Chapter 1

Airships transformed into orange-red fireballs, a dazzling and tragic visual effect. For the pilots, it was a warning, a threat, and an inspiration. But for the ground troops anxiously awaiting the signal to attack, it evoked a completely different feeling.

"Don't let the sacrifices of the airship squadron be in vain," Cheng Chi said, a simple reminder to the battalion commanders lined up before him, eagerly awaiting the order to advance. Many had envied the airship crews. They were the rarest soldiers in Yunzhou, enjoying excellent treatment and enviable status. But now, these darlings of the heavens, though still superior in some ways to soldiers relying on traditional warfare methods, didn't seem so different. Airships were simply too dangerous. A little damage might allow them to safely withdraw and crash-land in friendly territory. But with slightly more damage, or a moment's lapse in control, the airship and everyone on board would be utterly destroyed, with no chance to escape.

The airship crews were too proud. When they realized they had suffered uncontrollable damage, they almost instinctively shut down the hot air generators and dove straight toward their targets. Violent explosions became their weapon of mutual destruction. Fortified bunkers that might withstand repeated fire oil bomb attacks – especially given the less-than-reliable accuracy of aerial bombing at this point – were helpless against a damaged airship, carrying half a load of fire oil bombs and a full tank of high-quality fuel, impacting with tremendous kinetic energy. It wasn't just the searing flames that harmed those inside; the massive shockwaves and deafening noise were equally devastating.

The air raid lasted for the better part of an hour. Many airships, having dropped all their fire oil bombs, were already returning to base. By this time, the entire Dalun Mountain was ablaze. Nearly every structure was either already engulfed in flames or bore scorched marks. The Northern Liao soldiers had spared no effort and sacrificed much to preserve the most critical support points of the Dalun Mountain fortress.

Cheng Chi launched his attack ahead of schedule. While the airship squadron was still attacking, and while Dalun Mountain radiated intense heat, six battalions of melee infantry advanced on the mountain from four directions.

"Captain Xie Bo sends word that after resupplying with ammunition, he will guarantee one hundred airships to support our attack," a staff officer announced, reading the dispatch delivered by a messenger. Cheng Chi nodded and said, "Reply: Thank you for the airship squadron's valiant efforts. We will give our all."

Cheng Chi wasn't just being polite. The airship squadron had set an example for everyone. These pilots, once envied by many soldiers and officers, had laid a solid foundation for the full-scale assault with their courage, skill, and spirit. During the first wave of the six melee infantry battalions' assault, the Northern Liao Western Route Army soldiers at the foot of the mountain couldn't even mount a decent resistance. This was partly because the first line of defense wasn't heavily manned or equipped, but it was also because the repeated bombings had shattered morale throughout Dalun Mountain, despite the Northern Liao's successful counterattacks.

Gao Senqi was no longer at Dalun Mountain; he was now the heart of the entire Western Route Army, and Dalun Mountain was just an important link in the chain. Now commanding Dalun Mountain and all the surrounding Northern Liao forces was Gao Senqi's paternal uncle, Gao Mengzhong. Gao Mengzhong had requested this seemingly dangerous and thankless task himself. Ultimately, while he didn't believe in the Western Route Army's goal of steadily resisting and winning honor for Northern Liao, he was willing to be among the first to sacrifice for it. No one had ever persevered to the end while presupposing certain failure. Never. Gao Mengzhong understood this very well. When this day arrived, when Yunzhou's airships darkened the sky, he knew that Gao Senqi's carefully crafted formation to counter the Yunzhou airships would likely fall far short of its initial goal of annihilating the attacking airships. After fighting to this point, the damage to Dalun Mountain was astonishing. Although the loss of twenty-odd airships was a pyrrhic victory for the airship squadron, Dalun Mountain's casualties were already over ten thousand. When the melee infantry battalions began their assault on Dalun Mountain, Gao Mengzhong initially didn't react; he had been frantically trying to plug holes and deal with the airship attacks, leaving him unable to switch gears quickly. But when the six melee infantry battalions assaulted the second mountain gate, Gao Mengzhong unhesitatingly deployed his personal guards and the Fei Hu Ying (Flying Tiger Battalion) infantry, Gao Senqi's last trump card of fifteen thousand men, which had been hidden in a mountain cave.

The Fei Hu Ying soldiers' entry made the battle at the second mountain gate a stalemate. The Yunzhou soldiers suddenly noticed that these formidable warriors had completely different weapons and armor. The armor was the kind sold by the Ye Clan Workshop to Chunan, as were the weapons. Designed specifically to fit the relatively smaller builds of southern soldiers, the armor didn't quite fit these tall, burly northerners. However, the armor itself had enough design leeway, and its protective capabilities weren't diminished by the slightly imperfect fit. The protective power of these Fei Hu Ying soldiers was more than double that of ordinary Northern Liao soldiers. And the heavy, long-handled *dao*, the three-edged spears – all were sharp weapons produced in Yunzhou.

"We'll settle this account with Chunan later," was the thought on the minds of every soldier and general. The Ye Clan Workshop had never directly supplied military equipment to Northern Liao. The time and quantity of each shipment were clearly recorded, and the Ye Clan Workshop had long required merchants or government departments involved in the intermediate stages to provide end-user certificates, ensuring that no goods ended up in the hands of unknown entities. Perhaps Chunan was poorly managed, or rife with corruption, or acting intentionally; whatever the reason, it was enough to enrage the Dongping Northern soldiers fighting on the battlefield.

"The other four routes maintain contact. The left and right melee infantry battalions at the main mountain gate, retreat. Heavy infantry battalions, longbow battalions, and heavy ordnance battalions, move forward. Advance little by little, don't rush," Cheng Chi ordered after careful consideration. Capturing Dalun Mountain would take time and effort. Fortunately, everyone was used to this.

The two heavy infantry battalion commanders acknowledged the order and left. The heavy ordnance battalion had been ready to move out. Teams of draft horses were hitched to the towing ropes, heading toward the mountain gate. Although the ground in the controlled area had been slightly leveled, the heavy ordnance battalion raised dust and created a great din that could be heard for miles. After all, this wasn't a quiet march; it was a fully armed, full-throttle advance.

The heavy infantry formations marched ahead of the heavy ordnance battalion's ballista vehicle convoy. To speed up the attack preparation, the heavy infantry battalion had specially practiced this marching formation. Except for the standard bearers in each squad, each heavy infantryman quickly donned his heavy armor, picked up his weapon, and accelerated his pace to keep up, forming small squads of one hundred men from the center outward, filling the entire formation. This effectively disrupted the original squad structure and used the battalion as a unit in deploying the heavy infantry. It required every soldier's combat power to be above par, and everyone had to completely trust their comrades, even if they didn't know them. This tactic had never actually been used before. However, the Yunzhou heavy infantry battalion enthusiastically accepted this challenge, which was more about testing themselves. After completing basic formation drills, they constantly mixed up units to train in various subjects, to ensure that the soldiers could establish mutual trust at any time. The heavy infantry battalion had become increasingly cohesive due to this series of training exercises, and this style had made them the most united unit in all of Yunzhou.

The longbow battalion soldiers, carrying quivers and curved parrying daggers, followed closely behind the heavy infantry battalion, carrying longbows in their hands. The relationship between the heavy infantry battalion and the longbow battalion was subtle. Because of the indiscriminate longbow coverage tactics that Ye Tao had developed in Baishi City during the crisis, the heavy infantry battalion soldiers always joked that the longbow battalion was the supervising team. The only part of a heavy infantryman's body that could be injured by arrows was the eyes, but as long as the heavy infantry moved forward without hesitation, it was virtually impossible to be injured in the eyes from behind. For an arrow to hit something and ricochet into the eyes… that was definitely a matter of luck, or lack thereof.

When such a force marched up the gently sloping mountain path in neat ranks, when the resounding metallic clang echoed in unison, the entire Dalun Mountain seemed to tremble.

"The melee infantry battalions have withdrawn. However, the heavy ordnance battalion can only attack slightly beyond the mountain gate; further ahead, I'm afraid it won't work…” a staff officer whispered, reminding him. This attack method wasn't designed for mountains and fortresses, and it probably wouldn't work repeatedly. Having heavy infantry attack uphill in heavy armor was already an incredibly reckless act.

"If we can break through the second mountain gate, there's nothing to stop us after that. Then we'll let the light infantry charge up. Once we break through the third mountain gate, we can directly let the cavalry charge up the mountain to attack the summit. There's nothing fancy after that," Cheng Chi explained. The staff officer nodded and said nothing more.

Suddenly, another messenger rushed into the tent, loudly announcing, "General, Squad Leader Barrett of Special Operations Battalion B requests an audience."

Barrett? Cheng Chi was surprised and delighted. Special Operations Battalion A should already be behind enemy lines under Zhou Rui's command. How Squad B suddenly appeared here was a mystery. The Special Operations Battalion was the strongest unit in Yunzhou. Squad B, with less than a thousand men, wouldn't change the overall troop strength on the battlefield, but the combat power of the Special Operations Battalion had never been measurable by numbers.

"General, we've cleared two mountain paths on the back mountain. They're all rope ladders and simple cable bridges, with a throughput of about a thousand men per hour. We want to attack, but… siege warfare isn't our forte. I'm afraid the Special Operations Battalion won't be enough, and we won't be able to complete the mission," Barrett reported immediately after entering and saluting Cheng Chi.

"Oh? Where?" Cheng Chi asked quickly.

"Here. After climbing the mountain, there's a small platform here. We've cleared the sentry posts around it. There shouldn't be any patrols on the back mountain now. From here, it's probably less than five hundred paces to the water collection pond," Barrett pointed out on the model.

In the tent, the generals and staff officers gasped in unison. The water collection pond was less than three hundred paces from the back gate of the Dalun Mountain fortress. If they moved quickly enough, climbed the mountain, took the water collection pond, and attacked from the fortress's back gate, the battle would be over immediately. But Barrett was right. Although there wouldn't be many enemies on this attack route for now, they needed to be fast enough, the attack had to be fierce enough, the offensive had to be continuous, and they had to be willing to make sacrifices to achieve results.

"Zhao Yao, Dai Mo, you two go. I… I'll give you three hours. Three hours later, I'll launch a full-scale frontal assault to cover you. You must break in for me."

"Yes," the two battalion commanders were overjoyed.