Of course, Gu Sang didn't disclose the whole truth.
That is, during the internal battles, both sides reserve their strength, as the Elder Princess could not bear to see heroes die in internal strife.
Similarly,
General Guan's soldiers were also reluctant to act ruthlessly against their own people.
Listening to Gu Sang’s recommendations, General Guan looked at her with uncertainty, then turned his gaze towards the Elder Princess and Zhou Qichen.
After some hesitation,
General Guan scoffed, "Do you take me for a fool? What are your real intentions?"
"This sort of alliance doesn’t benefit you at all. Additionally, you will have to waste your cannons and grenades; why are you willing to do this?"
Gu Sang’s face was serious and composed.
Especially when answering this question, her eyes seemed to glitter with determination and brightness.
She spoke frankly and sincerely, "When the country falls, our homes are lost. No one can escape from warfare."
"Moreover, we, the Central Plains people, can fight inside, can contend for power, but the Xiongnu dare to invade us at this critical moment!"
"They are now at our borders, killing our people, seizing our land, and taking our resources."
"A benevolent ruler cares about the people; their concerns should encompass the world, not merely the imperial power!"
Speaking up to here,
Gu Sang shot a counter question at General Guan.
"If there is no nation, will there be any point in internal strife over the throne?"
"If we lose our home, we’ll be the people with nowhere to turn. All the internal fights will naturally disappear. What I see in front of me will be rivers of blood."
General Guan seemed to be hit by Gu Sang's words, his face went bloodless, becoming paler than paper.
A few seconds later,
General Guan bounced back from his shock.
He took a deep look at Gu Sang, stunned by their devotion to the wellbeing of the country.
Even though they were rebels, they held the people and the nation's future in their hearts.
Facing the invaders, they did not stand by indifferently, but instead thought about uniting with the court to confront the invaders.
Such broad-mindedness, even the men are shamefaced!
The respect in General Guan's eyes grew," I can agree to a temporary alliance, but, your army must be under my command."
"If one army has two leaders, it would be no better than a scattered sand."
"Such an alliance is worse than no alliance at all!"
The Elder Princess agreed immediately.
The Gu Sang on screen also smiled and said, "General Guan makes sense, then my plague city soldiers will listen to General Guan's orders."
"I believe in General Guan's character. He will treat everyone equally."
A hint of resignation flashed across General Guan's face.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that women are not necessarily narrow-minded.
Their world is not just about serving their husbands and educating their children.
Perhaps,
They too can astonish the world.
General Guan's tone softened considerably, "Rest assured, since I promised to ally, I will not scheme anything underhanded."
"Zhou Qichen, consider yourself the deputy commander then."
After reaching an agreement,
Elder Princess and Zhou Qichen returned to the plague city to arrange for the expedition members.
Counselor Fang, Advisor Xu, Elder Princess naturally stayed in the plague city, continuing to develop the economy and agriculture, and also preparing for the sudden attack by the court.
General Qin and Zhou Qichen led their respective armies, combined with the forces of General Guan, and headed for the border in a grand manner.
The next day, a city on the border was lost again.
Everywhere the Xiongnu arrived, they slaughtered cities.
Two cities were lost one after another, and the cruel killings of the Xiongnu had already spread.
Instantly arousing the complaints of the people all over the country, many denounced the court for being negligent: “Why would the Xiongnu suddenly break in!"
"Where have all the generals of the court gone!"
"Oh heavens, this is going to ruin our central plains."
"Wuuuu.....Mother, let's flee, let's flee quickly."
"The emperor is incompetent! Why would the border forces retreat, it must be the emperor’s fault, all the corpses of the common people were caused by him!”
"Wuuuu...it’s over, it’s over......"
Citizens of several cities closest to the border, after complaining about the court's incompetence, were preparing to take their families to escape to the southern region.
The forces dispatched by General Guan arrived three days later than expected, arriving at the border just in time to meet the Xiongnu raiding the third city.
Under the desperate blocking of the court forces, the Xiongnu were forced to retreat unwillingly.
However, the court forces suddenly lost half of their combat power, and the Xiongnu army, which had been fighting with them for decades, noticed something wrong the moment they started fighting.
The Xiongnu leader realized this was a good opportunity.
So, the normally obedient Xiongnu, who would be frightened at the sign of the court's troops and would not dare to approach within ten miles of the border, came back stronger than ever, like a tiger showing its fangs.
Wave after wave, they were determined to invade the central plains.
The court's forces, which had already lost half its numbers, no matter how strong they were, couldn't resist the Xiongnu, who were twice as many in number and endless in waves.
Over the course of a day, the court's forces, which had resisted the Xiongnu's eight sieges, were almost on their knees from exhaustion.
They were too tired!
They had been fighting for two straight days and nights!
The hands that held weapons were trembling, their strength was almost drained.
And the Xiongnu outside the city seemed inexhaustible.
Most of the people in the city had been evacuated, leaving only the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled who were unable to move.
The entire town was enveloped in a gloomy atmosphere of despair and resignation to death.
The soldiers guarding the city looked at the densely packed heads swaying below, tirelessly attacking the city gate, their faces burning with excitement and desire.
The soldier said despairingly: "Why are there so many Xiongnu this time?"
"Are they trying to ruin our central plains? We have Xiongnu outside, and rebels inside."
Another soldier cursed unwillingly: "If it wasn't for the court's goddamn order for us to leave the border, how could we let the Xiongnu take advantage of our absence."
"Now that they know our forces are halved, they’re attacking the city like dogs catching a scent."
"Only if General Guan leads the other half of the forces back, we might have a chance to repel them!"
Hearing these words, the soldier responded in despair,
"I'm afraid even the return of General Guan would not be able to turn the tide."
"Our invaders have gone mad with the desire to take over the Central Plains. I fear this time the Xiongnu have sent all their troop power. They see this place as their breakthrough point."
"Heh, where is the support from our court?"
Just as these words were being spoken, a Xiongnu finally managed to climb atop the city wall, stepping over the bodies of his own fallen comrades.
Ever since the first Xiongnu managed to get up there, two, three, ten, more and more members of the Xiongnu began to ascend via their scaling ladders.
Accompanied by a resounding "boom."
The city gate had been breached!
