girl let me check

Chapter 429 Chaos
On March 5, the first year of Taikang in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Battle of Pingqiu ended. Only 30,000 remnants of the 120,000 imperial guards remained, and under the command of Fang Xuanmei, they retreated to Yecheng and joined the Yecheng garrison led by Xie Mingren and Zhou Liangyi.

After the Murong clan's army was almost completely wiped out, the Tuoba royal family finally appeared. The foreign race mobilized all its vassal armies, plus 800,000 surrendered soldiers from Zhou, and marched south from Fanyang to attack Yecheng head-on.

The remnant troops led by Fang Xuanmei were no match for the foreigners. After a brief resistance, they abandoned Yecheng and crossed the river to the south, rebuilding their defenses in Rencheng and Jiyin. The Zhou army burned the Changhe ferry and towed the ships to the south bank of the Changhe River, trying to stop the foreign invasion from the south.

As the last soldier of the government army crossed the long river, there was no more dragon flag from the Central Plains in Jizhou. At this point, the entire Jizhou fell into the hands of the enemy.

On March 5, the three western towns of Changyuan were under pressure from the foreign armies of the Helian and Dugu tribes, and Huaiyuan Town was surrounded.

On March 5, Changming City was attacked by 70,000 troops of the foreign Yuwen tribe, and the contact between the imperial capital and the outside world was completely cut off. The crown prince of the empire, Princess Changming Fang Tang, was besieged in the city, and the situation was extremely urgent.

On March 6, with the support of the troops in Luojing, King Fang Ying of Qin officially proclaimed himself the Grand Marshal of the Army of the Nation, and was given the title of Grand Commander of the Three Departments, the title of Envoy with Special Powers, and the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Military Forces at Home and Abroad. He announced that he would coordinate all forces in the Great Zhou to jointly defend the country.

On March 8, the Shangyuan Wang family announced to the world that they did not recognize Fang Ying's identity and status. Wang Boguang personally supported Jin Wang Fang Jin in Hedong County and announced that he would lead Bingzhou troops to attack the Luojing rebels.

On March 9, Wang Yu, the governor of Yizhou, responded to Shangyuan's order and began to gather troops from Shu, ready to march out of Hanzhong at any time to support Hedong.

On March 10, Wang Xuan, the governor of Yanzhou, and Wang Min, the governor of Qingzhou, gathered the troops of the Wang families of Yan and Qingzhou in Chenliu County and marched towards Luojing, intending to force King Fang Ying of Qin to give up the position of marshal.

On March 11, the foreign tribes crossed the Changhe River from Shanghe, Qingzhou, and the government troops fled upon hearing the news.

On March 12, the foreign invaders captured Linzi City and the entire Qingzhou fell.

On March 14, the foreign tribes conquered Taishan County, Langya County, and Donghai County, and killed more than 10,000 Zhou soldiers.

On March 15, Xie Mingren and others believed that it was meaningless to hold on to Rencheng and Jiyin when Qingxu changed hands. The remnants of the Great Zhou retreated southward, and the people of Yanzhou and Yuzhou fled their homes on a large scale.

……

Yangzhou, Huainan County, Shouchun.

The girl stood on the top of the city wall with her hands behind her back, her emerald-green clothes looking like a lotus in the morning sun.

She half-closed her eyes and looked to the north from the towering city wall. Passing through countless mountains and rivers, Xie Lingwan seemed to be able to faintly see the beacon fires of Yanzhou.

The Empire's armies were in flight.

"Miss, the repair work of Shouchun Inner City is complete. Thirty-seven new artillery positions, twenty-two crossbow levels, and more than three secret passages have been newly built."

The general behind him said respectfully.

"How is the training of the new army going?" Xie Lingwan asked.

"According to the eldest lady's suggestion, we have recruited a large number of refugees from Qing and Xu states as soldiers, and the number of troops has expanded rapidly." The general said, "In addition to the Lujiang Army and Anfeng Army that have been trained for a long time, the refugee army has also begun to take shape. We have settled these refugees in Guangling and Jingkou, and are stepping up their training so that they can form combat effectiveness more quickly."

“How enthusiastic are they?”

"Very high." The general said, "After your majesty led the army to die in Pingqiu City, the people of the entire Jiangnan region have been eager to join the army. Everyone is eager to go to the battlefield and kill the enemy with their own hands."

"Well." Xie Lingwan said calmly, "Back off."

"Fang Zun... is an unexpected emperor. I thought he would be as cowardly as his father." Xie Lingwan whispered to herself.

"In the face of national crisis, the ugly faces of some people can no longer be hidden. The Uehara Wang family really is unwilling to wait even a moment longer."

She sneered as if in disdain.

"A bunch of idiots."

Xie Lingwan took out the reed wreath and glanced at the message on it.

The chat with my husband happened three days ago.

After I heard that he was leading the East Palace Guards to Changming with a lone army, I sent him countless messages, but Fang Weihan didn't reply to any of them.

The girl would support all of Fang Weihan's decisions, but Xie Lingwan would also lose her temper when his decisions did not conform to her ideas.

She knew he was afraid that she would blame him for acting impulsively, so she simply didn't reply to avoid it.

Xie Lingwan could understand.

But this is not a reason for him not to reply to his messages!
Xie Lingwan was so angry at him that she felt a mixture of grievance and anger. But Fang Weihan was doing something very dangerous, and she didn't want to send more messages to disturb him.

This stinky husband must have known for sure that he would think this way! If Yun Jiang knew about this, she would not be able to think of this level.

So the girl made up her mind silently that when Fang Weihan came back, she must emphasize this matter to him:
If you don't reply to my message, your flesh will be chopped up and used as fertilizer for roses.

……

……

Yangzhou, Guangling.

Some people were crying bitterly. Most of the pedestrians on the roadside were wearing white linen clothes. They were spontaneously keeping vigil for the emperor who died in the battle.

"Your Majesty did not retreat even a single step until the very end! Instead, he chose to perish together with that foreign barbarian. We are so sorry for Your Majesty!"

"Only three of the hundred thousand imperial guards returned, and their loyal bones were buried in the pits at Pingqiu. The imperial guards of our Great Zhou have never been cowards!"

"The Wang and Lu families are worse than animals. When Your Majesty was fighting to the death, they just watched from the sidelines! Are people like this worthy of being called a noble family? Are they worthy of being Zhou people?"

"I want to join the army! I want to cross the river and go to the battlefield to kill the enemy!"

The fire sent up clouds of ashes that rose into the sky and floated over the heads of the people of Guangling.

The girl in black armor and black skirt stood with her sword in her hand. She leaned against the stone wall on the river bank and listened to the people's sporadic words in silence.

The ink-black armor is like feathers in the cold night. By the mighty river, the heavy guards stand solemnly like a forest.

She had escorted the Lanling Xiao clan members from their ancestral land all the way south to Guangling, and had just sent them across the river.

"Brother, take your tribesmen and go over there first. There are people on the other side of the river to pick you up." Xiao Jin said to Xiao Ji.

Xiao Ji looked at his sister whom he hadn't seen for a long time with a very complicated expression.

Her face was still beautiful and pure, but it had lost some of its immaturity and was tinged with a bit of indifference. Her father and second uncle had chosen her as the heir to the Lanling Xiao family, and it turned out that she had done a great job... much better than herself.

With a lot of mixed emotions, Xiao Ji had a lot to say, but in the end, it all came down to one sentence:

"Xiao Jin, you have to be careful."

"Don't worry, big brother." Xiao Jin said.

Xiao Ji went up on the deck. The girl stood there, watching the mast of the ship moving farther and farther away from her.

You will be safe once you cross the river. After crossing the river, you will reach the prosperous Jiangnan area, where you can enjoy a life of wealth and glory.

But she couldn't cross the river, she had her own mission to fulfill.

"Where is Xie Lingwan?" Xiao Jin asked coldly.

"To answer the eldest lady's question, Miss Xie should be in Shouchun, Huainan now." General Bannerman Duan Kan said in a deep voice.

Shouchun is the only way for my second uncle and his men to retreat southward.

"Let's go to Shouchun." Xiao Jin said. "Yes!" Duan Kan clasped his fists and shouted behind him:

"All troops, organize! Move out immediately!"

……

……

Endless yellow sand fell from the sky, and the river flowed like a white and blue ribbon in the desert.

On the south bank of the upper reaches of the river, a massive pursuit was going on.

"Qiang!"

The girl on horseback used the Qi Cang sword to block the long spear that was stabbing at her. She held the reins tightly with her left hand, and the warhorse under her crotch changed direction sideways, instantly creating some distance between her and the foreign cavalry in front of her.

Tao Yunjiang pulled out the long spear that was inserted in the horizontal pocket on the left side of the horse's belly, jumped high from the horse's back, and the sword spun violently. The powerful blood energy tore several foreign cavalrymen in front of him into pieces.

The eyes of the foreign cavalry commander bulged out like copper bells as he watched helplessly as the spear pierced through his layers of protective blood and energy and pierced his chest.

Tao Yunjiang gritted her teeth. She shouted, exerted force with her right hand, and swung her spear horizontally, creating a half-moon-shaped trajectory of death. The dull sound of flesh and armor colliding continued, and with just this one strike, she killed dozens of foreign cavalrymen.

After breaking through to the sixth level, Tao Yunjiang has almost no rivals.

"Miss Tao! We can't chase you anymore!" The Iron Guard captain behind her shouted at her anxiously.

This time, Tao Yunjiang led 30,000 Guyuan troops to rescue Huaiyuan Town, mainly infantry, with only 5,000 cavalry. This time, they encountered a small group of foreign troops heading south, and Tao Yunjiang launched a surprise attack while they were crossing the long river. The enemy army was in chaos, and the Zhou army took advantage of the situation to pursue them along the Yellow River.

They have already moved too far away from the main infantry formation. If they continue to chase, they may be in danger of being surrounded by the enemy!

Tao Yunjiang naturally understood.

She looked at the fleeing foreign cavalry in the distance with a bit of reluctance and raised her sword:
"stop!"

The Iron Guard cavalry stopped where they were and began to clean up the battlefield, count the losses, and wait for the arrival of the main infantry formation.

Soon, the statistical results came out.

"Miss Tao, we have lost 220 brothers and many more injured," said the deputy general.

"What about the aliens?" the girl said a little tiredly.

"More than 800 aliens were killed... not counting those who were shattered into pieces by the girl's blood." The deputy general said with a little awe.

Don't be fooled by the girl's beautiful and graceful appearance on weekdays. If she really goes to the battlefield, she will become as cruel as a killer.

Treating enemies without mercy, this is how Tao Gong's granddaughter should be!

In the ten days since leaving Guyuan, Tao Yunjiang led his troops to travel hundreds of miles, almost reaching the level of a forced march.

Altogether they encountered six small alien reconnaissance units and fought against them eight times, winning each time with minimal damage.

In total, more than five thousand aliens have died at the hands of the Iron Guards.

You know, this is not a siege war, but a field battle which the foreign cavalry are best at!
Although Tao Yunjiang had not been on the battlefield many times before, she was very skilled in the use of military tactics, as if she was born to be a general. In addition, she always charged forward with her superb personal strength, and even the most resentful veterans could not find any fault with her.

Some people in the Changyuan Iron Guard were originally dissatisfied with her taking over the command, but after Tao Yunjiang fought these battles, there was no more opposition.

Feeling the admiring and respectful gazes of the soldiers around him, Tao Yunjiang couldn't feel happy in his heart no matter what.

Her time is running out.

Twenty days... The twenty thousand iron guards in Guyuan City had already endured the attack of a hundred thousand alien troops for twenty days! Not to mention that the aliens were carrying such powerful weapons.

My grandfather was a military god of the time, but even the best cook could not cook without rice. With five times fewer people than the aliens, he would not be able to hold on for long anyway.

The alien race constantly sent small groups of troops to hinder her progress, just to delay her arrival in Guyuan. Every day she was delayed on the road, her grandfather had to endure one more day of hardship.

The girl's heart felt like it was being burned by fire.

Grandpa... please don't get into any trouble...

The girl gripped Qi Cang's sword handle tightly.

"Miss Tao! Received the feather letter from the Tianfang Army!"

The deputy general hurried over to report.

"After the Tianfang army was relieved, they returned to Huaiyuan to provide assistance, and ran head-on into the main force of the alien Helian tribe in the Shalongtou area!"

The Changyuan Iron Guards who came to rescue Huaiyuan had a total of 80,000 people, including 30,000 Guyuan troops under Tao Yunjiang and 50,000 Tianfang troops, and the vast majority of the cavalry units were in the Tianfang formation.

"What's the result?" Tao Yunjiang asked hurriedly.

"The two armies fought fiercely for a whole day, but neither side was victorious and the situation was deadlocked at Shalongtou," said the deputy general.

The alien race attacked from three fronts this time with great momentum, but the emphasis was different.

The strongest Tuoba and Murong tribes were marching south from Yuguan and Fanyang on the eastern front. The two tribes had a large number of Vajra troops, and most of the soldiers in their camps were from the grassland royal court, so they had extremely strong combat effectiveness.

The Yuwen tribe, which was of medium strength, attacked Changming via Hedong in the middle line. There were many soldiers from the Western Regions in its army. There were only 3,000 Vajra in the 70,000-strong army, so its combat effectiveness was relatively weak.

The troops attacking Changyuan on the western front were more like a pincer, preventing the Changyuan Iron Guard from returning to Guandong for assistance. The 120,000-man army sounds scary, but in fact most of them are vassal troops transferred from the far west.

The elite troops of the Helian tribe were completely wiped out by Fang Weihan in Dahewan, and the only troops with truly strong combat effectiveness were probably the 20,000 troops of the Dugu tribe.

"How many people are there?"

"It's roughly between 60,000 and 90,000. The exact number is unknown."

In other words... there are only less than 60,000 foreign troops besieging Guyuan. If the 30,000 Guyuan troops can cooperate with the 20,000 Huaiyuan troops, they may be able to defeat the foreign troops.

But all this is based on the premise that Huaiyuan has not been breached. If Huaiyuan is breached, everything will be over!

"Can't wait any longer!"

The girl turned around suddenly and said in a deep voice.

"There are only seventy miles left. Let the infantry speed up their march. We must reach Huaiyuan City within two days!"

"Yes!" The deputy general knew the situation was serious and did not dare to delay. He immediately went to notify the entire army to set off.

The Iron Guard cavalry had assembled and Tao Yunjiang jumped onto his horse.

"Grandpa...you must wait for me!"

The girl was extremely anxious.

The sound of horse hooves echoed south of the river, gradually fading away in the lonely desert.

(End of this chapter)