Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 270: Surrender
Li Lishong had long known that Anyang had ironclad ships, and that the artillery on these ships was more powerful than land-based artillery. Some said the firepower of the ironclad ships was nearly ten times that of land-based artillery—honestly, Li Lishong had some doubts about this claim, but there was no doubt about the destructive power of the ironclad ships.
Imagine: five powerful ironclad ships rampaging along the coast—what a disaster that would be!
At this point, not only had the soldiers’ confidence been shaken again, even Li Lishong’s confidence began to waver.
Standing not far behind Li Lishong, General Wang Zhouzhi of the Northern Jin Kingdom had a pale face. At this moment, Wang Zhouzhi remembered the prophecy he had received from the “fatalist” Miao Congrong before setting out: “The geese fly south, and the people do not return.”
The atmosphere grew oppressive. When a Nascent Soul realm expert spoke, of course, their voice was vast, carrying over ten miles, and almost all the soldiers of the Jin Kingdom could hear it.
However, at this moment, Li Lishong suddenly let out a long roar, “Lord Yuan, what you say may be true, but what does it have to do with you? You have less than forty thousand men. Thanks for your explanation, it has helped my soldiers recover.”
He then commanded, “All troops, listen up! Charge! If we break through this blockade, we can go home!”
Li Lishong’s voice echoed through the heavens and earth: What does it have to do with you? You have less than forty thousand men!
The Jin Kingdom soldiers immediately reacted, their eyes shining—yes, the military power of Anyang was indeed formidable, we admit that, but what does it have to do with you in Dongyuan County? And you have less than forty thousand men! One charge, and we can cut through you!
Some soldiers had already gathered spontaneously, preparing to deploy the “Sword Formation.” To be fair, the Jin Kingdom had more than just the “Ten Thousand Sword Formation,” there were many battle formations; however, the killing power of the Ten Thousand Sword Formation was the best. Armies valued “quality over quantity,” too many formations would confuse things.
Therefore, Li Lishong only had two main formations: one for attack, the Ten Thousand Sword Formation, and one for defense, the Eight Desolations Six Heavens Celestial Formation.
The Ten Thousand Sword Formation, needless to say, was incredibly sharp in attack; while the Eight Desolations Six Heavens Celestial Formation was primarily defensive, with an additional trapping function. Both of these formations did not rely on the Five Elements or Four Symbols, so they were not affected by terrain, making them “all-weather adaptable.”
Earlier, Li Lishong had not deployed the Eight Desolations Six Heavens Celestial Formation, but had kept it hidden as a trump card. Now, it had finally been revealed.
Dozens of men, or even hundreds or thousands, gathered together and began to operate the “Eight Desolations Six Heavens Celestial Formation,” and a layer of hazy radiant light appeared above the team, as if it was the manifestation of “heaven like a vast dome,” protecting all the soldiers. Whether it was arrows, crossbow bolts, spells, or cannonballs, all were blocked outside the formation.
Of course, every such formation had its cost. This formation consumed a lot of cultivation power, and if they could not win in a short time, the soldiers who set up the formation would be exhausted.
The Ten Thousand Sword Formation brought tremendous casualties to Dongyuan County; while the Eight Desolations Six Heavens Celestial Formation made the Jin Kingdom soldiers feel as if they had turtle shells on their heads, impervious to swords and spears. As soon as the war erupted, the Dongyuan County soldiers couldn’t hold up.
Yuan Yong saw that Jin Kingdom actually had the “Ten Thousand Sword Formation” and the “Eight Desolations Six Heavens Celestial Formation,” and immediately furrowed his brows. But Yuan Yong was no fool. After observing for a while, he smiled, “All artillery, focus on attacking the enemy’s defensive formations. The enemy’s Ten Thousand Sword Formation can be blocked with talismans and spells. Drag it out, drag it for time. The enemy can only hold on for at most half a tea’s time!”
The loud sound spread out, not only did the soldiers of Dongyuan County hear it, but even the soldiers of the Jin Kingdom heard it. Li Lishong’s face became serious. The battle formations were very strong, able to combine the power of dozens or even tens of thousands of people into an overwhelming attack; but the cost of such an attack was heavy—it would consume the soldiers’ true energy in large amounts, and in the worst case, it could even damage their foundations.
Half a tea’s time was already the maximum limit. Beyond that time, either the formation would collapse, or the soldiers would injure themselves and damage their foundations. But clearly, in this “cultivation-oriented” environment, if you asked the soldiers to damage their foundations, they would never agree—at least, not as long as there was any hope of survival. Yuan Yong’s statement had removed the possibility of the soldiers risking everything.
Yuan Yong commanded the soldiers of Dongyuan County to fight and retreat, while maintaining the advantage of the terrain. In contrast, the Jin Kingdom’s Ten Thousand Sword Formation, driven by the Qi Refining realm, had an attack range of only a few dozen meters, so it couldn’t cause serious damage to Dongyuan County. Instead, Dongyuan County used over 80 cannons to attack the “Eight Desolations Six Heavens Celestial Formation,” causing the formation to rapidly weaken.
At that moment, a buzzing sound from airplanes filled the sky as over two hundred planes flew in again, beginning to drop bombs from a distance.
Further to the rear, the elite troops from the 200,000-strong armies of Nanyang Commandery and Dongyuan Commandery had also arrived. They launched a pincer attack on Jin’s army of over 200,000, which was already like a frightened bird.
Continuous battles, successive defeats, rapid deaths, incessant bombardments, and days without rest—combined with the front-and-rear pincer movement, and with Yuan Yong and the newly arrived Kong Donglai loudly vowing not to mistreat prisoners—finally caused many of Jin’s soldiers to reach their breaking point. Quite a few soldiers on the outer edges began to lay down their arms and surrender.
Once someone begins to surrender, the rest is easy. Many soldiers suddenly threw down their weapons, crouched on the ground with their hands over their heads. The soldiers of Dongyuan and Nanyang came forward and sealed the cultivation of these captives.
Defeat is like a landslide. In just half an hour or so, only about 20,000 elite troops remained by Li Lishong’s side who had not yet surrendered. These were the elite of the elite, the most steadfast in will, and included the trusted guards and personal soldiers of Li Lishong, Wang Zhouzhi, and other generals—some were even their own family members or personal attendants.
Yuan Yong once again tried to persuade them to surrender: “Commander Li, the tide has turned. Even if you break through with force, you and a few generals might escape, but the rest… they may never return home. You must think of your men.”
It sounded like persuasion, but it was actually sowing discord—implying that Li Lishong might escape, but his subordinates could not and might die. One could imagine how the remaining elite troops felt upon hearing this.
Li Lishsong looked around, then finally sighed. “I agree to surrender. Everyone, lay down your weapons and wait for His Majesty’s rescue…”
Before his words were finished, Li Lishong suddenly sprang up. The Nine Palaces Black Tortoise Shield swirled around him, and like a shooting star, he vanished in an instant.
The sudden change stunned everyone. Yuan Yong and Kong Donglai were dumbfounded. The remaining soldiers of Jin—whether they had surrendered or not—were all shocked. What was this situation? The commander agreed to surrender, even ordered his troops to surrender—and then fled himself.
Only a few people understood: Li Lishong was right to run. He was, after all, the commander.
If the commander were captured, not to mention the consequences it could bring, he would certainly be interrogated for secret information. Besides, the current war situation also needed someone to report back.
“Let’s secure the prisoners first,” Kong Donglai sighed.