Chapter 227: Lieutenant, The Enemy’s Female General
Long Heng immediately ordered his men to withdraw. They were successful, but it took a very long time to cleanse themselves of the poison. Fortunately, not too many of them were injured and the poison wasn’t really lethal, so their numbers remained constant.
Surprisingly, the presence of the poisoned caltrops was actually a good thing for Long Heng. The caltrops were located in sandy ground between the two armies and was very difficult to see with the naked eye. So, it wasn’t just Long Heng’s side that was unfortunate enough to run into trouble due to the caltrops, but also the enemy. Because of the caltrops, many of the suicide bombers had exploded prematurely, greatly reducing the casualties on Long Heng’s side. However, this also meant that the enemy was successfully holding off Long Heng’s troops. Since Long Heng could no longer attack them easily, the enemy had decided to hunker down, calling for more reinforcements and rations. This problem had caused Long Heng no end of headaches, which was why he wanted to ask for Bai Xiangxiu’s help. Her head is full of mysterious and strange ideas. She will surely be a great help.
With her new horse riding skills, Bai Xiangxiu decided to travel light and set off on her journey. Accompanying her were a few bodyguards, Yu Kuang, and a couple of his men. Unfortunately, they were met with an ambush halfway through their journey.
“Hahaha! Lieutenant Su was right! A pretty lady really is traveling through this road! Kill her!” Lieutenant Su said that we must kill the prettiest girl and that she was definitely a woman dressed like a man.
Bai Xiangxiu was speechless. That woman is really smart. But did she ever consider that I might make it out due to a sheer difference in strength? Most of the people on Bai Xiangxiu’s side were from the wulin. Their battle prowess absolutely dominated the enemy soldiers who’d grown up on the battlefield. The enemy was absolutely trampled once the fight broke out. Yu Kuang didn’t even have to move. All he did was stand beside Bai Xiangxiu, protecting her with a cold glint in his eye.
It didn’t take long before the enemies were all defeated. I guess even the most intelligent plan requires proper partners to carry out successfully. By the time the dust settled, every enemy was either dead or seriously injured. Six were taken captive and was brought to Long Heng’s camp.
There was no yearning and desire in Long Heng’s eyes when he saw Bai Xiangxiu. He was here to for business, not tomfoolery. Bai Xiangxiu rather felt at ease when he was like this. Does this mean that the two of us are now on the same level as a normal married couple? Long Heng had been her master in the past, her everything. Even though Long Heng respected her, he’d never tell her anything related to work. But that’d changed now. Long Heng had a lot of trust in her. He immediately asked, “Are you injured?” when she arrived.
“Not at all.”
“Come in. Let’s talk about what they’ve done. I can make neither head nor tail of all this. Let’s also talk about the ambush earlier today.”
Bai Xiangxiu also told him about the surprise attack on Tranquil City and mentioned how the city had managed to thwart the attack when everyone in the city had reached one in heart and mind. Long Heng was dumbfounded. He would’ve held her hands to thank her if there wasn’t a crowd around them. The army with him would’ve had no place to return to if Tranquil City had fallen. Without backup or support, only death would await them even if they were able to take over the enemy’s capital. Yu Kuang and Song Jiaoyue’s help was very much appreciated despite his ill-feelings towards them.
When Bai Xiangxiu was done, Long Heng began to talk about his side of the story. Bai Xiangxiu summarized it at the end of their conversation. “Everything they’ve done up to today are nothing but little tricks. And from my experience today, I can tell that every strategy they’ve concocted is nothing when faced with a difference of absolute power in martial arts.”
Long Heng’s mouth twitched. He’d realized all this as well, but he hadn’t dared make his move as the enemy genuinely seemed to have endless tricks to deal with them.
Transmigrated women, especially those who loved reading novels, would all gain some basic knowledge from all the reading they’d done. However, Bai Xiangxiu knew that real life was more than just stories in novels. It was much harder to make things work in reality. For example, the poisonous caltrop formation was also something from a popular web novel that she’d read in the past. In the novel, the transmigrator had used this method to wipe out an entire army. But in reality, there was no way anyone would continue marching through a field of poisoned caltrops, unless they were idiots.
Long Heng was obviously not an idiot and had quickly ordered a retreat.
Next were the suicide bombers. This was something from the same book as well. The female lead in that book conquered a city using that method, but it came at the cost of over a hundred criminals. Unfortunately, her previous trick with the caltrops had hindered the success of the suicide bombers. After all, why would a novelist write about how one was supposed to carefully handle the poisonous caltrops?
However, Bai Xiangxiu knew precisely how to deal with it. There were definitely magnets in this world; she’d heard of their existence from a local blacksmith. The caltrops would be easily dealt with if she could get her hands on some. But there was no way she was going to clear away the caltrops. What if the enemy suddenly attacked?
The enemy was definitely capable of doing such a thing. They’d already begun to make their move, even though she’d just arrived and was getting up to speed. A very disciplined soldier ran into the tent with a report, “Your Highness, the enemy is taunting us into battle. The one leading them is their lieutenant, whom judging from her voice, is probably a woman.”
“……” Bai Xiangxiu had so shocked that she stood there with a blank look on her face for almost half a minute. Is that woman is trying to join the battle? That’s amazing! Bai Xiangxiu decided that she would definitely have to see her in person. She wanted to know what sort of person would so arrogant to the point that she had no fear in joining a battle filled with so many ancient experts.
“Ready the men. We will go into battle.” Long Heng was the commander-in-chief. He wasn’t going to back out from this battle when he’d been thoroughly irritated.
“I want to go as well. Uhh… let me dress up as a soldier and follow you.”
“Stop fooling around,” Long Heng whispered.
“I’ve heard about that person from Chen Tao. I want to see what kind of shenanigans she has up her sleeves.”
“This… fine then!” Long Heng reluctantly agreed. He gave her a soldier’s light armor to wear and a long pike to wield. However, it wasn’t easy for a woman to keep up with an army of men, so Yu Kuang had to change into soldier’s garb to take her around. Fighting for the country was Long Heng’s priority right now instead of his personal feelings, so he had no choice but to entrust Bai Xiangxiu to Yu Kuang.
Men were much simpler creatures than women. They were often very focused when dealing with things and could see things very clearly. Anyone with a rational mind would know to never mix national matters with personal matters. Yu Kuang was a very rational person indeed, and was someone meant for doing big things.
And so, Long Heng and his army began their march into battle. They stopped when they arrived at the poisoned caltrop formation. A beautiful woman in men’s clothing was already standing there when they arrived. She was indeed a sight to behold when she was standing amongst a crowd of men, but she was almost dwarfed by Long Heng’s majesty when he stood at the opposite of her. Long Heng was obviously much more eye-catching of the two, because in a battlefield, a man’s strong and robust stature was always much more outstanding than a person that looked neither like a man nor a woman.
Bai Xiangxiu’s legs turned into jelly when she saw the enemy’s lieutenant. She would’ve impeded the pace of the soldiers behind her if Yu Kuang hadn’t pulled her along. It really is THAT Su Yun! I can’t believe that she’s transmigrated to this world in body and soul! Putting that aside, why is she looking at my husband like she’d discovered some treasure? Is she planning to steal him away?
Su Yun was actually very surprised. She’d heard rumours that the enemy general was a very handsome man, and she wasn’t disappointed when she saw him with her own eyes. He was exactly the kind of man that modern women would like. As a mature woman, there was no way those sissy-looking little boys would catch her eye. Only someone with character and looks like Long Heng could attract a flock of women. He was truly a man amongst men. As I thought. One has to come to the olden days to find real men like this.