My Cultivation Starting from Archery

Meishan Prefecture.

[Cultivation Technique: National Guardian Dragon Spear. Hua Jin (small achievement)]

[Progress: 855/2000]

Atop the city wall, Chen Sansi put down his long spear.

After the Spiritual Rice Medicine Ointment was used up, the pace of his cultivation slowed down significantly.

It had been a full ten days since the execution of the rebel Liang Jinian to the present.

"Chirp——"

Chen Sansi finally received a response from Hai Dongqing.

This time it flew back from the southeast, outside the Great Wilderness; it was a reply from the Capital City Army!

Opening the intelligence report.

Chen Sansi learned that the army was led by Martial Saint Jiang Yuanbo, and they would arrive at the Great Wall within ten more days at most.

Setting off from Meishan Prefecture now would be just right.

As long as they could join up with the main force, it would be equivalent to victory.

"Pass down my command!"

"Move out——"

...

Sword Gate Canyon.

West Qi Kingdom's military camp.

"Leave ten thousand troops to cover the rear in the canyon!"

"The rest, retreat silently!"

Zhong Wuxin commanded his soldiers in the darkness, "Within fifteen days, you must return to the Northwest!"

"Report!"

A soldier hurried back on a galloping horse, nearly tumbling off it.

"What's the matter?"

Zhong Wuxin asked hastily, "Has Dong An's troops retreated?"

"Commander, it's bad!"

The soldier said in a panic, "Dong... Dong An, he... he committed suicide!"

"Suicide? Are you joking with me?!"

Zhong Wuxin could scarcely believe his ears and suspected he was hallucinating due to lack of rest. He grabbed the other party and demanded, "What's the reason?"

"I don't know!"

The soldier replied, "The people from the Mingzhou Army said that Dong An committed suicide shortly after seeing the death notice of Liang Jinian, without saying another word to them!"

"Fool, Dong An is truly a fool!"

Even though Zhong Wuxin had deep schemes, upon receiving this news, he couldn't help but lose his composure and cursed, "His death ruins the grand revival of our Great Qi!"

After a moment of thought, he understood why Dong chose to take his own life.

Firstly, the shock of losing to a young person around seventeen or eighteen was too great.

Dong An was famously obsessed with military strategies. Since the age of ten, he had studied warfare and later considered Fang Qingyun to be his greatest nemesis in life. As such, he set winning against Fang Qingyun in military tactics as his biggest goal, which was also an important reason why he allied with West Qi.

But as a result...

Before he could even defeat Fang Qingyun, another even more formidable Chen Sansi appeared.

And the tactics used in the Four Crossings of the Hongze River were probably beyond what even Fang Qingyun could conceive; it was genius!

No, it should be said that no one in the entire world could!

There was not a single person capable of achieving such a feat!

Going over the campaign again on the map made it clear just how terrifying it was. That was the true art of warfare, the true tactics. Chen Sansi didn't just command his own men, he directly...

Commanded the enemy!

It was terrifying!

Even now, Zhong Wuxin still felt a deep reverence for that young man whose face he hadn't yet seen, whom he only knew by name. If that person lived, he could surpass Ji, even Sun Xiangzong, it wasn't impossible!

This battle, if it had been concocted by a storyteller...@@novelbin@@

That storyteller would surely be cursed to death, pelted with rotten eggs and spoiled vegetables for fabricating lies!

But by some fluke...

The Four Crossings of the Hongze were real!

After this battle...

The young man's name would surely echo throughout the land!

From then on, known by all, recognized by all!

How could Dong An endure such a tremendous blow?

Secondly, of course, it was about the Heavenly Book.

Unlike Liang Jinian's rebellion for power, Dong An rebelled purely for the Heavenly Book.

Now that the Heavenly Book was in Chen Sansi's hands, he would never be able to obtain it again.

For Dong An, this battle naturally lost all its meaning.

With such a double blow, how could he not take his own life?

But his life was of little consequence, yet it brought about disaster for the entire Qi!

"Damn it!"

Zhong Wuxin kept repeating the curse, "If I had known earlier, who would have needed to employ the 'catching turtles in a jar' strategy!"

Originally...

The plan was for the armies of Great Qi to march directly into Ming State territory and engage the troops of the Great Sheng Dynasty head-on.

Liang Jinian and Dong An had proposed the strategy together.

Claiming they had a way to first consume four thousand troops of the Great Sheng Dynasty along with a bunch of Innate Martial Saints, seize the "momentum," and then take advantage of Sun Xiangzong's absence to swiftly defeat Liangzhou and the Great Sheng.

But in the end...

It wasn't about catching turtles, but reaping the whirlwind, basically shooting themselves in the foot!

If they had known this would happen, they could have fought a direct battle. Even if it came at a greater cost, they still had a fifty percent chance of winning!

Now, there was no chance at all!

"Commander, I haven't finished what I was saying."

The soldier continued, "Dong An's Deputy General Li Tiancheng and others seem to be converging towards us. They say that after losing their commander, they are unsure of what to do and hope to merge with us before making any further plans."

"No good!"

Zhong Wuxin immediately realized, "They are not coming to join forces, they have betrayed us to encircle us with Ji! Hurry, retreat, don't leave a single man behind, the whole army withdraws overnight, head straight back west of the Great Wall!"

"Doesn't that mean..."

A few deputy generals who had been listening by his side asked, "We're not fighting anymore?"

"What's there to fight for!"

Zhong Wuxin snapped angrily, "With Dong An alive there was still a chance, but with his and Liang Jinian's deaths, our 'momentum' is completely lost. Continuing the fight is certain defeat, even being slow to retreat won't do, quick!"

"Retreat——"

...

Xuanwu Camp's military camp.

"Boss!"

"Good news!"

"Great news!"

Nie Yuan burst into the tent with excitement, holding a sealed letter in his hand.

"Sansi, why are you becoming more impulsive?"

Just as Ji was putting on his armor and picking up his mighty Heavenly Halberd, he said, "How good can the news be, Dong An is dead or something?"