Chapter 656
Chapter 656
“Go to the capital at once. Meet with my father and tell him what has happened here. He will know what decision to make. Then, when you have an audience with His Majesty, convey my last words. Tell him to immediately negotiate with King Ning, cede the five southern commanderies of Tiannan Province to him, and sign a truce. If necessary, strive to form an alliance with King Ning, then use all our armies and all our strength for the decisive battle against the State of Chu!”
Zhang Suo asked in a trembling voice.
“Grand General, Chu has amassed an army of nearly three hundred thousand. Can we truly win?”
Even Zhang Suo, a fierce general who had made a name for himself in the war against the Kingdom of Nan'ou, had completely lost his confidence. King Ning’s army of less than a hundred thousand had rendered the State of Yue’s two hundred and fifty thousand troops powerless to retaliate. What would it be like to face Chu’s three hundred thousand? Could the State of Yue, with only half its territory remaining, possibly win?
Zhu Lin nodded and said.
“If we make a truce with King Ning, we can defend the west. Don't forget we have an ally in the State of Jiang. The State of Jiang has many Saman mercenary armies; they won't want to fight King Ning's army, but they will be willing to fight Chu. The northern part of Tianbei Province is the Zhong Clan's home base, so Zhong Yao will surely fight to the death. We can hold the west. In any case, we must secure a truce as quickly as possible!”
Still uneasy, Zhu Lin took up a brush and wrote a final testament. The letter first condemned himself in the harshest terms, then, like a dying man speaking the truth, implored Ning Yuanxian to negotiate an alliance with King Ning and devote all his heart and strength to the war with Chu. After writing the letter, Zhu Lin rose and bowed to Zhang Suo.
“I entrust everything to you, General Zhang. You must survive.”
“This general accepts your command!”
Zhang Suo knelt and accepted Zhu Lin’s letter. That night, he took several hundred of the army’s finest young men and the young officers of the Zhu Clan, left the main force, and fled north through the jungle.
* * *
The next day, Grand General Zhu Lin led his seventy-thousand-strong main army and continued marching east toward Luoye City. In truth, the most logical decision at a time like this would have been to hold their position or even disband the army on the spot. But he made this choice to ensure Su Nan’s main forces would continue to pursue them, leaving Zhang Suo’s party alone. Zhang Suo’s group contained all the outstanding young men of the Zhu Clan and the most exceptional youths of the army. For the sake of his clan’s next generation, Zhu Lin had to continue down this path to hell.
Moreover, Zhu Lin had to preserve his honor and die a hero’s death. Only then could he leave the Zhu Clan with a shred of dignity. The subsequent march of two hundred and sixty li took a full twelve days. Zhu Lin, leading his army of beggars, appeared before the walls of Luoye City. By then, the army following him numbered less than fifty thousand.
But this time, King Ning's forces used no tricks. The flag of the Great Nan Kingdom flew over Luoye City. Would Grand General Zhu Lin's fifty thousand men charge the city just like that? Su Nan's thirty thousand Saman troops were pursuing them from behind, and in front, ten thousand of King Ning's soldiers held the city. The main army of the State of Yue had truly entered hell.
Grand General Zhu Lin looked up and saw King Ning, the one-armed Crown Prince, and Nangong Ao.
‘Haha, as expected, the worst-case scenario is even worse than I imagined. To think both of them have surrendered. But, Nangong Ao, I do not blame you! Any choice made for the sake of one's clan is the right one.’
As for Crown Prince Ning Yi, Zhu Lin held no resentment either. He was the crown prince the Zhu Clan had supported, the one they considered most ideal in their hearts. A crown prince like him ascending the throne would be most advantageous and easiest for the Zhu Clan to control. In the future, when the Great Yan Dynasty truly unified the world, such a monarch would be easier to compromise with. But… as the monarch of a nation, he was truly unqualified.
But what was the point of dwelling on that now! Nangong Ao stared at Grand General Zhu Lin expressionlessly. A flicker of shame crossed Crown Prince Ning Yi's eyes before his face, too, became a mask. Grand General Zhu Lin drew his sword and roared.
“Army of Yue, follow me! We will take Luoye City and destroy King Ning's forces! For the State of Yue, kill the enemy!”
Zhu Lin, his hair completely white, charged forward like a madman, followed by the Zhu Clan’s personal soldiers. But the rest of the fifty thousand troops stood motionless, merely watching Zhu Lin charge.
“For the State of Yue, for His Majesty! Kill!”
Zhu Lin let out a hearty shout and charged relentlessly toward Luoye City. The two thousand men behind him had initially followed his charge, but seeing the tens of thousands behind them remaining still, some of them soon halted. The number of soldiers following Zhu Lin to attack the city dwindled, until at last, the battlefield fell silent.
King Ning, Nangong Ao, and Crown Prince Ning Yi silently watched Zhu Lin charge. The tens of thousands of Yue soldiers who had followed him also silently watched their commander charge. Further back, Su Nan’s Saman army quietly watched Zhu Lin charge. Had Shen Lang witnessed this, he would have said it felt like a silent, black-and-white film. It was as if Zhu Lin was shouting, but no sound could be heard, as if the entire world had been drained of color. The scene looked even more profoundly hopeless than Don Quixote charging the windmills.
King Ning gestured, and a volley of arrows rained down on the charging group. Ten thousand arrows fell like a dense sheet of rain, and the three hundred or so Zhu Clan warriors following Zhu Lin were all turned into pincushions, pierced from head to toe with arrows. And only Zhu Lin remained, charging forward alone.
“For the State of Yue, for His Majesty…!”
Though he shouted this with his mouth, in his heart he cried.
‘For my father, for the Zhu Clan!’
Zhu Lin charged alone toward the city walls, toward King Ning's ten thousand soldiers. He scaled the wall with all his might and finally threw himself at King Ning alone.
“For His Majesty, for the State of Yue! Kill the enemy!”
The sword in Zhu Lin’s hand swung down toward King Ning, and King Ning’s hand moved like lightning.
Swish!
A head flew into the sky. Grand General Zhu Lin's body, having just reached the top of the wall, immediately collapsed backward, his head and torso separated.
The Grand General of the South-Pacifying Army of the State of Yue was dead.
Nearly a hundred thousand people there watched in dead silence as Zhu Lin’s headless corpse fell to the ground. King Ning sheathed his sword.
‘Zhu Lin, you wished for a heroic death, so I have granted your wish!’
Below, the fifty thousand soldiers of Yue looked up at King Ning.
‘Aren't you going to ask if we'll surrender? Just one word is all it would take. If you say just one word, we will kneel and surrender immediately!’
King Ning glanced coolly at the fifty thousand soldiers, then turned and walked away. Instantly, the fifty thousand Yue soldiers at the base of the wall began to tremble with fear. One by one, they dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground in an orderly fashion.
“We surrender!”
After silently watching their commander, Zhu Lin, die, the entire fifty-thousand-strong army knelt and surrendered. With this, the war in the Kingdom of Nan’ou came to a complete end. The State of Yue’s army of two hundred and fifty thousand had been annihilated.
* * *
“Victory report! A great victory report! The Crown Prince engaged King Ning's forces in a decisive battle and won a complete victory! We beheaded eighty thousand enemy soldiers! Our casualties were fifty thousand, and King Ning's main force has been all but annihilated! A great victory report!”
Ugh! What in the world was this absurd situation? After the battle at Blackwater Stronghold, the Crown Prince couldn't wait to send soldiers with a victory report. Several hours later, when they fell for King Ning's scheme and lost the capital of Nan'ou, Zhu Lin and the others hastily sent their elite cavalry to chase down and intercept the messengers.
However, too many soldiers had been dispatched with the victory report at the time. A full hundred of them had scattered and headed north, so they were only able to intercept about half. A few of the more cunning ones managed to slip through various gaps and successfully enter the territory of the State of Yue. From that point on, they enjoyed the treatment befitting bearers of urgent dispatches. They shouted the news of victory as they rode north.
Though they were merely messengers carrying a victory report, they were treated like tremendous war heroes. The moment they entered Yue territory, the first privilege they enjoyed was changing horses every fifty li. Every hundred li, they were provided with honeyed water and a sumptuous lunch of simple dishes. Some of the more excessive posts even had women prepared for them. Of course, there was hardly enough time for a proper encounter, but being tended to by a beautiful woman's gentle hands while changing horses was quite a pleasant experience.
The further they went, the more lavish their treatment became. At first, they felt a little uneasy. They knew the truth of the war with Nan'ou better than anyone. Two hundred thousand Yue soldiers had fought forty thousand of the enemy, suffering thirty to forty thousand casualties while only managing to kill about ten thousand of the enemy, who then easily broke through their encirclement. Delivering such a victory report weighed on their conscience. But as their treatment grew more and more reverent, they became more and more brazen.
‘We won anyway, and King Ning’s main force definitely retreated in defeat. The enemy originally had a hundred thousand troops, and now only about twenty thousand are left to flee. It’s not wrong to say they were almost annihilated. Since ancient times, it's been common to exaggerate military achievements. We were just doing our part diligently. Besides, even if the truth comes out later, I won't be held accountable. I'm just a messenger, after all.’
Having sorted out his thoughts, one soldier enjoyed his hero's treatment with even greater confidence. When he arrived in Tiannan Province, wow! Things got even crazier. The Chief Clerk of the Governor's Office, Yan Wuqi, personally led several hundred sons of nobles to greet him outside the city gates and receive the victory report. The celebratory music began when he was still hundreds of li from the city gates. The sound of gongs and drums pierced the heavens, colorful flags fluttered, and a magnificent sea of people had gathered.
As soon as the messenger-knight reached the city gates, Yan Wuqi gestured, and everyone fell silent. The Chief Clerk of the Governor's Office, Yan Wuqi, spoke.
“Brave warrior, what is the situation at the front?”
The messenger shouted loudly.
“The army has fortunately not failed its mission and has won a complete victory! His Highness the Crown Prince led from the front, commanding the battlefield, and with his divine deployment of troops, we have slain eighty thousand of the enemy! King Ning’s army is all but annihilated!”
Of course, those words didn't fool Yan Wuqi. He quickly deduced the truth in his mind. Falsifying military achievements was perfectly normal. If they claimed to have beheaded eighty thousand, and there weren't enough enemy soldiers, they would have killed Nan'ou civilians to make up the numbers. They were just Saman people, after all. He saw the truth through the lie. Nevertheless, Yan Wuqi was ready to immediately summon his emotions and launch into a storm of acting.
“Magnificent! How magnificent are the brave warriors of our State of Yue! The heavens have blessed our King of Yue and the Crown Prince of Great Yue. Our ancestors have watched over us from above, finally granting our State of Yue such a brilliant victory! From this day forward, our State of Yue will know peace for decades. How fortunate we are! To have such a monarch and such a crown prince!”
After speaking, Yan Wuqi handed a cup of warmed wine to the messenger.
“Brave warrior, drink this wine and continue north to spread this good news far and wide.”
“Thank you, my lord!”
The messenger took the cup and drained it in one gulp.
“My lord, this humble soldier will continue north to deliver this victory report to His Majesty!”
Yan Wuqi bowed to him and said.
“I shall see you off here, brave warrior! Let the music play!”
The magnificent music started up again, and the messenger spurred his horse onto the central road and galloped across the city. The road was like a wide, open plain where his horse could run freely, with no obstacles as far as the eye could see. This was because the roads had been blocked off and the city cleared wherever he passed. It was like driving on a highway with not a single car ahead of you—a liberating feeling.