Capítulo 1430: Chapter 64: Northern Frontier Winds Rise (Double-Length)
The spring in the Northern Frontier arrives very late, and sumr lasts only a short while, fleeting before one realizes it. Winter then descends with harsh cold, and a few days prior, a light dusting of snow fell, forming a thin layer of frost on the armor, chilling it greatly.
Baili Feng reached out and rubbed his frozen, stiff face, exhaling a breath of white mist.
Distant snow-capped mountains were shrouded in a thick, oppressive black cloud. He had been here for a long ti, and in a place like the Northern Frontier, the passage of ti felt peculiar, almost as if he had spent half his life here.
He stared blankly at the snowy peaks for a long ti before rubbing his nose.
A blizzard was imminent.
The frontline between the Northern Frontier and the Great Qin’s Protectorate General had persisted for a full seven months.
Most of the ti, both sides rely probed each other. Initially, a thousand n from the Divine Martial Iron Cavalry road within the Northern Hun’s territory, effectively disrupting the Xiongnu’s supply lines. Great Qin’s famous general Sima Cuo launched aggressive assaults, pushing the frontline forward by a hundred li within two months.
Over the past twenty years, the Protectorate General maintained harmonious relations with various foreign nations.
They agreed to open markets and secured a fixed quota for the export of salt, iron, and dicine. During harsh winters, they even allowed garrison troops to escort foreign rchants and herdsn ho, and the paynt required was simply a hearty al and a round of drinks by the campfire.
In the Central Plains, those well-read scholars criticized Sima Cuo’s actions as aiding the enemy, yet their complaints were lightly brushed aside. At that mont, two decades of friendship turned into a trendous advantage, as forr resting places for rchants and herdsn were transford into military posts.
Supply no longer relied solely on the Central Plains but was directly borrowed from various countries.
The ti spent was only a tenth of what it used to be.
Within the unexpected ti gap that the Northern Hun nobility hadn’t foreseen, the usually composed Sima Cuo seed like a tiger unleashed, commanding the army with swiftness akin to lightning, catching the Northern Frontier off guard.
Amidst the chaos among the Seven Kingdoms of the Central Plains, where nurous famous generals erged, Sima Cuo stood among the top ranks, his strategic and tactical prowess unparalleled by the Northern Frontier. Once a territory was captured, the Qin Mo Family’s engineers could build a simple Guardian City in just three days and nights.
These cities, like nails, divided the vast grasslands of the Northern Frontier.
Until Shan Xinglan appeared, the decline of the Northern Frontier ca to a halt, forcing Sima Cuo to shift his tactics from aggressive assault to a focus on defense. Regardless of Shan Xinglan’s provocations, he rely fortified his defenses, reading every day without making a move; neither side could gain the upper hand, and the frontline entered a relatively stable phase.
Shan Xinglan commanded his cavalry like a pack of wolves attacking, even pushing the frontline back thirty li.
Sima Cuo ordered a strategy entirely opposite to the initial plan, instructing retreats instead of fierce battles upon contact with Shan Xinglan, even abandoning Guardian Cities when necessary. Though many commanders were puzzled, they followed orders obediently.
Within a month, the Northern Hun’s morale soared, and Shan Xinglan’s reputation as a military deity resonated throughout the grasslands.
Every plain, every pasture, every herd of cattle and sheep heard herdsn singing praises to the military deity of the Northern Frontier.
In the second month, seventy percent of the Great Qin’s Guardian Cities were destroyed, causing a stir in the court.
Three months later, the Northern Xiongnu King ordered the Imperial Household’s Great Khan to take over Shan Xinglan’s military authority.
The military deity Shan Xinglan was recalled internally, sealing off Jade Pot Mountain.
At that ti, the Northern Frontier had its first snowfall, a blanket of white covering the land, and Sima Cuo, who had been reading for three months, stood wrapped in a battle cloak under the main tent, gazing at the snow-capped mountains. Without his armor, Sima Cuo appeared to be a robust old man, already in his fifties, with calm eyes, saying:
“Has Shan Xinglan withdrawn?”
The deputy general beside him responded affirmatively.
The old man quietly watched the falling snow for a while before brushing off the snow from his shoulder, laughing:
“Do you know, where does the greatest rival for a general lie?”
The deputy general thought for a mont, knowing the answer couldn’t be the enemy general, cautiously replied:
“In timing, for without opportune timing, maneuvers may fail; in geography, for without advantageous terrain, there is risk of being exploited; also in uniting people, as only when minds are aligned can invincible victories be achieved, lastly in the enemy general.”
“One can conquer themselves, and then conquer others.”
The old man just smiled without answering.
The following day, he dispatched his son and his beloved grandson away from the frontline into Heaven Capital City, requesting the Military Departnt to allocate finance and supplies, making grand demands, gossip filled the imperial court that Grand Commander Sima Cuo might be trying to gather wealth for his descendants before his final battle due to old age.
Even his political opponents assud Sima Cuo authorized the conflict lightly, sending his descendants back to avoid death on the battlefield without certainty of victory.
However, in a private room, the Chancellor of Heaven Capital City, Zhou Fengyue, told his disciple that Sima Cuo was a man of utmost intelligence, prompting the emperor to laugh and grant all of Sima Cuo’s requested supplies for the front. His son, a friend of the Crown Prince, temporarily stayed in Heaven Capital City, while his grandson joined the Imperial Grandson ‘Li Changxing’ in attending the Imperial Academy as an auditor.
Receiving news from the imperial court, Sima Cuo fixed his gaze on the shadowy mountain range and stood through the night.
The following day, the entire Great Qin army moved out, swords unsheathed, crossbows drawn.
The long-cautioned forces of the Protectorate General, hidden under the old man’s command for three months, surged forward with indomitable montum.
Within a month, they uprooted over seventy camp cities and settlents in the Northern Frontier.
The military deity of the Northern Frontier, who had already returned to Jade Pot Mountain, returned alone to the frontlines, breaking through layers of blockade, and returned a day later. Finally, the Great Qin Iron Cavalry was halted, continuing fierce battles against the Northern Frontier’s Eagle Cavalry, while the Mo Family aligned with Qin worked tirelessly, day and night.
Reviews
All reviews (0)