“What is the meaning of those expressions on your faces?”
Jin Feng felt a sudden thud in his heart. “You two surely do not believe his nonsense, do you?”
“Sir, the Wu family’s physiognomy technique is hereditary and extremely accurate. It is said they rarely speak falsehoods. He said you have a black aura, so sir should still be careful recently.”
The Ninth Princess said, “Of course, it is also possible that Wu Zhe knew he was certain to die and deliberately tried to frighten sir.”
With the Ninth Princess putting it this way, Jin Feng felt even less confident.
He turned to urge Da Liu, only to find that Da Liu had already lifted the tent curtain.
“Chen Ji, you will surely come to no good end!”
Wu Zhe shouted loudly, suddenly accelerating into a mad dash, crashing headfirst into a rock.
Da Liu hurried over, reached out to feel Wu Zhe’s neck, then turned and said, “Sir, he is dead!”
“Dead?”
Jin Feng suddenly felt a chill in his heart.
But the man was already dead. No matter how much he thought about it, it was useless. He could only compose himself and listen to Zhang Liang’s arrangements for the attack plan.
…
Tubo main camp. Danzhu was still wiping his battle sword.
Stroke by stroke, he wiped it with utmost care.
Even though the sword was already very clean, he did not stop.
Until his bodyguard lifted the curtain and entered.
“General, Mister Wu is dead!”
Danzhu’s wiping motion finally halted. His finger was cut by the sharp blade, leaving a small gash.
“I understand. Notify the brothers to assemble!”
Only after the bodyguard left did sadness appear on Danzhu’s face.
“Old fellow, I told you Chen Wen’er would never agree. Why did you insist on going to humiliate yourself?”
It could be said that without Wu Zhe’s assistance, there would be no Danzhu today.
The two had cooperated for over ten years, already as close as father and son.
Wu Zhe had discussed this plan with him last night, but Danzhu disagreed, and the two even had a fierce argument over it.
Wu Zhe had sat in the main tent until dawn. Danzhu thought he had changed his mind, but in the end, Wu Zhe still went.
“Old brother, this is our last time fighting side by side!”
Danzhu picked up the soft cloth again, wiped the blood from the blade, grasped his sword, and stood to walk out of the tent.
In the drilling ground of the Tubo camp, the soldiers who had escaped back were waiting here, totalling perhaps more than four thousand.
The formation remained neat, but at this moment, the once valiant and skilled fighters all showed worry on their faces.
Let alone veteran soldiers, even an ordinary person could sense the oppression in the ranks.
“Brothers, I know you are afraid, afraid of those strange weapons of the Dakang people. To be honest, I am afraid too. But is fear useful? If we are afraid, will the Dakang people spare you?”
Danzhu stood on the high platform, shouting hoarsely, “Just now, Mister Wu went to Great Python Slope to negotiate, wanting to use war horses and cattle and sheep to exchange for our departure, but the Dakang princess killed him!
The Dakang people are determined to kill us. The only thing we can do is fight them to the death!”
In warfare between nations, not killing envoys was a rule almost universally observed by all forces.
Dakang could refuse Wu Zhe’s proposed terms, but they could not kill Wu Zhe.
On the plateau, doing so was an insult to the other side.
Hearing Danzhu say this, many soldiers showed anger, gripping their sword hilts tightly.
This was the final gift Wu Zhe gave to Danzhu.
“In Tubo, there are only warriors who die in battle, no cowards who surrender!”
Danzhu continued shouting, “I will tell you the truth. I have many spies in Dakang. Whether you are brave and skilled warriors or cowards who fear death and cling to life, King Gada will know.
Everyone knows that the king will take good care of the children of warriors! He will also certainly kill the children of cowards!
We definitely cannot return. I hope everyone thinks more about their children!”
As these words came out, almost all the soldiers’ expressions changed.
Protecting their children was everyone’s instinct. They did not care about their own life or death, but they could not ignore their children’s.
“Kill one to break even, kill two to profit!”
Danzhu’s bodyguards, seeing the situation, quickly raised their arms and shouted, “Fight them to the death!”
The pre-arranged morale boosters immediately echoed, “Fight them to the death!”
“Fight them to the death!”
The emotions of the other soldiers were gradually roused.
Though morale had not returned to its peak, it now had the strength for one battle.
Thump, thump, thump!
Zhang Liang assembled the troops, forming square formations and slowly advancing towards the Tubo camp.
The muffled sound of footsteps, like war drums, struck heavily on the hearts of the Tubo soldiers.
Water buffalo pulled trebuchets one after another, following alongside the formations.
Danzhu stood on the watchtower, arranging defences based on the distribution of the Dakang troops.
The two sides were already mortal enemies. There was no declaration of war, no superfluous words. Once the trebuchets and heavy crossbows were in position, Zhang Liang directly issued the attack order.
The scene that had occurred yesterday below Great Python Slope was reenacted today.
Only this time, the attacking and defending sides had switched positions.
Jin Feng did not participate in the battle. He accompanied the Ninth Princess at the top of Great Python Slope, watching the battlefield from afar.
As they watched, both their brows furrowed.
The Weisheng Army had suffered heavy casualties. The Iron Tiger Battalion was holding Cat Ear Ridge, so the main forces for this assault were the Qingyuan Army, Changxin Army, and the other two units under Qing Xinyao.
Together, they totalled more than ten thousand men.
While Danzhu’s side had at most a little over four thousand, not even half of the Dakang soldiers.
Moreover, having just suffered defeat yesterday, their morale was low. Both Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess thought this battle would end quickly.
Jin Feng had even begun planning when to return to Xihe Bay.
But once the fighting truly began, Jin Feng realised he was wrong.
The morale of the Tubo soldiers was not as low as he had imagined, and the Qingyuan and Changxin Armies were not as fierce as he had hoped.
The battle had already lasted half an hour, yet the Dakang soldiers still had not breached any of the Tubo defences.
What Jin Feng found most unbelievable was that, with their side holding such an advantage, deserters actually appeared.
And not just one, but a small team of about thirty men. Seeing the ferocity of the enemy opposite, they directly abandoned their position and fled.
Fortunately, Dakang was the attacking side this time. If they had been defending, the enemy could have completely exploited this gap to break through the line!
“Are they pig-brained?”
Jin Feng watched that small team in disbelief.
They knew full well the Ninth Princess was watching from the rear, yet they dared to desert. Were they courting death?
If they truly could not fight, passive resistance would do.
The Ninth Princess’s face was so cold it seemed water could drip from it.
Qing Xinyao’s discipline was considered strict among Dakang generals, yet such a thing still happened.
The character of troops led by other dandy generals was self-evident.
Not to mention Qing Xinyao, even Qing Mulan felt ashamed and embarrassed.
She immediately rushed down the slope, leading the supervisory team to chop down the entire small team.
Perhaps wanting to save some face for her brother, after dealing with the deserters, Qing Mulan did not return to camp. Instead, she led her personal guard unit to fill the gap left by the deserters.
The Dakang soldiers were all frightened by Qing Mulan’s ruthless methods just now. Seeing her personally go to the front line with her men, many passively resisting soldiers were scared into bucking up.
Unfortunately, they still could not break through Danzhu’s defences.
Zhang Liang stood on high ground, staring at the battlefield and pondering for a long time. Finally, he sighed in disappointment and fired a signal arrow.
In the Great Python Slope camp, Da Zhuang looked up into the distance, involuntarily clenching his fists.
“Brothers, it is finally our turn! Let’s go, capture Danzhu alive!”
