As a daughter of the Bai Clan, Bai Siling had always been an intelligent young lady. Furthermore, as a lady, there wasn't much that she needed to worry about.
In truth, the conflict between Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, and Wang Chong had been the focus of this expedition. As for Bai Siling, she had always been able to sit by the sidelines and watch from the sidelines.
But this time, Bai Siling couldn't help but feel deeply worried.
This expedition was issued by the royal court and the training camp. Even though they knew that there was danger ahead, they couldn't possibly give up. Furthermore, the Iron Cloak Bandits didn't seem to be simple at all. Even until now, Bai Siling hadn't found any traces of them, but they had already figured out how many people they had.
This left Bai Siling feeling uneasy, and it was also the reason why she called Wang Chong over.
"Siling, it's not a big deal for them to know how many people we have. In the military, there's a method of counting the number of stoves. Our group of eighty are all veterans of the Tang dynasty, and it's common practice for us to cook with stoves. As long as they send their men around us, they'll know how many stoves we have. It's not a big deal at all. "
Wang Chong replied calmly. It didn't take long for him to figure out how the other party did it.
"What's your name?"
Wang Chong turned to the man on the ground.
"Li Cangqi!"
The man was taken aback for a moment, but he still straightened his back and reported his name. Li Cangqi slowly sensed that this young man with sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and a jade-like face who appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years old seemed to be the real leader of this trip.
Furthermore, he had already told him about how formidable the Iron Cloak Bandits were, but the young man didn't panic at all. On the contrary, he even pointed out that the Iron Cloak Bandits were counting the number of people in their group. This left Li Cangqi with a bizarre feeling.
This young man seemed to be different from ordinary people.
"Li Cangqi!"
Wang Chong nodded and glanced at him.
"It seems like you're quite familiar with the highwaymen on the western path. Let me ask you, if you were one of the Iron Cloak Bandits, given your knowledge, when would they make their move?"
"Right now!"
Li Cangqi said solemnly.
Wang Chong and Bai Siling looked at each other, and their expressions changed.
"You are too close to the Iron Cloak Highwaymen's territory, only a hundred li away. Based on the Iron Cloak Highwaymen's usual style, they would never wait for the enemy to arrive at their territory before making a move. Instead, they were more accustomed to long-distance raids and taking the initiative to attack. This way, they would be able to catch the enemy off guard. Based on my understanding, I advise you to retreat while your men are still here and have yet to come into contact with the Iron Cloak Bandits. Otherwise, with just the eighty of you, you wouldn't be a match for the Iron Cloak Bandits! "
Li Cangqi said solemnly. His original intention was to remind Wang Chong and the others to hurry up, but after hearing his words, Wang Chong's expression suddenly changed.
"This is bad! We have to inform Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, and the others!"
Wang Chong abruptly turned around, and without a word, he dashed out like a bolt of lightning.
Li Cangqi thought that all of them were here, but Wang Chong knew that that wasn't the case at all. Perhaps, one group of soldiers would head up the mountain to suppress the Iron Cloak Bandits while the other would wait at the foot of the mountain. However, their group was different.
Based on his understanding of Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu, they weren't at the foot of the mountain at all. It was likely that as soon as the two of them set off, these two men would rush out with their army and rush to another stronghold thirty miles away.
That place was only seventy li away from the Iron Cloak Bandits' territory!
If the Iron Cloak Highwaymen preferred to take the initiative, that meant that Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu would be in great danger.
"Everyone, retreat! Hurry up!"
A thought suddenly struck Bai Siling, and she leaped up from her chair as if she had been electrocuted. Without any hesitation, she quickly followed behind Wang Chong and dashed out of the stronghold.
"Neigh! — — "
With the neighing of war steeds, the entire stronghold fell into chaos. Realizing the danger they were in, the forty Tang dynasty cavalrymen charged out furiously from the top of the mountain, not even bothering to clean up their spoils of war.
Dust billowed on the main road as the forty cavalrymen charged toward a stronghold thirty li away.
Even though he had many conflicts with Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu, Wang Chong didn't wish for them to be killed by the bandits and highwaymen just because of that.
More importantly, other than Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu, there were forty loyal cavalrymen of the Tang dynasty with them.
For a cavalryman who had dedicated his life to the Tang dynasty to be killed by bandits and highwaymen, this was a humiliation and a disgraceful ending.
Wang Chong had spent his entire life on the battlefield, so he could understand this feeling better than anyone else. Thus, he couldn't allow such a thing to happen.
"Jya!"
The White-hoofed Shadow beneath Wang Chong seemed to have sensed its master's intentions and galloped forward with all its might.
Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu had set off very early. Taking into account the time they had spent on the mountain, it would take at least several hours for them to reach the stronghold thirty li away.
For the first time, Wang Chong felt that a journey of thirty li felt so long.
"I hope that I can make it in time!"
Wang Chong clenched his fists tightly. At this point, he could only hope that the Iron Cloak Highwaymen wouldn't make a move so quickly. Or perhaps, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu hadn't met them yet.
Hong long long!
Several hours later, when they were still around ten li away from their destination, they could see a huge cloud of yellow sand rising into the sky. Amidst the yellow sand, men and horses neighed, and war cries could be heard. In an instant, an innumerable number of people had gathered in the area.
"This is bad!"
Seeing the huge cloud of yellow sand, Wang Chong and Bai Siling felt their hearts turn cold, and the blood drained from their faces.
"We are too late!"
Bai Siling's lips quivered, and her face paled. No matter how slow she was, she could tell that they were too late. Judging from the surging yellow sand and the imposing aura, there were more than a hundred highwaymen gathered there. To be able to gather so many of them, it was likely that they were the Iron Cloak Highwaymen that Li Cangqi spoke of.
At this moment, Wang Chong's complexion wasn't any better than Bai Siling's as well. Just based on the imposing aura, Li Cangqi's evaluation of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen wasn't wrong at all.
On the road between Longxi and the capital, the Iron Cloak Highwaymen were without a doubt the number one group.
"What should we do now?"
Bai Siling reined in the reins and turned to look at Wang Chong with a dazed look on her face.
She was skilled in martial arts, and she was the daughter of a prestigious clan. She was one of the few women in the world who had her own opinions.
But at the end of the day, she was still a girl. She had never experienced this kind of confrontation between two armies and a military-like battle before.
On top of that, the other party had the advantage in numbers. From a distance of more than ten li away, it would be difficult for one to hear their words if they didn't raise their voices.
It would be difficult for the forty-odd cavalrymen of the Tang dynasty to deal with hundreds of highwaymen and highwaymen.
If they advanced, they wouldn't be a match for them!
Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, and the others would surely die if they retreated!
Faced with this difficult decision, Bai Siling was caught in a dilemma. She subconsciously turned to Wang Chong, hoping to find some support from him.
Along the way, Wang Chong's decisiveness, courage, and decisiveness had left a deep impression on her. At this moment, Bai Siling instinctively chose to trust Wang Chong's judgment.
Battle cries sounded from afar. Bai Siling and the forty-odd cavalrymen of the Tang dynasty had their gazes on him.
Everyone was waiting for his decision.
In that instant, Wang Chong felt a heavy weight on his shoulders. A familiar feeling welled up in his heart, and in that instant, Wang Chong felt as though he had returned to the time when he shouldered countless expectations.
Back then, everyone was looking at him with the same gaze.
Time seemed to have come to a standstill. All that could be heard was the thumping of his heart. It felt as though countless centuries had passed, but it also felt like an instant. Wang Chong soon calmed down.
"Calm down!"
Wang Chong suddenly spoke, his voice exuding a soothing power that made them calm down and calm down.
"There are still battle cries in the distance. This means that the battle isn't over yet. In other words, there's still hope for Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu. Otherwise, we wouldn't have heard any battle cries here! "
Those words jolted the uneasy crowd back to their senses.
That's right! If the battle was over and Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu were dead, they wouldn't have heard any battle cries. If there were battle cries, it meant that Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu were still alive.
This was a simple logic.
But if not for Wang Chong's words, no one would have thought of this possibility. In that instant, everyone turned to look at Wang Chong in awe.
"This lad is truly a born leader!"
Bai Siling looked at Wang Chong with a hint of astonishment in her eyes. With just a single sentence, Wang Chong was able to stabilize the morale of the army. He was truly a born leader.
This made Bai Siling rejoice that she had made the right decision along the way.
"... The art of war is to know one's enemy as well as oneself. Regardless of whether we fight or retreat, we need to know the other party's strength and fighting prowess before we can make a decision. If it's within our means, we will save Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu. If it's impossible, we will retreat immediately to avoid further losses. As a general, we must avoid letting our emotions get the better of us. I hope that you all understand this.
"Also, no matter what we do later on, I hope that everyone will obey my orders. I hope that everyone will obey my orders obediently. You mustn't let your emotions get the better of you, understand? "
Wang Chong said those last words with a grim expression. There were only forty of them, and they were vastly outnumbered by the other party. If they couldn't obey his orders and march in unison, they would only be courting death if they charged in.
"Yes, lord!"
This time, without Bai Siling's orders, all of the Tang dynasty cavalrymen, regardless of whether they were under Wang Chong or Bai Siling, obeyed his orders.
In this period of time, Wang Chong had won their respect and trust through his actions.
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