I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

Just as Su Chen was about to curse, a slight commotion suddenly came from the woods ahead.

Wei Hongying raised her hand, signaling everyone to keep their bodies low and hide well, lest they be exposed and all their efforts be in vain!

As time passed, under the moonlight, a large group of Northern Mang cavalry appeared in sight.

They crossed the mountain ridge, their destination the Great Zhou army camps located on both sides of the road in the mountain valley.

They weren't riding on horseback; instead, each person led a horse, walking slowly with their hooves wrapped in thick burlap, making very little noise.

If we hadn't known in advance that the Northern Barbarians were coming, we probably wouldn't have noticed them until they were right in front of us.

"Captain, the enemy is here. Can you return my halberd now?" Su Chen's tone was pleading.

Judging from the number of people, at least a thousand people from Northern Mang came.

Those leaders were tall and burly, as strong as black bears; they were clearly ruthless characters.

Without a suitable weapon in hand, Su Chen felt really uncertain.

We can't expect him to fight the other side empty-handed.

He wasn't used to using other weapons either.

Wei Hongying's eyes widened. "I already said, the halberd isn't yours."

"Okay, okay."

Su Chen quickly changed his words, saying, "Excuse me, Commandant Wei, could you lend me your halberd for a moment? I'll return it after I'm done."

"That's more like it."

With a cold snort, before handing the halberd to Su Chen, Wei Hongying specifically reminded him:

"Take good care of it, don't bump or knock it and break it, or you'll be sorry."

Looking at the halberd he had "borrowed," Su Chen was furious and really wanted to quit.

This job is so frustrating, let whoever wants to do it do it!

Just as the two were talking, the Northern Mang cavalry had already descended to the mountainside and were preparing to mount their horses.

At this distance, if they make any noise, the Great Zhou army camp in the mountain valley will definitely be thrown into chaos, with everyone panicking and running around aimlessly.

With their deliberate drive, the Great Zhou army will enter Qingling Pass, and their mission will be complete.

But before they could fully mount their horses and get ready, Wei Hongying gave an order, and three red fireworks suddenly shot into the sky.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

Three huge fireworks exploded one after another in the darkness, illuminating several nearby hilltops.

The Northern Barbarian cavalrymen who were mounting their horses suddenly looked up and realized something was wrong.

After realizing what had happened, they all shouted things like "There's an ambush! We've been tricked! Retreat!"

Wei Hongying calmly gave the order, waving her arm and pointing forward: "Surround and kill them all! Leave no one alive!"

"yes!"

The soldiers, who had been lying in ambush, rose and charged toward the Northern Barbarian cavalry not far away.

From the air, the thousands of Northern Mang cavalrymen were surrounded. Great Zhou soldiers poured in from all directions, layer upon layer, seemingly without end, determined to devour all of the Northern Mang cavalrymen.

Realizing that the Great Zhou had laid an ambush, the generals of the Northern Barbarians decisively gave the following order:

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

"The rear guard will become the front guard, providing cover for the two princes to retreat first!"

No wonder the Northern Barbarians were able to win this battle, conquering cities and fortresses along the way, and the Great Zhou army suffered a crushing defeat.

After realizing they were ambushed, the Northern Mang cavalry did not panic as expected.

Especially after the Northern Barbarian generals gave the order, they immediately calmed themselves down and quickly changed their formation.

The rear guard was reorganized into the front guard, forming a sharp cone shape with elite and fierce soldiers at the forefront.

The plan was like a sharp knife, tearing through the encirclement of the Great Zhou and breaking out.

However, at that moment, two different voices suddenly emerged from the Northern Barbarians' formation.

"Why retreat? We've come at the perfect time! Let these Great Zhou swine taste the might of us grassland warriors!"

"That's right, we can't retreat! Attack eastward! Attack!"

"Why should we attack the east? Listen to me, attack the west!"

"If I say East, then East is East. You're a prince, and so am I!"

"..."

Seeing the two princes arguing over their different attack directions amidst the thousands of troops, the Northern Mang general in charge of this mission was practically cursing!

Sending both of them on this mission was an absolutely foolish decision!

"Your Highnesses, at a time like this, let's not hold a grudge!"

The Northern Barbarian general urged anxiously, wanting only to cover the two gentlemen's retreat as quickly as possible, to get to a safe area first.

Ordinary Northern Mang soldiers die, it's no big deal, at worst they'll just get some compensation afterward.

But these two gentlemen are both princes of the Northern Mang Kingdom, the Empress's younger brothers, and of extremely noble status.

If anything happens to them, he won't live either; his entire family will be exterminated!

"Shut up!"

The thousands of soldiers shouted in unison, completely ignoring their pleas!

Then they turned around and started arguing again.

Qianjun said, "I'm your brother, you have to listen to me. I said we should attack the east!"

"Why? Why should the younger brother listen to the older brother? I'm going to fight in the west!"

"East!"

"West!"

"..."

While the two were arguing, the Great Zhou army surrounded them from all sides and began hand-to-hand combat.

In an instant, warhorses neighed, weapons clashed, and screams of pain filled the air... all sorts of sounds intertwined and never stopped!

The battle lasted until the early morning of the next day. The entire mountain was stained red with blood, and there were corpses everywhere, some from the Northern Barbarians and some from the Great Zhou.

Qin Li arrived with his men, and upon seeing the horrific battlefield, frowned and said:

"Like rowing against the current, if you don't move forward, you'll drift backward!"

"Over the years, our Great Zhou has really neglected its military preparedness. Even when we laid ambushes in advance, we were still defeated with a three-for-one casualty ratio."

Upon hearing this, the generals around Qin Li all lowered their heads, filled with shame, wishing they could disappear into the ground.

On the hillside, there were clearly more corpses of Zhou soldiers than those of Northern Mang.

This time, although the enemy was completely annihilated, our side also paid an extremely heavy price.

As they were talking, the sounds of fighting came from not far away.

"What happened?"

Qin Li frowned and asked.

"Reporting to Your Highness, several Northern Mang soldiers are still putting up a fierce resistance and have not yet been dealt with. The Imperial Guard Commandant is leading men..."

Before the soldier could finish speaking, Qin Li led his men over.

On the open ground, several Northern Barbarian soldiers put up a fierce resistance, their scimitars chipped and their armor stained with blood.

They stood back to back, refusing to surrender no matter what!

Upon seeing Qin Li arrive, Wei Hongying, who was in charge of the battle, quickly came over.

"Are you alright?"

Qin Li looked at Wei Hongying, whose face was covered in blood, and asked.

Wei Hongying casually wiped her hands, shook her head, and said, "It's nothing, it's all the blood of the Northern Barbarians!"

"What happened?"

Through the layers of human walls, Qin Li looked at the few Northern Mang soldiers surrounded in the middle.

Wei Hongying glanced inside before explaining, "There's a big fish inside, it looks like a prince from the Northern Barbarian lands, everyone wants to capture it alive!"

Qin Li grunted in agreement, and ignoring the generals' attempts to stop him, pushed through the layers of people and came to the innermost part.

From a distance, Qin Li didn't think much of it; they were just a few Northern Mang soldiers who refused to surrender, not worth mentioning.

But now, even at a distance of less than ten large steps, Qin Li felt an overwhelming sense of pressure.

The Northern Barbarian soldiers who were surrounded were all over two meters tall and weighed three or four hundred kilograms. They were heavily armored and could be described as human tanks.

Judging from the curling of their scimitars and the thick layer of blood on their armor, one can only imagine how many Great Zhou soldiers died at their hands last night—an astronomical number!

With a simple wave of his hand, one of Qin Li's generals clasped his hands in a fist salute, stepped forward, and shouted, "Put down your weapons and take off your armor, and we'll spare your lives!"