New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Just as Wanyan Xie was laying out a new round of battle plans, a black triangular flag was raised on the city tower of the south gate of Guangling.

A scout, hidden in the opposite woods, was peering out from a treetop when he spotted the triangular flag fluttering in the wind. He immediately jumped down from the tree and, with a few quick movements, disappeared into the dense forest.

On a hilltop ten miles away from the Jin army camp, Yue Fei was observing the layout of Wanyan Xieye's camp with two subordinates.

Unfortunately, the terrain in Guangling was too flat, making it impossible for him to see the entire enemy camp, which increased the difficulty of raiding the camp.

Although he was training cavalry, the horses he brought back from the north were not enough for each man. Therefore, Yue Fei's plan was to first find the enemy's horse pen. With horses as an aid, the success rate of burning the grain would be improved. If he rushed in like that, he would only be surrounded by the enemy army.

The initial victory had greatly boosted Yue Fei's confidence, while the Jin army was still feeling apprehensive. If a surprise attack were launched at this time, Yue Fei felt there was at least a 70% chance of success.

Based on his past experience fighting the Jin army, he could roughly determine where the enemy's horse stables were located in the camp, and now was the perfect opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Unfortunately, Tang Qian did not send a signal for a long time, and Yue Fei could not act rashly. Seeing that the opportunity was about to be missed, Yue Fei decided to take the initiative and report later.

Just as he was about to give the order to launch the attack, a scout darted out from the dense forest behind him and came to Yue Fei's side, saying only one sentence: "The flag being raised outside the south gate is a black triangular flag."

Yue Fei narrowed his eyes slightly. Although he was puzzled, he still resisted the urge to issue the order to attack.

Previously, when arranging the battle plan, Tang Qian had made it clear that he would not participate in the command of the cavalry outside the city. However, he also said that once the black triangular flag was raised, all battle plans must be stopped. Even Yue Fei had to follow the orders at this time.

With a sigh of regret, Yue Fei stared intently at the Jin army camp below the hillside: "Never mind, let's retreat to our camp first."

Although the enemy suffered considerable losses, they were not crippled. At this point, while a raid on their camp would certainly be able to burn their supplies, our own casualties would not be small either.

Upon returning to their camp after leaving the dense forest, another subordinate immediately stepped forward to report: "A young man claiming to be the city lord's servant has been waiting for the marshal for quite some time."

Yue Fei stepped forward, looked Tang Xiaoqi up and down, and took out a broken piece of iron from his waist.

Tang Xiaoqi also reached into his robes, and the two pieces of iron combined into one in front of them. Yue Fei cupped his hands in greeting and asked, "What are your plans, City Lord?"

Tang Xiaoqi waved to Yue Fei: "Take a group of men and come with me."

That night, the moon was bright and the stars were few.

Outside the North Gate, a scene of near-horrific carnage during the day, corpses lay scattered about, some missing limbs, some disemboweled, and others unrecognizable. Puddles of blood, dried by the sunlight, had turned into dark red marks, like scattered chess pieces on a chessboard.

The Jin soldiers, several miles away, were too afraid of the thunderous weapons to come forward and collect the bodies of their comrades, making the battlefield outside the city resemble a hellish scene under the moonlight.

The city tower was brightly lit, with soldiers on duty moving around from time to time. The other combat teams all slept on the ground. In order to prevent enemy night attacks, everyone was on high alert and dared not relax for a moment.

Looking at the scene of corpses strewn everywhere below the city wall, Tang Qian frowned slightly. It seemed that he still needed to find a way to dispose of these corpses. If it caused a plague, that would be terrible.

Standing beside him, Zhao Yingluo also sighed, "They lost their lives for the so-called grand ambitions of those kings and nobles. They were pitiful people who were being used without even realizing it."

Tang Qian reached out and grasped her soft hand, saying softly, "Since ancient times, the change of any dynasty has been built on the corpses of thousands upon thousands of people. The Jin Dynasty wanted to destroy our Great Song Dynasty, and these people were the stepping stones for the Wanyan clan."

Zhao Yingluo bit her lip lightly. It wasn't that she felt any pity for the Jurchens who died unjustly during their invasion of the Song Dynasty.

Now that things have come to this, she has never thought that she should defend Guangling for the Song Dynasty. The only reason she stayed here was to be able to sleep with her husband in life and be buried with him in death.

What Zhao Yingluo couldn't understand was that most of these people clearly didn't want to fight, so why did they keep going forward, willing to become cannon fodder for the court and die in foreign lands?

"Some seek fame, some pursue profit, some strive for sustenance, and some yearn to change their fate. Unfortunately, they all fail to see that these so-called fame and fortune are nothing but empty promises from those in power. Yingluo, you wouldn't be pitying these people, would you?"

War is a fight to the death; to show sympathy for the enemy is to be cruel to oneself.

Zhao Yingluo shook her head. These people wanted to conquer Guangling and destroy her and her husband's home. They deserved to die. How could she possibly feel any sympathy for them?

"I am only worried that after this battle, my husband has committed too many sins, and that he will be tormented by his conscience and unable to get out of the shadow of guilt."

It's surprising that Yingluo knows about post-traumatic stress disorder. However, she is completely overthinking it. Defending his homeland is Tang Qian's duty. Even if the corpses of the Jin army pile up like mountains, he will not feel any guilt.

Isn't there a song lyric that goes like this? "When friends come, we welcome them with fine wine; when wolves come, we prepare hunting rifles."

"Don't worry, my wife. I'm not some bloodthirsty butcher. As long as they withdraw from Guangling City and stop attacking my homeland, I won't even think about counterattacking the Great Jin."

Why can't everyone just calmly rest and recuperate, biding their time and keeping a low profile? Why must we use force and murder to prove who is stronger and who is weaker?

Tang Qian wanted to try and see if he could create a peaceful and prosperous world where countries could exchange goods and people of all ethnicities could live in harmony after the Jin army withdrew.

Yue Fei's Yue Family Army still had to be rebuilt. Although Yue Fei's life trajectory changed to some extent from the moment he joined Guangling, Tang Qian knew that he had to give his full support to his future plan to restore the country.

For the Song Dynasty, the nation needed heroes and the people needed faith. As for the surrounding foreign states, they were thoroughly terrified, so that these people would not dare to show the slightest disrespect when facing them.

Only when Yue Fei established the reputation that "it is easier to shake a mountain than to shake the Yue Family Army" did his words become truly weighty truths.