As soon as Song Qingshu finished speaking, his figure rushed up the mountain like a wisp of smoke. Wherever he passed, the swords and blades scattered on the ground seemed to be controlled by countless invisible threads, rising into the air and surrounding Song Qingshu. From afar, Song Qingshu seemed to have grown a pair of wings made up of countless swords and blades.
With Song Qingshu's lightness skill, it didn't take long for him to come into contact with the Qing army's vanguard. Sabusu's cavalry had already collapsed, how could they organize an effective counterattack? Wherever Song Qingshu went, blood splattered everywhere, the Qing soldiers who tried to block his way fell one by one.
No one would be able to remain calm when they saw their companions being chopped up like chives. Very soon, the surrounding Qing soldiers were all terrified. No one was willing to step forward to stop him. They subconsciously moved to the side to hide. There was only one broad road between Song Qingshu and Sabusu.
"Hurry up and stop him!" A deputy general beside Sabusu roared in horror. But now that the entire army had collapsed, who would care about him?
Sabusu's reaction was much calmer than the deputy general beside him. He held the saber at his waist and watched coldly as the Wings of Death formed by the saber and the sword drew closer. The last thought in his life was a long sigh. It's a pity that I don't know how he can summon wind and rain …
"Sabusu is dead. From now on, anyone who puts down their weapons and surrenders will be spared."
Behind Song Qingshu floated countless sabers and swords dripping with blood. Illuminated by the flashing lightning and rumbling thunder, Song Qingshu looked like a demonic god. One after another, the Qing soldiers who were closest to him dropped their weapons and crouched on the ground, shivering.
Since someone had taken the lead, more and more Qing soldiers chose to surrender. In the end, only a few of the soldiers at the back managed to escape. About half of the soldiers died in the chaos, and the other half chose to surrender.
The news of the annihilation of the three armies quickly spread back to the central army. Yue Le walked out of the commander's camp alone and stared blankly at the vast green mountains for a long time. Then, he gathered all the deputy generals for an emergency meeting and announced the immediate withdrawal of the army.
"Marshal, you mustn't do that. We've suffered heavy losses this time. If we don't make any contributions, we might not be able to escape punishment when we return to the capital."
"Yes, Marshal. Even if the other three armies were completely annihilated, the Golden Snake Camp must have suffered heavy losses. We still have 40,000 people. It's not that we don't have the power to fight."
"I'm willing to lead 5000 elite soldiers to attack the base camp of the rebels."
…
The generals in the commander's tent were in an uproar as they expressed their opinions.
"Now that the Golden Snake Camp has won several great victories, their morale is at its peak. In contrast, our army's morale has already been reduced by 80%. There's no benefit in staying." Yue Le raised his hand to stop everyone's discussion and made the final decision. "No need to say anything more. I have already decided that when we return to the capital and the Emperor blames me, I will bear the responsibility alone."
Looking at the generals' unwilling eyes as they left, Yue Le sighed, his brows full of worry. "This time, the four armies of the Southern Expedition cooperated with each other from a distance. The Golden Snake Camp could appear and disappear unpredictably. Every time they attacked, they chose the time when the other armies were unable to rescue them. I absolutely don't believe that there isn't a spy in the court. If we continue to fight, I'm afraid that even these 40,000 people will be lost here. It's better to return to the capital and secretly report to the Emperor first before making a decision."
Yue Le was worthy of being a famous general who had experienced hundreds of battles. Very quickly, he keenly discovered the biggest reason for this defeat. He had saved the effective strength for the Manchurian Qing. Unfortunately, no matter how much he calculated, he never would have thought that the Emperor in the capital was the biggest spy.
The news of the Qing army's retreat quickly spread to the Golden Snake Camp. The Golden Snake Camp suddenly burst into thunderous cheers. Although the first three battles were won by the weaker side and were fought very beautifully, everyone understood that they had been taking a risk by stepping on a tightrope. The Tartars could lose, but they could not afford to lose. If they were the slightest bit careless, they would be consigned to eternal damnation.
The leaders who had been sent outside to harass and intercept the other armies led their subordinates back to the base camp. The way they looked at Song Qingshu changed.
With just a few thousand men and horses, he easily destroyed the thirty thousand elites of Tu Hai's eastern army. After that, he destroyed the twenty-five thousand men of Fei Yanggu's western army without stopping. Finally, when they met the elite cavalry of the northern army in a hurry, they defeated them almost without any casualties and even captured nearly half of their men.
Tu Hai and Fei Yanggu were famous generals of the present age. The Golden Snake Camp had dealt with them many times. Even when the Golden Snake Camp was at its peak, they were still a headache for them. Now, Song Qingshu had actually led a few old and weak soldiers to easily defeat the Manchurian Qing's one hundred thousand elite soldiers!
This was already enough to make people prostrate themselves in admiration. However, what shocked everyone was the last battle. The news of Song Qingshu performing magic on the high platform, summoning the wind and rain, and destroying eight thousand Northern Goblin Cavalry with his own strength was spread by those who were present that day. Very soon, everyone in the Golden Snake Camp knew about this matter. It was inevitable to add oil to the fire. Now, in the hearts of all the soldiers of the Golden Snake Camp, their new Golden Snake King was not a mortal, but a reincarnation of an immortal.
Not to mention these ordinary soldiers, even the mountain leaders of the Golden Snake Camp were filled with respect and fear. They did not even dare to look at Song Qingshu directly.
Needless to say, the few leaders who had originally supported Song Qingshu, Xia Qingqing, Situ Bolei, Shui Jian, and Cheng Qingzhu were completely dead set on him.
The few leaders who had previously remained neutral, Jiao Waner, Rong Cai, Nie Tianfeng, and Zheng Qiyun, all used the most solemn etiquette to express their loyalty to Song Qingshu.
Seeing his former colleagues kneeling down, Sha Tongtian, who had been disagreeing with Song QingShu, felt his legs go limp and he also knelt down.
Sitting on the main seat and looking at the people who were kneeling down respectfully, Song Qingshu could not help but feel a little emotional. Previously, when he had disguised himself as Kangxi, the scene in the throne room was much bigger than this, but it did not make him feel as emotional. Because those people were kneeling down to Kangxi, and now, these people were kneeling down to him.
"In the past, when I read about Xiang Yu returning from the Battle of Julu after defeating the Qin army, all the feudal vassals trembled and bowed down to him, honoring him as the Great General. I did not expect that I would also be able to experience such an addiction …" Song Qingshu was feeling a little proud, but his expression suddenly changed. "Bah, bah, bah. What is there to learn about that unlucky Xiang Yu? In the end, he lost his wife and committed suicide in the Wu River. Bad luck, bad luck!"
"Cough cough …"
Song Qingshu was startled and looked toward the source of the sound. He found Huang Rong sitting there with a serious expression, looking straight ahead.
The little lady had good intentions. Song Qingshu smiled slightly, but he understood that now was the time to establish his authority. He was not in a hurry to let the people below the stage rise. Instead, he glanced around and asked coldly, "Where are Chu Hongliu and Meng Bofei?"
The people below the stage looked at each other in dismay. Only then did they realize that these two people had not come to the meeting hall. They all knew very well that of these two people, one had made a military pledge, but Tu Hai's army had escaped in defeat. The other was even worse, directly leading Sabusu's northern army to Song Qingshu's main force, trying to kill them with a borrowed knife. How would they dare to return now?
"Master Sha, you have always been familiar with them. Tell me where they have gone." Song Qingshu said with a faint smile.
The fat on Sha Tongtian's face trembled, and he hurriedly said, "First Master must be joking. I am not familiar with these two traitors at all."
Seeing that Song Qingshu was still staring at him, Sha Tongtian gritted his teeth and continued, "These two traitors conspired against the law and intended to harm First Master. Unexpectedly, First Master was possessed by the God of War and defeated the Qing army. Naturally, they did not have the guts to come back to accept their death. We do not know where they have escaped to. However, most of their subordinates admire First Master's authority and are unwilling to flee with them. Therefore, except for some of their trusted subordinates, the rest have returned to Golden Snake Camp …"
Hearing Sha Tongtian speak in such detail like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube, Song Qingshu understood that he was handing over his allegiance. When his words reached the ears of Chu Hongliu and Meng Bofei, the two sides would naturally become irreconcilable.
"All right, get up. We will let these two traitors roam free for a few days. Now, our top priority is to pursue and attack." Song Qingshu walked to the sand table that had been prepared earlier, pointed to the whole territory of Shandong, and said, "The Tartars' army of a hundred thousand has been annihilated. Now, there are no usable soldiers within a radius of a thousand miles. Every region has long been frightened by the news. Wherever our army goes, the prefectures and counties will certainly surrender at the mere sight of the wind. In the following period of time, we will need you to attack cities and seize territory."
"How dare we not obey!" All the leaders were overjoyed. When had Golden Snake Camp ever been so awe-inspiring? Even at their peak, they had only occupied a few surrounding small counties. Now, the whole of Shandong was in the bag.
"Our strength is limited. We can't hold too many places even if we occupy them. Let's use the Yellow River as the boundary. Within half a month, I want the prefectures and counties south of the Yellow River to belong to our Golden Snake Camp. Situ Bolei, you will lead the troops to attack Jining. Chief Shui, you will lead the troops to attack Zhangqiu … "
After Song Qingshu had arranged their respective tasks, he suddenly emphasized in a deep voice, "I know that many of you here came from the Lulin Forest. Perhaps you will not be able to change your old habits in a short period of time. Therefore, I will make it clear in advance that we cannot hole up in the mountains and be bandits for the rest of our lives. Even if we have to rob, it will be the Tartars who have invaded our Han people's territory!"
"Therefore, in this attack on the prefectures and prefectures, you are not allowed to rob any common people's belongings. You are not allowed to molest women. Those who kill will be executed, those who injure will be punished, and those who steal will be punished! If anyone dares to violate this, I don't care who he is, he will be severely punished! "
Hearing Song Qingshu's murderous words, all the leaders were startled. But now that Song Qingshu's prestige was like the sun in the sky, no one had any objections.
Seeing Song Qingshu imitating Liu Bang's three rules, Huang Rong couldn't help but be startled. This man was really scheming something big.
After all the leaders had received their orders and left, Xiao Feng stood up, cupped his fists and said, "Brother Song, since this matter is over, we will not stay for long. We will take our leave now."
Song Qingshu hastily stood up and said, "Brother Xiao, what are you talking about? This time, we were fortunate to have Brother Xiao's great help, allowing us to achieve a complete victory. I still haven't properly thanked you, how can I leave so soon?"
Xiao Feng couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Brother Song, don't be modest. With Brother Song's ability, even without me, it would be easy for you to repel the enemy. What's more, we have been away from Liao for a long time. Now that Liao is surrounded by danger, it would be better for us to return as soon as possible. "
"If not for someone like Brother Xiao leading us, how could we stimulate the fighting strength of those motley crew? This time, Brother Xiao can be said to have made great contributions, "Song Qingshu hastily said.
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