When Lin Muyu opened her eyes, her surroundings were still in chaos. Dust filled the air, and the sound of hooves shook the entire Luo River Estuary. However, it was already close to dusk, which proved that the battle had lasted for an entire day. The surroundings were filled with blood and the burnt smell of the magic crystal cannons. From afar, the Purple Yinhua flag fluttered amidst the smoke. There were also the flags of the Nation Guarding Army, the Longdan Army Camp, the Imperial Army, and the Divine Might Battalion. It was clear that the empire had won this battle.
"Xiao Xi."
He raised his head to look at Tang Xiaoxi and found that his head was resting on her snow-white legs. His body was shaking slightly. The two of them were in the chariot, and the person driving the horse was Wei Chou. Only he and Tang Xiaoxi had the face to drive the horse.
"You're awake?" Tang Xiaoxi smiled. "Great, great …"
"I remember seeing Xu Hao …"
"This subordinate is here, successor." Xu Hao floated down. He had been flying in the air to protect Lin Muyu.
"You're finally here." Lin Muyu used the Spirit Pulse Technique to see that Xu Hao had already stepped into the Godking realm. She smiled. "Not bad. Even you, Xu Hao, have stepped into the thirtieth heaven realm."
Xu Hao smiled. "In order to protect the Heavenly Tome Monolith Forest, we hid our identities in the White Leaves Forest and purposely did not ascend. After ten thousand years of preparation, we naturally succeeded. Successor, how's your body? "
"I'm fine."
Lin Muyu moved her arm. She felt that the Sovereign Matrix in her Yi Sea was madly absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy to replenish her divine power. Her Qi Sea was also surging with divine power. This was good news. The temporary loss of divine power caused by the Demon Heart Arrow had passed.
"How are you now?" He raised his head, but all he could see were two peaks wrapped in clouds. After Tang Xiaoxi had stepped into the Godking realm, her figure had become even better. Lin Muyu said, "Xiao Xi, you're blocking my view …"
"Ah?"
Tang Xiaoxi was stunned. She suddenly realized what he was referring to, and her pretty face instantly flushed red. She said, "Scoundrel, you've just woken up and you're already making fun of me!"
"I didn't, it's true … Help me up, I want to see the battlefield."
"Are you really okay? How about I help you fly and look down at the battlefield? "
"Hmm, that's even better!"
Thus, Tang Xiaoxi supported Lin Muyu's arm and let his right arm wrap around her neck. Then, she activated her divine power and slowly flew up, bringing Lin Muyu into the air. They felt the night breeze. The weather in Lingdong Province was not considered mild. The night breeze was like a storm, causing their cloaks to flutter.
Inside the battlefield, there were clouds of smoke and corpses everywhere. Near the steel wall, corpses were piled up like mountains. Almost every pile of corpses contained at least a thousand people. There were dozens of such piles of corpses. Together with the corpses in the Luo River Estuary that had not been cleaned up, the number of people who died in this battle was definitely more than 200,000!
In the distance, in the north of the Luo River Estuary, in the territory of Tongtian Province, the sound of killing was still echoing on the ground. Rows of Qin Empire's cavalry were chasing the defeated troops of Tianji Empire. Their banners were fluttering all over the mountains and plains.
"Something's wrong."
Lin Muyu furrowed her brows.
"What's wrong?" Tang Xiaoxi asked.
"Gong Shangming is cautious in using his troops. He shouldn't have been so unprepared after such a setback. Even if the Longdan Army Camp burned their provisions, they shouldn't have been so defeated, right? They retreated in an orderly manner. This is the combat quality that a commander should have. Even if the Tianji Empire suffered heavy losses, it shouldn't be so miserable, right? "
"You mean … it's a trap?"
"Yes. Who was the one who commanded the Tianji Empire to attack the steel wall before?"
"After Gong Shangming lost the first battle, Beiming Huan changed his general at the last minute and ordered Zhou Xinyao to command today's battle. Now it seems that Zhou Xinyao's position as the chief strategist will be lost."
"Zhou Xinyao?" Lin Muyu frowned and said, "I've seen this man in Winter Frost City. He is courageous, but he shows off his abilities. He should be the kind of person who is resourceful but not good at scheming. Beiming Huan must be blind to command this battle with Zhou Xinyao."
Tang Xiaoxi chuckled and said, "Otherwise, I'm afraid the steel wall would no longer belong to the Qin Empire."
"Yes."
Lin Muyu raised her eyebrows and looked at the ground. She said, "Wei Chou, immediately send out a letter and order the troops who have chased to the north to withdraw immediately. Don't chase a desperate enemy!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"I hope it's not too late."
"Mu, are you so sure that Gong Shangming will set up an ambush in the north?"
"I'm not sure, but there's at least a 50% chance that he will." Lin Muyu smiled lightly and said, "War is a kind of game. How can you be sure? You can only guess what the opponent is thinking. If you can always guess correctly, then you're a famous general."
Tang Xiaoxi giggled and said, "You're right."
Xu Hao said respectfully, "Successor, your injuries have not healed yet. Why don't we go back to the steel wall and rest well? Miss Chu Yao's medical skills are superb, and she can diagnose and treat your injuries again."
"Yes."
Lin Muyu nodded. The war in the north was not something he could control anymore. The only thing he could do now was to wait for the situation to develop.
Wei Chou and the ten thousand soldiers of the Longdan Army Camp were left to wait outside the Luo River estuary. The others all went back to the steel wall to rest. No one knew when the next battle would be.
…
Late at night, news kept coming. The troops under Feng Jixing, Zhen Yifan, Zhen Fang and Su'Er had all returned one after another. Only the thirty thousand Imperial Guards led by Zhang Wei had not returned.
It was not until late at night that Zhang Wei returned. He was covered in blood and knelt down the moment he entered the meeting hall.
"What's wrong?"
Feng Jixing said lightly, "Didn't I tell you to withdraw immediately after sunset?"
"I … I …"
Zhang Wei's face was pale and his whole body was trembling.
"Old Zhang, tell me clearly. How many troops did we lose?" Lin Muyu asked.
"Only … less than five thousand came back."
"What!?"
Feng Jixing was infuriated. He slammed the table and stood up, bellowing furiously, "Men, drag this useless Zhang Wei out and behead him!"
Zhang Wei wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. Tears flowed from his eyes as he cried out, "I, Zhang Wei, am convinced that Your Highness has beheaded me. I'm willing to die to pay for the lives of over twenty thousand brothers. It's just that we were ambushed in the Green Yellow Forest and our brothers died too tragically … Zhang Wei only hopes that after I die, His Highness Yu and Prince Xin can lead the three armies to avenge my twenty thousand brothers who died in vain, recover our lost land, and take back the Heavenspan Province from the hands of the bandits …"
"Drag him out and behead him!"
Feng Jixing was really infuriated. He was so angry that his whole body was trembling. How many resources were needed to nurture 25,000 Imperial Guards?
"Wait a minute."
Lin Muyu said softly, "Brother Feng, don't be angry first. Wait for me to find out the reason. Wei Chou, speak! "
Wei Chou knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Highness, when I led 10,000 brothers from the Longdan Army Camp to provide support, I saw the Green Yellow Forest in flames. The Tianji Empire burned the entire Green Yellow Forest, and many of our brothers from the Imperial Guards were burned alive. However, Lord Zhang Wei led the troops to charge back and forth and fought valiantly. Without his command, we probably wouldn't have been able to break out of the encirclement. Moreover, the 25,000 Imperial Guards didn't die in vain. Before they died, they fought bravely and killed at least over ten thousand bandits."
"Is that so, Zhang Wei?" Zhang Wei? "Lin Muyu asked.
"Yes." Zhang Wei gritted his teeth and said, "But I don't beg for Your Highness Yu to forgive me. Zhang Wei only wishes for death. I don't have the face to continue living in this world."
"Fine, drag him out and behead him," Feng Jixing said angrily.
"Brother Feng." Lin Muyu interceded, "The Imperial Guards were almost wiped out in this battle, and there's a need to recruit new soldiers and reorganize them. This won't do if there's no one to train new soldiers for you. Why don't we let Zhang Wei make up for his mistakes with his meritorious deeds? Strip him of his position and just give him the position of a ten-man squad leader. After we recruit new soldiers, we'll let him train them. If he can't train the new soldiers well, it'll be too late to behead him then."
After saying that, Lin Muyu threw a glance.
Immediately, Wei Chou, Situ Sen, Luo Yu, Fengxi, Zhen Fang, and the other generals all knelt down and said loudly, "Your Highness, please forgive Zhang Wei!"
Qin Yan also said, "That's right. Your Highness, please forgive him this time. After all, Zhang Wei has also killed quite a number of bandits. After suffering such losses, the strength of the Tianji Empire's bandits will be greatly reduced, and they won't be able to continue attacking the steel protective wall."
"Hmph!"
Feng Jixing's countenance was grim as he said calmly, "He can be spared from death, but he can't escape punishment. Men, send Zhang Wei to prison. Lock him up for three days and three nights. Don't even allow him to eat or drink."
"Yes!"
In fact, Feng Jixing could not bear to kill Zhang Wei either. This time around, if it wasn't for the fact that he had given Zhang Wei the authority to lead the troops due to his lack of consideration, they wouldn't have suffered such a defeat. However, the Imperial Guards had suffered a crushing defeat in the battle with the Flowing Mist Army, and the soldiers' deaths weren't in vain.
…
The entire meeting hall fell silent. Not long later, someone from the Ministry of War's Minister Manor came. It was a young assistant minister who held a scroll of paper in his hand. He said, "Your Highnesses, the statistics are out."
"Speak, the overall report," Lin Muyu said.
"Yes."
He opened up the scroll and said respectfully, "This time, there were a total of 370,000 soldiers from the Spirit Demon Army, Longdan Army Camp, Imperial Guards, Zither Dragon Army, God Might Battalion, and Prefectural Garrison Army. There were a total of 370,000 soldiers that participated in the battle. There were 134,000 soldiers that died, 76,000 were heavily injured, and over 30% of them were permanently unable to participate in the battle. There were 110,000 soldiers that suffered light injuries, and the losses of our resources were severe. We still have 30,000 Magic Crystal Cannons, but there are less than 8,000 usable Magic Crystal Crossbows. Other than that, we have calculated the losses of the enemy based on the battlefield."
"Oh?" Feng Jixing was startled, "Speak."
"On the battlefield, we collected a total of 63,542 corpses. The number of corpses that were destroyed by the Magic Crystal Cannons and Magic Crystal Crossbows numbered around 20,000. Adding on the corpses that were found after entering the Northern Region, we estimate that to be around 50,000 corpses. Thus, we have killed a total of 130,000 soldiers."
"130,000?"
Feng Jixing could not help but laugh bitterly, "I initially thought that it would be a huge victory, but who knew that … .it was only about the same!"
"At least, they will not be able to spy on Lingdong Province for a short period of time."
"That's true."
…
At this moment, a messenger suddenly rushed in from outside the residence and said anxiously, "A message from Eight Wastelands says that Eight Wastelands has fallen! The Tianji Empire's 150,000 Long Ji Army seized all the territories in Eight Wastelands overnight. Their military strength is already approaching the Northern Fortress of Yun Zhong Province! "
"What!?"
Lin Muyu and Feng Jixing stood up together, their faces were filled with disbelief.
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