Chapter 377: Chapter 377

Truth be told, if he weren’t an adult and about to go to war together shortly, Commander Zheng genuinely wanted to take the willow branch himself and go up to flatter him. But in the end, he decided against this impulse. For no other reason than to save face! It was a good thing he had thought of this beforehand and placed the wolf cub among them. Otherwise, if this group of children had rushed up and, directly terrified, started crying without saying a word, how embarrassing would that be? Would the original ceremony have devolved into a large-scale public recognition of the Earl of North Border’s illegitimate children?

The wolf cub was truly an extraordinary child.

A hundred years of national enmity.

A hundred years ago, the Barbarian Royal Court was in its heyday, commanding the entire desert; all barbarian tribes, none dared to disobey!

That year, the Yan State mustered its entire national strength for a life-and-death decisive battle with the barbarians in the north. At this critical juncture, the Qian State Emperor personally led an army of half a million troops and commenced the northern expedition!

If not for the first Earl of North Border, who defied fate and led thirty thousand iron cavalry to crush the Qian State’s grand army, the Yan State might truly have perished under a pincer attack.

And once the Yan State fell, the Barbarian Royal Court would naturally not have continued its western campaign, but would have seized the opportunity to expand eastward.

Imagine, if the Yan State hadn’t been there blocking the way, could Qian State, or the other two states, have withstood the barbarians at their absolute zenith?

Back then, the first Earl of North Border planted a willow branch on the border of Yinlang County.

This was also the origin of Green Willow Fortress’s name.

Regrettably, the first Earl of North Border, throughout his entire life, never fulfilled his cherished dream of marching south to water his horses in the imperial capital. This wait lasted a hundred years.

Now, this generation’s Earl of North Border has arrived with his army! ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ N0veI.Fiɾe.net

The Earl of North Border dismounted, bent down, and picked up the wolf cub. This old man had tears welling in the corners of his eyes. This was no act, no pretense. At his station, he no longer needed to hide or conceal anything.

Accepting the willow branch from the wolf cub’s hand, the Earl of North Border gritted his teeth.

This campaign against Qian: first, to expand our borders; second, for revenge!

The Earl of North Border roared with laughter.

At this time, an officer of the North Border army broke away from the formation, rode his horse to Zheng Fan, and announced, "Commander Zheng Fan of Green Willow Fortress, by order of the Commander-in-Chief, fall into our ranks!"

Zheng Fan cupped his hands and said, "This general obeys the order!"

The officer’s face broke into a smile again as he said, "Commander Zheng, the Commander-in-Chief requests your presence by his side."

The two thousand five hundred cavalry of Green Willow Fortress, under Liang Cheng’s command, merged into the advancing army without any hitches.

Meanwhile, Zheng Fan rode to Li Fusheng’s side.

Li Fusheng, sitting on horseback, turned his head to look at Zheng Fan and said, "Your method was effective; the Lord is very pleased."

Zheng Fan smiled, reserved and polite.

"Heh, it’s quite good having you around."

"It is this general’s honor to be able to follow you, Milord."

"They all used to say that apart from killing, I knew nothing else. Now they have nothing to say—I also know how to flatter."

Zheng Fan was rendered speechless.

"Your unit will remain by my side and serve as my personal guards."

"This general thanks you for your consideration, Milord."

As personal guards, their opportunities to go onto the battlefield wouldn’t be many. At the very least, the chances to act as vanguard or fight in perilous battles would be fewer.

"I’m not showing you special consideration. My original personal guards kneeled outside my military tent for half the night yesterday. I couldn’t dissuade them, so I let them go to the front."

Zheng Fan had no reply.

"Remember, once we are in Qian State, if you feel there’s someone I shouldn’t kill, you must remind me."

"This general obeys the order."

After the grand army exited the territory of Nanwang City, their pace clearly began to quicken.

Zheng Fan didn’t know into how many contingents the two hundred thousand troops of the North Border army and the fifty thousand troops of Lord Jingnan’s army were divided, nor was he clear which contingent Lord Jingnan and the Earl of North Border were respectively leading.

With an army of this magnitude on the march, truth be told, one felt like a single drop in a vast ocean, only knowing to follow the general momentum.

It was just that this acceleration was becoming extremely obvious.

Far off, Zheng Fan thought he could discern the silhouette of Liang Town to the west.

That was a fortified city, an incredibly sturdy stronghold.

But it was evident the army had no intention of attacking Liang Town.

The army continued south, south, south!

After this, Zheng Fan noticed his contingent passed through a somewhat familiar area. Zheng Fan knew this region; Mianzhou City was only about eighty-plus miles from there.

The first time he had entered Qian State, after leaving Mianzhou City, in order to evade the pursuit of Qian State cavalry, Zheng Fan and Liang Cheng had led their troops in what was almost a round trip along the east-west axis of Mianzhou City.

And Mianzhou City was part of the West Army Division’s defensive line.

However, the army did not turn, but continued south, south!

Not attacking Qian State’s three border commanderies, nor the West Army Division—this meant they had directly bypassed two of Qian State’s defensive lines!

The thundering advance of the army showed no sign of halting whatsoever.

Zheng Fan finally couldn’t bear it any longer. As the commander of the personal guards, Zheng Fan was naturally positioned beside Li Fusheng. Zheng Fan called out, "Milord, where exactly is our army marching?"

Not attacking Qian State’s three border commanderies, nor the West Army Division... are we planning to directly strike Qian State’s third defensive line? But aren’t they afraid of being encircled by the Qian forces? Actually, there was a bold conjecture that Zheng Fan didn’t dare to entertain. Because previously, when he and the Demon Kings had repeatedly simulated how Lord Jingnan and the Earl of North Border would break the deadlock, they hadn’t dared to think in that direction. Because this would mean that between Yanjing, where the Yan Emperor resided, and Qian State’s seven hundred thousand strong army, only Fatty Hui’s few tens of thousands from the rat army would be left to resist? This... in all the annals of warfare, has there ever been a general who fought ? Was there ever a general who dared to wage war in such a manner? To directly leave their own Emperor, their own undefended hometown, completely exposed!

A smile touched the corners of Li Fusheng’s lips; he seemed very satisfied with Zheng Fan’s current expression.

Then, with a flourish of his horsewhip, he shouted, "To the imperial capital!"