Chapter 276

13 years had passed. The grass had withered and grown over and over as the young kids learned to swing their blades again. The blood of battle had remained stagnant for 13 years, yet it was about to be revived again.

The Meilin Pass was crowded as the Quan Rong cavalry swarmed over. With a sea of army and an ocean of blades, their horses stomped over the lands of the Yan Empire. The formidable army and the massive sandstorm that trailed behind instilled such fear in the defenders that countless cities ran without putting up a fight, abandoning the very city they were supposed to protect.

On the 13th of April, six big tribes of Quan Rong people—Hongdi Tribe, Huangmang Tribe, Lanxiang Tribe, Hexue Tribe, Baishang Tribe, Heishui Tribe—arrived at Meilin Pass, meeting with the four tribes that had first set off. On the 15th of April, the Great Khan of the Quan Rong people arrived with his own tribe, the Nayan Tribe. The 11 tribes of the Quan Rong people had all arrived, and the total forces amounted to over 1.5 million.

While the blood stains of the Yan soldiers had yet to be wiped clean, the Quan Rong army had already entered the center of the city. The civilians hid in their houses, trembling, fearing that they would be antagonized by these ruthless enemies. Yet, due to the massive size of the army, it was impossible to hold all the soldiers in the city. The third prince of the Quan Rong people, Tuoha, then gave the order to kill off some of the civilians to obtain housing for his people.

It was precisely this order that marked the start of the nightmare of Meilin Pass. Following that, the other tribes all followed suit. By the moment that Nayan Minglie had heard of this, it was too late. The entire Meilin Pass was left with no civilians alive. For an entire ten days, Zhao Chun’er and her subordinates stayed in the Meilin Pass’ military residence. The sounds of killing, moaning, scolding, burning, and cries of the women being raped pierced through the darkness of the night, spreading throughout the entire city.

Her subordinate approached her, her face completely pale. “Lady, these barbarians are crazy. They are massacring the civilians.”

Zhao Chun’er expressionlessly sat in the darkness, as though she had not heard what she had said. Yet, Zhao Chun’er did not know that not far from her, the Quan Rong leaders had already opened the map and started planning the division of the territory of the entire West Meng Continent. After breaking through the Meilin Pass, the entire continent was before them. The 11 leaders were locked in a ferocious debate, and only with the peacemaking of the Nayan Great Khan did they reach a difficult consensus. The moment day broke, each tribe led their forces out, speeding to the utopia they had envisioned for centuries.

Including the autonomous regions like Song territory, Qinghai was the first flag that stood out to express that they were willing to mobilize huge forces to fend off the Quan Rong people for the Great Yan Empire.,

Just as everyone was waiting and thinking. The two kings of Qinghai assembled forces before Cuiwei Pass and withdrew all forces that were fighting with the Great Yan Empire. They also opened their borders and sent their forces to northern regions, providing assistance to the Beishuo Pass.

At the same time, Qinghai split their forces into three. Qinghai King, Zhuge Yue, led the main forces to reinforce Beishuo, whereas his trusted Marshal Yue Qi headed to the northern lands. The Xiuli King, Chu Qiao, secretly headed to the Tang Empire to discuss military matters.

On the third of May, Zhao Che agreed to Zhuge Yue’s suggestion to send military assistance to the Yan Bei Highlands. Surprisingly, the Emperor of the Great Yan Empire opened the gates to his territory without must hesitation, allowing this arch enemy to step foot in Yan territory. Not only that, but the Tang Emperor Li Xiuyi had already delegated authority to Sun Di, who was to lead 200,000 Tang soldiers to assist Xiuli King Chu Qiao, departing from Tanghu Pass.

What a hilarious occurrence. If not for this invasion, the whole world would hardly believe that a day in which they would join hands would come. In the past six years, the four forces had fought non-stop, and their hatred ran deep. Who would expect they could cooperate to fend off a greater enemy? Regardless of the present era or the eras to come, none could write off the effect of Xiuli King in this whole coalition.

She was the master of Shangshen, the valkyrie of the Yan Bei Highlands, and was at one point the most trusted person by the Emperor of Yan. She was also the one who protected the Beishuo Pass from a million strong Xia force. Right now, she was the wife of the Qinghai King, as well as a significant figure in the growth of the Tang Emperor. In addition, her husband was the sworn brother of the leader of the northern regions—Zhao Che—and the generals under her command were mostly from Shangshen Highlands as well.

In addition, with the Quan Rong people attacking, the Xia Empire could afford to stand and look in the northern regions with the Tang Empire completely unaffected, and the autonomous Song Empire could take this opportunity to become independent again. The Great Yan Empire would need to split its attention to fend off the invasion while being on guard of all this. Only this woman could accurately foresee how the choices made now could affect the entire battle, and calmly recognize the threat that the Quan Rong people posed. She had completely thrown away her previous grudges and actively started to contact various forces to come together.

Everything had destined that she would be the best coordinator of this coalition. Perhaps only she could eliminate all sources of unhappiness in the coalition, to suppress all kinds of distrust and suspicion, to form a somewhat sensible alliance.

This chain of events was enough to give any smart person a huge headache, yet, she was able to achieve this.

After obtaining the intel that the entire West Meng Continent had joined together, the Quan Rong Khan was enraged. They had considered such a situation before their assault on the Meilin Pass. Yet, all the tribe leaders merely laughed it off. Who didn’t know the frozen relationship the three parties had with Yan Xun? If they had not backstabbed Yan Xun while the war was ongoing they would already be helping Yan Xun. Yet reality was so cruel and crushed the dreams of these barbarians to blitzkrieg the entire West Meng Continent. In their frustration, the Quan Rong people began an even more ruthless massacre, piercing deep into the Yan Bei heartlands.

On the 23rd of May, the Pass of Beishuo once again took the limelight of the entire West Meng Continent, as the total soldiers amassed there exceeded 1.2 million.

Before the battle, the coalition needed to elect a main commander to oversee all operations. The Great Yan Empire no doubt pushed for Yan Xun, whereas Qinghai forces elected for Zhuge Yue. The Northern region was split between Zhao Che, who was conquering the various small countries in the North, and Zhao Yang, who was constantly at war with Yan Bei. The Tang Empire Li Xiuyi was absent, yet Sun Di still suggested that he be the supervising commander. According to Sun Di, it was possible to use pigeons to transmit information daily.

With all kinds of opinions arising in this coalition, the various strategist almost destroyed the central tent arguing. For two whole days, there was no consensus. Finally, Sun Di recommended Xiuli King Chu Qiao out of despair at the stalemate. With that, the argument finally subsided.

Even though Chu Qiao was the wife of the Qinghai King, she was one of the mother figures in the Tang Empire. And considering her relationship with Li Xiuyi, and her achievements in defending the Tang Capital years ago, the Tang forces agreed in unison. Qinghai forces considered for a short while before agreeing due to pressure from Zhuge Yue, who too supported his wife. Zhao Che followed suit, agreeing with Zhuge Yue. Zhao Yang, who merely did not want Zhao Che and Yan Xun to gain the upper hand, jumped at the idea of a relatively neutral commander. The last party, the Great Yan Empire, finally consented after one day, expressing the opinion of the Yan Emperor: No objection.

With that, this grandiose force that was completely composed of elites was under Chu Qiao’s command.

This formation of 1.2 million men was led by a single woman…

On the 25th of May, the Defense of Beishuo officially began. Mobilizing 600,000 soldiers and 500,000 civilians, Chu Qiao began building a long wall of defenses from Luori Mountain ranges to Beishuo City. Her defense came in all forms and was engineered to perfection as it littered the entire region.

When the Quan Rong vanguards arrived, the Third Prince Tuoha was so shocked that his mouth was left agape. Seeing this massive line of defense, his first response was that the enemy was crazy. No one would dare to attack such an impregnable fortress, and therefore, Prince Tuoha’s natural response was to bypass this defense by taking another path—Chidu.

Tuoha was not stupid, after all, facing this level of defense, no strategist would opt to attack. What Tuoha did not know was that behind this fortress was merely 500,000 civilians. They did not have any weapons, and their only job was to hold the flag. When enemies arrived, they were to stamp their feet to create a cloud of dust.

Just that.

Yet, at Chidu City, there was an ambush of 800,000 strong, awaiting Tuoha’s arrival.

To be encircled was only natural. After three days of ferocious battle, Tuoha’s 100,000 soldiers were quickly exhausted to a mere 40,000. Blood flowed into the Chidu river. The river was completely colored red, turned undrinkable. Without food, Tuoha was stuck at a dead-end. The various forces of the coalition took a turn to attack, dragging the soldiers of Tuoha into a deadly struggle.

Finally, on the fifth day, Tuoha’s messenger came, indicating their will to surrender. Yet, the order from the central tent was shocking to all. Chu Qiao ordered that they would not accept the surrender of Prince Tuoha unless they presented Tuoha’s head to pacify the 200,000 souls in the heavens.

Tuoha was enraged, yet he was still unable to break out of the encirclement.

Two days later, he was murdered by his own bodyguards at night. His troops routed and were completely captured. This was the first victory over the Quan Rong forces since this invasion begun.

With a daring strategy and a supreme tactic, she managed to completely annihilate the 100,000 strong army. With an overwhelming advantage and minimal losses, she managed to kill 70,000 and capture 30,000, and with the death of the enemy’s commander, she obtained perfect victory.

When the information was transmitted back to the populace, regardless of which country, they clapped in joy. That very night, as Zhao Che visited Zhuge Yue and Chu Qiao, Zhao Che toasted Chu Qiao and praised, “You are truly the most talented general in the continent.”

On the very second day, Chu Qiao immediately organized the entire army and retreated back to Beishuo city. Before that formidable defense formation, she hung Tuoha’s head before the formation, quietly waiting for the Great Khan of the Quan Rong people—Nayan Minglie.

Suddenly, there was an urgent wave of war drums as flags started to wave back and forth. The messengers seemed to be in a hurry as chaos erupted in the Quan Rong formation.

The entire situation was extremely chaotic.