Green grass was tinged with blood, and a faint smell of blood permeated the air.
The scent of blood seemed to awaken the savagery and brutality in the barbarians’ bones. They temporarily forgot the dead soldiers before them, their minds filled only with fantasies of slaughtering the people of the Great Yu Empire.
“Banner Chief, are we going to keep enduring this for now?” a myriad-commander asked.
Gurtai said, “Of course we must endure. Shanhai Pass is now in the hands of the Great Yu Empire’s army. Only when chaos breaks out in the Great Yu Empire can we take advantage of Prince Liang’s borrowing of troops to completely destroy the Great Yu Empire once and for all. By then, our fallen warriors will be avenged a thousand, ten thousand times over with the lives of the Great Yu Empire’s people. On that day, I will surely devour Prince Qi alive.”
At this point, Gurtai’s eyes were filled with tyranny.
Glaring bitterly in the direction of Shanhai Pass, Gurtai reined in his horse and headed towards his tribe. He had thought that the cavalry from Shanhai Pass would attack their tribe again.
But from the current situation, this army seemed to be only for the purpose of killing this scout team.
Ever since Beishan’s defeat in the Battle of Jizhou, the Huyan Tuo Tribe was once again heavily relied upon, and Wuzhugu, the Great Taiji, was increasingly gaining importance, and it seemed that the position of Khan of Heaven would inevitably be his.
Because of this, he not only cleared his name from the crime of the Battle of Cangzhou, but Wuzhugu also sent fifty thousand elite cavalry under his command, the purpose of which was to make him guard the grassland outside Shanhai Pass, preventing Prince Qi’s army from penetrating deep into the grassland and posing a threat to the Golden Horde.
The other barbarian generals looked in the direction of Gurtai’s departure and sighed deeply, instructing other soldiers to bring back the bodies of the scouts. The barbarian cavalry, like a torrent, gradually receded.
Outside the ambush site, the Youzhou scouts were observing the movements of the barbarians with their telescopes.
In past engagements with the barbarians, the barbarian cavalry would always come to Shanhai Pass to curse for a while, but today these barbarian cavalry were somewhat abnormal.
Seeing this, the scouts turned and headed towards Shanhai Pass. They wanted to report this news to Lei Ming.
Shanhai Pass, Governor’s Mansion.
Lei Ming was writing a battle report. Before long, a scout came to report, telling Lei Ming about the barbarians’ unusual actions.
“This is indeed strange. When did the barbarians change their temperament?” Lei Ming frowned. He then included this news in the battle report and sent it to Qingzhou via fast horse.
Three days later, the battle report from Youzhou successfully arrived in Qingzhou. Upon receiving the news, Niu Ben immediately sent the battle report to Prince Qi’s mansion.
At the same time, he and Pang Yukun once again went to the Prince’s mansion to discuss the matter.
“Your Highness, this time Lei Ming killed three hundred barbarian scouts outside the pass, but unlike before, the barbarians did not provoke in front of the pass as they usually do,” Niu Ben said.
These past few days, Xiao Ming had been busy with Qingzhou’s political affairs. The three of them had discussed this plan and thought that the barbarians would surely retaliate by clamoring outside the pass, luring the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry out to battle, but they had clearly misjudged this point.
“This is indeed very strange. Have the barbarians learned to be cowards?” Xiao Ming said, puzzled. Although the barbarians had been driven out of the pass by him, the barbarians were more arrogant outside the pass than inside. They would often send people to bang on the pass and curse at the soldiers on the city walls. They had been using this provocative tactic since Shanhai Pass was lost.
And every time Lei Ming went out of the pass to skirmish, the barbarians would only get more annoyed, sometimes even putting on a show of attacking Shanhai Pass, playing a game of feints and realities with Lei Ming.
“The barbarians are inherently savage and tyrannical, but also very cunning. Perhaps they are just setting a trap to lure the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry deeper to annihilate them,” Pang Yukun said.
Niu Ben, on the other hand, said, “From what I know about the barbarians, they must be plotting some new conspiracy. The reason why the barbarians have been so arrogant and reckless all these years is that they thought they could easily annex the Great Yu Empire. Now, after repeatedly suffering losses at our hands, the barbarians will probably resort to schemes and tricks again, just like before. Shanhai Pass was once breached by the barbarians from within.”
Xiao Ming nodded upon hearing this. “Since that’s the case, we must strengthen our defenses even more. Now that Father Emperor is seriously ill, the court situation could fall into chaos at any time. What I fear most is the barbarians taking advantage of the opportunity to invade.”
Niu Ben continued, “Your Highness, since that’s the case, we must accelerate the promotion of the fortress strategy. Next, we must focus on equipping the Youzhou Army and making them combat-ready.”
Pang Yukun echoed, “That’s right, Your Highness. This official suggests that Your Highness temporarily suspend the expansion overseas. The maritime routes are already in our hands, and only Yue Yun needs to maintain them. We cannot fight on two fronts at this time, otherwise, I fear we will not be able to cope at all. As the ancient saying goes, ‘a country, however great, that loves war will perish.’ Once war begins, the people’s livelihoods will be ruined, and Your Highness’s hard work over the past three years will likely be in vain. Therefore, Your Highness must absolutely not act impetuously. Now, we should pursue a policy of befriending distant states and attacking nearby ones, and employ the strategy of vertical and horizontal alliances. Your Highness has handled the Dutch matter extremely well, and if we can alleviate the war, we should alleviate it to provide time for Qingzhou’s development.”
Xiao Ming was deeply convinced. Now, as the lord of the enfeoffed state, he naturally understood this point even more. He would not dare to say that he alone could fight a hundred; that would be seeking his own death.
Even in modern times, the United States relies on many allies, not fighting alone.
Having understood this, Xiao Ming said, “Chancellor Pang’s opinion is the same as Zhan Xingchang’s. I have my own considerations. From now on, I will pursue a policy of vertical and horizontal alliances. Now, we should act according to the plan and send this battle report to the imperial court. The longer Father Emperor can last, the more time we will have to prepare.”
The two exchanged glances and nodded simultaneously.
In front of Niu Ben and Pang Yukun, Xiao Ming personally wrote a memorial. In the memorial, Xiao Ming deliberately exaggerated the battle between the barbarians and the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry outside Shanhai Pass. At the same time, he verbally requested Empress Zhao and the Crown Prince to take good care of Emperor Xiaowenxuan.
Having prepared this memorial, Xiao Ming handed it to Pang Yukun, who then had someone deliver it to Chang’an.
Then, the three of them discussed the current situation before returning to their respective duties.
After sending off Pang Yukun and Niu Ben, Xiao Ming looked towards the northwest, which was Prince Yong’s territory. Now, what he worried about most was coal and iron, both of which were abundant in Prince Yong’s enfeoffed territory.
If the Great Yu Empire truly fell into civil strife, his first priority would be to ensure the source of these two materials, otherwise, it would severely affect Qingzhou’s development. As for saltpeter, he wasn’t too worried at the moment. According to Claire, although they were at war with England, trade had not stopped, and they could obtain high-quality saltpeter from India.
As for sulfur, given Japan’s scarcity of resources, they would probably have to sell it to him in exchange for other resources.
He was deep in thought when a servant suddenly entered the main hall from outside and said to him, “Your Highness, the craftsmen from the machinery department have brought the clock for Your Highness.”