knife

Chapter 433 I Must Go to the Battlefield

"Don't even think about it!" Zhou Zhi stood in front of Xiao Changche with his hands on his hips, glaring at him with a fierce expression. "As long as I have a breath left, you can forget about stepping onto the battlefield. At worst, I'll throw away my old face and personally go into battle to help you deal with those Xuan Yuan Ninth Rank experts."

“You can cover your face!” Fu Qingzhu added fuel to the fire, “That way no one will recognize you, and even if they do, you can deny it afterwards.”

“That’s exactly right!” Zhou Zhi stroked his chin and said, “Back when Tai’an City was just starting out, we did things like that before.”

Seeing these two disrespectful old men spouting nonsense in front of him, Xiao Changche flew into a rage: "I'm not discussing this with you, I'm informing you!"

Zhou Zhi narrowed his eyes: "Are you threatening me?"

"So what?" Xiao Changche sneered, "Believe me or not, I'll bring in a large army and trap you on Qiyue Island?"

"Mobilize a large army?" Zhou Zhi sneered. "Believe me or not, I can silence you with a single gesture. Mobilize an army? I'll make you unable to take care of yourself, so you'll have to call Luo Hua for help even to go to the toilet!"

Xiao Changche stared at Zhou Zhi. Zhou Zhi was a master of the Innate Realm, while he was only a ninth-grade Profound Origin Realm expert. If things really turned sour, this was exactly the situation.

Zhou Zhi also stared at him.

The old man and the young man stared at each other like fighting cocks, while Fu Qingzhu looked at one and then the other, laughing non-stop.

"Godfather!" Xiao Changche shouted.

"Calling me 'father' won't help!" Zhou Zhi took a step back and slumped into his chair. "Don't even think about leaving Qiyue Island."

"Godfather, do you understand the importance of this battle?" Xiao Changche asked.

“Of course, Mao Daxian and Qian Jia both told me!” Zhou Zhi said.

"Since you know its importance, do you know what failure would mean?" Xiao Changche pressed.

"How could it possibly fail?"

"In this world, what is there that is absolutely certain?" Xiao Changche said, "War is dangerous and perilous. Any small accident could lead to the complete collapse of the entire operation. Do you acknowledge that?"

"Yes!" Zhou Zhi had a vivid memory of this.

Back in the Chang'an Incident, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were confident of victory when Li Anmin turned the tables on them. That unexpected turn of events was something no one had anticipated.

"Tiele and Jebe can both be considered outstanding figures of their generation. Their abilities are not bad either, do you agree?" "Indeed, it's just that they were unlucky to have met you and Li Dachui." Fu Qingzhu interjected, "Without you, Tiele might have really become a great ruler, and even Jebe would have been no less capable."

"These two joined forces and mobilized their entire army. The commander of the battle in Yandu is Jebe, a man with extremely rich combat experience. He has been fighting all his life. Even if we have An Xuan as an inside man, do you think we can definitely win? Not necessarily. In Yandu, there is also Shi Xian, Yelü Chongguang, and Wutu. Which of these people is easy to deal with?" Xiao Changche listed the famous generals of the other side as if they were his own treasures: "Not to mention others, just Wutu alone was able to entangle with Li Dachui for more than ten days and finally get rid of Li Dachui and leave triumphantly."

"What do you want to say?" Zhou Zhi became somewhat uneasy. How come Xiao Changche's words made it seem like this battle was not so certain?

"Count for me in the Beiting Protectorate which generals can rival these men? Is it Chen Liang? Or Chang Xin? Or Xia Zhi? Or Xiao Dongwei or Xiao Chenggong?"

Zhou Zhi thought for a while before saying, "It seems that only Chen Liang can be considered a figure of some importance. The other generals are probably a step behind."

"So, without my on-site command, do you really think we could have won this battle?" Xiao Changdao said, "Even if you've never commanded a battle before, you should be able to imagine the complexity of this battle, right? The enemy is among us, and we are among the enemy; several battlefields are fighting simultaneously. When to launch an attack, when to infiltrate, when to retreat, when to activate internal support—any mistake in these things could lead to total defeat. This is a comprehensive battlefield requiring multi-party coordination, far more complex than any war we've fought before. Do you think we could have won without me?"

Zhou Zhi scratched his head, somewhat hesitant: "It seems unlikely! The Beiting Protectorate has risen too quickly, and there are many generals, but we really don't have enough commanders. However, Qian Jia told me that in ten days at most, Quanxin and Zhang Quanyi will be arriving. These two should be considered commanders!"

"They do have experience in leading large armies in battle, but they are newly surrendered and newcomers. The soldiers don't know their generals, and the generals don't know their soldiers. Do the subordinates trust them? Do they understand the characteristics of each of our units? Father, our soldiers are completely different from the soldiers they have led before. Are you willing to entrust such a crucial battle to them?"

Zhou Zhi nodded and said, "It's really not going to work!"

"If we lose this battle, the Northern Yuan will be unified again, and all of our Northern Court's energy will be occupied by the Northern Yuan. Forget about fighting for the world, we'll be lucky to even hold onto the Northern Yuan!" Xiao Changche said coldly. "And what about your grandson? Even your adopted son will spend his whole life guarding the border for the new hegemon of the Central Plains. Maybe this new hegemon is Linghu Ye, or maybe it's Empress Dowager Jiang Qian from Chu!"

“That won’t do!” Zhou Zhi said decisively.

"Therefore, this battle cannot be fought without me!" Xiao Changdao said, "Are you really at ease letting anyone else command this battle? Only I will do everything in my power to achieve victory."

Zhou Zhi turned to look at Fu Qingzhu.

"Don't look at me, I'm just a doctor!" Fu Qingzhu said, spreading his hands.

"It's not impossible for you to go and command!" Zhou Zhi weighed the options for a long time before finally saying, "However, you absolutely cannot go to the battlefield to fight personally. Also, Old Man Fu and I will always be by your side! Old Man Fu, we're entrusting the matter of protecting the pregnancy to you. Can you guarantee that?"

Fu Qingzhu glanced at Xiao Changche's threatening gaze and immediately nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes!"

"Aren't Quanxin and Yang Quanyi coming soon? They'll be placed by your side. When we need experts to lead the charge, those two will lead the team!" Zhou Zhi said, "Just as you said, they're newcomers, so we need to show them their abilities so you can see whether they're truly capable of handling important tasks. When we enter the pass in the future, we'll need not only generals but also commanders!"

"Thank you, godfather!" With his wish fulfilled, Xiao Changche beamed with joy.

(End of this chapter)