My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 632 The Forgotten Fleet
Miranter, Storm County, in the northern province of Sakpruit.

The setting sun dyed the sky red. Under the red light, teams returning from the battles gathered in the fields. To the sound of amazing trumpets, they formed their ranks, counted the number of people, and then returned to their camps.

In the distance, the Tiger Cavalry Battalion, with the sound of shaking iron pieces, came closer to the battlefield. The leading general was tall and strong, with a face as red as a date and a long beard. He was looking at the ruined city in the northwest direction.

Along the way, several villages outside the city had been destroyed by fire. The dead Sakpruit soldiers filled his vision, and charred and chopped corpses were everywhere.

It's shocking.

Walking across the battlefield covered with a huge blood-stained carpet, there were many moving figures in the distance. Zhang Yi's Youyan Army was digging a large pit that was five miles long and about fifteen feet deep.

The Qin soldiers wearing black armor were now hacking away at the small group of captives in front of them, picking up the heads of the captives who had died with their eyes open and throwing them into the pit.

"Marquis Wu'an...is truly worthy of his name." Even a brave general like Guan Yu felt a chill when he saw this.

"You're not going to kill him, but keep him to eat our food? Second brother, you are too kind-hearted, don't learn from your elder brother!"

On the side, riding side by side was Zhang Fei, a man with a leopard head and round eyes, holding a Zhangba Snake Spear and pointing at the distance and shouting. Zhang Bao and Guan Ping, who were sitting behind him with a loud voice, twitched their mouths when they heard him.

Originally, Guan Yu brought only Guan Ping with him from Li Jing to see if reinforcement was needed. However, his second brother Zhang Fei, who had nothing to do, dragged Zhang Bao along and left all the affairs of the Yizhou army to Zhou Cang.

After defeating a Sakpruit army that tried to obstruct them, they marched straight into the wilderness south of a barbarian city called Storm County.

Knowing that the war was over, even the final finishing touches had been completed, leaving only the ruined barbarian city standing alone in the dusk.

There is no reinforcement left in the entire city.

At the beginning, Li Jing and Bai Qi entered the Miranter Province and discussed dividing the troops into two routes, one in the south and one in the north, advancing westward. Li Jing has always been steady and cautious, and his advances are slow.

As for Bai Qi in the north, with Huo Qubing as the vanguard and Zhao Yun, the two of them advanced rapidly all the way, as if they had foreseen the target in advance. They passed through two intercepting Sakpruit local troops and directly surrounded Baofeng County.

Bai Qi led the Qin army and the Youyan army to reinforce. Jia Xu offered a strategy to encircle and attack the reinforcements, constantly attracting the surrounding city-states to send troops to reinforce.

Most of these local troops were a ragtag army composed of farmers recruited by local lords, nobles and knights. They were almost wiped out by Huo Qubing and Zhao Yun halfway through.

When they finally arrived at the wilderness outside Storm County, there were only 57,000 people left.

Without any confrontation or stalemate, the Qin army and the Youyan army launched a fierce attack from two directions, cutting the 57,000-strong Sakprut local army into two parts, and then the Yulin Cavalry and the White Horse Volunteers rushed and harassed them, opening up the battle line.

Due to the lack of understanding of the Seris army, after one afternoon of fighting, 50,000 people were defeated on a battle line of more than 30 miles.

A large number of soldiers (farmers) were massacred by the Qin army, Youyan army infantry and archers. The rest of the soldiers who fled with the nobles were killed in an organized manner by the Youyan and Yulin cavalry who caught up with them before they could be reorganized.

When Guan Yu and Zhang Fei arrived with two thousand Tiger Cavalry Battalion, the fighting on the battlefield had already ended for an hour.

"Third brother, what you said is true, but these prisoners may still be useful if we keep them. It would be a pity to kill them like this."

The Red Hare shook the copper bell under its neck, and amid the crisp sound of jingling, Guan Yu stroked his beard and sighed on horseback.

He no longer worried about how to deal with the prisoners, after all, he did not capture them.

He let Red Hare carry him forward, stepping on the sticky blood carpet on the ground. The mighty 2,000-strong Tiger Cavalry Battalion arrived at the place where the Youyan Army was stationed. Guan Yu just opened his phoenix eyes, and the earth pit he dug looked even more imposing.

That small group of captives had not yet been killed. They knelt beside the pit and cried quietly, and some spoke incomprehensible words, as if they were begging for mercy from the nearby Qin soldiers.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

The two thousand tiger riders stopped, Guan Yu dismounted, and led his second brother Zhang Fei to the front where the guards were gathered. There, Bai Qi was sitting on a folding stool in the open air handling military affairs.

Jia Xu, whose face looked more and more like a fox, was also standing aside, gesturing on the map in Bai Qi's hand, probably discussing the next battle.

After hearing the report from the personal guard, both of them raised their eyes and then came to greet him with a smile.

"Generals Guan and Zhang, why are you here? Haha, we just finished the battle and are here to take care of some things. Come and sit down. Don't think it's too simple."

Bai Qi had a smile on his face. In the eyes of the soldiers around him, he was completely different from the commander-in-chief on the battlefield.

"Generals Guan and Zhang!" Jia Xu followed Bai Qi and bowed to the two men who came over as a greeting.

"Lieutenant!"

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also bowed in return, and then walked with Bai Qi into the Jianyi open-air camp which did not even have a fence.

Not far away was a pit that was still being dug, and the sounds of crying and wailing could be heard continuously.

"Mr. Wu'an, I am here to reinforce you on Li Jing's orders. I also want to bring you an order from the south."

Guan Yu sat down on the folding stool and told the purpose of his visit.

"Any news from His Majesty?" Bai Qi handed a written order to Jia Xu, who smiled at Guan and Zhang and turned away.

Here, Bai Qi turned his gaze to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei: "What's the news?"

"Han Xin defeated the main force of Sakpruit, and Your Majesty almost killed the barbarian emperor in battle." Without waiting for Guan Yu to speak, Zhang Fei, who was too impatient to stand the questions and answers between the two, simply spoke first and talked about the war on the Satsuma Plateau in the south. He also urged his second brother to give the letter sent by Your Majesty to the other party for reading.

"By the way, where are my Zilong and Huo Piaoqi?" Zhang Fei impatiently stuffed the letter into Bai Qi's arms, looked around, and did not see the two familiar figures.

Bai Qi quickly finished reading the contents of the letter. Originally, he could only understand small seal script. During the march, he also learned a lot of official script from Jia Xu.

Now it is not so difficult to guess the meaning of the font.

"Haha, in this case, we can take advantage of the situation and attack, and capture the heartland of the barbarians!" Who is Bai Qi? Just from a few words, one can tell how to fight next.

At this time, the neighing of war horses and the roar of horse hooves could be heard faintly.

Bai Qi put away the letter and hid it in his inner armor. He smiled and said to the northwest: "General Zhao and Huo Huqi are back!"

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, as well as Zhang Bao and Guan Ping outside, turned their heads to look towards the northwest. Two cavalry units merged together and rushed towards them in a mighty force.

When the front army stopped their horses a hundred feet away, Zhao Yun and Huo Qubing rode their horses here first in high spirits.

The two men saw Guan, Zhang and the other four from afar, especially Zhao Yun. He dismounted, stuck his Longdan spear into the ground, opened his arms and rushed forward.

Zhang Fei, who was not shy about it, rushed forward with a loud laugh, hugged Zhao Yun in his arms, and patted him on the back: "Zilong, I miss you so much!"

"Third brother, Yun misses you too!"

Zhao Yun smiled, then looked at Guan Yu and bowed his hands heavily.

"Three of you, don't forget me!" Huo Qubing said with a smile, sitting on the horse's back, leaning forward.

The next second, Zhang Fei pulled him off the horse and hugged him: "Marquis Guanjun, how could I forget you!"

Guan Ping nudged Zhang Bao quietly with his elbow and whispered, "Third uncle is really enthusiastic."

"...Uh...I think so too." Zhang Bao looked at his overly enthusiastic father and blushed with embarrassment. "You are the generals of Ji Han, you are really enviable!"

Bai Qi watched for a while. He had heard about it before the Western Expedition. Now, watching it again, he was indeed envious.

It is truly rare that in such a killing spree in the army, there can still be such childlike brotherhood.

"Wu'an Jun, do you want me to hug you too?" Zhang Fei put Huo Qubing down and opened his arms towards Bai Qi, who waved his hands quickly, "No, no, we've already greeted each other, and hugging again would seem pretentious, haha!"

Huo Qubing's face turned red and he coughed a few times. Although he was skilled in martial arts, his brute force could not match that of Zhang Fei. He was almost suffocated to death when he was hugged by the other party.

"Why are you... ahem... here?"

"Of course I came here on orders. You guys fought too fast and were in the north. We received a letter from His Majesty and were sent here by Li Jing to deliver the message."

After hearing about the war on the Satsuma Plateau, Huo Qubing and Zhao Yun's faces suddenly lit up with joy. For a long time, they had only been communicating unilaterally, but now they could finally communicate and fight the barbarians at the same time.

"In that case, let's deal with things here as soon as possible."

Bai Qi is good at long battles, and even better at slaughtering the enemy's manpower. "Immediately kill all the prisoners, capture this barbarian ruins, plunder the supplies, and continue westward!"

The order was given.

The sound of horns carrying the order to massacre sounded on the plain. The Youyan army, who were guarding the prisoners in the distance, brought batches of them over and knelt at the edge of the long pit. Most of these captured soldiers were farmers. At this moment, their hands were tied with ropes. They had various injuries on their bodies. The pain in their bodies made them curl up, wailing and crying in agony. Their situation was quite miserable.

The first time they went to the battlefield, they were captured and their courage was already broken by fear.

Even if he still had weapons in his hands, he would not have the urge to resist.

Soon, the mounted cavalrymen ran along the long pit, waving the command flags in their hands and shouting at the top of their voices: "Wu'an Jun has issued an order, not a single one shall be spared!"

A Youyan soldier looked at the barbarian soldier kneeling on the ground with his back to him and said with a smile: "I hope you will be reborn into a good family in your next life!"

After saying that, he raised his foot and kicked the other person on the back, kicking him into a long pit that extended to the left and right. One by one, the Youyan soldiers made the same move, kicking the kneeling captives on the ground down or into the deep pit.

The Qin army on the other side came up with wooden shovels and iron spades, shoveled the accumulated soil back into the pit, and sprinkled it on the bound Sakprut soldiers.

The soldiers in the pit were trembling all over and begging for mercy loudly, but unfortunately no one above could understand them. Even if there were people who understood the meaning, they were too lazy to pay attention.

"You can only blame your bad luck for the war between our two armies!" said a Qin soldier as he looked at the faces with big mouths gradually disappearing under the mud in the deep pit.

Under the magnificent dusk, wailing and screaming continued incessantly. The fifteen-foot-deep pit was quickly filled up by a group of soldiers. Then they dropped their tools, stood on the pit and stomped heavily, compacting the soil tightly.

Before they could dig a pit, more than 3,000 captured Sakpruit soldiers and noble knights were tied with ropes and stood in a row.

They were shot to the ground one by one by the opposing Youyan army soldiers with crossbows.

Soon, these things were piled up on the ground, kerosene was poured on them and torches were thrown in. In an instant, the fire spread and black smoke rose into the sky.

The air around him was filled with a strange, nauseating smell mixed with the stench of burnt food and blood.

The soldiers around looked at the killed and charred Sakpruit soldiers, with no expression of mercy on their faces.

They were already accustomed to such killings, not to mention that the other side had arrived in Xizhou (Western Regions) first and killed indiscriminately. Otherwise, they would not have followed the emperor all the way to the west and strangled the future war in the cradle.

"As long as no one from Da Xia dies, it's fine." Many soldiers around thought so in their hearts.

In the temporary camp, Bai Qi watched Guan Yu and Zhang Fei leave with his letter, then he turned around and walked back.

"Order the entire army to rest today, attack the city early tomorrow morning, capture Storm County, and send troops west the day after tomorrow. Don't give the enemy any chance to catch their breath.

Likewise, don't give them a chance to recuperate!"

Bai Qi sat back on the folding stool and looked at Zhao Yun, Huo Qubing, and Zhang Yi who was coming over.

"Then, together with His Majesty and Li Jing, we will completely cut off this Western world!" he whispered.

Order the riders to gallop through the magnificent dusk and blow the horns.

……

Same sky, different night scenes.

It was not yet dark in the far west, and the scorching sun was still hanging in the middle of the sky.

The sea waves and heat waves came together, making people's mouths dry and tongue parched.

Flocks of seabirds were flying around the mast in the distance. Under the coconut trees full of coconuts, shirtless soldiers were quenching their thirst with coconuts.

In the field of vision, as the waves rise and fall, large and small warships are stretched out endlessly on the sea, and their sails are fluttering in the sea breeze.

Soon, a long dragon-like team came in an orderly manner from the center of the island.

The sun is pouring down.

The red helmet tassel fluttered in the wind.

Zhou Yu, dressed in simple clothes, had a face tanned by the sun, no longer as fair and handsome as before. Gan Ning, who was beside him, was even darker, with two knives slung around his waist. He waved to the soldiers who were sitting on the beach and drinking coconut juice leisurely.

"Let's go! Get ready to sail!"

Zhou Yu walked straight to his flagship, stood on the deck, and looked out at the horizon connecting the sky and the earth.

A white bird flapped its wings and flew past the sight, its face looking solemn. As the drums on the drum tower sounded, the warships raised their white sails.

He turned around, his robes fluttering.

"Men of the Jiangdong navy, let's go to the next island. There is news about Duke Zheng's fleet there."

The sound drifted away in the wind, and the brown-haired, white-skinned slaves were numbly pushed into the cabin by the soldiers, and then sat down and held the oars.

The fully armed soldiers stood firmly on the deck with their feet turned outward and looked at him seriously. No one laughed at this moment.

On the Qinglong warship, Gan Ning drew out a knife and stepped on the railing of the ship.

"Western barbarians are nothing more than this. Next island, you can plunder as much as you want!"

White birds were startled and flew up in circles. Looking down, the sea was surging and sparkling. Densely packed warships and merchant ships were blowing horns and setting sail in the loud voices. Circles of waves were pushing away under the ships, making roars.

After sailing for half a year and passing through an icy sea, the fleet encountered a storm and was separated at sea.

Now, they have captured several islands in succession and finally heard some news about the giant warships from the East.

(End of this chapter)