“Yes!” Liu Pinggao responded and was about to give orders when Bai Qingyan suddenly called him back, “Wait!”
Liu Pinggao returned.
Bai Qingyan’s expression remained calm as she raised her hand to cover her lips and whispered something to Liu Pinggao. Liu Pinggao nodded solemnly: “Your Majesty may rest assured!”
“Return immediately after transmitting the orders. We need to discuss how to fight the coming battle!” Bai Qingyan said.
“Yes!” Liu Pinggao leaped onto his horse and departed.
Wei Zhong followed beside Bai Qingyan, ordering someone to bring a map of Jiangzi City.
This Jiangzi City was originally Xiliang City, so Old General Cui would certainly have structural diagrams of the city. Therefore, this battle… if it truly came to fighting, would be somewhat more difficult for Great Zhou.
Wei Zhong had people send more candles to the command tent, wanting to make it brighter inside.
Bai Qingyan stood before the construction map of Jiangzi City, studying it carefully.
Soon, all the other generals except Liu Pinggao, who had just gone to transmit orders, arrived.
Among them were several familiar faces: Du Sanbao, and Wang Jin from the Flying Bear Battalion who had once followed Bai Qingyan to rescue Bai Jinzhi in Great Liang.
“Your Majesty!” Du Sanbao saluted Bai Qingyan.
The bright candlelight in the command tent flickered, clearly illuminating the tense features of these generals.
Bai Qingyan raised her gaze to look at the generals…
“This time, Xiliang’s siege is either to capture me, the Great Zhou Emperor, alive to constrain the Great Zhou forces attacking Yunjing, or to lure the Great Zhou army into retreating to rescue the emperor so they can ambush them en route!” Bai Qingyan walked from behind the table to the front. “But… for our Great Zhou, the best choice is not to have the main force heading to the Yunjing retreat!”
Hearing Bai Qingyan say this, the generals in the command tent understood… Bai Qingyan intended to defend Jiangzi City to the death.
“But Your Majesty!” Du Sanbao’s expression was grave as he knelt on one knee before Bai Qingyan with cupped fists: “We generals don’t matter, but you are Great Zhou’s Emperor – You absolutely cannot come to harm! If Your Majesty believes we cannot have the main force heading to Yunjing retreat to rescue the emperor, then… this general requests permission to have myself and all soldiers in the city fight a bloody path for Your Majesty and escort You out of the city!”
“This general requests permission to escort Your Majesty out of the city!” Wang Jin also knelt on one knee with cupped fists, speaking to Bai Qingyan.
The Great Zhou generals all knelt with cupped fists, pleading: “This general requests permission to escort Your Majesty out of the city!”
The generals in the command tent, their voices thunderous, were all sincerely willing to sacrifice their lives for their emperor, wanting only to fight for Bai Qingyan’s survival.
Bai Qingyan was not only the general who had once led them in campaigns north and south, but now also their Great Zhou Emperor. Bai Qingyan represented Great Zhou itself!
Any Great Zhou soldier could die, but they absolutely could not let Bai Qingyan be captured alive by Xiliang, as that would be an enormous blow to Great Zhou’s morale.
“Please rise, everyone!” Bai Qingyan stepped forward to help Du Sanbao and Wang Jin up, then said to the generals standing behind: “Please rise, everyone! I know of your loyalty! But this Xiliang siege, though it appears crisis-ridden, is the best opportunity for our Great Zhou to destroy Xiliang!”
Though the generals didn’t understand, they all knew of Bai Qingyan’s talent in military campaigns and had complete faith in their invincible war god… in their emperor.
“This time, Xiliang has brought heavy forces to besiege the city. As long as we can hold Jiangzi City, we will be holding back Xiliang’s main force for Great Zhou’s main force attacking Xiliang’s capital, Yunjing. Our Great Zhou main force will certainly be able to pacify Yunjing and destroy Xiliang at the fastest speed!” Bai Qingyan looked at the Great Zhou generals standing in the command tent and spoke slowly: “Why did we set foot on this land? It was to pacify Xiliang… to strive for the great undertaking of unifying the realm! To me, my individual life or death… compared to completing such a great undertaking, compared to returning peaceful mountains and rivers to the people of the realm, is not that important. Escorting me out of the city cannot bring our Great Zhou certain victory on the battlefield, so it’s not worth having the five thousand soldiers in the city, including all of you, sacrifice their lives!”
“Your Majesty!” Du Sanbao disagreed with Bai Qingyan’s words and stepped forward, about to argue with her.
But Bai Qingyan gestured for Du Sanbao not to be hasty, speaking in a calm voice: “I know you are all Great Zhou’s most loyal and brave soldiers! Among you are those who once chose to follow me in overthrowing the Jin Dynasty to establish Great Zhou, and those who transformed from Liang soldiers into Great Zhou soldiers, but… whether overthrowing the Jin Dynasty or choosing to become Great Zhou soldiers, our purpose has always been consistent… that is to protect the people, safeguard the people, and complete the unification of the realm!”
“Now, although… the people in this Jiangzi City were not born as Great Zhou citizens, they have entered Great Zhou citizenship and become Great Zhou people. We, Great Zhou soldiers… have no reason to abandon the people! I, as emperor, have no reason to abandon the people! Therefore… Bai Qingyan here entreats everyone!” Bai Qingyan cupped her hands with both fists, her gaze sweeping over all the generals in the command tent. “I entreat everyone to join Bai Qingyan in defending Jiangzi City to the death, to protect the Great Zhou citizens in Jiangzi City, to hold back Xiliang’s main force for our Great Zhou main force to successfully take Yunjing! To contribute to quickly pacifying Xiliang and quickly completing the unification of the realm!”
When Du Sanbao heard Bai Qingyan say these words, his heart surged with passion, and his eyes grew moist. This was their Great Zhou Emperor…
Their emperor was not afraid of death, daring to plan to defend Jiangzi City to the death with five thousand soldiers, protecting the people and holding back Xiliang’s main force for Great Zhou’s main force. What did they, as soldiers, have to fear?
“Du Sanbao vows to follow Your Majesty to the death!” Du Sanbao declared loudly.
“Wang Jin vows to follow Your Majesty to the death!” Wang Jin also declared loudly.
The soldiers all knelt, expressing their vow to follow Bai Qingyan to the death.
There was also a Great Zhou general who boldly said to Bai Qingyan: “Your Majesty, this general has fought Xiliang with Your Majesty in the southern frontier and campaigned against Liang in the northern frontier, so naturally vows to follow Your Majesty to the death. But we only have a mere five thousand soldiers, while outside the city, this general conservatively estimates there are no fewer than fifty thousand. Your Majesty… we probably cannot hold out for long. This general’s humble opinion… Your Majesty might as well change into an ordinary soldier’s clothing and have General Du Sanbao lead two thousand men to escort Your Majesty out of the city, while finding someone to impersonate Your Majesty in the city to delay Xiliang’s main force! This way we could achieve both goals. Please, Your Majesty, heed this general’s words – You are Great Zhou’s Emperor. Even if all of us die, we absolutely cannot let You come to harm, not only because of Your noble status as emperor, but because Your Majesty, You are Great Zhou’s morale!”
“This time, Xiliang is led by Xiliang’s Old General Cui Shanzhong. How could Old General Cui be easily fooled? Since he dared abandon Yunjing and make this desperate gamble to come besiege the city, he must have made complete preparations. How could he let me truly escape…” Bai Qingyan helped the Great Zhou generals up one by one, saying: “Rather than waste the soldiers’ lives in desperate fighting, we might as well join together in the city to resist Xiliang’s great army!”