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Chapter 322 - 322: All’s Fair In War
Chapter 322 - 322: All’s Fair In War
Chapter 322: All’s Fair In War
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The ministers’ expressions changed rapidly. Some were surprised, some were shocked, some were glad, and some were stunned. The Emperor saw all of this and said to the Crown Prince, “Since the matter of food has been resolved, quickly arrange for it to be sent to the border.”
He swept his gaze across the crowd. “The Crown Prince will be in charge of this matter and personally transport it.”
He enunciated the last four words very clearly. It was obvious that he could not refuse. The Crown Prince lowered his eyes. “I obey.”
After the court assembly, the Crown Prince was called over by the Empress, who said that she had to think of a way to make the Emperor retract his order. “What kind of place is the border? It’s dangerous and barren. Where are you supposed to go?”
The Crown Prince poured a cup of tea for the Empress. “Mother, don’t be anxious. On the contrary, I should go now.”
The Empress was puzzled. The Crown Prince said, “Mother, haven’t we been unable to find a way to win the hearts of the soldiers?”
The Empress pondered for a moment and the corners of her lips curled up.
The Crown Prince added, “Besides, Mother and Grandfather have been too anxious recently. It’s not good for our Yan Family to anger Father.”
The Empress snorted and did not refute.
The Crown Prince said inwardly that moreover, he really had no interest in the daughter of the Xiao Family who grew up in the countryside. However, his mother and maternal grandfather urged him to take this woman into the East Palace. Heh, was she worthy?
He liked women who were both beautiful and talented. It was simply a joke for him to marry a peasant girl as his main princess consort.
Even if she was Xiao Ran’s daughter, would she know how to recite poetry? Would she know music and play the zither? Not to mention marrying her as the crown princess consort, even if he took her in a concubine, he would feel his stomach churn at the thought of a burly peasant woman in the East Palace in the future. It would be embarrassing if word got out!
Instead of staying in the Imperial Capital and waiting for the village girl to return before being forced to deal with her, it was better to hide at the border. Anyway, those rough people would handle the fighting and killing. It had nothing to do with him. When he returned, that ignorant village girl might have already been coaxed away by some young master.
When the Crown Prince gathered the food that Xiao Ran had sent to the Imperial Capital, he realized that she had even brought a few large bags of dried vegetables for Rong Yan. He was even more disgusted. She had only been in the countryside for a few days, but she was actually tainted by such a poor habit. Was this the influence of that village girl’s daughter?
He actually wanted to throw this thing away, but the Emperor had decreed that he had to bring everything Xiao Ran sent over. Moreover, those dried vegetables looked like a few large bags, but they actually did not take up much space. The Crown Prince had no reasonable excuse to throw them away.
Thinking that Xiao Ran had a good relationship with his third brother and might have sent a letter saying that she wanted to send these “local specialties”, the Crown Prince did not want to lose out on a small matter, so he put the dried vegetables into the grain carts.
The food crisis at the border was resolved before it arrived. The soldiers, who were afraid that they would starve, relaxed and even took the time to hunt a few sand field wolves and foxes.
The wolf meat was dry and the fox meat was smelly, but no one cared, especially after they sprinkled the spices given by the Third Prince. It was very fragrant.
After eating that, they would have a bowl of hot vegetable soup. They were still full of energy tomorrow.
Ever since Rong Yan came to the border, he had fought with the Xiongnu dozens of times, but every time, they would pull back. The Xiongnu saw that the situation was not good and retreated early, looking like they were afraid.
The soldiers were overjoyed and even said that they wanted to celebrate.
However, Rong Yan was not so optimistic. He and a few deputy generals continued to deduce using the sand table in the main camp. They felt that the Xiongnu was holding back something bad. Just as they were puzzled, news of someone having diarrhea came from many places in the army.
At first, no one took it seriously, but as more and more people vomited and had diarrhea, everyone began to realize that something was wrong.
It was also at this moment that the Xiongnu attacked at night—so annoying. They did not even let them have a good meal?
Actually, the Xiongnu people were even more frustrated than the Great Xia army. According to their plan, the Great Xia army should have cut off their food long ago and they should be desperately looking for food everywhere.
They were either so hungry that they did not have the strength to parry their Xiongnu warriors’ scimitars, or they should be poisoned. They would pull until their legs went weak or even see the King of Hell. However, more than half of the beasts that they had fed with poison had died. Why was there still no movement from the Great Xia army?
They really could not hold it in anymore. The Xiongnu soldiers, who had been waiting for a long time, decided to attack at night to investigate. They still had hope in their hearts and felt that perhaps the Great Xia army had been poisoned long ago. Now, they were just pretending to confuse their Xiongnu warriors!
If not for the fact that the people they had planted in Great Xia had all been killed, would they have made things so complicated?
The Xiongnu used the same trick again. Rows of burning arrows landed in the night. The color of the flames was very dazzling. The combination of new and old hatred angered the soldiers so much that they raised their weapons and rushed out.
The Great Xia army was well-trained and obeyed their orders. Even though they were in a panic, they faced the enemy in an orderly manner according to their military orders. Other than those soldiers who had diarrhea, the others wanted to seek revenge for their hatred. They fought with the Xiongnu.
This battle lasted from night to day and from day to night. It made the Xiongnu retreat in defeat and regret. They found the opportunity to retreat like a tide.
Following the principle of not chasing after a desperate enemy, Rong Yan asked the soldiers to return to the camp and arranged for guards. He hurriedly instructed someone to start a stove to cook.
The Xiongnu was ambitious and ruthless. Rong Yan and the deputy generals were furious.
“So what if it’s a war? They even poisoned us? Don’t they have any shame?”
Rong Yan was relatively calm. “As the saying goes, all is fair in war.”
The deputy generals were dissatisfied when they heard him say, “Previously, I’ve been thinking that it’s actually very disadvantageous for us to fight against Xiongnu, who had planned it long ago, when we don’t have enough rations.” “If we want to completely subdue them, we can’t fight them head-on for the time being. Instead, we have to use our wits. I originally didn’t think it was appropriate to use some methods, but now that Xiongnu is heartless and shameless, we don’t have to play fair and square with them…”
The deputy generals’ eyes lit up with Rong Yan’s words.
During the meal, these burly soldiers stuffed their mouths and sighed fiercely. “I really don’t dare to imagine how we’ll fight this battle if our rations are cut off.”
Rong Yan swallowed the last vegetable soup in his mouth, and his smile disappeared as his face was filled with coldness.
At night, the Xiongnu army, led by General Mengel, changed into special night clothes and planned to launch a night attack while Great Xia was relaxed.
They were dreaming. The Great Xia army had just stopped fighting in the day, so they definitely did not expect them to secretly hold back and have a second sneak attack. Tonight, the Great Xia army was tired and hungry, and they even thought that they were going to celebrate their victory. However, these invading camps had already prepared backup plans. Wasn’t it obvious who was stronger?
The second prince had just ascended the throne and was in need of merits that could make people submit. This time, he was determined to take down the border of Great Xia. The plan against the Great Xia army was one after another. It was guaranteed to be one in a million… Eh?
“Oh no, it’s a trap!”