Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 258: Jin Kingdom Sends Out Troops, Part Two
Nanyang County. Kong Donglai stared at the information in his hands, his expression constantly changing. The report had been sent by Nangong Zhi, the commander at the front—Anyang’s military might was unstoppable. With overwhelming speed, they had seized Luliang County and, in one swift move, swallowed up the 100,000-strong army of Dongyuan County, even capturing its governor, Yuan Zhong. Now, the acting authority of Dongyuan County was Yuan Yong.
Looking at the sand table, Kong Donglai slowly moved his finger, tracing Anyang’s previous military routes.
From the sand table, the overall structure of Anyang’s military campaign resembled a hand— The thumb was Beichen Yuqing’s forces in the north of Luliang County, launching an attack from the north; Anyang itself was the palm of the hand; Wang Jian, Yan Ze’an, and others were like the four fingers, first stabbing southward, then curving in an arc to attack Dongyuan and Luliang County from the south.
In the end, this “hand” clenched Luliang County in its grasp and crushed it, allowing Anyang to swallow it whole.
“What a brilliantly devised military plan!” Kong Donglai’s expression was grim, even tinged with fear. Looking back now, Anyang’s campaign had accounted for nearly every factor—it had predicted that Gao Bin of Songzhou County would retreat without a fight; that Nanyang County would be caught off guard; and that the Yuan family of Dongyuan would harbor ulterior motives and remain inactive.
The more he analyzed, the more solemn Kong Donglai became. And along with that solemnity came a growing fury—useless allies.
At that moment, Kong Yingzhi stumbled in, shouting, “Father, bad news! Two days ago, Li Yulong officially declared himself emperor, founding the state of Tang. The First Prince’s army has turned back halfway. The northern state of Cai is showing signs of unrest.
Anyang has tightly controlled all information, which is why the news only just reached us.”
Crash—
Kong Donglai sprang to his feet. The documents in his hand scattered, and the sand table shook from the impact. As a seasoned politician, Kong Donglai immediately grasped the significance of Li Yulong’s self-coronation. At least two key implications stood out: First, it marked the complete fall of the Great Xia Empire.
Second, it meant Li Yulong and the Li family had long been prepared, possibly even conspiring for this moment; otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to declare himself emperor so soon.
Also, the First Prince’s army turning back meant Nanyang County would now bear the full brunt of Anyang and Li Xian’s wrath. One could easily imagine—without the northern First Prince to hold them back, Anyang, now riding high on momentum, would not stop but instead press forward with relentless pursuit.
Next, Anyang would very likely continue its offensive on Dongyuan and Nanyang County. And given the heavy losses already suffered, Dongyuan and Nanyang had virtually no chance of withstanding Anyang’s forces. As for timid and cowardly Songzhou, they would likely stand by idly—perhaps even kick them while they were down.
After a long moment of shifting expressions, Kong Donglai finally took a deep breath.
“Yingzhi, you’ll remain and guard Nanyang County. I’m heading south to request aid from the Jin Kingdom!”
Kong Yingzhi immediately objected, “Father, Nanyang needs your leadership. Let me go to Jin instead.”
Kong Donglai shook his head slightly. “This trip south will involve many negotiations and diplomatic efforts. Enough—take care of Nanyang County. There’s no time to lose. I’m leaving now.”
Kong Donglai moved quickly. After a brief preparation, he led a few close aides and headed south. The situation was indeed dire—Anyang’s two-day information blockade had caused Nanyang to completely lose the initiative. Without external support, there was no hope of a comeback for Nanyang.
To be honest, even now Kong Donglai was still shaken—in less than half a day of battle, over 200,000 people from Nanyang County had either died or been captured. It was an unimaginable loss in the past.
The transformation brought by industrial and commercial development wasn’t just about business and wealth—it had also changed the nature of warfare!
War had evolved into pure slaughter—kill all the enemy soldiers, and victory is yours.
Kong Donglai’s journey south to the Jin Kingdom was smooth, facing no obstruction. He successfully met the Jin Kingdom’s Prime Minister, and later, its Emperor.
In a small pavilion, the Emperor of Jin, Prime Minister Sima Xuan, Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army Li Lisong, and Kong Donglai held a discussion.
The discussion was intense—almost a quarrel. Jin Kingdom practically nullified all prior agreements made with Nanyang County.
Because Nanyang had been defeated, because it was now at a disadvantage, Jin’s demands became even harsher.
“If we conquer Anyang,” said Jin’s representative,
“everything—its people, technology, information, and wealth—will belong to Jin!”
Kong Donglai almost agreed through gritted teeth — to think that in the past, the Jin Kingdom had talked about equally dividing the personnel of Anyang and sharing information, but now they wanted to take everything for themselves.
But that wasn’t the only condition set by the Jin Kingdom. Prime Minister Sima Xuan added with a smiling face, “As the saying goes, ‘Before the troops march, the provisions must arrive.’ We ask Magistrate Kong to help prepare one month’s worth of provisions and bonuses for 300,000 soldiers. That would be approximately 200,000 shi of grain and 200,000 taels of gold!”
“Creak…” Kong Donglai was itching to leap up and tear Sima Xuan apart, but he had no choice but to agree. Still, he tried to bargain a little, “No matter what, my Nanyang County has contributed its share of hardship. We should be entitled to a portion of the spoils.”
“Magistrate Kong, that’s not quite right,” Sima Xuan shook his head and replied slowly, “We only want the talent, information, and wealth from Anyang; the land and people of Anyang, however, will belong to your Nanyang County.
We can swear that we will never seize even an inch of land from Nanyang, Dongyuan, Anyang, or Luliang County, and we will not pillage a single citizen from Nanyang. Once victory is secured, we will withdraw our troops.”
Upon hearing these terms, Kong Donglai finally let out a sigh of relief. Both parties then began to take oaths. The Jin Kingdom’s intentions were crystal clear: they only wanted Anyang’s technology, talent, and data—nothing else.
But in truth, once they obtained all of Anyang’s technology, wouldn’t the wealth and land follow naturally? It was clear that Jin Kingdom’s abacus was clattering loudly with schemes.
However, the moment the oaths were complete, Kong Donglai regretted it — it turned out that Jin Kingdom had already prepared an army of 300,000 soldiers and had stationed them right at the border.
Listening to Li Lisong proudly reveal these “military secrets,” Kong Donglai felt his head buzzing — the Jin Kingdom had been ready and merely waited for him to willingly “sell out the country and betray from within.”
“If only I had held my ground a little longer… If I had waited a few more days, maybe it would have been the Jin Kingdom coming to beg me!” Regret twisted around Kong Donglai’s heart like a venomous snake, but alas — there’s no medicine for regret in this world!
But Kong Donglai wasn’t someone to be trifled with either. Since Jin Kingdom had played him for a fool, he would return the favor — as for Anyang’s wartime experience and such? Don’t even think about getting a single word out of me!
Thinking of Anyang’s near-slaughter style of warfare, Kong Donglai felt both fear and excitement — would the Jin Kingdom’s army be subjected to such a massacre? Just imagining it made his blood race! Though the alliance was newly formed, the seeds of hatred were already sown.
The Jin army crossed the border in a grand procession. Just as they had sworn, they harmed not a single blade of grass along the way and moved swiftly. It was estimated that in just one day, they would cross Nanyang County and reach the front lines — which were at the border between Nanyang and Anyang, near the Xiandai River.
At nearly the same time, by the Xiandai River, Beichen Yuqing had already handed over all military affairs to Yan Zhenqing and boarded an ironclad warship, returning to Anyang.
Even before Jin Kingdom made a move, Anyang had already predicted their deployment and made early preparations!
However, Anyang was ultimately just a single County, with a radius of less than 500 li; while the Jin Kingdom was the most powerful country in the East, spanning 5,000 li — the difference in territory was a hundredfold.
Can Anyang truly hold back Jin Kingdom?