My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 643: Carrying a heavy load, the war is coming

As night fell, torches lit up across the plains north of Mondogo.

The dim firelight in the man's hand illuminated the ground and everything within a few steps around. There was scarlet blood everywhere, and the dying warhorse was spitting blood foam.

Extending in all directions, there were densely packed corpses. Occasionally, you could see two corpses entangled together, with weapons inserted into each other's bodies and then dying.

The Qingzhou soldiers who came over dragged one of them out, pulled the knife out of the corpse, and closed his eyes.

In the darkness of the night, flocks of crows flew down from the branches and pecked at the scraps of meat on the ground.

A corpse nearby moved slightly and stood up shakily. This soldier of the Glorious Legion had lost one eye and had been stabbed in the chest.

He looked around with his only remaining eye, and saw several people holding torches walking towards him.

The soldier of the Glorious Legion turned around hastily, staggered over the broken corpses on the ground, took a few steps, slipped, and fell heavily into a pool of blood.

Then footsteps were heard approaching. The soldier tried to turn his head away and muttered something, as if begging for mercy.

The figure who was walking towards him was tall, wearing two pieces of armor, with his face stained with blood under his messy hair. He raised a ring-handled knife in his hand that was stained with minced meat and hair.

puff!
Before the soldier could utter his last cry, his head was chopped off by a knife, and blood spurted out from the broken neck instantly.

After the ears of the head fell to the ground and were cut off, it was kicked away with a bang. The Qingzhou soldier spat on the corpse, put the ears into the bag around his waist, and continued his patrol with a torch in hand.

The Yuezhou soldiers who were collecting their armor were busy all the time. Although the war was over, they might not have to advance quickly tomorrow. They could only clean up the battlefield overnight, take off the armor of the barbarian soldiers, and send them to the craftsmen's camp to be melted down and used to make arrowheads or various weapons.

Going north along the plain, there were fewer bloodstains and corpses. Su Chen changed to a war horse and led the Shenji Camp with Dian Wei and Liu Sheng. After walking about fifteen miles, they saw more than five hundred people resting at the edge of the woods. In addition to the Wolf Riders, there were also cavalry from the Julu Lie and Qiexue armies.

The attack on the Judgment Legion had stopped, and the cavalrymen who were injured or whose horses were injured were left here by Lu Bu, Subutai, and Xiang Yu to treat their injuries.

Around the lit campfire, everyone roasted dry food and drank it with the clean water in the water bags. Some people saw the approaching team, and when they saw Su Chen, the soldiers with lighter injuries stood up one after another.

"No need to salute."

Su Chen glanced at the soldiers whose bodies were covered in blood and whose faces were stained with dirt, then looked at the baked dry food in their hands and pursed his lips.

Many people knew that the army was short of food. Even the emperor only had two meals a day, which were dry food and porridge.

Only before a war would some dried meat from horses, sheep and cattle be distributed. Most of these were war horses that were injured and could no longer be used, and looted livestock.

Along the way, all the edible food in the nearby villages and towns had been looted as food, and was distributed uniformly by Xiahou Dun, the general manager of the rear camp.

"Where is your general?"

Su Chen calmed himself down. Only after King Arthur was truly defeated and this world was taken over could the food and fodder problem be completely solved.

Perhaps because they saw the emperor staring at the blackened dry food in their hands, everyone quickly turned their attention away and one of them quickly took over the conversation.

"Your Majesty, I am a cavalryman under Marquis Wen. My horse was injured and can no longer fight, so I am asked to wait here with the wounded soldiers for the main force in the rear."

Su Chen nodded and said, "Let's continue to rest." After he finished speaking, he turned and left, returning to the front of the other party, and called Liu Sheng.

"Tell the brothers to share half of their rations. We can't let them fight the worst battle and still not have enough to eat."

As he said that, Su Chen also handed his share of dry food from his waist to Liu Sheng. When the soldiers of the Shenji Camp and the Huwei Camp saw that the emperor had taken all of it, they also took out dry food buns from the pouches on their waists, counted out a few, and handed them over one by one.

Some people even took most of it and only left one or two pancakes for themselves.

After being glared at by Liu Sheng, the soldier said with a smile: "We are the emperor's guards, and we seldom fight. We still have our strength reserved, so we are not very hungry. Those brothers in front fought hard and ate a lot. We are all comrades, can we just watch them starve?!"

The cavalrymen over there naturally heard these words. Most of the soldiers were rough and heroic, so they did not refuse. They took all the cakes and distributed them to other wounded soldiers.

"Thank you, brothers from the Tiger Guard Battalion and the Divine Machine Battalion!"

"Hahaha! You're so polite! When we get back, please treat us to a drink in Yanjing!"

The soldiers on both sides chatted and laughed lively for a while, and then the team continued to move north. In the night, the sound of fighting could be heard from the distance from time to time.

However, the sound was not loud. It should be that Lu Bu and his two cavalrymen were still chasing the scattered soldiers of the Judgment Legion.

After walking for about five miles, the team stopped in front of a hillside. Su Chen took off the phoenix-wing helmet on his head and tucked it under his armpit. After getting off the horse, he walked up the hillside next to him, dragging his cloak, and looked down to the north.

The mount under him was still grazing on the tender grass nearby with its head down. Even Dian Wei's giant elephant was leisurely chewing leaves from the treetops with its long trunk in the torchlight.

Dian Wei, wearing a ferocious black iron armor and carrying two iron halberds, stood behind Su Chen, while the Shenji Camp, led by Liu Sheng, was deployed at the bottom of the hillside.

Soon, a black warhorse came galloping from the night in the north.

"Your Majesty, how come there are still some weeds here that haven't been cleared away?" Wuzhui rushed up the hillside, Xiang Yu stabbed the city-breaking halberd into the ground with a bang, turned over and dismounted and walked over.

Afterwards, he untied the water bag from his waist, unscrewed it and took a sip.

While Xiang Yu was explaining outside the hall, he patted Su Chen's arm twice, and asked him about the battle situation.

"King Xiang, what's going on ahead?"

"Han Xin has them all under his control. Lü Bu and Subutai are still chasing us. I fought with the enemy's main general once, but unfortunately he escaped."

Xiang Yu took another sip of water and looked towards the north. He looked a little unhappy. After all, it was really hard to accept that he had escaped from his hands.

"The commander is very strange?"

"Strange, once the opponent uses a secret technique, the attack will be frustrated, as if there is no way to attack him."

Soon, Lü Bu heard that the emperor had come to the front line, and he led a few wolf riders back. He dismounted and went up the hillside, and then he found that there was another person following him. He was wearing a two-headed beast-faced armor, without an iron helmet, with messy hair hanging on his shoulders, and his eyebrows were like swords inserted into his temples. His whole demeanor was somewhat similar to Lü Bu.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Lu Bu led the general over to pay his respects, then patted him on the back and asked him to take two steps forward. "This is Li Cunxiao. He chased and killed two barbarian generals by himself. This is quite the style of our family back then!"

Su Chen's gaze fell on the heroic-looking general in front of him. He had often heard before that the king was inferior to Xiang and the general was inferior to Li. He had already seen Xiang Yu, who was standing beside him, and now Li Cunxiao had finally come.

Although he no longer had the excitement of seeing various famous generals and ministers appear, Su Chen still gave everyone the greatest respect.

Thinking of this, he raised his hands towards Li Cunxiao opposite him.

"General Feihu, as soon as you arrive, I will let you charge into the enemy camp alone. When the battle is over, I will offer you wine to apologize."

The general on the opposite side had never seen Su Chen before. He also looked at him carefully at this moment, and then slowly raised his hand: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for making a fool of myself. I... acted on my own impulse."

Su Chen greeted Li Cunxiao with a friendly face and talked for a while. He briefly told the other party about the things happening here, and then asked Xiang Yu and Lu Bu about the war ahead.

"Subutai's Keshig cavalry has already joined the Mongolian light cavalry, and is working with Yang Ye, An Lushan and Anuhu who came from the north, and the Satsuma Emperor to sweep the right wing of the Judgment Corps."

At this point, Lu Bu leaned heavily on his painted halberd and said, "It's a pity that the barbarian commander escaped."

Li Cunxiao narrowed his eyes and sneered, "No matter whether he dies or not, we have won the battle anyway. As for the rest, we can just march directly to their city. When I led 18 riders to march directly to Chang'an, I was never afraid of the enemy's large number of soldiers and generals. They are just a bunch of rabble!"

"Well said, Chinese men should be full of passion." Xiang Yu put his hands behind his back, his cloak fluttering in the breeze, the King of Western Chu had a heroic air: "After this defeat of the barbarians, it may be difficult to raise their morale. Now is the best time to advance."

In a heroic voice, Su Chen nodded in agreement: "...It is indeed the best time."

This is how Xiang Yu fought in those days. After defeating the enemy along one route, he would immediately change course and rush to other battlefields, constantly using his fast force to defeat the slow one. His battles were so dazzling.

"But we should let the soldiers rest for two days and reorganize the troops before we go out to fight."

Su Chen looked at the wilderness. Spots of fire were still wandering in the distance. Fighting and screaming were still coming from all directions in the night. The war in the plains and hills in the north of Mondogo had come to an end. The previous Judgment Corps had not had time to enter the battlefield in the afternoon before it was defeated by its own fleeing soldiers and the three Daxia cavalry that marched like the wind.

As they fled northward across the mountains and plains, the news was also transmitted to the northern Nongma territory. The Holy Light Legion and the Holy War Legion, a total of four legions with more than 52,000 people stationed on the border, received the news in the second half of the night.

I have long had a deep impression of these troops from the East. They are powerful, their cavalry come and go like the wind, and their combat objectives are very clear.

After the previous battles, they now have strong confidence that they can defeat this army.

But when the news came, the Holy Light Knight Percival and the Holy War Knight Gaheris were somewhat surprised. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the two contacted each other and immediately sent troops to reinforce. After crossing the border, they entered the territory of Mondogo within five miles.

In the dark blue of the early morning, many fleeing figures can be seen gradually appearing in the field of vision.

Afterwards, more and more of them, from one or two fleeing soldiers running alone, gradually turned into small groups of three or two, and then an organized group of soldiers of the Judgment Legion were seen fleeing from the south.

His armor and shield were covered with various scratches from swords and axes, and he looked extremely dishevelled, which showed what a fierce battle they had been through.

"Gather these defeated soldiers immediately. Send someone to find Lancelot!"

Percival personally came to the front line to inspect it. When more and more defeated soldiers began to appear, he sent out almost all the scouts and messengers.

The Crusader Knight Gaheris on the left wing also issued the same order.

"Old General, over there, the barbarians—"

A loud voice rang out from the southeast. Gaheris, who was receiving the fleeing soldiers, suddenly turned his head to look southeast. In front of him were torches, illuminating the darkness and rushing forward from afar.

An old general with a white beard, holding a purple gold knife in one hand and a severed head in the other, raised the blade on horseback and threw the head, which was still dripping with blood, to the ground.

"kill!"

As he finished speaking, the old general brandished his sword and rode his horse, leading a nearby group of Mongolian cavalry and charging directly towards the barbarian army over there.

An Lushan, Anuhu, Adal, and Budares led their respective armies and followed the veteran general, charging towards the Jihad Legion.

This is another torrent-like collision.

……

It was already late at night, and the team, after inspecting the front line, returned to the plains north of Mondogo, where a simple camp had been set up.

The soldiers of various armies, who had been working hard all night, were still in the joy of victory. However, as the night deepened, fatigue swept over them. Many of them put down their weapons, sat down near the campfire, and then fell asleep.

"Let the Tiger Guard Battalion and the Divine Machine Battalion take over the defense of the camp."

Su Chen looked at the soldiers lying on the ground, turned around to give orders to Dian Wei, and then took Wu Zixun back to the central army.

Before entering the general's tent, loud snoring could be heard from inside the tent.

Su Chen drew aside the curtain, and in the light of the oil lamp standing on the desk, most of the generals in the army were either sitting, lying on folding stools, or lying on the cold ground and asleep.

Han Xin supported his chin with the most recent intelligence in his hand, but he closed his eyes tiredly and nodded his head.

Le Jin had taken off his armor, and his arms and chest were wrapped in bandages. He was sleeping soundly beside Xu Huang, who was leaning on an axe. Xu Huang was sitting on a folding stool with his head resting on the axe handle, and he had obviously also fallen asleep.

On the other side, Long Qie was lying on the ground, his armor used as a pillow under his head. In his sleep, he would occasionally mutter: "Kill! Kill!"

Xiahou Yuan, who was standing next to him and holding his bow, was startled and sat up suddenly. He tilted his head to look around, then lay back down in a daze.

Xiahou Dun came in from outside and saw Su Chen. He looked at the people sleeping in the tent. He wanted to speak, but Su Chen raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Let everyone sleep well, I will keep watch."

Su Chen waved to Dian Wei, "General Dian, please guard the tent well and don't let anyone else come in to disturb us."

Having said that, Su Chen left Dian Wei standing at the entrance of the tent and took Wu Zixun outside, where more than a dozen piles of firewood had already been set up.

The soldiers who died in the battle had been brought in and then moved one by one to lie in a circle side by side.

This has become the norm, but there are still many soldiers who have not slept yet who come to see their dead comrades off and form a large circle in silence.

Su Chen stood in the distance and didn't dare to get closer. It was not because he was afraid of death but because he felt guilty. He brought them out but couldn't bring everyone back safely.

"I feel ashamed of you, but..."

Su Chen looked at the piles of firewood that were gradually burning over there, and said softly, "We are worthy of Daxia. If we don't fight this war now, our descendants will fight it in the future. The army of the founding of a country has always been strong. If we don't continue to fight, in a dozen years, the West will become stronger, and we will be used to enjoying peace. How many soldiers will be able to fight?"

He took a deep breath
"The only thing I can do for you is to take your ashes back and bury them in the land of your hometown. I will carve your names on monuments so that the world will remember them. I will also ensure that our descendants will have fields to farm and houses to live in, so that they will not starve or freeze. I can only guarantee this..."

In sight, blazing flames illuminated the night.

Around the flickering flames, both the Qingzhou soldiers and the soldiers from Yuezhou all had solemn and determined expressions.

Some people watched and burst into tears, calling out the names of those who had died in the fire.

The firelight illuminated his face. Su Chen rubbed the corners of his eyes to wipe away the wet marks, sniffed lightly, and turned around to go back, but he saw that Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Han Xin, Long Qie, Le Jin, Xu Huang and others had stood in a row behind him at some point.

"Why are you running out here if you don't have a good rest?"

Su Chen smiled at them. The generals on the opposite side looked at the wet marks at the corners of Su Chen's eyes and just smiled along.

Xiahou Yuan said: "Your Majesty is seeing off the heroic spirit, so how can we, the generals of the army, not come?"

"Your Majesty, are you crying?" Le Jin grinned and asked cheerfully.

"Wen Qian, you really don't know how to speak!" Xu Huang stroked his beard and interrupted.

Su Chen coughed twice and straightened his face.

"Nonsense, I just had sand blown into my eyes. If you don't believe me, come and see!"

Le Jin walked straight over, Su Chen pushed him away, smiled and said: "You really look at it!"

Suddenly, the generals around burst into laughter, and then they escorted Su Chen back to the military camp.

Afterwards, the battlefields were cleaned up one by one, and several cavalry units of the Western Expedition, which had rested for two days, began to clear the border from Mondogo to Nongma.

Heading straight for the opposite gate of Europe - Nongma.

The flames of war finally burned into the true core of the Sakprut Empire.

……

As the sky gradually brightened, the cavalry, who had galloped for two hundred miles, rushed into Nongma City under the stars and the moon. The news of the defeat at the front could not stop them at all.

That morning, there was chaos in Nongma City.

Arthur held the battle report in his hand and sat on the throne in silence.

He had just changed his name today, and received such a 'surprise' gift, which caught him off guard.

(End of this chapter)