Reincarnation Girl Becomes Immortal

We also need to keep a close eye on the location of provisions, armor, and oxcarts.

Fortunately, they were traveling on a smooth official road. If this army from the capital had to march through the mountains and fields, they would probably have scattered within a few days.

If the 20,000 soldiers behind him were an invincible army with excellent discipline on the northern frontier battlefield, then it would be fine.

However, these Beijing troops were poorly disciplined, and even during marches, various problems would arise, slowing down their marching efficiency.

Each day, they needed to take long breaks for meals and rest, and each time they regrouped for a march, they had to work for a long time.

The messenger's voice echoed throughout the camp, urging the rested trains to regroup and set off.

Furthermore, some of them were unwilling to march north at all and deliberately procrastinated.

If someone is obviously putting on an act, they will be kicked out of the military and sent back to the capital to be punished.

In fact, whenever she encountered this kind of situation, she would rather draw her sword and kill the person directly, but she was afraid of hurting the already low morale, so she used some proper methods.

After dealing with the troublemakers in the rear, Xi Heng returned to the front and asked his deputy to hand him a map.

Unrolling the scroll, his gaze swept over the two great cities that were under attack.

“Yan’an and Dongping are located in the northeast and southwest respectively…” the girl murmured to herself.

With just a glance at the map, even someone who has never seen these two cities can easily see that Yan'an is more important than Dongping.

Not only was it larger in scale, but the city was also more interconnected, with waterways nearby and multiple land routes extending in all directions, making it look like the center of a spider web on a map.

Yan'an was the capital of the former Great Wu Dynasty. Although it has declined and its population is only one-fifth that of the capital, its city size is only a fraction smaller than that of the capital.

Because it was the capital of the previous dynasty, its city walls are tall and wide, with inner and outer walls.

Xi Heng had given up hope of protecting the outer city walls. The number of garrison troops in the city was simply insufficient to protect the outer city. However, the inner city walls were much wider and taller, and in theory, they should be able to hold the city.

She nodded slightly: "In that case, it would be better to take the longer side road and go directly to the more important Yan'an rescue, without having to go through Dongping first."

"As long as we can firmly hold Yan'an, we can have more control over the waters and also surround the enemy army in Dongping."

"By holding Yan'an, our chances of victory will be much greater."

After thinking it over, he discussed it with several of his lieutenants.

The generals of the Beijing army, who had hardly ever fought in major battles, naturally followed Xi Heng's lead, and no one objected.

However, one famous general was more cautious:

"It is said that Yan Meng's army is incredibly brave, while our capital region has little experience in major battles. Can we win?"

Xi Hengming knew the answer was no, but he only said:

"Yan Mengjun is also made of flesh and blood, not cast iron monsters, so what is there to fear? I have already killed thousands of them."

"Your Highness is mighty!" the surrounding soldiers responded.

Although she said this, she had no hope that the 20,000 troops from the capital would win the battle.

Xi Heng placed his hopes solely on the Great Zhao's Ever Victorious Army in the northern frontier, which was said to have already marched south to provide support.

Once the Ever Victorious Army has arrived, she can bring in 20,000 troops from the capital to make a show of force, and the enemy might retreat.

If the Ever Victorious Army had not yet arrived, she could have the capital army hold back the enemy's attacking forces, reducing the pressure on the Yan'an defenders, until the Northern Frontier Army arrived and secured victory.

As for her subordinates, who, despite having some military experience, had only actually undergone a year of training, she had no hope for them at all.

It's already quite an achievement that they weren't overwhelmed by Yan Meng's heavy cavalry in one fell swoop.

However, along the way, they still had to teach some techniques for dealing with Yan Meng's army, so that the soldiers would think they could all hold their own against Yan Meng's army and boost their morale a little.

So, whenever it was nighttime for meals and rest, she would have soldiers of all ranks from various armies gather around her to explain and demonstrate some of the tactics used by the Northern Frontier Army to deal with Yan Meng's various troops.

For example, if encountering heavy cavalry like the Ironclad Cavalry, use axes to chop the horses' legs; if facing a cavalry charge, use giant shields to block, then use crossbows to wound the men and horses, or use four- or five-meter-long giant spears to form a zigzag formation, etc.

On the seventh day, Xi Heng led his troops to a fork in the road and took the right-hand road, which was farther away but led directly to Yan'an City.

The army continued its march, stopping and starting as always.

Gradually, they reached the halfway point again.

The sky was dark and a light drizzle was falling. Although it did not delay the march, it still caused some annoyance.

The fine autumn rain, like fine hairs, dotted the girl's face, adding a touch of softness to her skin.

Throughout his journey, Xi Heng felt uneasy, with a vague premonition that something bad was about to happen.

Another day passed.

The long drizzle turned the dust on the ground into mud, which stuck to the fur boots of the soldiers.

Under the gloomy, overcast sky, 20,000 soldiers, their clothes soaked, moved through the continuous rain.

Gray clouds rolled slowly across the sky, and the faint sound of a cold wind, like the low growl of a wild beast, swept across the sky.

As if fulfilling her ominous premonition, around noon, the scouts sent a few miles ahead reported that a large number of figures were slowly approaching from afar.

Upon hearing this, the girl walked forward for a while longer before raising her hand to order the soldiers behind her to stop.

As the messengers around them shouted their orders, the 20,000 soldiers stopped in their tracks from front to back, as if scales were being turned over.

Sitting on his horse, Xi Heng could already see those densely packed figures in the distance.

For some reason, I feel like I've experienced this situation before.

Back when we were on the northern battlefield, we were going to support a fortress called Xingzhou.

On the way, they encountered a friendly defeated army that had come from Xingzhou City.

Now, although the figures in the distance are shrouded in rain and mist and are difficult to see clearly, the flag hanging motionless in the drizzle in front of them always reminds her of the past.

Xi Heng subconsciously swung the reins in his hand, making the horse speed up.

Immediately afterwards, more and more figures could be seen appearing in the distance.

Their figures almost filled the entire official road in sight, roughly estimated to be several thousand.

As she drew closer, she saw the cracks in the armor of the soldiers at the front and their low morale.

A few cries of pain and sighs could still be faintly heard.

"As expected, we've been defeated again." Xi Heng sighed, riding his red-maned horse slowly to the front of the defeated army.

The dark red and gold-trimmed armor wasn't too conspicuous under the gloomy sky.

The horse slowed its pace, and the soldiers at the front of the opposing army looked at her.

"But is it the Yan'an army?" Xi Heng asked. "Has Yan'an already fallen?"

The general in front, whose face was rather pale, nodded in agreement.

Amidst the soft patter of rain, the other person's voice was indeed quite faint, not at all like that of a commanding general.

"Don't be discouraged. Even the main force in the northern frontier has suffered repeated defeats. Your garrison's loss is no fault of yourselves."

She shook her head and then expertly invited the other party to bring their troops to join her own forces.

These troops, who had just escaped from the city after its fall, clearly still had some fighting spirit. As soon as Xi Heng revealed her name and displayed her official title as Grand Commandant with gold seal and purple ribbon, the soldiers in front of her immediately responded and led their army to join her ranks.

This Grand Commandant's badge, the highest rank in martial arts, was given to her by Zhao Chuxiao after she had previously wiped out a major bandit in the capital region.

The Grand Commandant is nominally the highest military officer in the country, but due to the gradual decline of the ranks of warriors in recent decades, his actual control over military power has weakened, and he is even in the process of becoming an official position that is only used for promotion and has no real power.

However, now that Xi Heng has this official position in his hands, it is the highest power to control all military and political affairs in the world.

After taking in the 6,700 remaining soldiers from the fall of Yan'an City, Xi Heng naturally did not go to Yan'an again, but led his army to Dongping City to provide support.

During the journey, Xi Heng inquired with the generals of Yan'an Army about why the city had been breached.

"Among the enemy forces are many martial arts masters who lead elite troops to scale the city walls at night using grappling hooks, launching a surprise attack when our defenders are exhausted. We cannot withstand their assault," the other side said.

"Flying claw..." Xi Heng remembered that Yan Mengguo hadn't used this move when they attacked the city before.

I've heard that Yanmeng Kingdom has now formed an alliance with Baekje Kingdom in the east. Perhaps this grappling hook is a technique brought from that peninsula kingdom.

Before leaving the capital, she had read some books and records about Baekje—Baekje was just a small country, its territory incomparable to that of the Great Zhao. It lived by the sea and relied on the sea for its livelihood. Most of its people were fishermen and fishermen's families. It had commercial relations with the Great Zhao and often bought grain from them...

It is said that Baekje has a large navy, but because it is separated from the Great Zhao by a vast ocean and by the huge Yanmeng Kingdom on land, there is very little information about it, and it is impossible to verify its authenticity.

Looking at it now, Baekje had a great many large ships and naval forces.

As a result, Yan Meng's army was able to be transported directly to the southern part of Zhao.

It is unknown how many Yan Mengjun came. The report only said that "they were countless all over the mountains and fields, and there were at least tens of thousands of them," without giving an exact number.

Perhaps Yan Meng's 100,000-strong army has already been transported here, or perhaps a few units remain in the north to continue the southward offensive and contain the Northern Frontier Army of the Great Zhao.

"How many enemy troops did Yan'an City encounter?" she asked again.

"The number is unknown; I only remember that they could never be killed off, and the horizon was endless." The other party shook his head.

“Yan’an is a fortified city, and the number of enemy troops attacking it should be much greater than that of Dongping City,” Xi Heng said. “Now that we have more than 27,000 men going to Dongping, it should be enough to defeat the enemy troops attacking the city. Then we can use Dongping as a base to hold the city and temporarily stabilize the situation. After that, we can also try to attack Yan’an.”

She then had her adjutant hand her a map and said, "We also need to destroy the enemy's troop transport ships, otherwise Yan Meng's army can still use the waterways to come and go."

Yan'an, a strategically important military location, has been captured. Although other cities also have rivers and ports, none of them have defensive positions along the riverbanks like Yan'an.

With the enemy's concerns reduced, if they were truly determined to fight to the death, they could probably transport a large force by ship to deeper into the south.

"Although the imperial court has also dispatched a navy, it has been inactive for a long time. Deploying it without training could easily result in a major defeat. The most direct approach is for us to destroy the ships." Xi Heng finished speaking, then turned his gaze from the map towards Dongping City.

“There should be many enemy ships in the ports around Dongping City, and we must destroy them.”

Then, she discussed the attack plan after arriving at Jinping City with the other generals around her, and ordered her soldiers to make some preparations.

Having finished these necessary tasks, she suddenly remembered something during her journey and asked the defeated general again:

How many people are there in Yan'an City?

"Your Highness, the city's inhabitants, including the garrison, number as many as 170,000."

"Seventeen hundred thousand..." Xi Heng seemed to be deep in thought.

"Yan Meng is brutal. He may have carried out massacres while stationed in Yan'an. After taking Dongping City, he will need to gather forces as soon as possible to counterattack Yan'an."

"Your Highness is absolutely right." The defeated general was also quite worried about the people of Yan'an.

……

Five days later, at nightfall.

Xi Heng led his army closer and closer to Dongping City, which was being besieged by Yan Meng's enemy forces.

Deep inside enemy territory, hundreds of scouts and cavalry have been dispatched for dozens of miles, scouting out a large area that the main force will approach.

Xi Heng carefully ordered the military to form ranks and slowly climb a hill in front of them.

Upon reaching a higher vantage point, one can hear distant noises.

Before Dongping City, blazing flames surged continuously, and catapults hurled huge stones to bombard the city.

Smoke surrounded the city walls on all sides, but it was always blown away after a short while, indicating that the Zhao army had a countermeasure against the smoke bombs.

Further on the river, a dozen or so large ships could be vaguely seen swaying slightly.

Xi Heng then reorganized the troops behind him according to the plan that had been set up along the way.

Because of the large number of troops, the reorganization took almost half an hour.

Once the army was in position, each soldier had two unlit torches hanging from their body.

These thick wooden sticks, specially collected during the march, were wrapped in cloth and soaked in oil, ready to be lit.

General Xi Heng handed over command of the battle formation to several of his lieutenants, while he himself led two hundred elite troops, each carrying torches and oil jugs, and drawing magical fire patterns on the back of their hands, forming a burning army.

She is already quite skilled at it.

After drawing two or three magical runes on his body, he led his elite troops and quickly made a detour to the enemy's rear.

Suddenly, a firework shot high into the sky over the military headquarters, several kilometers away, and the distant sound of fierce battle shouts could be heard. The main force had already pressed forward, drawing the enemy's attention.

After waiting a short while, Xi Heng led his elite troops into action.

Zhang Gong launched the rocket, which landed on the surface of the many ships.

Fireballs rose up and blasted the surface of the large ship.

Xi Heng then drew his sword and stepped forward to deal with the surrounding guards.

Meanwhile, in the direction of the distant army, the sounds of fierce war drums and battle cries continued.

"Kill the enemy! Kill the enemy—"