The battle lasted for a whole day, until the moment when the evening sun was about to set. The Eastern Army of the Grassland People finally chose to retreat, leaving countless bodies behind, both of horses and men. Compared to the Western Army, which retreated after losing thousands of soldiers and horses, the battles in the east became much more deadlocked.
Each of the tribes composing the seventy-thousand-strong cavalry harbored the intention to enter the heartland of the empire for plundering. Coupled with the lack of news about the death of the Grassland King causing the retreat of the western army, they were determined to charge forward and not let the Royal Court tribe reap all the benefits. Even if they suffered losses, they gritted their teeth and continued to fight.
The final victor of the battle was the heavy weaponry of the defending army. After cooling down and recharging, the cavalry, now fully replenished, charged out again, leveraging their superior horse power after reorganization to smoothly cover the retreat of their infantry before quickly exiting the battlefield.
As the cavalry dispersed, the fearsome cannons that had intimidated the Grassland People once again showed their might. The second round of bombardment became the straw that broke the camel's back...or rather, the final massive blow that even the strongest warriors among the Grassland People found difficult to withstand. It would only take a few well-placed shots to take out several people.
Furthermore, the Grassland People's backward social system and nomadic lifestyle meant they lacked proper logistics. At most, each carried enough provisions for a few days, exceeding which would only hamper their combat effectiveness. Historically, their solution had been to live off the land they waged war on, essentially pillaging like locusts. However, with the inability to break through the defensive lines and suffering heavy losses, they had to abandon this strategy and retreat.
As twilight descended upon the battlefield, bodies lay scattered everywhere. For the defending side, it was a pyrrhic victory at best, as they were too fatigued to pursue any further.
Among the three thousand cavalry that first engaged the Grassland People and then divided the battlefield to cover the retreat of the infantry from artillery range, less than a thousand remained. The heavily armored frontline shield-bearers had a casualty rate of seventy percent, with over half of the archers and pikemen also wounded or killed. Of the thirty-thousand soldiers who sallied out to meet the enemy, only ten thousand remained afterwards.
If not for their advanced equipment, the Grassland People, with their sheer numerical superiority and brutal tactics, would have easily breached the defensive lines. However, the heavy price they paid included the Grassland King lying dead on the battlefield, and over forty percent of the hundred-thousand-strong Grassland Iron Cavalry annihilated. It was a blow that truly hurt the Grassland People.
More importantly, breaking the temporary unity under the Grassland King among the various tribes of the grasslands meant that the Grassland People would be embroiled in internal strife for quite some time, rendering them unable to pose a threat to Yanmen Pass.
At the bottommost tier of Yanmen Pass, numerous auxiliary soldiers were busy disassembling and repairing the awe-inspiring sun-exterminating cannons used in combat that day. Inside and outside the fortress, military physicians and hastily conscripted resident physicians were attending to the injured soldiers with urgency.
"A significant loss...but at least we can relax a bit now, right?" Tiran, having just passed through the makeshift battlefield hospital in the training ground to enter the fortress, rubbed his nose and remarked. The air in the fortress was filled with the scent of medicine, blood, and the lubricating oil of machinery, a blend that was hard to describe.
"Yes, at least the Grassland People won't mount an attack of this scale for the next five years." Xiang Ling said firmly.
However, as Tiran had mentioned, the losses were substantial, and the medical staff were overwhelmed.
"Among the people I brought, Li knows some healing techniques. If you're willing, I can have her lend a hand."
"Please, that would be a great help."
The princess hurried along, giving instructions to various individuals she encountered, while consistently checking a war report that had been handed to her by the logistics officer upon entering the fortress.
Battle damage is still within the expected range. Both the Left Wing Army and the Jiangdong Army suffered losses, but the Right Wing Army still maintains full combat capability. Even if the steppe tribes dare to strike again, the remaining forces are capable of dealing with minor harassment.
Furthermore, with this situation, the threat to the border has significantly decreased. As long as there is no repeat of the steppe tribes bypassing Yanmen Pass and directly attacking, even if I am not present, Xiang Ling is absolutely confident in commanding the troops.
Therefore, I can consider returning to Luocheng City.
"Oh, by the way, where are Mimi and the others?"
"What I mean is they should stay at the fortress. After all, they are your subordinates, the Silver War Maiden. Even though I know they have decent combat abilities, I won't easily deploy them..."
Xiang Ling's steps paused for a moment, turning back to look at Tiran.
"Well, Mimi and the mercenary leader probably wouldn't mind being active on the battlefield, but thanks."
"...Silver War Maiden,"
Upon hearing Tiran's words, Xiang Ling's gaze towards Tiran suddenly became a bit strange. "You... don't seem like a noble princess."
"Huh?" Tiran was taken aback.
"Your personality, way of speaking, and attitude toward subordinates, at least, are quite different from the nobles in the empire that I know."
Xiang Ling said, "But, I don't dislike it."
...
The city within Luocheng City, where the imperial palace is located, is undoubtedly the center of power. Generally, buildings around such a structure are not allowed to exceed its height.
However, next to the imperial palace, a tall black stone tower stands proudly, its spire just slightly surpassing the ornate eaves of the palace.
This tall tower has many names - Star Tower, Priestess Tower... But the only known fact is that this is the residence of each generation of stargazers. According to the Eastern tradition of "feng shui," the imperial palace stands on a dragon vein, and this tall tower serves as the bedrock to stabilize it. Both are indispensable.
Of course, as the current stargazer residing in the Priestess Tower, she scoffs at such beliefs. Well, although from a modern perspective, feng shui and divination have some mystical connotations, at least stargazers can truly see the threads of destiny, while feng shui... Well, at least the stargazer hasn't seen how the terrain here affects the threads of destiny.
The only benefit is perhaps that this place is indeed situated on a spiritual vein, rich with spiritual energy suitable for cultivation.
As one of the rare experts capable of reaching the level of Earth Immortal or Holy Rank and serving the empire, the stargazer's status is naturally quite revered, which is why she can almost command the respect second only to the emperor despite lacking any noble title.
Yet, the stargazer would rather not have such treatment right now.
Honestly, she is currently very stressed, quite distressed - to the point of tearing her hair out.
The reigning emperor, the Sovereign of Nine and Five, the Chosen One, is on the verge of collapse.
On a personal level, the stargazer would love to say, "What do I care if the emperor dies?" Although she doesn't dislike the current emperor, they don't interact much. If he were to pass away, she would mourn and lament, of course.
The problem is, as the representative of the state religion, she has inherited from her predecessors the will to spare no effort in maintaining the empire's existence. Now, seeing the emperor on the brink of incapacitation with no designated successor in sight, the two princes in Luocheng City glaring at each other, she anticipates the situation to escalate into violence as soon as the emperor falls.
Now aware of the wind, the noble ministers have all begun to take sides, mostly hoping to support the prince they back to ascend to the throne, even though it may seem quite dog-like. However, now Star Jian actually hopes to do the same.
Anyway, with the state religion of witchcraft, no matter who wins or loses in the end, they will not be affected in any way.
However, the doctrine of witchcraft prohibits Star Jian from questioning the throne and only focuses on protecting the country, forbidding involvement in internal royal struggles. In other words, if a powerful enemy attacks, Star Jian will fight back, but in the case of a royal family feud, even if they end up smashing their skulls together, Star Jian must stay out of it.
This directly leads to the current situation where Star Jian must come up with ways to prolong the emperor's life as much as possible, at least allowing him to get up and designate his successor.
Star Jian is not a physician, nor does she know any healing spells, but she has the ability to see the laws of cause and effect. Generally, there are top doctors in the palace, and as long as she cooperates and assists the doctors in choosing the future that can save the emperor, the emperor will be able to continue reigning for another year or two.
But this time is different. She can't see through it.
Indeed, the first time she tried to see the emperor's cause and effect lines, Star Jian noticed a problem. For normal cause and effect lines, she could follow them to find related objects and change them. But now, every cause and effect line that leads to the emperor's life points to an endless distance. No matter how Star Jian tries to trace them, there are only endless causal connections.
This is the second time in Star Jian's long life that her insightful eyes have failed her. The last time was when she tried to grasp Brad in Milanía and encountered that strange young man.
And even returning directly to save the emperor was because she received information from that young man, which inevitably made Star Jian link the two incidents together.
Tsk... Did he do it? No, she shouldn't think about that now. It's already difficult just to extend the emperor's life. At least she needs to figure out a way to get the old emperor to stand up and designate a successor.
But none of the few cause and effect lines related to his life can bring him back to consciousness.
While pondering over this, Star Jian rolled off the soft couch and got up, walking barefoot to the tea table outside to prepare herself a pot of tea to calm down.
Though she could have her servants do such things, she felt the need to find something that didn't require much thinking to relax.
However, just as she walked out of the room, Star Jian stopped and squinted at an empty corner.
"Are you planning to continue hiding there? Even though I don't know what you're using to conceal your form, breath, or even energy fluctuations, your cause and effect lines pointing to you cannot be hidden."
"You really can't hide... Brother was right."
A girl's voice? Star Jian hadn't expected that. The girl in the corner revealed herself, pulling down a cloak that changed slowly from transparent to black on her body, smiling at Star Jian.
