Chapter 19: Blood War (6)

  Li Yuanhan looked at the Qin army camp in the distance with some anxiety. After all, this was the hinterland of Western Qin, and the power of Western Qin was not to be underestimated. The longer they delayed here, the more danger they would face. But he also understood the temperament of Ye Liqi, who was a hot-headed person once on the battlefield. He wasn't worried about Ye Liqi's safety, as when it came to charging into battle, this cousin of his was much stronger than him, a newcomer to the battlefield.

  Sitting on the horse, Li Yuanhan swung the whip randomly several times, his heart growing more and more anxious. The situation on the battlefield was very clear: although the resistance of this grain transport team was extremely fierce, far exceeding his imagination, it seemed that his side still had a great advantage. But he always had a bad premonition, which made him feel very uneasy.

  The change occurred at this time, and the Western Xia soldiers who had already rushed into the Qin army camp retreated in a hurry. There was no one chasing after them, but hundreds of Western Xia elite soldiers were now fleeing in disarray like dogs that had lost their homes. There was no command or direction, some people's faces still had an inexplicable look of confusion, it was clear that they did not know what was happening and just followed others to retreat, this was a rout that was unbelievable, under Li Yuanhans stunned gaze, some who had not yet lost their horses had already run to his side.

  "General, retreat quickly......" The bodyguards beside Li Yuanhan didn't know what had happened, but in this situation, it seemed like there was only one outcome, the defeat was already settled.

  Li Yuanhan slapped the imperial guard who had spoken out, his face completely red with rage. "Leave? Stop them for me! If you don't listen, I'll kill you on the spot! Hurry up and go! If you can't stop them, I'll kill you first!"

  。。。。。。。。。。。。

  The sky had already darkened, and the early spring rain arrived on this northern land that had just awakened from its icy slumber. As the saying goes, "spring rain is as precious as oil," but for the people living in Qingyang, Ba Li Chu, during the 27th year of the Zhengde era, it was a case of adding insult to injury. The weather remained cold, and the newly fallen rain had not even had time to moisten the earth before it froze into a thin layer of ice. Wet clothes and armor clung to people's bodies, and when blown by the cool wind, the feeling was something that no one would want to experience.

  The rain fell on Li Yuanhan's head, sliding down his cheeks and into his collar. Although the icy rain took away the temperature of his body, it couldn't take away the flames burning in his heart.

  Ye Lizi's body was placed in front of Li Yuanhan, his armor had been removed and his body had been washed clean. According to the old rules of the Tangut people, after death, a sky burial would be performed, but since the Han family rituals were introduced into Western Xia, the idea of returning to one's roots also became deeply ingrained, so the body was to be transported back for burial in the earth.

  "You two... don't think about living anymore... but I'll give you a chance to die like warriors. Tomorrow morning, I want the two of you to lead people to kill all the Han people on the other side. You can die here." Li Yuanhan said slowly, his voice as cold as the spring rain.

  "Don't worry, sir... If it weren't for bringing General's body back, we would definitely not be alive. Thank you, sir, for giving us the opportunity to avenge the General..."

  Li Yuanhan didn't say another word, the camp was as silent as death, staring at a small hill not far away, his mind filled with hatred and pain, yet he had a hint of regret. After all, it was his first time on the battlefield, he made many mistakes. In the unknown situation of the enemy, he shouldn't have let his cousin rush into the enemy's camp without any precautions. After retreating back, he shouldn't have set up camp on the spot, but should have organized his troops to attack immediately. The enemy was already at its last gasp, which could be seen from the fact that their main general hadn't fallen and they were in a state of panic. He didn't rally his soldiers' morale, instead, he cried loudly in front of everyone, only realizing later that he had dampened his own soldiers' spirits, so he just set up camp to cover up...

  At the same time Li Yuanhan was blaming himself, the mountain was also windy and rainy. After this battle, more than half of the regular forbidden army were injured, and only 42 of the 200 cavalrymen who followed Li Jinhua to attack returned safely to the camp. The 600 infantrymen lost more than 280 people, and the loss was even more severe for the civilian strongman team. After this battle, only over 800 of the 2,000 civilian strongmen could stand up, and most people were scared out of their wits. In the last period of time, Yu Hou Chen Qian had to personally take charge, and he was stabbed twice in the body and has not yet awakened. What's even worse is that the commanders of each team have lost more than half of their lives. Military officers are always the mainstay of an army, without these commanders and team leaders, orders can't be passed down correctly, let alone fight a battle, especially for such a mixed team of civilian strongmen and forbidden army.

  Such a team, without reinforcements, even if they wanted to withdraw, would not be able to retreat.

  Li Jinhua paced back and forth inside the tent, her face somewhat pale, her eyebrows furrowed from time to time. When she came to the chair, her body swayed, and Li Shu hastily stepped forward a step, "Miss..."

  Li Jinhua waved her hand, "Third Uncle, I'm fine, can Second Uncle's body be brought back? It was my fault that Second Uncle lost his life, if it wasn't for my stubbornness... Third Uncle wouldn't have...". As she spoke, another severe pain shot through her back, and her face turned even paler. The usual strong-willed woman showed a hint of weakness.

  Li Shu supported Li Jinhua to sit on the chair, but comforted in his mouth: "Don't blame Miss, my four sworn brothers followed Master to fight for a long time, and I thought of this day early. If Second Brother can die for Miss on the battlefield, it's also a worthy death, hehe...". Although he said so, the gloom between his expressions was visible to everyone.

  He didn't want to talk more about this, his four brothers, decades of friendship, today one less, the pain in his heart can't be told to outsiders, so he changed the subject and said: "The Western bandits seem to have settled down with us too, and have set up camp not far away. Today's victory was a bit lucky, tomorrow it seems we'll have another tough battle to fight, Miss... your injury..."

  "It doesn't matter." Li Jinhua waved her hand and sighed, "Looking at us like this, can we still hold off the Western Xia people? It seems that Qingyang is really in trouble. If not, with the 700,000 soldiers of Qingyang and the border generals of Fan Xiu's garrison, how could they let the Western bandits enter our territory? Tomorrow... if we can't hold on, you uncles should go back. There are still some savings at home, after going back don't be a soldier anymore, get some land and live a stable life. Ah, I was wrong to think of taking credit for this merit, it's implicated several uncles... Ah, what's the name of that team leader who made great contributions? Call him to see me."