Chapter Twenty: Losing with Grace and Conviction

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“The city gates are open!”

“The city has fallen!”

“Kill them all! Leave no one alive!”

Amid the thunderous cries, the Crimson Cherry Army tore a huge breach through the city gates like some primordial beast.

Wave after wave of cavalry charged through, trampling everything in their path. Several Jurchen soldiers who tried to stop them had their breastbones crushed on impact; their bodies were hurled through the air, and they died vomiting blood.

“Ning Yuanfeng, take your men to the city garrison at once!” Zhao Yingluo shouted as she drove her sword through the chest of a Jurchen soldier.

The vanguard commander hesitated for a moment, then immediately led a cavalry detachment toward the city-defense barracks.

Thirty thousand soldiers of Beining City’s garrison were being held there. Once freed, they could join forces with the Crimson Cherry Army and annihilate every Jurchen soldier in the city.

At the same time, Tulan’s army finally returned to Daman City.

Gazing at the ravaged walls and the thousands of corpses strewn across the battlements, Tulan threw back his head and roared in fury, “Qin Xuan, I swear that one day I will tear you limb from limb!”

“Imperial Preceptor, Great General, you have finally returned!”

Modo, commander of the Royal Army, stepped forward with a solemn expression.

Tulan cast him a cold glance. “How heavy are our losses?”

“They are still being counted, but we expect no fewer than ten thousand,” Modo replied helplessly after drawing a deep breath.

“All troops under Tulan’s command, heed my order! Make ready for battle at once and follow me—”

Tulan had just begun issuing orders when Imperial Preceptor Gurna stopped him.

He shook his head gravely. “This is no time to act on anger! As the saying goes, do not pursue a desperate enemy too far. If we chase the Divine Strategy Army now, we will only place ourselves in even greater danger.”

“Are you saying we should simply let him escape?” Tulan protested.

Gurna nodded helplessly. “If we pursue them and the Divine Strategy Army has laid an ambush, our army will certainly be defeated. And if they have not, then given their marching speed, they are probably already close to Beining City.”

This had been a deliberate stratagem: besiege Wei to rescue Zhao. Everything depended on whether Tulan would be willing to abandon Daman City in order to save it.

But the consequences of that gamble were simply too grave. Not only Tulan—even the Jurchen Emperor, Fucha Ha’er, would not dare take such a risk.

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“This young Prince of Chu of Great Qi truly deserves the title of God of War. But, Tulan, do not lose heart. Today’s defeat was entirely due to our lack of preparation. If we fought the battle again, we might not necessarily lose.” Fearing that Tulan would carry the defeat as a burden, Gurna deliberately tried to console him.

In truth, however, he knew that even if the battle were fought a hundred times over, the result would be the same.

Qin Xuan had seized every advantage from the outset and kept the news tightly sealed. On top of that, Great Qi had, in effect, hindered the Jurchen army. Under the circumstances, the outcome they had suffered was already the best possible result.

“Fortunately, Beining City remains in our hands. Once the allied armies of Great Qi arrive at the northern frontier, the Divine Strategy Army will be doomed.” Gurna had already calculated everything and spoke with a smile.

Tulan snorted coldly, but abandoned the idea of pursuing the enemy.

Just then, however, a scout arrived with an urgent report. “The northern gate of Beining City has been seized! We request immediate reinforcements!”

At that moment, Tulan’s head rang as though struck by thunder. Even Gurna was stunned.

“Impossible! Before the army departed, we left thirty thousand men to defend the city. How could Beining City have fallen?” Tulan seized the scout by the throat, his eyes blazing like those of a man-eating beast.

“I would never dare conceal the truth, General. The report was sent by emergency courier,” the scout stammered, his face drained of color. “One hour after the main army left, a cavalry force clad in silver armor suddenly launched a surprise attack. Because our soldiers had suffered heavy losses in yesterday’s battle, the city fell almost immediately!”

The scout dared not explain the precise reason for the army’s reduced strength, but Gurna and Tulan both understood perfectly.

Neither of them, however, had ever imagined that following their usual routine would bring such a devastating price.

“Mount up. We are fighting our way back.”

Tulan was consumed by rage. He could not bear to watch a city he had conquered with his own hands be handed over to the enemy.

But Gurna stepped forward once more and shouted angrily, “Nonsense! Do you think you can still retake Beining City simply by fighting your way back now?”

“As far as I know, the Divine Strategy Army has always possessed a cavalry force clad in silver armor. Their combat strength is extraordinary, and they are led by a woman. They are known as the Crimson Cherry Army.”

“Only the Crimson Cherry Army could possess such strength and seize a city in so short a time.”

“Tulan, this time we have suffered a total defeat—and one we must accept wholeheartedly.” Gurna sighed. After a brief pause, he continued, “Come back to the palace with me and submit ourselves for judgment.”

If bringing the army back as reinforcements had been unavoidable, then the loss of Beining City was the result of Gurna and Tulan’s negligence.

From beginning to end, Gurna had thought only of the stratagem of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao. It had never occurred to him that Qin Xuan would divide the Divine Strategy Army into two forces and strike at the foundation of their position.

At that moment, the Jurchen Empire’s Imperial Preceptor felt a profound sense of helplessness.

With a Prince of Chu like this, the Jurchen Empire’s future would surely be bleak.

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“Are we really going to abandon those thirty thousand soldiers under my command?” Tulan knew Gurna was right, but those men had fought alongside him through life and death. They were like brothers, and he could not cast them aside so easily.

“You are a soldier. You must learn to accept the punishment that follows defeat. If my judgment is correct, Qin Xuan has already reached Beining City with the Divine Strategy Army, and he will certainly attack from the southern gate.”

“In such a situation, how many men do you think you would need to rescue those thirty thousand soldiers? Or, by the time you reached Beining City, how many of those thirty thousand do you think would still be alive?”

A trace of sorrow showed in Gurna’s clouded eyes. After all, those soldiers were citizens of the Jurchen Empire.

Tulan fell silent. He could think of nothing with which to refute him.

“Come. We learn from every setback, and I look forward to crossing swords with this young God of War again.” Gurna truly deserved to be called the strategist of an empire; within only a few minutes, he had already emerged from the shadow of defeat.

Moreover, his analysis of the battle had been entirely accurate.

For at that very moment, Qin Xuan’s Divine Strategy Army had already breached Beining City’s southern wall.

Their swift success was due first to the fact that a large portion of the southern garrison had been redeployed, leaving the remaining defenders with no will to resist.

Second, Ning Yuanfeng had freed Beining City’s original garrison. Though those undisciplined soldiers were poor fighters, at least some of them still possessed the courage to shed blood and kill the enemy.

With the Crimson Cherry Army joining them, the three forces converged, and the remaining Jurchen troops were swallowed up in the blink of an eye.

More than three thousand soldiers of the Crimson Cherry Army died in the battle, while over five thousand were wounded. The Divine Strategy Army suffered even heavier losses; more than ten thousand men had been killed in the assault on Daman City alone.

Yet in the context of the entire campaign, such casualties were almost negligible.

“Your Highness, Luoying has fulfilled her duty.”

The two were reunited after only a few hours apart, yet it felt as though they had been separated for a lifetime.

Zhao Luoying’s silver armor was covered in sword marks, and most of it was stained with blood.

“You have worked hard.” Qin Xuan longed to pull Zhao Luoying into his arms, but the war was not yet over, and with so many commanders around them, it was hardly appropriate.

Besides, he still had something more important to do.

He had to call the city garrison to account.

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