweet potato was acting strangely, its alluring peach blossom eyes fixed on the bluebird's back.
Qingniao took a few steps, then couldn't help but stop. Over the years, she and Li Chang'an had kept their affair a secret. To outsiders, she and Jiang Si were just Li Chang'an's bodyguards.
Sweet Potato was also very busy, but every time she saw Qingniao, she would say a few words to her. However, when she thought about how Qingniao, the guard, had been with Li Chang'an for longer than some of the concubines, she couldn't say anything.
If Qingniao can't even seize such an opportunity, it can only mean that His Highness dislikes Qingniao's aloof nature.
But today, the sweet potato seemed to have discovered something. The bluebird turned around and slowly walked up to the sweet potato.
"You little devil, why aren't you meddling in other people's business this time?"
Sweet Potato gritted her teeth and grabbed Bluebird's waist, "You little slut, you're such a good-natured hypocrite!"
"All my worries about you have been for nothing. I think you're quite good at it!"
There was no awkwardness between them, and Qingniao said without any politeness, "You flatter me, I'm still far inferior to you."
Sweet Potato let go, glaring resentfully at Bluebird, her chest heaving with anger.
She had always cared about Qingniao, and Qingniao appreciated it, saying, "I know you mean well, His Highness is still waiting for you."
After the bluebird left, Sweet Potato composed herself and entered the palace.
At this moment, Li Chang'an sat down on the dragon throne of the female city lord of Dunhuang without any hesitation, but complained that the chair was too small.
After seeing Hongshu come in, Li Chang'an pointed at her and said, "There is a dragon robe that the Empress has never worn. I think the size is quite suitable for you. Why don't you try it on?"
Sweet Potato obediently listened, then went to the back to change into the dragon robe. When she came out, the woman said softly, "Your Highness, how does this outfit look?"
Li Chang'an looked her over from head to toe, then let Hongshu sit on his lap. "Not bad, it fits perfectly."
Sweet Potato clung tightly to Li Chang'an, giggling as she said, "This dragon robe should be worn by Your Highness. What would I look like in it?"
As Sweet Potato spoke, a slender, unruly hand brushed across her waist. Her eyes were alluring, and a hint of spring lingered on her brows.
Although Hongshu had been with Li Chang'an for four years, Li Chang'an had many concubines and often went out, so Hongshu cherished every opportunity to accompany Li Chang'an.
The woman's body was like jade, and the sweet potato was like a piece of mellow, white jade. Every time, Li Chang'an couldn't resist it, just like this time, under the dragon robe, there was nothing there.
"Sweet potato, be my queen."
Sweet Potato's gentle little hand suddenly tightened, and a series of ripples appeared in her heart. She dared not disobey the decision Li Chang'an had made.
Li Chang'an's words meant that he didn't care about her background and that he wanted to make her his only official wife.
Sweet Potato was somewhat flattered and murmured sweetly as if in a dream, "Your concubine obeys."
She had already been placed on the dragon throne, and her "obeying the imperial decree" was no longer something to hide. There was nothing to hide; Li Chang'an was determined to become the ruler of the world.
Her body was sensitive, and she trembled slightly.
Li Chang'an chuckled softly.
"Sweet potato, you have such big ambitions. It seems the princess can't satisfy you. You want to be the empress."
Sweet Potato whispered in Li Chang'an's ear, "Your Majesty... I dare not."
Her face was flushed like a pink peach, and her long black hair was scattered on the dragon throne, making her body appear even more fair and plump.
"A moment is worth a thousand pieces of gold. It's estimated that several thousand pieces of gold have been spent by now, Your Highness."
For some reason, Li Chang'an seemed never to get tired while sitting on the dragon throne.
……
Three days later, Li Chang'an announced to the world that the four prefectures of Sha, Liang, Shu, and Qing had been formally incorporated into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
He officially made Hongshu his queen. Since they had rebelled, he no longer cared about the limit on the number of concubines. Xu Weixiong, Xue Songguan, Huyan Guanyin, Pei Nanwei, and Yu Youwei were all made concubines.
As for Xu Zhihu and Zhao Fengya, they could only be concubines, and they would remain concubines thereafter.
Qingniao and Jiang Si wanted to protect Li Chang'an closely, so they decided not to bestow titles upon them yet, but to wait until the world was at peace before making them concubines.
Three months later.
The situation in the world remains turbulent, and Xu Fengnian is expanding eastward at a frenzied pace, almost taking over Jizhou.
Zhao Bing marched north and eventually reached Quanzhou, which was only a few dozen miles from Tai'an City.
Xu Fengnian and Zhao Bing formed a pincer movement against Tai'an City, which was in grave danger. The city had lost all its fighting forces, and the entire court was in a state of panic.
It was at this time that Xu Fengnian and Zhao Bing began peace talks, and the two secretly plotted to divide up the Liyang world.
Because Xu Fengnian lacked the strength to confront the young eunuchs of Liyang and the Qi cultivators of the Imperial Observatory, even if he occupied Tai'an City, he would not be safe.
Moreover, Zhao Bing's military strength is not weak either. The most important thing for both sides at present is to first remove Zhao Chun and his son from the throne, and then continue to fight for the world.
After the Northern Barbarians massacred ten county towns, there was no further resistance in Youzhou, and they finally completely occupied Youzhou.
However, a large number of people from Youzhou fled to the neighboring Liangzhou. Even if they could survive under the rule of the Northern Mang, they could only be considered as lowly people, with their lives and deaths entirely at the mercy of the other side.
When the people heard that Liangzhou was accepting refugees from Youzhou, those who could flee fled. Hundreds of thousands of refugees entered Liangzhou, of whom fifty to sixty thousand young men volunteered for military service.