Mu Chen could still remember. On the night, when the one hundred thousand Rui Lin Army Soldiers had moved out from their army barracks, just how straight and stalwart their backs had been. He had been standing within the icy cold rain as he watched these men famed as the most ferocious strike force, masters of blood and iron, a prologue to their return to the battlefield!
Volume 12
Chapter 1140: “Flames of War Rise (5)”
A hundred thousand Rui Lin Army soldiers threw themselves into the battlefield. Mu Chen did not know how many among them would be able to return alive, or should it be said….. among them, would anyone even return…..
“The Condor Country’s army is charging in! Everyone abandon the city! Move back immediately!” His entire figure covered in blood, the general shouted as he rushed to the city’s gates. One of his arms had been cut off and he gripped a long spear in the other. His face was filled with gory slash wounds and he was shouting for everyone within the city to immediately evacuate.
Everyone within the city were stunned. They had not expected that the Condor Country’s army would reach here in such a short period of time.
“Do not bring anything with you! Just leave immediately! Hurry! Ready the horses! Bring out all the war horses within the city and hand them all over to the children and elderly!” The soldiers within the city quickly responded, immediately arranging for the citizens to retreat.
Mu Chen heard their words and he was shocked, causing him to abandon all concerns to run hurriedly to come before the soldiers.
“Why are you giving up the horses? What are you really trying to do! ?” Mu Chen asked, his eyes staring widely, an ominous feeling beginning to spread within his heart.
The soldier looked at Mu Chen blankly and then said in a hostile voice: “Why are you asking so much nonsense! Scram now if you don’t want to die! We don’t need people who are weaklings just like you here to drag us down! Guards! Send this doctor here away! Don’t let him stay here and shoot his mouth off non stop!”
Immediately, several soldiers chased Mu Chen to the city gates at the back. Many citizens had already gathered there and the younger children and weaker elderly were pushed up onto the armoured warhorses as the soldiers within the city pulled the gates open, ushering them out hastily, to leave this doomed place far behind.
Mu Chen had adamantly refused to leave, but he was forcefully dragged away by his disciples.
“Master! For them, you have toiled and tolled so hard but they are being so unappreciative now. Why do you still want to bother about them? The Condor Country’s army is coming and we should go now!” The frightened disciples were dragging Mu Chen, as they followed the escaping refugees.
As they saw the last batch of common citizens leaving the city, the soldier who had chased Mu Chen away gave a heavy sigh. He stood by the city’s gates and towards the direction where Mu Chen and the others had left, he solemnly gave a low bow.
“Hey! Why are you still standing around!” A soldier then shouted anxiously.
The soldier immediately replied: “I scolded a benefactor earlier, and was feeling guilty.”
“Moron, what you did was right. If he had not left, do you want him to die here together with us! ? Hurry up! The signal has been raised! Seal the city’s gates and prepare for battle!”
“Let’s move!”
Mu Chen was dragged along as they made their escape, but there was still a persistent nagging feeling that remained in his heart. He kept glancing back in the direction of the city they had just left from and then he suddenly seemed to realize something as his gaze swung around to look at all the common citizens all around him.
And among all the people he saw, there were only common citizens, without a single armoured soldier among them.
“Wait a minute! All the injured soldiers!”
Mu Chen suddenly shouted out in shock. Among the entire group of people, there wasn’t a single soldier among them, not even the injured ones who had been treated by him were there with them.
Mu Chen’s shout in shock suddenly made everyone freeze.
At the moment that Mu Chen voice fell, a loud crash suddenly sounded from a far distance away!
The city that they had just walked out from not long ago, was suddenly blown up into smithereens right before their eyes. The flames surged towards the sky, painting the dim horizon in a red glow!
Volume 12
Chapter 1141: “Flames of War Rise (6)”
The city that they had just come out from not long ago, was suddenly blown up into smithereens right before their eyes. The flames surged towards the sky, painting the dim horizon in a red glow!
The city was gone…..
In a blink, it had turned into ruins, a scene of fire and destruction as the earth shattering explosion greatly startling their hearts.
A noisy clatter suddenly sounded from among the group of refugees.
A large wicker basket placed upon a horse had suddenly fallen to the ground, and from the basket, a heap of blood stained metal badges had fallen out in a loud clatter.
Mu Chen’s eyes stared very hard at the badges and he almost seemed to dash over in a hurry to fall to the ground next to the heap of metal, wiping the blood stains off the badges with his trembling hands.
[The Rui Lin Army, must have…..]
Mu Chen suddenly felt like a lightning bolt had hit him!
Upon the neck of every single Rui Lin Army soldier, hung a name tag just like these. When they died on battlefield and it was difficult to retrieve their bodies, their name tags would then be brought back to their hometowns to be handed over to their families.
Mu Chen had never once thought that the soldiers guarding the city to the death would actually be men from the Rui Lin Army!
Blood and mud had covered the armour they were wearing which did not allow people to see which army they had been from.
Having freed the warhorses, they had already fully intended to die together with the enemy and with the destruction of the city!
They knew that they would no longer be able to return to their home soil in glory and they had taken the name tags from everyone to place upon one of the horses that was leaving the city, hoping that the name tags that carried their last will would have a chance to be delivered into the hands of their family members.
“Argh! ! !” Mu Chen knelt on the ground and screamed with his head tilted back facing into the sky, as hot tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes.
He had promised Jun Xie that he would support the Rui Lin Army well. Although he had usually not interacted much with the Rui Lin Army, but everything he had done in this period had been to strengthen them. And today, he had not even known that the men who had shared the same battlefield with him were men from that very ferocious fighting unit!
At that moment, everyone was silent. After seeing the pile of name tags, they all understood that the Rui Lin Army soldiers within the city had expended their own lives to gain them time for their escape. They had used their own blood and even their lives to write the Rui Lin Army an immortal song of praise!
“Master…..” Those disciples who had scolded the soldiers for being heartless and unfeeling just before they left now had their heads hanging down in shame.
The soldiers’ rude and brash demeanour had exactly been because of the high regard they had for Mu Chen, as they knew that there would only be death for anyone who remained in the city, and hence, they had said such hurtful words to chase Mu Chen out of the city.
A light drizzle then fell from the sky, to splatter upon the land, turning everyone’s clothes wet. The icy cold rain had in an instant, turned into a heavy downpour, the drops of rain splashing upon the name tags, drumming out clear sounding clinks, washing off the blood and mud off little by little.
Mu Chen lowered his head and carefully picked up those name tags to put them all back into the basket. He then placed the basket upon the horse and lifted his head, looking into the rain soaked path ah
ead of them.
“Let’s go! We cannot let their sacrifice be in vain!”
Their hearts feeling as if it had been cut by a knife, they could not afford to stop themselves from continuing to go forward. They needed to live, to carry on the will of the Rui Lin Army soldiers who had remained behind in that city, to bring back the name tags imbued with their brave souls and strong will, to be delivered into the hands of their family!
Under the heavy downpour, the group that had stopped picked themselves up again, moving forward as the icy cold rain washed over them, but failing to wash away the sadness and pain in their hearts. The path beneath their feet was muddy and treacherous, but the unforgettable memory of the Rui Lin Army soldiers in the city, remained in their hearts as the eternal protectors of the Qi Kingdom!
Volume 12
Chapter 1142: “Flames of War Rise (7)”
On the battlefield in the west, the city had been extensively wrecked by the enemy soldiers. Mu Qian Fan stood within the military camp, watching as the Rui Lin Army leaders planned out the upcoming battle upon the map. Outside, the sounds of battle raged on incessantly, the cries from the slaughter ringing continuously in their ears.
Under the large tent, the armour of all the leaders were stained with blood but they did not even have the time to clean it off. In such an intense battle, every minute and every single second they had was fought for with the very lives of their soldiers.
“The Condor Country’s allied army’s numbers are too great! Our brothers are not able to hold them back!” One of the leaders smashed a fist upon the table in anger, blood immediately flowing out from the skin around his knuckles.
Another one of the leaders had his face creased up in a deep frown, as he stared at the situation upon the map, his expression highly cautious.
“Have the citizens of the Clear Moon City been evacuated?” He asked.
“A large part of them have been evacuated. This city here is becoming indefensible. Are we going to retreat?”
“There is nowhere for us to retreat to anymore. This road leads straight to the Imperial City and if we pull back, the Condor Country’s allied army will go straight for the golden dragon. The defence of the Imperial City is not yet fully prepared and if they were attacked by the Condor Country now, they would not be able to hold the fort…..” The Commander’s brows were knotted tightly together, his eyes almost boring two holes into the map, wanting merely to find an avenue where they could just hope for a victory against the overwhelming odds.
Unfortunately, the number of soldiers they held were too few, and were completely inadequate to resist the Condor Country’s enormous army.
Although the Rui Lin Army was highly powerful, but their army of one hundred thousand had been split into four battlefields while the barracks in every outpost had only about twenty thousand men. Even if they combined with all the other forces in the Qi Kingdom, they would still not be a match for the Condor Country’s allied forces.
The Qi Kingdom while in the hands of the previous Emperor, squandered away too much time, where the Qi Kingdom’s army had missed out on the best opportunity for training. Even when Mo Qian Yuan had tried to rectify it immediately after he ascended into the throne, but within just this one short year, wanting to train up the other forces of the Qi Kingdom to become like the Rui Lin Army as Masters of iron and blood, was just plain wishful thinking.
And they could not afford to retreat anymore. If they pulled back one more step, their Imperial City would be in crisis and once the Imperial City was taken, the Qi Kingdom….. would have completely fallen!
As was the nature of all military men, none of the leaders within that tent was willing to make the decision to retreat. They were all wrecking their brains trying find an opportunity within the crisis.
“We fight! We can only continue to fight them! The has Duke left this place in our hands and had also allocated another ten thousand men to us. And with the primary force of the Qi Kingdom’s army here with us, if we fail again, how are we going to answer to the trust the Duke and His Majesty has placed in us! ?” The Commander said through gritted teeth.
“We’ll beat them till they cry for their mothers! It’s just the Condor Country! I will give everything I have to take them on! I won’t lose out once I kill one, and I will have earned with just two of them! If they want to exterminate the Qi Kingdom, then they will have to do it stepping over the bodies of us, the Rui Lin Army!” The leader shouted emotionally, hot blood surging within his chest.
The Qi Kingdom cannot fall! The Rui Lin Army will not fall!
“If our heads roll, it’ll just leave a big scar! When we meet back in netherworld, we brothers will reunite and still kick up a storm!”
“Reporting! The Condor Country is charging us on the right!” A soldier said hurriedly, rushing in from outside the tent.
A leader lifted up the strong wine on the table and poured it down his throat. He then turned to the others under the tent and said as he waved: “Brothers! I will make a move first! In the netherworld, I will go open up a path for my brothers!”
Immediately after saying that, he turned and walked outside taking wide strides!
That farewell, was one where they would be parted between life and death, and there was no turning back!
Mu Qian Fan clenched his jaw as he watched, and when he could not hold himself back any longer, he strode up to stand before the Commander.
“This insignificant soldier requests to join the battle!”
The Commander looked at him and shook his head.
“Why! ?” Mu Qian Fan asked, his eyes flaring wide.
Volume 12
Chapter 1143: “Flames of War Rise (8)”
The Commander ignored him and merely said to the soldier who had brought in the report: “Bring a warhorse here and send Brother Mu back to the Imperial City.”
“I’m not going back!” Mu Qian Fan shouted!
“You need to return! You are not a citizen of the Qi Kingdom and the affairs of the Qi Kingdom doesn’t need any outsiders interfering in them!” The Commander said sternly.
Mu Qian Fan had wanted to resist further but inside the Commander’s tent, the other leaders quickly tied him up and strapped him onto a warhorse to send it running into the direction of the Imperial City. Mu Qian Fan’s eyes turned red and bloodshot, turning back to look at the battlefield gradually getting further away from him, watching the Rui Lin Army soldiers who fought back their blood, his heart bleeding.
How he wished to be like them, standing upon the battlefield and defending what is most important to one’s heart with their own two hands!
After Mu Qian Fan left, the Commander let out a heavy sigh within his tent.
Outside the Commander’s tent, emergency reports were being raised as the battle entered its more intense phase.
Inside the Commander’s tent, the military leaders raised their wine cups and threw their heads back to drink. They then bowed to pay their respects to the Commander without a word and then turned to depart.
The Commander stood alone within the tent and watched the stalwart and determined backs of the brothers who had gone through life and death with him, his eyes misted up into a blur by tears. That gaze, was to become his last memory of them, as they would not be coming back alive.
In the empty Commander’s tent, the Commander fell back onto the ground, his hands covering his face, his shoulders shaking faintly, a stifled cry coming out from his throat.
Men’s tears do not shed easily, till it really hits the heart!
This battle, went on for three days and three nights. The thirty five thousand Rui Lin Army soldiers who held their position to the death all perished, with not a single one alive. The rest of the Qi Kingdom’s army soldiers met their end tragically as well and the entire battlefield was filled with dead bodies, their blood flowing to the ground forming into red streams, meandering through every inch of the lands.
The Condor Country’s army’s armoured
cavalry, stepped over the bodies of the Rui Lin Army soldiers, and attacked the enemy’s main camp.
The soldiers at the camp fought with everything they had, using the last vestiges of their strength, to resist against the enemy cavalry.
Finally…..
The Condor Country’s Commander in Chief sat atop his towering warhorse, and came to the Rui Lin Army’s Commander’s tent. Inside the camp, the dead bodies of the Rui Lin Army soldiers were everywhere. His brows knitted up together, as he looked at the Rui Lin Army who were famed to be the most ferocious strike force.
Even as an enemy on the opposing side, he could not help but respect and admire these soldiers of blood and iron.
It had been consecutive days of battle, and the progress of the four country allied forces had been repeatedly impeded and slowed. The other forces of the Qi Kingdom were not worth mentioning but the one that had given him the biggest headache had been the Rui Lin Army who had the least amount of men.
On this battlefield, the Rui Lin Army had totaled only about thirty over thousand. But it was exactly these thirty over thousand men who had properly chomped off three hundred thousand soldiers from his army!
One against ten!
That was what made this force so terrifying!
“Your army has been annihilated. If you surrender, I can spare you your life.” The Condor Country’s Commander in Chief said as he stared at the Commander’s tent. He knew, that the Commander of this troop of Rui Lin Army was seated right inside the tent.
Throughout the entire battlefield, the only soldier of the Rui Lin Army still alive, was only this man!
It was silent inside the Commander’s tent. The Condor Country’s Commander in Chief raised his arm and had his soldiers surround the tent, where they sent thrust the long spears in their hands into the tent on all sides!
Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss Volume 12 Page 11
