In the Northwest, the Northwest King's city was in utter chaos. At such a time, Xiao Huayong's pursuit of Shen Xihe to the Northwest King's city was enough to reveal his feelings for her—just like his unresolved attachment to Ye Wantang, he could not let go.
If he captured Shen Xihe's uncles one by one, Xiao Huayong would have no choice but to take the field personally.
Geng Liangcheng indeed needed a victory to stabilize the army's morale. Due to Shen Yueshan's death, the entire Northwest had sunk into low spirits. The Turks were advancing fiercely, and Tingzhou nearly fell. The soldiers were already growing weary and disoriented. If their morale scattered and they lost confidence, then facing the fierce Turks, defeat would be irreversible.
The next day, he had no intention of launching an attack. As a seasoned general, he had pieced together the current crisis in Tingzhou through fragmented means and reviewed the reasons for the successive defeats from the start of the battle until now, but the picture was still incomplete.
He intended to use these two days to gain a comprehensive and thorough understanding, but the Turks did not give him that time. Before dawn, the sound of horns arose—the Turks were launching their assault at the break of day, just before the shift change of the city guards, when the defenders were at their most exhausted.
Having already taken command of Tingzhou's military authority from the Protector-General, he could not retreat at this moment.
He did not personally don armor to join the fray but sent his most valiant right-hand men to repel the Turks, who had nearly breached the city walls. However, the enemy did not give up, stubbornly determined to take the city.
Standing on the city wall, he watched the two armies clash. After a while, he suddenly spotted a weak point in the enemy formation and immediately led a small squad to counterattack from that position.
Everything unfolded exactly as he had anticipated. He and his men fought their way to the vanguard of the Turks. The two were old adversaries and immediately engaged in fierce combat. After Geng Liangcheng repelled the Turks below the city walls, the gates swung open, and a mighty army surged out like a tidal wave, charging toward the Turks alongside Geng Liangcheng.
Beneath the city walls, the battle raged with deafening clashes and splatters of blood.
Mounted on his horse and gripping his longsword, Geng Liangcheng repeatedly clashed with the enemy vanguard, who wielded a heavy hammer. Soldiers from both sides occasionally attempted sneak attacks, but the alert duo swiftly dodged and retaliated. Soon, piles of corpses surrounded them, and the ground beneath their feet was stained crimson.
Their skills were evenly matched, and after several exchanges, both bore wounds. At that moment, an archer on the city wall lent support to Geng Liangcheng. This archer's aim was exceptional, each arrow precisely targeting Geng Liangcheng's opponent.
With the archer's assistance, the enemy struggled to evade the arrows while parrying his strikes. Seizing the opportunity, Geng Liangcheng thrust his sword into the enemy's chest, but the latter dodged in time, and the blade only pierced his arm.
Before Geng Liangcheng could press his advantage, the enemy realized their vanguard was in trouble and rushed to aid him, even firing arrows to suppress the archer on the wall. Despite this, Geng Liangcheng managed to strike again, plunging his sword into the neck of the enemy's horse.
As he withdrew the blade, the horse's warm blood sprayed across both him and his foe. The mounted vanguard tumbled to the ground. Geng Liangcheng raised his sword to strike the fallen vanguard, but just then, a Turkic soldier intercepted his blade. Simultaneously, a Turkic officer galloped over, swiftly reaching out to haul the fallen vanguard onto his horse before galloping away.From the Turkic side came the horn signal to withdraw and retreat. Geng Liangcheng saw the rescued vanguard turn back and flash him a provocative grin. Noting the surge in momentum around him, he hesitated briefly before leading his troops in pursuit.
He rode at the forefront, having mentally set a distance limit for himself—if he couldn't catch up beyond that point, he would turn back.
Unbeknownst to him, the soldiers following him had barely chased beyond the city gates for less than a hundred meters when ambushing Turkic soldiers suddenly attacked. These Turkic fighters, fearless of death and numbering only about a hundred, employed desperate, suicidal tactics, swiftly cutting off Geng Liangcheng from the main force.
When Geng Liangcheng reached his predetermined distance and realized further pursuit would likely be futile, he reined in his horse to turn back. Only upon swinging his mount around did he discover the main army hadn't followed. With merely a few hundred men beside him, he instantly knew things had gone terribly wrong.
But it was already too late.
Geng Liangcheng was captured and soon saw the masked Xiao Changtai, who had come only to look at him without uttering a single word.
The Ever-Victorious General of the Northwest, having just arrived in Tingzhou a day prior, was now taken prisoner, throwing the entire Northwest into chaos. Fortunately, the Protector-General of Tingzhou was no ordinary man and, as before Geng Liangcheng's arrival, staunchly defended the city gates.
The brutality of the Turks far exceeded their expectations. They publicly flayed the captured soldiers alive beneath the city walls in full view of the defending troops, dealing a severe blow to the morale of Tingzhou's defenders.
That night, in the place where Geng Liangcheng was bound, an additional Turkic soldier appeared. Whipped until his flesh was torn and bloody, he was tied to a cross when a voice speaking familiar Han language reached his ears: "Xiao Changtai is in the Turkic camp. You must request to see him and facilitate a meeting between him and the Crown Prince."
Geng Liangcheng, who had been drifting in and out of consciousness, suddenly became alert. He tried to turn his head to look but found himself completely immobilized. The voice seemed like part of a dream, leaving him uncertain of its reality.
His mind raced with thoughts: The Fourth Prince—already disowned by his clan—Xiao Changtai was actually among the Turks, aiding them in attacking the Northwest. And now Jiachen Crown Prince wanted to meet with Xiao Changtai? Was this colluding with the Turks?
Were they asking him to betray the Northwest and become a traitor who consorted with the enemy?
This was an overwhelming shock to Geng Liangcheng. He had envied Shen Yueshan's power and prestige, employed despicable means against the Shen family, and even felt a secret thrill about the sudden outbreak of war, seeing it as an opportunity to seize authority.
He desired power and status, wanted to become the King of the Northwest, but he had never contemplated treason or aligning himself with foreign barbarians.
"Where is the Crown Prince? Why doesn't he save me?" Geng Liangcheng weakly whispered.
"This is the Crown Prince saving you," the person behind him replied.
Geng Liangcheng fell silent, unable to respond.
The cold night wind blew, sending a chill down his spine that spread throughout his body, making him shiver uncontrollably.
If Xiao Juesong had already sent agents to infiltrate the Turks and knew about Xiao Changtai's alliance with the Turkic Khagan, he must have anticipated all this long ago. Shen Yueshan had been victimized by him—was this entire battle orchestrated by Xiao Juesong? Was his goal to join forces with the Turkic Khagan to destroy the Northwest?
So had he boarded a pirate ship?
Geng Liangcheng gritted his teeth: "I cannot comply.""If the Crown Prince truly wished to collaborate with the Turks, he wouldn't have come looking for you. The Northwest is territory the Crown Prince desires—how could he allow others to encroach upon it?" the person behind him said coldly.
Indeed, wouldn't it be better for Xiao Juesong to maintain control over the Northwest himself? Had he wanted to cooperate with the Turks all these years, he wouldn't have waited until now. Therefore, this was clearly a scheme.
OpenNovel