jdhmnovel Chapter 187 He is neither afraid nor disgusted
Chapter 187 He is neither afraid nor disgusted
"kill!"
Without Qi Xiao's order, the guards around him had already drawn their swords and killed all the military ranks in front of the artillery depot.
The defenders were numerous and powerful, and they should have risen up to resist and capture Qi Xiao and his dozen men. However, when they stood in front of Qi Xiao and looked at Chen He's head on his waist, no one dared to move, and no one could even stand still. I don't know which coward was so scared that he couldn't hold the knife tightly and dropped it. Then someone also dropped the knife. Qi Xiao glanced around and strode out from the defenders.
Daybreak arrived. The gray sky was the color of falling snow.
The wind and snow on Fenglin Mountain echoed between heaven and earth like the roar of an ancient beast, lingering for millennia, shattering the soul. The first snow of the new year at Xingtian Pass fell silently, its falling flakes not a soft, velvety white but a blackened ash from gunpowder, dirty and pungent, almost scorching. Even the fine snow flakes were terrifying.
Tang Ling stood on the city wall. On one side was the road they had come from, hidden in the wilderness and dense forests. In the distance, the undulating mountains were the outline of Fenglin Mountain, and on the other side was the charred Xingtian Pass. The artillery depot was still burning, the fire was small, but the thick smoke lingered, burying half of the city in black ash.
This city is very large and ancient, and has experienced a lot, but it has been very peaceful in recent decades. The army of the State of Chen has never been able to cross Fenglin Mountain and reach here, and they have no memory of what war looks like.
Qi Xiao only had 6,000 men, so it was difficult to take over a city of 100,000 people, especially when 30,000 of them were regular Qi troops. However, Qi Xiao had no intention of taking over Xingtian Pass, nor did he plan to stay there for long, so he only needed to temporarily intimidate Xingtian Pass.
Qi Xiao ordered the heads of Chen He and other generals to be hung on the city walls and at all four gates. He also confined the 30,000 Qi troops to their barracks and issued a citywide ban, forbidding anyone from leaving the streets or taking to the streets under penalty of immediate execution. If anyone living near the street quietly opened a window and peeked out, they would likely see the decapitated bodies lying on the street. This glaring warning was too obvious to ignore.
Chen Jun was like a ghost, coming silently, unexpectedly, and ferociously and cruelly. Facing such an enemy, no one could help but be afraid, and they didn't even know how many people in Chen Jun's army had come.
Tang Ling walked down from the city wall, and Cao Geng came to see him with a team of Xingluo Guards, who were the people arranged by Xun Anhou at Xingtian Pass.
Tang Ling nodded to Cao Geng, then looked back at the head hanging on the city wall, Chen He's head. His face was full of shock and astonishment. Before he could be afraid, the man was already dead.
Following Tang Ling's gaze, Cao Geng also looked at Chen He. He had personally witnessed Qi Xiao chop off Chen He's head. At that moment, he felt the same expression on his face: shock and horror. In just a few short days, he no longer dared to underestimate Qi Xiao. Not only did he not dare to despise him, he even felt a sense of fear. This fear came not only from Qi Xiao himself, but also from the Chen army he commanded.
Cao Geng, like many others, had once believed that the Dingyuan Army, now without General Bai Liu, was a collection of aging swordsmen with no martial arts skills, possessing only a reputation. But what he had witnessed these past few days was a well-trained, exceptionally fierce army. They were silent yet terrifying. After storming Jialin Pass and even capturing Xingtian Pass, their faces remained expressionless, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust, like starving wolves, their gaze fixed on rations wherever they could find them.
This army was far more composed than Cao Geng had imagined. They weren't carried away by victory, but rather they knew they were isolated and without backup. Qi had tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of regular troops ready to strangle them at any moment. The only way to survive was to remain undefeated. They had to win constantly, like a raging flood, sweeping away all the passes along Qi's northern border. So they had to hold their breath and not let up!
Qi Xiao's military orders remained unchanged: no burning, killing, looting, provoking disturbances, drinking, or even removing armor. No one objected; these orders had been issued back at Fenglin Mountain. They would remain at Xingtian Pass for a maximum of three days, just to get enough food and sleep; Bashan was the real challenge.
Chen He actually helped Qi Xiao a lot. As soon as the chaos broke out in Xingtian Pass, Chen He ordered martial law, and the four city gates were tightly locked, no one was allowed to enter or leave. So until now, Qi Xiao has completely controlled Xingtian Pass, but the news cannot be spread. Xingtian Pass has become an isolated city, and no one comes to rescue it.
"Is there any news about Shuoliang?"
Cao Geng and Cao Xin had been hiding in Jialin Pass waiting for Tang Ling since the end of last year. After the snow fell in winter, the news from Jialin Pass became delayed, and there would be no more news until they entered Xingtian Pass.
"My Lord, Xu Zheng was impeached and recalled to Liang Shuo. However, the Emperor of Qi has not made any statement so far and does not seem to have any intention of punishing Xu Zheng. He should be released after the New Year."
"Who is guarding Bashan now?"
"Han Chaosheng."
Tang Ling nodded slightly, expecting nothing less. The two closest and most trusted members of Xu Zheng's direct lineage were Chen He and Han Chaosheng. If he wasn't in the northern border, he'd definitely left them behind to guard the city gates.
In the conference room, Qi Xiao and Lu Xiulin were talking about the same person, Han Chaosheng.
"Han Chaosheng is cautious by nature, we may not be able to deceive him." Lu Xiulin was still worried. Disguising as a Qi soldier and entering Xingtian Pass during the guard change was very easy, but entering Bashan in the same way would be difficult.
The two outposts between Bashan and Xingtian Pass were manned by Xingtian Pass and Bashan respectively, and generally there was no possibility of cross-deployment. The only thing they could think of was to disguise themselves as soldiers from Xingtian Pass, and rush about a hundred people all the way to Bashan, saying that troops were entering the country and requesting Han Chaosheng to come to their aid.
There are also 30,000 troops stationed in Bashan. Han Chaosheng will let a hundred of them enter the pass, but with Han Chaosheng's cautious nature, he will definitely control everyone, disarm them and lock them up, and then bring the leader to him for personal questioning.
Han Chaosheng and Chen He are both veterans in the northern border of Qi State. Han Chaosheng not only knows who are the people in Xingtian Pass, but also knows them all very well. No matter how good Chi Yue's disguise skills are, he may not be able to get away with it under Han Chaosheng's interrogation.
How could Lu Xiulin not worry about sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth?
On the way south, they were holed up in Fenglin Mountain and were doing simulations almost every day, thinking about how to attack, how to defend, how to fight, how to retreat, and how to deal with people they encountered.
They had thought about Han Chaosheng defending Bashan and had made two plans, but they were not sure about either.
"Another method..." Bai Xiqiao had just begun to speak when Tang Ling stepped into the meeting room. "Mr. Tang, you're just in time. We were just discussing Han Chaosheng."
Tang Ling lowered her eyes and looked at the huge sand table placed in the middle of the conference room, and smiled slightly. This was much more detailed than their sheepskin map.
Qi Xiao walked towards Tang Ling, but did not get too close. He did not take off his armor but just washed his face and hands. The blood on the armor was almost dried, and it was terribly dirty and smelly. He did not want to get close to Tang Ling like this, for fear of getting himself dirty as well.
Tang Ling didn't care and reached out to hold Qi Xiao's hand. He had also worn armor and carried a sword and waded through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He was not afraid and did not despise him.
Tang Ling smiled at Qi Xiao, then turned to look at the Baixi Bridge across the sand table: "Where were we talking about?"
"We've discussed how to enter Bashan before. The first method is to pretend to be the guards of Jialin Pass and report the news. Then, we'll find an opportunity to create chaos, just like we did at Xingtian Pass."
Tang Ling said, "I didn't agree with this method before. Xingtian Pass has four gates. When we entered, we avoided Chen He and the heavily guarded North Gate and entered through the West Gate during the chaos. This plan was successful thanks to the timing. On New Year's Eve, fireworks were set off into the sky. But when we arrived at Bashan, it was completely different."