Chapter Ninety-Nine: Hatred Among Their Own Kind

Although the generals of the Liaogu Kingdom were all seasoned warriors, before Zhang Desen’s special operations unit they had no power to resist.

Together with Zhang Desen, the commandos swept through the field like an autumn gale scattering fallen leaves, annihilating every enemy of the Liaogu Kingdom present.

Though many of the Liaogu men tried to seize the body of Wanlu Wudi after he fell, how could they possibly escape the suppressive fire of Zhang Desen’s men? In the end, everything they tried was in vain; at most, they merely added more heads to the tally.

Once Zhang Desen and his men had effectively taken control of the situation, Zhang Desen immediately stepped forward in person, severed Wanlu Wudi’s head with his three-sided combat knife, and placed it in a wooden box for transport back.

As for the head of the earlier imperial guard commander, Zhang Desen thought Feng Yucai would come to clean up the battlefield and it would be better to leave it to him. But after thinking it over, he decided to place it in another wooden box and take it back as well.

Then Zhang Desen gave the order to withdraw. The earlier explosion had already alerted all the guards outside, but how could those armed with cold weapons possibly stand against special operators carrying Type 56 assault rifles? Zhang Desen and his men can be said to have killed as they advanced, and every Liaogu guard who tried to intercept them lost his life on the spot.

Meanwhile, the Third Squad led by Zhou Yongli destroyed several Liaogu camps. Since earlier, apart from a few generals such as Wangu who were still engaged in battle, the rest had been drinking with Wanlu Wudi in the commander’s tent.

Thus, by now, most of the Liaogu Kingdom’s generals had fallen under Zhang Desen’s guns. Deprived of command, the three hundred thousand troops of the Liaogu Kingdom instantly descended into chaos, scattering like headless flies.

At this time, although it was night, the sky had completely cleared, and the bright moonlight had begun to bathe the earth.

It was also at this moment that the events within the Liaogu military camp alarmed Wangu, who was leading the attack on Feng Yucai’s camp.

When the explosions rang out, he too could not immediately tell what was happening. He saw that places including the granary camp were successively exploding and burning, and even the location of the army’s supreme commander was hit by an explosion. Realizing that something terrible had happened, Wangu immediately shouted orders to the Liaogu troops around him:

"Bad! The commander-in-chief is in danger. Everyone, turn back and rescue him."

But how could Feng Yucai allow them to have their way so easily? Though Feng Yucai did not know what was happening, he knew how to seize the moment. He instantly led his troops in a ferocious counterattack, and the Liaogu army suffered more than half its men killed or wounded in a very short time.

Of course, General Feng Yucai also encountered Zhang Desen and the others on the way to the charge. Feng led his troops in a frontal assault, while Zhang Desen and his men blocked from the direction of the Liaogu army’s retreat.

Though he was surprised to see that Zhang Desen’s weapons could actually fire, he still coordinated with Zhang Desen’s men to wipe out the remaining Liaogu forces.

Wangu, caught between Feng Yucai and Zhang Desen in a pincer attack, already knew the tide had turned irreversibly against him. He had no choice but to lead the remnants he could still command and flee for their lives.

Thus, a crisis was temporarily eased. Zhang Desen handed over the spoils, including Wanlu Wudi’s severed head, to Feng Yucai. Feng Yucai, too, felt it all to be profoundly unbelievable.

At this time, the morning court session of the next day had arrived. In the Great Prosperity Kingdom’s Western Capital, everyone in the court wore worried faces over the situation at the front. Only Chancellor Zhang Chengwei felt pleased in his heart, with no fear whatsoever that anything unexpected might happen on the front lines.

This was, of course, because he had reason for confidence. Last night, he had stood at the city gate with Liu Squire and his daughter, waiting for Zhang Desen. He had been deeply anxious, originally intending that if Zhang Desen returned after suffering a setback, he would send him away together with Liu Squire and his daughter. Unexpectedly, Zhang Desen returned early, and after telling him that a great victory had already been won at the front, even he had been astonished.

At first, he thought it must be false, but when he heard the report sent by his intelligence network, he was utterly stunned. Then, after hearing the briefings from Li Longfang and the others, he did not know what else to say. Naturally, Liu Squire and his daughter were delighted as well. So now that he had some idea of what was going on, he no longer felt everything to be quite so terrifying.

Amid the uneasy atmosphere in the hall, a guard suddenly entered and announced:

"Report! General Feng Yucai sends word that our army has won the first battle. Hundreds of generals of the Liaogu Kingdom, including the commander-in-chief Wanlu Wudi, have been killed. We have won a great victory!"

"What?"

Hearing this, Emperor Zhao Xinglong of the Great Prosperity Kingdom and all the ministers were stunned, scarcely able to believe it. Zhao Xinglong stammered as he continued:

"Say that again."

The guard repeated:

"General Feng Yucai reports that our army has won the first battle. Hundreds of generals of the Liaogu Kingdom, including the commander-in-chief Wanlu Wudi, have been killed. We have won a great victory. The remaining Liaogu forces are fleeing north in panic, and General Feng has already returned in triumph."

At once the court erupted in excitement, and everyone praised General Feng Yucai’s brilliance. Only Zhang Chengwei already knew the truth, so his emotions did not change much.

Of course, since Zhang Chengwei and Minister Qian had long been mortal enemies, he had been closely watching Zhang Chengwei’s reaction. He noticed that Zhang Chengwei seemed to have known the result all along, and could not help feeling somewhat astonished. But with no convenient way to say anything, he could only join the other ministers in congratulating Zhao Xinglong.

Zhao Xinglong was grinning from ear to ear with delight, declaring that he would personally go to greet Feng Yucai and would arrange a special victory banquet in his honor to welcome him back.

Returning to last night, after the Liaogu general Wangu fled to a temporarily safe place, he tried to gather all the surviving men. Instead, he learned that nearly all the generals had been slaughtered, and even the commander-in-chief Wanlu Wudi had been decapitated. He was so furious that he nearly coughed up blood.

He immediately ordered his subordinates to search for the enemy, but they found only more corpses, the burned granary camp, and the troops left without command, in utter chaos.

With the granary camp destroyed and supplies suffering devastating losses, and with even the commander-in-chief Wanlu Wudi dead apart from Wangu, the army had already collapsed into disorder. Helpless, Wangu could only order his subordinates to gather as many clues as possible, rally the various forces under his authority as the highest-ranking general currently on the front, and then command all units to withdraw north together.

Naturally, when Zhao Xinglong personally went to greet Feng Yucai, Feng Yucai was somewhat overwhelmed by the honor. But as he followed Zhao Xinglong back into the city and saw the ministers and common people lining the streets to welcome his triumphant return, he felt something indescribable in his heart.

Meanwhile, Zhang Desen was near his own base, receiving the congratulations of the Liu family together with all the special forces. After all, to achieve such an astonishing victory without losing a single man on his own side truly was a miracle. But Zhang Desen intended to keep things quiet for the time being, so everyone simply continued training, while Squire Liu went off to welcome Feng Yucai with the others.

On the other side, Qian Yanei, serving as deputy strategist, was also enjoying himself immensely. The Shuochuan Kingdom’s Badong was right before his eyes, and when the Shuochuan people heard that the troops led by Qian Yanei and the others had come as reinforcements, they even opened the defensive checkpoint at Badong on their own and urged him to come in quickly and help defend.

But he found it troublesome and feared danger. In the end, he used the excuse that reinforcements had not yet arrived to delay matters, repeatedly obstructing the army’s advance, while constantly writing to his father saying that troops and supplies were insufficient and requesting that more soldiers be sent so that he could take command himself. Later, under the urging of the strategist Wu Dong sent by Minister Qian, he simply let him lead the army instead.

Wu Dong knew how important this campaign was to Minister Qian. With no other choice, he and Feng Qiwei and the others, who had long been at odds with Minister Qian, led the combined force of three hundred and fifty thousand men, drawn from earlier deployments and later reinforcements, and advanced toward the Shuochuan Kingdom.

Of course, five thousand men were left behind to ensure Qian Yanei’s safety, which made Feng Qiwei and the others furious enough to stamp their feet. After once again petitioning Emperor Zhao Xinglong of the Great Prosperity Kingdom, they set out.

Once freed from supervision, Qian Yanei lived even more recklessly, drinking and seeking pleasure all day long. He continually extorted valuables and goods from the surrounding towns, and even sent men to seize local women by force to serve as singers and dancers. The people nearby were filled with resentment, but fearing Qian Yanei’s revenge, they dared only rage in silence.

Yet some local officials, in order to curry favor with Qian Yanei and secure promotion, would comply with nearly every whim of his, making the common people’s lives all the more miserable.

Though Qian Yanei did nothing all day but indulge himself, the strategist Wu Dong sent by Minister Qian was indeed extraordinarily capable. Originally, the Fearfolk of the cold weapons era, with their immense force of five hundred thousand troops, had already captured many prefectures and counties of the Shuochuan Kingdom, and had even surrounded the Baxi and Ba counties, preparing to direct their offensive straight at Badong County.

But Wu Dong did not wait for Feng Qiwei and the others. He led the vanguard and set out ahead of them.

Using strategies of taking the easy before the difficult and feinting east while striking west, he split his forces in two. He sent one main contingent by water, making a grand show of marching toward Ba County and declaring that he would commit all his strength to a decisive battle there to relieve the siege, while deliberately advancing slowly. At the same time, he personally led another main force over mountains and through ravines, rushing toward Baxi County at top speed.

Before the enemy could react, he suddenly appeared in Baxi County and launched a surprise attack, catching the enemy completely off guard and annihilating them to a man, thereby lifting the siege of Baxi County.

After relieving Baxi County, he immediately led his troops south by water and, at top speed, joined the main force that had originally advanced toward Ba County by river. Together they attacked the cold weapons Fearfolk besieging Ba County, successfully breaking the siege and killing countless enemies. Riding this momentum, they advanced by water into Jiangyang County.

After retaking Jiangyang County, the enemy Fearfolk received seventy thousand more reinforcements, according to intelligence relayed to him by the Fearfolk of the Aurelm Empire, so he had no choice but to suspend the offensive and enter a stalemate.

But once Qian Yanei learned of this, he immediately submitted a memorial to Emperor Zhao Xinglong of the Great Prosperity Kingdom, claiming that all these had been victories he himself had achieved, shamelessly stealing the credit in broad daylight.

And before that memorial even reached the Western Capital, the Western Capital itself was already lining the streets to welcome General Feng Yucai home in triumph. Soon afterward, preparations began for the victory banquet.

Meanwhile, at the prairie base of the Aurelm Empire, Yuri Gotner was seething in sullen anger. He was furious over the incident some months earlier, when, while attempting to rescue possible survivors at Gekur Base, the sudden appearance of the primitive kin had disrupted the rescue effort.

He truly could not understand why those primitive kin could not advance and retreat together with them, and why, the moment they saw them, they behaved as though faced with mortal enemies and sought to destroy them.

He still remembered that several months earlier, the Fearfolk legion of the Aurelm Empire, under Yuri Gotner’s personal command, had launched a full-scale campaign against the traitor Goba Shov. But just as Goba Shov was on the verge of defeat, he detonated Gekur Base, causing both the troops that had already entered the base and the defenders of Gekur Base to suffer together, after which the rescue operation began.

Later, Yuri Gotner received news from Dadu Kur and personally went to the secret ventilation shaft of Gekur Base to bring Dadu Kur out.

Just as Yuri Gotner was feeling pleased at their reunion, a large number of primitive kin suddenly appeared to the west.