The Demon Lords

Chapter 499 17: One Word_1

In the afternoon, the setting sun still lingered, reluctant to part with the evening clouds in the sky.

However, in the Jin State army's camp, no one possessed the leisure to exchange glances with the setting sun.

The people of Jin land, to a certain extent, were like those of the Yan region. There seemed to be an innate lack of poetic and romantic flair in their bones. This was reflected in their speech: they loved to draw out their words, a habit mixed with an air of impatience and urgency.

Hsu Youcheng was quietly cleaning his right arm. During the morning's siege, an arrow had pierced it. He knew very well that the barbarian soldier atop the fort had aimed for his head. He was fortunate to have dodged in time; otherwise, he would have met his end beneath the fort's walls.

His own men, however, had not been so lucky. Of the roughly three hundred who had formed the middle echelon of the assault, nearly a hundred had perished. Almost all the survivors were wounded.

This fort looked small, yet it was damnably tough to crack. Hsu Youcheng, only a nominal Commander, was no renowned general, but even he could see that it would be virtually impossible to breach the fort simply by having the men carry siege ladders up.

The morale of the Yan Army within the fort was high; moreover, they seemed to suffer no shortages of food or weaponry. If they were to truly trade lives under the walls of this fort, the besieging side would suffer more.

A soldier brought him a dry ration – a cornbread, frozen so hard it could chip a tooth. It could only be eaten by soaking it in boiled water. Hsu Youcheng didn't complain much about this, and his brothers-in-arms also silently ate this type of military fare.

In the past, this would have been unimaginable. Even on ordinary days, their meals consisted of at least white rice with an ample supply of soybean paste. Once mobilization orders were given for a campaign, meat and wine would be supplied every few days. How could they be subjected to such meager fare now? But weren't circumstances now dictating terms?

Hsu Youcheng's unit was composed of men who had originally been household retainers of the Wenren Family. The Wenren Family was renowned throughout the land for its wealth, and they had always supplied their soldiers generously. Who would have imagined that these good days would vanish just like that?

Previously, their forces had been attacking Yan State with tremendous momentum. Along the Horse Hoof Mountain range, the armies of the two families, totaling 600,000 soldiers, were locked in fierce combat with the Yan people.

The Yan people could fight, but they weren't as divinely invincible as the rumors claimed. That, at least, was Hsu Youcheng's initial feeling.

Although a military governor had once claimed that the Yan Army's truly formidable troops were currently bogged down in Qian State, Hsu Youcheng had remained somewhat skeptical.

The lads from Jin land were truly no worse than the men from the Yan region; they could ride horses and draw bows just the same. The children in Jin land grew up playing games of killing wild people.

The Jin people had always looked down on the people of Qian State for their perceived effeminacy.

Originally, the head of the Wenren Family and his young masters had all said that after defeating Yan State and invading its territory, the entire army would be generously rewarded. Based on his rank and the merits he expected to earn this time, Hsu Youcheng thought it would be an easy matter to return to his hometown, build his own fort, and live comfortably as a local magnate.

But just as this sweet dream was taking shape, the Yan State's North Garrison Army and South Pacifying Army suddenly struck them from behind.

Popular rumor had it that 200,000 Yan iron cavalry had emerged from their rear under cover of a black wind, routing the Jin Grand Army for a thousand li and leaving them in utter disarray.

But as someone who had experienced it firsthand, Hsu Youcheng knew this wasn't the case.

The Jin Army numbered 600,000, not even counting local defense forces. It was impossible to concentrate so many troops on a single battlefield; no general would be foolish enough to employ his forces in such a manner.

Nor would the Yan Army's 200,000 iron cavalry simply throw themselves into the fray all at once.

Ultimately, with nearly a million soldiers involved on both sides, where could one find a battlefield vast enough for them all to fight to their hearts' content?

The Jin Army here was divided into several large contingents. The Yan forces, despite their numerical inferiority, had also been divided into several contingents.

Initially, the sudden appearance of the Yan Army did catch the Jin Army off guard, and the Jin forces indeed suffered heavy losses. But the Jin Army, after all, was not the Qian army. When it came to fighting prowess in open-field battles, no troops, save perhaps for the West Army Division of Qian State, could compare with the Jin Army.

The Wenren and Helian Families immediately organized a counterattack, and it was genuinely effective in its initial stages.

But what happened next left an indelible shadow on Hsu Youcheng, a veteran soldier who had muddled through half his life in the army.

In the span of ten days, they fought seven brutal battles, the front line stretching for a thousand miles.

The Jin Army suffered one defeat after another, retreating continuously, until finally, they were completely crushed.

Hsu Youcheng truly couldn't comprehend how such a terrifying army could exist in this world. Whether in mounted archery, cavalry charges, or even dismounted infantry combat, the Jin Army was no match for the North Garrison Army and the South Pacifying Army.

Even when battles initially hung in the balance, even when the Jin Army held a numerical advantage, even when the Jin Army repeatedly gained the upper hand at the outset, and even when the Yan forces frequently found themselves in perilous situations—they would not break. Even if a Yan unit was shattered on the battlefield, reduced to as few as ten men, they would remount their warhorses to launch another charge or gather to form a defensive phalanx for infantry combat.

The Jin Army was crushed, time and time again, through sheer force. The so-called surprise attack was only a minor factor. The true reason the Wenren and Helian Families were directly annihilated was that both family heads had blindly trusted in their own field-fighting prowess, only to be systematically devoured by the Yan Army in one open, pitched battle after another.

Sometimes, when his dreams revisited those ten days and nights, Hsu Youcheng would still find himself shuddering uncontrollably.

Later, because his unit still retained a considerable number of cavalry, and as the Yan Army's ultimate victory seemed inevitable, he led his men westward. Answering Emperor Jin's call for soldiers, they entered the capital city region, where Hsu Youcheng was enfeoffed as a Commander.