The spring plains were desolate, with bare earth and stones showing no hint of green, akin to the rumble of spring thunder shaking the ground, countless hooves trampling over, raising the dust and stones once more.
The dark mass of Zhou Soldiers advancing caused a stir in the Jurchen camp ahead.
"My lord, my lord, the lads can't hold on any longer."
Countless generals came to persuade.
"We cannot retreat!" the Jin General shouted angrily, "The flanks can still fight."
His eyes were already bloodshot, staring at the Zhou Soldiers in front like dark clouds, especially the dazzling red banner in the camp, making him grit his teeth in hatred.
This damned Duke of Chengguo Zhu Shan, vile and shameless, lured him here, lying in wait with tens of thousands of troops. His pursuing cavalry was scattered and exhausted, without even time to regroup.
The Zhou Soldiers, like a storm, flanked several times, scattering and defeating his troops.
Watching yet another wave of Zhou Soldiers charge from the flanks, his men were already unwilling to fight.
But now they couldn't retreat, retreating would mean a thousand-mile rout; charging forward into a bloody battle might still carve out a path to survival, waiting for reinforcements from behind.
The Zhou Soldiers had already charged in, the cries of slaughter echoed to the heavens.
After several charges, many generals suddenly found the surrounding troops sparse, corpses strewn around, with distant horses fleeing in panic.
Meanwhile, the Zhou Soldiers who charged in quickly retreated into the flanks or rear of their formation, the whole formation remaining utterly intact, exuding a chilling oppression, watching the Jurchen people here.
The war drums slowly began, and the Zhou Soldiers' formation slowly moved, like a fan opening, its ribs like iron swords.
It was said the Duke of Chengguo was invincible.
The woodcutters couldn't defeat him, and astonishingly, the Zhou People hadn't managed to kill him either.
Not only did they not kill him, but he also regained command of the northern lands' forces, mobilizing the army to blockade them.
This guy, not human, an immortal demon.
The thought flashed by, and an unknown Jin General first turned to flee, and promptly the entire Jin Army began to run, a rout covering a thousand miles.
Yet escaping, pursued by Zhou Soldiers, to the Occupied Castle, the woodcutters found there was still no way out here.
The entire castle had been surrounded by Zhou Soldiers.
Seeing them, troops from both flanks fanned out like palm-leaves, and the fragmented Jurchen troops, lacking the will to fight, were quickly slaughtered.
The Duke of Chengguo paid no attention to these forces or matters; he was merely gazing at the city before him.
"Attack the city," he said.
With that command, countless stone bullets with a whistling sound rained down upon the city walls like rain.
Cries and groans and the cracking sound of the walls endlessly erupted. After a round of stone bullets, the war drums resounded in unison, shielded by the shield carts, team after team of soldiers carried long ladders rushing towards the city walls.
The water of the moat had been diverted, and as the shield carts arrived, soldiers laid planks over the trench, allowing those carrying the long ladders to pass quickly. Arrows shot by Jurchen soldiers who survived the stone bullet onslaught and recovered order from the city walls constantly struck down soldiers, but as ladders were set up, a continual stream of soldiers climbed the walls. From afar, it appeared as vines covering the walls, dazzling yet frightening.
"Frightening?" The Duke of Chengguo turned to look at Uncle Qinghe.
Frightening on behalf of the Jurchen people?
This city is no problem to conquer.
Uncle Qinghe's face showed no hint of joy; instead, it turned even paler, his hair and face appearing older than when besieged.
"I was thinking, how much taller and thicker are the capital's walls compared to this," he said.
But even if the walls are taller and thicker, the defenders of the capital's walls cannot compare to here.
His gaze stretched far, and although he couldn't clearly see the Jurchen people on the walls, the fierce momentum still struck hard.
Though now these fierce Jurchen people were becoming prey to his soldiers' hands, the thought of their rampage in the capital made him feel frightened.
"Do we really not need to send more troops to assist?" he said, raising his voice.
This wasn't the first time he had said this.
The Duke of Chengguo withdrew his gaze and no longer looked at him.
"By halting the Jurchen people here and stopping their great army from marching south, it is already the greatest assistance," he said. "A hundred thousand Jin Army seek to break through our blockade, and more troops are gathering within the Jin Country. If they can't be stopped, do you think even if we send more troops south, what good will it do?"
Uncle Qinghe's face dimmed for a moment.
"This time the woodcutters are determined to commit their entire country to a decisive strike," he said.
This way, it seemed they were attacked from both sides; could they still be stopped this time?
However, this thought only flashed in his mind, and it already embarrassed him. He felt he had been a bit lower than the Duke of North Chengguo ever since his aid and rescue.
The Duke of Chengguo turned his head to glance at him.
"Do not worry," he said. "We can fight fire with fire."
What does it mean? Uncle Qinghe looked at him, puzzled.
"The reason these woodcutters could be so aggressive this time is due to initially enticing the Emperor to negotiate, then sparking internal chaos among us Zhou People, taking the opportunity to march south," the Duke of Chengguo said. "Naturally, we can also do the same."
The so-called chaos—does it refer to him taking over his command of the northern lands? This Zhu Shan's words always grated on the ears, Uncle Qinghe's face looked more displeased, so much that he didn't want to stay with this Zhu Shan one bit.
"How to do it?" Yet, he couldn't help asking.
The Duke of Chengguo looked north, a hint of worry crossing his gentle face, but soon replaced by firmness.
.....
....
"Princely Heir, this matter isn't easy to handle."
The sun hung high in the sky, its bright light shining warmly on their bodies, carrying the breath of spring.
But looking from the slope, all that could be seen was a bare expanse, not even a few dead trees were visible.
"To prevent assassination, the Jurchen people have cut down all the trees near the capital."
A man behind the hillside whispered, his hat topped with dry grass swayed along as if the wind were blowing.
Another patch of grass moved, it was a person raising his head, his thick beard wrapped with a ring of dry grass, only a pair of bright eyes exposed.
It was Zhu Zan.
Zhu Zan spat, ejecting a piece of dry grass from his mouth.
"There are plenty of tough things to handle, yet we still made it to this Jurchen capital." he said.
The man glanced back at the bottom of the hillside, at first glance it seemed like a patch of yellow earth, but on closer inspection, slight fluctuations could be seen, which were people draped with yellow earth cloth hiding among it.
By this point, half of their men had already been lost.
And that was just getting past the weakest defenses of the woodcutters, and now they were in the capital of the Jin Country, with their target being the Emperor of Jin.
"The Emperor of Jin doesn't just stay hidden in the palace, to mobilize more soldiers and generals, he often comes out to interact with all the divisions." Zhu Zan said, leaning on the slope with a hint of leisure, squinting his eyes at the sun halfway in the sky, like he was enjoying sunbathing.
As his words fell, they felt the ground tremble, both their bodies paused, cautiously moving closer to the slope to slowly look outward.
From the distant city, a troop of soldiers surged out, densely packed in uniform with bright red armor and white helmets, making one shiver with fear at the sight.
Compared to the woodcutters they were familiar with all the way here, although they couldn't clearly see the expressions of these soldiers, their momentum was entirely different.
"This is the outpost of the Emperor of Jin, selected from the elites and fiercest from each division, there are only six to seven hundred of them, but they are extremely formidable." the man whispered.
Zhu Zan glanced at him, then suddenly laughed.
"Scared?" he said, "You've cut wood for seven or eight years, it's the first time I've seen you afraid."
The man gave a wry smile.
"The wood I cut before was ordinary, it's the first time cutting this kind of wood, it's hard not to be a bit nervous." he said, looking at Zhu Zan, "Brother also seems a bit scared though."
Zhu Zan smiled, not hiding the fear in his eyes.
"I'm not afraid of dying myself." Zhu Zan said, reaching his hand behind him, "If I die, so be it, I'm just afraid…."
He didn't finish his sentence, instead, he glanced south.
Afraid she might die?
It shouldn't be, she isn't someone afraid of death either.
"Afraid there isn't enough time." Zhu Zan changed his words, pulling out a short knife from his waist, his gaze steadfastly on the troops ahead, he could faintly see the yellow dragon umbrella among them, "We must be fast, otherwise, a lot of people will die."
...….
...…
A gust of spring wind blew through, instead of brushing the willows, it brought an urgent, sharp gong sound.
Following closely was the sound of drums, urgent and powerful, causing one's heart to pound and breaths to stall.
This was the warning of the coming of the Jurchen people.
The citizens had become familiar with the various signals of drums and horns during these days.
Is this another simulated training warning?
The citizens who were outside the city raising their various tools to dig trenches looked up, immediately seeing the smoke signal rising in the distance.
"Get back to the city!"
An urgent shout came from the city walls.
This time it was real! The Jurchen people were really coming!
The previously orderly laboring citizens plunged into chaos, dropping their farming tools and flying towards the city.
The city gates did not close hastily as they feared, but rather waited until the last person rushed inside before closing.
The soldiers on the city wall had already seen the army appearing in the distance, densely packed like a line rolling in from the horizon.
They finally came, and they came so fast.
A trace of gloom swept across everyone's face.
The last shred of hope was also extinguished.
At first, they hoped the troops of Jingdong Road and the Capital Suburb Camp could stop the Jin Army, but now it seemed, they had failed.
Those large armies failed, could they, most of whom weren't soldiers, hold the capital?
Everyone in the entire capital held their breath, seemingly only able to hear their own heartbeat.
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(Today, still only one update)