Li Jingxuan's saber had been taken back.
He had known it would be taken back, but he had not expected it so soon.
Strictly speaking, it had not been taken back, but snatched away. When the Prince of Badong disembarked, he grabbed the saber straight out of Li Jingxuan's hand without so much as a word.
The defeat at Crescent Rampart had been devastating. Almost the entire naval vanguard had been lost, and the Prince of Badong had nearly been captured. Even the land forces attacking Lu Mountain and Xiakou had been shaken and forced to withdraw in haste. Scouts galloped back and forth between the camps, seeking news. For a time, everyone was gripped by panic, unsure what had happened.
The Prince of Badong barely restrained himself from kicking Li Jingxuan. In truth, if Li Jingxuan had not arranged a change of ships beforehand and left the Central Army at Zhuankou to cover their retreat, he might never have returned.
Not only would he have failed to return, but the Yingzhou navy might well have ridden its victory forward and smashed the entire Jingzhou navy! Fortunately, Li Jingxuan's deployments had been sound, preventing a complete rout.
But did the ability to keep a great defeat from becoming an even greater defeat really count as ability?
Watching Li Jingxuan remain calm in the crisis, rallying defeated troops, directing counterattacks, and redeploying forces, the Prince of Badong felt deeply conflicted. Li Jingxuan had not only stabilized the situation but also checked the Yingzhou navy and forced it to halt its advance.
Keeping order in defeat was rare enough. But with people, there was no hurt until there was a comparison. The Prince of Badong could not help thinking of that man.
If that man had been here, would today's disaster still