Chapter Sixty

  The fierce battle between the three water armies and the Duji army lasted from afternoon till nightfall, by which time the inner wall of the Duji army's camp had completely disappeared. All that could be seen was a long pile of corpses between the two armies, with fresh blood flowing out of the pile and mixing with the mud around it, making the ground extremely muddy. It took great effort to pull one's leg out after stepping on it. Soon, the blood congealed, causing the earth to solidify into dark red clods, only to be washed over by new waves of fresh blood...

  The battle has reached a point where it is a nightmare for the soldiers of both sides, and also a test for the commanders. Now, what is being compared is no longer the overall military strength, but the willpower, to see who can hold on, to see who can last until the end.

  In this showdown, Rémi Aziz defeated Liang Qi. Rémi Aziz was fighting with his back to the water, he could only grit his teeth and hold on, there was no way to retreat, while Liang Qi was different, he still had a trump card, he still had reinforcements that he could count on, he would not and could not use the lives of all his soldiers to exchange for this miserable victory.

  After fighting till nightfall, Liang Qi gave the order to retreat first. This order was a great news for both sides, as they had been fighting all day and were exhausted. Everything in front of them was a blur, their legs trembling with fatigue.

  When the Shu army retreated, General Du Yu ordered his troops to pursue and slaughter them. However, the soldiers were exhausted and many of them collapsed on the bloody ground, lying motionless. Some vomited loudly, it was unclear whether from exhaustion or being overwhelmed by the mountain of corpses before their eyes.

  After the fierce battle, what was left was an eerie silence. The Wind Army's camp and the Duqi Army's camp were both silent as a tomb. The body collection teams of both sides moved out to collect the bodies of their fallen soldiers on the battlefield. It was only at this time that the Wind Army did not need to fight with the enemy in the Duqi Army camp.

  The bodies, like mountains, were slowly separated and carried away by the people. A rough estimate suggested that the two armies left behind no less than 40,000 corpses. Neither side had gained an advantage over the other; roughly half belonged to the Wind Army and half to the Duji Army. This was in line with the saying "You die a thousand, I lose eight hundred."

  Returning to the military camp, Liang Qi immediately ordered a count of their casualties. The number of deaths in this battle reached 22,000, and more than 10,000 soldiers were injured, with total casualties exceeding 35,000, making it the bloodiest battle since the Three Waters Army entered Tia.

  After looking at the casualty statistics, Liang Qiyu let out a long sigh and remained silent for a long time. It wasn't until after a while that he opened his eyes and said: "Quickly retrieve the bodies of our fallen soldiers, also, send word to General Guan Tang, telling him not to get too close to Wartown, but instead find a hidden place within ten miles of Wartown to temporarily station."

  "Yes! General!" White Yung replied with a bow.

  Shangguan Yuan said: "Just one battle, our army's casualties are so heavy, and the manufactured crossbow arrows and stone balls have been exhausted. How can we fight next?"

  "Fight?" Liang Qi smiled bitterly, this battle can't be fought anymore, Du Ji's military strength is too strong, and he is in a defensive position. He feared that even if their entire army's forces were exhausted, they might not be able to take down Du Ji's camp. He shook his head and said: "Our army has no more strength for a strong attack, at the fifth watch, our army will abandon the camp and retreat."

  Shangguan Yuan let out a loud stomp, he really didn't want to admit that their side had no advantage in the head-on confrontation with Duji's army. He lowered his head and stopped speaking.

  Li Qihuan looked around and said, "We must retreat quickly, otherwise we won't be able to go far before the enemy catches up with us. All non-essential supplies in the army will be left behind!"

  Hearing this, Shangguan Yuan let out an angry voice and asked: "Are you leaving everything to Du Jiwu?"

  "Just a temporary retreat! Once we defeat the enemy's main force, we will retake it again."

  "Hmph!" Xiang Guan Yuan let out a snort and sat down with a huff, turning his head to look away.

  It wasn't until the third watch that Feng Jun's body collection team was able to move all the bodies of the fallen soldiers back to the main camp. Just looking at the number of military ID tags, they filled up ten small boxes. Since it was impossible to carry so many bodies during the retreat and the distance from Tia to Feng Guo's homeland was too far, the bodies would rot halfway through transport. Liang Qi ordered that the bodies be cremated on the spot, and after the war, he would bring back the ashes of the fallen soldiers to their home country.

  More than 20,000 corpses, it's not easy to burn them all at once, so they have to be cremated in batches. Fortunately, the Wind Army had cut down a lot of wood earlier, so there was no need to go find firewood now.

  When cremating the bodies, Liang Qi, Shangguan Yuanrang and Bai Yong and other generals all came to the scene.

  Looking at the piled-up corpses gradually being enveloped in fierce flames, Shangguan Yuanshen's bright eyes reflected the jumping firelight, and he let out a long sigh, muttering: "They were all my Great Wind's brave warriors!"

  Liang Qimian narrowed his eyes and replied: "Yes."

  "But who will remember them?"

  Liáng Qǐ was silent for a moment before saying: "The country."

  "If there hadn't been a war, they wouldn't have died."

  "Only by believing that we are fighting for our country, and that we are just warriors, can we not be crushed by the pressure of war." Liang Qi turned his head, looked deeply at Shangguan Yuanrang, and said: "Yuanrang, we have a reason to fight that cannot be avoided. The reason why we are here is to protect our country."

  Shangguan Yuan let out a laugh and softly sighed: "Standing on the territory of another country, yet saying that you are protecting your own nation, isn't this quite ridiculous?"

  Liang Qimao remained silent. Bai Yong, on the other hand, cleared his throat heavily.

  Shangguan Yuanrang knew that his words could be considered a crime of disturbing the military, but he didn't care. He furrowed his brow and said, "To save Tia, we have to sacrifice so many brave warriors of Da Feng. Who dares to guarantee that this war is just?"

  Liáng Qǐ suddenly asked: "Do you know why I never get too close to brothers in the army?"

  Shangguan Yuan looked at him with a puzzled expression, thought for a moment, and said: "Because you are too proud, thinking that your birth is noble, so you are high above..."

  Before he could finish, Liang Qi interrupted: "Because I'm afraid that the familiar faces will be gone after a battle. Since we've joined the army, we must be prepared to sacrifice for our country and king, and believe that the decisions made by our superiors are correct. Without this realization, there's no need to stay in the military, it's better to go back home and farm, at least that's also a contribution to the country. The military doesn't need complaining and questioning voices." After finishing his words, Liang Qi turned around and walked towards his tent, waving his hand without looking back, yawning and saying: "I'm a bit tired, I can still rest for over an hour, I'll take a nap."

  Watching Liang Qiyue's back getting farther and farther away, Shangguan Yuan let out a hum, muttering: "Liang Qi looks somewhat different today."

  Bai Yong nodded and walked to Shangguan Yuan's side, saying in a low voice: "Our army has not suffered such heavy casualties for a long time. The general must also be deeply grieved in his heart, although the general never says it. As the commander of an army, the general bears the lives of all soldiers on his shoulders, and the pressure is far greater than ours..."

  "This is indeed." Shangguan Yuanshen could of course understand the pressure on Liang Qi was enormous, precisely because of this, Liang Qi repeatedly assigned the most dangerous tasks to him, but he had never really resented Liang Qi.

  As Liang Qi's figure completely disappeared from view, Shangguan Yuan suddenly said: "He won't go back to the camp to cry, will he?"

  Bai Yong was taken aback, scratched his head and said uncertainly: "Won't be, right?"

  Shangguan Yuan let out a flick of his head and said, "Let's go take a look."

  "This... doesn't seem quite right..."

  "With me here, what are you afraid of?!" As he spoke, Shangguan Yuan let go of Bai Yong's wrist and strode towards Liang Qi's tent.

  They arrived at the entrance and, without exchanging a word with the guards, Yu Rong led Bai Yong in.

  In the tent, Liang Qi was lying on his side on the bed, borrowing the candlelight beside him to concentrate on the map. For the sudden arrival of Shangguan Yuanrang and Bai Yong, there was no surprise on his face, only a light and casual question: "Anything?"

  Liang Qi was so calm that it made Shangguan Yuanrang and Bai Yong somewhat unexpected. The former smiled awkwardly and said, "I made a bet with General Bai that you would run back to your tent and cry in secret..."

  "As a result, both of you were disappointed."

  "You really aren't sad at all!" Shangguan Yuan let out a sigh and shook his head as he walked forward.

  Liang Qifang put down the map, looked at Shangguan Yuanyu and said: "A man's sorrow is not just shown in his eyes. Isn't that right?" After finishing speaking, he lowered his head to look at the map again and continued: "I hope your way of showing sorrow is to cut off Remi Azur's head with your knife in tomorrow's battle."

  Shangguan Yuan clenched his fist slowly and nodded, saying, "I know what to do." As he spoke, he gave Bai Yong a signal with his eyes and turned around to walk away.

  Before he left the tent, Liang Qi called out to him: "Yuan Rang!"

  "Huh?" Shangguan Yuan let out as he turned his head back.

  Li Qizheng said, "We have no choice but to come to Tia and Duji's army for battle. If your conviction in this war is not firm enough, then recite these words a hundred times a day."

  Shangguan Yuan's face turned red, and he snorted and muttered: "My head is perfectly normal." After finishing speaking, he had already walked out of the camp. Bai Yong glanced at Liang Qi, not daring to linger, and hastily followed him out.

  At the fifth watch, all the bodies had been cremated and the remaining ashes were temporarily buried on the spot and marked. Then, Liang Qichao ordered the whole army to retreat with light equipment, abandoning all heavy objects.

  Under his orders, the army of over 70,000 men withdrew silently from their camp, carrying only dry rations, and retreated in the direction of Val-town.

  During the retreat, the team was silent, and only the rumbling sound of footsteps could be heard. Now no one has the mood to chat or talk anymore.

  On the other side, Duke's military camp.

  As the sky gradually brightened, Rémi Azabou woke up. The first thing he did was to walk out of his tent and head for the watchtower to observe the situation in the three armies' camp.

  He looked up at the opposite side, and the three armies of Suishui were calm and peaceful, a dead silence. Remi Azabai's heart moved slightly, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly shouted: "It's bad, Feng Jun has retreated!" As he spoke, he turned his head to the messenger beside him and ordered: "Pass my order, leave only 200,000 troops to guard the camp, and all other generals will follow me out of battle to pursue and kill Feng Jun!"