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Chapter 139 Capturing Li Tinggui Alive

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the two commanders of the Zhou and Shu armies faced each other, one riding a spirited horse, the other standing dejectedly on the ground.

Li Yi raised his voice and said, "Li Gong and I each serve our own masters, and there's nothing to say about us meeting on the battlefield. But no matter what, the Zhou people and the Shu people are ultimately of the same lineage, and there is no deep-seated hatred between us."

"Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. I admire Lord Li's willingness to die to uphold his integrity and preserve his principles. However, if Lord Li dies like this, have you considered that the people of Shu may not praise your integrity, or that some treacherous individuals may shift all the blame onto you? In that case, what good will you gain besides a bad reputation?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tinggui remained silent. The great defeat of the Shu army at Qingni Ridge was not merely a matter of losing several thousand imperial guards, but rather it completely extinguished Shu's hope of reclaiming the four prefectures of Qin and Feng.

As a veteran general, Li Tinggui was well aware of the true strength and weaknesses of the Shu army. The central and local governments had hundreds of thousands of troops on the surface, but after deducting the local militia and able-bodied men who could not fight, the remaining force numbered no more than a hundred thousand.

Among the troops stationed in Jiezhen, those with some combat capability were sent to the front line a few months ago to repel Zhou's first attack on Shu.

Afterwards, most of the troops were stationed on the Fengzhou line, such as the six or seven thousand people stationed in Guzhen and Tangcang, as well as the troops assisting in the defense of Fengzhou City and Weiwu City.

However, these Shu troops have now been defeated, with nearly 10,000 captured by the Zhou army alone... Moreover, it is obvious that the Jiezhen troops have been terrified by the Zhou army's strength, and there is no point in forcibly sending more people over.

Otherwise, how could most of the garrison troops who retreated south of Qingni Ridge have fled within half a month?

The only force that the Shu Kingdom could rely on was the imperial guards of Chengdu Prefecture.

However, the Imperial Guard, numbering in the tens of thousands, was the foundation of the Shu Kingdom. How could the emperor possibly risk the Imperial Guard in a full-scale war against the Zhou Kingdom for the sake of the four prefectures of Qin and Feng?
The several thousand elite imperial guards that Li Tinggui brought out were his last trump card to reclaim the four prefectures of Qin and Feng. Now that they have been lost at Qingni Ridge, it basically means that there is no possibility of regaining the lost territory.

Seeing that Li Tinggui remained silent, Li Yi chuckled and said, "It has been decades since Lord Li left his homeland, hasn't it? This is a good opportunity to return and visit. They say that fallen leaves return to their roots, but Shu is ultimately just a foreign land."

"Besides, Lord Li still has family members in Chengdu. If you die, they will lose all hope. Why not live well and wait for the day when we can reunite?"

His words were a way of giving Li Tinggui a way out. He deliberately avoided mentioning the matter of capturing him and taking him to see the emperor in Tokyo, instead bringing up the idea of ​​returning to his homeland and playing the emotional card of family.

As a general of the Imperial Guards of Later Shu, it was naturally better to bring Li Tinggui alive to Dongjing than to bring back a corpse. Otherwise, if he was determined to die, there was really nothing that could be done; for example, he could not be stopped from dying by self-mutilation or starvation.

Li Yi felt like he was collecting cards and accumulating achievement points at the same time. First, he killed Wang Luan, the dyeing commissioner of Shu, and then he captured Han Jixun, the military governor of Xiongwu of Shu.

If we were to capture Li Tinggui, the general of the Shu Kingdom's Imperial Guards, we would gain another achievement for conquering Shu and earning military merits... Would this be considered a triple kill achievement?

As expected, Li Tinggui was slightly moved, and then sighed, "General Li is right. Even if I die, I cannot change the overall situation... Being able to return to my homeland before I die can be considered as fulfilling my last wish."

Having persuaded Li Tinggui not to commit suicide, Li Yi then remembered the matter of saving people and asked, "Two days ago, two mountain people were captured by scouts under Lord Li's command. Both of them were teenagers. I wonder where they are now?"

Li Tinggui was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant and quickly said, "Those two are currently in the rear camp... uh, they suffered some minor injuries, but their lives are not in danger..."

Seeing the embarrassment on his face, Li Yi knew that the two mountain people must have been subjected to severe torture and interrogation, and that their injuries were likely more than just superficial. But since they were still alive, that was good enough. Li Yi didn't say anything more and immediately ordered his men to send Li Tinggui and the captured Shu soldiers along the main road of Qingni Ridge to the rear. How to settle these people was naturally a matter for Wang Jing to worry about.

Just then, Li Hanchao approached, cupped his hands, and said, "Our men went to pursue the deserters of the Shu army and captured the personal guards of Zhao Chongtao, the Shu military supervisor. They said that Zhao Chongtao took advantage of the chaos and escaped with a few trusted men. Should we send someone to chase after them?"

Li Yi considered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There's no need to chase after him. Zhao Chongtao will either head south straight for Xingzhou, or he'll return to his camp and have it heavily guarded... However, he'll most likely go to Xingzhou. The Shu army troops left to guard the camp are already terrified. And they only have about a thousand men left at most. Once they learn that Li Tinggui's troops have been defeated, they won't have the will to defend themselves."

Li Hanchao then asked, "So, should we attack the Shu army's camp south of Qingni Ridge again?"

Li Yi pondered for a moment and said, "You should take five hundred men and head towards the Shu army camp under the cover of night to see what the Shu army is up to... If the situation allows, you can also launch an attack to test the waters. You can decide this yourself on the spot."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Li Hanchao received the order and left.

At the same time, Zuo Ling'er, escorted by several guards, also arrived here. She stayed behind the army from a high place and witnessed the entire battle of Zhou's army.

Zuo Ling'er was shocked by the ferocity of the battle. Seeing the limbs and broken bodies scattered all over the ground, she couldn't help but feel nauseous and finally squatted down by the roadside to vomit.

Li Yi shook his head slightly, thinking that the little girl must be terrified, and he wondered if she would be traumatized in the future.

He walked up to Zuo Ling'er and handed her a handkerchief: "I told you not to come along, but you wouldn't listen. Now you know how bad it is, don't you?"

"I'm not afraid!"

Zuo Ling'er took the handkerchief and wiped her mouth, still stubbornly insisting on her words. But judging from her slightly trembling hands, she didn't seem as relaxed as she said.

Suddenly, Zuo Ling'er remembered the matter of saving people and asked urgently, "Where are Yada'er and Kuza'er? Let's hurry and save them!" Without thinking, she grabbed Li Yi's hand and pulled him forward.

Li Yi felt at ease as he enjoyed the smoothness in his palm, but his expression remained unchanged as he said, "Don't worry, I've already asked the commander of the Shu army. Yada'er and Kuza'er are fine. I just sent someone to the Shu army camp to rescue them. You'll see them soon."

"Oh!" Zuo Ling'er was finally relieved. Even she herself didn't know why she trusted Li Yi so much, and she believed his assurances without a doubt.

However, she belatedly realized that Li Yi was holding her hand, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear, why are you holding my hand for no reason..."

As she spoke, Zuo Ling'er quickly pulled her hand away, her face slightly flushed, and she became unusually embarrassed.

Li Yi said helplessly, "You were the one who took my hand first, so why are you accusing me of being the villain?"

"I...I didn't...Oh, you're not allowed to tell anyone!" Zuo Ling'er felt embarrassed and ran away angrily to the side.

(End of this chapter)