More planning, more supplies, more laborers, more armaments, more on paper and behind it, the calculations of one general and the suspicions of another…

No matter how much more there is,

In the end,

It still comes down to real bloodshed and clashing steel.

There’s no avoiding it,

No escaping it.

Throughout history, though there have been examples of countries conquered without a bloody battle or entire nations surrendering with not a single man standing up, those too were achieved with bloodshed, only it was spilled beforehand.

The rain stopped,

The sky cleared,

At noon,

From the military stronghold of Xuehai Pass, over twelve thousand cavalrymen marched out, including three thousand Yeren (savage) riders as the vanguard. The Yeren King, who once stirred unrest in the Three Jin lands, was right there in the formation.

In addition, Jin Shuke and Ke Yan Dongge each led three battalions of troops as the rearguard. It wasn't that Zheng Boye deliberately intended to exhaust the barbarian soldiers, but that in terms of loyalty and combat strength, the barbarian soldiers were the most trustworthy.

This battle,

As the opening salvo in the campaign against Chu,

Could only be won, not lost!

The cavalry galloped like thunder, and after bypassing Dongshan Fort, headed south, straight into the heartland of the Chu military strongholds and fortresses before Zhennan Pass!

Dongshan Fort was the first to raise a signal smoke,

This wasn't Yan scouts,

This was the Yan army!

Soon after,

Beacon fires blazed from every fortress and military stronghold,

Signaling the official start of the war between the two great Eastern powers of Yan and Chu!

…

Zhennan Pass, the General's Mansion.

Grand General Nian, in full military attire, walked out of the hall and asked the messenger kneeling before him:

"How many soldiers did the Yan bring?"

Signal smoke not only served as a warning, but its color and thickness also conveyed the scale and intensity of the enemy's attack.

"Reporting to the Grand General, the forward scouts report that approximately ten thousand enemy cavalry have entered our territory."

"Ten thousand cavalry?"

Grand General Nian frowned and waved off the personal guard standing beside him, who was helping him adjust the silver tassels on his armor. "Only ten thousand?"

"Report!!!"

A second messenger arrived with news:

"The Yan cavalry is heading towards Zhennan Pass!"

"Nonsense about Zhennan Pass, they're going for Yangshan Stronghold."

Nian Yao picked up his saber and ordered:

"Beat the drums to summon the generals for a council on the city wall."

The city wall, of course, referred to the north wall of Zhennan Pass.

From there, they could clearly see the signal fires and quickly grasp changes in the military situation.

This was a game of chess,

He sat on the south side,

While Tian Wujing sat on the north,

And playing against such an opponent,

Nian Yao dared not slacken or be careless in the slightest.

…

The Xuehai Pass cavalry had two horses per person, so they didn't stop and headed straight for Yangshan Stronghold.

The moment the signal smoke rose, it meant that the battle had begun. Even with the Jingnan King leading the main army, Zheng Boye didn't dare to treat the Grand General of Chu as a mere figurehead.

Finally, before dusk, Yangshan Stronghold came into view.

Liang Cheng immediately ordered scouts to be dispatched, one thousand cavalry each to the left and right to press forward, while the rest of the troops, half rested and ate while the other half picked up shovels and began to dig.

Sacks had been prepared long ago, and taken directly from the supplies and labor camp.

Zheng Boye rode Pixiu on this expedition.

Golden armor,

He was too embarrassed to wear it,

But Pixiu, under the watchful eyes of all the troops, was too embarrassing to leave in the camp.

Moreover, during the charge on the stronghold, martial valor was most needed, and Zheng Boye, as a mascot and the embodiment of the troops' morale, naturally had to be conspicuous.

The area in front of Yangshan Stronghold was already low-lying, and even though the day had cleared, it was still a swampy quagmire.

And because they had received the signal smoke warning in advance, and had witnessed the approaching army, the rattan armor soldiers in Yangshan Stronghold immediately began to operate, fully preparing their defenses.

…

Chi Mingyi stood on a high platform, constantly issuing orders. Below, rows of rattan armor soldiers were deploying in an orderly fashion.

Looking north from his vantage point, he could see a dark shadow, but the problem was, the shadow was much thinner than he had imagined.

"Report, Yan troops have appeared outside the West Camp!"

"Report, Yan troops have appeared outside the East Camp!"

Chi Mingyi immediately said, "Tell the East and West Camps to be careful and stay on guard. Those are just Yan feints, nothing serious."

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

Chi Mingyi was right. The two groups of cavalry were indeed just feinting, riding around, shooting a few arrows, and saying hello.

Meanwhile, in the main force,

The soldiers who had eaten began to replace those who had been digging, continuing to fill the sacks with earth.

The earth sacks were gradually piling up.

On Zheng Boye's side, someone had set up a small tent for him, and he had already laid down inside, closed his eyes, and rested.

The rest of the troops, under Liang Cheng's command, completed their deployment before nightfall.

The Yan had their own kind of mettle when it came to fighting, and Xuehai Pass, because of their lord, had a kind of arrogant demeanor from the soldiers to the officers.

Everyone,

Dug earth as they should, boiled water as they should, rested as they should. Even though they were at war, there was a relaxed, spring outing atmosphere.

Any army,

That could remain composed in the face of battle, could already be considered a force capable of fighting;

And if they could remain calm and unhurried, that was definitely elite.

The warhorses were all around, and many people simply lay on their backs to rest.

After night fell, every two hours, more than two thousand cavalrymen would move out and more than two thousand would return, circling the outskirts of Yangshan Stronghold, shooting arrows, tossing torches, shouting, yelling, and even singing the songs of the desert barbarians.

Then, they would switch shifts.

Those who had rested would immediately remount, while those who returned would continue to rest.

The sound of troops moving and horses' hooves trampling couldn't be called quiet.

But the soldiers here, all those who were sleeping, slept peacefully. With a major battle imminent, they all knew how to conserve their energy.

Warhorses needed to conserve their strength, and so did people.

And this continuous harassment at night, the tactic of exhausting the enemy, was secondary. The main purpose was to prevent the defenders in Yangshan Stronghold from launching a night raid.

This was a common tactic used by Zheng Boye when he started out, so he was extremely cautious in preventing it.

As for the other Chu military strongholds and fortresses, Liang Cheng only sent out some scouts to be vigilant, and didn't make any grand preparations for defense.

Because according to the timeline, at this moment, the Yan armies should have already been positioned, soldiers against soldiers, kings against kings.

Don't even mention the Chu wanting to try a "lock the dragon" formation; even those quick-witted generals who wanted to send troops to steal a march would immediately discover a Yan army waiting for them the moment their troops left their strongholds or fortresses.

Without the support of the fortresses, the Chu would have to fight the Yan in the open, and although the fighting strength of the various Yan armies was not uniform, well, in terms of open field battles, everyone had absolute confidence.

Zheng Boye slept very well, to be exact, since the day he almost followed in the footsteps of the Qing Taizu (Nurhaci) inspecting enemy lines,

After entering the royal tent,

The depression in Zheng Boye's heart had completely dissipated.

In fact, there was only a bit of pretentiousness in his heart, and that bit of pretentiousness was still a kind of rebellion from a younger brother against an elder brother with a strong desire for control.

Since Lao Tian (Tian Wujing) had already said those words, Zheng Boye was naturally relieved.

When a person is free from distracting thoughts,

Their mind naturally becomes clear,

After eliminating all emotional interference,

What remained,

Was to honestly prepare to fight this battle well.

First,

Get a good night's sleep.

These barbarian savages were used to this kind of noise and clamor from their days of grazing, so they could still get enough rest in this environment. When everyone saw Zheng Boye stretching and yawning, looking refreshed the next morning, they couldn't help but admire that their lord was truly calm and composed!

A Ming carried a waterskin, pouring as Zheng Boye washed his face.

The water in the waterskin was precious.

Because the nearby wells had either been filled or poisoned, and they didn't dare to drink the stream water casually, everyone was drinking water they had brought in their own waterskins.

Liang Cheng didn't send anyone out to find water sources or anything. Anyway, the outcome would be decided today. If they won, they would have everything; if they didn't win, they would have to turn around and retreat, and they couldn't give the Chu commander a chance to redeploy.

So, only Zheng Boye could squander drinking water so recklessly.

"Hah… slept so well."

"More than that, I slept next to you last night, and all I heard was you snoring," the Sword Saint said grumpily while eating naan and drinking water.

He was also puzzled.

Logically speaking, this lord usually lived a very comfortable life in Xuehai Pass, but last night, that snoring sound, tsk tsk.

"Hahaha."

Zheng Boye laughed and said:

"Seriously, wearing armor on the battlefield makes sleeping comfortable and easy to sleep soundly."

The battlefield was a place where one faced life and death directly. In this environment, all the depression, neurasthenia, and whatever other problems, all disappeared.

"I'm not sleeping next to you tomorrow night," the Sword Saint said.

Zheng Boye immediately said, "That won't do! If you don't sleep next to me, I can't relax enough to snore."

The Sword Saint sighed, took a sip of water, and then another bite of naan.

At this moment,

The sound of the horn came,

All the soldiers quickly finished everything they were doing, tidied up their armor, and mounted their horses to take their positions.

The charge on the stronghold,

Was about to begin!

Three thousand Yeren cavalry were at the front,

The Yeren King, accompanied by Sanghu, came to the front of the formation.

He held a knife in his right hand and raised his left hand high. Then, the blade cut across the palm of his left hand, and he smeared the blood on his forehead.

Immediately, more than half of the Yeren cavalry also imitated the Yeren King, cutting their palms with their knives and smearing the blood on their foreheads. The rest of the Yeren were a step behind, but also completed the ritual.

"The stars are above, I will be waiting for you in the depths of the starlight. This battle is not for the Holy Race, but for ourselves, for your families."

The Yeren King roared with a ferocious expression:

"After this battle, you will eat the same food as them, drink the same clear water as them, and wear the same fine armor as them.

We will get our own tents, our own houses, our own pastures, and even our own servants!

You,

Will become new chieftains!

You,

Will have your own families, your own tribes, your own women!

All of this depends on you now, on exchanging it with the scimitars in your hands, with the blood and heads of the enemies in front!

Go,

Warriors of the Holy Race!

Since birth, we have not feared the cold wind, nor feared the severe cold!

Go,

Warriors of the Holy Race!

The stars,

Have once again given us an opportunity,

For the sake of the stars,

For the future,

For the warm, scalding oil tea,

Go to the enemies in front,

Unleash your anger and roar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

At first,

When the Yeren King was speaking in the Yeren language, many barbarian soldiers in the rear were actually wearing expressions of watching a joke.

They looked down on the Yeren, they really looked down on them.

Some of them had snatched Xuehai Pass after beating up the Yeren;

Most of them, after coming to Xuehai Pass, hadn't done much else but beat up the Yeren in the snowy plains.

They even thought that the gibberish that the Yeren King was shouting sounded really funny.

But as the Yeren King's emotions continued to rise,

And as the expressions on the faces of the Yeren in front of them constantly changed,

These barbarian soldiers slowly restrained the playful look on their faces and began to become serious.

The Sword Saint looked at Gou Moli in front,

And said to Zheng Boye, who was standing beside him:

"In the end, you still let him out."

Zheng Boye shook his head,

Stomped his boots on the ground,

And said:

"No, he will always be under my feet."

………

A new signal smoke rose from Yangshan Stronghold, because they could see that the Yan army was about to charge the stronghold.

And because the Yan army hadn't surrounded Yangshan Stronghold, the messenger riders in the stronghold could freely leave the stronghold to report to Zhennan Pass in the rear.

And on the north city wall of Zhennan Pass,

Grand General Nian Yao, his eyes a little red, received the report.

"What, only ten thousand cavalry came in?"

Nian Yao had been puzzled by the number of Yan troops all along, but he vaguely felt that someone was gripping his vital point in the dark.

This was not the situation and development he wanted.

"Report, Yangshan Stronghold reports that the Yan have attacked!"

Nian Yao gritted his teeth,

Just one Yan army, just one army, could it be that the Yan want to rely on this one army to eat up my Yangshan Stronghold?

The Yan's intentions,

Tian Wujing's plans,

What exactly are they?

The fog of war was still thick;

Nian Yao ordered:

"Order the military strongholds and fortresses near Yangshan Stronghold to provide support."

Since the battlefield situation was shrouded in mist at the moment, Nian Yao didn't mind trying to "startle the snake," to probe the Yan's calculations.

However,

If he didn't probe, it would have been fine,

But once he probed, it was like adding water to boiling oil, and the situation immediately became lively.

In less than half an hour,

All the military strongholds and fortresses,

Raised signal smoke one after another!

"Report, enemy situation discovered at Xishan Fort!"

"Report, enemy situation discovered at Sihe Stronghold!"

"Report, enemy situation discovered at Dugu Stronghold!"

"Report…………"

Enemy situations were being discovered everywhere!

Of course, Nian Yao couldn't believe that the Yan had directly started a full-scale attack. No matter how arrogant the Yan were, they couldn't attack all the cities along the line.

This could only mean that there were already Yan troops on the outskirts of each military stronghold and fortress, and when the Chu inside had the intention of moving out, the Yan immediately appeared to force them back.

They didn't attack the cities,

But if the Chu came out,

They would definitely fight!

"Send the order, all military strongholds and fortresses, hold firm and do not move out, strengthen defenses!"

"Understood!"

At this time, Nian Yao would naturally not be foolish enough to forcefully transfer the troops from the various military strongholds and fortresses. Otherwise, a chaotic melee would be inevitable.

There would be engagements everywhere, and battles everywhere, with the battlefield divided into countless pieces.

This was supposed to be the tactic he had planned to use to deal with the Yan, but he never expected that the one about to be divided would actually be himself.

Fight,

How could he fight?

It would be really foolish for him to move his troops out now. The Yan could afford to pay a greater price in casualties than attacking a city!

"Report, a messenger rider from Yangshan Stronghold!"

"Bring him here!"

Nian Yao knew that the fuse of the current situation was that Yan army that had first entered the battlefield;

Even,

Nian Yao had an absurd feeling,

That looking at the signal fires that had been reported earlier,

To make such a big show, the entire Yan army had most likely been mobilized.

So,

These hundreds of thousands of Yan troops were just backing up that one Yan army?

Who exactly,

Had such a big reputation!

Who exactly,

Was worth Tian Wujing giving him such a big reputation!

It couldn't be that the Yan army that had penetrated deep into enemy territory was being led by Tian Wujing himself!

"Grand General, the Yan army in front of my stronghold is flying the 'Zheng' banner!"

"Zheng banner?"

Nian Yao was stunned for a moment,

Without thinking,

One "Zheng" character, plus this kind of treatment, he immediately knew who the Yan army belonged to!

Wasn't it that Earl of Pingye of Yan,

His own Grand Chu's imperial son-in-law!

Although there had always been rumors that the Marquis of the South of Yan, the current King of the South, valued that Zheng Fan very highly;

But Nian Yao really couldn't believe that,

He would actually do this for that Earl of Pingye!

The Yan and Chu armies combined for a total of one million troops,

Just to set up a stage for that Earl of Pingye to sing a play?

"Damn it, you treat that Zheng so well, why don't you also come and personally back him up!"

Grand General Nian couldn't help but curse.

He admired Tian Wujing and studied his tactics and strategies, which was no longer a secret in Zhennan Pass.

Therefore, precisely because of this, he was very angry at the attitude of the Jingnan King of Yan towards that Earl of Pingye!

And the deeper reason for this anger was that,

His plans, were thwarted!

And vaguely, a sense of panic was spreading.

Ten thousand cavalry, wanting to take down a heavily fortified military stronghold garrisoned by eight thousand rattan armor soldiers in one day?

He didn't believe it, he didn't believe that the Yan were really all gods descending to earth!

But the one leading the army was that Earl of Pingye who had once entered Chu alone and abducted a princess, an eccentric who had once fought thousands of miles to take Xuehai Pass and was good at creating miracles,

Nian Yao's confidence was shaken.

"Report, Grand General, Yan troops have appeared ten miles northwest of my pass!"

"How many?" Nian Yao immediately asked.

"Thirty thousand!"

Huff,

Thirty thousand,

Not many.

Daring to approach his own Zhennan Pass so brazenly.

Yes,

The garrison of Zhennan Pass was actually only sixty thousand, after all, this was a military stronghold, not a city in the traditional sense.

Even Xuehai Pass, which was larger than Zhennan Pass, had most of its residents living outside the city. The pass could not accommodate too many people.

But there were more than forty thousand elite imperial guards of the Grand Chu stationed in the military strongholds on the east and west sides of Zhennan Pass, and there was also a large camp behind Zhennan Pass.

He could understand the one Yan army going to attack Yangshan Stronghold, but thirty thousand cavalry daring to attack my Zhennan Pass!

"Damn it, does he really think that I, Nian, was scared into existence!"

"Grand General, there's also……"

"Speak."

"That army is flying the royal banner of the Jingnan King of Yan."

"……" Nian Yao.

—

Northwest of Zhennan Pass,

A rapidly approaching cavalry army stopped.

In front,

Was the mighty pass of Chu, was the military stronghold of Chu, where the most elite imperial guards of Chu were stationed.

All because of that towering figure standing in front of the army, wearing gilded armor and riding Pixiu;

As if the wind blowing from the south in the hot summer,

Had stopped here,

Still.