The explosions continued to beat with the rhythm of the music, as if following a precise cadence.
Mixed with the ear-piercing shriek of things being torn apart, the very earth seemed to shake. Scorching flames licked everywhere, ground-hugging tendrils of fire singeing the nearest objects. A strange, pungent odor filled the air, and thick smoke billowed, choking people until their eyes streamed and breathing became a struggle.
The chaotic Shu army…
Like headless flies, they ran about, shouting and screaming, their cries of terror piercing the sky.
Liu Bei witnessed all of this.
Thunder from a clear sky? Thunder? Was it thunder?
The terrifying part…
Faced with what was about to happen, neither Liu Bei nor any other generals of the Shu army had any way to cope. They could only endure, being beaten passively. Who knew when they too would be torn to shreds in those explosions?
The thick smoke from the explosions made it hard to breathe. Some Shu soldiers were killed by the blasts, but more were struck down by flying debris, falling to the ground. No one helped them up. Many, driven by fear, trampled over them, and those who died from being trampled far outnumbered those killed by the explosions.
The explosions, moving from distant to near, drew closer and closer to the main camp…
The massive plumes of smoke caused the tens of thousands of Shu soldiers fleeing through the area to cough desperately.
They had lost all sense of direction, crashing into each other. Once they fell, they were trampled by countless feet, eventually losing consciousness from the sheer volume of injuries.
“Run away…”
“Escape to the east…”
“The eastern camp gate is under bombardment!”
The interconnected camps stretched for a hundred li, with the stockades of these camps serving as obstacles, becoming natural barriers that trapped and killed the fleeing Shu soldiers.
“The west camp gate, the west camp gate hasn’t been hit yet!”
A voice called out from within the crowd…
Immediately, countless Shu soldiers who had narrowly survived began to retreat towards the west camp gate.
Having finally arrived, they found that the camp gate was too small to allow so many people to escape.
Just then…
“Boom…”
Several consecutive explosions rang out in the area. Following them, the thousands of Shu soldiers crowded at the west camp gate could no longer advance.
They fell in pools of blood, fallen in the thick smoke. Their bodies piled up, forming a wall that was even more impossible to scale.
Liu Bei’s body trembled violently. His throat bobbed. His nearby guards were no longer paying him any attention…
Even the military officers had begun to flee for their own lives.
The explosions continued for a long time. The fires raged everywhere. The entire hundred-li Shu army camp burned fiercely. One camp after another turned into balls of flame. Everywhere, the crackling sound of burning could be heard. The camp, stretching for a hundred li, housing two hundred and fifty thousand men, was gone just like that!
Liu Bei clearly saw…
Wu Lan, Zhang Yi, and Deng Zhi, who had been by his side moments ago, encountered an explosion during their escape…
The powerful trio were sent flying through the air. In the night sky, only a faint mist of blood could be seen. Liu Bei instinctively looked down at the ground, but where were the people who had fallen?
Only… severed limbs…
Even these severed limbs were incomplete.
Terrible…
It was too terrible. Without exaggeration, after thirty years of military service, Liu Bei was currently experiencing the most terrifying moment of his life.
And it was at this very moment that he once again felt… despair in the midst of hope!
It was like… like facing Cao Yu time and time again, being defeated by him each time!…
…
In Yiling City… atop the city wall.
Lu Xun, Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Zhou Tai, Ling Tong, Gan Ning, and others stood there, witnessing all that was happening before them.
Zhou Tai’s expression was completely frozen. He felt… even if he had thirteen lives, he probably couldn’t withstand these explosions, these fire dragons that followed the explosions!
Gan Ning and Ling Tong were also dumbfounded.
They realized that in the face of landmines, what use were the strongest martial arts or the greatest courage? The times had changed, and warfare had fundamentally changed from this moment on!
“Boyan, is this what you’ve been patiently enduring and waiting for?”
Zhou Yu gazed at the hundred li of burning Shu army camps before him, listening to the all-encompassing sound of explosions, and felt his heart tremble repeatedly. “If future wars are fought like this, then what need is there for troop deployment and strategy? What need is there for planning and calculating? Cannons are set up, soldiers wield firearms, flying units throw incendiaries, and there are landmines underground. This kind of warfare is too easy. All schemes and tricks are like paper tigers in the face of these.”
Zhou Yu felt a profound emotion. He felt he should retire. He had wrongly styled himself as the strategist of Great Wei, a member of Great Wei’s intelligence bureau and its grand establishment.
His strategies were no longer of much use.
“Why must Commander Zhou belittle himself?” Lu Xun advised. “No matter how strong the landmines, cannons, and firearms are, the ones operating them are still people… people like you and me…”
“Perhaps our planning and calculations can no longer achieve the effect of destroying enemy fleets with a casual chat as before, but our presence can maximize the power of these cannons and landmines… Just like this time, if not for Commander Zhou’s scorched earth policy, if not for the generals digging holes to hide the landmines within, if not for the diversion in Yiling… if not for our faith in His Majesty, how could Liu Bei have reached this position? How could he have faced such despair?”
A sigh…
Lu Xun’s words brought much emotion to Zhou Yu.
He nodded his head. “You have a point. People say that circumstances create heroes. Perhaps… as the times progress, we too cannot remain stagnant. We must continuously learn, learn the most advanced weapons, the most advanced tactics. Fortunately… these all belong to His Majesty, and the glory belongs to Great Wei!”
“A single punch can keep a hundred punches away,” Lu Xun sighed again. “With this battle, with Liu Bei defeated… will the world be unified?”
“Haha…” Zhou Yu chuckled. “It’s getting closer, very close!”
…
…
The explosions continued for an entire night.
With such fires and such smoke, they could not be extinguished. The hundred-li Shu army camp… the wooden tents, undoubtedly became Great Wei’s most formidable weapon.
The “trebuchets” originally used for siege warfare had now been burned to ashes.
The entire Shu army camp was still emitting thick smoke… Fortunately, by dawn, the explosions had ceased. This nightmarish night had finally passed. However… of the surviving Shu soldiers, not one in ten remained.
Everywhere were ruins, everywhere were shattered bodies, everywhere were torn limbs… The survivors were mostly wounded, their bodies struck by wooden fragments from fire arrows, bleeding profusely.
The hundred-li camp had now become a living hell.
The few who had survived still had lingering fears. The scenes of that night were truly terrifying. Liu Bei had crawled out of a well… The escape skills he had honed over many years allowed him to keenly sense that in the midst of the explosions… water was the safest place.
However… as soon as Liu Bei jumped into the well, countless Shu soldiers followed him down…
Evidently, everyone knew that at times like these… following “Liu the Runner” offered a greater chance of survival.
The few wells that existed were overcrowded that night.
“Your Majesty…”
In the dawn light, Zhang Bao and Guan Xing finally found Liu Bei amidst the chaos. They pulled Liu Bei out of the well.
Behind them were dozens of men… this was all the remaining troops they could gather.
“How… how is it?”
Liu Bei, soaked through, felt a chill run through his body as the sudden cold wind blew…
Yet, he still cared about the Shu army. These were two hundred and fifty thousand men… two hundred and fifty thousand lives… troops painstakingly accumulated over five years!
However…
The response he received was silence.
“Hoo… hoo…”
Liu Bei gasped for breath repeatedly, looking around. He realized that the losses might be even greater than he had imagined.
“All gone… is it all gone?”
“Your Majesty, the most pressing matter is to retreat to Ba… Shu! There is still Prime Minister Zhuge Liang there… and…” Guan Xing’s comfort seemed weak and ineffectual at this moment.
The loss of two hundred and fifty thousand men… retreating to Ba Shu? What could Ba Shu do? With such a defeat, the morale of the army was low. Could they still resist the mighty army of Great Wei?
“Are there… horses?” Liu Bei asked urgently.
His powerful survival instinct made him desperately want to leave this troublesome place.
“Yes!” Zhang Bao ordered men to bring horses. “There are only these few dozens…”
Liu Bei saw his Red Hare horse; it was… it was still there.
For a moment, Liu Bei was lost in thought. He felt that over his lifetime, riding Red Hare, he had fled like a stray dog countless times. But among these countless times, undoubtedly… this was the most humiliating.
“In the Battle of Gaixia back then, Xiang Yu led eight hundred cavalry to break out. By the time they reached Wujiang, only twenty-eight remained. I never expected that today… I… I am even more miserable than him!”
Before he finished speaking…
With a “puff,” Liu Bei spat out a mouthful of blood.
Just then…
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty, it’s bad!”
A scout hurried over. “The Wei army is all around us! They are charging towards us…”
“Your Majesty…” Zhang Bao quickly helped Liu Bei up and ordered those around him, “Quickly help His Majesty onto a horse… Let’s… let’s leave this troublesome place first.”
Clop clop clop…
The neighing of horses echoed through the sky…
Ten horses, twenty horses, thirty horses… a total of thirty-eight horses!
This meant that only thirty-eight people still held a sliver of hope… hope of escaping.
Da da da…
The sound of hooves grew louder…
Liu Bei and his entourage fled west like madmen!
They intended to retreat to Baidi City.
However, along the route to Baidi City, Great Wei had already stationed countless troops.
Could they… could they still make it back?
…
…
The entrance to Yinping Road.
This was the fifth time Guo Jia had come here in half a month…
“Still no news?”
“No…”
“How many days has it been?”
“Seventeen days!”
Guo Jia quickly asked a校事 (xiao shi, a minor official). Hearing the number seventeen, Guo Jia’s heart couldn’t help but tighten. Because the special forces unit that had crossed Yinping only carried fifteen days’ worth of provisions…
Seventeen days, could they… could they still hold on?
Speaking of which… seventeen days ago, Zhuge Liang had focused his attention on Jiameng Pass, and Chengdu was placed under the command of Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong…
After receiving this news, and at Lu Yu’s suggestion, Guo Jia boldly deployed the special forces unit, initiating the plan to “cross Yinping and directly seize Shu Han.”
Of course, Guo Jia did not participate. He knew his own frail body too well. He feared that participating in this plan would be a burden to the special forces unit…
Fortunately, after five years of training, Jiang Wei, who had emerged from the special forces unit, reassured him.
Guo Jia clearly remembered handing his wine gourd from his waist to Jiang Wei, saying, “This operation, it’s all (wine) in your hands!”
Guo Jia also clearly remembered Jiang Wei tucking away the wine gourd and saying, “Carry on the legacy, do not fail His Majesty, bring glory to Wei!”
A sigh…
Thinking of this, Guo Jia let out a long sigh…
Gazing at Yinping Road…
Motian Ridge… Seventeen days, he wondered if they had already crossed that Motian Ridge?
…
Motian Ridge.
As Lu Yu had said, to the south of here was an impassable cliff face…
The western slope north of the ridge was gentler, the only area traversable.
Although gentler, the humidity unique to Ba Shu was exceptionally severe. After a few days, many soldiers in the Wei special forces unit’s skin had begun to fester, causing unbearable itching.
Even more terrifying was that their rations were running out.
Of course, these were not the main problems.
After five years of training, the over two hundred members of the special forces unit had extensive experience in marching in the wild. Moreover, the forest contained all sorts of edible ingredients…
Yesterday they ate “elk,” today they ate “mountain goat.” To avoid exposing their tracks, they did not use fire to roast, but chose to eat them raw!
To become a member of the special forces unit, the first thing trained was a stomach as hard as steel, impervious to all poisons.
Compared to these, the truly difficult part was moving through the dense forest and ravines. It is said that climbing a mountain is easy, but descending is difficult. The forest was full of small paths, but in reality, these paths were like impassable chasms. Even the special forces unit was exhausted from descending. The grand pronouncements and ambitions of “crossing Yinping and directly seizing Shu Han” when they first entered Yinping Road had already been halved.
Difficult… this mission was too difficult!
Now, after seventeen days of marching, the more than two hundred men were in a sorry state, looking as if they had crawled out of mud. Over thirty of the two hundred men had fallen. Some had been poisoned, some by miasma, some in swamps, and others… had fallen off cliffs.
Motian Ridge was not so easily crossed.
Only Jiang Wei… he was the one with the most faith and confidence among them all.
But seeing his brothers’ morale gradually decline, Jiang Wei could only offer false hope.
“Otu is right here. Once we cross this mountain ahead, we will reach Chengdu!”
Jiang Wei knew that here, he was not only fighting against heaven, but also against the earth, against these mountains, against the sudden illnesses, and against the never-satisfied demand for rations and water.
As he spoke these words… Jiang Wei looked at the soldiers, and the soldiers looked back at him.
The look in their eyes was no longer one of admiration and affection, but more of numbness.
Liar…
Jiang Wei had said this countless times. “Cross this mountain, and we reach Chengdu” – what nonsense!
Because of this sentence, they had already crossed countless mountain peaks.
A sigh…
There was no other way. Jiang Wei had no choice but to appeal to their emotions.
“Brothers, alright, I’ll tell the truth this time. Even after crossing this mountain, it might not necessarily be Chengdu. Who knows how far Chengdu is from here!”
Uh…
As these words left his mouth.
All the soldiers of the special forces unit looked up. Finally, he was telling the truth. How novel!
“Ahem…”
Jiang Wei coughed lightly. His gaze sharpened, and his expression turned serious. “Brothers, have you all forgotten? How did you pass the rigorous selection process to join the special forces camp? Have you forgotten how His Majesty personally wrote your names on your waist tags on the day you joined the special forces camp? Have you forgotten the oath our special forces camp swore!”
An oath?
The crowd was startled, and they remembered.
That oath… was that the special forces camp would become the number one unit of Great Wei!
It would be a unit surpassing the existence of the Dragon Soaring Camp.
They would rely on their status as members of the special forces camp to attain wealth and honor, to bring glory to their families…
Of course, if possible, they would also marry ten or eight beautiful young ladies as concubines!
Even… like the Emperor of Great Wei,
Experiencing different colors every night! Being a groom every night!
.
Milk Candy Candy Candy reminds you: Please remember to collect after reading.