201: Chapter 201 The Smoke of War Rises

The smile on Zhang Tieniu's face froze instantly. A chill, cold enough to completely freeze his Soul, shot straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his head!

He dropped the hoe in his hands and, without a second thought, used every ounce of his strength to launch the fastest sprint of his life toward the fortress, which looked close enough to touch but now seemed impossibly far away.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

A shrill roar erupted from his throat, yet his voice was soon completely drowned out by an even more terrifying and deafening thunderous sound!

"Rumble—!"

The earth shook, and dust billowed!

Before he could run back into the simple fortress wall made only of rammed earth, the endless prairie cavalry, like a black tide, had already crossed the low earthen wall. Like demons surging from Hell, they charged into his once peaceful and tranquil home!

Zhang Tieniu's pupils instantly shrank to the size of needle points! He watched with his own eyes as his neighbor, Wang Ermazi—who usually loved to drink and brag with him—was decapitated by a lightning-fast, snowy blade of light before he could even raise his pitchfork!

That head, filled with shock and disbelief, tumbled through the air. Scalding blood spurted crazily like a fountain from the severed neck, staining the golden earth a shocking crimson!

He saw his wife, a frail woman who usually wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken, acting like a crazed she-wolf, holding their precious son—who was already crying in terror—tightly in her arms, using her own thin body to shield him from those demonic prairie barbarians!

Yet her resistance was so pale and weak. Soon, she was dragged away from the ground like a dead dog by several grinning cavalrymen. Her desperate, shrill cries were like the sharpest knives, gouging at Zhang Tieniu's heart!

"Ah—!!!"

Zhang Tieniu let out a shrill, inhuman roar. In his bloodshot eyes, only the most primal madness and desire for destruction remained! He picked up a hoe from the ground and, like a madman, charged fearlessly toward the demons who had taken everything from him!

Yet, his insignificant strength was laughable and utterly fragile before the steel torrent of cavalry!

A cold blade of light flashed by. He felt a chill in his right arm, followed immediately by an excruciating, bone-piercing pain! He looked down and saw his entire right arm severed at the shoulder, with scalding blood gushing out like a breached flood!

The intense pain and blood loss caused his vision to go black. His whole body, as if all his bones had been removed, collapsed heavily onto the blood-soaked earth, and he completely lost consciousness.

He did not know how much time had passed; it felt like a century, yet also like a mere instant.

When Zhang Tieniu slowly woke from that endless darkness, the entire "Wangxi Fortress" had already become a veritable Hell on earth.

The air was filled with a nauseating, thick stench of blood, intertwined with the foul odor of charred corpses, creating a terrifying atmosphere that would cause any normal person to break down on the spot.

He struggled and crawled up from the mountain of corpses. His hollow eyes swept numbly over the tragic scene before him, which resembled an Asura Hell.

The entire "Wangxi Fortress," with its three thousand one hundred and twenty-seven soldiers and civilians, regardless of age or gender, had been slaughtered. Not one survived!

The houses that were once filled with laughter and joy had already turned into ruins burning with raging flames. The fields that were once full of life and hope had already been trampled into a mess by the galloping hooves.

Yet, this was not what terrified him the most.

He saw that in what used to be the central square of the fortress, a terrifying structure several zhang high, built from countless human heads, stood silently.

That was a Jingguan!

The heads of all the adult males had been cut off one by one by those cruel prairie barbarians using the sharpest scimitars. Then, using lime and soil mixed with blood, they had built a spine-chilling tower of skulls, filled with endless resentment and the Aura of death, upon the ruins of the fortress!

Boerte, in such a direct and brutal manner, issued his most arrogant and bloody war declaration to the young Wu Dynasty that had just ascended to the pinnacle of power!

He was declaring the return of the Azure Wolf to the entire world!

...

The news traveled with the fastest speed, as if it had grown wings, rushing through the night back to the magnificent capital that symbolized the highest power in the world—Shendu!

Delivered along with it was the only survivor, Zhang Tieniu, whose heart was already turned to ash and who was consumed by despair. Along with his account, woven with blood and tears, was the portrait of the Jingguan, drawn by a painter with trembling hands—an image that would chill the heart of anyone, no matter how hard-hearted they were!

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt as if it could drip water.

Gao Feng sat high upon the Dragon throne, carved from a single piece of Kunlun warm jade. He looked quietly at the war report in his hands, which was filled with blood and sin. His handsome face, which seemed unlike that of a Mortal, bore no expression, but in his eyes, usually as deep as a sea of stars, a monstrous rage was already burning!

The temperature of the entire Hall of Supreme Harmony dropped to freezing!

The civil and military officials standing below the hall all felt a bone-chilling cold shoot from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads. They didn't even dare to breathe loudly, and could only look up with eyes filled with endless awe and fear at the young emperor, who had already transformed into a war demon walking among men!

"Good! A very good Boerte! A very good Azure Wolf Rangers!"

Gao Feng slowly stood up from behind the broken Dragon desk. His voice was not loud, but it was like a cold wind from the Nine Netherworlds, blowing so cold that the entire court of civil and military officials shivered!

"Since I ascended the throne, I have reduced taxes and allowed the people to rest, all with the single goal of creating an eternal, peaceful, and prosperous age! Yet, I did not expect that it would make these prairie scum think that my blade has grown dull!"

"Pass on my decree!"

Gao Feng's voice suddenly rose, like rolling thunder crashing across the sky above the entire Hall of Supreme Harmony!

"I will lead the imperial expedition myself!"

"I will use Boerte's head to pay tribute to the spirits of the three thousand innocent Souls of Wangxi Fortress in heaven!"

"I will use the blood of all the barbarians on the prairie to teach a lesson to everyone in this world who harbors ulterior motives—"

"Those who offend my mighty Wu, though they be far, shall be punished!"

Gao Feng's thunderous rage shook the entire imperial court!

However, the civil official faction led by Left Prime Minister Liu Chengfeng immediately knelt on the ground. Although they were equally enraged by the atrocities of the prairie barbarians, they could not allow this young emperor, who had just ascended the throne and held the safety of the entire Empire in his hands, to take personal risks!

"Your Majesty! You absolutely must not!" Liu Chengfeng's voice was filled with anxiety. "Your Majesty is of golden body, the foundation of the nation; how can you move lightly? The prairie lands have complex terrain and harsh climates, and the enemy is deceitful in their movements, coming and going like the wind. This journey is extremely dangerous; I beg Your Majesty to reconsider!"

"Indeed, Your Majesty! Why would you need to take action yourself against mere prairie barbarians? Just dispatch a general, lead our imperial troops, and it will be enough to trample them!"

Listening to those words of advice filled with "loyalty" and "concern," a flash of cold impatience crossed Gao Feng's eyes, which were burning with golden flames.

He knew that what these civil officials said made sense, but he also knew that while he didn't have to lead the expedition himself, this battle had to be fought!

And it must be fought with the force of a thunderbolt to demonstrate the illustrious might of the Wu Dynasty!

He wanted to use a thorough and crushing victory to tell the whole world that his newborn Dynasty was not the weak and incompetent Great Qian that could be bullied by foreign races!

"I understand the intentions of you all."

Gao Feng slowly sat back down on the Dragon throne that symbolized supreme power. The monstrous Killing Intent on his body gradually receded, but in his deep eyes, a chilling light that made one's heart tremble still flickered.

"We shall not mention the imperial expedition for now."

"However, this grudge must be avenged!"

"Pass on my decree!"

Gao Feng's voice became filled with unquestionable majesty once again!

"I order the great general who guards the nation, Zhao Yu, to be the Marshal of 'Wolf Extermination,' in overall command of all military affairs for this Northern Desert expedition!"

"I order the General of Cavalry, Ma Qianli, to be the vanguard general, leading fifty thousand Dragon Steed Iron Cavalry to set out first!"

"Additionally, promote the Flank Generals Han Lin and Wang Li, who have repeatedly performed meritorious service in suppressing internal rebellions, to be the left and right deputy generals to assist Zhao Yu!"

"Han Lin, although he started as an infantryman, deeply understands the essence of infantry-cavalry coordination. The 'Rock Sharp Troops' under his command are strictly disciplined and possess fierce combat power, enough to withstand the charge of any cavalry on the frontal battlefield!"

"Wang Li, although he is not skilled in charging into battle, is proficient in logistics and scheduling, meticulous in thought, and calculates without error! With him there, the provisions and weaponry of our great army will be absolutely secure!"

"I order the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue to fully cooperate! Within three months, assemble our Dynasty's most elite two hundred thousand troops at Yanmen Pass, claiming to be five hundred thousand, to launch the 'Wolf Extermination' campaign!"

"I, have only one requirement!"

Gao Feng slowly stood up. His cold gaze swept over every civil and military official in the hall, and he said word by word:

"I want that so-called 'Azure Wolf' to disappear from the prairie completely!"

With this order, the entire massive war machine of the Wu Dynasty began to operate with unprecedented and terrifying efficiency!

Countless provisions and weaponry, like an endless flowing river, converged from all directions toward Yanmen Pass in the north!

Countless elite soldiers bid farewell to their wives and children, and carrying the hatred for their country and family—which had already seeped into their bones—along with their supreme loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor, they embarked on the Northern Expedition!

The entire Imperial Capital was immersed in a frenzy of revenge and an absolute confidence in the Wu Dynasty's military might, which was powerful enough to crush everything!

On the day of the expedition, the Imperial Capital was deserted as everyone poured into the streets!

Countless commoners spontaneously took to the streets, waving flags in their hands and tossing the fine wine and flowers they had long prepared toward the heroic soldiers who were about to exact revenge for them!

"Long live the Martial Emperor! Long live the Wu Dynasty!"

"Flatten the grasslands! A debt of blood must be paid in blood!"

Those shouts, filled with endless fanaticism and anticipation, were like a roaring tsunami, shaking the very heavens!

In their eyes, this invincible army, personally led by the God of War Zhao Yu and equipped with the latest firearms and hundred-refined steel blades, would surely sweep away the blood-drinking grassland barbarians like autumn leaves falling, effortlessly crushing them into dust!

They seemed to have already seen the day when the army returned in triumph, and the great general who guards the nation Zhao Yu hung the head of the culprit Boerte high above the gates of the Imperial Capital!

However, war was never that simple.

...

When the black banner embroidered with a ferocious nine-clawed golden Dragon and the character "Wu" fluttered and snapped in the wind atop the weathered watchtowers of Yanmen Pass, the area inside and outside the pass transformed into an ocean of steel and Killing Intent.

Two hundred thousand of the Wu Dynasty's most elite soldiers gathered here, like a torrent of vengeance pouring out from Hell. The monstrous Killing Intent, condensed from endless rage and absolute confidence, shot straight into the heavens, even staining the clouds in the sky with a chilling shade of blood.

On the day the army marched beyond the border, the heavens and earth shook, and the winds and clouds changed color.

Their uniform footsteps, like the drumbeats of death, pounded against the vast grassland; their gleaming blades and spears, like a moving forest, reflected a cold light of death.

However, when this invincible army, upon which the entire Empire had pinned its high hopes, truly stepped into that boundless, unknown, and dangerous expanse of the vast grassland, Zhao Yu, as the commander-in-chief, finally realized deeply that war was far from as simple as the hot-blooded commoners and civil officials in the Imperial Capital had imagined.

The map in his hand, which had been brought back at the risk of their lives by "Sky Net" spies, although it marked every river and mountain on the grassland as detailed as possible, still appeared so pale and powerless in this vast green ocean that seemed to have no end.

That fox-like, cunning Boerte seemed to have completely evaporated from this land; no matter how Zhao Yu dispatched scouts or analyzed and deduced, he could not capture any trace of the main force of his so-called "Azure Wolf Rangers".

This massive Wu Dynasty army was like a giant wielding a giant hammer; although it possessed terrifying power sufficient to split mountains and shatter rocks, it could never hit that tiny mosquito, ghost-like, constantly flying around and harassing it.

Every time they aggressively pounced on the traces of the enemy discovered by scouts, what they ultimately saw was only an empty camp, long since abandoned, with only unextinguished campfires and scattered animal bones, as if silently mocking their stupidity and sluggishness.

The army was like a headless fly. After penetrating hundreds of miles into the grassland, a more fatal and realistic problem began to tighten around the throat of this massive army like an invisible noose—logistics.

The mountains of provisions, transported day and night from the rear by tens of thousands of laborers using countless ox carts and horse carriages, once thrown into this vast, seemingly endless grassland, and into these two hundred thousand hungry mouths, were like splashing a ladle of water into a long-dried, cracked desert—instantly evaporated completely, without even a splash.

Boerte's elusive "Azure Wolf Rangers" were like the most patient hyenas on the grassland. They never engaged the Wu Dynasty army in a head-on confrontation, but instead broke up into small units of dozens of people, like countless blood-sucking leeches attached to a giant, conducting endless and impossible-to-guard-against crazy harassment on that already overextended, hundreds-of-miles-long supply line!

Like ghosts, they emerged without warning from beneath the seemingly flat grassland horizon, fired poisoned arrows at top speed, ignited the vehicles loaded with provisions, and then immediately fled, never lingering in battle!

Their speed, coming and going like the wind, left the Wu Dynasty cavalry responsible for escorting the provisions completely unable to catch up!

Flank General Wang Li, responsible for coordinating logistics, was already overwhelmed. His face, usually full of confidence and composure, was now covered with deep exhaustion and anxiety. His bloodshot eyes were fixed intently on the list of provisions that was rapidly decreasing every day, as if he wanted to squeeze even a single grain of food from those cold numbers.

The one-hundred-thousand-strong infantry legion led by the other deputy general, Flank General Han Lin, was even more deeply mired in an unprecedented dilemma.

Although they were disciplined and powerful in combat, in this grassland environment lacking water sources and with complex terrain, their heavy armor and equipment became the most fatal burden.

Their marching speed was severely slowed down, and they had long since completely lost contact with the main cavalry force, becoming an isolated army stranded deep in the grassland, not only unable to provide any effective support for the cavalry in front, but also consuming the already scarce and precious provisions and water.

Lack of water, exhaustion, and the restlessness and unease caused by the delay in engaging the enemy's main force spread like the most terrible plague throughout the entire army.

The soldiers' morale began to decline visibly, and their eyes, once filled with the conviction of victory, gradually became tainted with a trace of confusion and fear toward this grassland full of unknowns and dangers.

The war had already lasted for two full months.

During these two months, apart from the casualties of thousands of auxiliary soldiers responsible for transporting provisions and the massive consumption of supplies that would make the Minister of Revenue faint on the spot, the Wu Dynasty army had achieved little, not even managing to touch a single hair of Boerte.

The night was as deep as ink.

The howling wind whipped up sand and gravel, lashing furiously at the temporarily erected, heavily guarded central command tent like ghosts wailing and wolves howling.

Inside the command tent, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it could drip water.

Zhao Yu, clad in heavy armor, sat quietly on the wide commander's seat. His face, usually full of confidence and dignity, was now covered with deep exhaustion and solemnity.

His eyes, like cold stars, stared intently at the huge military map spread out on the table, as if trying to find a path to victory among those crisscrossing lines.

However, apart from the red arrow on the map representing the position of his own army, which had long since penetrated deep into the heart of the grassland and appeared so isolated and helpless, there was no other valuable information.

Where was the enemy? Where exactly was their main force? What was their next move?

Everything was unknown.

For the first time, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness and frustration, as if his hands and feet were tightly bound by an invisible net.

He knew he had to make a choice.

A difficult choice that would determine the fate of these two hundred thousand troops, and even the future national destiny of the entire Empire.

Should he continue to lead the army deeper into the profound and unknown heart of the grassland to find the ghost-like main enemy force and wage a decisive battle where everything was at stake?

But the risk of doing so was simply too great.

Once provisions ran out, or they fell into an enemy ambush, these two hundred thousand elites under his command would very likely repeat the failure of the previous Dynasty's several northern expeditions and be wiped out in this desolate vast grassland!

Or should he temporarily abandon this seemingly hopeless pursuit, lead the army to retreat, regroup, and plan for the future?

But this was also a choice full of humiliation and risk. This would not only mean that his "Wolf Extermination" campaign would end in a shameful, anti-climactic manner, bordering on failure.

It would also severely damage the morale of the commoners back home, who had already been blinded by the frenzy of revenge!

By then, his reputation would inevitably be stained with an indelible mark!

Advancing meant an abyss.

Retreating meant a bottomless quagmire.

Zhao Yu felt as if his head was about to split open right then and there.

"Marshal!"

A rough, loud voice filled with restlessness and irritation interrupted his deep thoughts.

He saw the vanguard general Ma Qianli, with a figure as burly as a bear and a fiery temper, stride into the command tent. His eyes, filled with Battle Intent, were burning with raging flames.

"I believe we cannot continue to wait like this! That brat Boerte is clearly using this kite-flying tactic to wear down our morale and collapse our logistics! The more we hesitate, the more we fall right into his trap!"

"In my opinion, we should immediately abandon all unnecessary baggage, have the entire army travel light, and launch a long-distance raid toward Langjuxu Mountain at the fastest possible speed! I don't believe that brat can sprout wings and fly away! As long as we can find his royal tent, I am willing to sign a military pledge to bring his head back to the Marshal's tent within three days!"

Ma Qianli's words were filled with a soldier's mettle and indomitable courage, but they also carried a hint of gambler's madness.

However, before his voice had even faded, another calm and rational voice immediately rang out.