The 18th Move of the Female General from the House of Gongshu

  Zhang Jiao smiled and said, "When our army captured Wuyan Gorge, we captured a general of the Xia Kingdom named Yao Ning, who was a close attendant of Abai and Mole. Yao Ning surrendered and told us about the distribution of the Xia Kingdom's military strength. This time, it is Empress Dowager Liang of the Xia Kingdom who personally led the army to attack, stationed at Xiqi Well near Tiandu Mountain. The Xia army does not know our movements, and the one who led the troops to attack Wuyan Gorge was Rendao Baozhong, an incompetent person, not worth worrying about. I will work with Shidao to stay here as bait, making Abai unaware of our military movements."

  Zong Shidao continued: "The six-way commander of the Xia Kingdom, Wei Ming Anmai, is the uncle of Emperor Li Qianshun of the Xia Kingdom. He is a famous general in the world and stays with Mie Le and Empress Dowager Liang in Xixiajing. The Xia army deliberately set up an ambush at Chanbukou, forming a large camp like a string of pearls, but there was no city wall. Although the defense was tight, the command center of the Xia army was in Xixiajing, and there were not many soldiers and horses."

  "This is a great opportunity, and General Zhang decides to launch a surprise attack. The armies of Huanqing, Xihai, and Qinfeng each send 2,000 cavalrymen as reinforcements, with Generals Pu, Wang, and Miao leading the charge. Vice Commander-in-Chief Wang En also leads a contingent of cavalry from Pingxiacheng, along with Generals Guo Cheng and Zhe Keshi, forming six routes of troops, all mounted, totaling 10,000 horsemen. They bypass the western gate of Hulu River Canyon and prepare to attack Xizhoujing, launching a surprise raid to capture Empress Dowager Liang and Abao alive. If they can capture even one of them, it will be a great achievement, and the Xia State will collapse without a fight!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, two soldiers brought in a sand table with undulating terrain, depicting the landscape from Wusong Gorge to Xianpo Pass. Zhong Shidao drew a circle on the sand table and said: "This is Xianpo Pass, and behind it is Xixing Well. Guo Cheng and his two generals can lead their cavalry out tonight and attack Xixing Well. The three of you will follow closely behind, capture Abao and Empress Liang, and when Xia State counterattacks, they will have to rely on your skills to defeat the Xia State reinforcements!"

  Wu Song looked at the sand table for a long time before finally determining that he didn't understand it. He thickened his skin and nodded, saying: "How many soldiers did Empress Liang lead?"

  "Xia Jun claimed to have 300,000 troops, but in my opinion, there are no more than 100,000. In the battle of Mei Guan Xia, the Xia army lost 30,000 soldiers, and Ren Duo Bao Zhong led several thousand men to attack again. The remaining Xia army at Xian Po Kou was no more than 50,000, while Xi Huo Jing had less than 10,000 people. As long as we take out the command center of the Xia army, the Xia army will be headless and disorderly without a fight. All you three need to do is not let the Xia army surround us!"

  Wu Song and his two companions exchanged a glance, their eyes gleaming with understanding. With their combined force of over 7,000 soldiers, breaking through the Xia army would be difficult, but preventing them from encircling was relatively easy.

  "How many troops does General Zhang want to give us?"

  "Just the three of you, plus one deputy general!"

  "What's going on?"

  Wu Song and the other three jumped up together, shouting: "Four people against 50,000! General Zhang, what kind of military joke is this?"

  Zhang Jue smiled and said, "The three of you don't need to worry. With the six senior generals, ten thousand cavalrymen, and the assistance of the three strong men and Gong Shu's deputy general, we will definitely be able to achieve this great merit!"

  Zong Shi Dao also smiled and said: "Xia Jun and Zhang Shuai have been confronting each other for over ten years, only knowing that Zhang Shuai is good at defending the city, but not good at attacking. He will definitely not make many preparations. In my opinion, a surprise attack must be able to succeed in one move, it's just that Xi Ze Jing is too close to Xian Po Kou, Xia Jun's Lian Zhu Da Ying can easily surround our cavalry, going in is easy, coming out is difficult. The three army masters only need to open up a gap, let our cavalry break through, at that time the dragon will be headless, and the Xia soldiers can be easily broken!"

  Zong Shi Dao's words were easy to say, but Wu Song and Yang Jiaolong had also experienced the battlefield, knowing that no matter how high one's personal martial arts skills were, they couldn't change the course of battle. With just four people, it was impossible to open up a gap in the enemy lines.

  At this time, Zhang Kai respectfully invited a small general to come out and said to the three of them: "This is your deputy general Gong Xuan Yan. This journey is fraught with danger, you three only need to protect Deputy General Gong safely arriving at Xianpo Port, it will be a great achievement!"

  "Girl!"

  Wu Song and the other two were shocked again, only to see Gong Sun Sheng wearing a tight-fitting locked armor, with his waist wrapped tightly, his chest bulging, covered with a silver heart mirror, his feet in boots, his head topped with a white iron helmet, and a horse tail braid combed behind his back, his lips tightly closed, looking at them with great tension.

  Zhang Jiao smiled and said, "Master Gongshu is a high-ranking person invited from the Gongshu family in Qin State. The success of this battle depends entirely on her. You three generals must be careful along the way. In the future, if Your Majesty approves the establishment of a wizard camp, Master Gongshu's official position will be above yours, don't underestimate her just because she is a woman!"

  Wu Song heard "Qin State Gong Shu Family", his ears moved, and he asked the female general: "Is Miss Gong Shu a descendant of the Gong Shu family?"

  Yang Jian also reacted and stared at her tensely.

  The girl was shy, her face turned bright red as she was stared at by the two men. She lowered her head and remained silent. Wu Song and Yang Zong waited for a while, but the girl kept her head down, neither speaking nor moving.

  Lu Da said in a low voice to Wu Song: "Is this lady also from the Hidden Gate? Why is she so shy?"

  Wu Song said: "If it's really Gong Sunjia, the second in the hidden door sequence, this battle will be worth fighting. I just don't know what kind of cultivation this girl has."

  Yang Jian nodded and said, "The reputation of Gongshu's family is very loud in the hidden world, but if their strength is not up to par, they will also be a dead end on the battlefield. In my opinion, this Gongshu girl's cultivation is not high either. If she were really a master, she would not bother with ordinary people at all, so why would she run onto the battlefield?"

  Ruda said: "Who among you will go and ask whether he is indeed a member of the Gongshu family. If not, it's still possible to back out now."

  Yang Jian shook his head and said, "The ladies in the palace are all cunning and deceitful, always making us draw talismans to harm people. Such a shy girl, I'm not good enough to deal with."

  "I'm most afraid of talking to this shy little girl, it's not pleasant at all. Wu brothers, you have experience, go ask her!"

  "Ha! Now you know the benefits of being a great official, don't you?" Wu Song walked up to Gong Sun Er Niang and adjusted his armor, saying: "Miss Er Niang, my surname is Wu, my name is Song, I'm the second son, from Qinghe County in Hebei Province. I have hundreds of acres of good land, a hundred rooms in my house, and I'm still unmarried..."

  Yang Jian and Lu Da hastily pulled him back, angrily saying: "You're teasing the young lady, this isn't a conversation with her at all!"

  "First build good relationships, then go and ask questions, isn't it much easier?"

  "Come less! You have a mind full of tricks, and it's hard to put one's heart at ease. Our family is related to Jade Lotus and Golden Lotus as sisters, so we must take good care of you, lest the red apricot falls from the wall!"

  At night, Guo Cheng led three thousand cavalry out of the east gate of the city and rushed straight to Xi'aojing. An hour after this large army left, Wu Song and his two companions set out with Gong Shubao, but their destination was Xianpo Port.

  Four people did not dare to walk on the main road, but followed the mountain forest and rushed forward. After a long time, Wu Song and the four of them stopped and looked up at the moonlight. On the way, Wu Song and Yang Zongba exchanged words with Yinger, but unexpectedly that girl was really shy and never spoke about her identity.

  Wu Song grasped his horse-slaying knife and asked, "Who will lead the way? I don't recognize this sandy terrain map."

  Yang Jiaolong raised his hands and shrugged, saying: "I don't recognize it either, I've never seen that thing before."

  Two men gazed at Ruda eagerly, Ruda carried the crescent-shaped shovel on his shoulder and said inexplicably: "What are you looking at me for? I haven't read any books, if I could recognize sandboards, I would have become a great general long ago!"