300 To Meet Again
The lady was dressed in green and wore light armour, completely different from the heavily-armoured cavalry soldiers armed with twin blades. Chen Hu only took one glance to figure out her identity. Her surname was Ye. The Ye of Ye Xiaoying, and also the Ye of the Ye Banner Battalion.
Of course, she did not bear the slightest resemblance to the rugged General-in-Chief of Beili. She was extremely beautiful.
Hence, she greatly resembled the magnificently unmatched wife of the general.
Without further hesitation, Chen Hu immediately flipped onto his horse, pulled on the reins and turned back with a sharp command, "Retreat!"
"Our commander-in-chief was just killed, but you want us to retreat?" Beside him, Yao Junde's deputy general yelled angrily at him.
Chen Hu swung his horse’s whip and shoved it up against the other man’s face. His tone remained calm as he said, "Do you want the three thousand Luo City Army to be buried together with your commander?"
The Beili Three Armies.
General of the Upper Army, Cheng Luoying's army were mostly light armoured soldiers. He had nine thousand Tiger Leopard Cavaliers under his command. They specialised in surprise attacks and raids, and travelled extremely fast.
General of the Lower Army, Yuan Huilin’s army was well-known at reconnaissance. They specialised in military formations, unusual tactics and were especially good at attacking a large force using a smaller one.
General-in-chief Ye Xiaoying’s army were mostly heavily armoured soldiers. They were a slow-moving army when travelling a long distance, but at close-range, the army had an explosive and powerful force. The army generals were fierce and ruthless, and the killing instincts of their soldiers were far above that of the other two armies.
The three armies used to come under the command of the Pillar of State and General-in-chief Lei Mengsha and the Beili Grand Protector Xiao Ruofeng and they got along well with each other. Later, the three armies split apart and there were constant disputes and conflicting views, both big and small, between each other. Every time they clashed, a few would get injured or killed, and everyone involved would be punished severely. Now, they were looking at a confrontation between several thousand people. This had never happened before, nor would Chen Hu dare to start something like this. But he also understood.
The Ye Banner Battalion would definitely dare to start something like this.
"Retreat!" Chen Hu roared again. The Luo City Army did not hesitate further and immediately began to withdraw. But once the army had left, Chen Hu turned his horse back and galloped over. He looked at Ye Ruoyi and said respectfully, "The distinguished General Ye has an equally talented daughter. This Chen Hu has witnessed it for myself today."
"General Chen understood the situation and avoided casualties for both armies. Ruoyi would also like to thank you." Ye Ruoyi did not continue to be aggressive.
"Yao Junde is a general of my Luo City Army, after all. I don't know if Miss Ye can kindly return us his head. I will bring it back to Luo City so that I can answer to his family as well," Chen Hu said with a sigh as he looked at the head that still had his eyes wide open.
"According to the rules of the Ye Banner Battalion, whoever cuts off the head has ownership of it." Ye Ruoyi threw the head back to the battalion commander.
The battalion commander caught the head and smirked at Chen Hu arrogantly.
"The Ye Banner Battalion rewards merits based on collecting heads. Marching soldiers would often wear a string of enemy heads at their waists, shocking anyone who sees them. This Chen Hu knows this. But the Luo City Army is not an enemy after all, and we’re also on the same side. Is this really necessary?" Chen Hu said with his head lowered.
"Give it to him." A voice suddenly sounded, and everyone turned their heads to realise it was Sikong Qianluo who had been silent up till then. Sikong Qianluo's eyes were hollow and expressionless, as she wiped the blood from her face. "Anyway, he had nothing to do with this affair and he just gave up his life here. Why insist on taking possession of his head?"
The battalion commander glanced at Ye Ruoyi, and Ye Ruoyi sighed and nodded lightly. The battalion commander turned around and threw the head into Chen Hu’s hands.
Chen Hu pulled his horse’s reins. "Gratitude to the Ye Banner Battalion. And also to this lady."
"Just go. I hope I won't see you again." Sikong Qianluo turned her head.
Chen Hu flicked his horse whip and followed after the Luo City Army to leave.
Sikong Qianluo whistled sharply, and a horse that was waiting obediently in the distance galloped over. She flipped onto the horse and looked at Ye Ruoyi. "Ye-jiejie."
Ye Ruoyi trotted over beside her and patted her on the shoulder. "You did really well."
"Will more people die in the future?" Sikong Qianluo asked her softly.
Ye Ruoyi couldn't bear to look her in the eyes. She looked aside and nodded after a long silence. "Most likely."
The battalion commander rode his horse over and smiled. "That’s what happens on a battlefield. You don’t want to kill others, but other people want to kill you. When our Ye Banner Battalion crosses through a battlefield, we are known for our killing instincts. But, we don’t want to kill them either. During the day, we are the devils in front of their eyes, but at night, those we’ve killed will also haunt us in our nightmares. But since we’re on the battlefield, we must have the resolve to put our lives on the line."
"Are we already on a battlefield?" Sikong Qianluo asked in a low voice.
"Of course." The battalion commander nodded.
"I don't want to kill anyone." Sikong Qianluo shook the spear in her hand. "General, you have been in the army for many years. Can you tell me how we can kill less people to end this war?"
"We once confronted Nanjue’s great army of one hundred thousand and fought for a whole year. Sixty thousand of them died, and we lost forty thousand. A total of one hundred thousand remains were buried in the south. Where the bones were buried was constantly haunted by ghosts, and it rained heavily for three months. Just now, our Ye Banner Battalion and the Luo City Army fought for a quarter of an hour. One person died." The battalion commander slowly said, "Win as fast and as swift as you can. The faster we end this war, the fewer the dead people. The goal is not to kill as many enemies as you can. Winning this war is the most important thing."
"Alright. Then we will win this quickly," Sikong Qianluo said resolutely, her eyes looking ahead into the distance.
"You like Chuhe very much, don't you?" Ye Ruoyi asked her with a smile.
"His name is Xiao Se." Sikong Qianluo flicked her horse’s reins and galloped ahead.
Ye Ruoyi stroked her horse’s mane and nodded. "Alright. Then, let’s go meet Xiao Se, and then we will win this war! Soldiers, get ready and move out!"
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On the plains, a lone man on a horse was galloping at full speed.
The horse was a fine yebei horse capable of riding thousands of miles a day tirelessly. The rider was also a talented man who was gifted from birth, once recognised by both inside and outside the imperial court to be the heir to the throne.
At this moment, he was really furious.
Because he hadn’t encountered many enemies along the way. The entire situation made no sense. The only explanation was that someone had removed those obstacles for him. But he had wanted to ride straight into Heavenly Revelations on his own. He knew it would be very difficult but he wanted to make the attempt.
He raved at the sky, venting all the resentment he felt in his heart.
The horse under him neighed and came to a stop.
There was a man with a sword blocking his way.
The man wore a hat, and the huge sword in his hand was several times larger than an ordinary sword.
Xiao Se scoffed, "You again."
He used "again" because when he left Heavenly Revelations years ago, the man who stood in his way was also this man. Back then, he was called a rare talent gifted from birth. He entered the Unfettered Heavenly Realm at a young age and inherited the Wuji staff, but yet, he was leagues away from a match for this opponent in front of him.
Wrath Sword Immortal, Yan Zhantian.
"I thought there would be an army of thousands coming to stop me. I didn't expect that in the end, it’s just you," Xiao Se sneered coldly.
Yan Zhantian thrust his sword into the ground and raised his hand to take off his hat. Slowly, he said, "I am an army of thousands."
*
Note about the Beili Armed Forces:
As mentioned in this chapter, the Beili Army is divided into the Central Army (中军), the Upper Army (上军), and the Lower Army (下军). When Langya Prince and Lei Mengsha were alive, they had absolute authority over all three armies. Langya Prince Xiao Ruofeng was the Beili Grand Protector (北离大都护) and he could deploy the army on behalf of the Emperor. This authority now rests with the Emperor after Langya Prince died.
Lei Mengsha was the Pillar of State General (柱国将军). That means he’s the highest ranking general of all three armies and reported directly to Langya Prince. After Lei Mengsha died, nobody replaced him and Langya Prince commanded the three armies until he died as well.
Ye Xiaoying is the Defender General-in-Chief of the State (镇国大将军) and he commands the Central Army, which consists of heavy cavalry and armoured forces. Since the Central Army had the highest authority in Beili, Ye Xiaoying became the highest ranking general of the armed forces. The Ye Banner Battalion (叶字营) is his personal army which forms part of the Central Army.
Langya Prince also had a personal army, the Langya Army (琅琊军), which was also part of the Central Army. They disbanded after Langya Prince died and are now hidden among the commoners in Beili. Xiao Lingchen’s three heavenly generals were part of the Langya Army, below in rank only to Ye Xiaoying.
Cheng Luoying is the General of the Upper Army (上将军) and the Luo City Army (洛城军) forms part of this force. The General of the Lower Army (下将军) is Yuan Huilin who doesn’t appear in this story.
Besides these three armies which are deployed to fight in wars with enemy nations (for instance, Nanjue in the south), there are also the imperial guards stationed within the capital. The Imperial Army (禁军) are responsible for guarding the imperial capital and the Emperor.
Lastly, the Brave Tiger Guards (虎贲將) are the Emperor’s elite personal bodyguards. They stay close to the Emperor’s side even when he travels out of the capital. They were the personal bodyguards of Xiao Ruojin before he became the Emperor and in the past, they were also assigned to protect Langya Prince. Now, their descendents have inherited the positions.