I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 121 Military Soul
Hearing the tone of the voice, Mu Qingqing knew that Sister Wan had already abandoned her prejudice against her cousin, and she felt secretly relieved.

But thinking of the purpose of this trip, Mu Qingqing became a little worried: "Sister Wan, I heard on the way here that Qizhou has been occupied by pirates. I'm afraid you can't help at this time."

"I have to rush over no matter what."

Ye Wanshu said, "Baixiang County is the fruit of my grandmother's labor. Most of those farmers are from my Ye family, having been raised in the Ye family for generations. When I first entered Lin'an, they were forced to move their families to Qizhou. My aunt and I have already let them down once, and we must not let them down again."

"Those Shannons are lucky to have a master as loyal and righteous as Sister Wan."

Mu Qingqing comforted her, "Don't worry, Sister Wan. General Xue is Prince Yan's brother-in-law after all, and is highly regarded by the Queen Mother. He will definitely lead the General Xue's army to defend Qizhou. Once my cousin gathers his troops, they will be able to drive away the pirates sooner or later."

Hearing this made Ye Wanshu even more worried.

Xue Jiu was ordered to guard the East China Sea coastal defense. He and the army of the Pacification Commissioner were unharmed, but the Qizhou garrison and the people in the city were drowned by the water. This was a bit strange no matter how you looked at it.

"If my guess is correct, the flooding of Qizhou was the work of Xue Jiu."

Ye Wanshu said firmly, "Your cousin ordered him to eliminate the maritime threat within a month. He's been exploiting the people of Yuzhou for years, accumulating countless wealth. He's long been King Yan's right-hand man. How could he easily wipe out the pirates? As long as he eliminates the Qizhou army and holds Qizhou, he'll have bargaining chips to trade with the imperial court."

Mu Qingqing's brows furrowed when she heard this: "Sister Wan, are you saying that Xue Jiu is collaborating with the enemy and committing treason?"

Ye Wanshu nodded: "Very likely."

"So what should we do now?" Mu Qingqing was overcome with emotion. "I remember the two closest garrisons to Qizhou are the Yuzhou Zhenfushisi and the Yingzhou Army. If the Zhenfushisi army collaborates with the enemy, the Yingzhou Army is the only one left. How can we recapture Qizhou with only 20,000 men?"

"Manager Tao has always been a shrewd person. The reason why he didn't return to Qizhou must be that he has already noticed Xue Jiu's conspiracy."

Ye Wanshu pondered, "Furthermore, Baixiang County was a major incense-making center during the Great Ye Dynasty. The Yongchun incense produced there has been passed down for hundreds of years and exported overseas. It must not fall into the hands of pirates. I believe that Manager Tao led his men to Baixiang County to protect the court's incense-making industry."

Lifting the curtains and glancing at the thousand-plus guards at the rear of the convoy, Ye Wanshu said gravely, "These newly recruited guards are all veterans of the Yuezhou Army. Let's rush to Baixiang County to reunite with Manager Tao and temporarily delay the pirates' advance. This might buy your cousin some time."

Once the pirates enter Qizhou, they will burn, kill and loot throughout Yuezhou. As the lord of Yuezhou, Fu Mingchi will certainly not allow such a thing to happen.

Mu Qingqing had spent some years in Gusu and Yuezhou in her early years, and had some understanding of the terrain of the entire Yuezhou.

If the pirates want to land and enter the country, they can only go to Qizhou City and Baixiang County. Since Qizhou City has been lost, the only thing they can do now is to defend Baixiang County.

"Sister Wan, let's rush to Baixiang County as soon as possible."

After Mu Qingqing finished speaking, Ye Wanshu shouted at Tian Fu, ordering him to speed up and go at full speed towards Baixiang County.

When Fu Mingchi led the Yingzhou army to the fork in the road, he saw many troops of the Pacification Commissioner's Office retreating from the direction of Yingzhou. After asking around, he learned that Xue Jiu had abandoned the city and fled.

"This bastard, as the coastal defense pacification commander, actually abandoned Qizhou and fled. If this happens, the people in the country will suffer." Yu Bai drew his sword and was about to dismount to stop the retreating army, but was stopped by Fu Mingchi.

"A defeated army is worse than a bandit; it is useless to capture them."

Fu Mingchi looked into the distance and saw only mist everywhere. He had no idea where the girl had gone. He anxiously asked the returning messenger, "Where did Miss Ye take her people?"

The messenger clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, Miss Ye went straight to Baixiang County."

"What? Baixiang County?"

Yu Bai frowned. "Although Baixiang County is an important incense-making center for the imperial court, it only has a 2,000-man militia battalion. If Qizhou is lost, Baixiang County will be nothing but an isolated city. Miss Ye is like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth."

"Yan Jin, you will lead 10,000 cavalrymen to rush to the aid of Baixiang County. You must escort Miss Ye and the farmers out of Baixiang County. The rest of you will follow me to Qizhou to stop the pirate invasion."

Fu Mingchi guessed that the girl was in such a hurry to rush to Baixiang County because of those farmers, but Baixiang County was not easy to defend, and it was not easy to lead them to retreat safely. The only way was to attack Qizhou fiercely and attract the pirates to concentrate their forces to fight for Qizhou, so that they would have no time to disperse too much forces to take care of Baixiang County.

With this in mind, he led the Chifeng Battalion and rode away towards Qizhou, and soon disappeared in the rain.

The situation is now urgent. Once the pirates invade on a large scale, all counties and cities will surely face a great catastrophe. Yan Jin and Yu Bai have both seen that His Highness is determined to resist the pirate invasion to the death.

Knowing that he couldn't persuade His Highness, Yu Bai immediately warned, "Yan Jin, I will protect His Highness with my life. You must not let anything happen to the two girls."

After saying this, he led the remaining troops to quickly catch up with Fu Mingchi and Chifeng Camp.

Tens of thousands of people galloped on horseback, almost racing against time, not daring to stop for a moment on the road. After a day of rapid march in the rain, when they arrived at Qizhou City, the pirates' various armies were also gathering in the city.

It was also a narrow encounter. The pirates never expected that the Yuezhou army would arrive so quickly. Before the western fortifications could be reinforced, Fu Mingchi ordered his men to attack the west gate and the southwest water fort in two groups. In less than an hour, they actually attacked back into the city.

When Yu Bai came out to report the good news, he looked at His Highness's bloodshot eyes and felt extremely worried. He quickly ordered his men to set up camp and urged him, "Your Highness, I will fight to the death to recapture Qizhou today. Please rest in the tent."

Fu Mingchi knew that this battle was a fight to the death and he could not slack off at all. He jumped off his horse with a clear look in his eyes, walked slowly to the front of the west city gate, and placed the silver spear in his hand firmly on the ground.

He roared, "Men of Yingzhou, the northern border has been lost for years, and the shame of the past has yet to be washed away. If we allow the pirates to break through this gate again, it will be our elders and brothers who will suffer. Every inch of Yuezhou's fifty-two counties must be held in vain. Today, I, the king, will guard this gate with you and swear to never allow the pirates to enter Qizhou and abuse your parents, wives, and children."

Although the soldiers were exhausted, with His Highness in charge, everyone was encouraged and rushed into the city to fight the pirates with the determination to die.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier. The two armies fought bloody battles for half a day. The city was already littered with corpses. The blood-stained rain soaked half of the city, turning it red. Ten thousand Yingzhou soldiers defended the alleys of the west gate. The two sides engaged in fierce street fighting around the alleys, making it impossible for the pirates who kept pouring into the city to advance. No one was willing to give in.

Faced with enemies that outnumbered them several times, the soldiers of Yingzhou became more and more courageous. Whenever they looked back at the figure standing tall at the city gate, everyone felt reassured and rushed forward without hesitation. After the front row fell, the second row of soldiers quickly took their place.

This cycle continued until the corpses piled up like a mountain and the pirates were unable to break into West City. The leading general had no choice but to send people to Baixiang County to send more troops, determined to take over Qizhou in the shortest time possible.