I Have a Date with a Thousand-year-old Female Corpse
Chapter 969: No Eternal Victor

Chapter 969: Chapter 969: No Eternal Victor

"Damn it! It’s only a three-day round trip from here to General Wang’s main camp on a fast horse, but now four days have passed, the Tang Army must have ambushed our messengers!"

Meng Yi was right; all the messengers he had sent out at different times had, without exception, died under the arrows of Wu Zhao. Now, Wu Zhao was widely known in the Tang Army as a divine archer, never missing a shot, a true example of infallibility.

While Meng Yi was swearing in his commander’s tent, you had already quietly approached with ten members of the Death Squad.

On the way here, you had not killed anyone; instead, you had infiltrated by blending with the darkness of the night and exploiting the gaps in the patrol schedules of the soldiers. Around Meng Yi’s commander’s tent were eight tents, each surrounded by about twenty Qin Soldiers.

These Qin Soldiers were very special; you could even sense the sharp murderous aura emanating from them—they were elite troops!

Of course, these so-called elite troops were no more than average soldiers to your Death God Team Members. You made a subtle gesture and led the ten Death God Team Members to stealthily move forward.

These ten Death God Team Members were the elite of the elite from the Death Squad, including Shi Kai and Black Teeth Changzhi. However, you did not bring Wu Zhao along for tonight’s operation. The day’s battles had taken a heavy toll on her, and she needed to recuperate. Otherwise, she would have had to withdraw from the upcoming battles.

"Who’s there!?"

When Meng Yi suddenly sensed an unusual presence in the tent, his body jolted, and he bellowed angrily.

But even if he shouted out, it was too late, as a Tang Knife, issued to all soldiers of the Great Tang Army, thrust straight into Meng Yi’s back and pierced through his chest. Simultaneously, Shi Kai, that rascal, split the newly alert deputy commander in half with a single stroke—a bisecting cut at the waist!

Meng Yi turned around with great difficulty and saw your face brimming with malevolence.

"Tell me, who are you?"

Meng Yi stared at you as if he wanted to engrave your features in his memory, vowing to seek revenge in his next life.

"The Tang Dynasty, Luo Yun," you gently patted Meng Yi’s shoulder, smiling as you said, "You’re not wronged dying by my hand. Sorry, although I once had great respect for you, war is war. If you need to blame someone, blame your Emperor for being too greedy."

You did not pull the Tang Knife out of Meng Yi’s body, and at that moment, noises came from outside.

"Chang Zhi, take Meng Yi’s head!"

"Yes!"

Before Meng Yi’s personal guards could rush into the commander’s tent, you and your team had already left, leaving behind only two corpses.

"The General is dead!"

"General Meng Yi is dead!"

Naturally, these words were not from the Qin Army—subordinates usually would not dare to cry out loud if their commander died, as it would instantly lead to the collapse of the Qin Army. It was naturally you and your Death Squad Members who were making such a racket.

With the news of Meng Yi’s death spreading, the Qin Kingdom’s army quickly descended into turmoil. With the commander killed and the food supply depleted, the Qin Army soon fell into complete chaos. As you left, you even took the liberty of killing a batch of them, as if practicing your sword technique.

You had just returned to your military ranks when Li Zhengfeng ordered the long-prepared soldiers to launch a night raid.

This battle raged until dawn, and when the early morning mist cleared away, the ground was strewn with corpses, with Qin Soldiers in black military uniforms lying everywhere.

Last night, due to the collective loss of control by the Qin Army, there was a one-sided massacre by the Tang Army. The Qin Army was caught off guard and could only flee in all directions.

At the same time, Li Zhengfeng also ordered to continue the pursuit relentlessly. The reinvigorated Tang Army was fierce and furious, with some soldiers fighting until their arms weakened without even realizing it.

At this point, the entire army of 120,000 led by Meng Yi had disintegrated in utter rout, leaving the corpses of at least 80,000 to 90,000 men forever on the Tang Border. However, Li Zhengfeng’s original force of 200,000 paid a heavy price too, with over 27,000 dead and more than 54,000 injured.

War, there are never any victors!

This time, for the all-out war along the Tang Border, the Tang Empire had mobilized almost all its troops from within the borders except for the navy in the east, reaching a staggering number of 1.7 million.

By comparison, although the Qin Soldiers were all valiant and fierce, due to the relatively smaller territory, the Qin Kingdom could only send out less than 500,000 troops, which constituted three-quarters of its military force.

In this battle, the Qin Army was nearly annihilated, with less than a few thousand conscripted, while the rest all fled back to their hometowns.

It can be said that since the wars between the Tang Dynasty, Qin, and Han, the Tang Empire had achieved its first major victory. And the number of Qin troops within the Tang territory had plunged from 500,000 to about 400,000, a significant blow for the Qin Kingdom, no doubt.

"What! You’re telling me Meng Yi is dead, the Southeast Army completely wiped out?"

When the soldier delivered the battle report to the Imperial Palace of the Qin Kingdom, Emperor Fu Su of the second Qin generation slammed his fist on the table and rose abruptly, his expression as fierce and angry as could be.

He even wanted to tear the palace soldier standing before him to shreds, yet he was not his father Emperor Qin Shihuang and Yingzheng; ultimately, reason still triumphed over rage.

Emperor Fu Su slowly sat back down, his fingers tapping lightly on the Dragon Throne, he lowered his voice as much as possible and said, "This battle report lacks detail. Does anyone here know who the Tang general was that opposed Meng Yi?"

"Your Majesty, to the best of my knowledge, it was Li Zhengfeng, the son of Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty," replied one of the officers.

"Li Zhengfeng, Li Zhengfeng."

Fu Su murmured the name Li Zhengfeng, and though his voice was soft, it was filled with immense hatred and anger.

"How capable can this Li Zhengfeng be to have crushed Meng Yi’s entire force? That was Meng Yi — the future General of our Great Qin, and to have died so unexpectedly..."

Although the military might of the Qin forces was formidable, when it came to the quantity of officers and Generals, they were clearly outnumbered by those of the Tang Dynasty and The Great Han. The Qin People valued martial prowess, and while many joined the army, few were literate.

Currently, the Qin Generals were mostly sons from the Aristocratic families of the Military Department. For this very campaign against the Tang, Emperor Fu Su had dispatched almost all commanders from the country, except for a few Generals guarding the borders, with Meng Yi being the most outstanding representative of the younger generation.

Such an unforeseen death before victory was achieved, how could Emperor Fu Su not be furious, mournful, or regretful?

"Your Majesty, your servant finds something odd about this matter," spoke up a Civil Official stepping forward from the ranks.

"Oh? Do tell."

This man was Li You, the son of the current Prime Minister Li Si.

Li You had been on very good terms with Fu Su since childhood and both had studied military tactics under General Meng Wu. Unlike the determined and valiant Fu Su, Li You was different in character.

His temperament was cold and reticent, with a meticulous and strategic mind, reminiscent of his father Li Si.

Li You was extremely close to Meng Yi and was among the first to learn of Meng Yi’s death. Upon hearing the news, Li You had wept throughout the night. He appeared quite haggard when he attended court today.

"Your servant has heard General Meng Yi mention this Li Zhengfeng before. He is indeed a competent officer, possessing qualities of his father Li Jing. However, if one were to truly compare, he falls short of his father Li Jing. General Meng Yi’s assessment of Li Zhengfeng was: adequate in defense but lacking in offensive capability."

Li You was also struggling to control his emotions. Although grief and rage filled his heart, the deed was done, and Meng Yi would not return from the dead. All he could aim for now was to obliterate the Tang Dynasty and have Li Zhengfeng flayed a thousand times to appease Meng Yi’s spirit in heaven.

"What are you suggesting, Mr. Li?"