Chapter 644
Chapter 644
Chapter 644: A Battle Reeking of Blood!
Anyone looking down upon the entire battlefield would have shuddered. For dozens of miles in every direction, the ground was packed with military camps, and temporary wooden forts lined the valley. It was a truly endless sight, enough to blanket the earth in black. The two hundred and ten thousand soldiers of the State of Yue had the Blackwater Stockade completely and utterly surrounded. The stockade itself was only one-fifth complete, and having been abandoned for over twenty years, much of it had collapsed, leaving an area of less than five hundred acres. The walls of the stockade were made entirely of wood, standing about twenty feet tall, which was high enough. But after two decades of exposure to the elements, the wood had begun to rot, to the point where it swayed with a single gust of wind. To rely on this stockade to defend against an enemy attack? It seemed an impossible task.
* * *
For the past three days, the Geung army’s camp within the Blackwater Stockade had been eerily quiet. Moreover, they had stopped their cannibalism and were no longer burning corpses. But to the observing Yue army, this only further confirmed that they were not only suffering from a food shortage but also from an outbreak of plague. They reasoned that the Geung army had stopped eating their dead because they had brought out all their remaining rations for the decisive battle to come, and they had stopped burning bodies because with the final clash imminent, it no longer mattered if the plague spread further. And so, without the Geung army even needing to continue their charade, the Yue army had solidified a narrative that favored them. But how did the Geung army know that the final battle was at hand? Even a fool could tell. The banners of Crown Prince Ning Yi now stood tall in every corner of the Yue encampment.
* * *
Three days passed in a flash, and on the ninth day of the twelfth month, the two hundred and ten thousand soldiers of the State of Yue officially began their all-out assault on the Blackwater Stockade. The great, decisive battle between Crown Prince Ning Yi and the Geung army had formally begun. In Ning Yi’s ideal scenario, he would have had a parley with Geung, a meeting between kings. Just as he had read in the history books, before a battle, the monarchs of the two nations were supposed to have a conversation, a meeting of brilliant minds, and perhaps share a few cups of wine. Had such a proposal been made, Ning Yi would have gladly indulged him. But in the end, Geung never showed his face, which greatly disappointed Crown Prince Ning Yi. He had missed an opportunity to display his kingly bearing.
The morning sun was about to rise. The military officers of Yue all fixed their gazes on Crown Prince Ning Yi, awaiting his command. The Crown Prince strode forward, step by step, and ascended the commander’s platform. The platform was built exceptionally high, allowing for a view of the entire battlefield, including the forty thousand Sand Savage soldiers within the Blackwater Stockade. With each step he took up the stairs, Ning Yi’s heart swelled with boundless ambition. The steps before him felt like the steps to the throne.
‘After this war is over, who could possibly stop me from taking the State of Yue? No one! Not even my father, Ning Yuanxian, could stop me, let alone a powerless, prancing clown like Shen Lang. When I ascend the throne, I will kill Ning Zheng, Shen Lang, and Jin Zhuo! And Jin Mulan, whether it’s five years or ten, you will still be mine. Don’t worry. I can wait!’
At this moment, Crown Prince Ning Yi even felt a sense of gratitude toward Geung.
‘Thank you for being so powerful, so formidable. Because of you, my legendary achievement has been forged. Sha Geung, you are destined to be my stepping stone. You have already displayed your brilliance, so defeating you will only further highlight that the Mandate of Heaven is with me, Ning Yi.’
As the Crown Prince ascended the command platform, the sun broke over the horizon. Was this a coincidence? Of course not. Ning Yi had timed his ascent. As the sun rose, its first rays fell upon the platform and upon Crown Prince Ning Yi’s body. For a moment, the Crown Prince was enveloped in a golden light, appearing exceptionally noble. Dozens of officers and countless Yue soldiers raised their heads, saluting him with their eyes. An army of hundreds of thousands looked up at Ning Yi. This was a true moment of being the center of all attention. At this instant, in everyone’s eyes, Crown Prince Ning Yi was like the rising sun itself—unstoppable. Ning Yi reined in his surging emotions and spoke.
“Where is Geung? Why does he not show himself to me?”
He took a deep breath and shouted.
“Today’s battle will lay the foundation for decades of peace and stability for our State of Yue!”
“Long live! Long live! Long live!”
“Victory to Yue! Victory to Yue!”
The shouts of two hundred thousand soldiers thundered in unison. Crown Prince Ning Yi drew his sword with force and cried out with all his might.
“Begin the battle! Kill every last one of the Sand Savage rebels!”
Following his command, the thunderous beat of war drums echoed, and the hundreds of thousands of Yue soldiers surged like a tidal wave toward the vulnerable Blackwater Stockade. The great battle of life and death had finally begun!
* * *
The battle was ferocious from the very start. The wooden walls of the Blackwater Stockade were indeed as fragile as they looked, collapsing under the first assault. Within a mere fifteen minutes, all the walls were pushed over, and a flood of Yue soldiers poured into the camp.
*Swish, swish, swish, swish.*
A volley of arrows rained down from the Sand Savage army. As expected, their arrows were incredibly sharp, but how many volleys could they possibly loose? No matter how many casualties their arrows inflicted, given the sheer numbers of the Yue army, it was not enough to significantly impact the course of the battle. The two armies soon clashed in a brutal melee. Nearly two hundred thousand soldiers of Yue against less than forty thousand Sand Savages. Yet, the astounding combat prowess of the Sand Savages began to show. Despite the glaring disparity in numbers, they fought on relatively even terms. This was a battle devoid of schemes or tactics, a clash of blood and life. The entire battlefield was obscured by the dust kicked up by the furious slaughter, and the stench of blood pierced the heavens.
* * *
Standing on the platform, Crown Prince Ning Yi let out a sigh of relief. Before the battle began, he had worried that Geung had truly laid some sort of trap within the Blackwater Stockade, and countless dreadful scenarios had played out in his mind. For instance, his grand army charging into the stockade only to find it empty, the Sand Savage army having completely vanished. Or charging in to find the entire place riddled with traps.
The Crown Prince had even considered how he would have fought this battle from Geung’s perspective. For example, by digging a massive network of tunnels. With tens of thousands of men digging for over a month, they could have riddled the ground beneath the Blackwater Stockade with tunnels. Once underground, the numerical superiority of the Yue army would be nullified. In the narrow confines of the tunnels, the agility and ferocity of the Sand Savage warriors could be unleashed to their fullest potential. Another method would have been to use plague tactics, leaving plague-infected corpses scattered throughout the stockade.
In any case, Ning Yi had imagined countless battle plans from Geung’s point of view. Because he held Geung in such high regard, he was certain the man would have employed some kind of scheme or stratagem. But in the end, there was no scheme at all. Geung had chosen the most savage, direct, and bloody form of combat.
‘This is good, very good! In a melee like this, with my forces outnumbering yours several times over, what do I have to fear? Geung, everyone says you are so formidable, but this is all you amount to. This war is mine to win!’
As the Yue army pushed into the Blackwater Stockade, the encirclement grew tighter and tighter. But Ning Yi could no longer bring himself to smile. On the whole, the Yue army held an absolute advantage. It was like a vast ocean surrounding a reef in its midst; with one great wave, the reef should have been instantly pulverized. Yet, wherever the two armies clashed, the Yue soldiers were at a disadvantage.
‘Are the Sand Savage warriors truly this strong? An army of less than forty thousand is holding its own against nearly two hundred thousand?’
It was not strange at all. When Geung’s army of one hundred thousand had attacked the capital of the Southern Gull Kingdom, Zhu Lin’s defending force of one hundred thousand had nearly been overrun despite the protection of sturdy city walls. Moreover, in the several battles the two sides had fought, the State of Yue had been on the defensive, yet their casualties were twenty to thirty thousand more than their enemy’s. Now, they were fighting in the open field, where the brave and skilled Sand Savage warriors could unleash their combat abilities to the absolute limit.
The Yue generals had believed that the Geung army, suffering from food shortages and a plague outbreak, would surely have seen a massive reduction in soldiers and a collapse in morale. But not only had their numbers not dwindled, their morale was still sky-high. They were all truly madmen, hardened warriors who had clawed their way to survival from the jaws of death since childhood. They had faced countless situations more desperate than this, so what was this battle to them? Being surrounded by an enemy four or five times their number was certainly frightening, but was it more terrifying than being surrounded by a dozen vicious wolves?
* * *
The fierce battle raged on, the sounds of fighting and dying shaking the very heavens, and the blood of the fallen was enough to form rivers. The Yue army was diminishing at an alarming rate, and while the Geung army’s casualties were also shockingly high, they still fought like madmen. In the end, they fought like crazed beasts, willingly throwing themselves at death, every one of them seeking to take an enemy down with them.
In contrast, the longer the battle dragged on, the more the Yue soldiers trembled with fear, even glancing left and right, checking for the reassuring presence of their comrades behind them. In a battle this intense, this bloody, people died every second, like the blazing sun melting snow in an instant. Even Grand General Zhu Lin felt his hair stand on end, and Nangong Ao’s heart pounded with fear.
‘Why do they not despair? You have been besieged for over a month, why are you not disheartened?’
Watching the battlefield from his high perch, Ning Yi was so genuinely shocked that he turned to Zhu Lin and asked in a trembling voice.
“We won’t lose, will we?”
‘Are the Sand Savage warriors really this powerful?’
“Your Highness, I request permission to enter the battle!”
At Grand General Zhu Lin’s words, Crown Prince Ning Yi nodded.
“Permission granted!”
In an instant, Grand General Zhu Lin led his personal guard into the fray. The soldiers he led were the most elite warriors of the Zhu Clan, and as expected, they managed to halt the tipping scales, allowing the Yue army to regain the upper hand. But after another thirty minutes, the Yue army began to waver again. They had never experienced such a crazed battle, had never fought against what felt less like an army and more like a pack of wild beasts. A unit of Yue soldiers, unable to bear the pressure of the terrifying slaughter, turned and fled, and the entire front was once again on the verge of collapse.
Nangong Ao said, “Your Highness, I request permission to enter the battle!”
“Permission granted!”
Nangong Ao led several thousand of his personal guard into the battle, once again turning the tide. Watching all of this unfold, Crown Prince Ning Yi felt a chill run down his spine. The Geung army had not used any schemes or tricks, yet despite the overwhelming disparity in numbers, they had fought so ferociously that they had forced two of his grand generals to personally enter the battle.