Chapter 1 The Battlefield

On both banks of the Wang River, Yan cavalrymen crisscrossed, wielding their sabers, ruthlessly harvesting the lives of the wildlings. At this moment, this place was their "pasture," or perhaps the field where farmers swung their scythes at harvest time.

In the previous Battle of Wang River, tens of thousands of Yan soldiers from the left flank of the Yan army had died tragically in the river, suffering the greatest defeat in the Yan Kingdom's foreign wars in decades. Now, the cycle had begun again, except the original positions had been reversed.

Yan cavalrymen rode their horses along the riverbank, using bows and arrows to shoot the wildlings on the ice or in the river. They competed with each other in archery, and whoever missed would be loudly ridiculed by their companions.

In their eyes, the wildlings were nothing more than a group of playthings for amusement. It was said that the Qian Emperor had an Imperial Garden outside the capital, where many wild animals were raised, and the emperors of each generation would occasionally go there to hunt and display their "martial prowess."

But shooting those captive beasts was not as satisfying as shooting people.

You could better perceive their expressions, better understand their fear, and better savor their despair, which stimulated your nerves even more.

The Yan region did not favor Five Stone Powder (a type of drug), but it seemed that this feeling was more intoxicating than taking it.

An eye for an eye,

Was not suitable for the current situation.

In this world, there was often no wishful thinking of goodness. The rules of the jungle, no matter how many layers of skin were changed, had never really changed its essence.

Most importantly, when the Yan army was defeated last time, neither the wildlings nor the Chu people showed the slightest pity, so don't blame the Yan people for repaying them double today.

Some Yan soldiers were clearly very reserved in personality, but at this moment, they still pretended to be crazy, laughing loudly, deliberately making more noise, and treating those wildlings who were fleeing or kneeling and begging for mercy even more fiercely.

In their opinion,

Perhaps the souls of the tens of thousands of comrades who died here last time were still lingering in this sky, and they had to let them see it.

The wildlings who had scattered to the outer areas were chased by groups of Yan people. Having completely lost their organization and will to fight, the wildlings were unable to put up any decent resistance.

Even if they were really forced to the end of their rope, and roared in anger, wanting to turn around for a desperate fight, it was actually difficult to even pull someone down with them.

Whether it was the Zhenbei Army (Northern Garrison Army) or the Jingnan Army (Southern Pacification Army), their cooperation was too tacit. Who would lure, who would kite, who would charge, who would pierce, there was no need for the company commander to instruct, and everyone would immediately be in their positions.

Even if a tiger was fierce, it would be difficult to have any room to maneuver in the face of such a disciplined pack of wolves, let alone the wildlings, who were not even considered tigers in the face of the real elite of the Yan army.

The killing continued, and the real casualties of a war often occurred after one side collapsed.

Whether it was the pent-up resentment and unwillingness of the Yan army, or the Jingnan Marquis' order of "no prisoners,"

All contributed to the wildlings' rout becoming a killing feast for the Yan people to enjoy.

This was Ran Min's first time facing such a victory. He saw the once arrogant wildlings howling, crying, and begging for mercy like frightened and pitiful chickens and ducks.

When his saber smeared across their necks, the blood spurting from their necks scalded his wrists and face.

Blood, of course, was hot, and fresh blood was even more so.

Ran Min, who had once traveled the martial world running escorts, was no stranger to human blood and lives, but the killing on such a large scale was indeed a completely different experience.

Compared to the scene before him,

When he killed Monkey Three in the yamen's hall,

Seemed bold and chivalrous,

But it was really just a petty farce that couldn't be put on the table.

A man should kill, should rampage on the battlefield!

Ran Min reached out and touched the armor on his body again. He knew that this armor, which he had only worn for a few days, would soon be handed over again.

The squad leader rode past Ran Min, laughing loudly,

And shouted:

"Don't panic, kill a few more wildlings, and maybe this armor will be yours to wear!"

Once upon a time, the people of Yan, including many officials in the court, believed that Yan had three of the most capable armies: the Zhenbei Army, the Jingnan Army, and the Imperial Guards in the capital.

After going south to the Qian Kingdom and taking half of the Jin Kingdom, the Imperial Guards were rarely mentioned, and were instead dismantled into several parts to help with defense.

Now,

In this battle of Wang River, the Zhenbei Army and the Jingnan Army will once again establish and completely solidify their name as the strongest iron cavalry in Yan.

In fact, the squad leader had one more sentence that he didn't say, and it wasn't appropriate to say it.

The squad leader came from the Imperial Guards and was considered an old soldier. Moreover, as someone who grew up in Yanjing, although he usually liked to talk glibly and always acted like he was the second most important person in the world, he was indeed more sensitive in certain aspects than others.

Currently,

The Zhenbei Marquis' daughter was going to marry the Crown Prince,

And half of the Zhenbei Army was sent as dowry.

In fact,

The Zhenbei Army, to a certain extent, had already been incorporated by the Emperor, and integrated by the imperial court.

But there was still the Jingnan Army!

Li Bao died in battle, and the position of Chief Military Officer of Quhe City was directly vacant. Now, Li Fusheng was directly led by the Jingnan Marquis to win this revenge battle…

After continuing eastward, on the one hand, the wildlings would be completely driven out of the Three Jin lands, and at the same time, the nail of Yupan City would be removed.

After that,

In the Three Jin lands,

The Jingnan Marquis Estate,

The Jingnan Army,

Will be the real decision-makers in this area!

Li Fusheng's Zhenbei Army might even be incorporated by the Jingnan Marquis in the end. After all, they still had to deal with the counterattack from the snowfields, and at the same time, they had to be wary of the Chu Kingdom. It was impossible for this place to not have a real power holder.

Only the Jingnan Marquis, and only the Jingnan Marquis, could truly control this situation.

In other words,

Regardless of whether it was the original Cheng Kingdom army, the Yan Imperial Guards, or the local army,

Even the Zhenbei Army,

Before long,

They would all be completely integrated!

Perhaps, the Zhenbei Army could retain some independence due to historical reasons, but other forces would be incorporated into the Jingnan Army sequence, and would only follow the orders of the Jingnan Marquis Estate!

However, these words, these principles, this old Yanjing squad leader could only think about in his heart, but it was not convenient to say them.

But to put it bluntly, as a soldier, half a lifetime on the battlefield, being able to fight under the banner of the Jingnan Marquis, feeling happy and not suffocated, and being able to win battles all the time, who wouldn't want to?

As for the dog-shit things like being too powerful and being cooked like a dog when the rabbit dies, let the officials in the court worry about it, what does it have to do with this soldier?

We, only seek joy and freedom today!

Ran Min was not clear about the twists and turns here. He simply didn't want to take off this armor, and after witnessing this magnificent victory with his own eyes, he naturally developed a yearning for the Jingnan Army and the Jingnan Marquis.

When teaching Zheng Fan, the Jingnan Marquis had said to Zheng Fan,

The method of winning over the hearts of the soldiers,

Was actually very simple,

Lead them to win battles, keep winning battles, and always win battles.

As for the rest, things like eating and sleeping with the soldiers, and caring for the soldiers, were just additions, and only additions.

General Zheng had specifically asked Liang Cheng about this, and Liang Cheng's response was even more direct: the soldiers were risking their lives to follow you, so-called false pretenses could move one or two people, but could they move everyone?

So-called loving soldiers like sons sounded beautiful, but in reality, weren't there countless unfilial sons who didn't support their parents?

Ran Min stopped his horse. He got off his horse. On the riverbank, there was a very tenacious wildling who had climbed out of the icy water.

This was very difficult,

Firstly, the river water was very cold, and secondly, this wildling was still wearing armor.

Being able to swim out while wearing armor, it had to be said that this wildling should also be considered a warrior in the snowfields, but no matter how strong a warrior was, he had already overdrawn everything the moment he swam out of the river and reached the shore.

Ran Min waited for him to reach the shore,

And he saw Ran Min too.

He didn't look for long before falling on his back on the shore, gasping for breath.

Ran Min walked up to him,

And he closed his eyes.

Ran Min bent down, and his body trembled slightly, as if he wanted to resist, but he gave up.

He opened his eyes again,

And in his eyes,

There was no anger, and no hatred,

He was too tired to have the extra energy to express extra emotions.

Ran Min's knife pierced his chest, stabbing in deeply.

Ran Min thought he should be able to give him a quick death, but unfortunately, this person's armor was not ordinary armor, and the blade did not penetrate deeply into the flesh.

Ran Min could only stir the hilt of the knife,

Then the wildling below convulsed in pain, opening his mouth, seemingly cursing in a silent wildling language.

Ran Min just stirred and stirred,

A bit like how he followed his grandfather to make New Year's cakes before the New Year when he was a child, and there was a bit of joy.

Yes,

In this place,

Killing,

Was not a sin,

But a kind of joy.

Because when you were killing others, it meant that you would not be killed by others, wasn't it worth being happy?

The wildling warrior below died,

Perhaps,

He would also regret,

That he had exhausted all his strength to finally swim to the shore,

And waiting for him, was an ending of being tortured to death,

Thinking like this,

He might prefer to drown directly in this icy river.

Ran Min pulled out the knife,

And he was also a little tired. Along the way, he had killed many wildlings. Killing people was actually much more tiring than killing pigs. His body might not be so tired, but his heart was more easily fatigued than the blade.

The moment the knife was pulled out,

A plaque fell off.

Ran Min picked up the plaque,

And he knew he had found a treasure,

This was a chiliarch (commander of a thousand).

The squad leader chased after another circle, rode back, and saw Ran Min again, shouting:

"What's that in your hand?"

Ran Min raised the plaque,

And pointed with his knife at the corpse of the wildling warrior at his feet.

The squad leader drew his bow and aimed at Ran Min.

Ran Min continued to smile,

The arrow was fired,

Ran Min didn't move,

And the arrow hit the dead wildling's body, but unfortunately, it didn't hit the head, but the calf.

The squad leader's old face turned red,

But he still shouted:

"Alright, let's also have fun taking down a wildling official."

Having said that,

He looked at Ran Min again and laughed:

"You lucky bastard, I'm so envious, hahaha!"

Afterward,

The squad leader continued to ride his horse along the river to find his prey.

Ran Min didn't move anymore. He was a little tired, so he sat down on the shore.

On the opposite bank of the river,

He saw a group of armored soldiers escorting hundreds of wildlings to the riverbank.

Ran Min was very familiar with the armor they were wearing. When he had just come out of the penal army, he was wearing this kind of armor.

So, if he was wearing the Zhenbei Army's armor, then the group of armored soldiers opposite wearing his armor should most likely be the Zhenbei Army.

Hundreds of wildling prisoners were escorted to the riverbank and forced to kneel down.

Then, a Lieutenant General gave the order, and the Yan soldiers began to behead these wildlings.

Wildling heads rolled down one by one, some rolling onto the ice, and some rolling into the icy water. The headless corpses were thrown into the river one by one by the Yan soldiers.

Immediately,

Hundreds of Zhenbei Army soldiers knelt on one knee on the ground, inserting their sabers into the ground.

Ran Min felt that they should be Li Bao's former subordinates.

At this time, they were using this method to commemorate their former general and comrades.

No amount of incense,

No amount of mourning,

No amount of reluctance,

No amount of tears,

Could be better than the enemy's blood and heads to comfort the spirits in heaven.

This was a revenge battle for the Yan people, and the Yan people also needed this kind of killing to vent the anger and repression in their hearts.

The Emperor needed it to stabilize the hearts of the people and continue to promote his foreign expansion steps;

The ministers in the court needed it to stabilize the order of the country,

The people needed it to continue their pride,

But the ones who really needed it the most were the soldiers on the front line.

"The Yan army is mighty!!!!!!!!!”

An old knight shouted loudly, waving the saber in his hand.

Vast wilderness, chasing and taking heads;

The Wang River was once again stained red today.

When you are in a war, it is difficult to tell what is righteous and what is unrighteous, because thinking is a very luxurious thing in that kind of environment.

When running escorts in the martial world, you had to be ruthless, otherwise, whether it was the righteous or the evil, they would take a bite out of you.

Ran Min felt that the relationship between countries was probably the same. Only by hitting him hard, only by scaring him, would he not dare to provoke you again.

Ran Min's generation grew up listening to the stories of the Zhenbei Army. After all, killing barbarians was a recognized correct thing in Yan, and the fact was indeed so. During the last Three Kingdoms War, an imperial edict from the Emperor could prevent the barbarians from having the slightest movement. To put it bluntly, it was because he had experienced your ruthlessness, so he feared you and didn't dare to provoke you.

In the western desert, the Yan people had already proven the practicality of this trick with their actions.

Ran Min felt that,

Next,

They should send greetings from Great Yan to the wildlings and the Chu people, especially since they were the ones who started to take liberties first.

Just as Ran Min was about to remount his horse and continue his work, he saw a Pixiu (mythical wild beast) carrying a general in gilt armor slowly crossing the river in front of him.

At that moment, the Yan soldiers on the shore, regardless of their previous composition, whether they were Imperial Guards or Cheng Kingdom troops, all raised their sabers and shouted:

"Long live the Marquis!"

"Long live the Marquis!"

"Long live the Marquis!"

It was not objective to blame the defeat in the previous Battle of Wang River entirely on the First Prince, but the comparison of the results of the two battles was too obvious, or rather, completely opposite.

Last time, the Yan army lost in extreme humiliation, with tens of thousands of soldiers drowning in the river. On the river, the Chu navy sang Chu folk songs;

This time, wildling corpses were scattered on both sides of the Wang River. The old soldiers' shouts drowned out the bloodiness of the battlefield, creating a unique heroism belonging to the Yan people.

Regardless of the merits and demerits, the First Prince would be completely overshadowed by the Jingnan Marquis' glory.

The Zhenbei Marquis was old, and the Zhenbei Army had also been dismantled. Now, in the entire Yan Kingdom, the only one who could be relied upon, and whose command would make everyone from the court to the common people and the soldiers in the army believe that victory was certain, was the Southern Marquis.

Li Fusheng, covered in blood, rode his horse over.

If there was anyone in the entire Eastern Expeditionary Army who was the most suffocated, it would be Li Fusheng.

According to the blind man, who had once been a psychologist, Li Fusheng definitely had some kind of mental illness. If this kind of person were in later generations, he would likely become a serial killer, but in this era, and having joined the army, he had found a stage that was suitable for him.

"Marquis."

Li Fusheng grinned, smiling lightly.

Like a drug addict who had not taken Five Stone Powder for a long time, and finally obtained a piece of high-quality stone powder, he sighed, relaxed, and felt lightheaded.

The Jingnan Marquis' face did not show much excitement, even in the face of the surrounding soldiers' cheers, he still seemed very calm.

This was not a deliberate suppression of emotions to maintain his prestige. The white-haired Marquis might have long been indifferent to many things.

"Li Fusheng, listen to the order."

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Order you to temporarily act as the commander, pursue the wildlings along the Wang River, and at the same time, keep an eye on the Chu army in Yupan City."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Li Fusheng knew that since he was staying behind, then the one who would continue to lead the army eastward to pursue the wildlings would naturally be this Marquis in person.

Li Fusheng did not try to snatch this job, because the current situation was very good, and the Chu army in Yupan City could only be trapped in the city after losing the restraining effect of the surrounding wildlings.

A good situation was hard-won, and if something unexpected happened during the pursuit, it would be easy to lose the good situation again. In this situation, it was the safest way for the Jingnan Marquis to lead the army to continue pursuing eastward.

As unruly as Li Fusheng was, he did not dare to question the Jingnan Marquis in the slightest when it came to leading troops in battle.

Tian Wujing's gaze looked out at the shadow of Yupan City to the north,

And then ordered:

"Tell Situ Yu to have all the officials of the Cheng Prince's Mansion get busy and gather laborers and stones for this Marquis. We are not in a hurry to attack Yupan City. First, give him the outer periphery of Yupan City, and then build a circle of walls around it, sealing off all contact with the outside world!

If the Chu army in the city attacks, then beat them back!

If the Chu people send messengers, shoot them immediately!

If the Chu people surrender, refuse to accept!

This Marquis wants to starve the tens of thousands of Chu people in this city to death inside."

Tian Wujing reached out and grabbed the mane of the Pixiu under his crotch,

And slowly said:

"Don't the Chu people like to sing their Chu folk songs? When this Marquis leads the army back, I will see if they can still have the mood to continue singing those songs when they are so hungry that they start eating the flesh of their comrades!"

Hearing this, Li Fusheng smiled so wide that his mouth almost split open.

For a chief military officer like him, following this Marquis was simply too satisfying, because he was too much to his liking!

The Jingnan Marquis pointed around,

And said:

"Build a Jingguan (mound of corpses) here, and have Situ Yu come here to erect a monument in person."

"Marquis, that Prince Cheng is still young after all……"

The scene of a Jingguan, with heads piled up densely, would be so terrifying that even adults would have nightmares after seeing it, let alone Situ Yu, a teenager.

"He is Situ Lei's son. If he hasn't forgotten how his father died, then he must come in person."

"Yes, Marquis."

Li Fusheng bowed to obey the order.

At this time,

Chen Yang, the Chief Military Officer of the Jingnan Army, personally escorted a wildling myriarch (commander of ten thousand) over. The wildling myriarch had obviously been tortured, and was thrown to the ground by Chen Yang like a dead dog.

"Marquis, your subordinate has important military information to report!"

The Jingnan Marquis looked at him and nodded.

Chen Yang immediately continued:

"From this man's mouth, I learned that General Shengle, Zheng Fan, has successfully taken Xuehai Pass as per your instructions!"

Hearing this, Li Fusheng's eyes lit up immediately, and he immediately bowed down to the Jingnan Marquis:

"Marquis, your planning is brilliant and your calculations are miraculous. Your subordinate admires you!"

It wasn't that Chen Yang was flattering,

Nor was it that Li Fusheng was flattering,

Because in this world, apart from that General Zheng, there were really few generals who dared to deliberately fawn on the Jingnan Marquis.

But they instinctively believed that this military action of the Shengle Army must have been arranged by the Jingnan Marquis in advance.

First block the wildlings' retreat,

Then crush the main force of the wildlings from the front,

Next,

The wildlings who entered the pass this time would all be buried in these Three Jin lands, and not one of them would escape!

In addition, they all knew that Zheng Fan's Shengle Army had crossed the river in advance and went deep behind enemy lines according to the Jingnan Marquis' instructions, so they naturally believed that this was the Jingnan Marquis' arrangement and design.

Hearing this news,

The Jingnan Marquis' hand, which was originally stroking the mane of the Pixiu, paused slightly.

Xuehai Pass,

Shengle Army,

Zheng Fan.

The reason for the previous movements of the wildlings was finally found.

Any soldier with a little military sense knew what it meant for Xuehai Pass to be taken by their side, which meant that the main force of the wildlings could be completely resolved once and for all.

As long as the main force of the wildlings who entered the pass this time was eaten, the snowfield wildlings would not be able to recover for several generations, for several decades.

At the same time, when the Great Yan iron cavalry left the pass to sweep the snowfield in the future, it would also be difficult for the wildlings to gather a large-scale army to resist.

Leaving the pass was inevitable, and the Yan people's revenge had never had a saying that did not involve the old and the young.

A hundred years ago, the first Zhenbei Marquis defeated the Qian army that invaded, and then took the opportunity to trample on the northern three counties of the Qian Kingdom, in order to vent that anger!

The wildlings who died here in Wang River were only the first wave of interest in the Yan people's revenge. Next, they would definitely go back to the wildlings' home for a return visit.

Helping the Jin people drive out the wildlings was the first step, and then taking the Jin people to the snowfield to avenge them, and returning the suffering that the wildlings gave to the Jin land, this could make the Three Jin land completely devoted to Great Yan.

After a long time,

The Jingnan Marquis shook his head,

And cursed:

"Heh, this kid."