Chapter 23 A Mixed Force

There were around twenty first-rate experts, and another four to five hundred second and third-rate experts. Most of the clan soldiers from various families had also been practicing martial arts for some time. In terms of close-quarters combat, this motley crew with their diverse weapons could face five to ten times their number in ordinary infantry.

After joining forces with the Blood Kirin Army, Chi Yun didn't ask for command but left everything to Dai Yun's arrangements. The clan soldiers and retainers from the various great families might respect Chi Yun's status and experience, but they were unwilling to obey a young woman who wasn't even twenty. Dai Yun was too lazy to argue with those guys about whether or not she was qualified. She told Chi Yun to control his troops and keep up with the Blood Kirin Army's battle pace. She had no intention of fighting for unified command. However, over the next few days, on the journey towards Xuan Shan Pass while also needing to evade enemy tracking and reconnaissance, those clan soldiers and martial artists were completely won over. As a disciple of Lianye Sword (Lotus Leaf Sword) Peng Ji, Dai Yun's swordsmanship and skill could only be described as average, but on the battlefield, this young woman shone brilliantly. And the Blood Kirin Army, under her precise and powerful command, won complete victories in several consecutive skirmishes.

After the mixed force led by Chi Yun joined, Dai Yun weighed the risks and possible complications of releasing the captured Dongping soldiers and abandoned her original plan. Instead, with extremely fast march speeds, she took a large detour and infiltrated Dongjia Town, not far from Xuan Shan Pass. After controlling all the entrances and exits of Dongjia Town, they began to discuss the specific plan to attack Xuan Shan Pass.

With so many Jianghu (Martial World) experts in the mixed force, a tactic that would be impossible for an ordinary army was about to emerge. Among the experts who were on good terms with the various families, there were still a few who were somewhat pedantic, or who lacked deep Jianghu experience and were simply skilled in martial arts and highly respected. But more of them were the kind of guys who relied on aristocratic families. Some of these people had offended certain people in the past and had to hide their names, while others gained protection by serving as attendants or retainers, which allowed them to avoid being pursued by the government for some troublesome cases. When Dai Yun and Chi Yun explained the plan for them to infiltrate first, carry out sabotage and assassinations, and try to open the city gates, the vast majority of these experts maintained a pretense of aloofness, but many showed eager expressions. And the glint in the eyes of some guys who were so used to acting like righteous gentlemen that it had become an instinct revealed that they were clearly not indifferent to such tactics.

The Xiling army's vigilance at Xuan Shan Pass couldn't be said to be lax, but this kind of strictness had little effect on Jianghu experts. Xuan Shan Pass was built on the cliffs on both sides, and the rock faces that were difficult for ordinary people to climb were not a big problem for these people.

The war began in the center of Xuan Shan Pass. A notorious Jiang Yang (River Bandit) from more than a decade ago was still accidentally detected by several generals with good martial arts skills stationed in the Xuan Shan Pass General's Mansion when he infiltrated Xuan Shan Pass. The battle erupted suddenly. But by this time, more than two hundred people had infiltrated Xuan Shan Pass, and the gate facing Dongping had been controlled. After two puffs of miyan (smoke powder), several Jianghu figures easily opened the gate. On this side of the city wall, originally extending from both sides to the middle, many Xiling soldiers had their throats cut without even seeing the enemy. When the school officers of the Xuan Shan Pass General's Mansion rushed into the listening room to strike the bell to raise the alarm, they found the soldiers stationed in the listening room lying on the ground. The bronze bell, which weighed more than eight hundred pounds, had been taken down from the beam and placed firmly on the ground, making it impossible to ring. Only then did they realize the extent to which Dongping's infiltration of Xuan Shan Pass had reached. The Xiling army stationed in Xuan Shan Pass could only enter the battle as the flames of war spread from the center to the surrounding areas, and as the messengers hurriedly shouted warnings. And in such inefficient communication, the true and false messengers made the school officers and soldiers in various barracks even more troubled. Some very confident guys would impersonate messengers, chuckle coldly, deliver the alarm, and then immediately kill the officers, before fleeing in front of a group of Xiling soldiers…

Xuan Shan Pass was thoroughly ravaged by more than two hundred experts, and at this time, the gate was opened. The Blood Kirin Army's cavalry thundered directly into Xuan Shan Pass. Although there were as many as 30,000 Xiling soldiers stationed in Xuan Shan Pass, due to the lack of unified command, and most people didn't even understand what was happening, and low-ranking officers were the primary targets of the many Jianghu assassins, the chaos in Xuan Shan Pass made the Blood Kirin Army's slaughter so easy. The Blood Kirin Army was a passionate army, but they were not the kind of army that needed to constantly shout loudly to embolden themselves. The Blood Kirin Army surrounded a small area of barracks, quietly killed their way in, and besides the rumble of horses' hooves, there were only the miserable cries of the Xiling soldiers.

When a new day arrived and the sun shone again on the city walls of Xuan Shan Pass, the assassinations, chaos, and slaughter of the entire night had come to an end. The Blood Kirin Army had controlled both sides of the city walls of Xuan Shan Pass and had basically cleared the Xiling garrison in Xuan Shan Pass. This night, even though there were conditions for taking in prisoners, the Blood Kirin Army still carried out its iron-blooded character, without deliberately keeping prisoners. The nearly eight thousand prisoners who were finally taken in had all surrendered to Chi Yun's troops. The iron-blooded style of the troops led by this young woman, Dai Yun, while clearing the enemy at the fastest speed, further shocked the friendly forces with their complex origins.

The war, having progressed to this point, when Ye Tao's conception of the entire battle was finally completed, Tong Bingwen could no longer play any tricks. Xuan Shan Pass, Miancheng, Ningshi City, and Baishi City, a series of key points were all in the hands of the Dongping army. Although there were still more than 100,000 Xiling troops in Dongping at this time, these troops were not enough to attack those key locations at the same time. At this time, Zhuo Mang, taking advantage of the Dongping army's high morale, joined forces with a part of the Forbidden Army that had rushed over from Danyang and launched an offensive against the Xiling army. In a frontal confrontation that was not very large in scale, the Dongping army, with morale like a rainbow, greatly defeated Xiling, beheading 40,000. The total force投入战场的总兵力 also exceeded the Xiling side.

As an old general, Tong Bingwen showed his decisive and resolute character at this time. He immediately withdrew from the siege of Baishi City and Ningshi City, and the army slowly retreated to the southwest. He led the army into the territory of the Chunnan Kingdom, and then received reinforcements from another Xiling army, and returned to Xiling from the border between Xiling and Chunnan. Although only a little more than 100,000 of the nearly 300,000 troops were able to return to Xiling, they preserved Xiling's strength to the greatest extent. If he had hesitated even slightly, Zhuo Mang would have led his army to surround him, and he might have had big problems withdrawing from the battlefield.

After seeing through Tong Bingwen's intentions, although somewhat hesitant, Zhuo Mang still chose to let Tong Bingwen go. On the one hand, Tong Bingwen had also been an old opponent for many years. Although he was in retreat, if he wanted to block him, Tong Bingwen might be able to play some tricks with the troops in his hands. Although the units that Tong Bingwen was ultimately able to take away were not all complete, there were still several elite units that were very capable of fighting. Another consideration was Tong Bingwen's position in Xiling. Although Tong Bingwen's position in Xiling was still different from Zhuo Mang's in Dongping, where Zhuo Mang was almost the only choice for leading the army to fight, Tong Bingwen was one of the key figures in balancing the various forces inside and outside the Xiling court. Ye Tao, who formulated the battle plan, didn't have to consider this aspect, but Zhuo Mang, as the Grand General of Dongping and the head of the Dongping military officers, couldn't ignore this issue. A moment of pleasure might create a more complicated situation.

Tong Bingwen's decisiveness also meant that Ye Tao's original ultimate goal of completely annihilating the Xiling army within the country could not be achieved in the end. However, considering the various situations in the previous period, combined with the vivid memories from the beginning of the Xiling invasion to Tong Bingwen's retreat with 100,000 defeated soldiers, this result was considered acceptable.

After the cessation of hostilities, Zhuo Mang closely monitored the movements of the Xiling side while readjusting the defense of the western front of Dongping. After seeking the consent of Tan Xiaopei and the Ministry of War, Zhuo Mang established the General's Mansion of the West in Miancheng, responsible for the military affairs from Xuan Shan Pass and Miancheng to Baishi City and Ningshi City. In addition to replenishing and slightly strengthening the number of garrisons in various places, he also assigned a unit of less than 30,000 troops directly under the jurisdiction of the General's Mansion of the West to deal with various emergencies. Not only that, but several passes and fortresses facing Xiling were strengthened. On the entire border line facing Xiling, Dongping maintained a rare balance of power with Xiling in terms of numbers.