Jiangxia

  Jiangxia District

  The road after the heavy rain, Ye Li rode her horse at the front of the army with a furrowed brow and deep in thought. Nan Hou and others followed beside her, seeing her like this, curiously asked: "What's wrong, Princess?" Ye Li shook her head: "Nothing, just worried about the situation on the Xinyang side." Nan Hou raised an eyebrow in confusion, wasn't the fall of Xinyang City already a done deal? What was there to worry about? Ye Li frowned and looked at the roadside, because they weren't taking the official road, all along the way were refugees fleeing from the northwest. Looking at these refugees who were dragging their families and struggling, Ye Li's heart felt a mix of emotions. In fact, the war situation appearing like this was mostly due to the open and secret struggles on the imperial court, if they had prepared early and sent out reinforcements in time, it wouldn't have come to this. In any era, the ones who suffer the most from war are always the common people. Ye Li somewhat absent-mindedly remembered a phrase her teacher taught her in her past life: "When the country prospers, the people suffer. When the country is destroyed, the people suffer."

  "Your Highness." Zhuo Jing rode up from behind and fell back half a horse's length beside Ye Li, saying in a low voice.

  Ye Li slightly pulled on the reins and slowed down, looking at Zhuo Jing with a sideways glance. Zhuo Jing said in a low voice: "Just received news, Xinyang has been broken through."

  Ye Li nodded slightly, her expression unchanged. The loss of Xinyang was something everyone had expected, and after a moment's pause, she asked, "How is General Yuan?"

  "The former general has already led the troops to retreat back to Jiangxia. However... "Zhuo Jing hesitated for a moment, "Just received news. The Xiling army... slaughtered the city of XinYang!"

  "What?!" Ye Li's face sank, and her originally gentle eyebrows were instantly covered with a layer of cold frost. The Southern Marquis, who was closest to them, also clearly heard Zhuo Jing's words, and the reins in his hand shook before stabilizing again. He stared fixedly at Zhuo Jing without speaking, and Zhuo Jing said in a low voice: "After the Western Ridge army entered the city, they clashed with the civilians, and then the general who led the charge into the city, Zheng Bian, ordered the massacre of Xinyang."

  "What does Nanwang in Xiling Town mean?"

  "King Zhen Nan did not arrive at the front line, and by the time he ordered a halt, it was too late. Xinyang... At least two-thirds of the civilians died unjustly..." Zhuo Jing's voice was somewhat hoarse. Since the founding of Great Chu, this was the first time that a city had been massacred. This made many generals unable to accept it.

  Ye Li gave a cold laugh and urged her horse forward. Nan Hou was taken aback, looking at Zhuo Jing with some confusion. Zhuo Jing hesitated for a moment before following after her. Ye Li didn't go far, instead stopping by the roadside to silently watch the fleeing refugees. Zhuo Jing spoke in a low voice, "Your Highness." Ye Li turned back to look at him, carelessly fiddling with the horse whip as she said, "Someone once told me that letting ordinary civilians personally experience war is a shame for soldiers and the country."

  Zhuo Jing advised: "This is not the princess's fault."

  Ye Li shook her head and coldly laughed: "Is it Zheng Bian? His head is already set to be delivered to the Imperial Palace. This imperial concubine wants his head to make an offering to the heroic spirits of Xin Yang City's citizens!"

  "I hereby guarantee that within ten days, Zheng Bian's head will be hung on the city wall of Xinyang!"

  Seven days later, when the King of Zhen Nan was approaching Jiang Xia, a secret letter was sent by Lei Tengfeng, who was left to guard Xinyang. Zheng Bian, who was also left to guard Xinyang City, was killed in his own room, and his head was hung on the city wall, with a flying dragon and phoenix seal next to it, clearly indicating that the killer was from the Dingguo King's mansion. Upon receiving Lei Tengfeng's secret letter, the King of Zhen Nan's face sank like water, and after a moment of contemplation, he replied to Lei Tengfeng with a letter, then ordered an acceleration of the attack on Jiang Xia.

  Jiangxia small town, only over 200 miles away from Xinyang. The city area is less than one-third of the size of Xinyang, with three sides surrounded by mountains and a narrow terrain. However, it was this small town that consumed as much military strength as the Western Hills had spent on conquering several cities before. The Western Hills army, which had been unstoppable and seemingly invincible, finally witnessed the true strength of the Great Chu army in front of this small town. Even when conquering Xinyang, a large city, King Zhen Nan did not take to the battlefield personally, but this time he stood behind the army on a hill, watching the soldiers of both sides entangled in fierce battle, fighting for their lives. He saw the black-clad warriors on the city wall, seemingly tireless, constantly repelling the enemy who tried to climb up.

  "Your Highness, I didn't expect this small city of 50,000 people to be so troublesome. Shouldn't we think of a way?" The general behind him asked in a low voice, his eyes looking up at the black figure on the city wall also filled with frustration and gloom. This was the mark deeply engraved in the hearts of every enemy by the Mo family army over the past hundred years, using countless blood and lives.

  King Zhen Nan sighed and said: "Fortunately, the Emperor of Great Chu does not entirely trust the Ding Guo Wang Fu."

  The generals behind him did not ask why, because they were also rejoicing in the same way. If the monarch and ministers of Great Chu know each other, trust each other, what worry is there that the world will not be at peace?

  "Day and night without stopping, intensify the fierce attack. Must take down Jiangxia before the reinforcements from Dingwang Fu arrive!" The King of Zhen Nan said sternly.

  "I will obey your orders!"

  In the distance, on the city wall, General Yuan Pei, with gray hair, stared intently at the enemy army below that seemed to never retreat. His sword-like eyebrows were deeply furrowed. A pair of eyes that had seen through the world were filled with red blood vessels and fatigue, but his back was straight, staring down at the city with a resolute determination to live or die with Jiangxia.

  "General Leng." Leng Yun hurried over. Less than a month since his return from the expedition, Leng Yun's cold and arrogant young face was already filled with vicissitudes and defeat. Yuan Pei looked at him, shook his head, and sighed softly: "General Leng, is there something?"

  Leng Qingyu glanced at the distant place where the banner was fluttering and frowned, saying: "General Yuan, if we continue to close the city and not go out, I'm afraid it will be too damaging to the morale of the soldiers."

  "General Leng, don't worry, the morale of the Mo family army will not be suppressed by just these few days. Everyone is clear that our current strength is far from enough to fight against Xiling, and defending and waiting for reinforcements is the only thing we can do now." Cold Yingyu glanced at the soldiers guarding the city wall, his eyes dimming slightly. What Yuan Pei said was true, it was not the morale of the Mo family army that had been hit, but the morale of the less than 10,000 city guards he had brought out of Xinyang City. After this crushing defeat, these defeated soldiers had already collapsed completely. The continuous attacks by the Xiling soldiers in recent days made them like startled birds, and if things continued like this, it was feared that chaos would erupt even before Jiangxia was broken through.

  "This is the battlefield, and my mission is to protect Jiangxia. General Leng, a temporary dispute will not bring any benefits to the current situation. The soldiers of Xiling are not weaklings, our tens of thousands of people will be swallowed up by their hundreds of thousands of troops like water in the ocean. We can only be defeated." Yuan Pei said with a heavy heart. Leng Jingyu remained silent, he understood what Yuan Pei said, but he couldn't bear the current predicament. For the first time in his life, leading an army had ended in such a defeat, and the outcome of this war was no longer important to him. It could be foreseen that in the near future, even if it wasn't the emperor's punishment, he would definitely be idle for the rest of his life, and he would never have the opportunity to lead troops again. Attack, defend."

  The warriors of both sides were killing each other day and night, with corpses piling up like hills and blood flowing like rivers. The bodies of their own people and those of the enemy could no longer be distinguished. Everyone seemed to be fighting solely on instinct. Then, Jiang Xia's forces had only 500,000 soldiers, including those who died in battle while supporting Xinyang. In fact, there were fewer than 400,000 people, even with the addition of the defeated remnants from Xinyang, they still did not reach 500,000. And their enemies had more than 2 million elite soldiers. These soldiers were the result of years of hard work and training by the King of Southern Chu, and were the cream of the crop. The defenders of Jiang Xia were dwindling in number, with each passing moment seeming to bring the city gates closer to being breached, yet time passed minute by minute, and the flags still flying above the city walls belonged to the Great Chu and the Mohist army.

  Behind the Xiling army, King Zhen Nan gazed solemnly at the tightly closed city gate in the distance.

  "Your Majesty, they can't hold on anymore."

  The King of Zhen Nan did not speak, but his eyes were filled with admiration for the enemy. For five whole days and twelve hours, they had been launching fierce attacks without any pause. With only a few tens of thousands of troops, even he himself might not have dared to guarantee that they could hold out until now. This was not something that could be achieved by the commander's wisdom and ability alone, but also required the entire army to have an unwavering faith and determination. After a moment, the King of Zhen Nan spoke in a low voice: "Continue! Take Jiang Xia in one hour!"

  After a long time, the gate of Jiangxia City finally fell heavily and slowly. On the city tower, Yuan Pei, covered in blood, threw off his war robe with a wave of his hand, swept a glance at the warriors on the city tower who had already been killed, and shouted loudly: "Kill for me!"

  All the soldiers' eyes turned red, and the city guarded by the Mo family army was trampled by the enemy, which was their shame. And they must use the enemy's blood to wash away such shame. All the soldiers rushed towards the nearest enemy without regard for anything, killing each other everywhere on the city wall, at the city gate, and in the streets.

  Leng Qiyu stood at the corner of the street, staring at the slaughter before his eyes, which were red as if they were about to bleed. Behind him was a group of defeated soldiers who had escaped from Xinyang and could no longer fight, nor did anyone ask them to take up arms again. Leng Qiyu turned around and looked at them, saying in a low voice: "Do you see? They are also generals of the Great Chu! When the city was broken, what did they do, what did we do? Is it that this general is incompetent and failed to defend Xinyang? You can take care of yourselves!" After finishing speaking, he drew his sword and rushed out.

  The remaining soldiers looked at each other in dismay, and after a long time, one of them grasped the knife in his hand and charged out. Then another, and another...

  A group of soldiers, completely different from the Ink Family Army in black, rushed out from the street corner and pounced on the enemy army pouring in from the city gate. The Xiling soldiers were even more enraged by being blocked from entering the city, letting out loud roars as they pounced on every Great Chu soldier. In an instant, blood filled the streets.

  Rumble...

  A thunderous roar came from afar, and everyone couldn't help but be stunned. The surviving Mo family soldiers' faces burst with wild joy and anger, "Black Cloud Cavalry! Black Cloud Cavalry has arrived! Reinforcements have come!"

  On the vast street, a sea of people surged forward with an aura of killing intent and sharp murderous spirit. A red-clothed man led the charge on horseback, his clear voice filled with killing intent, "Block off the city gate, not a single invading soldier is allowed to escape! Left and right wings, ascend the city wall!"

  "Yes!"