Chapter 1263: Another Showdown!

Pinned against the table, Jin Lingzan immediately shouted, "Supreme General, why are you doing this? Qi and Wei are allied armies. Are you really going to do something that pains your own side and delights the enemy?"

Huyan Wuhen said, "Lord Jin worries too much. I resorted to this inferior measure precisely to make operations easier for the allied army."

Jin Lingzan said, "Supreme General, please explain!"

Huyan Wuhen asked, "How many troops does Wei still have?"

"One hundred thousand soldiers remain!"

"Those one hundred thousand are a patchwork force made up entirely of the trusted troops under you various lords. This commander has ordered them into battle several times, yet they repeatedly hang back and refuse to advance. Why?"

Jin Lingzan had nothing to say.

Those one hundred thousand were Wei's last remaining capital. How could they be thrown away casually?

More importantly, as Huyan Wuhen had said, they were the trusted troops under the various ministers—the last strength those men could rely upon to protect themselves. It was hardly difficult to understand why many of them harbored selfish motives.

Huyan Wuhen said, "Now that all your lives are in this commander's hands, I imagine you will finally supervise your men with some care. If anyone still tries to play both sides, do not blame this commander's blade for showing no mercy!"

With that, he swept his cloak around, turned, and entered the tent.

"Bind them!" a general barked with a wave of his hand.

After a burst of chaos, the ministers of Wei all became prisoners.

Thinking back to the days when they had commanded wind and rain in Wei's court, one could only imagine what they felt now.

When they had come to the banquet, the cultivator guards accompanying the Wei delegation had been stopped outside. Those who vaguely glimpsed what happened within were horrified, and someone immediately raced back to report the news.

Before long, Xuan Wei arrived in haste with the Sect Leaders of Wei's three great sects and a group of cultivators.

What they found outside Qi's central command tent was an army already arrayed for battle.

Tens of thousands of soldiers stood in formation.

Rows upon rows of archers had arrows nocked and strings drawn.

The steel spears mounted on the siege crossbows gleamed coldly, ready in an instant to turn the ground ahead into a forest of iron thorns.

Large numbers of Qi cultivators had gathered as well.

Facing such a formation, Xuan Wei had not even found time to denounce them before another soldier rushed over with a report: five hundred thousand Qi troops were moving in and had already begun forming an encirclement around Wei's forces.

Everyone was shocked.

The two sides negotiated.

Huyan Wuhen refused to show himself, but he did agree to let representatives from Wei enter. Even then, he would admit only a handful of Wei's senior figures.

At this point, there was no longer any real choice.

If they did not meet Huyan Wuhen, Wei was finished outright.

Xuan Wei agreed to take the risk and enter.

The Sect Leaders of the three great sects accompanied her.

To guard against an unexpected turn, the three Sect Leaders themselves requested that Ximen Qingkong go in with them.

Given the circumstances, even without their request, Ximen Qingkong would have insisted on following.

The group passed through the heavily guarded army camp and was "escorted" all the way to the central command tent.

Inside, elite Qi cultivators stood in a ring around the walls.

Huyan Wuhen stood before a large map with his back to the entrance.

The moment Xuan Wei entered, she called out, "Supreme General, while our allied armies are resisting the enemy together, how can you turn your blades against your own side?"

The three Sect Leaders each kept a Heavenly Sword Talisman secretly gripped in one hand. If anything changed, they were prepared to break out by force immediately.

"I was just about to discuss joint operations with Your Majesty." Huyan Wuhen turned around.

Xuan Wei said, "If this is about fighting as allies, why did you seize my ministers of Wei?"

Huyan Wuhen replied, "You need not worry about them. I can release them at any time."

"If you refuse to release them, what is there left to discuss about allied operations?"

"These troops of Wei keep avoiding battle in order to preserve themselves. Time and again they hold back while only the soldiers of Qi fight desperately. What kind of alliance is that?"

"If I do not keep these men in my hands, why would they ever truly press their troops to fight?"

"Your Majesty, releasing them is impossible."

"This commander is about to launch a new offensive. If we win this battle, I will release them. If we lose, then keeping them alive only wastes grain and requires large numbers of men to guard them. In that case, they should be... killed!"

"You—!" Xuan Wei erupted in anger.

Chang Linxian, Sect Leader of Lingxu Mansion, raised a hand to stop her.

"Your Majesty, since the Supreme General says he intends to launch a new offensive, perhaps we should first hear what kind of offensive he means."

Then he cupped his hands toward Huyan Wuhen. "Supreme General, we are listening."

Huyan Wuhen wasted no words.

He stepped beside the map, picked up a pointer, and tapped one position.

"Three Slopes."

"If we break through this pass, the land for several hundred li beyond it is open and level. Once our army enters, we can establish a foothold there and at any time choose among three routes—east, south, or west—for the next attack."

"The Jin army cannot concentrate heavy forces along all three routes at once. We can choose whichever point is weakest and strike through it. Jin will inevitably be forced to rush back and forth, and sooner or later we will break their line."

"Even if our advance slows after we get through, Jin will still have to transfer large numbers of troops from elsewhere to guard all three routes. That alone can create openings for Qi's attacks in other directions."

"So this time, no matter the cost, we must take Three Slopes!"

Chang Linxian said, "We've already made several probing attacks against Three Slopes, and none came close to succeeding. If it were that easy to take, why would we have waited until now?"

Huyan Wuhen said, "That is why this time I intend to use Wei's one hundred thousand troops as the vanguard and have them open the road for Qi."

"Qi's army will hold the rear and supervise the battle."

"If they cannot take it, they are not permitted to retreat."

"They will keep attacking until they do."

With that, he lowered the pointer.

Everyone from Wei understood.

He intended to fill the road with the lives of Wei's last one hundred thousand soldiers.

Grief and fury appeared on Xuan Wei's face.

"Huyan Wuhen, you are plainly driving Wei into absolute ruin!"

"Is there still a Wei?" Huyan Wuhen shot back.

"If Three Slopes falls, Wei may still have a chance to exist. If it does not, Wei ends here."

He raised a hand and pointed toward Jin on the map.

"Jin has now assembled another three million troops and is advancing them toward Qi's border."

"I may as well tell you plainly. If we fail to take Three Slopes in this battle, this commander will order the entire Qi army to withdraw."

"We will retreat completely onto Qi's grasslands and use the vast open terrain to exploit our own advantages, then fight Jin to the death there."

"I will not continue wasting men here on a useless effort."

"If our army withdraws, what Wei will still exist?"

Xuan Wei said, "Then let us withdraw together. My one hundred thousand troops are willing to enter Qi and assist the Supreme General!"

She could not knowingly send her own soldiers to die.

Huyan Wuhen said, "A remnant force full of selfish men who will not even risk their lives to defend their own Wei—do you expect this commander to believe they will risk themselves for Qi?"

"The moment the wind turns against us, they will defect to the enemy and become a future disaster for Qi instead."

"This battle is Wei's final thread of hope."

"Qi's army is willing to fight one last desperate battle for Wei!"

Xuan Wei said, "Whether you will allow us to withdraw into Qi's territory is something I will first discuss with the Emperor of Qi."

Huyan Wuhen said, "Discuss it with whomever you like. It will make no difference."

"A general in the field need not obey every order from his sovereign."

Xuan Wei said, "The Prince of your state and I are husband and wife—"

Huyan Wuhen cut her off flatly.

"Xuan Wei, are you insulting Qi, or insulting yourself?"

"You know better than anyone whose bed you actually share."

"If you still have any shame, don't say such things again!"

The moment those words came out, anger flashed across Ximen Qingkong's face.

He strode forward.

Zha Hu, who had remained at Huyan Wuhen's side throughout, immediately stepped across to block him.

He watched Ximen Qingkong with a faint smile.

"Ximen Qingkong, this is not a place where you can run wild."

Ximen Qingkong's expression turned grave.

The two men had fought once before.

Luo Yanzhen, Sect Leader of Dale Mountain, said, "Since the Supreme General refuses to acknowledge the marital bond between Her Majesty and your Prince, then do not forget that your Prince is still in our hands!"

Huyan Wuhen said, "Do you think this commander would delay a military campaign for the sake of a prince?"

"Or do you think His Majesty the Emperor of Qi would damage the state for the sake of one prince?"

"If a prince can die for his country, everyone in Qi will rejoice in his loyalty!"

His meaning could not have been clearer.

If they wanted to kill him, then kill him.

Zang Feng, Sect Leader of Shouzheng Pavilion, sneered. "What a fine Supreme General Huyan—without sovereign above, without ruler in your eyes!"

Huyan Wuhen said, "Let me remind the three Sect Leaders of one thing."

"This is your three sects' final chance to reclaim Wei."

"If you do not fight for it with everything you have, there will never again be a place beneath Heaven where your three sects can stand."

"My decision is made. There is no need for more words."

"I will give you one day to consider it."

"See the guests out!"

The ring of Qi cultivators inside the tent immediately pressed forward.

The three Sect Leaders looked around.

Chang Linxian said heavily, "Let's go."

The group immediately withdrew from the tent, then turned and strode away.

The grief and fury on Xuan Wei's face could not be concealed.

With the blade already at their throats, Wei had no choice.

Either they fought desperately at the front for one last chance, or Huyan Wuhen would destroy them himself.

Besides, the Wei officials being held hostage had no wish to die.

One after another, they contacted the troops under them and ordered full cooperation...

Three days later, Qi's forces had completed their concentration.

A movement of troops on this scale could hardly escape Jin's scouts.

The moment the pattern of Qi's assembly became clear, Gao Pin immediately judged that their main target was Three Slopes and personally rushed there to command the defense.

Qi concentrated eight hundred thousand troops.

Jin already had two hundred thousand defenders at Three Slopes and reinforced them with only another one hundred thousand.

Jin was presently fighting a defensive war and had too many positions to protect. Its forces were relatively dispersed and could not match the attacking side's freedom to mass troops at a chosen point.

Both sides gathered enormous armies around the small battlefield of Three Slopes.

A great battle was about to erupt.

Gao Pin stood on First Slope, looking out over the army slowly pressing forward.

One of his deputies said uneasily, "Grand Marshal, the scouts report that Huyan Wuhen is personally supervising the battle. Looking at this formation, I'm afraid he's prepared to pay any price this time!"

Gao Pin said nothing, his face drawn tight.

This was another face-to-face contest between him and Huyan Wuhen.

"Woooo—woooo—"

Deep war horns sounded.

"Kill—!"

A roar shook Heaven and Earth.

Wei's one hundred thousand troops surged forward like a landslide and tidal wave.

Even the soldiers on First Slope grew tense at the sight.

Gao Pin immediately wheeled his mount and galloped back and forth along the front line.

Drawing his sword, he shouted as he rode:

"Victory! Victory! Victory!"

Seeing the Grand Marshal personally standing with them on the front line, the soldiers immediately steadied.

They joined him in a thunderous roar.

"Victory! Victory! Victory...!"

Wei's one hundred thousand charged forward.

Behind them stretched the endless mass of Qi's army, a dark tide covering the land.

When Wei's vanguard reached the foot of the slope, the speed of their furious charge immediately slowed.

Even so, they continued rushing upward without regard for life.

They had no choice.

Qi's army was holding the line behind them.

Anyone who retreated would be killed.

When the enemy came close enough, the defending general atop the slope roared, "Release!"

In an instant, boulders and other debris thundered downhill, smashing through rank after rank.

At the same time, arrows poured down like driving rain.

Screams erupted everywhere.

Archers below began returning fire.

Before the density of the arrow storm had even weakened, large numbers of Wei cultivators charged out with shields raised.

Quite a few were struck down by the screaming steel spears hurled from the siege crossbows.

Wei's three great sects had likewise been forced by Huyan Wuhen into making one final gamble.

They threw everything into the assault.

Surrounded by cultivator guards, Gao Pin watched with a grave expression.

It was obvious now.

The enemy truly did intend to pay any price this time.

[End of Chapter 1263]