Chapter 126

Chapter 126

After Princess Qingyang announced the withdrawal, she, along with Prince Yong, Hou Wanzhong, Chen Sheng, and Meng Ji, led the vanguard of 130,000 troops. General Guo Yanqing of Jizhou commanded 50,000 troops to cover the rear.

Yelu Chong, the King of East Hu, dispatched 60,000 troops under one of his generals to ambush Guo Yanqing’s rearguard. He himself, with another 60,000, flanked the main Qi army, dead set on capturing the Qi princess as his war trophy.

Within just half a month, Yelu Chong launched two more assaults: one a night raid, the other during a rainstorm. The nomads, accustomed to the harsh weather of the grasslands, believed the Qi troops would surely falter in the rain. However, Guo Yanqing and Meng Ji had anticipated these surprise attacks and prepared accordingly, successfully repelling the East Hu forces both times.

Yet, in these two battles, Yelu Chong lost several thousand cavalry, while the main Qi force suffered nearly ten thousand casualties.

On September 18, as the main army was just two days’ march from the valley, during a midday rest, a furious roar erupted from the princess’s tent: "Retreat, retreat, retreat—is that all you know? In the past, fighting East Hu was difficult because the grasslands were vast, and we might search for months without spotting them. Now they’ve come to us—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight—we should press on!"

Some recognized this as Prince Yong’s voice, and his anger only intensified.

"Spare me your lectures, and don’t flaunt your authority as military supervisor in front of me. I was already famous on the battlefield before you were even born!"

"Fine, if you want to retreat, I won’t stop you. But don’t interfere if I lead my troops to attack East Hu. Let us uncle and niece each go our own way! And the rest of you—if you want to earn merits, go out now and rally the troops to follow me. If you’re afraid of death, stay hidden behind the Great Wall like cowards! What kind of border generals are you? I think the border regions have never known peace precisely because of generals like you!"

Then, the voice of General Chen Sheng of Jinzhou rang out: "Your Highness, there’s no need for provocation. I, Chen Sheng, have guarded the border for over twenty years. I won’t recklessly follow you just because of a few taunts. But I also believe we should fight. Princess, regarding the retreat, I must respectfully decline to obey!"

After another round of chaotic arguments, Prince Yong and Chen Sheng emerged with four of their lieutenant generals and went separately to muster their troops.

Hou Wanzhong and Meng Ji rushed out to persuade them, but Prince Yong and Chen Sheng were determined to turn back and attack Yelu Chong’s forces, refusing to listen to anyone.

Within half an hour, Prince Yong and Chen Sheng led away 80,000 soldiers, including over 40,000 imperial troops willing to follow Prince Yong’s orders and over 30,000 Jinzhou troops under Chen Sheng’s command. The main force was left with just over 40,000 soldiers and several thousand wounded.

After separating from the main force, Prince Yong and Chen Sheng directly led their troops in the direction where Yelu Chong’s cavalry had retreated after the last engagement.

Seated in his tent, Yelu Chong heard the news from his scouts and laughed so hard he fell backward onto his wolfskin mat! It was ridiculous—Qi’s army, with its mix of infantry and cavalry, could only march along fixed routes, while his 50,000-plus cavalry could maneuver freely across the grasslands. Prince Yong heading in that direction would exhaust all his provisions without ever finding him.

After laughing heartily, Yelu Chong sat up, grabbed his dagger, speared a piece of meat, and put it in his mouth. He ordered the scout, "Keep scouting."

After the scout left, Yelu Chong said to those around him, "If Prince Yong and Chen Sheng have truly left, the Qi Princess will have only 40,000 troops left. We should prepare for another night raid at any time!"

His younger brother, Right Virtuous King Yelu Xu, more cautious, suspected a trick. "I worry there might be deception. After all, she is the most beloved daughter of the Qi Emperor. How dare Prince Yong and Chen Sheng openly defy her orders?"

Yelu Chong scoffed, "The battlefield is where men settle disputes. The Qi Emperor may dote on his daughter, but the soldiers won’t truly obey a princess. They only believe in their own strength, especially someone like Prince Yong. I’ve heard he even dares to contradict the emperor, just as Left Virtuous King often opposes me. Such a man would never let his niece control him."

Yelu Xu thought of Chen Sheng, who followed Prince Yong, and Meng Ji and Hou Wanzhong, who stayed with the Qi Princess. He didn’t know much about Hou Wanzhong, but Meng Ji had served as general in Liaozhou for many years. He was the most cautious of the three generals, focusing on defense and rarely pursuing enemies into the grasslands like Guo Yanqing.

Considering this, the choices of the generals did align with their temperaments.

"But even if the Qi Princess has only 40,000-plus troops left, with Meng Ji there…"

Yelu Chong hurled a mostly uneaten lamb bone from the table at his brother. "They have only 40,000 troops; we have over 50,000 cavalry. If we don’t dare to fight even now, are you still a warrior of the grasslands?"

Yelu Xu lowered his head and did not argue further with his elder brother, though he still felt uneasy.

On the morning of September 19, learning that Prince Yong’s 80,000 troops had already moved more than a hundred *li* away from the main Qi force and were still heading northeast—too far to return in time even if they heard of a night raid—Yelu Chong, who had long since flanked the Qi army to the west, immediately led his troops southward in pursuit.

At dusk on September 20, Yelu Chong heard another great joke from his scouts: the main Qi force had camped in the valley ahead, but instead of setting up on the flat riverbanks, they had pitched all their tents on the hillside.

Yelu Chong laughed to his brother, "This must be the idea of that Qi Princess who knows nothing about warfare. She thinks camping on the hill will stop our horses from charging up. But she forgets—our grassland warriors have legs! We can dismount and charge up to kill them! If they had camped on flat ground, they’d at least have an escape route. Hahaha…"

Yelu Xu felt his elder brother seemed bewitched by the Qi Princess, laughing at everything, even though they hadn’t gained much advantage on the battlefield over the past month. Out of caution, he warned, "The Qi Princess may not understand tactics, but do Meng Ji and Hou Wanzhong also not know? I fear there might be a trick…"

Yelu Chong retorted, "Trick, trick, trick—that’s all you ever say! I told you, she’s a princess, the military supervisor sent by the Qi Emperor. Prince Yong is her uncle, so he dares to disobey her. Would Meng Ji and Hou Wanzhong dare?"

Yelu Xu said, "Meng Ji is Prince Jing’s father-in-law. He…"

Yelu Chong cut him off, "To hell with Prince Jing! Prince Jing is a coward himself, always hiding among the personal guards with the princess. The Qi Emperor is pathetic—he may be a capable man, but his sons are each worse than the last."

He had seen from afar two figures in silk-lined leather armor surrounded by the Qi army—a man and a woman. The woman was the princess, and the man must be Prince Jing. Yelu Chong had no respect for such Qi royalty who came to the battlefield but were too cowardly to fight.

"Enough nonsense! Have the troops rest and prepare for tonight’s night raid!"

.

Back in the valley.

As night fell, Meng Ji and Hou Wanzhong once again sought an audience with the princess, urging her to take two thousand personal guards and travel through the night to a logistics camp ahead to join forces there. If their battle went well, they could catch up with her by the next day.

Qingyang smiled. "Do both generals believe our army has no chance of victory tonight?"

Hou Wanzhong anxiously replied, "Your Highness’s plan gives us an eighty percent chance of success. But close combat at night is dangerous. Your Highness, with your noble status, should not take such risks!"

Qingyang said, "I would not have devised this plan if I weren’t confident of victory. Since I have, I will not abandon my soldiers for my own safety. Generals, focus on the battle preparations. Do not worry about me."

Fan Huaizhong, standing guard beside the princess, thumped his chest and said, "Generals, rest assured. With me here, I will ensure Her Highness’s safety!"

The seventeen-year-old princess was composed and fearless; the nineteen-year-old guard was confident and bold—both young and equally dauntless.

Meng Ji and Hou Wanzhong exchanged a glance, bowed together, and withdrew.

Qingyang walked out of the tent with Fan Huaizhong and Jie Yu.

The red sun was about to disappear behind the opposite hills, its evening glow dyeing the scales of clouds in the sky.

Qingyang’s tent was atop the hill on this side. Behind her lay layers of undulating hills and barriers; below her, rows of tents were being pitched. Tonight, over forty thousand soldiers would face Yelu Chong’s fifty thousand-plus nomads in a bloody battle.

Outnumbered, they faced danger, but only this could force Yelu Chong to abandon their cavalry charges—their greatest strength. Only this could secure an unexpected victory in the northern expedition, trading the lives of thousands of fallen soldiers for long-lasting peace for the border people.

Qingyang trusted her tactics, trusted the deployments of Generals Meng Ji and Hou Wanzhong, trusted Fan Huaizhong and her two thousand personal guards, and, most of all, trusted the forty thousand soldiers who had left their homes to fight for Great Qi.

Darkness fell completely.

Qingyang lay on her cot in armor, with Fu Liu and Jin Su guarding her. Fan Huaizhong and Jie Yu hid in the outer tent with sixteen guards.

Qingyang urged Fu Liu and Jin Su to lie down and rest if they could, or at least lie comfortably instead of sitting upright. She closed her eyes to conserve energy, thinking of her uncle Prince Yong and Guo Yanqing, wondering where Zhang Su and her second brother were now, recalling her father and mother in the palace, and listening for any sounds outside. She couldn’t help but feel nervous, but her hand rested on the sword beside her bed.

It was the precious sword her father had gifted her when she first began training years ago. After all these years of practice, it had yet to taste blood.

On the cabinet beside her bed lay her bow and quiver. Qingyang wouldn’t overestimate her ability to fight fierce nomads, but her archery had received top scores for three consecutive years.

Around midnight, a faint tremor rumbled through the ground—the sound of tens of thousands of horses charging from the north end of the valley.

Qingyang instantly awoke, slung her quiver over her back, fastened her long sword, grabbed her bow, and rushed out.

The arrow volleys from both armies were launched almost simultaneously. Yelu Chong’s archers aimed at the tents on the hill, while the Qi archers—both on the hill and hidden under grass cover near the riverbanks—fired from above and below.

Yelu Chong had expected the Qi army to be prepared, but he trusted the raw power of his fifty thousand warriors. Against absolute power, even the best preparations were useless!

"Dismount! Follow me up the hill!"

Swinging his sword to deflect incoming arrows, Yelu Chong led the charge uphill!

Though many nomads fell to arrows, more pushed through the arrow fire and clashed with the Qi infantry.

As the arrow volleys ceased, the main forces engaged in close combat. But the Qi soldiers held the high ground, and the earlier arrow rain had diminished the East Hu’s numerical advantage.

Qingyang saw Qi soldiers dying by nomad blades, their backs to her, and the pale moonlight illuminating the dead faces of the nomads. She had seen the aftermath of battle in Wuwei—corpses strewn across the fields—and had dreamed of them repeatedly. Tonight, though standing in the grasslands north of Jizhou, she felt transported back to Wuwei in the northwest, as if time had reversed to the moment before the soldiers fell.

Battlefields are probably all the same; what has changed is her.

The personal guards in front of her stood firm as a mountain. Qingyang nocked an arrow and aimed at Yelu Chong, who was getting closer and closer to her side—the King of East Hu who was determined to capture her.

Yelu Chong searched for the Qi Princess while fighting, finally spotting the woman aiming her bow and arrow at him when he faced Meng Ji.

Yelu Chong laughed, not believing she could hit him.

Qingyang held her bow drawn for a long time because Yelu Chong and Meng Ji were moving between attack and defense too quickly, and there were many soldiers from both sides around. If she was not careful, she might hit one of her own.

She held it until her arm began to ache faintly. At a certain moment, Qingyang finally released her hand.

The sharp arrow flew past Yelu Chong, missing him by an arm’s length, and hit a nomad foot soldier behind him.

Yelu Chong instinctively turned his head to look, about to mock the Qi Princess’s archery, when a sudden pain struck his left waist. It turned out that while he was distracted, he blocked Meng Ji’s attack but couldn't avoid a spear thrust by another Qi soldier.

Just then, another wave of hoofbeats came from outside the river valley, along with a thunderous roar even Yelu Chong could recognize: "Is Yelu the little worm still alive? Your granddad is back to kill you!"

Yelu Chong tightly gripped the spearhead still trying to pierce deeper into his body and looked up at the Qi Princess on the hill. He saw that she had already lowered her bow, her eyes colder than the moon in the sky. Though she was looking at him, it seemed as if she was merely looking at an ordinary enemy, not a highly exalted King of East Hu.

Yelu Chong was unwilling to accept this. He pulled the spear out of his body with one hand, let out a roar, and charged upward again. He wanted to kill her, kill her!

What Qingyang saw, however, was Meng Ji disarming Yelu Chong within a few moves and capturing the King of East Hu alive.

With Yelu Chong captured, the nomads immediately fell into chaos. Coupled with the morale boost from the five thousand cavalry reinforcements led personally by Prince Yong, after a chaotic battle and pursuit, by the time dawn broke, only a few hundred of Yelu Chong’s more than fifty thousand cavalry managed to escape—almost completely annihilated!