Volu Inferno Burns the Fortress (1/2)

Volu Inferno Burns the Fortress

<blockquote class="Quote">Duke Jing Chi of Yan of the first rank cains and was pro Emperor He was known for his bravery, ferocity, and his wholehearted loyalty Every single ti led troops into battle, Chi protected hireatly

Chi was originally a peasant and did not receive much education As a result, he was uncultured and uncouth, leading Taizong to rebuke him, “If you do not study, you will not be per this, the Duke could only consent, and focused on studying Before two years had passed, he had become crudely literate However, he had not h his leadershi+p subtly contained the art of war Taizong was left without any options

In the twenty-fourth year of Wuhile Taizong and the Prince of Li were ele over succession, Chi entered the capital under orders and was taken as an honorary disciple by Major Jiang Zhe Zhe personally taught Chi the classics, the histories, and the art of war Because of his coarse character, Chi learned little However, Zhe overtly told the Taizong Eh for hi of the art of war”

—raphy of the Duke of Yan</blockquote>

Just as the suicidal Northern Han troops arrived before the Yong coeneral suddenly tre Yong enca soldiers However, the area around the command tent was completely silent The deputy suddenly shouted, “Retreat! Retreat! It’s a trap!”

The soldiers under his co upon the deputy general Guiding his horse, the deputy was on the verge of retreating when, as if echoing his shout, unending bugle horns and drumbeats sounded frohts appeared and countless Yong horse encaht made it see enca soldiers seeht, co the Northern Han deputy and his troops Filled with anguish, the deputy general searched the Yong ar to find the one who had set such a trap

At thisformations separated and a squad of horsealloped to the front At their head was asteely whiskers like a dragon TheChi Beside him was the co Chi laughed heartily and said, “eneral’s trap! Quickly surrender! Out of consideration for your abilities, this general can spare your life!”

A wave of despair swelled up froinally, he had assumed that it was Lin Ya who had foreseen that the Northern Han ar enca Chi had feigned an injury in order to entice the ene Chi had always been known for his bravery, no one ever knew that he had such ability Indignantly, the deputy general asked, “Jing Chi, since you were not injured, could it be that you have alanted to lure us to raid your enca Chi spurred his , he answered, “I, your elder, am not so clever To speak the truth, the arrow you shot was quite fierce Your elder wasn’t on guard Fortunately, your elder’s ood and that arrow didn’t have any internal energy, allowing your elder to avoid in a timely fashi+on As to the minor injuries suffered, your elder fundamentally did not take it to heart It is youryou out of the pass when I was hit by the arrow so that you all cease learning from the tortoise’s exae of death”

Flying into a rage,¹ the deputy general shouted, “We men of Northern Han possess indomitable spirits² How can we kneel and submit? We launched this raid upon your encampment today ready to die Brothers, kill!”

Finished speaking, the deputy took the lead and charged towards the Yong formations The currentChi to take action hile horns sounded repeatedly Like a drop of water, the Northern Han troops converged upon the vast ocean, unable to cause anything more than ripples

Under the illu Chi’s face had inexhaustible killing intent and malevolence He loudly shouted, “These Northern Han people would rather die than submit Fine, your elder is not to be trifled with I want to see if your bodies can withstand my saber Behead all of them, collect all of the heads, and exhibit the Hu Pass will be able to hold out”

Hearing this, Lin Ya hesitatingly interjected, “General Jing, we shouldn’t do this Death on the battlefield is expected However, if General were to do this, it would definitely stir the resistance within the Northern Han people’s hearts”

Jing Chi furiously replied, “Could it be that if your elder’s methods are merciful, they will cease their resistance? We have taken so long and failed to capture a single Hu Pass Your elder still has to rendezvous with His Ihness, the Prince of Qi If the Northern Han army continuously harasses our advance, then your elder will have delayed military operations Who can I reason with? It’s fine if it’s only a beating But if I a books by the teacher, your elder will definitely be in a wretched state Besides, if the plan is delayed, even if your elder wants to copy books, I won’t likely have the opportunity to do so Once your elder’s head has been chopped off, will these Northern Han bastards shed tears for your elder? Listen to your elder In a while, assault the pass tonight If we cannot capture Hu Pass by too for broke After we’ve captured Hu Pass,within If His Imperial Majesty must place blame, your elder will shoulder the responsibility alone”

Seeing Jing Chi’s fiendishness, Lin Ya could only voice his assent At this moment, the Northern Han raiders had already been co Chi’s subordinate officers and soldiers had all followed hiers and difficulties³ All of them had steely hearts as they carried out their duties to chop off the heads of all the Northern Han soldiers before fastening theive the order to assault the pass Understanding that Hu Pass was at its weakest, Lin Ya followed orders Several tens of thousands of Yong troops arrived before Hu Pass The torches they brandished co Chi’s subordinates tossed the heads of the Northern Han raiders down before the walls, creating aChi cursed loudly, while the Yong aran to assault the pass

Early in theon the twenty-third day of the third month, Liu Wanli stood atop the walls bewildered Over the course of a single night, his hair and beard had becoht, when his deputy had sallied forth to raid the ene the entire garrison to stand ready Atop the walls of Hu Pass, he gazed off into the distance at the Yong encaency After his deputy had been ambushed and trapped, Liu Wanli had been able to infer the results from a distance Once the scouts who risked their lives to reconnoiter the situation returned with the details, Liu Wanli felt as if he had been coh he was chilled to the bone, he could only organize the ar ar aran to assault the pass Probably because he was experiencing inordinate despair, Liu Wanli actually found hi several thousand troops to defend the walls to the death Even when the severed heads of his dead co army, Liu Wanli’sassault was like a fierce tiger, showing the deter as they attacked without end Throughout, Liu Wanli re or drinking anything However, he still felt hiized as he utilized the previously hidden Divine Arthen Hu Pass’s defenses

The Northern Han arhting for so many days, the hatred between the enele Northern Han officer and soldier ell aware of the situation Once the Yong arh, they would not survive even if they surrendered As a result, no one in the Northern Han ar ar everyone within the pass could they dispel the rancor in their hearts As victory and defeat was a ht with all their strength No one dared to be coardless of how secure Hu Pass was, there weren’t enough troops within to defend it In addition, the Northern Han soldiers lost in the failed raid with the deputy general were all the pass’s elites As a result, even with the addition of the Divine Ar as night fell on the twenty-third day

Standing atop the walls, Liu Wanli’s entire body was stained red with blood He felt deep remorse At the very least, the failed raid had pushed forward the date of Hu Pass’s fall by three days At this retted that he had ordered the raid out of selfish e the tide of the entire war for Northern Han Liu Wanli naturally understood the threat posed if Jing Chi were allowed to penetrate deep into Northern Han territory

As night deepened, the Yong ar his instincts, Liu Wanli directed the defense However, after defending for a night and a day, the Hu Pass garrison was ready to collapse As for the Divine Ared and unusable Liu Wanli already clearly understood that the pass would fall the next day Just earlier, thethe defense had coness to surrender and hoping to open the gates The levy was ultined to supervise the spirit of the soldiers and commoners within the pass had fallen apart Liu Wanli understood that it was impossible to hold Hu Pass Froures of his wife and beloved son appeared Liu Wanli suddenly felt endless exhaustion rush into his mind

On the twenty-fourth day of the thirdsun rose, Lin Ya personally directed an energetic unit of the Yong ararrison had finally and utterly collapsed under the Yong ared to charge onto the blood-soaked walls of Hu Pass When the Yong troops opened the gates, Jing Chi took the lead and charged into the pass at the head of his cavalry Following his orders, Jing Chi’s bodyguards scattered in all directions to issue the order, “The obstinacy of Hu Pass’s garrison commander has inflicted serious losses upon our ar has ordered that the entire population—soldier and commoner—of the pass be massacred! This order cannot be delayed!”

This order that reeked with blood gave the Yong arnation after days of brutal fighting Ah the entirety of the pass, creating sanguine rivulets As the Yong army mounted the walls, Liu Wanli becaarrison to scatter and flee on their own, and to commit arson as they retreated to block the enealloped quickly back to his residence The entire journey, he watched as the retreating Northern Han troops set blazes everywhere All of the soldiers had heard the Yong orders to massacre everyone within the pass and so were prepared to die to delay the enemy Even if they died, they could not allow Hu Pass to fall into the ene The Northern Han arhly destroyed this pass that had stood for centuries

However, Liu Wanli had no time to consider the consequences of his order, focused on spurring his horse to gallop back to his residence Arriving, he tossed the reins to one of his bodyguards before rushi+ng inside his residence without acknowledging anyone His family maids had already scattered in every direction The only ones who re their beloved son with a look of distress on her face Seeing Liu Wanli arrive, she let out a cry of sorrow As for Liu Huai, he shouted loudly, “Daddy, so aze and looked at the bloody state that he was in Revealing a faint wry suards at his side, “You are all ood brothers Now that I have been defeated and have no honor to flee, there is only one matter that I want to ask of you I wonder if all of you are willing to accept”

The head of the bodyguards was named Liu Jun and was formerly a servant who had attended to Liu Wanli since childhood Kneeling down and shedding tears, he replied, “My Lord, please instruct us”

Pointing at Liu Huai, Liu Wanli stated, “I have spent halfEscort the e with e me With the two countries at war, deaths are inevitable I only hope that once the world is unified, this child can peacefully live a bucolic existence,this, Liu Jun unsheathed his saber and used it to cut off the pinky finger of his left hand, sole, “My Lord, do not worry Even if Jun losess abjectly to life, then letin rieved, Liu Wanli bowed fro as you all do your best, if Huai’er meets with misfortune, then it is his fate to meet his end amidst the chaos of war”

How could Liu Jun and company accept their lord’s courtesy? They promptly stepped aside At this moment, Liu Wanli looked to his wife and said, “Wife, due to o with Liu Jun and take good care of our son There is no need to re tears in her eyes, Lady Liu inquired, “Then what about you, General?”

Liu Wanli dejectedly fell into a chair and responded, “Staying here on royal orders to defend Hu Pass At present, the officers and soldiers of the ar out an ignoble existence?”