The Sigh of the Twenty-seven Old Generals

  As the saying goes, the Yangtze River's rear waves push forward the front waves, and the front waves are beaten to death on the beach. Suning was unfortunately beaten to death by a vote of eggs in his previous life, but at this time, in the era of the Tang Dynasty, Suning is actually the real rear wave, while Li Jing and others are the front wave. Therefore, after Li Jing saw the thick smoke in the direction of Yingshan, he was very worried that he would be beaten to death by Suning on the beach.

  "Faster! Faster! Accelerate! Accelerate!" Li Jing rode his war horse, taking the lead and charging forward at the forefront of the entire army, leading the troops to rush wildly. Since last night, when he saw the massive fire and thick black smoke in the direction of Yīn Shān, Li Jing had not allowed the soldiers to rest again, but instead led them to hasten their journey. His heart was filled with shock and doubt - what had happened?

  The sky had just lit up, and the strong wind stopped. Before long, goose feather-like snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Under the pale grey sky, the raging flames in the direction of the dark mountains gradually disappeared, but the thick black smoke grew more intense. Li Jing had a guess in his mind, but he stubbornly refused to let himself think in that direction. That lazy and irresponsible glutton, did he really have the guts to engage in a life-and-death battle with 500 vanguard troops against Tong Yabu's 30,000-strong army?

  What about Tang Jian? Although he said he didn't care about Tang Jian, for the sake of victory, people like Tang Jian were not worth pitying. However, Tang Jian was a trusted minister of Li Er's, and although his official position was not as high as his own, he was of the same rank as a national duke, deeply trusted by Li Er. If he died, it would definitely not be good for him to eat the fruit of victory. But considering the great victory and his age, Li Er would not treat him harshly, at most he would just retreat to the second line. However, the current situation was beyond his expectation.

  Li Jing was so anxious, and Li Shi-ji was also equally anxious. They made an appointment with each other. After Li Jing led the cavalry to arrive at Yin Mountain, he would sneak into the Turkic camp at night and attack them when they were unprepared, hoping to defeat the Turks. He himself would lead the infantry to ambush in the direction where Qibi Khan might escape behind Yin Mountain, hoping to capture important Turkic officials or even the Khan himself. Then they could share the great merit of destroying a country together. But what's going on now? The big fire at Yin Mountain, who did it? That kid Su Ning wouldn't have fought with Qibi Khan with just 500 soldiers, would he?

  When they rushed to the foot of Mount Yin, where the Tang army was stationed, they saw Su Ning lying lazily against a horse's belly and Su Dingfang and Longsun Chong leading the troops on high alert. Behind them was a chaotic Mount Yin, a pungent smell, and a strong smell of meat; next to Su Ning sat an old man in fine clothes, who seemed to be saying something to Su Ning, but Su Ning looked very displeased, occasionally wiping his face.

  Su Dingfang found the army and also saw Li Jing and Li Shimin, he hastily shouted: "The general has arrived! The commander has come!" Then immediately rode to Li Jing and Li Shimin's side, dismounted his horse and knelt on one knee: "The general and commander have arrived, I, the subordinate general, was late in welcoming you, please forgive me, General and Commander!"

  Li Jing didn't care about this and immediately asked: "What's going on? Why was Yin Mountain burned by fire? What did you do? Where are the Turks?"

  Su Dingfang hadn't spoken yet, but Tang Jian, who had rushed over together with him, was the first to speak up: "General Li, you're really something else! You don't care about my life or death at all. If it weren't for Director Su sacrificing himself to save me, I'd probably be nothing but a pile of ashes by now! Hmph! I suppose you still have some conscience left, so I won't bother with you!"

  Li Jing was momentarily perplexed, but seeing Su Ning wink at him, he knew that Su Ning must have something to say to him. So he didn't ask any further and instead Li Shiming hastily asked: "Where are the Turks?"

  Li Jing immediately spoke up: "Sanming, Dingfang, what have you two done?"

  Su Dingfang looked at Su Ning, Changsun Chong looked at Su Ning, and Su Ning saw that everyone's eyes were fixed on himself, so he shrugged his shoulders: "Nothing, basically wiped out the Turks."

  Li Jing and Li Shi-ji were stunned, the large army behind them was also silent, Tang Jian let out a sigh of resignation and said nothing. Su Dingfang shouted loudly towards the back: "Bring them all over!" As soon as the words fell, a group of soldiers came over with a ferocious expression, pressing down on a row of tied-up Turks. The leader was none other than Qibi Khan, and the team of over 1,000 people was extremely large. Next to them were Princess Yicheng and Empress Xiang, who were being personally guarded by Niu Geng. Princess Yicheng was not well-behaved and had to be tied up, while Empress Xiang was very obedient and therefore did not need to be tied up.

  Li Jing and Li Shi-ji were shocked, the large army behind them was in an uproar, weren't these the nobles of the Turks? Had they all been captured?

  Su Ning walked up to the front of Yeli Kehan, looked at Yeli Kehan and said in a stern voice: "You see the commander coming and don't kneel down?! Except for Princess Xiao and the princess, everyone else get down on your knees!" The momentum was so fierce that it swept away the dejected appearance just now. Even Tang Jian looked at him with a secret shock. What a young man! He treated old men like himself as a junior, but he was so ruthless to these Turks!

  Ashina looked at so many people, not wanting to kneel down. He still wanted to preserve a bit of the Khan's dignity, especially in front of his enemies and his own subordinates. He wanted to keep a last shred of dignity. Su Ning looked at these Turks who didn't kneel down, all staring at Ashina. Su Ning understood that there was still a glimmer of hope for the Turks. Well, since it had come to this, they might as well see it through. Such a fearsome reputation would be a great deterrent against the Hu people after all!

  Su Ning walked to the back of Jie Li Khan, kicked his two legs at the joints, and forcibly kicked Jie Li down. One foot stepped on Jie Li's head, and then he beheaded a Turkic man beside Jie Li Khan with one sword, blood splashing everywhere: "You are losers, you don't have the qualification to stand! Anyone who doesn't kneel will be beheaded on the spot! If one person doesn't kneel, ten people will be beheaded!"

  Su Ning shouted loudly, and his fierce momentum suddenly burst out, startling Li Jing and Li Shimin. Neither of them had expected that one campaign would turn Su Ning into such a ruthless and decisive figure!

  Su Ning himself was slightly stunned, wondering why he had been so impulsive and killed someone without saying a word. But it's also good this way, military personnel should be like this, Su Ning decided to learn from Cheng Yaojin in some ways. Looking at the bloodstains, Su Ning unexpectedly felt very comfortable, this is how you should treat the Hu people.

  Su Dingfang and Changsun Chong also liked this approach, shouting: "Anyone who does not kneel will be beheaded on the spot! If one person does not kneel, ten people will be beheaded!"

  "Anyone who doesn't kneel will be killed on the spot! If one person doesn't kneel, ten people will be killed!"

  After this war, the cavalry that made great contributions had transformed, at least they were obedient to Suning's orders, and everyone's military achievements were enough to make them promoted, and some could even be promoted to officers.

  All the captured Turks suddenly knelt down with a look of terror, Princess Yicheng turned her face away, tears streaming down her face, while Empress Xiao's eyes showed a different color, unmoving; all the Turks knelt down, including Illig Qaghan, who also knelt down, touching his head to the ground, and kowtowed to the Tang army with the most humble posture.

  Su Ning, with Su Dingfang's grandson Chong and over 400 cavalrymen, knelt on one knee and said: "Report to the commander-in-chief, General, that in the battle of Yinshan, our army used fire to attack, burning down Yinshan and completely destroying the Turkic camp. The Turkic army, from Yeli Khan down to a total of 1,109 people, were captured by our soldiers. The rest were either killed by our soldiers or died in the sea of flames. The Turkic army at Yinshan was completely annihilated! Over 50,000 Turkic tribesmen and over 100,000 cattle are still in the vicinity of Yinshan. Our army is too small to capture them all, so we request that the commander-in-chief immediately dispatch a large army to attack!"

  Although he had expected the outcome to be this way, hearing Su Ning say it out loud still made him jump in his heart. Tang Jian closed his eyes, seemingly unable to bear it, but after a while, he opened them again and looked at Su Ning with a hint of a smile in his eyes.

  Li Jing didn't react until after a long while, this situation was something he had never encountered in his decades of military campaigns. Just as he was about to order the prisoners to be taken away for further processing, Princess Yicheng suddenly spoke up: "Li Jing, you were once a general of Great Sui and also my subject. I won't say anything else, if you still have any sense of loyalty and decency, then kill me! Since the fall of Great Sui, I had decided to never return to China and would rather die than become a prisoner of Li Shimin!"

  Li Jing was stunned, everyone was stunned, including Su Ning. It turned out that she herself was going to die. For the first time, Su Ning felt that this woman, no, Princess Yicheng, was a person worthy of respect. Although she was a failure, in terms of her spirit, she was stronger than all the great generals here. She had spent her whole life fighting for the Great Sui, even though she was already old and frail, she still fought tirelessly. Compared to her, it seemed that Li Jing and these other generals who came from the Great Sui were somewhat inferior.

  Su Ning noticed that many people were blushing, and those people should be the elderly who came from the Sui Dynasty. The words of Princess Yicheng made them feel a little ashamed. Su Ning looked at Li Jing's expression, as well as the expressions of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, and knew it was time for him to take action.

  "General, Princess Yicheng has dedicated her life to the service of Sui Dynasty. To ensure its safety, she even served as a concubine to four generations of Turkic Khans and helped Emperor Yang of Sui in times of danger, guaranteeing national security. Such an extraordinary woman is truly an honor to our China. General, since Princess Yicheng has spent her life fighting for the Sui Dynasty, never changing her original intention even in defeat, why don't we fulfill her wishes and preserve her reputation?"

  Although I will not agree with such a narrow idea, the Sui court previously levied taxes and exploited the people, Yang Guang did not govern with virtue, and the people's hearts were lost, destruction was inevitable. As the saying goes, "those who gain the people's heart will gain the world", the people trusted the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty was able to establish a country. The Sui Dynasty naturally cannot represent China. Your Highness, you previously regarded the Sui as China and viewed the Tang as rebellious ministers and traitors. Then, I ask, did the Sui not obtain its power through rebellion? The remnants of the previous dynasty before the Sui also regarded the Sui as rebellious ministers and traitors, how can this be explained?

  It is said that the magnificent mountains and rivers are inhabited by those with virtue. Obviously, Yang Guang is not a virtuous person, causing the people of the magnificent mountains and rivers to suffer and die in large numbers. On the contrary, this move is a righteous act. The princess's actions are foolish loyalty, and the last general cannot be compared to her. However, I deeply admire the princess's integrity and her lifelong struggle for family and country, until death without regret, which is truly a heroic deed! General, please preserve the princess's reputation for generations to come, and let history judge who is right or wrong, leaving it to future generations to comment.

  It was so quiet that even the sound of a needle falling to the ground could be heard. Li Jing couldn't help but sigh in admiration, Li Shimin nodded repeatedly, Tang Jian's face had a hint of a smile, Su Dingfang felt very proud, and Princess Yicheng's icy expression showed some emotion. The military leaders all looked at Suning, their faces gradually losing their shame.

  This young man easily wiped away the worries of the former Sui general, Tang Jian thought to himself. He is diligent in maintaining internal affairs and ruthless in external matters. If this child cannot achieve some merit, I would have truly been blind. The only question is how to reward such a great achievement? Even if he were to be awarded the highest honors for his bravery in battle, it would still not be enough. The achievements of this battle far exceed imagination, and cannot be matched by the current system of rewards. If we must follow the system, then what about making him a pillar of the state? Or even an upper pillar of the state? But he is still so young!

  Your Majesty will make a choice? Will this kid know how to advance and retreat, understand some things? Tang Jian couldn't be certain.

  Yi Cheng Gongzhu took a deep breath and said calmly: "Li Jing, you've lived for over 60 years, but your understanding of things is not as clear as that of a young child. Su Ning, you say I'm foolishly loyal, and I admit it. As a member of the imperial family, I was born a subject of the Great Sui and will die a ghost of the Great Sui. This lifetime, I have pledged my loyalty to the Great Sui, regardless of whether it is good or bad. There's no need to say more. Li Jing, let's end this!"

  A gust of wind blew by, stirring Princess Yicheng's pale hair, and Princess Yicheng closed her eyes...

  Li Jing let out a deep sigh and said, "Your Highness, this young man is right. You and I each have our own masters. Who is right or wrong will be evaluated by later generations. Since you insist on doing so, Li Jing will grant your wish! Guards, escort the princess on her way!"