Chapter 1: A Dashing Entrance

  On a high slope not far from the Liao River, a man wearing exquisite armor and a yellow cloak was gazing out at the distant Liao River. Behind him were nearly two hundred knights riding tall horses, quietly guarding both sides.

  In May, the ice layer on the surface of the Liao River had already melted. The army could only cross the river by building several pontoon bridges. Under the protection of everyone, the man clearly saw that under the efforts of many soldiers and craftsmen, three pontoon bridges had been built on the wide Liao River, and it was about to reach the other side.

  Against the last glimmer of twilight, only a distant dust storm was seen on the other side of the river. The swift knight, carrying a long spear, rushed to the riverbank in an instant, and by then, many impatient soldiers had already stepped onto the floating bridge and reached the shore of the Liao River. Before they could set foot on that land, the knight, like a gust of wind, began to ruthlessly harvest the soldiers trapped at the riverbank with his long spear.

  The sudden appearance of the enemy threw the soldiers on the other side into a state of confusion, and many of them lost their footing and fell into the icy Liao River while trying to avoid the enemy's attack. The cavalry that suddenly appeared on the other side were like ruthless reapers of life, constantly thrusting their long spears forward and backward, stabbing out, pulling back, stabbing out, and pulling back. Sometimes they stabbed too deep, and the spear could not be pulled out, but the knights did not hesitate, still holding the spear with the corpse, stabbing at the next target again. The corpses strung together looked so cold and ruthless in the increasingly dark dusk.

  The opposite bank of the river has already sounded a huge war drum, and the lightly armored knights are following the continuous troops through the pontoon bridge to charge towards the enemy, thinking that this is absolutely beyond the sound that can be emitted by more than 100 battle drums, and it must be a high-quality cowhide drum.

  He knew the other side had finally reacted from the confusion, and they were using this big drum to organize those soldiers to resist their attack. The other side's intention was to prevent them from launching a surprise attack across the river.

  A drop of icy rain fell on the knight's face, he knew it wasn't blood, blood had a warm feeling, but this was an icy and wet feeling. He knew that the sky was raining again, the wind blowing over the two banks of the Liao River where the battle was taking place, making the flags flutter loudly.

  The people on the other side had obviously not expected the enemy to appear suddenly, and the pontoon bridge that had just been completed became a tool for them to quickly cross the river and attack. The cavalry had already rushed onto the opposite bank via the newly built pontoon bridge, with waves of dust rising behind them, and their infantry followed closely behind.

  A man wearing a yellow cloak on the high slope quietly looked at everything in front of him and said in a low voice, "It's raining!"

  His words had just fallen when the wind and clouds changed, the mountains and rivers changed color, dark clouds gathered, countless thunderbolts struck down from the sky. Behind a group of panicked soldiers and workers on the west bank of the Liao River, a young general in white horse and white robe emerged with lightning speed, holding a long spear, wearing a quiver and bow at his waist, shouting loudly, unstoppable, and the cavalry that had just charged forward was also impacted by this unstoppable momentum and paused for a moment.

  On this dark and bloody battlefield, a young general wore a white robe that stood out so much, riding a white horse. Behind him, eight or nine knights followed closely, each holding a spear and halberd, opening and closing to the left and right, waving up and down. For a time, those who blocked were defeated, and on this vast battlefield, a countercharge was suddenly launched.

  Like a huge rock in the torrent, they met the onrushing waves head-on and surged forward. Under their counterattack, more soldiers followed closely behind them, forming small arrays to counterattack the enemy.

  At this moment, the drums and horns sounded in unison from the rear of the large formation. The commander-in-chief of the main camp finally ordered the infantry to form a long spear phalanx, marching in neat steps, pressing towards the riverbank like a copper wall and iron wall. On both sides of the long spear phalanx, a large number of knights rode their war horses whizzing by, starting to attack from both sides.

  The cavalry that had just charged were only the vanguard, their infantry was still hundreds of steps away from the Liao River. Although they had previously relied on the mobility of the cavalry to launch a surprise attack across the pontoon bridge, they could no longer withstand the increasing pressure at this time. Under the constant raids of the long spear formation and the cavalry on both sides, knights would fall off their horses from time to time, trampled into mud by the galloping hooves.

  The young general in white, who had been feeling the pressure earlier, now felt a great deal of relief. With his momentum rising, he let out a loud roar to the sky and led several cavalrymen on either side of him, charging down like fierce tigers, breaking through left and right, with no one able to stop them for even half a step. His gaze was fixed intently on one of the enemy's leading generals.

  The situation on the battlefield changed subtly very quickly, and the cavalry who had previously raided could no longer withstand the enemy's overwhelming advantage in front of them, waiting for the infantry to respond, and began to retreat one after another.

  The cavalry commander who led the vanguard knew that they had fallen into the enemy's ambush, and the other side had already set up a trap to wait for their arrival. There were only three pontoon bridges across the river, although the cavalry horses were fast, but it was not easy to retreat to the other side of the river in a short time. In order to retreat smoothly, they could only leave some men and horses on the riverbank to stop the pursuing enemy, but these people couldn't hold back the enemy who came like a tide for more than a few minutes.

  The sky lit up with another flash of lightning, and the small general in white from before was illuminated by the bright and dazzling thunder, his shining armor reflecting an even more dazzling light. Many knights who were hastily retreating couldn't help but cover their eyes with their hands as they turned back to look, blinded by the intense glare.

  The knights who came suddenly arrived quickly, but were defeated quickly. Before their infantry could form up to support them, the large army behind had already caught up under the leadership of that white-robed young general who was like a god. The poor infantry had rushed all the way here, hurrying and dawdling until they finally reached the riverbank, but before they could even stop to catch their breath or form up in array, they were already being routed by their own cavalry.

  The cavalry in front had just passed, and the black cavalry behind, with a loud rumbling of hooves, was led by a white knight to trample again. Long spears, horse forks, long swords, and curved knives were already upon them before they could react. Dodging one, another came whizzing from behind, and that knight didn't even look at the outcome of the battle, but followed the little general in white robe to charge and kill all the way.

  The man on the distant high slope on the other side of the riverbank didn't turn around until the army had crossed the Liao River, then he turned to face the several helmeted and armored generals behind him, who were still gazing into the distance, and said, "My dear sirs, which one of you can tell me which general that white-robed young commander belongs to? He's so brave, truly comparable to Zhao Zilong of Changshan from the Three Kingdoms!" After speaking, he reversed his previously cold expression, stroked his long beard, and laughed loudly.

  The towering Liaodong City is within reach, but the more than 30,000 Goguryeo soldiers who rushed out of the city to attack the Sui army crossing the river will never return to Liaodong City again. The tens of miles from the Liao River to Liaodong City became a road filled with the blood of Goguryeo warriors. They fell into the Sui people's trap, and the Sui army had set up a net to wait for them long ago. Before that, the initial reaction of the Sui army on the banks of the Liao River was completely intended to lure them in, not allowing them to have the opportunity to form an array and defend the shore.

  "Who said Goguryeo people were strong?"

  In the land of one arrow under the city of Liaodong, the white-robed young general stood with a few knights who had been following him closely, staring provocatively at the high-ranking Goguryeo people on the city wall. Behind him, a man in his thirties with a big beard, Lu Shi, was proudly looking at the last headless cavalryman on the ground, and the tall warhorse of the Goguryeo cavalry was now tied to his hand. As for the knight's head, it was inserted on top by him with a long spear, facing the Liaodong City defenders in a provocative gesture.

  Another burly man with a thick beard, Mao Yi, didn't bother to stop him. He was standing on the corpse of what looked like a general, searching it. After a long time, apart from a few pieces of gold and silver, nothing that could prove his identity was found. In anger, he ripped off the armor from the corpse.

  Behind the young general in white, a knight named Chen Qing, who was in his early twenties, looked at the previous speaker with some disdain. "I remember when the master wanted to bring us to Liaodong, someone said that coming here would be suicidal and urged the master to take us to escape to Shandong instead."

  "How can someone say such a thing? Last year, the Goguryeo people killed over 3 million of our Central Plains' good men. Of course, we have come to take revenge for them. If not, wouldn't we be unworthy of being called heroes? Find him and bring him out, we must make him admit his mistake in front of everyone, at the very least, he should treat everyone to a drink."

  Chen Qing was only a young man of about twenty years old, facing Lu Shi-deep such an old slicker how could he possibly get the better of him, could only glare at him with hatred. Lu Shi-deep didn't think much of it and whistled a tune, holding his long spear, showing off his military prowess to the guards on the Liaodong city wall.

  Mao Yi tied the armor that had been pushed off the enemy general's body to the horse's back, smiling as he looked at these two guys who would always quarrel no matter what time or place. He turned his head to look at Chen Ke Fu, who was standing upright with his waist straight and his eyes narrowed, staring at the city wall.

  "Great General, you're not being very chivalrous today. You actually came up with such a despicable plan and even managed to get your hands on that awesome armor all by yourself. And to top it off, you stole my Thousand Mile Snow! Today, you've really made a big show of yourself. If you had told us about this earlier, we could have gotten some too. Just now on the battlefield, looking at you like that, I was so envious - you're just like Zhao Zilong from the Three Kingdoms stories my storytelling master used to tell!"

  Chen Qing also had an envious expression, saying, "Yes, yes, the great master. Your heroic performance just now must have been seen by His Majesty the Emperor, I guess in a while you will definitely be greatly rewarded, maybe even promoted from partner to team leader, and then the great master can lead fifty people."

  "Look at your bearing, today the master of the house has achieved such great merit, I think he will at least become a general, and who knows, maybe one day he'll even marry off a princess to our master. I heard that the emperor's princesses are all national beauties, each one more lovely than the daughter of Old Man Niu from our village."

  The young general in white robes on horseback smiled slightly as he listened to the nonsense of his subordinates, saying "Let's return to camp, perhaps Commander Qi is looking for us."

  In 613 AD, the ninth year of Daye in Sui Dynasty, during the third war against Goguryeo, the Sui army finally defeated the enemy at Liao River and crossed the river smoothly.

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