My wife has a secret

Chapter 244 Defeat
But when she saw Xu Qing's serious expression, she knew that what would happen next might be beyond her imagination and would affect the entire battle situation.

Although the people of Huangling Army didn't understand why the Third Miss wanted everyone to gather their troops on this desolate hilltop, most of them chose to believe the Yang family and followed Xu Qing's instructions to clear a piece of land in the forest.

The strong and uninjured soldiers lined up outside, with their shields slightly sunk into the ground, forming an iron barrel-like defense.

The rest of the soldiers stayed in the circle, holding spears and bows and arrows ready to fire.

"Brother-in-law, why are you hiding here? Aren't we going to save my sister?"

Yang Caiyun looked at the situation around her and glanced anxiously in front of the mountain range, where Yang Xianning was trapped.

Seeing that the army mobilized by Xu Qing had no plan to launch a counterattack, my heart was pounding.

At this moment, the vast forest not far away seemed to be shaken by the mountain breeze and began to rustle.

The mountain movement that Xu Qing had noticed early on became bigger, more numerous, and more complex along with the strange sounds in the forest.

Finally, in front of the horrified eyes of countless people, densely packed, countless beasts, reptiles and venomous snakes rushed out.

……

At the foot of the Qinling Mountains, in front of the Liao army’s tent.

Xiao Chong stared at the main battlefield not far ahead. Even though there was a river of blood and broken limbs and corpses everywhere, he remained calm and said nothing.

In his early years, when he led the Liao army to attack Huangling Pass, he made the elimination of the Yang family his primary goal.

In my opinion at that time, the reason why Qi State could survive in the south until now was entirely because the Yang family occupied the terrain of Huangling Pass and used the prestige accumulated before to hold on stubbornly.

If all the members of the Yang family died out, the Han people in the northern part of Qi would lose their backbone, fall into panic and lose their fighting power.

Because of this, he transferred most of the Liao troops that had attacked the Qinling Mountains to form several encirclements around the Yang family cavalry, trying to surround and kill the current generation of the Yang family patriarch here.

only……

Even though he was about to surround and kill the Yang family and march his troops to the capital city, which had been the dream of successive Khitan emperors, he did not feel too shaken.

The White Lotus Sect has not replied yet. Could it be that this group of fanatical believers are really willing to take the risk of going against the will of heaven and watch the State of Qi fall into the hands of the Khitans?
"Your Highness, all the retreat routes of the Yang family's cavalry have been blocked, and most of them have been knocked off their horses. There are only about a hundred people left... Do you want me to go out and capture the exhausted Yang family generals?"

When Saba saw that his old enemy named Yang had been firmly pinned down by the army, his desire to fight grew stronger.

By killing the Yang family generals, this meaningless fight could be ended as soon as possible. He was also somewhat curious as to whether these girls from the Yang family who inherited the position of generals would still be as brave as their ancestors.

"Saba, the second daughter of the Yang family is born with supernatural powers, and the eldest daughter of the Yang family is the bravest among the three armies... Didn't you see that these two people were able to hold out until now under the siege of tens of thousands of people with only 3,000 cavalrymen?"

Although Saba was also a brave and powerful general and had no rivals among the Khitans, Xiao Chong did not want any mistakes in his arrangements.

The siege of Qi's capital city will be of utmost importance. Even if he has to sacrifice the lives of a thousand soldiers to wear down the Yang sisters' strength and wait until they die of exhaustion, he does not want Saba to take the risk of meeting the enemy.

After all, Saba was the main force in the siege plan, and he was needed to break through the Qi army's solid stronghold.

After the two had a brief conversation, a cavalryman carrying a message suddenly bypassed the battlefield in front and ran along the flank to Xiao Chong.

As soon as he arrived, he knelt on the ground and reported: "Prince, there are some problems with the troops left behind on the mountains. You ordered them to light smoke every incense stick to ensure safety, but... it's already the agreed time, and there's no news from the mountains."

Xiao Chong was slightly stunned and frowned.

The warning smoke was mainly to prevent the Qi army from counterattacking and to facilitate support.

But he really couldn't imagine how the defeated Qi army, which was driven to the capital, could divide its troops into several places and seize so many hilltops at the same time?

What exactly went wrong?
Just as Xiao Chong was feeling incredible, a bird covered in dark green feathers rushed out of the dense forest and charged towards the Liao army.

Its sharp cry pierced the sky, catching the surrounding Liao army off guard, and they looked at the scene with horror on their faces.

Following closely, all kinds of birds flew out of the forest and crashed into the surrounding soldiers in an extremely bloody way.

The Liao army, which had never seen such a scene, was frightened and lost its composure, causing a large-scale commotion on the front line near the Qinling Mountains.

"Hold the formation steady! Prioritize dealing with the Qi troops inside!"

The centurion in charge of the command here did not want to be held accountable by the prince. After seeing that the attackers were some birds, he was a little surprised in his heart, but he still remained calm.

But what made him open his mouth wide and what he had never expected was that soon in the dense forest on the mountain, there was a huge and chaotic noise.

When the wild boar and the lions and tigers appeared in his field of vision at the same time, the centurion thought for a moment that he was dazzled.

"Report! The flank was attacked..."

"Report! The central army was attacked..."

"Report..."

The participation of countless wild beasts and birds turned the orderly annihilation war into a chaotic situation.

The various Liao troops that were originally besieging the Qi army began to feel insecure and were forced to fight these ferocious and bloodthirsty beasts.

They had no idea why the wild beasts that were afraid of people would swarm here and attack them.

From afar, the entire Qinling Mountains were almost covered by dark herds of beasts, rushing towards the Liao Army like a tide... Even though the Liao Army was said to have hundreds of thousands of people, it was unable to stop such a huge number.

Standing in the general's tent, Xiao Chong witnessed with his own eyes the Liao army suffering heavy losses one after another, and the victory that was about to be achieved began to fade away.

As the deputy general, Saba immediately realized that these beasts seemed to be controlled by an unknown force. They used their numerical advantage to break through the Liao army's formation and directly overwhelmed several troops in the front line.

If they continue like this, they will soon reach the center of the army and threaten the safety of the commander-in-chief.

At the moment, it seems that the best option is to let the troops that originally took the lead be responsible for covering the rear.

"Prince, the situation ahead has taken a turn for the worse. Why don't we retreat to Huangling Pass first and make plans later?"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

In the face of Saba's advice, Xiao Chong did not respond at all. Instead, he laughed out loud and laughed so hard that the prince's hair crown bestowed on him by the Liao emperor fell to the ground.

When Saba bent down to pick up the crown for him, Xiao Chong murmured to himself, "It's too late, everything is too late... I thought those people were powerless to do anything about it, but it turns out they had already made sufficient preparations."

As Tianxuan Xingjun's immediate superior, Xiao Chong naturally understood that this special ability to drive wild beasts was Tianxuan Xingjun's innate ability. But he had never thought that Tianxuan Xingjun's ability could have such a far-reaching impact, directly covering half of the Qinling Mountains and driving all the wild beasts in it towards the Liao army.

The driven beast will be driven mad by the strange power and display extraordinary fighting ability.

The army that he had carefully prepared and assembled was already showing signs of collapse under the impact of these wild beasts... Even if part of the army was withdrawn to Huangling Pass, it would take several months of adjustment to restore its combat effectiveness.

The capital of Qi will be more stable with the assistance of various local armies. At this point, the result of draining the country's strength in pursuit of a war is foreseeable.

……

Imperial Palace, court meeting.

All the ministers lined up and stood in line. The military information coming from the front was like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, stirring up huge waves.

The ministers' faces were filled with expressions of disbelief, their eyes widened, and they were unable to make any sound.

There was an indescribable shock and astonishment in the air, as if time had stopped at this moment.

"The Liao army retreated? And they took the initiative to send someone to submit a proposal for peace?"

In the end, it was the Minister of War Yuchi Qi who reacted first. He read the urgent report from 800 miles away over and over again to confirm the authenticity of the information on it.

After seeing the military intelligence saying that Xu Qingru had divine help and gathered one or two hundred soldiers at the city gate to inflict heavy damage on the Liao army, his expression became extremely strange. He felt that all the common sense he had known since birth had been overturned by Marquis Guangping.

The other ministers were also whispering to each other, their voices filled with shock and confusion. They tried to find some explanations from each other, but all they got was confusion and chaos.

"It's really strange. Xiao Chong had 800,000 troops under his command. He defeated the Zhennan Zhongwu Army in Qinling Mountains and besieged Yang Xianning's personal cavalry. How could he be defeated and retreat overnight and even voluntarily submit a letter of surrender?"

An imperial censor asked in confusion: "Even someone like me who doesn't know the art of war knows that the Liao army has the upper hand. How could he..."

The others nodded in agreement. After all, they were all awakened by the eunuchs sent by the emperor last night and rushed to the hall to discuss countermeasures.

If it wasn't a matter of life and death, how could a saint do such a thing?

Moreover, yesterday's military intelligence showed that in the battle of Qinling, the Liao army destroyed and defeated the Qi army of 100,000. These troops that retreated to the capital, together with the imperial guards and the Five City Army, were not as numerous as a flank unit of the Liao army.

But how could Guangping Hou Xu Qing use two hundred people to reverse the defeat and defeat the Liao army overnight?
Even if the Liao army knelt down one by one and let the two hundred men of Guangping Marquis chop off their necks, they would not be able to chop off all their soldiers even if the blades of their swords were blunt.

"Several troops have surveyed the Qinling battlefield and found that the Liao army left countless corpses there, numbering at least 100,000 people... According to reports from scouts who went there, the stench there was overwhelming and lasted for a long time."

"This……"

Yuchi Qi was different from other ministers. Having led troops in battle himself, he knew that the Liao Kingdom had fled, leaving behind numerous corpses, which was enough to prove that they had truly suffered a defeat.

The other ministers wanted to continue asking for more details to find out how the battle was fought, but Lord Lianhua in front of the throne curtain coughed lightly, stopping everyone's discussion.

"quiet."

When the ministers heard their real master speak, they naturally did not dare to say anything. They all bent down at the same time and saluted towards the dragon throne where the empress sat.

This time, the empress did not ask Lianhuajun to pass on the message, but asked in a clear voice: "Is Marquis Guangping back?"

"Your Majesty, after a night of bloody fighting, Marquis Guangping has returned home covered in wounds... He returned with Yang's three sisters, and they all moved into Marquis Guangping's mansion."

Empress Dowager Xu's expression was normal at first. Even when she heard that Xu Qing had defeated the enemy and won this incredible war, she did not show any extra emotion.

But when she heard that the three sisters of the Yang family had also moved into the Marquis' Mansion and were recuperating there, she frowned and said nothing.

Because of the empress's silence, the atmosphere in the hall was somewhat depressing.

After a while, a faint voice came from above.

"When Marquis Guangping recovers from his injuries, order him to come to the palace to pay his respects."

……

Three days into the battle of Qinling Mountains, Xu Qing gradually recovered from the feeling of exhaustion.

He simply couldn't imagine how he could survive from that endless horde of beasts.

Although the beasts summoned by Tianxuan Star Lord did not attack their makeshift camp, the blood-red beasts that ran forward recklessly over shields and spears made everyone present feel nervous.

Fortunately, Xu Qing's team cleverly occupied the top of the hill and were able to avoid most of the wild beasts and survive to the end.

Those who had some strength left rushed to the battlefield ahead to meet the surviving Yang Xianning and the Yang family cavalry.

The war was thus reversed, from a defeat for the Qi army to a tragic victory.

Of course, the price paid by the Liao army was beyond description. Judging from the intelligence delivered by Chengxuanfang, the whole country of Liao was in an uproar and could not believe that the troops commanded by Xiao Chong could fight like this.

Several ministers have launched an impeachment in Shangjing City, demanding that Xiao Chong be deprived of his military power on the front line and that he come to Beijing to apologize.

Even the Liao emperor, who had previously trusted and supported the other side, had to accept the memorial and sent an envoy to the military camp.

As for what happened next, even if Xu Qing wanted to know, he didn't have the energy to do so, because the eunuchs in the palace kept urging him to rush to the palace to pay respects to the emperor, but the situation in the mansion did not look peaceful at all.

"Master, the fourth young lady wants to see you."

Because there was so much blood stains that day, Xu Qing wanted to wash his body thoroughly, so he ordered Xiaohuan to boil water in broad daylight so that he could bathe and wipe his body.

As luck would have it, the yard, which had been quiet for three consecutive days, actually attracted a distinguished guest.

Xu Qing originally wanted to ask Qin Shuying to go to the main hall in the backyard and then go to see her later, but when he thought about the relationship between the two of them, it seemed that there was no need to care too much about the differences between men and women.

"Let her in."

"Yes."

Xiaohuan glanced at the young master's outline through the screen with a red face, then ran to the gate of the courtyard and pulled the bolt.

Qin Shuying stood there in a red dress, with a beautiful nose, cherry lips, willow eyebrows and almond eyes. The colorful clothes and gold hairpins on her body were very gorgeous and extremely eye-catching.

She smiled at the little maid and said in a sweet and pleasant voice: "Xiao Huan is really sensible and capable. I like her very much."

(End of this chapter)