Chapter 523 (1/2)

Chapter 523: 523

Having grappled with enemies for a day and night, many soldiers directly lay down on the ground as the great battle ended, utterly unable to summon the energy to raise their sabers again . Exhausted, sleepy and desensitized, some of them even closed their eyes and fell asleep shortly after lying down . Not only the soldiers, even Ling Zhang felt somewhat numb . The smell of blood lingering on the tip of his nose seemed as though it would never disappear, as though he were breathing strong scent of blood instead of air . He was radiating an almost palpable aura of bloodthirstiness as if he and this battlefield had become one .

Yuwen Tong detailed some soldiers who still had enough strength to walk to patrol the area between the mountain pa.s.s and Jifang City lest their fatigued, sleeping comrades-in-arms fell victim to possible surviving enemies . At the same time, He Xiao and Yuwen Jin, each leading some men, went up to the heights flanking the valley to make regular patrols in case there were any sneak attacks .

The army badly needed regroupment, with which Yuwen Tong was so occupied he couldn’t find any time to talk with Ling Zhang in private .

Ling Zhang did not disturb them . He and Mr . Mu led some men into the city, took over it and forbade the soldiers from disturbing local residents .

Local residents had been fleeing hurry scurry since the soldiers had gained entry into the city, but gradually, finding that the soldiers of the Great Wen were not slaughtering civilians, they calmed down, and the confusion and chaos that had been reigning the city from the very beginning abated . Ling Zhang washed, took off his armor, changed into light clothes and went up to a high platform to pacify the residents .

He stated his ident.i.ty as the empress of the Great Wen . And, since he was not wearing armor, and there was no blood on his clothes, he looked courtly and dignified . In addition, he was emanating a progressively detectable, inexplicable air of something similar to sacredness, so his efforts to placate the residents were quite fruitful . Though it was impossible for the residents to immediately accept the fact that they had turned from subjects of the Wan Kingdom into those of the Great Wen, or to let go of their hate, as long as these residents stopped panicking and regained their composure, the army did not have to spare time and energy to deal with these residents .

A lot of people, mostly newly appointed officers, and some others in the army too, were greatly surprised to see that Ling Zhang was doing such a good job pacifying local residents .

Previously they had merely heard some rumors about Ling Zhang, but recently they had fought shoulder to shoulder with him, and they had come to know that he was capable of deploying miraculous Formations and placating residents . Their knowledge of what kind of person Ling Zhang was no longer limited to the information they had got from hearsay . They now had a more vivid image of him .

Ling Zhang, after cooling the residents off, temporarily took charge of important civic affairs . Of course, there were still many things he was unable to handle at the moment . Currently, the first priority was to restore order and prevent soldiers from disturbing residents with strict bans . Meanwhile, he organized some army patrols and had them patrol the streets lest any local ruffians take advantage of the situation and loot civilians’ houses .

After doing these, he did not get involved in any other matters and just waited for Yuwen Tong to a.s.sign his men to take over the city .

The areas south of the Wan River had gradually been taken over by a team of civil officials brought by Chu Liangyan . Some of those officials were experienced, and some others were newly promoted ones . All of them had been screened by Yuwen Tong and some courtiers before being selected . Every time a city was taken, some officials, along with their respective a.s.sistants, were a.s.signed to stay in it until all the local residents came to heel; the soldiers and military officers staying in the cities mostly played an auxiliary role, and it was the civil officials who were doing most of the placatory work . Everything was being dealt with according to the rules of the Great Wen . The decrees issued were the ones that Yuwen Tong had long since finalized after consulting with his courtiers, and some adjustments had been made before their promulgation . Presently the situation in areas south of the Wan River was fairly stable .

Zhaoyang City, which was located to the north of the Wan River, was of great strategic importance . Right now Chu Liangyan was in Zhaoyang City, and it would be some time before he and the rest of his men arrived at Jifang City .

Naturally, Yuwen Tong and his men also had to stay in Jifang City for a few days before they moved north, for the army had just been through an intense fight and needed some time to rest and regroup to get ready for the battle outside the Wan capital .

…

“Seeing as Jifang City has now fallen into our hands, Shan Congli must be panic-stricken . I’m sure he’ll dispatch the northern garrisons south to help defend the capital . ”

“The Wan cavalry in the north is a big threat to us . ”

After a day’s rest, all the troops had found a second wind . Yuwen Tong and the generals were having a meeting, a.n.a.lyzing what the configuration of the enemy they were going to fight next might be like .

“The Wan capital is different from any of the other cities we’ve taken . It’s going to be a real tough fight . First we need to make sure the troops have enough time to recharge,” said Yuwen Tong .

Having made such great progress, he was not inclined to rush into anything . Letting the troops get the rest they needed was the top priority .

As for food, fodder and other supplies, Jiahe Chamber of Commerce had been transporting them from the rear to the front all the time, and the supply routes had never been cut off, so Yuwen Tong did not have to worry about it at all .

Xiao Jiangyue and the others agreed with Yuwen Tong’s decision . Eventually, they decided to send some men to check out the lay of the land in the Wan capital, while they themselves would have the troops rest well, finish the regroupment of the forces as soon as possible and then depart for the Wan capital .