Chapter 1 A Troubled Premonition

Along the banks of the Xuan Yang River, a team of knights galloped past. In the farmlands on either side of the river, farmers were busily engaged in the autumn harvest, unfazed by the knights in black armor riding tall steeds; they had grown accustomed to their presence.

As inevitable as rain and a mother's remarriage, it was said a great battle was raging to the east. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides were locked in a fierce struggle around the Wang River. Refugees fleeing the area reported horrific scenes, claiming the Wang River itself had been dyed red with blood.

But unless the war came knocking on their own doors, the farmers had to tend to their crops as usual, or they would starve to death even if they weren't killed by marauding soldiers. Either way, death awaited them.

On the other hand, the Yan people, who had originally been in the west, were becoming increasingly active in this area.

Jin Shuke waved his hand, signaling his knights to dismount and rest.

"Sir, shouldn't we continue scouting ahead?"

A captain asked.

They weren't far from the front lines. If they pushed on now, they could probably get a sense of how the battle was developing by morning.

These were the orders given by General Zheng.

Naturally, Sheng Le City didn't want to wait too long to learn the outcome of this great battle, which would determine its future development.

Therefore, they had to send troops out to gather information personally.

Jin Shuke shook his head and said,

"It's getting late. Let the brothers rest. Crossing the river eastward now, we're likely to encounter scouts from the main force at night. It's easy for friendly fire incidents to occur. Not worth it."

"Yes, sir, I understand."

"Mm."

Jin Shuke wasn't offended by his subordinate questioning his decision, as he had grown accustomed to everyone sitting around a campfire discussing strategies before each battle back in the desert.

He took out a salt brick from his saddlebag and placed it on the ground. Several horses immediately gathered around and began licking it.

The others took out their rations and began eating.

There were about fifty people in this group. Because they had to deliver messages back and forth and venture deep into the battlefield, the number couldn't be too small, or they'd easily run into trouble.

"Everyone, remember what Mister Bei said, our city's food reserves are running low."

Jin Shuke was a loyal fan of the Blind Man (Bei Xiansheng). Whenever the Blind Man gave lectures in Sheng Le, he would always be there early to listen.

And recently, the clerks in the army had received written notices from the General's mansion, instructing them to inform the soldiers about the current situation in Sheng Le City.

In Sheng Le's army, the Yan people were in the minority, while the Jin people made up the majority, followed by the barbarians. In Great Yan, the Jin and barbarians were essentially second- or even third-class citizens.

Everyone knew that the military pay and treatment, including the warhorses they rode and the weapons they wielded, were no different from those of the Yan's Jingnan Army and Zhenbei Army.

Other Jin surrendered troops simply couldn't have this kind of treatment.

It was precisely because they knew how hard-earned it was that they cherished and appreciated it.

Officially, of course, they couldn't be so foolish as to say directly that General Zheng hoped the First Prince would lose the battle. But in private discussions, the prevailing sentiment was, "If we don't fight, if we don't do something big, our days are numbered!"

"Sir, don't we have a lot of cattle and sheep grazing outside the city?" a soldier asked.

In his view, with so many cattle and sheep, they shouldn't really starve.

Jin Shuke glanced at him and said,

"I grew up in the desert. Treating cattle and sheep solely as food, as you would say, is wasteful. What we lack isn't just food. Where does our monthly salary come from? Many of our brothers have settled down in the city. Where does the food for their wives and children come from?

"The private school teacher's monthly salary, the doctor's monthly salary, the ink and paper, the books, and the medicinal herbs, none of them come cheap!

"Starve? Of course, we won't starve to death. But now that we're living a good life, even eating steamed buns, we want the ones with fillings. Do you want to go back to the old days?

"Your whole family works hard from morning till night, just to avoid starvation?"

The soldier's face turned red from the scolding.

Jin Shuke had clearly taken the Blind Man's lectures to heart and was actively putting his understanding into practice, passing it on to his comrades.

Because Mister Bei had said, we are fighting for General Zheng, so what is General Zheng fighting for? He is fighting for us to continue living a good life.

Therefore, we are fighting for ourselves to continue our good life, fighting for an even better life.

Whenever he thought of the scene of everyone shouting these slogans together with Mister Bei at night, Jin Shuke felt his blood boiling.

Life was full of hope!

"Sir, how long do you think this war will last? I feel like the First Prince's side is about to cross the Wang River already?"

Situ Yi's "New Dynasty" had established its capital in Yupan City, on the east bank of the Wang River. The Yan army and the Cheng army, led by the First Prince, had begun to divide their forces after a period of consolidation, gradually clearing the area of hundreds of miles from Yingdu to the Wang River, constantly compressing and squeezing the space for rebels and barbarians to operate.

This was destined to be a long and tedious process, but the First Prince fought steadily and firmly.

Currently, the area west of the Wang River had been recovered by the Yan and Cheng armies. Both sides were engaged in a struggle for several crossings along the Wang River, but the strategic initiative had completely fallen into the hands of Yan.

As long as they crossed the Wang River and conquered Yupan City, Situ Yi's New Dynasty was doomed to vanish like smoke. Subsequently, after losing the Wang River as a natural barrier and buffer zone, the barbarians would be left with only two choices:

Either pack up their belongings, load up, and return to the snowy plains;

Or engage in a head-to-head, bloody battle with the Yan army on the east bank of the Wang River.

"It looks like they're about to cross the Wang River," Jin Shuke said.

"Then aren't we completely out of the picture?"

Jin Shuke shook his head and said, "When hunting wolves, it's not over until the wolf is dead."

Life itself was a subject of study, and Jin Shuke, who grew up in the desert and came from a penal tribe, understood this subject thoroughly. Many of his ideas and experiences came from life.

Most importantly, he knew that if this war really went smoothly, his general might really be in trouble.

"Captain Wang, take a team and spread out. The rest of you, rest."

"Yes."

"Yes."

After a night of rest, Jin Shuke led his team across the Xuan Yang River at dawn and continued east.

After traveling for another half day, they began to encounter Yan army patrols.

Although they weren't from the same main force, they were all flying the flag of the Yan army. The patrols didn't cause any trouble, at most just snorting disdainfully, "You're sticking your noses in pretty far, aren't you? Too bad, this battle isn't for you."

Jin Shuke ignored them and continued to lead his men along the edge of the battlefield.

Every other day, Jin Shuke would have three of his men report back what they had seen and heard.

After resting for another day and traveling half a day further east, the Wang River was not far away.

The Wang River originated in the Sky-Breaking Mountains and extended southward, eventually entering the Chu Kingdom, where it would merge into the Great Marsh. On the other side of the Great Marsh was the Li River, which the Chu people regarded as their mother river. The Li River converged with many rivers within the Chu Kingdom and eventually flowed into the sea.

The real clashes and probes between the two sides were densely occurring in the section of the river near Yupan City.

Because Situ Lei's last attack had not only crushed the rebels but also preserved Yingdu, the largest city in the Cheng Kingdom and even the Three Jin region. Its actual and political value had been greatly protected. In contrast, Situ Yi's New Dynasty seemed somewhat "congenitally deficient."

The entry of the Great Yan army and the alliance with the Situ family had brought immense pressure to the rebels. After all, the Yan people had been invincible in recent years, and Situ's two neighbors had been directly crushed by their iron hooves.

Therefore, as long as they captured Yupan City, the rebel regime woven by Situ Yi and Situ Jiong would naturally collapse, and the barbarians would lose their shield.

Of course, with such a large force of Yan and Cheng troops, it was impossible for them to only clash in a small section of the area. In addition to the river section near Yupan City, there should also be troops preparing to attempt crossing the river in other locations upstream and downstream.

One reason was to dilute the forces of the barbarians and rebels, reducing the pressure on the main battlefield in the center.

Secondly, if any point were successfully infiltrated first, then a large number of troops could be deployed to that area, rendering the barbarians' and rebels' Wang River defense line completely useless.

Currently, the closest battlefield to Jin Shuke was the left-wing army located upstream of the Wang River.

Based on his observations these past few days, the left-wing army seemed to be mainly composed of local Yan Kingdom troops. In Jin Shuke's view, this force seemed to have uneven combat effectiveness.

Therefore, the hardest part, the Yupan City line, was being attacked by the First Prince's central army.

However, as Jin Shuke's team continued east, they suddenly noticed troops from various directions beginning to pour in. Clearly, this was a sign of large-scale troop movements on the battlefield.

This was just the outer perimeter; the Yan army in the inner circle was probably even more excited and active.

These Yan knights were all beaming, as if in a race, with troops from all directions rushing towards the Wang River.

"Sir, this, this is..."

A soldier next to him asked in disbelief.

Another soldier, surnamed Liang, said,

"Sir, it looks like the defense line upstream of the Wang River has been breached. Should we send someone to inform the general of this military intelligence now?"

The defense line must have been breached. This action was to frantically mobilize troops to reinforce the opposite bank.

As long as organized armies were deployed to the east side of the Wang River, then the entire Wang River defense line would be considered completely shaken. The already unbalanced scales of war would abandon their remaining pretense and completely tilt towards the Yan army and the First Prince.

Jin Shuke suddenly raised his hand,

And said:

"No, wait, wait a little longer."

"But the general..."

Jin Shuke suddenly turned his head and shouted at the soldier:

"If we win, what difference does it make if it's two days earlier or two days later?"

"Yes, sir."

Indeed, if they won, the Wang River would be breached, and the situation would become completely clear. For Sheng Le City, it was just a matter of preparing for demobilization and job transition two days earlier or two days later. How much difference could it make?

"Follow me forward. You, you, and you, each take a team and spread out."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir."

Jin Shuke then led a team towards the Wang River. Actually, it wasn't that Jin Shuke couldn't afford to lose; it was an intuition, a feeling that told him there seemed to be an undercurrent surging within all of this.

Those who do well in the workplace can be roughly divided into three types: those with ability, those who know how to deal with people, and those who know how to deal with people and have ability.

These two types of people, the former often look at the latter with pride, and the latter often feel guilty and jealous when looking at the former.

Jin Shuke was actually this kind of person. The Sword Saint recommended him not because he simply knew how to flatter. With the Sword Saint's status and style, he really couldn't just recommend someone to Zheng Fan simply because they knew how to make him feel comfortable with flattery.

It was because, after spending some time together, the Sword Saint discovered that this barbarian was broad-minded but detail-oriented.

It would be a pity if he were buried.

And right now, Jin Shuke really had a sense of unease, an unease that came from putting himself in the shoes of the Yan army in front of him, setting aside the development of Sheng Le City.

But Jin Shuke didn't know where it came from specifically, because no matter how you calculated it, with the difference in strength between the two sides so obvious, it was almost impossible to achieve a turnaround with cunning schemes.

Spurring on their horses, Jin Shuke finally arrived at the Wang River with his men before sunset. This was not a crossing area. Jin Shuke continued to lead his men downstream along the Wang River. Not far away, there were troops from various directions gathering in that direction, just like Jin Shuke and his men. However, in Jin Shuke's view, the main force of the real left-wing army had probably already crossed.

Even though the Yan army's situation was clearly favorable, Jin Shuke didn't feel the slightest bit of frustration. Instead, his heart was filled with an increasingly anxious panic.

This might be a battlefield sixth sense, and this kind of sixth sense was often only possessed by true generals born for the battlefield.

Suddenly,

Jin Shuke reined in his horse.

He slowly turned his head,

Looking upstream of the Wang River,

Yes,

Upstream.

For a moment,

Including Jin Shuke, all the Sheng Le knights around him were stunned.

"How, how is it possible..."

————

This isn't for cliffhanging or suspense; it's just to form a comprehensive perspective to fully unfold the plot. Don't scold me, Long is still writing; don't panic!