But in the city, a whole set of sacrificial rituals needs to be carried out, which is slower and more troublesome.
Xi Heng did not need to perform the sacrifice personally. He only needed to come forward and say a few words of condolence as a general, and then someone would naturally light a fire and bury the dead.
Nowadays, the entire Yan'an inner city square is surrounded by spirit-absorbing formations. All one needs to do is chant the word and every corpse that is burned will turn into spiritual light and be stored in the blood spirit stone.
As everything progressed slowly, the spirit stones were gradually filled up, and Xi Heng put them into his pocket one by one.
The grand ceremony lasted for three days and finally came to an end.
Xi Heng also filled up one hundred blood spirit stones completely.
Among them, the spiritual energy provided by Yan Meng’s army and the soldiers of Da Zhao was less than half. Nearly 60,000 units of spiritual energy were condensed from burning the corpses of civilians in the city.
And because the soldiers are physically strong, they can absorb more spiritual energy. Roughly speaking, the number of people killed in this city is probably three times that of the soldiers of the two armies...
While Xi Heng was meditating, the ceremony finally ended.
Just as he was about to return to the camp to rest, he had just boarded the carriage when he saw a deputy general from the army rushing over, half-kneeling and delivering a message:
"Your Highness, the Yan Meng army, which is currently camping in the northern border, has sent an envoy to request peace talks."
"Let him get out." Xi Heng replied without thinking after hearing this: "By the way, take this message back. I will personally lead the troops to attack in seven days. Let them clean their necks and wait."
……
Seven days later, his physical weakness gradually disappeared, and Xi Heng thought that he should be able to exert 60% to 70% of his strength, so he put on his armor again, took his sword, painted a few spells on his arms, and then led 20,000 elite soldiers of the Ever-Victorious Army from Yan'an City and marched northward along the food routes that had been prepared in advance.
There were other generals leading their troops in the rear, but they moved slowly, and their marching speed could not compare to the Northern Frontier Ever-Victorious Army, whose orders were as strong as a mountain and whose military orders were strictly enforced.
The 20,000-strong Ever-Victorious Army rushed to the Black Water Pond Camp where Yan Meng's army was stationed according to intelligence.
After marching for more than ten days, Xi Heng had fully recovered and was just waiting for a major battle to avenge his soldiers and the people of Da Zhao.
However, news came from the scouts ahead that the enemy camp described in the previous intelligence now only had some remnants left.
The extinguished campfire, the wooden nails used to fix the big tent, all kinds of disorderly footprints... the camp that accommodated tens of thousands of people has been moved away, and only these things are left.
She naturally continued to lead the troops and pursue in the direction of the enemy's retreat.
Two or three days later, two pieces of important news were simultaneously delivered by the intelligence officer:
One of them is the whereabouts of the enemy's large forces - now that Yan Meng's army has lost its Khan, they have lost their will to fight.
Originally, they went south just to plunder resources and population as usual, and only Yan Qingshi wanted to actually break into the capital of Da Zhao.
Now that Yan Qingshi was dead, they had almost plundered enough and had lost a lot of combat power on the way. Naturally, they did not dare to go against the powerful Zhao army.
The Yan Meng people have withdrawn from the border of Da Zhao through Yumen.
Another piece of news was that a golden token was sent from the imperial court in the capital, which first congratulated her on her achievements in defeating Yan Meng's army and beheading the enemy emperor, and said that because most of the ministers, government officials and military departments from all over the country had gathered in Yan'an, the public security in various places was slightly weak and riots had occurred again, and she was hoped that she could disperse these government troops.
Xi Heng looked at the order document and subconsciously read:
"In addition... In order to feed the people and make life difficult for them, I hope the general will withdraw his troops and only rebuild the border defenses. Do not pursue the enemy too far and stretch the food route."
The longer the food route is, the more food will be lost along the way.
Even if we want to continue the attack, it would be better to wait two or three years and rebuild the fortress granary in the northern border...
But she didn't want to do that.
"I would eat the meat of the barbarians when I am hungry and drink the blood of the Xiongnu when I am thirsty." Xi Heng replied and ordered the messenger to write down: "Yan Meng's army can plunder our positions and cities to support the war, and our army can do the same."
"Reply to the court and ask them to continue transporting food for two months - otherwise, if I cannot advance north, I will have to lead the troops south."
When the herald heard this, the pen in his hand paused.
"General...really, do you really want to write it down like this?" His voice trembled slightly.
"Not a single word will be changed." Xi Heng said, then he looked back at the endless sky in the north and said, "During this march, I will definitely capture the capital of Yan Meng."
……
Chapter 125: Sweeping the World
After sending the messenger back to the southern capital with the documents, Xi Heng continued to lead his troops to the north.
They first passed through Qiming City, where a small number of troops were still defending the northern border, and then continued along the official road to Kezhou and Xingzhou.
All the way north.
Seven days later, they followed the enemy's retreat trail and arrived at an important checkpoint called Yumen on the northern border of the Great Wall.
Because Yan Meng's attack this year was to directly capture Yumen, there are no longer any Zhao troops guarding this checkpoint, and the food, weapons and other resources stored there have all been looted and disappeared.
Xi Heng left two thousand victorious soldiers here to rebuild the defense line and collect a large amount of supplies from far away in the south. He then sent reconnaissance cavalry to the north and gradually established a grain road leading to the capital of Yan Meng State.
Although the Yan Meng people were born on the vast grassland, they are not like the nomadic people who rely solely on raising sheep and cattle for a living without a fixed residence. They just graze their sheep around the grassland, and after they have eaten the grass in one piece, they will move to another grassland with their family to settle down.
They do have a great city built of white stone called Wolf-Ballin.
Langfeng Balin was built against the mountain. The city was stacked high and low. Every few steps, you had to climb a flight of stairs. Most of the houses were caves carved out of the mountain, and there were also small houses built of white stone...
Only the nobles in Yan Meng's country could move into these fixed residences. They were richly decorated with various animal bones and top-quality furs to show the bravery and nobility of their owners.
There were a large number of various tents arranged in disorder outside the city. Each tent had only a small corridor. There was almost no planning except for the main road into the city. The layout was extremely messy. Once a mortal entered, it would be like walking in a maze and it would be easy to get lost...
——The above information was what Xi Heng heard from a deputy general of the Northern Frontier who had visited the capital of Yan Meng State.
The location of the enemy's capital on the map was also marked by this person.
Through inquiries, we learned that Langfeng Balin has gathered a huge number of Yanmeng people. Any Yanmeng person can freely set up tents outside the city without restrictions, so the whole city looks extremely bloated.
The number of people among them may be even greater than that of the Great Zhao Kyoto, which has a clear population distribution plan.
There are more than one million people in the capital of Da Zhao. This place is even larger and is said to have two million people. I don’t know the actual population.
Most of Yan Meng's other fixed city strongholds were villages and towns from other countries that they had plundered.
After all, there is little wood or stone in the grassland, and there is only grass and mud. If you only use mud to build a house, it will be washed away by a heavy rain and riddled with holes.
We can't let them build a city with cow dung...
Therefore, if one wants to destroy Yan Meng Kingdom, the only target one needs to focus on is Wolf Peak Balin.
But it is very difficult to capture this place.
As a people from the northern grasslands, the Yan Meng people were able to survive the hardships of life, and their physical fitness was much stronger and stronger than that of ordinary people in the rich lands in the south.
And because of their national characteristics, they all have rough skin and large frames, and are all good at fighting.
The Yanmeng ethnic group is divided into many large tribes. In many tribes, as long as the adults and relatively healthy members follow the tribe leader to various places to kill and plunder - this is their tradition.
It has been wreaking havoc for a hundred years, and many ethnic groups have been enslaved or even exterminated.
It is precisely because of this continuous plundering and expansion, and occupation of other countries' industrial and economic resources, that the territory of Yanmeng Kingdom has now developed to a level comparable to that of Da Zhao.
If the northern border of the Great Zhao Kingdom, known as the Central Kingdom, is occupied again, I am afraid that the name of the Great Zhao Kingdom should be changed to Southern Zhao...
But with her around, Yan Meng would definitely not be able to do this.
Even though she only had tens of thousands of victorious soldiers under her command, and the enemy was the entire Yanmeng nation in Langfeng Bahrain, the capital of Yanmeng Kingdom - there might be three or four hundred thousand people who could fight.
The enemy is numerous and we are fighting a war to protect our country. Generally speaking, if we want to truly conquer them, we will inevitably encounter many difficulties and obstacles.
But since Xi Heng is present, it is not an ordinary situation.
The Blood Spirit Stone is already full. Even if a few more people who have swallowed dragon flesh come, as long as they can use the Sea of Blood Technique, they can easily defeat the enemy.
The more than one million people in Wolf Peak Bahrain will only become nutrients for the sea of blood.
She will win this battle.
……
Another seven days later, outside Yumen.
Xi Heng rode a red-maned horse and was the first to step out of the border of Da Zhao and led the army into the territory of Yan Meng Kingdom.
Looking at the endless desolate fields in front of her, the girl let out a soft cry as the cold wind of early winter blew on her face.
"With 53,000 ever-victorious troops, claiming to be an army of 100,000, is it possible to win the attack on Yan Mengguo?"
She asked General Zhao Wanli who was following her.
"The Yanmeng people have lost their will and strength to fight. If our army just enters the country to plunder and occupy some territory, it will be no problem. The enemy may even give it up." General Zhao analyzed:
"But it's still difficult to capture its main city."
"It's okay. I'm not here to do anything simple." Xi Heng waved the reins lightly, making the brown-red horse move forward.
The scattered white hair danced freely in the cold wind, touching the hair strands and then being gently brushed back behind the girl's ears.
Now, every time I exhale, I can see a white mist appear in front of my eyes.
When I woke up every morning, I could see a thin layer of frost on the grass.
Autumn passes and winter comes.
"The winter march may consume more food, but the food reserves should be enough for the army to reach Wolf Peak Balin." Xi Heng thought about it carefully: "If we fail to achieve victory and plunder resources, it will not be enough to return."
If we can capture the capital, we will naturally have enough beef, mutton, dairy products and grains.
Leading the cattle, sheep and food back to Da Zhao would also ease some of the resource pressure in Da Zhao and help restore people's livelihood.
"When you perform the Sea of Blood Technique, you should be careful about the cattle and sheep on the pasture..."
Although Xi Heng did not comply with the previous imperial order to stop the attack, he still listened to it reluctantly.
That is, let the vassal troops that came to the northern border to disperse and retreat back to their respective areas to manage public security.
Logically speaking, after the Northern Frontier Ever-Victorious Army won the battle and drove away the enemy, it should have returned to the western part of Da Zhao to attack the Western Barbarians and support the defenders.
Or they could move to the south and fight against the Dark Sky Sect, which is now the biggest threat to Da Zhao.
However, since she is the one leading the army, no one can ask the Great Zhao Ever-Victorious Army to do anything else before the Yan Meng people destroy the country.
……
Time passes slowly.
The marching route of the Great Zhao's Ever-Victorious Army was also drawn on the map of the northern border.
The army marched northward, crossing a long distance from Yumen Pass and rushing straight towards the enemy capital in the central part of the northern border.
Due to the slow march, the army encountered many enemy reconnaissance cavalry on the way. Although they sent vanguards to kill many of them, they were unable to stop them all.
Therefore, when they were halfway there, the news of the arrival of the Zhao soldiers had probably spread throughout Yanmeng.
This is a bit of a problem for large armies. It is difficult to capture large camps of nomadic tribes while marching.
Because the slow-moving army had not yet arrived, the enemy knew they were no match for them and had basically withdrawn, making it difficult for them to obtain supplies during the march.
Even if a vanguard was sent forward, at most they could only find some remnants that had not yet evacuated completely, among which food, fodder, cattle and sheep were basically the first to be evacuated.
On this flat prairie, there are no cities or fortresses that can be captured.
Xi Heng's idea of fighting to support the war did not work well along the way.
However, because of this, the army traveled through Yan Meng's territory for more than ten days without encountering any obstruction.
……
Fifteen days later.
The first snow of winter fell.
There wasn't much snow, but the wind was strong, so it seemed fierce.
The snowflakes hit the girl's face and were brushed away by her fingers.
The temperature is dropping today. Even though the military knows that winter is coming and has taken some precautions, they still seem a little uncomfortable due to the temperature change and their morale is a little low.
Frost and snow shattered onto the endless, slightly dry grass beneath their feet, and their footsteps rubbed against it, mixing the grass and snow together.
Xi Heng raised his hand, attracting the attention of the surrounding generals.
She wanted the soldiers to speed up.
Before he could open his mouth, he saw in the hazy snow in the distance, the cavalry squad that had been sent earlier to scout the surrounding area of dozens of meters was speeding towards them.
Those five or six horses were running at almost full speed, and it seemed that they must have obtained some very important information.
The girl stopped giving orders and continued on her way.
