The Qi Kingdom had twice crushed the Yan-Zhao coalition in decisive battles, winning big with fewer troops.
So, from the court officials to the common people, everyone was full of confidence in this new campaign led by General Gu Min and General Victor Zhao.
But on the tenth day after the armies set out, a war report arrived in Qi that left the officials stunned: General Gu Min's fifty-thousand-strong force had actually been defeated by General Quinn Ba. In this battle, twenty thousand Qi soldiers died, and Gu Min himself fell in combat.
Although Gu Min was originally a surrendered general from Zhao, his command of military strategy was no joke. Besides, Ian Song had taught him cultivation methods, and under his guidance, Gu Min reached the Innate realm. Still, he ended up losing to Quinn Ba.
The officials only heard that Gu Min had been defeated, but they had no idea how it happened.
But Ian Song received a detailed report. After reading the spy’s message, he couldn’t help but sigh—Quinn Ba really was the son of the plane, blessed with ridiculous luck.
Gu Min was an old soldier, calm and steady by nature.
After leading his troops into Yan territory, he didn’t rush to attack Quinn Ba. Instead, he advanced steadily, fortifying each step, and within a few days, managed to retake a county-city.
What no one expected was that Quinn Ba had already dug a secret tunnel from that county-city out to the countryside.
So, after Gu Min’s army garrisoned the city, Quinn Ba sent men through the tunnel to sneak inside and secretly set fire to the Qi army’s grain supplies.
Honestly, Quinn Ba’s luck was just insane.
After lighting the grain on fire, they somehow managed to ignite the gunpowder depot too.
Because the grain was burning, Gu Min personally went to direct the Qi soldiers in putting out the fire. But at that exact moment, the gunpowder depot exploded. Even with his high cultivation, Gu Min couldn’t survive the blast from tens of thousands of catties of explosives—he was killed instantly.
The thousands of Qi soldiers helping fight the fire were also killed on the spot—none survived.
With a massive explosion rocking the city, Quinn Ba seized the moment. While the Qi army was in chaos, he used his planted agents to open the gates and led his troops in a decisive charge inside.
With their commander dead, the Qi soldiers lost their backbone. And with Quinn Ba storming in at just that moment, they couldn’t put up any real resistance and fled the city in defeat.
Luckily, Gu Min had a capable deputy who managed to rally about thirty thousand survivors.
But they were short on food and couldn’t fight Quinn Ba’s army anymore, so they started retreating toward Qi.
Setting aside the report, Ian Song sighed to himself. Just what kind of dog-shit luck did Quinn Ba have, that a routine grain fire managed to set off the gunpowder depot?
On Victor Zhao’s side, at least, Ian Song wasn’t disappointed.