Two月的凉风轻轻地吹过，仍旧带着些许的寒意，华夏军的队列从望远桥附近的河畔上穿过去。
The cool breeze of February gently blew, still carrying a hint of chill. The ranks of the Huaxia Army passed by the riverbank near the Wangyuan Bridge.

望远桥附近的正面战斗，此时已经完全停止了。
The main battle near the Wangyuan Bridge had completely ceased.

一拨又一拨投降的俘虏被看押在河畔几处呈三角形凹陷的区域里，华夏军的火枪阵守住了朝外的口子，还有少量部队去到对岸，以避免俘虏渡河逃生。原本更大区域的战场上，金人的旗帜倾倒、辎重混乱，尸体在交战的锋线上最为密集，惨烈的景象朝着河道这边蔓延过来。
Wave after wave of surrendered prisoners were held in several triangular recessed areas along the riverbank. The Huaxia Army's musket lines guarded the outward openings, and a small number of troops went to the opposite bank to prevent the prisoners from crossing the river and escaping. On the originally larger battlefield, Jin banners were toppled, supplies were in chaos, and corpses were most densely packed along the front lines of the battle, the horrific scene spreading towards the river.

遭受火箭弹肆虐之处，火已经灭了，留下的是触目惊心的焦尸与爆炸、焚烧后的土壤，负伤的金人士兵们还在风里呻吟，在部分被驱赶着看押起来的士兵脸上，甚至能够看到流下的眼泪。
Where rocket projectiles had wreaked havoc, the fire had been extinguished, leaving behind shocking charred corpses and soil scorched by explosions and burning. Wounded Jin soldiers still groaned in the wind, and tears could even be seen on the faces of some of the soldiers being herded into captivity.

望远桥头，地面变成了一片又一片的黑色。
At the Wangyuan Bridgehead, the ground had turned into patches of black.

“帝江”的准确度在眼下仍旧是个需要大幅度改良的问题，也是因此，为了封锁这近乎唯一的逃生通道，令金人三万军队的减员提升至最高，华夏军对着这处桥头前后发射了超过六十枚的火箭弹。一处处的黑点从桥头往外蔓延，小小的石桥被炸坍了一半，眼下只余了一个两人能并排走过去的口子。
The accuracy of the "Dijiang" was still a problem that needed significant improvement, and therefore, in order to block this almost sole escape route and maximize the reduction in Jin forces of thirty thousand, the Huaxia Army fired more than sixty rocket projectiles at this bridgehead. Patches of black spread outwards from the bridgehead, and the small stone bridge was half-collapsed, leaving only an opening wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

宁毅揉着自己的拳头，走过了凉风拂过的战场。
Ning Yi rubbed his fist as he walked through the battlefield swept by the cool breeze.

在他的身边，所有人的情绪都显得兴奋，甚至于附近持枪的华夏军老兵们，都有些意外于这场战斗的胜利，喜形于色。唯独宁毅在望着周围这一幕又一幕景象时，目光显得有些疏离。
Around him, everyone seemed excited, and even the Huaxia Army veterans nearby holding guns were somewhat surprised by the victory of this battle, their faces beaming with joy. Only Ning Yi, as he looked at the scenes around him, had a somewhat detached look in his eyes.

“望远桥……距离梓州多远？”
"Wangyuan Bridge... how far is it from Zizhou?"

“十一里。”
"Eleven *li*."

“……哦。”宁毅点了点头。
"...Oh." Ning Yi nodded.

公元一八六零年九月二十一日，北京郊外，八里桥，超过三万的清军对阵八千英法联军，鏖战半日，清军伤亡一千二百余，英法联军死亡五人，伤四十七人。
September 21, 1860, outside Beijing, Balikun Bridge. More than 30,000 Qing troops faced 8,000 Anglo-French allied forces. After half a day of fierce fighting, the Qing army suffered more than 1,200 casualties, while the Anglo-French allied forces suffered 5 deaths and 47 injuries.

这是另一段历史里，第二次鸦片战争中整个中华最为屈辱的一幕。
This was the most humiliating scene for the entire Chinese nation during the Second Opium War in another timeline.

当然许多时候历史更像是一个毫无自主能力的小姑娘，这就如同韩世忠的“黄天荡大捷”一样，八里桥之战的记录也充满了奇奇怪怪的地方。在后世的记录里，人们说僧王僧格林沁率领万余蒙古骑兵与两万的步兵展开了骁勇的作战，虽然抵抗顽强，然而……
Of course, history is often more like a little girl without autonomy, just like Han Shizhong's "Victory at Huangtiandang," the record of the Battle of Balikun Bridge is also full of strange things. In later records, people said that Prince Sengge Rinchen led more than 10,000 Mongolian cavalry and 20,000 infantry in brave operations, although the resistance was tenacious, however...

然而到最后清军伤亡一千二百人，便导致了三万大军的溃败。部分法国军官回国后大肆宣传清军的英雄善战，说“他们顶住了使他惨遭伤亡的强压火力……宁愿一步不退，勇敢坚持，全体就地阵亡”诸如此类，但也有议员认为发生在八里桥的不过是一场“可笑的战争”。
However, in the end, the Qing army's 1,200 casualties led to the collapse of the 30,000-strong army. Some French officers returned to their country and publicized the heroic fighting of the Qing army, saying that "they withstood the strong firepower that caused them to suffer heavy casualties... preferring not to retreat a single step, bravely persevering, and all died on the spot" and so on. But some parliamentarians believed that what happened at the Balikun Bridge was just a "laughable war."

历史的真相如何呢？
What is the truth of history?

在此时倒更像是并不重要的细枝末节了。
At this time, it seems more like unimportant details.

那一段历史会因为自己来到这个世界而消亡吗？想来是不会的。
Will that piece of history disappear because I came to this world? Probably not.

他绕过焦黑的弹坑，轻轻地叹了口气。
He walked around the charred bomb craters and sighed softly.

技术的代差似乎是不可逾越的高山，但真要说完全不可逾越，那也未必。在那段历史之中，中华民族屈辱与落后了一百多年的时间，一直到一九五零年开始的抗美援朝，中国也始终处于巨大的落后当中。
The technological gap seems to be an insurmountable mountain, but to say it is completely insurmountable is not necessarily true. In that piece of history, the Chinese nation was humiliated and backward for more than a hundred years. Even until the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, which began in 1950, China was still in a huge state of backwardness.

在名叫上甘岭的地方，美国人每天以数万发的炮弹与炸药对区区三点七平方公里的阵地轮番轰炸了四十三天，炮弹打了一百九十万发，飞机投掷的炸弹五千余，整个山头的花岗岩都被削低两米。
In a place called Shangganling, the Americans bombarded a mere 3.7 square kilometers of position with tens of thousands of shells and explosives every day for 43 days, firing 1.9 million shells and dropping more than 5,000 bombs from airplanes, and the granite of the entire hill was cut down by two meters.

而连炸药都缺乏的志愿军甚至将美国人投掷下来未曾爆炸的哑弹拆除，用来挖掘防空洞。
And the Volunteer Army, which even lacked explosives, even dismantled the unexploded duds dropped by the Americans and used them to dig air-raid shelters.

在当时，是承受了百年屈辱的中国人用烈火打磨出来的意志抹平了更大的技术代差，为后来的中国赢得了数十年的喘息空间。
At that time, it was the will forged by the Chinese who had endured a century of humiliation that smoothed out the greater technological gap, winning decades of breathing space for later China.

而武朝天下，已经承受十余年的屈辱了。
And the Wu Dynasty has endured more than ten years of humiliation.

伤兵的惨叫还在继续。
The screams of the wounded soldiers continued.

那是在先前的战斗中受到爆炸波及的女真老兵，坐在血泊之中，一只脚已经被炸断了，他从晕厥中醒来，巨大的痛楚令他在战场上呼喊。
That was an old Jurchen soldier who had been affected by the explosion in the previous battle. He was sitting in a pool of blood, one of his legs having been blown off. He woke up from a stupor, and the immense pain caused him to shout on the battlefield.

宁毅走到他的面前，静静地、静静地看着他。
Ning Yi walked up to him and quietly, quietly looked at him.

军大衣只在风里微微地摆动，宁毅的目光之中没有悲悯，他只是静静地打量这断腿的老兵，这样的女真士兵，必然是经历过一次又一次征战的老卒，死在他手上的敌人甚至于无辜者，也早已不计其数了，能在今天踏足望远桥战场的金兵，大都是这样的人。
The military coat only swayed slightly in the wind. There was no compassion in Ning Yi's eyes. He was just quietly looking at the old soldier with the broken leg. Such Jurchen soldiers must have been veterans who had experienced battle after battle. The enemies, even the innocent people, who had died at his hands were already countless. Most of the Jin soldiers who were able to set foot on the Wangyuan Bridge battlefield today were like this.

那女真老兵的喊声甚至在这目光中渐渐地停下来，牙关打着战，眼睛不敢看宁毅。宁毅踩着血泊，朝远处走过去了。
The old Jurchen soldier's shouts even gradually stopped in this gaze, his teeth chattering, and his eyes dared not look at Ning Yi. Ning Yi stepped through the pool of blood and walked into the distance.

“立恒……不开心？”身边的红提轻声问了一句。
"Liheng... are you unhappy?" Hong Ti, who was beside him, asked softly.

宁毅回过头望了望战场上收尾的景象，随后摇摇头。
Ning Yi turned his head to look at the scene of the battlefield being cleaned up, and then shook his head.

“没有。”
"No."

他说道。
He said.

此时，捷报正朝着不同的方向传出去。
At this time, the victory news was being sent out in different directions.

即便是华夏军内部，不久之后也要迎来一波震惊的冲击了……
Even within the Huaxia Army, a wave of shocking impact would soon be coming...

……
……

女真的大营之中，则是完全不一样的另一种景象。
In the Jurchen camp, it was a completely different scene.

人们正在等待着战场消息的确认，设也马喊出“这必是假的……”之后，坐在椅子上的宗翰便没有再表达自己的看法，斥候被叫进来，在设也马等人的追问下详细叙述着战场上发生的一切，然而还没有说到一半，便被完颜设也马一脚狠狠地提了出去。
People were waiting for confirmation of the battlefield news. After Sheyema shouted, "This must be false...", Zonghan, who was sitting in the chair, did not express his opinion again. Scouts were called in, and under the questioning of Sheyema and others, they described in detail everything that had happened on the battlefield. However, before they had finished speaking, Wanyan Sheyema kicked them out fiercely.

“这是乱我军心的奸细！”
"This is a traitor who is disrupting the morale of our army!"

设也马斩钉截铁地说话，一旁的拔离速也加了一句：“或许真的是。”
Sheyema spoke decisively, and Balisu next to him added: "Perhaps it really is."

等待第二轮讯息过来的空隙中，宗翰在房间里走，看着有关于望远桥那边的地图，随后低声说了一句：“斜保粗中有细，即便宁毅有诈、猝然遇袭，也不至于无法应对。”
While waiting for the second round of news, Zonghan walked around the room, looking at the map of Wangyuan Bridge, and then said in a low voice: "Xiebao is both rough and meticulous. Even if Ning Yi had a trick or was suddenly attacked, he shouldn't be unable to cope."

设也马点头：“父帅说的没错。”
Sheyema nodded: "Father's marshal is right."

营帐里此后安静了许久，坐回到椅子上的宗翰道：“我只担心，斜保虽然聪慧，但心底始终有股傲岸之气。若当退之时，难以决断，便生祸端。”
The tent was quiet for a long time after that. Zonghan, who sat back in his chair, said: "I only worry that although Xiebao is smart, he always has a sense of arrogance in his heart. If he is unable to make a decision when he should retreat, it will lead to disaster."

设也马没有说话。
Sheyema did not speak.

申时二刻（下午四点），更为详细的情报传来了，藏身于望远桥远处的斥候细述了整个战场上的混乱，一部分人逃离了战场，但其中有没有斜保，此时尚未知晓，余余已经到前方接应。宗翰听着斥候的描述，抓在椅子栏杆上的手已经微微有些颤抖，他朝设也马道：“真珠，你去前方看一看。”
At the second quarter of Shen hour (4:00 PM), more detailed information arrived. Scouts hiding far from the Wangyuan Bridge described the chaos on the entire battlefield in detail. Some people fled the battlefield, but whether Xiebao was among them was not yet known. Yu Yu had already gone to the front to meet them. Listening to the scout's description, Zonghan's hand, which was gripping the chair railing, was trembling slightly. He said to Sheyema, "Zhenzhu, go to the front and take a look."

设也马离开之后，宗翰才让斥候继续述说战场上的景象，听到斥候说起宝山大王最后率队前冲，最后帅旗倾倒，似乎不曾杀出，宗翰从椅子上站了起来，右手攥住的扶手“咔”的一声断了，宗翰将它扔在地上。
After Sheyema left, Zonghan allowed the scout to continue describing the scene on the battlefield. Hearing the scout say that King Baoshan led the team to charge forward at the end, and finally the commander's flag fell and it seemed that they had not broken out, Zonghan stood up from his chair. The armrest gripped by his right hand snapped with a "crack," and Zonghan threw it on the ground.

斥候还在形容那可怖的火器对望远桥桥头的轰炸，延绵的火焰与爆炸令得大量奔跑到桥头的士兵无法过去，有的士兵身上着了火，惨叫着在人群中奔跑，有的人在岸边投入了仍旧冰凉刺骨的河水当中。北人本不善泳，大半投河的士兵就此淹死了。
The scout was still describing the terrible bombardment of the Wangyuan Bridgehead by the firearms. The continuous flames and explosions made it impossible for a large number of soldiers running to the bridgehead to pass. Some soldiers caught fire and ran screaming through the crowd, while others threw themselves into the still icy river water on the shore. Northerners were not good at swimming, and most of the soldiers who threw themselves into the river drowned.

“够了——”
"Enough!"

宗翰打断了斥候的描述。斥候跪在那儿，噤若寒蝉。
Zonghan interrupted the scout's description. The scout knelt there, silent as a cicada in winter.

但过得片刻，他又听见宗翰的声音传来：“你——继续说那火器。”
But after a while, he heard Zonghan's voice again: "You—continue to talk about that firearm."

斥候这才敢再度开口。
Only then did the scout dare to speak again.

申时三刻（下午四点半）左右，人们从望远桥前线陆续逃回的士兵口中，逐渐得知了完颜斜保的英勇冲锋与生死未卜，再过得片刻，确认了斜保的被俘。
Around the third quarter of Shen hour (4:30 PM), people gradually learned from the mouths of soldiers who had fled back from the front lines of Wangyuan Bridge about Wanyan Xiebao's heroic charge and uncertain fate. After a while, it was confirmed that Xiebao had been captured.

这个时候，整个狮岭战场的攻防，已经在参战双方的命令之中停了下来，这证明两边都已经知道了望远桥方向上那令人震惊的战果。
At this time, the offensive and defensive operations of the entire Shiling battlefield had stopped under the orders of both sides, which proved that both sides already knew about the shocking results in the direction of Wangyuan Bridge.

所有人也大都能够明白那战果中所蕴含的意义。
Most people could also understand the meaning contained in that result.

六千华夏军战士，在携带新型火器参战的情况下，于半个时辰的时间内，正面击溃斜保带领的三万金军精锐，数千士兵当成死亡，两万余人被俘，逃脱者寥寥。而华夏军的伤亡，屈指可数。
Six thousand Huaxia Army soldiers, carrying new firearms into battle, directly defeated the 30,000 elite Jin troops led by Xiebao in half an hour, killing thousands of soldiers, capturing more than 20,000, and few escaped. And the casualties of the Huaxia Army were very few.

大部分时间，其实彼此双方都在确认这犹如天书般的战果是否真实。华夏军一方，于仲道前后让传令兵确认了三次情报的来源，才接受了这个现实，渠正言拿着情报坐在地上，沉默了好半晌，才又让人去做一次确定，至于参谋陈恬接了讯息后先是失笑：“这是谁在消遣我，一定是以前被我……”然后反应过来，勃然大怒：“不管怎么样也不能拿军情来开玩笑啊——”
Most of the time, both sides were actually confirming whether this miraculous result was real. On the Huaxia Army side, Yu Zhongdao had messengers confirm the source of the information three times before accepting this reality. Qu Zhengyan sat on the ground with the information, silent for a long time, before asking someone to confirm it again. As for staff officer Chen Tian, after receiving the message, he first chuckled: "Who is making fun of me, it must be someone I used to..." Then he reacted and became furious: "No matter what, you can't joke about military intelligence!"

人们以各种各样的方式，接受着整个讯息的落地。
People accepted the landing of the entire message in various ways.

下午尚未结束，宁毅已经与韩敬汇合，拉着部分装了“帝江”火箭弹与发射架的大车往狮岭前线过去。一边骑马前行，宁毅一边与韩敬、与数名技术人员、参谋人员复盘整个战场上出现的问题。
Before the afternoon was over, Ning Yi had already joined up with Han Jing, pulling some large carts loaded with "Dijiang" rocket projectiles and launchers to the front line of Shiling. While riding his horse forward, Ning Yi and Han Jing, as well as several technicians and staff officers, reviewed the problems that had occurred on the battlefield.

“火枪枪膛的强度，一直以来都还是个问题，前几轮还好一点，发射到第三轮之后，我们注意到炸膛的情况是在提升的……”
"The strength of the musket barrel has always been a problem. It's a little better in the first few rounds, but after firing to the third round, we noticed that the number of bursts is increasing..."

“三轮之后，弹药的纸壳有些卡壳了……”
"After three rounds, the paper shells of the ammunition are jamming a bit..."

“对付骑兵是占了运气的便宜的，女真人原本想要慢悠悠地绕往南边，我们提前发射，所以他们没有心理准备，后来要加快速度，已经晚了……我们注意到，第二轮发射里，女真骑兵的头头被波及到了，剩余的骑兵没有再绕场，而时选择了直线冲锋，恰好撞上枪口……如果下一次敌人有备而来，骑兵的速度恐怕还是能对咱们造成威胁……”
"Dealing with cavalry was a matter of luck. The Jurchens originally wanted to slowly detour to the south, but we launched in advance, so they were not mentally prepared. When they wanted to speed up later, it was too late... We noticed that in the second round of launches, the Jurchen cavalry leaders were affected. The remaining cavalry did not circle the field again, but chose a straight charge, and happened to run into the guns... If the enemy comes prepared next time, the speed of the cavalry will probably still pose a threat to us..."

“火箭弹的损耗倒是没有预期的多，他们一吓就崩了，如今还能再打几场……”
"The consumption of rocket projectiles is not as much as expected. They collapsed as soon as they were frightened, and now we can fight a few more battles..."

人们叽叽喳喳的议论之中，又说起火箭弹的好用来。还有人说“帝江”这个名字威武又霸气，《山海经》中说，帝江状如黄囊，赤如丹火，有翼无面，最重要的是还会跳舞，这火箭弹以帝江为名，果然惟妙惟肖。宁先生真是会取名、内涵深刻……
Among the chattering discussions, they also talked about the good use of rocket projectiles. Some people also said that the name "Dijiang" was mighty and domineering. The *Classic of Mountains and Seas* says that Dijiang is shaped like a yellow sac, as red as fire, with wings but no face, and most importantly, it can also dance. This rocket projectile is named after Dijiang, and it is indeed lifelike. Mr. Ning really knows how to name things, the meaning is profound...

韩敬往这边靠近过来，支支吾吾：“虽然……是个大喜事，不过，帝这个字，会不会不太妥当，咱们杀皇帝……”他以手为锯，看起来像是在空中锯周喆的人头，倒没有继续说下去。
Han Jing approached and stammered: "Although... it's a great joy, but, the word *di* (emperor), is it not appropriate, we killed the emperor..." He used his hand as a saw, looking like he was sawing Zhou Zhe's head in the air, but he did not continue.

宁毅偏了偏头：“帝江嘛……”
Ning Yi tilted his head: "Dijiang..."

“是啊，帝江。”
"Yes, Dijiang."

“浆啊……”
"Paste, ah..."

“江……是江嘛。”韩敬咀嚼半天，策马跟上去，“什么意思啊？”
"Jiang... is Jiang, right?" Han Jing chewed for a long time, spurred his horse to follow, "What does it mean?"

太阳落山之际，狮岭前线近了。
As the sun set, the front line of Shiling was near.

梓州。
Zizhou.

李师师也收到了宁毅离开之后的第一轮战报，她坐在布置简单的房间里，于桌边沉默了许久，随后捂着嘴巴哭了出来。那哭中又有笑容……
Li Shishi also received the first round of battle reports after Ning Yi left. She sat in the simply furnished room, silent at the table for a long time, then covered her mouth and cried. There was a smile in the cry...

许多年了，她一度质疑宁毅那天在金銮殿上杀了周喆的行为是否理智，如今这件事已经彻底不需要询问了。在这场几乎决定了整个族群存续问题的战役的最关键时刻，他率兵出击的第六天，轻松覆灭兵力五倍于己方的完颜斜保。
For many years, she once questioned whether Ning Yi's actions in killing Zhou Zhe in the Jinluan Hall that day were rational, but now this matter no longer needs to be questioned at all. At the most critical moment in this battle that almost determined the survival of the entire ethnic group, on the sixth day of his leading troops to attack, he easily wiped out Wanyan Xiebao, whose troops were five times larger than his own.

夕阳从小屋的窗口，洒了进来……
The setting sun shone in through the window of the hut...