With Li Jikui’s command, the Dangxiang army slowly withdrew from the Qingshui Valley area.
“Victory! Victory! Victory!”
The Tielin Army camp erupted into a sea of jubilation.
Officers and soldiers alike looked up at the figure standing with hands behind his back on the high ground, their eyes filled with admiration.
The Dangxiang cavalry had always been an invincible myth on the battlefield, even Qinghuai’s engagements with them relied on terrain-based harassment, rarely daring to face them head-on.
When a direct confrontation was unavoidable, it was always their side that suffered heavy losses.
But today, the tide had turned.
Over a thousand Dangxiang cavalry, including their elite vanguard camp, had come with fierce momentum, only to be utterly defeated, while the Tielin Army didn’t lose a single man.
This was a miracle unheard of before.
And the one who brought this miracle was the seemingly frail young man.
When they learned Qinghuai, before falling unconscious, had entrusted the Tielin Army not to a deputy but to a stranger, many soldiers and officers were unconvinced.
But from this moment, every member of the Tielin Army was wholeheartedly convinced by Jin Feng.
“General, mighty! General, mighty!”
The soldiers’ shouts echoed across the fields.
Jin Feng smiled, waved to those below, and turned to descend the high ground.
Out of sight, he collapsed onto a rock, gasping heavily, his face pale.
War had always been cruel.
The riverbank was strewn with the corpses of Dangxiang cavalry and their horses, blood staining the ground, turning it into a muddy mess.
The thick stench of blood hung over the entire camp.
For Jin Feng, witnessing such a scene for the first time, the impact was overwhelming.
As the army’s commander, his state directly affected the Tielin Army’s morale, so he had forced himself to remain composed.
“If you need to vomit, just do it, everyone’s like this the first time, you’ll get used to it,” Old Man Zhao said, handing him a cup of warm tea, “You’re tougher than I was, my first time on the battlefield with General Fan, I vomited my guts out and wet my trousers.”
“Thanks.”
Jin Feng took a sip of the tea, forcing down the nausea, managing not to vomit.
After calming himself, he stood up.
The battle was won, but much work remained.
First, he needed to organise soldiers to clear the corpses from the riverbank, then cover the bloodstains with soil to prevent a stench by tomorrow.
The work on the catapults on the mountain also needed to continue.
…
While the Tielin Army rejoiced, the mood in General Fan’s command residence in Weizhou City was grim.
News of the Qingshui Valley attack had reached them two hours ago, but General Fan hadn’t sent reinforcements.
Old Man Zhao’s urgent report claimed the Tielin Army’s new commander, Jin Feng, was paralysed with fear and had taken no measures against the Dangxiang cavalry.
From the report, General Fan deduced Jin Feng couldn’t hold Qingshui Valley.
Sending reinforcements risked encountering the Dangxiang cavalry en route.
Rather than sending men to their deaths, it was better to hold the city.
This was the best defence against cavalry.
So, General Fan not only withheld reinforcements but withdrew all outlying troops into Weizhou City.
Various commanders gathered at the command residence for a strategy meeting.
“They say the Tielin Army is the sharpest blade of our Western Garrison, but I say it’s nothing special, couldn’t even hold out a day against the Dangxiang cavalry.”
“It’s not that the Tielin Army is weak, it’s that Qinghuai’s badly wounded, and before passing out, he handed the army to a blacksmith from the mountains?”
“A blacksmith can fight a war?”
“If he could, how could four or five thousand Tielin troops holding Qingshui Valley not last a day?”
“Qinghuai’s decision was too reckless.”
“No kidding.”
The younger commanders grumbled with dissatisfaction.
General Fan sat at the head, face dark, silent.
Dakang, established for centuries, had accumulated countless noble families, their influence deeply entwined, over ninety percent of the commanders present were pampered scions of these families, sent to the border for prestige.
Win or lose, a stint at the border, followed by family connections, usually guaranteed a promotion.
Today, you vouch for my nephew’s promotion, next time, I’ll do the same for yours.
This had become an unspoken agreement in Dakang’s court, General Fan despised it but was powerless to change it.
He even had to placate these young lords, like when He Mingqin deserted his post without reason, Fan didn’t punish him, only scolded him lightly and promptly transferred command to Qinghuai.
He needed these noble families’ support to sustain the war.
If they withdrew their forces, he’d be left with nothing.
It was against such spoiled commanders that Qinghuai had risen so quickly.
“Commander, how could you agree to let Qinghuai hand the Tielin Army to a stranger from the countryside?”
Zhang Qiwei, commander of the Dening Army, stood, seeing Fan’s silence, “If no one else was available, you could’ve given it to me.”
He’d long coveted the Tielin Army but lost out to He Mingqin last time.
“Give it to you? Could you hold Qingshui Valley?”
General Fan, already irritated, snapped, “Why don’t you take the Dening Army to hold Qingshui Valley after the Dangxiang retreat?”
“I…”
Zhang Qiwei, intimidated, didn’t dare respond.
Joking aside, Qingshui Valley was the first choke point for the Dangxiang’s southern campaign, if the Tielin Army couldn’t hold it, his Dening Army would be sent to die.
“Commander, don’t speak in anger, now that the Dangxiang have taken Qingshui Valley, what do we do?”
A commander close to Zhang Qiwei spoke to defuse the situation.
“Yes, Commander, we need a plan quickly.”
Other commanders chimed in.
At that moment, a red-plumed messenger galloped straight into the command residence.
Before he arrived, his excited shout rang out, “Great victory at Qingshui Valley!”
“What’s that outside?”
Zhang Qiwei, hard of hearing since childhood, didn’t catch it.
“Sounds like a great victory at Qingshui Valley?”
One noble commander said, “Did I hear that wrong?”
General Fan was already at the door.
The other noble commanders strained to listen.
The messenger’s hoofbeats grew closer, he reached the meeting hall, dismounted, and shouted excitedly, “Commander, great victory at Qingshui Valley, over eight hundred enemies killed, over six hundred Dangxiang cavalry and horses captured!”
The hall fell silent, you could hear a pin drop.
The noble commanders were stunned, jaws dropped.
Wasn’t Qingshui Valley lost? How was there suddenly a great victory?
Killing over eight hundred, capturing over six hundred?
What happened?
General Fan, a seasoned veteran, recovered first, asking, “What about the Tielin Army’s losses?”
“Commander, the Tielin Army suffered no casualties.”
