Reincarnation Girl Becomes Immortal

"How many bandits are there?" Xi Heng didn't care about her official rank; in her view, it was merely symbolic.

"There are four major bandits in the capital region, namely Hunshui, Huotou, Heixu, and Beiwei. Among them, Hunshui and Huotou are still hiding in the mountains and forests, while the latter two have occupied cities and towns. The four bandits rebelled together, coercing the people to also take up weapons and fight against the government troops. It is claimed that there are more than 80,000 people, but this number is not true."

Chu Xiao simply said, "In my opinion, these bandits only have about 10,000 to 20,000 regular soldiers under their command. It's just that the capital army is unwilling to do its best to suppress the bandits, so they haven't been completely wiped out yet."

“Of course they don’t want to. After the bandits are wiped out, the Beijing army will be sent to the northern frontier battlefield where corpses are everywhere. It’s better to be a soldier in the bustling capital and live a carefree life.” Xi Heng understood.

"Orders can be issued, but people's hearts are hard to change." Zhao Chuxiao shook her head.

But Xi Heng thinks it's not difficult: "Just give them a more unacceptable option, and they will naturally choose the more lenient one."

What kind?

“Those who disobey orders shall die,” she said.

Chu Xiao paused for a moment, then said, "This is too harsh. Could it cause a backlash within the Beijing army, which has been lenient for so long?"

“That’s a good opportunity to do some screening and reorganize the capital army,” Xi Heng said calmly.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Zhao Chuxiao got up and went to the long table next to her, which was piled with various writing desks. She took a token that had been prepared beforehand, placed it on the table, and pushed it to Xi Heng.

"This is the command token, which I will now hand over to you, my elder sister. Please go to the capital army camp at noon tomorrow."

"Thank you." Xi Heng accepted the token, glanced at the gold and silver color, and nodded.

"One more question."

The girl took back the token and their eyes met.

Looking at the other person's clear, brownish-gray eyes and similar face, she always felt like she was looking in a mirror.

"When does my elder sister plan to seize the throne?" Chu Xiao asked calmly.

The tone was as if they were talking about something as mundane as 'the food is getting cold.'

"Seize?" Xi Heng said calmly, "The throne should have been mine all along. It should be said that I 'took' it."

"When?" the other party asked again.

"Perhaps they'll come after the area is pacified, or perhaps it will take some more time to reorganize," she said truthfully.

"At that time, we'll each rely on our own abilities," Chu Xiao said, waving her hand to see the guest out.

……

Chapter 119, Military Glory

"Kneel down."

In the vast training ground behind the East Gate of the capital city of Zhao.

Nearly 10,000 soldiers from the capital of the Great Zhao were kneeling or lying on the open, flat yellow earth.

As for why some of them were lying down, it was not because Xi Heng forgave their exhaustion, but because they were all dead.

The surface of those people's clothing was covered with gruesome and terrifying wounds, from which blood or intestines were squeezed out.

With a whoosh, the knotted intestines suddenly hit the ground, staining it with yellow dust.

Xi Heng, who was standing at the very front, had uttered the words "kneel down" for the third time.

On the first try, some people refused, and even a soldier who was used to being domineering saw that she was just a slender woman and made a provocative remark.

Whether it was genuine contempt or a test of her capabilities... it didn't matter anymore.

The man was already dead, and along with dozens of others who had been arrogant with him, their heads were severed.

It wasn't until she repeated it a second time that people almost all knelt down.

However, some people still loudly condemned her for her rude behavior, and even said they would petition the emperor to revoke her military power.

Xi Heng remembered that the man also said something like, "This is under the emperor's nose, not a place where a cruel and heartless person like you can stand."

Only after she revealed her identity, ordered the eunuch beside her to read the imperial edict again, and truly unleashed her chilling killing intent, did people finally dare not make a sound.

Her name and the achievements she has made in the past two years have spread throughout the capital.

Simply mentioning the name of Princess Xiheng will remind people of the events surrounding Fang Tiande, and the various rumors circulating on the northern frontier battlefield in recent months:

It is said that she once defeated Yan Mengqiang's powerful enemy camp with less than a hundred cavalry.

He led cavalry to rescue the besieged city, charging forward relentlessly.

Princess Di Ji participated in almost all battles where the enemy outnumbered her, yet she was able to win with fewer troops.

Now, wherever Yan Meng's army goes in the northern frontier battlefield, they will flee at the mere mention of it.

If they cannot escape, they will kneel down and surrender on the spot, begging for mercy, regardless of whether it is a thousand troops or ten thousand horses...

During his stay in the capital, Xi Heng inadvertently learned about these rumors about himself, which sounded rather exaggerated.

Although she had gained some fame in the northern frontier, Yan Meng's army was equally fierce and fearless in battle, and none of them had ever surrendered or fled at the mere sight of her.

The third command was given, and there was no further obstruction.

Xi Heng continued, "Military orders are absolute; anyone who disobeys will be executed without mercy."

He then ordered the Beijing army to form a marching formation, and only nodded when he saw that the army's formation was still relatively intact.

She divided the nearly 10,000-strong Beijing army into three large armies according to their combat strength, and sent them to three different directions to speed up the suppression of bandits.

As for the issue of dispersed combat forces, she did not pay attention to it.

Warfare is not solely about numbers; the key is to break through enemy lines.

Xi Heng felt he could do it alone, since the enemy was not Yan Meng's elite troops who were not afraid of dying in battle, but just some undisciplined rebels and bandits.

There's no need to concentrate forces to defeat them one by one; the same thing can be achieved by dispersing forces.

We just need to wait until she wanders to a certain place, and then attack that place.

Next, Xi Heng led three thousand soldiers from the capital to a bandit stronghold called Hei Xu, which was relatively close to the capital.

Although this force still calls itself a band of outlaws, it has actually cultivated the momentum of a rebel.

They have already occupied towns, forced the people to form garrisons, and even created a number of defensive weapons.

The city wall was fortified with barricades, and archers with torches patrolled the upper walls day and night—making it one of the most powerful bandits in the region.

With only three thousand troops from the capital, they certainly could not defeat them.

However, Xi Heng believed that with himself included, they shouldn't encounter too much trouble.

……

Three days later, the sun shone brightly and the breeze was gentle.

The officials and soldiers of the capital gathered in front of the remote town occupied by the enemy.

This town is nestled against the mountains and beside the water. Behind the mountains lies the stronghold of the Black Demon bandits. After capturing this town, we still need to go into the mountains to continue suppressing the bandits and attacking the stronghold.

If we send nearly 10,000 troops directly, not only will the march be slower, but the enemy will also flee at the first sign of trouble, plunging into the mountains and forests where they will be difficult to track down and defeat.

Three thousand ordinary Beijing soldiers should not be enough to cause them too much panic.

In the minds of these bandit groups, whenever the Beijing army came to harass them, it was just a show; no one would actually risk their lives to attack.

After all, military pay is only a few taels of silver, barely enough to feed a family, so who would risk their life?

All we need to do is make a show of things, create some noise, and get the tasks assigned by our superiors done. That should be about it.

Whether it can be done or not is another matter entirely.

Therefore, even when the bandit's troops were besieged by the Beijing army, they did not panic much.

Taking advantage of this, Xi Heng openly surrounded the capital's army in front of the city during the day, setting up camp and resting right under the noses of the bandits in the city.

The bandit troops on the city wall were even more negligent than she had imagined. Instead of beating drums and gongs, they laughed and made merry on the city wall, showing no regard for the government troops.

She arrived at sunset, and after nightfall, she led a third of her soldiers to block the retreat route from the town to the mountains under the cover of darkness.

After a flurry of activity, they returned to the main army and ordered the remaining two thousand soldiers to light torches, beat war drums, and shout battle cries.

Upon hearing this, the bandits in the town rushed to the city wall to patrol, and the leader among them quickly gathered his troops to prepare for defense.

But amidst the deafening shouts of battle, the bandits in the town saw that the government troops didn't even have a decent siege ladder; they were just running towards them carrying torches.

Just as the commander of the defending troops above breathed a sigh of relief and shouted that his soldiers should not panic since they did not have ladders, and ordered his men to draw their bows and shoot arrows—

A red figure suddenly appeared from the crowd of officers and soldiers, and in an instant, it crossed a hundred meters and stood in front of the city gate.

He spun around, his right leg, imbued with surging energy, carrying the momentum of his charge, and struck in front of him.

A thunderous roar erupted, and the city gate tower above it seemed to tremble.

Immediately afterwards, a huge hole appeared in the heavy city gate.

The surging force spread throughout the heavy wooden door, shattering all the wooden fragments, along with the wall that held the city gate in place, into dust.

The bandit garrison above only heard a thunderous roar and tremor. Before they could even realize what had happened, the morale of the Beijing army soldiers below had already soared. Their previously hesitant charge immediately became even more ferocious.

Xi Heng moved almost without stiffness, smashing the city gate and then rushing up the wall.

The longsword was drawn smoothly, and the hand was stretched forward.

"call."

In the empty space, his thin lips parted slightly, uttering a soft sound.

Suddenly, a large area of ​​fire erupted, burning the city wall and causing cries of alarm. At the same time, it separated a section of the city wall and caused a dozen or so archers gathered together to be covered in flames, struggling and roaring in pain.

The girl landed on top of the city wall, and seeing enemies all around her, she instead curled the corners of her mouth into a smile.

The longsword was swung, and streaks of red appeared under the moonlight.

Where the red light flashed, blood gushed from the enemy's neck, sending his head flying into the air.

Then, like a shower of flowers, they fell to the ground one after another, smashing the stone slabs of the city wall into patches of bloody bloom.

Xi Heng used the technique of skimming across water like a dragonfly to traverse a hundred meters in just a few seconds, leaving sword wounds and marks on everyone he passed, or a scar the size of a bowl on their neck.

Subsequently, the archers standing in a row on the city wall fell to the ground one after another like dominoes.

There were clearly no martial artists here who could withstand even a few moves from her; all she was doing now was a one-sided massacre.

Because she killed so quickly, the bandit leader was unaware that she had finished killing the enemy on the other side of the city wall, and the bandit leader, who was unaware of the situation, was still directing the archers to fire.

The man kept repeating the words "draw the bow and shoot the arrow," and he felt that the number of arrows shot by the archers and the city walls around him was decreasing.

When he felt something was amiss, he sent someone to investigate.

Xi Heng had already reached the city wall where this person was located.

In a moment of surprise, the bandit leader, by the light of the torch, saw a blurry, ghostly figure flying towards them.

He immediately drew his sword to block the attack, but his men surrounding him didn't have time to react and lost their heads instantly.

"Who?!" the bandit shouted.

Immediately, a long sword pierced his back and emerged from his chest.

Crimson blood clung to the blade, a drop falling down—only to be immediately pulled out again.

Xi Heng paid no attention to this rare internal strength martial artist among the bandits, and immediately went to kill the other city wall guards.

At the same time, the Zhao soldiers rushed into the town, carrying torches and hacking and slashing indiscriminately.

Upon seeing that the city wall had been breached, the bandits immediately lost all will to resist and fled unanimously toward the other city gate at the rear.

Seeing the enemy flee, the officers and soldiers naturally rushed forward to pursue and kill them.

The bandits had just left the city and were trying to escape into the mountains when they found a large number of government soldiers blocking their way.

With government troops blocking their path in front and even more powerful troops charging from behind, the bandits were stunned for a moment before dropping their weapons and surrendering.

The night raid on the city thus came to an end.

After killing almost everyone on the city wall, Xi Heng arrived at the town, which was brightly lit by torches, and saw countless surrendered bandits kneeling on the ground.

He looked around and calmly said:

"If you don't accept surrender, kill them all."

The surrounding officers and soldiers were stunned and did not move for a moment.

"Kill them all," she repeated, her voice filled with murderous intent.