Chapter 426: Encounter with Martial Artists in the White Tiger Mountains!
As they watched the Mo Army fight with enthusiasm, the generals from various countries were filled with envy. “Seeing Great Xia warriors being defeated like this makes me want to join the fight!”
“Indeed, opportunities to step on Great Xia’s head are rare. I wish I had volunteered earlier!”
“It’s a pity we were a step late and missed a great chance. What a regret!” “
After this battle, General Liu will surely gain fame throughout the world!”
In their hearts, everyone secretly made a decision: they must seize this opportunity next time. They couldn’t let that old guy take all the glory.
About half an hour later, after paying a heavy price, the Mo Army finally captured the city and sent the news north to Lin Beifan.
“Reporting to the Commander, Huashu City has been captured. Please give your orders!” General Liu exclaimed. Lin Beifan smiled and nodded, saying loudly, “Well done, General Liu, and all the warriors of the Mo! The entire army will enter the city, rest for a day, and continue the march tomorrow!”
“Yes, Commander!”
The next day, following a day of rest, the alliance army marched forward once again. This ninth city was known as Yuanhua City, boasting a population of one million and a relatively developed economy, thus earning its status as a large city. However, regardless of its size, the city couldn’t withstand the might of a million-strong alliance army. Watching the city in the distance, Lin Beifan confidently declared, “Generals, as usual, just like before, I’ll have you all lead the way into the city, open the gates, and then…”
“Wait, Commander!” a voice interrupted.
Lin Beifan turned and smiled, “General Liu, what’s the matter?” General Liu bowed and excitedly said, “Commander, please entrust this battle to the Mo! I guarantee with my head that we will capture Yuanhua City. I won’t return unless we succeed!” Lin Beifan hesitated, “Handing it over to the Mo again? But yesterday, your losses were a bit…”
“Small sacrifices, what do they matter? As long as we can capture Yuanhua City and save the people inside, contribute to our alliance army, even if the Mo Army sacrifices everything, we won’t hesitate!” General Liu declared with righteousness. Other Mo generals echoed his sentiments. “General Liu is right! Small sacrifices mean nothing!”
“If we can capture Yuanhua City and contribute to the alliance army’s cause, we don’t mind sacrificing everything!”
“Dying on the battlefield is the fate of warriors!”
“Commander, we request to fight!”
Touched by their determination, Lin Beifan said, “Very well! Since General Liu and the Mo warriors are so determined, I’ll grant your wish! In this battle…”
“Commander, hold on!” A voice called out.
Lin Beifan turned to see General Tang from the nation of Great Peng. “General Tang, what’s the matter?” he inquired.
General Tang bowed and said, “Commander, the Great Wu Army and the Mo Army have already contributed significantly as overseers. Meanwhile, our Great Peng Army hasn’t done much, and we feel guilty. So, please entrust this battle to us, the Great Peng. We humbly request this favor, Commander.”
“Requesting Commander’s favor!” the Great Peng generals echoed.
Lin Beifan was taken aback. “Ah… You want to fight too?”
Standing nearby, General Liu scowled, annoyed that General Tang was attempting to seize credit and the opportunity at this moment. He loudly declared, “Commander, let this battle remain with the Mo! After yesterday’s fierce battle, we have grown accustomed to bloodshed and are well-prepared for combat. We will surely return victorious!”
General Zhao quickly countered, “Commander, please entrust this battle to us, the Great Peng! While we haven’t experienced such intense battles, our soldiers are brave and skilled. They excel in both charging on horseback and fighting on foot.”
General Liu immediately mocked, “General Zhao, I think you should reconsider! How many of your troops have seen real combat? Some of them can’t even handle a sword, let alone fight effectively!”
General Zhao fired back, “At least we’re better than your Mo Army! The way you fought yesterday… it was like you were volunteering for death, bringing disgrace to our alliance. I don’t even want to talk about it!”
“General Zhao, your Great Peng is not up to the task…”
“General Liu, your Mo isn’t any better…”
The two of them continued to argue and trade insults.
Meanwhile, Lin Beifan was extremely torn. Both generals were eager to lead, and their soldiers were equally enthusiastic. Choosing between the Mo and Great Peng was proving to be a difficult decision.
Just then, a third general stepped forward. “Commander, please entrust this battle to us, the Great Shang…”
A fourth general followed suit. “Commander, we, the Great Liang, request…”
And then came the fifth and sixth generals. Each one volunteered, each one fought for the opportunity, each one was willing to sacrifice everything.
Lin Beifan was deeply moved, and he declared passionately, “With warriors as brave and selfless as all of you in our alliance army, how can we not achieve victory against Xia? Here’s what we’ll do…”
Lin Beifan proposed an idea, “How about we draw lots to decide? Whoever draws the ‘attack’ paper gets the chance to lead the assault on the city, and the other nations will focus on encircling. What do you all think?”
“Sounds good, sounds good!” Everyone nodded in agreement.
Lin Beifan then took out six pieces of paper. One was labeled “攻” (attack), signifying the nation that would have the opportunity to attack the city, while the other five were labeled “围” (encircle), representing the nations whose troops would mainly encircle the city.
These six pieces of paper were rolled into a bundle and placed into a box. Lin Beifan held the box and said, “Come on, whoever draws the ‘攻’ paper will have the chance to lead the assault on the city!”
“Commander, we have seven nations here, but there are only six papers in the box. It’s not enough!” someone raised a concern.
Lin Beifan smiled and shook his head, saying firmly, “Generals, it’s absolutely enough! Because we, the Great Wu, won’t draw. We’re giving this precious opportunity to all of you!”
“Thank you, Commander!” the crowd responded in unison, expressing their gratitude.
The drawing of lots began.
In the end, it was the nation of Great Liang that drew the precious opportunity. The general from Great Liang immediately raised his sword and shouted excitedly, “Soldiers of Great Liang, follow me into the city! This is our moment to achieve greatness!”
“Charge!”
The 400,000-strong Great Liang army also roared and stormed into the city. After paying a price of 100,000 casualties, they finally captured the city guarded by only 60,000 city defenders.
The subsequent battles unfolded in a similar manner. In each new city, nations competed to be the first to lead the assault.
Seeing the fierce competition, Lin Beifan decided to let everyone draw lots to decide.
Under Lin Beifan’s “fair, just, and transparent” supervision, almost every nation had a turn. After paying a significant cost, they would eventually capture the city.
Lin Beifan’s Great Wu Army, for the most part, played a minimal role, acting as a backup in the rear.
A week quickly passed. The alliance army, which originally had 2.5 million soldiers, now numbered less than 2 million due to heavy casualties. But in Lin Beifan’s view, they had removed a lot of excess fat, and the army now appeared more organized.
At this point, after half a month, the alliance army finally reached the White Tiger Mountains, the second barrier of Great Xia. If they could break through the White Tiger Mountains, the alliance army could advance another 300 kilometers, capturing nearly one-third of the territory.
Even though the situation within the alliance was chaotic, Lin Beifan knew that this was the right time to cool down and consolidate.
He immediately gathered 500,000 elite troops to defend the White Tiger Fortress. However, this wasn’t the most crucial development.
The most crucial development was…
“They’ve actually called on the martial artists from within Great Xia to resist the alliance army. Interesting,” Lin Beifan said with a slight smile.
Just learned from the spies that, in order to face the oncoming Alliance Army and the impending fall of the Great Xia Empire, the imperial court of Great Xia has offered a certain price to invite various martial sects within the city and martial artists from the Jianghu to come together and defend against the alliance forces.
With their nation on the brink of destruction, many passionate martial artists hurriedly rushed to frontline and gathered to defend the White Tiger Fortress. Among them, there were already tens of thousands of martial artists of the pre-natal realm, and more than 30 of them were Innate experts.
Combined with the military forces of the Great Xia imperial court, their strength had become extremely formidable, capable of rivaling the Alliance Army. This marked the second major obstacle encountered by the Alliance Army since the beginning of the war.
The morale of the Great Xia soldiers soared, and their voices echoed loudly.
“Alliance Army, let’s see how you’re going to fight this time!”
“We have so many heroes and talents here; our strength is no less than yours!”
“We won’t let you take a step further!”
“We will definitely win this battle!”
The members of the Alliance Army grew solemn. “Commander, how do we approach this battle?”
“Commander, the Great Xia has assembled the strength of both the imperial court and the Jianghu. They have over 50 experts in the Innate realm, which equals our strength! We may not be able to storm the city gates as easily as before!”
“Yes, Commander! While their military might may be weaker than ours, those martial artists from the Jianghu more than make up for it! With over ten thousand martial artists, they can easily hold off three and a half million soldiers!”
“If these martial artists launch a surprise attack and cut off our supply route, our army will be in serious trouble!”
“Commander…”
Lin Beifan smiled slightly. “There’s no need to worry, everyone. Let me go convince them.”
Lin Beifan, riding on a white horse, moved through the army and looked at the formidable fortress not far away. He laughed aloud, “I heard that the Great Xia court couldn’t hold on and had to invite the martial artists of Jianghu. I find it very interesting and curious. Weren’t you martial artists always at odds with the court? Now you’re acting as their lackeys?”
The martial artists on the city wall grew furious. “Lackeys? Why do you speak so harshly?”
“The court is the court, and we are ourselves. We have no connection to the court whatsoever!”
“Why should we care about the court’s fate? The reason we’re here is not for the court but for this nation and its millions of people!”
“To protect Great Xia and drive away foreign invaders!”
“Once you invaders are repelled, we will naturally leave!”
Lin Beifan smiled calmly. “It seems you all are true heroes in your own right, and I deeply admire that. However, I’d like to pose a question to you: what kind of person truly deserves to be called a hero?”
TLN:
It seems there’s a slight translation error here. The translation for “Hulao” is “Tiger Gaol,” while the translation for “White Tiger” is “Baihu.”
