Chapter 28: Wait? Retreat?

  The lively atmosphere suddenly froze when they heard this, and a few hot-tempered individuals immediately glared over with their eyes wide open, ready to curse out loud. However, what caught their attention was the aloof young man standing beside Li Jin Hua. Those who were quicker-witted blinked rapidly and forced a smile, swallowing back the words that had almost escaped their lips. The slower ones blurted out a few words before stopping themselves, their faces flushing with embarrassment as they tried to salvage the situation with a laugh. But they feared losing face in front of their comrades and subordinates, for in the military, beheading and bloodshed were common occurrences. What they truly dreaded was losing dignity, which would make them the laughing stock of everyone, and their reputation would be ruined. They could only grit their teeth and turn away, their faces burning with suppressed anger.

  The middle-aged man standing next to Zhao Shi, however, burst out laughing with a mischievous grin, adding to the embarrassment of several people. This middle-aged man was named Li Fei. Orphaned at a young age, he had been raised by nature and joined a bandit gang at 14, acknowledging the leader as his godfather. His godfather gave him the name Li Fei. After the bandit gang was annihilated by the Western Xia army and their leader died, Li Fei narrowly escaped back to Western Qin, joining the military there. At that time, Li Jin Hua's father was a low-ranking officer in Yanbian Town, who took him under his wing due to his exceptional archery skills and fierce personality. He kept his original name but changed the character for "fei" as it carried too much of a bandit connotation, thus becoming Li Fei. This man had a wild temperament; if not for his close friendship with three sworn brothers, who all rose from the dead together, he would have likely become a fugitive by now due to his nature. However, his rough demeanor remained unchanged over the years, and he spoke without restraint.

  At this time, he slapped Zhao Shi's shoulder and said, "I'm telling you, Stone... Everyone is in high spirits, but you're the only one who's being a buzzkill. But brother likes your personality, you've made the greatest contribution here, everyone's life was saved by you, if anyone dares to cause trouble for you, I, Li Fei, will be the first to disagree." After finishing speaking, he glared with his eyes.

  Several generals thoroughly understood that this guy was not easy to mess with, and every step of the way had to be earned. As a personal soldier of General School, one word from him was worth ten words from others. Even if Li Fei hadn't spoken up, this young man named Zhao Shi was someone they couldn't afford to provoke. This time, the credit for the great victory should go to him first and foremost, whether it was killing the Xixia general Ye Lizhi or last night's surprise attack on the enemy camp, all came from his hands. With such merit, being promoted to a school lieutenant shouldn't be difficult at all. At such a young age, he truly had boundless prospects ahead of him. It was best not to offend someone like that.

  The atmosphere became somewhat stiff, and Li Jinhua glanced at Zhao Shi with a slanted gaze. Her face was pale, and she hadn't fully recovered from the injury she sustained yesterday afternoon. She had been drenched in the rain all night, and as a woman, she was most afraid of getting wet and chilled. Moreover, she lacked experience in nighttime battles, and in the chaos, she had been grazed by a knife on her shoulder. Fortunately, it hadn't left a scar on her face; otherwise, she would have been too embarrassed to show herself in public. At this moment, however, she was exhausted to the extreme, but the excitement still lingered, and as the commander of the army, there were many things she had to attend to personally. She could only force herself to sit up straight, but her complexion didn't improve much. When she thought about last night's chaos, this young man had been by her side, shielding her left and right, getting covered in blood, yet not sustaining a single injury on his body. Although he was clearly younger than her, he had remained calm and composed, just like a seasoned general who had experienced many battles. Everyone else thought that their team had achieved the greatest merit last night, charging into the enemy's camp and scattering the Western Xia people's horses, killing them as they tried to escape. As the commander, she was naturally being flattered and praised, but in reality, she had been disoriented and confused in the darkness, surrounded by the sounds of slaughter, unable to determine which direction to go. If it hadn't been for this young man holding her hand and leading her through the chaos, she wouldn't have been able to lead a team out again, nor would she have escaped with only a minor injury on her shoulder. Although she was filled with doubts, thinking about how this young man had held her hand and charged forward, ignoring everyone else, warmed her heart, and in that brief glance, there was a hint of subtle flavor.

  Turning his face back, he regained the majesty of being the commander-in-chief and said: "What Zhao... Shi said is not wrong. We are not here to fight a war, but to transport grain and military supplies. Now that our grain and military supplies have suffered heavy losses, with so many grains and military equipment, we cannot retreat or advance. Everyone should discuss it and come up with a solution."

  As soon as she said that, the atmosphere suddenly became heavy. Li Jinhua saw that everyone was silent and their eyes involuntarily turned to Zhao Shi.

  Zhao Shi had already thought it through and wouldn't have said what he did if he hadn't, so he went straight to the point: "Our situation is very dangerous. Since the Western Xia people have appeared here, they naturally won't just be one troop. With our current situation, if we encounter another one of their troops, we'll... it will be very difficult for us to escape..."

  Moreover, the Western Xia people have appeared in the rear of Qingyang. It is likely that they have discovered the anomaly in Qingyang. The best result is that they have not yet started attacking Qingyang, possibly due to insufficient strength or other reasons, which cannot be said for now. Of course, the worst-case scenario is that they have already captured Qingyang. In that case, all we can do is drop everything and retreat as quickly as possible. We left Pingliang some days ago, and I believe the reinforcements are not far away. As long as we act swiftly, we should be in no danger. Therefore, first, we need to find out about the situation in Qingyang, and then think of a solution.

  But most importantly, time is of the essence, we don't have time to wait here, it's very dangerous.

  As he spoke, Zhao Shi narrowed his eyes, and his grasp of the battlefield situation became even clearer. Tactical analysis was a subject that every special forces member had to master, and with his rich combat experience, what he said now made sense from start to finish, with reason and evidence. Everyone in the room knew that something unexpected had happened in Qingyang, but no one could think as much and as far as him, which really surprised everyone present. The listeners were all fully focused, not daring to be distracted for a moment.

  He paused for a moment and continued, "Let's assume that the Pingliang relief troops have received the news from Qingyang. The first thing they would do is to send out scouts to chase back each grain transport team. This is without a doubt, and perhaps we are the first batch to set out, so the order has not been transmitted to us yet. If it's like this, then we should immediately burn things that can't be taken away and withdraw the troops at once.

  Let's assume again that the reinforcements have received news of changes in Qingyang, but they don't know the details and are even more uncertain about whether the news is true. Just like us, they are hesitating, and we have defeated soldiers coming down from Qingyang right in front of us. If everyone is not afraid to die, let's wait here for a day, receive some defeated soldiers back, get accurate information, and after returning, it will also be considered as having gained another merit.

  Having said that, he no longer spoke, his meaning was very clear, the situation had been analyzed clearly, if it was still to be withdrawn, then it would have to be decided by the people present.

  Although he thought a lot and was meticulous, his grasp of the Qingyang side was also accurate, but he missed one point. The 40,000 imperial guards gathered from Fengxiang, Jingzhao and other places to Pingliang, as well as the 20,000 troops stationed in Pingliang, were still motionless in Pingliang Prefecture, without any signs of departure.

  (I recommend, collect, and estimate that it should be strongly promoted next week. At that time, Ah Cao will definitely work hard to update, but collecting and recommending is the right thing to do. Brothers who think this book is worth reading, don't hesitate to support Ah Cao.)