But Xi Heng thought it was not difficult: "As long as we give them a more unacceptable choice, they will naturally choose the more lenient one."
"What kind?"
"Those who disobey orders will die," she said.
Chu Xiao was silent for a moment, and then said, "This is too harsh, and it may cause some backlash within the Beijing Army, which has been relaxed for a long time."
"Then it's a good opportunity to do some screening and reorganize the Beijing army." Xi Heng said calmly.
"..."
After the atmosphere calmed down for a moment, Zhao Chuxiao stood up and went to the long table where various books were piled on the side. He took out a token that had been prepared long ago, placed it on the table and pushed it to Xi Heng.
"This is the command token, which I will give to my sister. Please go to the Beijing Army camp at noon tomorrow."
"Thank you." Xi Heng took it, glanced at the gold and silver token, and nodded.
"One more question."
The girl took back the token and looked him in the eye.
Looking at the other person's clear brown-gray eyes and similar face, she always felt like she was looking in the mirror.
"When does my sister plan to seize the throne?" Chu Xiao said calmly.
The tone was as if he was saying something as mundane as 'the food is getting cold'.
"Seize?" Xi Heng also said calmly: "The throne should have been mine. It should be said 'take'."
"When?" the other party asked again.
"Maybe I'll come back once the situation in other places is settled, or maybe I'll need some time to sort things out." She told the truth.
"When the time comes, you and I will each rely on our own abilities." Chu Xiao said, waving his hand to send the guest away.
……
Chapter 119: The Battle of the Army
"Kneel down."
In the spacious training ground behind the east gate of the capital city of Da Zhao.
Nearly ten thousand soldiers from the capital of Great Zhao were either kneeling or lying on the empty, flat yellow land.
As for why some people were lying down, it was certainly not because Xi Heng forgave their hard work, but because they were all dead.
There were hideous scars on the surface of those people's clothes, with blood or intestines squeezing out of them.
With a "swish", those huge intestines suddenly hit the ground and were stained with yellow soil.
Xi Heng, who was standing at the front, had said the word "kneel down" for the third time.
Some people refused to obey at the first attempt, and one soldier who was used to a rude attitude even challenged her because she was just a thin woman.
I don't know whether he really looked down on her or just wanted to test her ability...it doesn't matter anymore.
That man was already dead, and dozens of people who had joined him in the publicity had their heads chopped off.
It was not until she said it the second time that people almost knelt down.
However, there were still people who loudly denounced her rude behavior and even said they would report to the emperor and revoke her military power.
Xi Heng remembered what the man also said: This is the emperor's territory, and it is not a place for a cruel and heartless person like you to stand.
Only after she revealed her identity, ordered the eunuch beside her to read the imperial edict again, and truly released a cold and murderous aura, did people finally stop shouting.
Her name and the achievements she had made in the past two years had spread throughout the capital.
As long as the four words "Xi Heng Di Ji" are mentioned, people will think of Fang Tiande's story and remember the various rumors on the battlefield in the northern border in recent months:
It is said that she once defeated Yan Meng's powerful enemy camp with an army of only a hundred cavalrymen.
He led the cavalry to rescue the besieged city, charging forward in battle.
In almost all the battles Her Royal Highness participated in, the enemy was larger than ours, yet we were able to defeat the larger force with the smaller one.
Now, wherever he leads his troops to the battlefield in the northern border, Yan Meng’s army will flee upon hearing the news.
If they can't escape, they will kneel down and surrender and beg for mercy, no matter how many soldiers or horses they have...
During the few days Xi Heng had lived in the capital, he had inadvertently learned about these rumors about himself, which sounded a bit exaggerated.
Although she had gained some fame in the northern border, Yan Meng's army was equally strong and unafraid of death in battle. No one had ever surrendered or fled.
The third order was given and there was no more obstruction.
Xi Heng continued, "Military orders are as heavy as a mountain. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy."
He then ordered the Beijing troops to form a marching formation, and only nodded when he saw that the army's strength was still intact.
She divided the nearly 10,000 Beijing troops into three armies according to their combat power, and sent them to three directions respectively, in order to speed up the suppression of bandits.
As for the problem of dispersion of combat power, she didn't care.
Fighting a war does not depend entirely on numbers; the key is to defeat the enemy.
Xi Heng felt that he could do this alone. After all, the enemy was not Yan Meng's elite troops who were not afraid of dying in battle, but just some undisciplined rebellious bandits.
There is no need to concentrate troops to defeat them one by one; the same can be achieved by dispersing the troops.
Just wait for her to move to a certain place, and then attack her there.
Then, Xi Heng led three thousand officers and soldiers from the capital to a large bandit base called Heiqi which was relatively close to the capital.
Although this force still claims to be a group of outlaws, it has actually developed the reputation of being a rebel.
They have occupied the town, mobilized the people to form a garrison, and even built a lot of city defense equipment.
There are chevaux de frise in front of the city wall, and archers with torches patrol the wall above day and night - their strength is among the best among the big bandits in the world.
With only 3,000 troops from Beijing, it would be impossible to defeat them.
But Xi Heng thought that if he were included, they wouldn't encounter too much trouble.
……
Three days later, the weather was sunny and the wind was clear.
The officers and soldiers of the capital gathered in front of the remote town occupied by the enemy.
This town is located near mountains and rivers, and behind the mountains is the main stronghold of the Hei Xi bandit gang. After taking down this town, we will need to go into the mountains and continue to suppress the bandits and attack the stronghold.
If we send an army of nearly 10,000 directly, not to mention that the march will be slower, the enemy will surely flee at the sight of them, heading straight into the mountains and forests, making it difficult to track down and defeat them.
Only three thousand ordinary Beijing troops should not be enough to make them too panicked.
In the impression of these large bandit groups, whenever the Beijing troops come to harass them, they are just making a show of it, and no one will really risk their lives to attack.
After all, the military pay is just a few taels of silver, which is not enough to feed a family. Who would risk their life for that?
It's enough to just make some noise and show off, and do the work instructed by the superiors.
Whether it can be done is another matter.
Therefore, even when the bandit's troops saw the Beijing army besieging the city, they did not panic at all.
Xi Heng took advantage of this and openly surrounded the Beijing troops in front of the city in broad daylight, and set up camp to rest under the noses of the bandits in the city.
The bandit troops on the city wall were even more lazy than she had imagined. Not only did they not beat drums or gongs, they were also laughing and having fun on the city wall, not taking the officers and soldiers seriously at all.
It was sunset when they arrived. After nightfall, she led one-third of the soldiers to block the retreat route to the mountains behind the town under the cover of darkness.
After a busy period, he returned to the main army and asked the remaining 2,000 soldiers to light torches, beat drums, and shout "kill".
When the bandits in the town heard the news, they hurried to the city wall to patrol. The leader of the troops quickly gathered the bandit troops and prepared for defense.
But amid the deafening shouts and cries, the bandits in the town saw that the officers and soldiers did not even have a decent siege ladder, and were just running towards them with torches in hand.
Just as the general of the defending army above breathed a sigh of relief and shouted that the soldiers did not need to panic because they had no ladders, and asked his men to draw their bows and shoot arrows -
A red shadow suddenly emerged from the crowd of officers and soldiers, crossed a hundred meters in an instant, and arrived in front of the city gate.
He stepped on the ground and spun around, his right leg, filled with surging energy, struck towards the front with the momentum and inertia.
There was a roar like thunder, and the tower above the city gate seemed to tremble slightly.
Immediately afterwards, a huge hole appeared in the thick city gate.
The surging energy spread throughout the entire thick wooden door, shattering all the wooden fragments and the walls that secured the gate.
The bandit defenders above only heard a thunderous roar and shock, and before they realized what was happening, the morale of the Beijing Army soldiers below had already soared, and the charge, which had been a little hesitant at first, immediately became more fierce.
Xi Heng moved almost without any stiffness. After smashing the city gate, he stepped on the wall and rushed upwards.
The long sword was drawn out smoothly and the hand stretched forward.
"call."
In the empty space, his thin lips opened slightly and a soft sound came out.
Then a huge fire suddenly broke out and burned the city wall, causing screams. At the same time, it separated a section of the city wall and caused dozens of archers who were gathered together to be covered in flames, struggling and screaming in pain.
The girl landed on top of the city wall, and seeing that there were enemies all around her, she curled her lips.
The long sword was swung, and red lines appeared under the moonlight.
Wherever the red light flew, blood gushed from the enemy's neck and pushed his head into the air.
Then, they fell to the ground one after another like flowers scattered from heaven, breaking out blood-red patches on the stone slabs of the city wall.
Xi Heng crossed a hundred meters in just a dozen seconds with the technique of a dragonfly skimming the water. Everyone he passed by on the way was wounded by his sword or had a scar the size of a bowl on his neck.
Then, the archery defenders standing in a row on the city wall fell to the ground like dominoes.
Obviously, there is no Hua Jin warrior here who can fight with her for a few moves, so what is happening now is just a one-sided massacre.
Because she killed so quickly, she finished killing the enemies on the other side of the city wall before they knew it. The bandit leader, who was unaware of the situation, was still directing the archers to shoot.
The man just kept repeating the words "pull the bow and shoot the arrow", and he felt that the arrows shot by the surrounding archers and the city walls were getting fewer and fewer.
When he felt something was strange, he sent someone to check it out.
Xi Heng had already reached the city wall where this man was.
In a moment of surprise, the bandit leader saw a blurry figure like a demon flying towards him in the light of the torch.
He immediately drew his sword to block the attack, but the men surrounding him were unable to react and lost their heads.
"Who?!" the bandit shouted.
Then, a long sword pierced into his back and then came out from his chest.
Scarlet blood clung to the blade, and a drop fell down - and was immediately pulled out.
Xi Heng didn't care about this rare dark force warrior among the bandits, and immediately went to kill the other guards on the city wall.
At the same time, soldiers from the Great Zhao State also rushed into the town, hacking and killing indiscriminately with torches.
When the bandits saw that the city wall was broken, they immediately lost all hope of resistance and fled towards another city gate at the rear.
When the officers and soldiers saw the enemy fleeing, they naturally rushed forward to chase and kill them.
The bandits just wanted to leave the city and escape into the mountains, but they saw a large number of soldiers blocking their way.
With soldiers blocking the way in front and even more powerful soldiers rushing from the back, the bandits were stunned for a moment before dropping their weapons and surrendering.
A night attack on the city thus ended.
After Xi Heng had killed most of the bandits on the city wall, he came to the town which was brightly lit by torches, and saw countless surrendering bandits kneeling on the ground.
Looking around, he said calmly:
"No surrender, kill them all."
The surrounding officers and soldiers were stunned and did not move for a while.
"Kill them all." She repeated, exuding murderous intent.
The surging murderous aura made people feel cold as if they were being stared at by demons and monsters. In order to save their own lives, most of them began to swing their swords at the surrendering captives in front of them.
After several minutes of screaming, shouting, and protesting, everything became quiet.
"Gather the bodies together and add firewood." Xi Heng said casually, then looked back at the city wall and gave another order to the captain:
