Chapter 379 makes the death of the people meaningless.

"You won't kill me?"

"I don't think these favors can buy you a life. When you go back, Li An will find out that you let me go, and I'm afraid it will be bad for you."

Li Chengzong was a recent surrender, and with the relationship with the eldest princess, he had a future in Northern Qi.

But releasing the enemy general in front of the battle line is not a good idea, even if the two are brothers.

The military has strict laws and regulations, and Li An would not be able to convince the people if he did not punish Li Chengzong.
"I have my own plans!"

Li Chengzong seemed unintentional, but in fact he gave the final reminder. If he was not used unless necessary in Northern Qi, he might just be an idle person. "It is impossible for Dongyi City and Qing Kingdom to defeat Northern Qi with Li An in charge!"

What this means is that if you, Fan Xian, still want to do something, you still have to seek help from outside.

Previously, there was an unspoken rule in various countries that grand masters were not allowed to participate in wars, but this rule no longer applies to him, Li An. What's more, the people who made the rules are almost all dead now!

Looking at the figure of the elder brother in front of him, Fan Xian gradually fell silent.

In Fan Xian's opinion, this prince, who was born in a humble family but had no ambition to be emperor, was actually the most suitable person to be the emperor of Qing.

If it weren't for his background, he would be more suitable for the position in Fan Xian's mind than the Third Prince.
To outsiders, Li Chengzong is a mixed-race of Dongyi and Nanqing, a straightforward military general, a henpecked, henpecked, and straight man.

But Fan Xian knew that Li Chengzong was the one who was most similar to him, and was the "modern man" most like himself and Li Ang!
The two were originally friends, and even brothers, but things have come to this point. Is this what Li Ang wants to tell me?

The spear tip against Fan Xian's neck slowly moved away. Fan Xian stood up and stared at Li Chengzong for a long time before finally saying, "You are still a Qing countryman."

Raising his hands and shaking them, Fan Xian shouted, "Gather together, and retreat with me!"

Li Chengzong stared at the group of cavalrymen who seemed to be buried in the black without blinking. After a fierce battle, they were still agile and expressionless. Wearing blood-stained black armor, they slowly retracted their spears and raised their straight swords, carrying bows and arrows on their backs and retreating slowly but orderly.

The fierce murderous aura that hit him in the face made him hold his breath subconsciously.

It was the first time he had seen the strength of the Black Knights. In the past he had only heard rumors from others, but now it seemed that these rumors were not only not exaggerated, but rather modest!
"See you next time. If nothing unexpected happens, we will be complete enemies." Li Chengzong had already lost heart to Qing Kingdom, and what he said was from his heart.

"The friendship is over, and that's how it should be"

Fan Xian frowned when he saw the chaos on the field. Although he had a purpose for this trip, he still ordered his soldiers to take the bodies of his dead companions with him.

They are going to retreat and pause.

Whether to return to Dongyi City or wait for an opportunity to fight again, Fan Xian has to think about it before making a decision.

Li Chengzong tightened his grip on the spear, watching coldly as Fan Xian led his troops to slowly retreat. When Fan Xian disappeared from his sight, he turned around and asked his adjutant, "Casualties!"

The adjutant was covered in blood at this time. He did not answer immediately after hearing the words. Instead, he looked at Li Chengzong with hatred.

He probably didn't expect that he would suffer such a huge loss in this battle, and he didn't expect that Li Chengzong, as the chief officer, would choose to let the enemy go. He snorted in a low voice: "More than 1,200 brothers were killed and more than 2,000 were injured!"

These are just visual estimates, and the specific data can only be obtained after processing the battlefield.

As usual, he analyzed and explained: "The enemy's armor is thick and cannot be easily broken. Although they have just arrived and are exhausted, they are very capable. We were not well prepared and gave them the opportunity to charge, so there were so many casualties. But I will report your actions to the Imperial Master later. I hope Your Excellency will know!"

This is what it should be.

Li Chengzong sighed. It seemed that he could not bear the credit Li An asked him to make: "You have worked hard. Let those in front of the battle and the injured have a rest first. The people in the rear will replace the people in the front to clean up the battlefield. Give the orders to load all the bodies onto the carts and take them back. I will give you an explanation for this matter!" "Yes, sir!" Before the battle, the deputy general saluted with his fists.

After hearing the order, the deputy general returned to the formation, led the soldiers to search for the surviving subordinates, and brought them out, while also supporting many wounded soldiers who had lost their combat effectiveness.
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Fearing that Fan Xian would make a surprise attack, Li Chengzong deliberately stayed where he was for a day before turning back.

During this process, he was cautious and alert whenever he passed through open roads, fearing that Fan Xian would launch a sneak attack, but fortunately this did not happen, which made Li Chengzong breathe a sigh of relief.

After returning to the camp, Li Chengzong handed over the military power, said hello to the deputy general, and went to the tent where Li An was.

Li An had just finished observing and analyzing various intelligence sources. He also learned about Li Chengzong's information in advance and calculated the time of his return. He had been waiting in the tent for a long time.

He pushed the tea over and asked, "How is it going?"

"To reply to the Imperial Master, we have repelled Fan Xian, killed more than 200 Black Cavalrymen and more than 500 Dongyi City Cavalrymen. We have lost more than 1,200 men and more than 2,000 wounded!"

"."

"Is it a 2:1 casualty ratio? It seems that we can't take it lightly when facing the Black Cavalry." Seeing Li Chengzong's pale face and sweat on his forehead, Li An knew the general situation of this battle. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"Because of my selfishness, more than 1,200 people died."

Li Chengzong knelt on one knee and began to remove his armor. "These people died unjustly. I am uneasy. Please punish them, Imperial Master!"

Unexpectedly, Li An did not make any move, but just shook his head slowly.

"Have you repaid your favor?"

"National Master." Li Chengzong looked a little incredulous. He understood that Li An didn't seem to want to punish him this time. Although it was difficult to say, Li Chengzong still smiled bitterly and responded, "Please!"

Nodding, Li An threw the paper with the information in his hand into the brazier. Watching it burn slowly, he raised his teacup to drink water and fell into deep thought.

There was no conversation in the tent for a while, and only Li Chengzong was left kneeling on one knee, at a loss as to what to do.

After an unknown amount of time, Li An's voice finally rang out: "I can predict the true situation."

"Even if we were to fight the Black Cavalry with real weapons, it would be very good for the Northern Qi soldiers to achieve a two-to-one casualty ratio with the Southern Qing Black Cavalry. Moreover, the order I gave you was to force Fan Xian to retreat, and you did just that!"

In fact, Li Chengzong did not let up when commanding the troops in battle. His only mistake was in capturing Fan Xian and letting him go.

It would be wrong to say that it was because of him that those 1,200 people died.

He simply made the deaths of those twelve hundred people no longer have the value they should have.

Forcing Fan Xian to retreat is meaningful, but it is of little value.

"I used to use the favors that Fan Xian owed me to achieve my goals. He paid a huge price to repay his debts, just like you are doing now."

"The eldest princess is your majesty's sister. I hope you understand. Once you repay the favor, you won't owe her anything. This kind of thing can only happen once. If it happens again next time, I will kill you!"

Li Chengzong was silent.

Silence represents acceptance and recognition.

(End of this chapter)