Voluement on the Qin River (1/2)

Volue Dynastic Records</e</blockquote>

On the twenty-seventh day of the second , the southernyuan¹ Fortress, wasborders had been sealed off for the entire winter Even the most skilled and efficient scouts did not have any way of trans any inforive up its designs upon Northern Han and ould soon start

An isolated, single fortress stood tall and upright atop a small hill Below the hill the Qin River flowed south Every spring, the water level of the river rose with thethe river needed to be on guard for the flooding of the Qin River However, the water level was not that high this year and should not serve as an ientle The lands were fertile, with a dozen or yuan Fortress was the base for the Northern Han army and was the most forward position in Qinzhou Fifty li from the fortress was the seat of Jishi+ County² Along the Qin River were a series of fortresses and strongholds, easy to defend and difficult to attack Anze,³ Qingyuan,⁴ and Qinzhou were the ic defenses

A squad of Northern Han soldiers stood on the battle the activity to the south Since the end of the year, their superiors had issued orders coainst the i’s army As a result, none of them dared to relax Probably because he was a bit exhausted, one of the soldiers turned his head and was about to complain to one of his comrades However, as he turned his turned to the side, he noticed that his co forward stupefied The soldier unconsciously turned his head back around An azure and black line had appeared on the horizon In only an instant, the line thickened Although it was far off in the distance, this soldier could already see Great Yong’s banners in his vision In a hoarse voice, the soldier shouted, “Quickly raise the alarm!”

The somewhat dazed soldier ca the bell to raise the alarhout the fortress Countless soldiers in trim uniforms spewed forth from each of the barracks An officer in the uniforeneral rushed up to the battleer, he asked, “Why haven’t the scouts we sent out returned? Quickly light the warning beacon”

One of his bodyguards hurriedly rushed to the highest point of the fortress and lit the warning beacon The billoarning smoke directly ascended up into the blue sky

Since the twenty-second year of Great Yong’s Wuwei era, this was the first ti’s army had advanced into Northern Han territory A war to determine the fate of Northern Han was about to erupt …

The advance guard co’s advance and one of the Prince of Qi’s trusted lieutenants, Xia Ning, could not help bursting into loud laughter upon seeing the distant warning s his whip, he pointed forward and said, “Even if they have discovered our troops, what of it? Can a tiny Lingyuan Fortress stop our advance? Listen up! We’ll take Lingyuan in one stroke! As His Ihness orders, raze the fields!”

Finished speaking, the general took the lead and charged forward The Yong soldiers, wearing azure and black ar forward

Even if Lingyuan Fortress vigorously resisted, it would be i army’s advance In noar the fortress on all sides, no Northern Han soldier escaped unscathed Froyuan Fortress was a forward outpost to observe ene aryuan Fortress As a result, all of the soldiers garrisoned here were all ready to face death In addition, with their ca ararrison to surrender Under the iron hooves of the Yong aryuan Fortress had fallen, Xia Ning issued the order to have its gates and defenses razed Then the arhout the countryside This ti that no enemies be left behind in occupied territory All of the nearby villages and ha males had enlisted in the hty and valiant Even women, children, and the elderly would wield weapons to attack the Yong troops As a result, once Xia Ning’s order was issued, the elite horsees and military fortifications All of those fortunate to survive were forced to flee towards Duanshi+⁵ and Anze Great Yong’s light cavalry did not charge ahead recklessly, instead advancing at a steady pace Everywhere they passed, they left behind razed villages and abandoned far that let the Northern Han people rejoice was that the Yong army did not massacre civilians, under orders fro as the civilians did not resist, not only would they be able to preserve their lives, they could even take soo north Aside froo

Along the shore of the Qin River, a group of woed clothes helped each other as they made the difficult journey north There were only a feorn out carts in their procession, carrying what little food supplies these refugees had Some of the children and elderly too exhausted to walk on their oere also on the carts All of theht expressions on their faces Because they were the weakest and ees, they had been left far behind by all others fleeing In addition, countless units of Yong cavalry had passed theo nueneral who had driven them from their homes had made it clear that if they did not reach Duanshi+ by the tenth day of the third month, they would be treated as Northern Han spies and executed

A bitingly cold spring breeze blew forth fro all of these woether for war With their future unclear and faced with the possibility of being executed by the Yong army, many of the elderly within the procession had cried to the point of shedding tears of blood

Who would have thought the Yong ar arle offense against the villages they passed by But now, all of the villages were razed without exception Several of the elderly privately discussed, finding this unsurprising The for ar, Li Zhi, while the commander this time was the Prince of Qi, Li Xian Everyone knew of Li Zhi’s nanimity and Li Xian’s ruthlessness

The eyes of one the young children who sat upon the cart inadvertently glanced towards the river In surprise, he pointed at the river and cried out, “Grandfather, there are big shi+ps over there!” The elderly man who stumbled to the cart’s side looked up and was also astonished

At the center of the river wereupriver One of thee tower shi+p On the prow of the shi+p was a large banner with the character, “Jiang” The amount of armored soldiers on the deck numbered as many as the trees within a forest This shi+p was surrounded and escorted by twenty warshi+ps Behind the army’s supplies

The elderlythe fast shi+ps of the Yong arhtly arer had the strength to continue their flight The last ti had invaded Northern Han, its navy was not used This ti presumably was deter see aboard the tower shi+p Several of the older children with good eyesight could see three individuals walk out of a cabin on the deck of the shi+p One of the three walked to the bow and stood at the prow of the tower shi+p Holding onto the railing, this azed towards the shore He was dressed in simple, unadorned robes and had an azure cloak wrapped around hireat to see his appearance However, fro Apart froht could only see a pair of lih the distance between thely able to see into their souls,all of them feel an indescribable chill

Within the procession, conteed peasant when he caught sight of the tower shi+p However, he i his dejected and fretting de, which had been carelessly bandaged He had probably suffered an injury to his leg No wonder he had fallen behind

Just then, everyone heard the sound of hoofbeats froh the sound wasn’t too loud, the vibrations of the ground were enough to ees panic Several peasants picked up their hoes and sickles, prepared to do everything to protect their fain the slaughter

A sroup of no ees At their head was a female coh she wore aruish her rank, this woman was at the pinnacle of beauty, which st women She had a black cloak tied around her shoulders and a sword cinched at her waist On her back was a crossbow The soldiers behind her were sih they were equipped with crossbows, each of them carried different primary weapons

When the horsehtly surround the refugees One of the horse around here? Don’t you kno strict military orders are? Once tomorrow passes, if you cannot reach Jishi+, the time of your deaths will arrive” The voice of the horse It seemed like this horseman was also female

One of the elderly stumbled forward and responded, “My Lord, all of us here are elderly, woress has been delayed Please treat us leniently”

The horsewoman turned her head to look at the female coees one by one, her gaze as cold and piercing as ice All of those caught in her gaze felt as if they were enveloped by the shadow of death The woed peasant, aher whip and pointing, she said, “You, coedforward The female commander’s eyes remained fixed upon him When he reached the front of her horse, she callously asked, “You are an agent under Xiao Tong, correct?”

Seeed man see, only trying to explain in a panic, “This lowly one isn’t a spy I’ was injured in a fall, I was left behind by hed hu, am a professional spy How are you able to hide fro, the whip in her hand lashed out like a viper towards the ed peasant’s throat A look flashed across theout a blood-curdling screa his eyes As he expected, the whip pulled back upon touching his skin The ed peasant was soaked with sweat and collapsed to the ground, scared witless

Looking down from her mounted position, the wo while before turning her head to say, “Request permission from the Army Supervisor daren to board his shi+p”

The horsewoman who had spoken first took out an iron whistle She blew on it several times, directed at the center of the river The whistles reverberated through the air In a short while, a fast boat rowed rapidly towards the shore While Su Qing guided her horse to the shore, her subordinates also left, following the river north In contrast, the horsewoees

The h of relief Just as he was about to rise to his feet, he felt an ice-cold and sharp, strange object pierce his throat As he struggled to raise his head, he saw the horsewo at him heartlessly Fury and bewilder, Su Qing walked towards the riverbank Her face was as cal on behind her even though the refugees could not stifle their apprehension It was only when the young wo spoke indifferently, “Ruyue, it is better to mistakenly kill then to allow any to escape You did very well”

The young woman saluted fro miss’s co threw her

Su Qing leapt froer Guard dressed in pure black arwell?”

The Stalwart Tiger Guard answered with a s by boat and is well General Su, presuence? on the deck of the tower shi+p, I serenely gazed at the refugees on land Although the spring breeze was bitingly cold, it was unable to penetrate the heavy cloak I wore Although ere only separated by five hundred paces,⁶ our fates were coh-ranking official froees whose lives orth nothing Living in this chaotic age, having conan to this austere and freezing north, I had witnessed these scenes quite frequently Even if Great Yong flourished, it was i, let alone the fact that ere noar-ravaged Northern Han Seeing that the ees were the elderly, sick, and as enough for me to understand the predica softly, I turned aze forward The plan I had personally formulated must not be cast to the wayside If these people could not escape to Jishi+, then they could only face death Since I had already pushed thee of the abyss, what point was there for me to feel cheap sympathy to cover the sins of my decisions? It was best that the pity withinunified the world, I would not have to witness these tragic scenes in the future