(Lian Li POV)
"Retreat! Fall back to the second line! Engineers! Move up the second line of ramparts! Now!"
The order from princess Guiying shocked everyone to their senses and we began to move as she directed.
The Dong army that came out of the first cave was definitely surprised to see the barricades in front of them, but they quickly recovered to march forward and stop a short distance away from our traps.
Meanwhile, the labourers were doing as instructed, pulling out the wagons and broken furniture that they had prepared to use as the second line of defence should the first line be breached.
It was not easy herding the panicking and less than trained peasants to retreat orderly, but we were lucky that the main Dong army was too surprised by our presence to actually give chase. It was obvious that they had expected their little assault here to go unnoticed.
A group of the Dong dogs were emboldened by our retreat and thought they could get the first blood spilled in this war.
They broke off from their formation and charged, their spears lowered and looking to impale the retreating soldiers.
Manami had stepped forward and raised a wall of fire, stopping them in their tracks.
Though the fire was quickly quenched by one of the Dong's own Practitioners, it managed to dissuade them from charging again, enough time for all of us to retreat behind the second line of barricades.
Granted, this line of barricades were not as sturdy as the ones outside the cave, but it will suffice for now.
Any of us could start killing them first, but that would destroy any chance we had at negotiations, which was something we wanted since it will help us delay their advance.
It still does not change the fact that we are now at a very vast disadvantage though.
Some armored man on a horse rides to the front of the middle column, surveying the ring of barricades that would have been our first line of defense.
It was obvious he was someone important by how decorated his armour was with the gigantic plume that seemed to be compensating for something stuck on top of his helmet.
He sneered before turning towards us, "Would the commander of this… Resistance force... Not come out to parley?"
It seems like he is underestimating our numbers. Since most of us are hidden behind the barricades, they were not able to determine exactly how many troops stood against them. This can both work for and against us.
"Just the commander themself please, right up to this… Ahem… Wall, if you will," the trash continued.
I could hear the murmurs of the command team behind me, most obviously advising against whatever Guiying wanted to do.
But it seemed Guiying put her foot down and stormed forward, shouting to move one of the barricades away.
The soldiers closest to her obeyed, hurriedly pushing one of the overturned carts aside just enough to let a person through.
The princess strolled forward confidently, visibly unarmed. The only armour she wore was a steel helm that covered the upper half of her face with slits for her eyes.
While others may have seen her as a fool for doing so, we sisters knew that her real strength lay in her Lightning, not some piece of metal that she would carry on her waist.
The more important thing was that it made the enemy let their guard down, thinking she was really unarmed.
Guiying stopped a distance away from the barricade and crossed her arms, showing no fear at all towards the army that stood before her.
The douchenozzle raised an eyebrow at her before he outright started bellowing out in laughter.
"Hahahaha! You? Little girl, you're in the wrong place! Where's your daddy? Does daddy know his little girl is playing soldier? Hahahaha!"
Guiying ignored his taunt, "You asked for a parley, so parley. Or are the Dong dogs only capable of barking?"
"Heh heh. A sharp-tongued one eh? I suppose I wouldn't mind another woman on a leash to train. How about it? Come over to my side and I'll even let you be my concubine!"
I swear… Every single one of these useless pigs only thinks with the head between their legs, he hadn't even bothered with introductions.
"You come into our land with less than benign intentions and you think you can do whatever you want?" Guiying growled. "Turn back with your dogs, General, or I will cut off your balls and mount them on a pike. Leave while I am generous, or the families of your dogs wouldn't even have a body to receive."
That threat went about as expected.
Not only did the idiot General laugh, the officers and soldiers standing behind laughed as well.
"Little girl, you really are not good at this are you? Are you this village's mayor's daughter? You should have called your king for aid, maybe I would've taken your threat more seriously! Hahaha!"
Guiying remained silent, opting to glare straight at him instead.
"Here's a counter-offer, little girl," The General sneered. "All of you lay down your arms and come quietly. I'm feeling quite generous so I'll even spare everyone. How about it?"
Guiying hesitated, though I know it was just an act, "What will you do to us then?"
The idiot took the bait, "Heh, nothing of course! Just welcome us as your new overlords and pledge fealty to me! We're not here to pillage and kill, we are only here to conquer! We spare all who submit! Now all you need is to bend your knee to me, not that hard right?"
Guiying paused and made a show of looking behind towards us.
Some of the people would have been swayed by his offer, as outlandish as it may be. If the princess rejects it, they might believe that Guiying was a merciless warmonger.
The silence stretched for a period of time with Guiying just shifting her sight between us and the ground.
"It's either live, or die little girl. Make your choice," The shitstain growled, clearly impatient.
Guiying turned back to him, "What do you intend to do with the rest of the country?"
That made the General break out in a smile, "Oh, we offer everyone the same of course! Renounce your allegiance to your current rulers and we will welcome you as our people!"
Ah, I can see a couple of the soldiers already wavering. A few whispers of "that might not be so bad", "we'll just be vassals", "nothing will change" began spreading amongst them. I can only hope Guiying knows what she is doing.
She takes off her helmet, revealing her beauty to everyone in the vicinity.
Even the General was stunned and took a few seconds before he managed to regain his composure.
She raised a hand with three fingers held up, "I have three conditions for vassalage. You will not hurt my people, you will treat us fairly and the tribute we have to pay should not debilitate the country to the point of being unable to function."
There were nods of approval around me.
The pompous prick waved his hand while wiping the drool from his mouth, "Yes, yes. That can be arranged. Now drop your weapons and come to me, we can… officiate our union somewhere private, heh heh."
"I need that in writing first," Guiying pointed out, not moving an inch.
"I'll do it later."
"No, now. With your signature to officiate it. None of my people will budge until then."
That made the pig growl, "You are in no position to demand anything, little girl! I only offer death or life! I will do whatever I want to this country and your so called people won't even have the means to stop me! I will burn your fields to the ground and take your mothers and daughters as playthings!"
All the goodwill the soldiers around me had for the pig was instantly shattered, each of them now glaring hard at the dogs in front of us with a desire to impale them with their spears.
Guiying placed her helmet back on her head, "Then we have nothing else left to say. We will fight you to the very last man and kill every one of you who dares to step into our land uninvited."
"For vermin like you?! I don't even need to use everyone to wipe you!" He roared.
Guiying ignored him,spinning on her heel to march back towards us without a second glance back.
Though it would have been better if she managed to stall for more time, it was already good enough since that little exchange had roused up the troops and set their morale at its highest. It also made him look down on us and with any luck, he wound send only one section after us while concentrating on removing our traps and barricades.
She slipped back through the gap in the barricade, letting the soldiers pull it close again before looking towards the people gathered in front of her.
No words needed to be said as she raised her fist into the air.
The soldiers mimicked her, their faces stern and full of determination to cut down the enemies that would be coming towards them.
Now we can only hope we can hold out until Elaria arrives.
