Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 19: Battle of the Northern Frontier
After a few days,

Outside the Great Wall, the military tent is on the march.

King Kang stared at the map, marked the four northern barbarian camps that he had just destroyed on it, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Yes, we have won many battles in a row. It is time to announce the sharpness of my military to the people of Dachang."

Du Ke, an aide, bowed and said, "Congratulations, Your Highness. I believe the documents from the court will soon be delivered. I am sure that Your Majesty will support Your Highness in continuing the Northern Expedition."

"Let alone the arrangements we have made in the court, all the civil and military officials also hope to gain merit through this victory in the Northern Expedition. Especially the nobles, if the border is kept peaceful for a long time, they will have no chance to gain merit, and their titles will be passed down lower and lower, and they will all end up in failure in the end."

"Everyone wants to get a piece of the pie from His Highness."

King Kang was in high spirits. He clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Okay, I have never been a mean and ungrateful person. I can share whatever I want. This battle will determine the outcome. When I meet the King of Qin again, I can hold my head high."

Another staff member, Tang Xiao, was a little worried. It was never a good thing to be ambitious and conceited. He gritted his teeth and advised: "This place is already fifty miles away from the border. The food route is really a hidden danger. If it is blocked by the barbarians, our army will be in a dilemma."

"It would be better to order the vanguard general to withdraw first and assign people to guard the grain route. Once we capture the guide, we can proceed slowly. The court should send more supplies, so there is no need to rush for success."

"That's a bad word."

Du Ke stood up and retorted, "Brother Zijun (Tang Xiao's courtesy name), why are you so cautious? The barbarians have repeatedly retreated northward with their baggage, how many troops can they spare to attack our camp? Moreover, the vanguard generals of the Qin Palace, Your Highness, should encourage them to go deeper."

Du Ke raised a sly smile, "Now the people in the Qin Palace have made some efforts, but the credit should still be given to Your Highness. It would be best if they could go first and make some mistakes. Your Highness can command the army to help and make up for their mistakes."

"If this battle situation is reported to the capital, the last bit of merit of the Qin Palace will be wiped out, and it will completely become a stepping stone for Your Highness."

King Kang smiled even more happily as he saw such a perfect future. "Yes, it should be so."

Tang Xiao shook his head and sighed, silently saying: "It's not the time to determine the victory yet, how can you treat the barbarians like a child and continue to fight among yourself?"

At the right time, an imperial edict was delivered from outside the camp.

When King Kang took it, he felt as if he was basking in spring breeze. After he unfolded it and read it through, he couldn't stop laughing.

"As we expected, my father agreed to send troops, but my second brother opposed it and reminded me not to underestimate the enemy and not to rush to achieve merit."

King Kang chuckled and threw the letter on the table, leaving it for his two aides to circulate.

"Look at this, with the support of my father, why would I not go further? Also, let my second brother see that I can conquer the country even if he can't!"

King Kang slammed the table, his mind made up.

"Come here, tell the vanguard to march north and destroy the barbarian camp. Tell all the troops to set out on a chosen day, and get ready!"

Du Ke bowed and said, "I would like to congratulate Your Highness first."

Until now, no matter how Tang Xiao persuaded, he could not change the trend. He could only hope that the general who led this northern barbarian army was really a fool...

……

The sun sets over the western mountains,

King Kang and his companions were enjoying their meal in the tent. Suddenly, a strong smell of burning came from outside the tent, causing them all to frown.

King Kang looked unhappy and ordered his guards: "Go and see what is burning outside."

Before the guards left the tent, a disheveled soldier lifted the felt curtain, his face smoky as charcoal, and hurried to report: "Your Highness, it's bad. The barbarians we captured earlier have escaped and set fire to various tents for cover. Now all the troops are rushing to rescue the baggage. Please leave the camp for shelter!"

"idiot!"

King Kang was immediately furious. He threw the teacup to the ground and roared, "You can't even handle such a small matter? What are you doing?"

Tang Xiao advised: "Your Highness, now is not the time to blame. Your Highness's safety should be the priority first. It is just a few people causing trouble, and it will not cause any trouble in this camp." Surrounded by guards and staff, King Kang quickly walked out of the camp.

As soon as the felt curtain was lifted, one could see flames shooting up into the sky from many of the tents outside. Under the setting sun, the flames were even redder than the sunset glow.

Soldiers everywhere carried buckets of water and poured them on the baggage and food, but it was obvious at a glance that there was no way to control the fire.

"Your Highness, please mount your horse and take shelter. The wind will pick up at night and it will be difficult to put out in a short time."

Thinking that the additional baggage from the capital was on the way, King Kang finally took a deep breath and led his troops out of the camp, giving a cold order: "Before nightfall, we must capture those barbarians and behead them for public display!"

Turning his horse's head, he saw that on the surrounding hills, all the Dachang flags had been folded down, and the Northern Barbarian flags were raised.

The flags seemed endless, and it was impossible to tell how many barbarian soldiers there were.

Seeing this, King Kang was stunned on the spot, and his hand holding the reins could not help but tremble slightly, "How could you really predict this?"

"Come here, come here quickly, form a battle formation to resist the enemy first!"

The camp was already in chaos, and when this order was passed down, the left and right central armies had no time to care about anything. Before they could even form a battle formation, they saw the barbarian army all over the mountains and plains coming down with great momentum and rushing straight into the central camp.

Someone in the army shouted again, "Protect His Royal Highness Prince Kang first!"

Indeed, if King Kang died in battle here, the generals who joined the army would not have a good end even if they were lucky enough to survive.

The soldiers surrounded King Kang and resisted the barbarian army's iron hooves.

King Kang gradually regained his senses from his panic, took the bow from his back, drew the bow and put an arrow on it, but because of his unfamiliarity with the bow or his panic, he failed to hit the target several times.

"Go and send a message to the front troops, ordering them to turn back and rescue the emperor!"

In front of the barbarian army, a rider walked out slowly. He had a full beard and a ferocious look on his face. One could tell from his appearance that he was no ordinary man.

Amidst the chaos of the army, he remained calm and looked at King Kang with a joking expression.

"Hey, King Kang, don't you want my head? Why don't you come and get it?"

King Kang was shocked when he realized that the person opposite him was the current leader of the barbarians, Tuji Khan.

The two men were far apart, and King Kang, relying on his status, did not shout to him, but listened to Tuji Khan talking to himself.

"King Kang, I really have to thank you. Tuli died, and I didn't know how to deal with his tribe. Not only did you help me deal with it, you also sent me three generals from the Qin Palace."

"Don't wait for reinforcements. We have already defeated them. Hahahaha..."

The barbarians around Tuji Khan were infected by his laughter and burst into laughter.

On the other hand, King Kang naturally could not laugh. He could only shrink his formation little by little to protect King Kang.

King Kang's face had already changed. He was at a loss as to what to do.

Tang Xiao stood guard beside King Kang and said anxiously, "Your Highness, you cannot sit here and wait for death. Order the entire army to concentrate on one point and break out to the border. We still have tens of thousands of soldiers!"

King Kang pursed his lips, but before he could open his mouth, he saw a commotion behind the Northern Barbarians.

Gazing from afar, we could see an army flying the flag with the Chinese character "Jia" on it.

Du Ke felt relieved and hurriedly congratulated King Kang, "Your Highness, it's Duke Rong who is here!"

(End of this chapter)