Chapter 694 – Reinforcements (II)

The reason why Miao Youfang put down his bow and arrow and sensed that there was something wrong with these people relied not on his intelligence, but on the lack of feedback from a martial artist’s crisis premonition.

It showed that the army of flying beasts was not hostile.

“No?”

Xu Erlang raised his hand, blocking away the centurion who wanted to forcefully escort him away, and looked sideways at Miao Youfang.

Miao Youfang then went over the characteristics of the group and explained:

“They’re not hostile.”

Xu Erlang listened and immediately made a judgment:

“Southlanders?”

His complexion is dark, his hair is naturally curly, and he is dressed in green and blue clothing mixed with animal skins.

Whether it was recorded in books or seen with his own eyes (referring to Lina), Xu Erlang was able to conclude that the ones who came were from the southern border.

Southern border people, is it …….. Miao Youfang slapped his head and said in ecstasy:

“I see!”

Without explaining, he threw away his bow and arrow and stood on the female wall, waving his arms excitedly towards the approaching army of flying beasts.

Seeing the response, the lead Flying Cavalryman rode his flying beast out of the group and swooped down to land at the city’s head, while the rest of the Flying Cavalrymen hovered vigilantly over the city, keeping their distance.

“Hoo Hoo ……..”

The gusts of wind kicked up by the membrane wings blew away the gravel and Shashuo as the black-scaled behemoth landed on the horse path, slowly closing its membrane wings.

Miao Youfang flew to meet him and asked in an urgent tone:

“You’re from the Companions?”

The middle-aged man on the back of the Black Scaled Beast opened his mouth:

“My name is Tamo, I’m the commander of the Flying Beast Army of the Heart Compass Ministry, and I’ve come to support Qingzhou on the orders of Chief Chunyan.

“The Heart Compulsion Ministry has reached an agreement with Xu Yinluo.”

The official language of the Central Plains was spoken so poorly that Miao Youfang had to listen to it three times before he understood it.

Sure enough, he invited them …….. Miao Youfang was relieved, he and Xu Qi’an had parted ways on their way to the Companions, and the Companions’ army had appeared at this very moment, and were not hostile to the Dafeng defenders.

Thinking with one’s toes, one could also figure out that these people were rescuers moved by Xu Yinluo.

Miao Youfang turned back and nodded at Xu Erlang, indicating safety and reliability, before beckoning again.

Xu Erlang was escorted by the vigilant centurion to Miao Youfang’s side.

“What I told you, Xu Yinluo and I parted ways on our way to the Compass Clan.” Miao Youfang explained casually, perking up:

“They’re the rescuers Xu Yinluo found.”

Xu Yinluo found a savior …….. The centurion froze outright.

Miao Youfang shouted loudly, and the defenders in the distance heard it in their ears, and they, who were originally alert and hostile, froze violently.

Xu Erlang scrutinized the Southern Borderer on the back of the giant beast, his complexion was dark, his lips were on the thick side, and his body was lean but not skinny, on the contrary, the taut muscles had both explosive power.

Xu Erlang’s gaze flickered as he asked in a calm and collected manner:

“My big brother sent you?”

“This is Xu Yinluo’s cousin.” Miao Youfang interjected.

As soon as Tamo heard that, Xu Erlang’s eyes were different, respectful with a pleasing touch:

“Yes.”

Xu Erlang nodded his head, as if casually:

“How did you guys find this place.”

Under normal circumstances, Big Brother would definitely have the reinforcements from the Compassionate Clan go to Qingzhou City and approach the top management of Qingzhou first, and there was definitely no reason for them to come directly to Songshan County.

He pretended to ask a casual question, but he was actually testing the reaction of this self-proclaimed heart compulsion ministry tamo.

“It was Xu Yinluo who sent us here, and he also gave us a map of Songshan County.” As Tamo spoke, he fished out a map from his pocket, “Although I came to Dafeng many years ago, I still took the wrong road on the way, and I was supposed to arrive last night.”

He glanced at the Dae Bong banner at the top of the city and said thankfully:

“It’s a good thing I’m not late.”

Big brother let them come to Songshan County ……… saved, Songshan County saved, the people saved ………… Xu Erlang closed his eyes, his body slightly trembled.

He took a hard breath, pushed all his emotions to the back of his mind, and nodded his head gently, saying:

“How did big brother know I was in Pine Mountain County.”

It does fit Big Brother’s style.

I just don’t know how Big Brother knew that he was stationed in Songshan County.

Tarmo shook his head in disbelief.

He then asked:

“Can we land then?”

When he saw Xu Xinxin nod, he looked up and whistled hard.

The army of flying beasts circling in the air received orders and methodically lowered their altitude, landing steadily at the top of the city. However, because there were too many of them, most of the Black Scaled Beasts could only land below the city walls.

A distant soldier, carrying a weapon in his hand, cautiously leaned in and asked:

“Lord Xu, just now I heard General Miao say that they were reinforcements invited by Xu Yinluo?

“Brother, the brothers are dying to know if it’s true.”

Xu New Year’s gaze skimmed over him and saw several wounded soldiers gathered in the distance, looking eagerly to his side.

Retracting his gaze, Xu New Year looked at the young soldier and nodded vigorously:

“Yes, these are the flying beast army of the Heart Compass Ministry, the reinforcements Xu Yinluo invited.”

The young soldier’s face suddenly trembled with excitement. Instead, tears pooled in his eyes and rolled down his face.

Miao Youfang jumped onto the female wall, his gaze sweeping from left to right over the Black Scaled Beasts at the city’s head, then looking down on more Black Scaled Beasts below.

There was a bright, watery glint in his eyes.

Taking a sharp, deep breath, he forced his sore nose to growl:

“Brothers, our reinforcements have arrived, Xu Yinluo has brought in reinforcements for us. We have a flying beast army too.”

The sound rolled and echoed.

The excitement exploded at once in the hearts of the defenders and militia, followed by a cacophony of voices.

Someone tearfully murmured, “There is help.”

Someone’s face reddened with excitement and roared.

Some people were so giddy that they danced and cheered.

The militia below the city spied the situation and excitedly ran along the streets and alleys.

Tell the people of the city that reinforcements are coming, reinforcements brought by Xu Yinluo.

For a time, cheers echoed throughout the small county.

Xu New Year took a deep breath and pressed down his excitement, saying:

“Your Excellency Tamo, the Heart Compass Ministry’s Flying Beast Army has traveled a long way, and I should have arranged for you to be housed, but soldiers are quick, and the opportunity for battle is fleeting.”

Tarmo tapped his chest:

“What are Lord Xu’s orders.”

…………

Zhuo Haoran was playing with the camp prostitutes in the army tent when he received the scouts’ return, these women were partly captured during the march, and partly the beauties scavenged from the counties when they conquered the first line of defense in Qingzhou.

Even the great general Qi Guangbo could not comment on such a matter as seizing women with the camp.

Because camp prostitutes are, in themselves, an essential part of an army.

For those in power, the necessity of camp prostitutes was to boost morale and to solve the bitterness of the soldiers’ battlefield campaigns.

This is especially effective when the battle is unfavorable.

An army of hundreds of flying beasts?

At first hearing the news, Zhuo Haoran’s first reaction was that the scouts had lied about the military situation.

When did Qingzhou have an army of flying beasts of this size?

It’s a pipe dream.

He instantly put on his pants and ran out of the barracks with his weapon, taking to the air and looking at the city walls from afar.

It was only after seeing it with his own eyes that he had to accept the “ridiculous” news.

The city’s head stood filled with black-scaled giants with closed membrane wings.

“When did Qingzhou have a flying beast army of this size?”

Zhuo Haoran’s fists were clenched and his face was twitching.

Breaking the city is imminent, the defending army suddenly ushered in the scale of hundreds of flying beasts army reinforcements, Zhuo Haoran angry chest is going to explode, quickly landed, returned to the barracks, the first order given is to retreat.

The Vermillion Bird Army inside the camp only had about thirty riders, and could not stand up to the defending Flying Beast Army.

Admit it or not, the situation is reversed, and they are the ones who should be running now.

There was no way out but to retreat.

The barracks were all of a sudden in chaos, the only remaining several hundred generals left all the things at hand, abandoned all the supplies Zizi, mounted on a fast horse, led by Zhuo Haoran, ran out of the barracks, dust and go.

More than thirty riders of the Vermillion Bird Army lifted their wings and withdrew at a fiery pace.

But what Zhuo Haoran didn’t expect was that just as his side retreated, the roar of Shen Xiong came from behind him.

The cavalrymen looked back and were scared out of their wits, in the sky behind them, the black pressurized army of flying beasts came surging like dark clouds.

The black-scaled behemoth flapped its membranous wings and quickly caught up with the cavalry, and the Heart Compounders on their backs let out long, long whistles.

All of a sudden, the well-trained warhorses were completely out of control, falling to their knees in a rush, people and horses tumbling and falling together, and the scene was a big mess.

The Heart Companions either hurled cannonballs and barrels of kerosene downward, or bent their bows and drew their strings, pouring a rain of arrows at the defeated army below.

“Koh New Year!”

Zhuo Haoran looked up to the sky.

Six thousand elites were all lost in Songshan County, and half of his life’s wisdom was ruined.

………….

Half an hour later.

In the half-collapsed urn, Xu New Year sat behind his case, looked around at the crowd, and laughed:

“The Flying Beasts annihilated three hundred of the enemy’s cavalry, capturing twenty-eight. The Vermillion Bird Army destroyed twenty horsemen, captured three, and eight escaped.

“Zhuo Haoran and his lieutenant fled and are nowhere to be found.”

Xu Erlang didn’t have the luxury of hoping that the Flying Beast Army could capture a fourth ranked martial artist, the difficulty was too great, and the results of the battle captured at the moment were already very pleasing.

Present were the only two remaining centurions in the garrison, Zhujun and Miao Youfang, as well as Tamo, the leader of the Flying Beast Army of the Heart Compass Ministry.

After listening to Xu Erlang’s “report”, the crowd was full of joy, sweeping away the decline.

“Lao Zi is really surprised that Xu Yinluo is in the Southern Border, yet he can strategize and win a thousand li away.”

“Nonsense, you don’t think about it, Xu Yinluo is the author of the book on the art of war.”

The two Centurions talked excitedly one by one, worshipping Xu Qi’an beyond measure between their words.

The unsmiling Zhujun also had a smile on his face.

Erlang Xu looked at Tamo and laughed:

“The flying beast army of the Heart Compass Ministry has solved Da Feng’s pressing problem, I will repair a letter later, you take it with you to Qingzhou City. The matter of the alliance, just leave it to Minister Yang Buzheng.”

The alliance between the Compassionate Race and the Dafeng is still a “verbal commitment”, and it will only be finalized after Yang Gong writes a letter to the court and gets the official document and the court agrees to it.

In Erlang Xu’s opinion, the court was begging for it, but the process should still be followed.

“If Minister Yang Buzheng knew that Xu Yinluo had brought back five hundred flying beast armies for Qingzhou, he would have been ecstatic.”

The smile at the corner of Zhujun’s mouth grew deeper.

Tamo seemed to remember something and said:

“I forgot to mention that in addition to our Heart Compulsion division, there are also brothers of the Force Compulsion Corpse Compulsion and the Dark Compulsion.”

In the urn, there was a steep silence of talk and laughter.

Xu Xinxin’s breathing turned sharp and she braced herself on the table to get up:

“And? What are their numbers? Where are they?”

Tamo mused:

“There’s about a thousand more in the three sections combined.

“As for where we are, I don’t know, we split up after we left the southern border. After all, flying riders can’t carry that many people.”

There are still more than a thousand people in the three compulsion clans combined ……… Xu New Year and others got excited.

However, anyone who had understood the Battle of Shanhai Pass should understand how difficult the Companions’ warriors were.

Although the population of the Companions was not large and could not be compared to the hundreds of thousands of Da Fung’s army, with their strange and difficult compulsion, they had made the Da Fung’s army suffer many losses in the Battle of Shanhaiguan.

If they could be utilized well, these thousand or so Companions, along with the five hundred flying beast army, could definitely make a big difference in the battlefield.

Xu New Year’s face flushed red from excitement, his fingers trembling slightly as he gripped the quill:

“I’ll write to Minister Yang Buzheng.”

Turning his head again, he said to the adjutant general, “You accompany Tamo back to Qingzhou City.”

Soon, Tamo carried the Great Bong Banner on his back and rode the Black Scaled Flying Beast alone, leaving Songshan County and flying towards Qingzhou City.

………..

Two days later, the Buzhengzhi, inside the lobby.

Yang Gong looked down at the map spread out in front of the table, staring at the three words “Songshan County”, said in a deep voice:

“We have to be mentally prepared for the loss of Pine Mountain County.”

A group of staff members, including Li Mubai, were in a heavy mood.

Although the scouts sent out hadn’t returned yet, comparing the deployment of troops in Songshan County, as well as the formation of the enemy army, it was easy to surmise the result.

Li Mu Bai sighed:

“Reinforcements are already fully loaded and ready to go, as long as the scouts return detailed information, they can immediately march on Songshan County and retake this city.”

The people based on the overall situation of the second line of defense, the plan is to first save Songshan County, the reason is very simple, Dongling turned to the field, can enter and retreat, but do not have to worry about.

Wanxian County was besieged by the main force of the Yunzhou rebels, and there was a flying beast army circling overhead, so if he wanted to lift Wanxian County out of its predicament, he didn’t know how many troops he would have to fill in, and he wouldn’t necessarily be able to keep it.

In contrast, retaking Pine Mountain County is the smartest move.

Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy has just occupied Songshan County not long ago, it is unlikely that Yunzhou’s army will arrive to garrison Songshan County in a short period of time, and there is great hope of recapturing Songshan County by sending out troops at this time.

And then the troops were staged in Pine Hill County to hold on for dear life and to preserve the last stronghold of the second line of defense.

“Er Lang is well versed in the art of war and is not a pedant, he should not martyr the city.” Li Mubai prayed in his heart.

Yang Gong looked around the crowd:

“What are your brilliant ideas for dealing with the Flying Beast Army?”

A staffer said:

“The best way to deal with a flying beast army is naturally to have one.”

After a pause, he said, “In addition to that, remodeling the bed crossbow so that it fires into the air may be able to restrain the Flying Beast Army. In the case where there is no disparity between the enemy’s and our battle strength, having a fourth ranked expert strike is also not a bad idea.”

As he was speaking, a mandarin hurried in and said in a loud voice:

“Lord Buzheng, a flying cavalryman carrying a large Bong flag has come outside the city, calling himself a Companion.”

…………

PS: Good news, after a full day of hard thinking and dying of countless brain cells yesterday, I’ve finally finished conceptualizing one of the biggest pits in this book. Well, the specific details still need to be deliberated.