My vicious dog, my horse, I can do whatever I want with it

Chapter 207 This Land

"General, didn't you come here for help from Duan Yuanqing?" Lu Hao finally reacted. The situation at that time was too chaotic. Lu Hao himself was also injured due to Dong Haoqiang's death and he couldn't ask more questions.

"What's going on?" Zong Yanli lowered his eyes and asked for the details.

It turned out that the suggestion of taking a detour and cutting off the retreat from the flank was proposed by Duan Yuanqing.

While asking Lu Hao for details, Zong Yanli sent people to look for Duan Yuanqing's traces. He also learned the general situation from the remaining soldiers of Dong Haoqiang. If this marching strategy was not entirely Duan Yuanqing's responsibility, perhaps it can be said that the disaster that Dong Haoqiang suffered today was caused by the seeds of disaster already planted.

Dong Haoqiang was originally under the command of Zong Yanhongtu. Zong Yanhongtu was unable to lead the army, and all of his former personal soldiers were killed, leaving only Dong Haoqiang.

Zong Yanhongtu knew that Dong Haoqiang had lofty ambitions and would never be willing to follow him and live in a small Changfeng County. Therefore, he wanted to recommend him to Zong Yanli. However, before he could do so, the Gao and Jin states went to war and the northern army invaded and war suddenly broke out.

As soon as Zong Yanli issued the order, Dong Haoqiang came to help, intending to stay under Zong Yanli's command.

In the past, under Zong Yanhongtu's command, Dong Haoqiang could be said to be his right-hand man.

But it was different under Zong Yanli. The generals under Zong Yanli were all very brave, and Dong Haoqiang's position among them was not really at the top. He also wanted to be competitive and make some achievements and win military merits!

Duan Yuanqing has followed Dong Haoqiang for many years, how could he not know that his commander wanted to win credit?

After waiting for a long time for the opportunity, Duan Yuanqing took the initiative to speak out, thinking that he wanted to give it a try. If it was just the Northern Army attacking the camp, there would be nothing to be afraid of. But their mistake was that they never thought that it was not the Northern Army that attacked the camp, but the army of the Lu State in Liaodong.

"We took a detour and didn't expect the pursuers to become more and more fierce. Only then did we realize that the pursuers were not the Northern Army..." Lu Hao also had a bitter look on his face. They underestimated the enemy. How could there be only a Northern Kingdom in the north?

"Then they retreated all the way and accidentally entered a deadly valley." Lu Hao lowered his head slightly and said in a hoarse voice: "Duan Yuanqing stood up and broke through the encirclement alone to seek help."

"I, I thought the general met Duan Yuanqing who went for help, so he came here just now." Lu Hao raised his head again, and looked at Zong Yanli very seriously with one eye that was exposed.

After Zong Yanli learned what happened from Lu Hao, he checked over there but found no one saw Duan Yuanqing.

I asked the guards in front of the camp, but none of them had ever seen this person.

"He, did he escape alone!?" Lu Hao was quite angry when he heard this. The situation was so dangerous at that time. It was General Dong who gave his warhorse to Duan Yuanqing. Lu Hao also led everyone to attract the pursuers. He almost placed all his hopes on Duan Yuanqing, covering him so that he could run out and report the news!

"It's freezing cold, and it's dark. There are countless enemy pursuers. He may have run to the wrong place, or he may have been caught up by the pursuers and died." Zong Yanli closed his eyes, calmly suppressed his emotions, and said from the perspective of a commander: "Tell the patrol scouts to pay attention. If you see this person, bring him to me immediately."

"Yes." Everyone agreed after hearing this.

This night was undoubtedly the longest night they had ever spent.

We spent the New Year's Eve of the old year and welcomed the new year.

This year, Zong Yanli is already 27 years old. The armor on her body seems to be getting heavier day by day. Standing behind her are more and more brothers. The burden of family and country has never been lifted. The blood and tears of brothers have long soaked this land.

"Ali." His father's voice sounded behind him. Facing the gradually brightening light in the sky, Zong Yanli turned around and looked at his father.

Zong Yanhongjing's face looked a little pale, and his once upright figure now looked a little hunched.

Zong Yanli stepped forward and said, "Father, why did you come out? It's cold outside."

Zong Yanhongjing shook his head and said while suppressing a cough: "I already know about Dong Haoqiang's affairs. He has been with your second uncle for many years. Your father will have someone take care of his affairs."

"Thank you, father." Zong Yanli lowered his head and responded softly.

"Another year has passed..." Zong Yanhongjing looked at Zong Yanli in front of him, looking at her eyebrows, looking at the pits and marks of swords and knives on her armor, looking at the stains of blood that seeped into the gaps. This was her glory, her medal.

It is also a mark of her victory in surviving danger time and time again.

Zong Yanhongjing opened his mouth, as if he had countless words of comfort to say, but as a strict father, he couldn't say them.

He just reached out and wiped away the eye-catching blood stain on Zong Yanli's cheek, stood beside Zong Yanli with his hands behind his back, looked at the gradually brightening sky, sighed and said: "Ali, have a good sleep."

"Father, I'm not afraid." Zong Yanli's light voice came from the side. She stood beside Zong Yanhongjing like this, just like the day when she followed her father to join the army.

She was never afraid.

In her previous life, she was able to walk this path alone to the end, but in this life...

Also possible!

There seemed to be a mist in Zong Yanhongjing's eyes. He quickly lowered his head and reached out to pat Zong Yanli's arm. This was probably the most intimate comfort that he, as a father, could offer.

After the army was reorganized, it marched again.

When Tan Liming arrived following the signal for the arrival of the signal fire, Zong Yanli hadn't slept for three days. She arranged defenses and settled all matters properly. She couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep leaning against a chair. She was still wearing the armor she had worn that night and she hadn't even wiped her face clean.

Gao Feilin led Tan Liming into the tent. He was surprised to see Zong Yanli sleeping. He then hurriedly stopped Tan Liming, and the two of them carefully left the tent.

"General Tan, please forgive me." Gao Feilin bowed to Tan Liming and said, "The general has not slept for the past few days..."

"It's okay, it's okay." Tan Liming knew that the situation was urgent, and he just saw that Zong Yanli's armor was covered in blood, which showed that he really had no time to rest.

"I will go meet with several other generals first. The general has worked hard for many days, so let him have a good rest." This was not the first time that Tan Liming had met Zong Yanli. When the State of Wu and the State of Jin were at war, Tan Liming was also involved as the commander of Anzhou Pass.

He knew Zong Yanli's abilities very well and admired him very much.

He was familiar with several of the generals under his command, so he turned around and went to meet Long Feiguang, Kuang Xingquan and others.

Zong Yanli slept for a long time, until it was dark. When Gao Feilin carefully came to the tent to light a candle, Zong Yanli seemed to feel someone approaching and suddenly opened his eyes and looked.

Gao Feilin lowered his head quickly: "General."

Zong Yanli's sharp eyes slowed down, as if he had seen clearly where he was. He moved his numb neck and asked in a hoarse voice, "What time is it?"

"It's already past the middle of the night." Gao Feilin replied quickly.

"I actually slept for so long?" Zong Yanli stood up and looked at Gao Feilin with a hint of reproach, "You didn't even call me. Is Tan Liming here?"

"General Tan arrived in the afternoon. General Long and other generals met with General Tan. He should have gone to bed by now." Gao Feilin quickly leaned forward to apologize, while looking at Zong Yanli and said, "The general has not rested for a few days. I am worried..."

"Forget it." Zong Yanli had no intention of asking for accusation. He glanced at the sky and said, "Go get some water and serve the meal."

She looked down at her dirty armor and said, "Take it off for me."

Gao Feilin agreed quickly and stepped forward just to help Zong Yanli unbutton his leather buttons. He had gotten used to it over the years. The general did not allow others to get too close to him, so even when it came to taking off his armor, he just asked them to help.

Gao Feilin carried Zong Yanli's armor downstairs to wash it, and asked the kitchen to prepare some meals and send them over.

On the other side, Tan Liming and Long Feiguang learned that Zong Yanli had woken up. They did not dare to delay for a moment and hurried over.

Then Zong Yanli discussed the next troop deployment in detail with the two of them while eating.

The loss was huge this time. Zhao Mingcai, who had just taken over the account book, had finally finished counting the losses and sent them over. Zong Yanli looked at the account book with dizziness. The price of the defeat was really too high.

The larger the military force, the more so.

The most terrifying thing would be a series of defeats. Not only would one have to bear the peak pressure, but there would also be the psychological pressure of soldiers dying in battle, as well as the pressure of huge losses in military supplies.

Zong Yanli held down the book in his hand and was silent for a long time before letting Zhao Mingcai go.

After the deployment of troops at Shanping Pass was complete and the soldiers had rested for a few days, Zong Yanli gathered everyone to discuss the next course of action.

"Gao Feilin, gather all the generals to discuss matters." Zong Yanli stood up and walked to the meeting camp.

"General." When everyone came in response to the order, Zong Yanli was already in the tent. In all the years she had led the army, she had never arrived later than others.

"Everyone sit down." Zong Yanli didn't look up, as if he was fiddling with something.

As many generals entered the tent one after another and found a place to sit down, the tent became quiet. Occasionally, there were low conversations, but no one was making any noise in the tent.

Zong Yanli raised his head and saw that almost everyone had arrived, so he said, "Did you all rest well?"

Everyone smiled when they heard Zong Yanli's question and responded one after another.

Zong Yanli sat on the main seat and said, "We have almost found out the enemy's military situation."

"Liaodong in the north, Lu State." Zong Yanli pointed to the map on the table and said, "The leader is called Benes, a general of Lu State."

"The Lu army has about 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers. They came south from the Heihe River and launched a surprise attack from behind our army." Zong Yanli's eyes were deep. This was why they were caught off guard. Even Zong Yanli did not expect that the Lu State would also come south.

Since the Northern Kingdom is coming to this place of contention, how can the State of Lu not come to take a piece of the pie?

Zong Yanli briefly described the general situation of the Lu army, and then said: "The losses caused by this defeat are very huge..."

She unfolded the map and the earlier defense map of the camp and began further analysis and review. Pei Liang and others beside her gradually calculated the enemy's general direction and route of attack, as well as the enemy's military formation, from these reviews.

This is how we begin to analyze the enemy in detail, so that we can understand the enemy situation.

On the other side, where the Northern Army and the Lu Army met, Yi Tiangan met Baines.

Baines was about six or seven years older than Yi Tiangan. He had a stubble on his face but was two centimeters shorter. The two looked at each other and Baines was the first to laugh: "General Yi looks really embarrassed. Are these dwarfs blocking the city gate and daring not to come out?"

Baines started to laugh as soon as he spoke. After all, they were two different countries with different military strengths, so how could they love each other?

"The Lu State is really generous. They are willing to release you. You are not afraid of dying in the south." Yi Tiangan was not to be outdone. He laughed twice and squinted at Baines and said, "You Lu State are really a piece of shit. Do you want to snatch the fat sheep in my hand?"

"Haha." Baines sneered and said, "The fat sheep you mentioned actually has sharp claws and fangs. Did you scratch it like this?"

"I don't want to argue with you about these verbal benefits." Baines took two steps forward and said, "Although you and I are not from the same camp, we are partners in the same place. Since we both have our eyes on this piece of fat meat in the south, why don't we join forces to win together?"

"Don't blame me for not reminding you. Qi has been ready to make a move. If it weren't for the internal strife in the royal court..." Baines said with a smile, "I'm afraid they would have sent troops to attack us a long time ago."

"Your Northern Kingdom and Qi Kingdom are old rivals. I guess you don't want to wait until the day when the Qi army comes and grabs the fat meat we have fought for, right?" said Baines.

Yi Tiangan's face darkened when he heard this. If it was just a verbal battle with the State of Lu, how could he still stand and talk like this?

If the State of Qi were to come, there would probably be a fight first.

If it were earlier, when Yi Tiangan had just entered Jin State, he would not bother to pay attention to what Baines said, but now he had to think deeply about it. Zong Yanli was really a man with means. If they did not form an alliance, the war would probably take too long, which would give Zong Yanli a chance to catch his breath.

"Let's talk inside the tent." Yi Tiangan winked at the person next to him, then put away his blade, and the two of them walked into the same tent in tacit understanding.

"Let's make it clear first, this Jin State belongs to me." Yi Tiangan and Baines sat together with a map of the southern countries in front of them. Before they said a few words, they had already started to divide the territory.

"This land of Qing in Daqian should be mine."

"The leader of Gao State was killed by me, so I will take over Gao State."

"Daqian..." Baines wanted to swallow up the whole Daqian, but Yi Tiangan blocked him with his hand and sneered, "You are too greedy. You want to take over the land of Wu State alone?"

The two of them argued about this, and finally Yi Tiangan swung his sword and cut the map of Wu State in half, saying, "If you still have something to say, then we won't form this alliance!"

The Northern Army has been fighting here for so long without gaining any benefit, and now the State of Lu wants to take away the largest territory. How can Yi Tiangan be happy about this?

Baines looked at the map in front of him, pondered for a moment, smiled and said, "General Yi, why are you so angry? Just do as you say!"

Yi Tiangan's expression eased a bit, he snorted and sat down again, saying: "There is a fierce general in Daqian, he will be the biggest obstacle for us to attack the south this time."

"I've heard of him. His name is... Zong Yanli, right?" Baines said with a laugh.