Chapter 13: Longhua City

  Longhua City is an important border fortress of the Xia Kingdom. Although Longhua City is a key border city that often experiences war, it also represents great business opportunities. As the old saying goes, what's the easiest money to make? It's making money from the dead! Therefore, Longhua City is very prosperous. Compared to Yunzhong City, Longhua City has fewer wars because it is home to the Xia Kingdom's most elite military unit, the Hu Tiger Team. Generally, battles between the Xia and Winter kingdoms rarely break out in Longhua City, as there are still two lines of defense beyond the city.

  The four or five zhang high thick city wall, the endless city wall blocked how many times the winter country's thousands of troops attacked, the dark red color on the city wall seemed to be telling people about their history.

  "General, it's windy here and your injury hasn't healed yet. Why not return to the mansion to recover?" Wang Hu said respectfully to the man standing proudly on the city wall.

  Qin Xiao Tian withdrew his gaze from afar, a hint of emotion on his face as he said: "Wang Hu, do you think that little guy can escape and return?"

  General Wang Hu did not expect the general to ask this question, and he was stunned for a moment. However, he quickly reacted and responded: "General, the Chief of Staff will definitely be able to return."

  "Haha!" Qin Xiao Tian smiled wryly a few times, his face cold and sinister: "If anything happens to Brother Zhang this time, I'll make sure that little Liu Ming Sheng accompanies him in death."

  When Wang Hu heard his general's words, he couldn't help but shudder all over. He didn't have any doubt about his general's words. The reason why the four brothers followed their general to the death was none other than admiring their general's spirit of loving soldiers like sons. He believed that if Zhang and the thousand or so soldiers were completely defeated this time, his general would definitely kill Liu first even if it meant risking being beheaded by the emperor.

  "Huh!" Qin Xiao Tian suddenly let out a surprised cry.

  Wang Hu heard the astonishing voice of his general and found that his general's expression seemed to be somewhat agitated. Following his general's gaze, he suddenly became excited because he saw a small team of about dozens of people appearing thousands of meters away from Longhua City. The people in this team were wearing the military uniform of the Manton Tiger Team, but they seemed to have some kind of ferocious beast chasing them from behind.

  "Winter Country soldiers?" Qin Xiao Tian's eyes widened as he saw the emblem on the uniforms of the pursuing troops behind his own cavalry, and to his surprise, they were Winter Country soldiers.

  "General."

  Wang Hu heard the words from General's mouth, his expression suddenly became tense.

  "Wang Hu, take the first cavalry team out to meet these people immediately. Don't let these brothers suffer any mishaps. As for those pursuers, you should treat them well." Qin Xiao Tian said with an icy expression.

  "Yes, General." Wang Hu responded loudly and immediately jumped off the high city wall without caring about anything else. He waved his hand and a team of well-equipped cavalry followed him out of the city at high speed to meet a small troop that was approaching from the opposite direction.

  "Rattling and rattling!" The earth shook, with thousands of horses and soldiers. To know the shock of one thousand horses' hooves pounding the ground is truly terrifying.

  "What the heck is wrong with these Winter Country soldiers?! Grandma's tears, I didn't even kill your leader, yet you're still biting me and won't let go, damn it!" Wang Xiaohu cursed with a displeased expression. If he knew that his chief of staff had taken out all the battalion commanders, company commanders, and platoon leaders of this unit, he wouldn't be so depressed.

  "Captain, look! It's Vice General Wang who has come to meet us!" a deputy captain of a small squad exclaimed with a surprised expression.

  "Brothers, Vice Captain Wang has come to support us, let's put in more effort, quickly."

  The dozens of people who were originally exhausted and weak suddenly heard their captain's words, and their spirits were shocked, as if they had drunk some kind of tonic water, and their footsteps running instantly accelerated a little, opening up a small distance with the pursuing soldiers behind.

  A thousand meters was just a short distance for the cavalry, and King Hu, who was charging at the front, saw that the Dongguo soldiers didn't retreat after seeing their own cavalry, but instead continued to pursue. Suddenly, a surge of anger rose in his heart, and he drew out the long spear beside his war horse and shouted: "Kill!"

  "Kill!" The entire cavalry regiment following behind Wang Hu's back raised their long spears and echoed in unison: "Kill!"

  "Kill! Kill! Kill!" The voices of ten thousand people shouting in unison were as loud as thunder.

  "Hoo-hoo-hoo!!!" Wang Xiaohu and the others, after their own cavalry had passed by, all collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. The overnight rapid march without rest had already exhausted them, and if it weren't for the pursuing troops behind them, they wouldn't have been able to hold on.

  Swish swish swish!! Two streams of people collided, and in an instant, the sound of clashing weapons rang out, and streams of fresh blood splattered into the air, as figure after figure crashed to the ground.

  One side was full of energy and fought, the other was a tired army. What's more, in the situation where the military strength of both sides was vastly different, the outcome of the battle between the two sides naturally did not need to be said. In less than a short period of time, King Hu led his cavalry to kill all 4,000 Dongguo men under their swords.

  On the city wall of Longhua City, Qin Xiao Tian quietly gazed at the battle thousands of meters away, his face cold and expressionless as he muttered: "Liu Ming Sheng, well done. This debt I will remember."

  Qin Xiaotian was very clear in his mind that if the soldiers of Dongguo wanted to reach Longhua City as soon as possible, they would have to pass through the small path of Longmen Pass. However, Longmen Pass was exactly where Liu Mingsheng's troops were stationed. If the soldiers of Dongguo wanted to pass through Longmen Pass, how could Liu Mingsheng not know? The answer was obvious: Liu Mingsheng had deliberately allowed these 4,000 cavalrymen to pass through the pass and pursue his own subordinates.

  "Nice to meet you, General." Wang Xiaohu and dozens of others bowed in unison towards Qin Xiao Tian.

  Qin Xiao Tian's expression suddenly turned gloomy when he didn't see Zhang Hua Ming among the dozens of people, and he asked: "Where is your Chief of Staff? Where is Deputy General Wang Xiong?"

  "General, we have received orders from the Chief of Staff to divide into ten small teams and retreat. Deputy General Wang will take the same route as the Chief of Staff." Wang Xiaohu responded loudly.

  "Divide into ten small teams to retreat?" Qin Xiao Tian heard Wang Xiao Hu's response, and he was stunned. Not only him, but also the three brothers of Wang Hu standing behind him were stunned, because they initially thought that Wang Xiao Hu's dozens of people were the only surviving team of the thousands of people who stayed behind to cut off the enemy.

  "Yes, General, we are just one of the ten small squads." Wang Xiaohu responded loudly.

  Qin Xiao Tian's spirit was shocked. If his subordinate in front of him said this, how could it be possible that the loss of the thousand-man squad was less than three layers? Moreover, he only discovered an important issue at this moment, which was that the dozens of people in front of him seemed to have changed, yes, that kind of aura, killing aura, very thick. He completely believed that although the dozens of people in front of him were extremely exhausted at this moment, if they encountered an opponent with the same number head-on, the winners would definitely be these exhausted people, because they possessed an aura that other soldiers could not have.

  "What's your name?"

  "General He's words are like King Xiaohu's."

  "King Xiaohu?" Qin Xiao Tian's expression slightly froze, and a look of confusion appeared on his face as he said: "If I'm not mistaken, shouldn't you be one of the members of my Imperial Guard?"

  "Going back to General's words, I was originally a member of the Imperial Guard under his command." Wang Xiaohu said with an emotional expression on his face. He couldn't believe that he, just one of hundreds of members of the Imperial Guard, would be remembered by name by the General. What an honor!

  "Have you recently broken through?" Qin Xiao Tian's face showed a hint of puzzlement. If he wasn't mistaken, among his personal guards, only three squad leaders were high-ranking martial artists, while the majority were low and mid-ranking. Yet, this subordinate in front of him was a high-ranking martial artist, and the aura fluctuations on his body were extremely chaotic, undoubtedly a sign of someone who had just broken through.

  "Regarding General Hui's words, Xiaode indeed just broke through."

  "Well, not bad." Qin Xiao Tian's face showed a look of appreciation and he praised, "Wang Xiaohu, are you willing to come back to the Imperial Guard and be a squad leader?"

  "Ah!" King Xiaohu never expected that his general would suddenly throw out such a big olive branch, and he was stunned for a moment. To know that the squad leader level in the Imperial Guard is equivalent to the battalion commander level in the regular army, what is the Imperial Guard? That's an elite team selected from thousands of troops, not just anyone can enter, and there's a special title in the Imperial Guard, which is the reserve officer replenishment base. In other words, people who leave the Imperial Guard can at least hold the position of captain in the regular army.

  Wang Xiaohu's expression changed several times before finally breaking into a smile, and he bowed to Qin Xiao Tian: "Thank you for your kindness, General. I am unworthy of your kindness."

  "Ah!" The three brothers, Wang Hu San, were stunned. It was rare for their general to offer them an olive branch like this, and they hadn't expected Wang Xiao Hu to reject it so bluntly. What's going on here?

  Qin Xiao Tian seemed to have expected Wang Xiao Hu's refusal, and with a smile still on his face, he waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter, people have different ambitions. Wang Xiao Hu, I think you and your brothers are also tired. Take them to the second combat zone to regroup, and later I will send someone to deliver the necessary supplies."

  "Yes, General, I request to withdraw."

  Wang Hu waited until Wang Xiaohu and others had come down from the city wall before opening his mouth with a puzzled expression: "General, what's going on?"

  "Haha! Xiao Hu Zi, and you two, aren't you wondering why that kid just rejected the olive branch I offered him?" Qin Xiao Tian asked with a smile, looking at his three beloved generals.

  "En." The three brothers Wang Hu nodded, with an expression of waiting for an answer.

  "Haha!" Qin Xiao Tian chuckled and gazed into the distance, a moment later he left behind a sentence before departing, leaving Wang Hu San brothers scratching their heads with puzzled expressions on top of the city wall.

  "If that little guy just accepted my olive branch, then I'd be too disappointed in Zhang Canmou, haha!"

  It wasn't until a year later that the three brothers, Wang Hu San, understood the true meaning of their father's words. By then, they were filled with deep regret and envy for their fourth brother.