Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 1236 I Will Sweep Across the Eight Wilderness

Miao Changfeng looked up, shuddered, and found that the emperor's eyes were red.

This shows how this woman, who brought disaster to the country and its people, bewitched the emperor.

"Look at me as you speak. Are you aware of this matter?"

Miao Changfeng knew he couldn't hesitate for even a moment; if he showed even the slightest other emotion, he would be killed instantly.

"Your Majesty, I know absolutely nothing about this matter. Just send men to capture those bastards and tear them to pieces."

Zhao Zheng didn't say anything more, and the two of them stared at each other like fighting cocks.

After a long pause, Zhao Zheng waved his hand.

"Go and bring him back, give me an explanation."

Miao Changfeng banged his head on the ground with a loud thud, then trembled as he got up and left the Imperial Study.

After he went outside, a cool breeze blew by, and he realized that he was soaked to the bone.

However, I felt incredibly fortunate.

If a missing woman is so important to the emperor, then the Taisho Dynasty would be in grave danger if she were sent into the palace and kept by his side all day.

Miao Changfeng felt a little better, thinking that as the Prime Minister of the Dazheng Dynasty, he had averted another disaster for the court.

However, the trust and closeness between himself and the emperor had collapsed at this moment, and this was probably a chasm that could never be bridged.

This was also the huge price he paid for maintaining stability in the Taisho era.

South of Ryogoku, across the Yongding River in Fuan Prefecture, Tokugawa Iehira, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Army, received news of his younger brother's death.

Of the 30,000 troops, less than 15,000 were starved to death by the Zhenxi Army, and more than 20,000 of them starved to death.

What a tragic war this was.

Since the Oga clan landed in Osaka territory, they had never suffered such a crushing defeat, and the commander was from the Tokugawa family.

In the command post, Tokugawa Iehira's hands trembled as he held the battle report.

He wasn't heartbroken over his younger brother's seppuku, but rather furious at the disgrace the Tokugawa family had suffered.

The 35,000-strong army led by Tokugawa Iehira has been besieging Rakujo for two months. The Taisho garrison in Rakujo is in dire straits, and the city is about to fall.

The reason why he failed to capture Los Angeles after more than two months was that the city's garrison numbered over 30,000, almost equal to the size of his army.

Despite having equal numbers of soldiers, they still managed to trap all four city gates and force all the imperial guards to retreat, which was undoubtedly a brilliant achievement.

Now, due to Tokugawa Iemochi's command error, the entire southern route army of the Daisō army has been annihilated and driven off the land by the Chūsei army.

Tokugawa Iehira's eastern army became isolated.

Fortunately, the Taisho Imperial Guard and the Zhenxi Army were not under one command and fought independently.

The Zhenxi Army will certainly not take advantage of their victory to relieve the Taisho Imperial Guards.

However, without the support of the left wing, he would always have to spend energy thinking about how to defend against the Zhenxi Army's attacks, which put him in a very passive situation.

Tokugawa Iehira felt it was time to write to the Emperor requesting increased military strength, as he feared he should prepare for a two-front war.

As he was pondering the overall course of the battle, he heard a soldier reporting from outside.

A battle report arrived almost simultaneously from four prefectures that had already been occupied and consolidated.

The four families that were the first to enter the mainland—Atsumi, Tsuruta, Onimaki, and Mizukawa—are gradually withdrawing from the mainland and returning to their respective islands.

Tokugawa Iehira was surprised to find that the retreat of these four families' forces had reduced his own army by nearly a third.

He gasped. What were they up to?

Are we not obeying the Emperor's orders?

After his initial surprise, Tokugawa Iehira quickly came to terms with it.

These four families were originally marginalized by the main clan. They accounted for a very small proportion of the mainland population, mostly lived on the outer islands, rarely participated in mainland activities, and were not much subject to the Emperor's control.

Even if these four families did not enter the mainland, they continued to engage in maritime plundering along the coast, and even dared to rob local merchant ships.

Therefore, disobeying orders was to be expected.

Seeing that the major inland regions had lost their advantage and that they had plundered all the wealth in those areas, they decided to withdraw and take their profits.

Despite understanding their behavior, Tokugawa Iehira was still furious, thinking they were a bunch of opportunistic and undisciplined pirates.

They were no match for their regular army; without them, their campaign might have been much smoother.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, the army had suffered heavy losses, and they were still thinking about increasing manpower. Now, this had dealt them a fatal blow.

Tokugawa Iehira was holed up in the command post, almost pulling out all his hair.

Lin Feng's great victories in Funing Prefecture and Ganqing Prefecture also slightly reduced the offensive of the pirates besieging Luocheng, allowing Crown Prince Zhao Jian of the Great Zheng Dynasty to breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Taisho Imperial Guards brought abundant military supplies and provisions when they entered Luoyang, which is why they have been able to hold out until now.

Crown Prince Zhao Jian was observing the battle situation from the city wall.

A group of generals stood around him, each offering their own opinions.

"Your Highness, the pirates seem to have fewer troops."

A general gazed down at the endless pirate camps below the city.

"Have they sent troops to assist the southern region?"

Zhao Jian slowly shook his head: "It is said that Lin Feng has wiped out the pirates in the southern prefectures. After all, the fact that he starved 30,000 pirates to death in one fell swoop shocked all sides. Tokugawa Iehira would not be so stupid as to send people into the south to die again."

"How did Lin Feng do that?"

The tone of a general's voice conveyed both admiration and bewilderment.

Another person replied, "There are no specific reports, but with Lin Feng in charge of the Zhenxi Army, it's like divine assistance; they always manage to pull off some unimaginable victories."

"With Lin Feng around, he will be a major threat to Taisho."

"Your Highness, why don't we seize this opportunity to launch a counterattack?"

Zhao Jian waved his hand: "Don't be impatient, lest there be a trap."

He is a composed man, and as the commander of an army, a single careless decision can plunge the entire army into crisis.

Zhao Jian pondered for a moment: "Send more men to the area around Fuzhou in the south, and make sure to find out exactly what tactics the Zhenxi Army used to achieve such a victory."

One of the generals bowed and agreed, then turned to relay the order.

Everyone fell silent, knowing that His Highness the Crown Prince wanted to replicate the Zhenxi Army's battle record to deal with the current pirates.

"Lin Feng is indeed a genius. He has only been back for a short time, yet he led the Zhenxi Army to sweep across the southern prefectures as if they were empty... Sigh."

“Your Highness, our Imperial Guards of the Taisho Dynasty have fought against the pirates for nearly a hundred days, preventing the 30,000 pirates from setting foot on the city walls even an inch. This fully demonstrates Your Highness’s command ability.”

One of the generals said excitedly.

Zhao Jian shook his head: "What I want is to sweep across the eight wastelands and be invincible. How can I be stuck in the city and unable to even fight back?"

"Your Highness, the problem lies with our warships. We have suffered repeated defeats, allowing pirates to control the waterways, which has prevented reinforcements and supplies from being delivered."

"Yes, I heard that the Zhenxi Army destroyed all the pirates' ships, cutting off their supply lines, which led to the starvation of many of them."

"Your Highness, let's go and destroy their warships too."

Everyone was talking about it.