Chapter 1258 - 311: Siege

Chapter 1258: Chapter 311: Siege

The thoughts of Liu Ruqing were unclear to Lord Zheng, as the impending military campaign left no room for distractions like leisurely romantic pursuits.

After Liu Ruqing departed in a slight panic, Lord Zheng turned to Li Fusheng with a smile:

"Rest assured, brother, I’ll assist you in this battle."

"Ah, splendid!"

Li Fusheng turned around, picked up his wine bowl, poured out the wine inside, and then licked the bottom of the bowl with his tongue.

"Ah, this wine, we’ll savor it once the battle is over."

With that,

Li Fusheng remembered something and continued:

"Back in the day during battles, Li Bao and I used to sit together. Back then, you sent wine from Shengle City, but the iron rule of my Northern Border Army was no alcohol during wartime. So Li Bao and I would each take a chopstick to dip in the wine just to indulge slightly. Li Bao that fellow loved peeling garlic, the whole military tent reeked of it."

Lord Zheng remained silent, Li Fusheng was evidently reminiscing about his fallen comrades.

"Brother Zheng, for us who survive the battlefield, dying in battle is the best destiny. I’ve killed too much in my life and never expected to enjoy my old age.

Yet, I’m not afraid of dying. Since donning this armor, too many good brothers have gone ahead, waiting for me below. It won’t be lonely when I join them."

"Big brother, it’s almost time to head out, saying such things is inauspicious."

"What’s inauspicious about it? Just wild people. If their king were still around, maybe there’d be something to consider. But nowadays, these wild people are just rabble. With my troops plus your troops, assembling a hundred thousand cavalry, could we fear them?

Such rabble shouldn’t be something for me to worry about."

Saying so,

Li Fusheng walked in front of Zheng Fan,

reached out and patted his shoulder,

then suddenly lowered his voice,

and said:

"Was it you who made Qian’er faint last time when she was with you?"

Zheng Fan didn’t know if the princess had written to inform Li Fusheng or if Li Fusheng had guessed it himself;

but, it didn’t matter.

Lord Zheng nodded straightforwardly and said:

"Yes."

"You’re all young, having a bit of disagreement is normal."

Zheng Fan remained silent.

"Qian’er is pitiful, just like the young lord in your residence. Being their children, they are destined to have an uncomfortable life."

Zheng Fan sighed.

"Come now, enough of that. It’s time for war, we need to muster the spirit needed for it. Siege warfare can be frustrating as hell, brother, this time I’ll enjoy myself in the snowfields.

Come, Brother Zheng, you’re familiar with this area. Tell me, how should we fight this battle? We don’t have time to penetrate deeply into the snowfields, but plowing through this eastern segment near your snowfield isn’t a big problem.

The people, livestock, and furs we raid will be of great use.

I trust you know, that although Yan now seems vast, since swallowing the Three Jin land, we’ve never caught our breath. However much we can loot in the snowfields this time, it’ll ease our pressure, and the people might have one more bite of food.

Agreed, I’ll lead the charge, but you decide how we fight and the arrangements."

Zheng Fan nodded and smiled:

"My ideas might be somewhat circuitous and troublesome, but I think they’ll be worthwhile."

......

The sky gradually darkened as Sang Hu’s convoy began setting up camp.

Yet the troops from various tribes had not retreated and were increasingly encroaching, rising from under thirty thousand in the daylight to over forty thousand now.

Because more distant tribes had sent warriors hoping to join in the spoils.

However, having received warnings relayed by Jin Shuke, no tribe dared act first, though they were reluctant to depart after coming this far.

This was a thirty thousand strong tribe, exceedingly dispersed, and one could foresee that with just a few troops charging, the rest could easily be plundered.

Simply giving it up like that was truly difficult to stomach.

Importantly, the Yan forces at Snow Sea Pass had remained as during the day, no reinforcements were seen arriving from there.

Had the Lord himself arrived with seven or eight thousand cavalry, maybe everyone would disperse, but with merely hundreds of people, did they really think they could handle us all?

At this time,

the tribes began sending people to Jin Shuke’s small encampment for various probing interactions.

Jin Shuke did not refuse anyone, he met whoever came and talked with them, firmly rejecting any hints from those tribes, telling them straightforward that these migrating wild people were to enter Snow Sea Pass.

Meanwhile, Jin Shuke understood that the tribal leaders were simultaneously sending people to him while certainly discussing amongst themselves.

After all, they had numbers, considering this in their understanding as their wild people’s business.

Snowfield rules, annexing nearby small tribes to grow stronger has been an eternal truth.

No matter how strong or capable the Yan people are, they are only at Snow Sea Pass, they haven’t conquered the vast snowfields yet!

This stalemate persisted into the latter half of the night.

...

Bonfires burned, occasionally cracking wood sounds echoed.

Sang Hu cleaned his blade,

after wiping for a while,

he glanced up at the Snow Wolf banner standing before him;