Jin Feng stood on the city wall, his chest burning with emotion as he shouted along with the others, “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
How long had it been? The Han people could finally strike back and reclaim the cities that were rightfully theirs.
Though he belonged to Daqing Commandery, as a fellow Han, he felt nothing but excitement and exhilaration at this moment.
Moreover, the Jinyang Army was now their ally in cooperation.
Truth be told, this was the first collaboration between Daqing Commandery and the Jinyang Army.
Jiang Jin’s base was far away in Liuxiang Commandery, and aside from all other challenges, the warhorses needed for this attack on Lin County were no simple matter to arrange.
The key to a surprise assault was speed—catching the enemy off guard and striking before they could react, reaching the battlefield before they even sensed danger.
That was why, when Jiang Jin decided to attack Lin County, she had already settled on a water route. Once ashore, she had no intention of marching on foot.
But a warhorse weighed anywhere from several hundred to over a thousand kilograms, and transporting them was no easy task, especially given her limited number of ships.
So she had written to Qingming in advance, asking him to borrow three thousand warhorses from Daqing Commandery.
As allies with mutual goodwill, and with Dong Si having already laid out the broad framework for strategic cooperation, Qingming’s negotiations went relatively smoothly.
Lu You didn’t hesitate long before agreeing to lend the horses.
Though he couldn’t fathom the Jinyang Army’s intended use for them, it was a demonstration of their commitment.
Besides, by next year, he would rely on Jiang Jin to send people to teach his men how to cultivate high-yield grain and master the techniques of composting.
Still, three thousand warhorses were no trivial matter, so Lu You set one condition: during the operation, he would send a squad of his own men to accompany them.
That “own man” was Jin Feng.
Jiang Jin, of course, understood that Lu You’s true purpose for sending the men was not so straightforward, but she agreed nonetheless.
Jin Feng followed the Jinyang Army on their rapid march, and only the previous night did he learn their true destination: Lin County.
Now, he was utterly stunned.
With just three thousand troops, the Jinyang Army had torn through Qu Zhao’s defenses, seizing Lin County—an absolutely critical city.
He had never fought such a satisfying battle in his life.
Nor had he ever seen such devastating repeating crossbows!
This alliance with the Jinyang Army was an absolute win for Daqing Commandery.
At this moment, his confidence and hope for next year’s cooperation were boundless.
Others were equally shocked—Ji Xin and Li Qian among them.
They watched the Jinyang soldiers standing on the city wall, listening to Jiang Jin’s commanding words.
They couldn’t help but join the Jinyang Army in shouting, “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
But tears streamed down their faces.
Zhou Sui, who was just stepping into the city, smiled. Would the Lord’s words enrage Qu Zhao’s army to death?
Qu Shilang was indeed furious, his face dark as thunder, his voice dripping with murderous intent: “Jin—yang—Army! Qu Zhao will never rest until one of us is destroyed!”
Jiang Jin laughed. Never rest? An invader, acting as though they were some righteous force?
Turning her gaze, she raised her great sword and replied with a single word, “Kill!”
”Kill! Kill! Kill!” The roar of the Jinyang Army boomed like thunder, shaking the heavens.
Qu Shilang’s ears rang with the noise. He wanted nothing more than to charge up the wall and slaughter them, but seeing the shadowy ranks of repeating crossbows, he forced his eyes shut.
When he opened them again, his gaze was resolute: “Retreat!”
He had been battling Luo Lan for nearly a month, and his soldiers were utterly exhausted.
The Jinyang Army, though small in number, was made entirely of elite troops, armed with those devastating crossbows—a weapon of mass destruction.
They would likely prove harder to defeat than Luo Lan’s tens of thousands of men.
More importantly, he glanced at the distant snow. Winter had arrived. Qu Zhao could not afford to fight another month.
The advantage was already lost. This time, Qu Zhao had suffered a crushing defeat.
Seeing the entirety of Qu Zhao's army retreat, Jiang Jin finally turned and issued orders: "Treat the wounded, clear the battlefield, repair the city walls, and comfort the people."
"Yes!" Everyone acknowledged their tasks and withdrew to their respective duties.
While this busywork was underway, Qu Shilang led his troops not far out when they encountered Kuang Qian rushing over in a hurry.
"Grand General?" he exclaimed.
Qu Shilang frowned. "What is it?"
Seeing the dejected army retreating without any spirit, Kuang Qian dared not press for details and only said, "Our scouts spotted a cavalry unit heading straight for Lin County. That’s why I hurried over to report."
Qu Shilang’s eyes turned cold, and he longed to roar—coming to report now, what use was it?
His voice came through gritted teeth: "Enough. We’ll discuss it back at camp."
In truth, this couldn’t really be blamed on Kuang Qian. Jiang Jin’s cavalry had ridden straight from Daqing Commandery to Lin County without even passing through Dongyi County.
However, Dongyi County and Lin County were close, and scouts happened to be in the area inspecting.
When they spotted the cavalry charging from afar, the scouts were stunned.
They had no idea where such an elite cavalry unit had emerged from.
And why had Ningding Commandery received no news at all?
Only after the cavalry had passed did they dare return to the county seat to report.
Kuang Qian received the news and rushed over, only to find it was already too late.
Seeing Qu Shilang’s grim expression, Kuang Qian said nothing more and followed quietly as they hurried toward Wuqin.
Jin Feng turned to ask Jiang Jin if there was anything he could help with when he saw Zhou Sui striding up onto the city wall.
For some reason, the more Jin Feng looked at him, the more familiar he seemed. His expression grew excited: "You, you are the Grand General?"
Earlier, time had been tight. After Jiang Jin led his people off the boat, they mounted the warhorses prepared by Daqing Commandery and rode straight to Lin County.
They had barely rested during the day and only slept two or three hours at night. Among the uniformly armored soldiers of the Jin Yang Army, Jin Feng truly hadn’t noticed Zhou Sui.
After all, he had only met Zhou Sui twice before, wasn’t very familiar with him, and too much time had passed.
Zhou Sui nodded. "Thank you for your assistance this time."
Overjoyed at the confirmation, Jin Feng quickly waved his hands, stumbling over his words: "No, no. This was all our duty."
To be honest, back when Dingyang City fell, he felt pain, frustration, resentment, and helplessness.
He was a military officer under the command of Left General Lu You.
When the Left General refused to send reinforcements, he had no choice but to obey orders.
Besides, at the time, they truly couldn’t protect themselves. By not aiding Dingyang, they could at least safeguard the people of Daqing Commandery.
Not wanting to dwell on the topic, Zhou Sui was about to find Jiang Jin and report the situation when he saw her approaching. He bowed, "Lord."
Jiang Jin nodded. "Have the defenses been arranged?"
Zhou Sui replied, "All arrangements are made. The city walls have also been ordered to be cleaned and repaired."
"But the corpses… they’re not easy to handle." He frowned, looking at the bodies strewn across the ground.
Jiang Jin was decisive: "The weather is cold. Stack the enemy corpses outside the city first. In a couple of days, when we’re done with our work, we’ll send word to Qu Zhao for him to come and collect them."
"What if he doesn’t?" Zhou Sui asked.
With the bitter cold and snow and ice covering everything, disposing of the bodies would be especially difficult. It was natural for Qu Zhao to ignore them.
Jiang Jin’s face turned frosty. "Then let them pile up outside the city. A fortress of skulls buried in ice is quite imposing."
As long as the weather stayed like this, the corpses wouldn’t rot. They could deal with them next year.
"Yes!" Zhou Sui replied without hesitation.
Jin Feng’s mouth was slightly agape. A pyramid of skulls?
Piles of corpses, but others bury them in earth, hiding the bodies’ exact forms—meant purely as intimidation.
But the Jingyang Army’s pyramid of skulls was covered in natural ice and snow, perhaps even frozen solid, so that the corpses within, each killed in a different way, remained visible…
Imagining that scene, he couldn’t help but shudder.
