Chapter 973: Public? Private?
Under Bahat’s order, these tens of thousands of defeated Cuman soldiers did not bother with the ambushed Fengwu Army at all. They immediately took a detour to the west in an attempt to quickly get rid of the Fengwu Army and head to Yingzui Plain...

And it seemed that just as Bahat had thought, the more than 3,000 Fengwu troops in ambush seemed a little anxious. They all rushed out to try to delay the Cumans' escape. Seeing this scene with the confiscated telescope, Bahat became more determined in his judgment!

The Fengwu Army was indeed very cunning and greedy. They not only wanted to capture Jincheng, but also wanted to annihilate all of his troops. They first deliberately surrounded him on three sides and left one of them missing to let him relax his vigilance, and then arranged people to delay him.

If he really fell into their trap and wanted to eliminate this ambush, he would probably be caught up by the main force of the Fengwu Army behind them in no time!

The more Bahat thought about it, the angrier he became. He felt like a tiger in troubled waters being bullied by a dog, and that the Fengwu Army was really going too far!

Although he was very angry, the situation was stronger than the person, and Bahat could only suppress his anger in his heart. There is a saying among the Zhou people that it is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Although he is not a gentleman, he can still hold back his anger!
While suppressing his anger, Bahat secretly swore in his heart that after this difficulty was over, he would personally kill one hundred two-legged sheep of the Great Zhou to vent his hatred!
With this idea in mind, Bahat commanded his troops and relied on the advantage in numbers to barely repel the pursuit of the Fengwu Army's ambush troops. The entire army began to march towards the West Eagle Beak Plain...
After traveling for nearly two hours, Baha finally felt relieved when he saw the eagle-like mountain from a distance.

As long as you pass the Eagle's Beak Plain, there is almost endless grassland, and the grassland is the home of the Kipchaks!

As long as they reach the grassland, the Cumans will become the most powerful wolf pack. By then, even if the Fengwu Army really comes to chase them, Bahat will have the confidence to regroup and tear those damn Fengwu Army into pieces!
Thinking of this and feeling the wind blowing from the north, Bahat even smelled the scent of grassland, and his frown began to relax.

Just when Bahat's mood was gradually improving, the voice of his subordinates in his ear brought him back to the unbearable reality.

"Master Bahat, the brothers are exhausted! Can you stop and let the brothers take a break?"

Upon hearing this, Bahat glanced at the Cuman soldiers beside him. He saw that these Cuman warriors who were so arrogant not long ago were now like eggplants hit by frost. Their eyes were dull and their legs were filled with lead. They had completely lost the arrogance they had when they showed off their bravery in the past.

Seeing everyone like this, Bahat felt helpless. He also knew that he had led his troops to break out of Jincheng in the early morning, and now the sun was already shining in the sky. It had been at least five or six hours since everyone had rested. They had been on the way to escape without any rest...
Everyone is made of flesh and blood, and they are bound to be unable to hold on after such a high-intensity escape. Thinking of this, Bahat was ready to win, so he let everyone take a short rest, eat some dry food, and replenish their energy.

But before Bahat could speak, another Cuman general suggested:

"Sir, we are only ten miles away from Eagle's Beak Plain at most. Why don't we wait until Eagle's Beak Plain is reached so that everyone can rest?"

"The Fengwu Army is officially chasing us. If we stop, the Fengwu Army will catch up with us!"

After hearing what this person said, Bahat changed his mind and felt that this seemed to be the truth. If it was any other army of the Great Zhou, Bahat would definitely think that they had run so far that the other side would definitely not be able to catch up with them. However, the Fengwu Army was completely different. The impossible things seemed to become possible for them!

There is no shelter here right now. If the Fengwu Army catches up with us, all will be over!

But if they go to Yingzui Plain to rest, with the steep terrain of Yingzui Plain, even if the Fengwu Army catches up, they can rely on the geographical advantage to deal with them!
Thinking of this, Bahat made up his mind and ordered loudly:

"Warriors of the Golden Horde, the Eagle's Beak Plain is ahead. Once we get there, we can have a good rest!"

"There are plenty of goats and rabbits on Yingzui Plain. When we get there, we'll cook goat soup and roast rabbits and have a good meal! What do you all think?"

It has to be said that as a veteran on the battlefield, Bahat was very experienced and knew what could best motivate his men at the moment. With just a few words from him, the Cuman soldiers, who were originally too tired to move, were forced to cheer up under the temptation of mutton soup and roasted rabbit, and continued to advance towards the Eagle's Beak Plain not far away.

Nearly another hour passed, and the Cumans finally arrived at Eagle's Beak Plain. Looking at the steep terrain of Eagle's Beak Plain, Bahat, who had fought on the battlefield for decades, had a bad premonition for no reason, and instinctively wanted to send a team of scouts to explore the way.

But looking at the Cuman soldiers around him who were almost fainting from exhaustion, Bahat hesitated for a moment but still waved his hand to signal his soldiers to enter Eagle's Beak Plain.

Although the premonition was not good, Bahat felt that no matter how powerful the Fengwu Army was, they were still human beings, not gods!
The Fengwu Army could not have expected that he would lead his troops to escape to the Eagle's Beak Plain. At present, the soldiers under his command are already tired and hungry, so instead of being suspicious here, it is better to let them enter the Eagle's Beak Plain to rest early and try to march to the grassland as soon as possible to return to their dream hometown!
Under Bahat's order, thousands of Cuman soldiers entered the Eagle's Beak Plain with beautiful fantasies of mutton soup, roasted rabbits, etc. Seeing that all the troops had entered the Eagle's Beak Plain, but nothing happened around, Bahat couldn't help but shook his head in self-mockery, thinking that he was a little paranoid because of the Fengwu Army...

However, just as Bahat was preparing to rest his soldiers, several deafening artillery fire suddenly rang out from Eagle's Beak Plain, followed by earth-shaking shouts of killing all around.

"Kill! Kill all these Kipchak barbarians!"

Along with the shouts and screams, there were also countless bullets and artillery shell fragments. A large number of Cuman soldiers were unable to hide on the narrow road and were ruthlessly harvested by the Fengwu Army like wheat!
Seeing the men he brought with him falling in a pool of blood one by one, Bahat was furious. Driven by strong emotions, the old Cuman general picked up a saber and prepared to fight the Fengwu Army.

Fortunately, the guards beside him stopped him. However, the already exhausted Cuman soldiers were no longer able to resist the careful ambush of Shen Quan's Fourth Division and could only flee for their lives.

However, Shen Quan had spent so much effort and finally drove these barbarians into the ambush he had set. How could he let them escape so easily?

The soldiers of the Fourth Division, who had been waiting for a long time, were lying in ambush at various intersections. The Kipchaks who wanted to escape through the small roads were either forced back by them or directly beheaded on the spot! The Fengwu Army’s previous policy towards prisoners had always been to spare their lives if they surrendered, but this time, because the Kipchaks had committed many evil deeds in Yongliang, many ordinary people of the Great Zhou died tragically at their hands...

Yuan Song, who came from the Imperial Guards, had fought with these Cuman barbarians for half his life and had only deep hatred towards them. At this time, he was even more angry about the cruel behavior of the Cuman barbarians.

Therefore, Yuan Song made an exception and ordered that this time the Fengwu Army would not take any prisoners and would use the heads of these Kipchak barbarians to avenge the deaths of the people of Da Zhou.
Therefore, even if some timid Cumans wanted to surrender, they were all ignored by the Fengwu Army. For a while, the small area of ​​Yingzui Plain was filled with the fierce shouts of the Fengwu Army and the helpless wails of the Cumans.

Standing on a small hill, Shen Quan watched silently as his soldiers slaughtered the Cumans. At this moment, a general beside him seemed to notice something and pointed at the battle situation and said to Shen Quan:

"General, that man seems to be Bahat from the Golden Horde. Do you want your men to capture him alive?"

Shen Quan thought about it and nodded slightly. After getting Shen Quan's permission, the general led his men to rush forward without any hesitation.

Looking at the decided outcome of the battle, Shen Quan felt very proud. He was one of the representatives of late bloomers. He had endured several years in the Fengwu Army before he finally made it to the top. However, the years of dormancy also tempered Shen Quan's character!
Although he never expressed it, Shen Quan was very satisfied with his performance during this Western Expedition!
He believed that he had now entered the Marshal’s sights and was a strong candidate for the next commander of the Fengwu Army. He was even not far from being conferred a title...

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In Lin'an, the capital of Jiangnan Province, in a luxurious mansion
Lu Houde was very satisfied when he saw the handsome and gentle Murong Zhengshan in front of him.

Murong Zhengshan's wife, Lu, was his biological sister. When Lu Jianchao was appointed Governor-General of Jiangnan, in order to strengthen his relationship with his elder brother Murong Lun, he deliberately betrothed his nearly fifteen-year-old daughter to Murong Zhengshan, who was also a teenager, before leaving.

This marriage was of great benefit to Lu Jianchao's ability to gain a foothold in Jiangnan later on. He could use the influence of the Murong family to promote some of his ideas and establish his own political achievements in Jiangnan.

Although the marriage with the Murong family brought many benefits to Lu Jianchao at that time, it was not a good thing for Lu Houde!
Because of Lu Jianchao's romantic affairs, Lu Houde's biological mother, Zhao, was so angry that she became ill and died early, leaving Lu Houde and his sister to depend on each other.

Therefore, Lu Houde and his sister had a very good relationship. Therefore, in Lu Houde's view at the time, his father Lu Jianchao sacrificed his sister for his own career.

For this reason, Lu Houde even once obstructed this political marriage, but in the end, the arm was not able to twist the thigh...

This time when Murong Zhengshan came, he also brought a letter from the Lu family to Lu Houde. In her heart, Lu told Lu Houde that she was living a good life, that she and Murong Zhengshan were very loving, and that they even had a daughter, so she asked Lu Houde not to worry too much!

Originally, because of what happened that year, although Lu Houde knew that Murong Zhengshan was just following the family's arrangements, he was not very friendly to Murong Zhengshan.

However, after reading his sister's letter and knowing that Murong Zhengshan was very good to his sister, Lu Houde's attitude towards Murong Zhengshan also changed.

This time, because of the task assigned by Lu Jianchao, Lu Houde and Murong Zhengshan had a lot of contact with each other. The more they contacted, the more Lu Houde admired Murong Zhengshan's talent!

If Lu Houde had not clearly realized that the temple in Jiangnan was too small to bear Murong Zhengshan's ambitions, then he would really want to keep Murong Zhengshan and let him contribute to the development of Jiangnan!
But even so, Lu Houde helped Murong Zhengshan and persuaded Lu Jianchao to lower his posture and send someone with money and property to apologize to Ye Mingsheng, allowing Murong Zhengshan to quickly get the first result of this trip to the south of the Yangtze River...

After the eldest brother and his brother-in-law chatted about family matters for a while, seeing that Murong Zhengshan was impeccable without any flaws, Lu Houde went straight to the point:
"Zhengshan, we live in a remote corner of Jiangnan, so we don't know much about the situation in the north. But I heard that Marshal Ye is fighting the Cumans in the north. I wonder how the situation is going recently?"

Facing Lu Houde's question, Murong Zhengshan smiled and said:

"I wonder if you are speaking in public or in private, brother?"

After hearing this, Lu Houde became interested and asked:
"How do you say it from a public perspective? How do you say it from a private perspective?"

Murong Zhengshan smiled and said:

"I will tell you, Lord Lu, that although the Cumans have caused some trouble to the Fengwu Army, it is only a minor trouble. The Cumans have already shown signs of defeat, and the Fengwu Army is closing in on them step by step. Victory is just around the corner!"

Hearing this, Lu Houde clapped his hands with interest and said with a smile:
"Zhengshan, what about Yusi?"

Murong Zhengshan suppressed the smile on his face and spoke to Lu Houde very seriously:

“The Cumans are about to be defeated, and it will be a great defeat that will damage the country’s destiny! After this battle, the Cumans can only stay on the grassland and survive. The war in the north has been settled. The Fengwu Army is no longer threatened by the north and can focus all its energy on conquering the south…”

Murong Zhengshan's words were completely beyond Lu Houde's expectations, and Lu Houde was stunned. He originally thought that he would say that the situation of Fengwu Army was not as expected!
(End of this chapter)