May 23rd, forty miles west of Xuzhou, at the foothills north of Xiao County. Search: \(¨Complete¨ Book¨ God¨ Site¨) to read quality literature for free.

The sky was clear, the air was still and stifling, and an eagle soared overhead.

A rugged mountain path stretched out, disappearing into the dense forest at the foot of the mountains in the distance. On the slopes in front of the path, the sound of human breathing gathered.

The smell of gunpowder lingered in the air as lead bullets were pressed into the chambers of firearms.

Black banners stretched out in a line, and a column of nearly a thousand men had spread out across the slopes.

Luo Ye stood on a rock, watching the eagle in the sky. A faint tremor could be felt from the ground, signaling the enemy's imminent arrival.

This was a corner of the overall strategic situation of the Great Retreat from Xuzhou.

Since the Jurchens launched their southward offensive in the ninth year of the Jian Shuo era, and into the first half of the tenth year, several grand and fierce blocking battles had erupted in the Central Plains amidst the Jurchens' eastern and western routes of invasion. Jin was reduced to a sea of fire, and the resistance of the Guangwu Army in Daming Prefecture was particularly tragic. During this time, the resistance in Xuzhou was relatively stable. Apart from being besieged by nearly a million starving ghosts in the winter, Xuzhou held out for less than three months after Wanyan Zongfu and Zongbi launched their assault in the first half of the tenth year of Jian Shuo, before beginning its retreat in mid-May.

Compared to the valiant defense of Daming Prefecture, where 50,000 troops resisted for half a year, culminating in a breakout that cost over 10,000 Huaxia Army rescuers, leaving only a few thousand survivors, the war in Xuzhou was, in the eyes of many nitpickers, not grand enough. At least, for Li Anmao, the Xuzhou Prefect who originally invited the Huaxia Army to defend the city, the 10,000-strong Huaxia Army reinforcements, plus the tens of thousands of troops he had raised in Xuzhou, should have defended this strategic location for at least half a year, or even a year. Dying for his country would have fulfilled his loyalty to the Wu Dynasty.

However, Liu Chengzong and the others never intended to do so from the start.

From the moment the 10,000-strong Huaxia Army arrived in Xuzhou, they had been working to evacuate the residents of the surrounding area to the south. Li Anmao, already resigned to his death, did not have much to say about evacuating the people, and instead did his best to cooperate. Later, after the starving ghosts outside Xuzhou dispersed and the Jurchens arrived, the remaining residents in the city took the opportunity to head south in the spring. Liu Chengzong and the nearly 50,000 Xuzhou troops in the city put up a staunch defense.

The Jurchen Eastern Route Army, numbering over 300,000, had been preparing to attack the city since the winter of the previous year. Several tens of thousands of troops defended the city of Xuzhou for more than two months, before Liu Chengzong and the others knocked out Li Anmao in a meeting, seized his military power, and announced the decision to withdraw from Xuzhou.

The number of soldiers under Li Anmao's command was as high as 50,000, but their composition was complex. Some were former troops of Liu Yu before their defection, while others were just vagrants who joined the army for food. Li Anmao raised over 50,000 men to create a show of force, hoping to keep the Huaxia Army tied down. But these 50,000 men originally had no combat power. After the Huaxia Army arrived, they trained with them, rectified military discipline, held meetings and heart-to-heart talks, which improved their combat effectiveness to some extent. Now that the Huaxia Army said they were leaving, no one in the Xuzhou garrison dared to obey Li Anmao's orders to defend to the death. The incorporation of these tens of thousands of men, who had experienced two months of war, became a reality in a logical way. At least during the retreat, no one dared to disobey the Huaxia Army's orders.

Xuzhou has been a strategic location since ancient times, with the city located in a basin surrounded by complex mountains and rivers, making the rugged terrain easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Eastern Route Army of Zongfu and Zongbi, seeking a quick victory, chose a strategy of fierce attacks rather than besieging the city to the death. The Jurchens left three sides open and one side closed, making the breakout of tens of thousands of troops not difficult. The subsequent retreat was met with fierce pursuit from the Jurchen army.

But the Huaxia Army had been surveying and deducing the entire retreat plan since last year. When the army left the city, Liu Chengzong divided the Huaxia Army's core force into several groups, choosing rugged terrain to carry out blocking and retreat in an orderly manner. Tens of thousands of Jurchen pursuers poured in from different directions, but were instead beaten into a sorry state. On May 23rd, Chaoxian Ridge, north of Xiao County, became the forward fulcrum of the entire great retreat.

Over 10,000 Liaodong troops were approaching from nearby, led by the Liaodong Han general Liu Guangji, while the Huaxia Army side was the special regiment led by Luo Ye, numbering nearly 1,200 men. They were formed as an experimental branch of the Huaxia Fifth Army. The entire equipment had not been tested in actual combat, but the entire special regiment was composed of veterans from the Huaxia Army.

This special regiment performed well in the previous defense of Xuzhou, without using the new weapons that they were all equipped with—because the effect was not necessarily good in the siege. Choosing to defend at Chaoxian Ridge at this time was because the terrain here was the most ideal, and because after the friendly forces retreated nearby, this mountain pass was located on the protruding point of the front line, and the pressure of defense might be the greatest. And there was a third point that Luo Ye had not told too many people: according to the previous tactical deduction, this place was most likely to be visited by the vanguard general of the enemy army.

And the most powerful vanguard general in the Jurchen army was none other than the Jurchen "Fourth Prince," Jin Wushu, who almost dominated the entire offensive posture of the Eastern Route Army.

In Luo Ye's view, this was the most suitable place to let the new weapons shine.

If it was feasible, he wanted to take a head.

It was just a pity that the battlefield situation changed rapidly, and it was not Wushu who came.

This year's Jurchen southern expedition, more than ten years have passed since the first southward invasion. The eastern and western armies mobilized nearly 600,000 troops—although after several years of recuperation, it was impossible for the Jurchen soldiers, who once had the reputation of "invincible with ten thousand," to expand to this number. In fact, it was difficult for the Jurchen children who had newly joined the army to reproduce the bravery of those who had emerged from the Changbai Mountains and the Black Water.

Thus, the entire army had many other ethnic groups joining, such as the Bohai, Khitan, Xi, and Han people, who were second only to the Jurchens in the country. Although in later generations, it was said that one Han family doesn't talk about two families, in this era, the Han people of Liaodong looked down on the southern people. In their eyes, the brave Jurchens were naturally more worthy of following. It was also extremely reasonable to follow the Jurchens in establishing a career in the process of the southern expedition.

The Liaodong Han people did not have a high status in the Jin Dynasty at this time, and this was also the reason why they had to work hard in order to improve their status. Liu Guangji was a fierce general under Zongbi. He was known for his violent temperament, strict discipline, and fierce use of troops. In his barracks, he initially whipped a Han slave to death every day in order to awaken the weakness of the many Liaodong soldiers: "Those who don't dare to shed blood will become slaves!" Later, Emperor Taizong established a law that Han slaves could not be killed at will. Liu Guangji then chopped off the hands and feet of a Han slave every day. If he was seriously injured and died, with his status, he would only pay a fine—in fact, under Zongbi's protection, Liu Guangji basically did not need to pay even the fine.

Before the two sides met, the gyrfalcon and scouts sent messages that blocking the road ahead was a thousand-man team from the Huaxia Army. Because the terrain ahead began to narrow, fighting was unfavorable for the attacking side. Moreover, the Huaxia Army arrived first, and artillery must have been arranged in the slightly higher terrain. The first wave of the attack would inevitably suffer huge losses.

The first time he brought the enemy's formation into view, Liu Guangji also discovered their strange formation arranged in long rows in the telescope. At this time, infantry formations were mostly square formations. Even though the appearance of artillery posed a huge threat to square formations, it was still necessary to maintain them, otherwise the battlefield would be easily chaotic and could not withstand the opponent's charge. But the formation in front was only two or three rows of people, holding in their hands—impractical fire lances.

The Wu Dynasty had these fireworks weapons decades ago, but they were basically of little use, with short range, poor power, and easy to explode, blinding their users. Although since the rise of the Huaxia Army, all forces have become extremely concerned about gunpowder, at least for this fire lance, it has not yet played a brilliant role in any major battle.

Liu Guangji knew the Huaxia Army's reputation. Seeing the incomprehensible scene at this time, he frowned, but behind him, there was not much room for maneuver. In Zongbi's orders, he had to quickly break through Chaoxian Ridge and cut into the middle of the Huaxia Army that was retreating.

Even with artillery, it's the same...

After briefly looking at the entire defensive line of the opponent, Liu Guangji gritted his teeth. In such a shrinking terrain, the opponent's artillery was the most feared weapon. But there was no other way. In past experience, the more violent the artillery, the more fierce the attack must be. Only by breaking through to the opponent's position in one breath could the opponent's defensive strategy be broken. Fortunately, he ultimately had enough manpower on his side.

"Damn it! When a man dies, his bird faces the sky..." Liu Guangji spat twice on his palm, and then waved his long knife: "Blow the horn! Prepare yourselves, my lads—"

The desolate horn sounded in this mountain pass. The armies lined up, and Liu Guangji rode his horse, loudly boosting morale in front of his army. At the other end, Luo Ye's gaze was calm. He walked down the observation rock, came to the side of the formation, took the drumsticks, and began to beat the large drum in front of him vigorously.

The sound of the drum roared, moving with his breathing. In the battlefield battle, one should make a supreme effort, then weaken, and then collapse. At this moment, both sides, eager to quickly decide the battle, boosted their morale to the highest level.

At the third quarter of noon on this day, Liu Guangji's army launched its charge. The surrounding terrain was complex, and flanking maneuvers were too far away. He couldn't wait any longer. Driven by military orders, the vanguard of the army, led by a light cavalry unit, poured into the slopes of the mountain pass in a fan shape. The sound of artillery rang out. The army surged like a tide, and this Liaodong army hysterically shouted and shot the first wave of arrows.

On the Huaxia Army's side, facing the incoming arrows, the long column stood motionless with their guns raised. Because the column was narrow and long, this hasty volley did not cause much damage. A few scattered people were hit by arrows. The charge from the front surged, and the light cavalry team distanced themselves from the soldiers behind. The formation began to converge as the terrain narrowed. Someone's hand was raised high in the air.

"Hold steady—"

"Hold steady—"

……

"……"

……

"Fire!"

……

At the fan-shaped mountain pass, the cavalry team had surged. A row of long firelocks fired with a roar. The seemingly not very long formation of sixty-odd zhang, three hundred gunshots, three hundred clusters of green smoke, and three hundred lead bullets crossed the ground, extending forward at the same time. Blood flowers bloomed in front.

After the firelocks fired, the soldiers quickly squatted down. With the changing sound of the drums, the three hundred firelocks of the second team had been raised.

"Second team, prepare—"

"——Fire!"

Green smoke rose amidst countless roars.

"Hold steady!"

"Third team, prepare—"

"——Fire!"

The shrinking slope became a giant mouth swallowing life.

This was a corner of the Great Retreat from Xuzhou. It did not stop the Jurchens' southward advance, and at the time, it did not attract much attention.

In the entire process of the Great Retreat from Xuzhou, Liu Chengzong used the complex terrain advantage to launch counterattacks, successively defeating tens of thousands of Jurchen pursuers who tried to seize credit, and harvesting several thousand Jurchen heads. And in the battle of Chaoxian Ridge on May 23rd, Luo Ye dispersed Liu Guangji's frantic attack and launched a counterattack, killing Liu Guangji, who led the team to charge due to the defeat of the battle, at the second quarter of the Wei hour, and then dispersed the entire attacking team.

In the series of battles between the Jurchens and the Huaxia Army, facing the Huaxia Army's martial valor, the Jurchens gradually became accustomed to it.

****************

Lightning flashed brightly, and the roaring thunder shook the sky.

Chengdu, thunderstorm.

In a teahouse room, Cheng Zhouhai stood sullenly by the window, listening to the boiling voices coming from the streets and squares below. A public trial was coming to an end. The curses in the crowd almost drowned out the thunder in the sky: "Kill that old thing—"

"His whole family are not good people—"

"Kill! Kill, kill, kill—"

This public trial was judging the accomplices of Chen Song, the great scholar who had previously planned to breach the Min River dam. These people were captured on April 27th. The public trial was originally planned to take place in about ten days, but in order to make the whole thing complete and create a reputation and word-of-mouth for the Huaxia Army's court, the entire process was quite detailed. All the evidence, testimonies, and arrest processes were also announced to the public through newspapers and storytelling. On this day, Chen Song was sentenced to death, and the disposal decisions of his accomplices were announced successively. Although a sudden heavy rain started, the crowds who came to watch in Chengdu City still blocked the roads.

During the entire trial process, Cheng Zhouhai, who had come here, had been negotiating with Ning Yi, hoping to replace this selfless old scholar with some compromise or exchange of interests, but Ning Yi never let go. At this time, the public announcement was made, and the whole thing had been settled. Cheng Zhouhai's expression was obviously not pleasant. He was a man of deep sophistication, but on Ning Yi's side, he didn't care about showing such emotions.

"How is Chen Song below compared to Qian Xiwen back then? When the Jurchens attacked Bianliang back then, you, and the teacher, also considered breaching the Yellow River. You even made preliminary preparations in Xia Village! Why, he is a bad person, and you are a good person!?"

He knocked on the window with his hand, looking at Ning Yi, who was sitting in the room drinking tea. At this time, in addition to him and Ning Yi, there were also Qin Shaoyu and Song Yongping. Song Yongping was brought by Cheng Zhouhai to talk about the "business" conducted with the Huaxia Army. He brought Song Yongping, and Ning Yi found Qin Shaoyu, who had his leg broken by Lin Echan and was sitting in a wheelchair, to complicate the negotiation matters, in order to balance the human relationship issues in the business. At this time, Ning Yi put down his teacup and raised his eyes.

"Qian died for his principles back then, but only involved himself. He certainly can't compare. The disaster in Bianliang was faced with the Jurchens. If we really couldn't beat them, we could only die together. If you regard the Huaxia Army as a foreign race like the Jurchens, then I and Old Qin are indeed no different from this Chen Song. But at least I don't engage in massacres, which is a bit better than the Jurchens, right?"

"How big is the difference between destroying its orthodoxy and destroying its country?"

"If you want to argue, there is indeed not much difference, but I want to destroy the orthodoxy only after it is certain that there is a problem with your orthodoxy, and after you and I can't find a way to improve it. It's not because I'm a child. If you accept my opinion and then convince me, I will correct it. If you don't want to argue, Chen Song is a bastard, and you and I both know it clearly. Whether it's from the perspective of people's hearts or interests, I am justified in killing him. If you were in my position, would you let a person who is preparing to breach the Min River to oppose me live!?"

These days, the two of them have had heated arguments more than once, and Qin Shaoyu and Song Yongping can only stay out of it. In fact, Cheng Zhouhai came to represent the Princess Manor to cooperate with Ning Yi. Ning Yi was not secretive either. During these days, he took Cheng Zhouhai to visit many places, and even some weapon factories that were currently operating, and some advanced concepts based on the study of things, were all revealed to Cheng Zhouhai.

Ning Yi did not care about Cheng Zhouhai learning the Huaxia Army's things. He was even more like actively "polluting" Cheng Zhouhai's thinking. This morning, they originally visited a newly built firelock workshop in Chengdu City. Before they could see it thoroughly, they came here to visit the public trial. Cheng Zhouhai argued with Ning Yi for a while, and the matter had been settled. He didn't force it anymore.

After both sides were silent for a moment, Cheng Zhouhai said: "I know you have always been extremely enthusiastic about firearms. However, the fire lance is something that the Wu Dynasty originally had. Do you really plan to put it on the battlefield? I know this thing is cumbersome to use, easy to explode, has a shorter range than bows and arrows. Have you solved these problems?"

"Of course not." Ning Yi held his teacup, "But things will always be solved slowly. The potential of bows and arrows has reached its limit. It takes two or three years to make a good bow, and more than ten years to train a sharpshooter. Firelocks do have many problems at the beginning, and now they are only slowly catching up in range, but with the progress of assembly line technology, its production will slowly be much faster than bows and arrows, and the training of shooters is also very simple. In the future, even a woman holding a gun can kill you. Human power is limited, material power is unlimited, the study of things has not seen the end yet."

"Then... sell this thing to me?"

"Sure, I can sell it." Ning Yi said with a smile.

Cheng Zhouhai's brow furrowed. Song Yongping's and Qin Shaoyu's brows also furrowed. Qin Shaoyu's expression was relaxed, while Song Yongping's was somewhat vigilant.

——There is a conspiracy.

Ning Yi sighed, stood up, but did not avoid it: "I can sell you firelocks, I can even sell you the entire concept of the study of things. If you can really learn it and defeat the Jurchens, then of course that's the best. But you can't learn it. When the enemy comes, you want some good things, but the way of studying things is endless. There are always better things. How can you ensure that you always see better things? Then everyone must open up their thinking and not be bound by some taken-for-granted things. The people must be made to know it. Do you dare? Today, Junwu can promote the study of things, but only because there is a war to fight today. After the war is over, it's better for the people to be made to follow."

"Firelocks will be sold to you if you sell them. I'm not afraid of you imitating them. If you imitate them well, I will have better firelocks. And imitation may not be realistic. You don't have much time." Ning Yi smiled and tapped the coffee table with his finger. "The urgent message that came this morning..."

He said: "The Western Route Army... Xiyin took the vanguard across the river."

The rain was still falling outside the window. Soon after, news came that seepage appeared near Dujiangyan. Ning Yi then took people back to the flood fighting front—everywhere had its own problems. On the Jurchen side, in order to deal with problems that could arise at any time in the country, both the eastern and western armies had to accelerate their southward speed. At the end of May, Xiyin led the vanguard of the Western Route Army to cross the Yellow River first, trying to reach the Xiangyang front line as quickly as possible, to cooperate with the strategic intention of the Eastern Route Army to attack the Zhenjiang line.

Shortly after crossing the river, Xiyin received the news that had previously come from the Xuzhou front battlefield. The appearance of firelocks at Chaoxian Ridge aroused his vigilance even more. In fact, after the potential of firearms was discovered, the Huaxia Army, the Wu Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty were all studying its application. In the Great Manufacturing Institute, which Xiyin was responsible for, they had also studied fire lances, but there had been no decisive breakthrough.

On the day he received the news, the mighty army was gathering at the port on the south bank of the Yellow River, with flags spreading like a forest. Xiyin stood on the city wall outside the port, and in a trance, he seemed to see the figure of the Huaxia Army in the southwest, the Han army that had been resisting constantly in these ten years. Now the Jurchen military situation still occupies the upper hand. If it continues, the Jurchens will still occupy the upper hand, but...

Take advantage of this battle to settle the world.

He didn't think much more, just reaffirmed his initial thoughts in his heart.

If he were younger, he might not be willing to cooperate with Zongfu and Zongbi's Western Route Army offensive, but would rather sweep the entire Wu Dynasty himself. It would be best if Zongfu, Zongbi, and others could make more messes like Huang Tiandang.

But at this moment, Xiyin put such thoughts away.

Lin'an, June.

The weather was so hot that only the sound of cicadas could be heard.

In the Princess Manor's study, iced lotus seed soup was placed on the table, no longer cool, and the room had no crosswind. Messages from all over the world gathered on this desk. Zhou Pei raised her head from the files. There were beads of sweat on her forehead, but her face was slightly pale. She felt the air was oppressive and placed a hand on her left chest. Bang, bang, bang, bang, there was a sound like drums coming from there.

In front of her, there were messages from the southwest and messages from the north. Before things arrived, people could imagine all kinds of turns or solutions, but at this moment, things became clearer and more stable. The preparations that could be constantly promoted from daily work had reached the limit of their capabilities.

In the front-line areas north of the Yangtze River, war preparations had been pushed to the limit that could be pushed. The transportation and distribution of military food and ordnance, the cleaning up of spies, and the consolidation of the defense line had all used their strength to the limit. People were being killed every day, and occasionally there would be outlaws who were forced to rebel, but this was also necessary to maintain the overall war situation. As for the messages from the southwest, Cheng Zhouhai would write various anecdotes and iron and blood news in letters every few days and send them over. What Zhou Pei could see was also the smoke of gunpowder and the tense heartstring that permeated the various messages.

Such an atmosphere made her feel palpitations, like a gambler waiting for the moment before opening the dice clock, like a prisoner waiting for the moment when the sentence was uttered. The atmosphere in the entire city of Lin'an was oppressive and silent. At this moment, no officials or pro-war factions sang against the tune. In the palace, Zhou Yong had not been to the harem for several days...

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