Chapter 364: Battle Situation

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Mu Yangling looked at Qi Haoran and asked, “Are you sure you can afford it?” Qi Haoran never had enough money.

However, Qi Haoran waved his hand confidently. “It’s fine as long as I don’t spend the dividends in the future. I’ll definitely be able to pay it back.”

Hence, with Qi Haoran’s order, the logistics staff of the five battalions took the account book and registry to Hanzhong Prefecture to look for Fan Zijin.

Fan Zijin almost spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. With just one sentence from Qi Haoran, his restaurant’s annual profits would be gone. However, since Qi Haoran had already made a promise, he could not let him go back on his word. So, he could only dig out his private savings to help him pay for it.

Fan Zijin planned to teach him a good lesson when he got back.

At this moment, Qi Haoran was happily riding the carriage back to Mingshui County with Mu Yangling for the New Year.

Mu Yangling looked at the smiling citizens outside and said, “I wonder if Big Brother Qj and the others can stop the war to celebrate the New Year today.” “The Jin soldiers don’t celebrate the New Year. Even if Big Brother wants to stop the war, he has to get the Jin soldiers to agree.”

The Jin soldiers did not want to stop fighting, but they were no longer able to defend the city and could only retreat. Coupled with the cold weather, seeing that the Han soldiers did not attack today, they hid in the camp and did not move.

At this moment, Qi Xiuyuan was not in the campsite. Instead, he was in an eatery in a town that had just been taken back.

When General Yuan strode in with two attendants, he immediately saw the young man sitting in front of the window. Appreciation flashed across his eyes as he walked over with a smile.

Qi Xiuyuan immediately stood up when he saw him. “Uncle… Yuan.”

General Yuan laughed and patted his shoulder. “Since you call me uncle, I’ll acknowledge you as my nephew. Come, let’s find a place to sit down.” Seeing that there weren’t many people in the eatery, but there were ordinary civilians standing or sitting around, he smiled at Qi Xiuyuan. “Kid, you’re quite smart. You’ve only occupied this town for a few days, but you’ve already built this eatery.”

Smiling, Qi Xiuyuan explained, “As the prices of goods in small places are low, it cost only 100 taels of silver to buy the shop. Since Uncle is coming over, I have to prepare.”

General Yuan didn’t blame Qi Xiuyuan. Instead, he felt that he was meticulous. He looked up and took a closer look at Qi Xiuyuan. Qi Xiuyuan was only 20 years old this year. Although he was a little tanned from the wind and sun, this made him look even more manly. Coupled with his stalwart figure and refined temperament, he stood out from the rest of the brutish soldiers. Yet, he was even more convincing.

General Yuan patted his shoulder and called out “good” three times in a row. “The new generation really surpasses the old. Although I’ve never seen you before, I’ve been hearing things about you. Back then, your uncle told me that you were a promising talent, but I didn’t expect you to be so promising. Two years ago, you even shocked me when you wanted to take back Hanzhong Prefecture.”

Qi Xiuyuan said humbly, “Although I tried my best, I could only take back Hanzhong Prefecture. As soon as you stepped out, you took back Henan Prefecture and Kaifeng Prefecture.”

General Yuan shook his head. “Considering Jingzhao Prefecture is easy to defend but difficult to attack, this one prefecture is equivalent to two prefectures. Moreover, you only have 90,000 troops while I have 200,000. How can we compare?”

That was why General Yuan took the risk to meet Qi Xiuyuan. He was really a rare military talent. After fighting for so many years, he felt that it was getting harder and harder to fight the Jin soldiers. Not only was it because of the pressure from the Imperial Court, but the Jin soldiers were too familiar with him. It was also because he was getting increasingly anxious. Considering he was already over 40 years old, how many more years could he have on the battlefield?

Although his sons were valiant and good at battle, he knew his sons well. They could only be vanguards and not generals.

He was afraid that once he died, they would not be able to defend the north pass. However, Qi Xiuyuan’s appearance undoubtedly gave him hope.

That was why he disregarded Military Advisor Shen Mu’s obstruction and came to see Qi Xiuyuan after being friends for so many years. Otherwise, he didn’t know when the next opportunity would be.

Of course, this couldn’t be a reason for them to meet, so they used the excuse that they would use troops against the Jin Kingdom later.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two of them quickly cut to the chase. General Yuan wanted to pursue the victory and recover all the lost land south of the Yellow River, driving the Jin soldiers north of the Yellow River.

Hearing General Yuan’s suggestion, Qi Xiuyuan couldn’t help but think of what his brother had said to him the night before he left.

Although it was difficult to take back Hanzhong Prefecture, they still succeeded. Although it was dangerous to take in Jingzhao Prefecture, they had also succeeded. Qi Xiuyuan was indeed brimming with confidence now.

Before this, he and RongXuan indeed had the same plan as General Yuan to take back as much land as possible.

However, his younger brother, who had always been impulsive and eager to take back his homeland, did not think so.

Before Qi Haoran was sent back to Xingzhou Prefecture, he had discussed this matter with him. Qi Haoran’s plan was very simple. After clearing the way, he would shrink the battlefront and guard Jingzhao Prefecture, Henan Prefecture, and Kaifeng Prefecture.

Qi Haoran’s round face darkened as he said, “Big Brother, it’s not like General Yuan didn’t take back the land north of the Yellow River back then. Even though Your Majesty’s iron order was one of the reasons, another reason was that he’s anxious for quick success and failed to defend it after taking it back. Only by defending it after taking it back, will the land truly be ours. If we lose it after taking it back, wouldn’t our soldiers’ blood have been spilled for nothing?” Qi Xiuyuan had always known that his brother was very talented in war, so he seriously pondered his words.

Qi Haoran pursued the victory and said, “Big Brother, considering we only have tens of thousands of troops, it’s already not bad if we can defend Jingzhao Prefecture. Although General Yuan has 200,000 troops, no one knows how many soldiers will be left after this battle. The boundary between Kaifeng Prefecture and Jingzhao Prefecture is long, and even 200,000 men might not be able to defend it. Why don’t we defend Jingzhao Prefecture first like how we defend Hanzhong Prefecture? After recuperating, we can slowly expand. It’s better than going north all at once, if we have no choice but to lose land because we don’t have enough backup, right?”

Qi Xiuyuan had been thinking about his brother’s words for the past few days, and the pride he had been suppressing for the past few days had disappeared. Haoran only focused on the war situation, but he also had to think about the political situation and the Jin Kingdom’s response.

If they continued north and forced the Jin Kingdom to a corner, would they be furious and resist with everything they had?

If they could not defend the cities they took down, the Imperial Court would definitely abandon him and General Yuan in order to protect their current territory south of the Yangtze River.

General Yuan had 200,000 soldiers and horses, so the Imperial Court might have many scruples about him. However, he was only a third-grade general, and could be kicked out at any time to take the blame. Therefore, Qi Xiuyuan decided to listen to his brother’s opinion.

And he was here to dispel General Yuan’s idea of continuing northward.

Qi Xiuyuan raised his head and looked at General Yuan with bright eyes. He said seriously, “General Yuan, I think we shouldn’t go north anymore. Instead, we should shrink the battle line and defend the cities we captured.”

Stunned, General Yuan asked, “What did you say?”

Chapter end