"I order you to lead the First Battalion as the vanguard and outflank from the left. Be careful to avoid direct confrontation with the enemy." Su Wan'er issued the order skillfully, feeling her blood boil with excitement. She had imagined her own strategies countless times in the palace and had pored over the military books until they were worn out. She just never had the chance to put them into practice.
"Yes, I obey your order, General." The commander of the First Battalion seemed even more excited than her. Seeing such an enthusiastic subordinate, Su Wan'er didn't feel like saying much. She just gave a symbolic look of approval.
"Where is the commander of the Third Battalion?"
"I'm here, General."
"Ah?"
A voice suddenly came from behind, scaring Su Wan'er into quickly turning around. To her surprise, the person was calmly clasping their fists in salute.
"Hehe - I order you to outflank from the right." This was a stark contrast to the previous one. Standing silently behind her, trying to scare her!
"Yes." A very short answer, accompanied by a long face. He looked rather dull.
Su Wan'er was truly shocked. Oh my god! She had planned everything about strengthening the army and defeating the enemy, but she never expected that the personalities of these junior officers would be such a big issue. Their mood swings were really something. No wonder the army commander was so eager to come along. It seemed that everyone in this camp was like this!
"Cough. The Fourth to Sixth Battalions will stay here and hold your positions until further notice. Wait for the signal to reinforce."
"Yes!" "Yes, sir!" "Your subordinate obeys!"
The voices of three people of different ranks rang out. Su Wan'er felt helpless. They were all in the same army, so why were there such big differences in the way they responded to orders?
"The rest of you, follow me!" Su Wan'er thought this battle should be a quick one. The key was to not alert the others. As long as they surrounded this supply camp, the two thousand men inside would only have the combat strength of about a thousand. The rest were recruits. If they acted fast enough, they could completely wipe them out.
By the time they left, they might even be able to carry fifty pounds of grain each and burn the remaining fodder. By the time the Southern Border people discovered it, it would be too late.
Soon, Su Wan'er thought the First and Third Battalions had surrounded the left and right flanks, and she had reached the heart of the camp.
But as she walked past each tent, she found it too quiet. Could it be that this camp had relaxed its guard?
"Hehe, hahahaha - Thieves from the Jin Kingdom! You've finally come. This time, you won't be able to escape."
Suddenly, a person jumped out of the darkness. Su Wan'er squinted her eyes and saw that several torches were lit up. Had they been waiting for them?
"Charge!" She didn't have time to think about it. Anyway, the First and Third Battalions were guarding the left and right. Even if they were prepared, they had just strengthened their defenses.
The battle started without warning. Su Wan'er had been taught since childhood to charge to the front. But she saw that several soldiers were consciously standing in front of her.
"What are you doing? Don't guard me."
"General, it's our duty to protect you!" These soldiers seemed to be there just to take the bullets and swords for her.
"No need!" Su Wan'er used her lightness kung fu and flew to the front to fight.
The soldiers were inspired to see their general charging to the front. This was a sight they had only heard of but never seen before, except when it was Marshal Su. So they all fought with all their might.
It seemed like there were at least four thousand enemies, and they might have sent someone for reinforcements. But Su Wan'er had already surrounded the left and right flanks, so it was difficult for them to break out and call for help.
"They've used the Gu worms. Dodge quickly."
Su Wan'er had just taken care of two small enemies beside her and was about to wipe the blood splashed on her hair when she was suddenly pushed to one side by the retreating crowd.
"General, you'd better go to the back and take shelter. They're going to use the Gu worms."
It seemed that the soldiers knew what was going on. Sure enough, Su Wan'er saw the enemy carrying out three huge jars. She guessed those were the Gu jars. No wonder her elder brother had been poisoned. But she had to win this time. Otherwise... Otherwise, if she suffered heavy losses in her first battle as a general, it would be hard for her to establish her authority.
"No need. You go quickly."
After much thought, Su Wan'er took out the jade pendant in her hand. Xiao Jiu had given it to her for self - protection. Now she didn't care about anything else.
Everyone retreated, but Su Wan'er charged forward, raising her right hand high. Wherever she went, the Gu worms died and fell to the ground.
But there were too many Gu worms. Even if she tried her best, she could only deal with a tenth of them.
Finally, Su Wan'er was too exhausted. She gritted her teeth so hard that they were chattering.
No, she mustn't lose. If she lost tonight, she would rather die on the battlefield than go back!
"Ah!"
More and more Southern Border people rushed forward to stop her, but she fought like a fearless warrior.
Suddenly, as if the Gu worms were summoned, they all crawled back.
Su Wan'er didn't think she had some kind of divine power. But she didn't have time to think. She could only command the soldiers to continue fighting.
The soldiers naturally thought it was she who had stopped the Gu worms by herself. The battle reached a white - hot stage. The Southern Border people only had this one trick, and now they were mostly recruits with low combat strength. So they were quickly defeated.
"Notify the Fourth and Sixth Battalions. Don't let them escape." Su Wan'er was determined to win this battle handsomely, so she wouldn't let the remaining thousand or so enemy soldiers get away.
Finally, the smoke of war cleared, and everything was settled.
"This place is not safe. Each person take only twenty pounds of grain. Burn the rest. Let's go!" Su Wan'er wasn't the kind of person who would indulge in the joy of victory. But just as she was about to rush out to lead the way, she felt dizzy.
Was it because she had been too exhausted just now?
"You go on. I'll take a rest."
"Ah - um -" She had just sat down on a rock that was used to hold down the tent when she suddenly felt a heavy blow. Fortunately, she had muscle memory and dodged a bit. The blow landed on her left shoulder.
"Who are you?! The Queen?" The person recognized her when she turned around.
"Xiao Jiu?!" Su Wan'er was overjoyed. It was Xiao Jiu! Why was she here? Those Gu worms just now must have been recalled by her!
"Why are you here?"
"Why are you here?"
They spoke in unison, but each had their own thoughts.
"That token... Uncle the Emperor actually gave it to you?!" Originally, from afar, Long Xiaojiu had only seen someone using her token to deal with the Gu worms. Since Su Wan'er was wearing male armor, she had almost thought it was her Emperor uncle. But when she got closer, she realized it wasn't. And she never expected it to be the Queen.