Recaps

Jiang Yan Hai’s powerful weapon alarmed Commander Shao’s officers, who debated whether to trust him and decided to keep his presence secret while maintaining friendly relations. Commander Shao assigned Lin Mei to guide Jiang Yan Hai, leaving him on the Great Wall as they prepared for the Taotie threat.

• Advisor Wang reported that Jiang Yan Hai’s metal pellets had pierced scale armor and killed five targets almost instantly, prompting the officers to discuss the weapon’s power and ammunition.
• General Lin proposed seizing Jiang Yan Hai to learn how to make his weapons, but Commander Shao warned that his army of ten thousand could retaliate.
• Commander Shao ordered the officers not to report Jiang Yan Hai yet, to avoid offending him, and to prepare supplies and defenses against the Taotie.
• Commander Shao assigned Lin Mei to show Jiang Yan Hai around the Great Wall and learn about the Great Qin Empire.
• Lin Mei introduced herself to Jiang Yan Hai and told him she had arranged his food and lodging.

Jiang Yan Hai explained his pistol and assault rifle to General Lin Mei, demonstrating how quickly he could reload and revealing the amount of ammunition he carried. After she realized how deadly his weapons were, Jiang Yan Hai asked why the Taotie kept attacking the wall.

• Jiang Yan Hai accepted Lin Mei's offer of a room and estimated the number of soldiers and support personnel stationed near the Great Wall.
• General Lin Mei asked about Jiang Yan Hai's pistol, and he explained that it held fifteen rounds.
• Jiang Yan Hai demonstrated reloading his pistol in just over a second, shocking Lin Mei with how quickly he could fire again.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that his assault rifle held thirty rounds per magazine, and Lin Mei calculated how much ammunition he carried.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked General Lin why the Taotie were so determined to attack the wall, catching her off guard.

Jiang Yan Hai discussed why the Taotie kept attacking the Great Wall and assured General Lin Mei that his people had come to help, not invade. He left Lin Mei reconsidering her suspicions about his intentions.

• Jiang Yan Hai asked General Lin Mei why the Taotie attacked only the Great Wall, and she admitted that the historical records gave no clear answer.
• Jiang Yan Hai guessed that the Taotie could sense food only within a limited range, but he had no way to confirm it.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Lin Mei that he had come to help fight the Taotie and protect his homeland, not to invade her people.
• Lin Mei asked whether Jiang Yan Hai intended to reclaim lands his people once ruled, and he replied that the world was too vast for any one nation to rule alone.
• Jiang Yan Hai pointed out that an invading force would have targeted weaker sections of the Great Wall rather than the heavily defended Shadowless Imperial Guard post, leaving Lin Mei unable to dispute his reasoning.

Jiang Yan Hai and Lin Mei discussed their countries, their loyalties, and whether they would defy their rulers to fight the Taotie. After settling into his quarters and contacting home, Jiang Yan Hai learned that two Westerners had been captured and brought back.

• Lin Mei asked whether Great Qin had come for black powder, and Jiang Yan Hai replied that the world was vast.
• Jiang Yan Hai asked whether Lin Mei would allow help against the Taotie if her emperor forbade it, and she admitted she did not know.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that he was loyal to his country and people, and that Great Qin had no emperor because its leaders were elected.
• Lin Mei took Jiang Yan Hai to his quarters, where he sent a message home after receiving a phone signal.
• Jiang Yan Hai planned stronger defenses around the Star Gate, and a few days later he learned that two Westerners had been captured and brought back.

Jiang Yan Hai watched the Great Wall prepare for a Taotie assault and assessed the creatures and the defenders’ tactics. As the battle began, he observed the Crane Army’s costly flying-rope attacks without joining the fight.

• Jiang Yan Hai saw two Westerners arrive, bringing back a Taotie leg and signaling that the Taotie had begun moving.
• Jiang Yan Hai stayed apart from Commander Shao, the generals, and Advisor Wang while drones recorded the Great Wall’s defenses and the Taotie attack.
• Jiang Yan Hai took position on a central watchtower as the Taotie swarm approached, estimating that nearly one hundred thousand were charging toward the wall.
• The defenders launched flaming stones and arrows, while Jiang Yan Hai studied the Taotie’s appearance and identified their eyes as vulnerable points.
• Jiang Yan Hai watched the Crane Army attack from flying ropes and saw several female soldiers die as the Taotie fought back.

Jiang Yan Hai witnessed the Taotie Beast King direct its forces and saw Guardian Taotie withstand a barrage of heavy iron balls. The Beast King then ordered the Taotie to pile up against the city wall, and Jiang Yan Hai shot the first one to leap onto it.

• Jiang Yan Hai spotted a Beast King surrounded by massive Guardian Taotie whose head membranes seemed to communicate with the ordinary Taotie.
• Commander Shao ordered the catapults to bombard the Beast King, but the Guardians’ Bone Shields blocked dozens of heavy iron balls without damage.
• The enraged Beast King emitted a violent buzz, stopping the Taotie before directing them to charge and stack themselves against the city wall.
• The Taotie built several rising torrents of bodies and nearly reached the wall in less than two minutes.
• Jiang Yan Hai shot the first Taotie to leap onto the wall, killing it with a bullet through its eye.

Jiang Yan Hai helped defend the Great Wall from the Taotie before deciding that his group should wait to intervene unless asked. After arranging medical support for future battles, he received a visit from General Lin Mei, who thanked him for saving soldiers.

• Jiang Yan Hai shot Taotie climbing onto the wall, killing more than twenty as William and Pero helped defend the soldiers.
• The Beast King ordered the Taotie to retreat, and they carried away their dead companions.
• Jiang Yan Hai received intelligence from the base about the Taotie's population, temperature, and communication range, then ordered the base not to intervene unless invited.
• Jiang Yan Hai told the base to prepare an operating room, doctors, and medical emergency vehicles in case leaders were injured.
• General Lin Mei visited Jiang Yan Hai to thank him for saving hundreds of soldiers, and he suggested she treat him to something delicious.

Lin Mei and Jiang Yan Hai discussed the two Westerners joining the defense and the Shadowless Imperial Guard’s need for combat experience. Jiang Yan Hai explained that the Crane Army’s key battlefield role was to lure Taotie away from the wall, leaving Lin Mei troubled by the truth.

• Lin Mei agreed to make a deal with Jiang Yan Hai later, after the threat of another Taotie attack had passed.
• Lin Mei told Jiang Yan Hai that Commander Shao wanted the two Westerners to serve as heroic fighters who could help the inexperienced Shadowless Imperial Guard grow.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that the Taotie threat had left the northern lands sparsely populated and that his main reason for intervening was to investigate and possibly close the Taotie’s Star Gate.
• Lin Mei asked whether Jiang Yan Hai resented the Westerners receiving recognition despite his own fighting, and he replied that he had not come to be a hero.
• Jiang Yan Hai said the Crane Army helped balance the other armies, supported soldiers stationed at the frontier, and performed useful work in camp.
• Jiang Yan Hai identified the Crane Army’s combat mission as baiting the Taotie away from the wall, and Lin Mei’s expression darkened.

Jiang Yan Hai spoke with Lin Mei about the women of the Crane Army and described the equality between men and women in Great Qin. Four days after the Taotie attack, he rushed to the Great Wall when his warning system detected an assault and found Commander Shao gravely injured.

• Jiang Yan Hai called Lin Mei and the Crane Army women heroes, and Lin Mei explained why women were sent to serve in the Shadowless Imperial Guard.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Lin Mei that men and women were equal in Great Qin, and Lin Mei said she wanted to stay and fight the Taotie.
• Lin Mei went to speak with William and his companion, while Commander Shao treated the two foreigners well over the following days.
• Four days after the Taotie attack, Jiang Yan Hai's Active Warning System alerted him that Taotie had climbed the wall, so he armed himself and ran to the western arrow tower.
• Commander Shao had been bitten while saving Lin Mei, and soldiers carried him toward Jiang Yan Hai as the other generals rode over.

Jiang Yan Hai stabilized Commander Shao’s severe wounds and offered to save him with modern medical aid. Lin Mei accepted command of the Imperial Army and authorized the rescue, leaving Commander Shao on his way to emergency surgery.

• Jiang Yan Hai removed Commander Shao’s armor, applied tourniquets, and directed Lin Mei and soldiers to press his wounds.
• Commander Shao gave Lin Mei the Military Tally and named her the Imperial Army’s new Commander before the generals and soldiers pledged to follow her.
• Jiang Yan Hai offered to summon medical help and said Commander Shao had a sixty-to-seventy percent chance of survival.
• Lin Mei and the generals approved the rescue, and Jiang Yan Hai called for an emergency medical vehicle.
• Lin Mei ordered soldiers to carry Commander Shao to the city gate, where military doctors transferred him into an armored ambulance and prepared him for surgery and a massive transfusion.

Jiang Yan Hai’s team took the gravely wounded Commander Shao away for treatment, while Lin Mei assumed command of the Shadowless Imperial Guard. After learning more about the Guard’s ancient role and traditions, Jiang Yan Hai promised reinforcements could reach the Great Wall within one shichen, as William proposed capturing a Taotie for testing.

• Jiang Yan Hai explained that Commander Shao needed surgery, and Lin Mei and the other generals entrusted him to the medical team.
• The medical Armored Vehicle departed with Commander Shao, and Jiang Yan Hai judged that modern treatment could save him unless the Taotie’s bite carried an unknown threat.
• An envoy from the Song Dynasty emperor arrived with records about the Taotie, including detailed documents from more than sixty years earlier.
• Lin Mei explained the Shadowless Imperial Guard’s succession customs and long history, then assigned Jiang Yan Hai a personal guard and asked how quickly his forces could reinforce the Great Wall.
• Jiang Yan Hai said reinforcements could arrive within one shichen, while William proposed capturing a Taotie to test the lodestone’s effects.

Jiang Yan Hai watched William and his team capture a Taotie in the unnatural dense fog, while recognizing that the Taotie were pursuing a larger plan by digging tunnels. He weighed whether to intervene, knowing China had to keep its activities in other worlds secret until its technological advantage grew strong enough.

• Jiang Yan Hai noted that dense fog was nearly impossible in the Gobi Desert and that powerful magnetic interference kept the drones from investigating the Taotie's location.
• William and his teammates charged into the fog to capture a Taotie as the Shadowless Imperial Guard fired volleys of fireballs and whistling arrows; General Chen said their safety had been left to fate.
• Jiang Yan Hai concluded that the Taotie had not attacked at full strength and were likely digging tunnels, but the drones had failed to detect the work among the cliffs and ravines.
• Jiang Yan Hai considered intervening to stop the Taotie, then worried that their breakthrough might prevent Lin Mei and the others from killing the Beast King.
• Jiang Yan Hai reasoned that China had to limit the people sent to other worlds and treat their inhabitants well to preserve secrecy while developing a technological advantage over the next ten years.
• Jiang Yan Hai recalled that China was already researching a third-generation electromagnetic interference warhead for the Phantom interceptor missile.

Jiang Yan Hai watched Lord Shen take the captured Taotie to the capital and asked Commander Lin whether she would allow his forces to intervene against the Taotie threat. She declined for now, citing the Emperor’s secret decree and their plan to exploit the Taotie’s weakness to magnets, while Jiang Yan Hai warned that the Taotie were learning.

• Lord Shen took the captured Taotie away under an imperial decree, and Jiang Yan Hai watched the convoy depart with Commander Lin.
• Commander Lin explained that she could not stop Lord Shen because his supplies were essential to the defense effort, though she had sent elite Deer Army soldiers to guard him.
• Jiang Yan Hai offered to let his forces intervene against the Taotie, but Commander Lin said the Emperor had forbidden them to seek help unless the situation became extremely urgent.
• Commander Lin said the defenders believed magnets could help them kill the Beast King and keep the situation under control, so Jiang Yan Hai agreed not to intervene yet.
• Jiang Yan Hai reminded Commander Lin that the Taotie were learning and becoming smarter.

Jiang Yan Hai learned that the Taotie had tunneled beneath the Great Wall and were racing toward Bianliang, so Commander Lin sent a risky hot-air-balloon expedition to stop them. Twenty-eight hours later, an urgent message reported that Commander Lin and her group had killed the Beast King and eliminated the Taotie.

• Jiang Yan Hai received word that Commander Shao had awakened, but kept the news from Commander Lin as Shao had ordered.
• The Taotie tunneled through the rock beneath the Great Wall, slipped past the eastern defenses, and headed toward Bianliang while a small group distracted the guards.
• Commander Lin chose to send hot-air balloons toward Bianliang, despite many catching fire, while General Deng set off with cavalry.
• Commander Lin asked Jiang Yan Hai to help if the expedition failed, and Jiang Yan Hai warned her to eliminate the remaining Taotie even if killing the Beast King stopped them.
• Jiang Yan Hai stayed behind, and an urgent courier later reported that Commander Lin and her group had killed the Beast King and eliminated every Taotie.

Jiang Yan Hai remained wary despite reports that the Beast King and Taotie had been destroyed, while the Great Wall defenses were reinforced and Commander Lin returned from Bianliang. Commander Lin told Jiang Yan Hai that the person he had allowed to choose between taking Black Powder or his companion had chosen his companion and left.

• Jiang Yan Hai warned General Deng that the Taotie might not have been eliminated and urged the Great Wall to stay on alert.
• The Tiger Army’s engineers reinforced the Great Wall’s foundations, then used Black Powder to collapse the Taotie tunnels without seriously damaging the wall.
• The Shadowless Imperial Guard developed a new defense strategy, concluding that the Taotie could not readily tunnel through other sections of the Great Wall.
• Five days after killing the Beast King, Commander Lin, the Deer Army cavalry, and the surviving Shadowless Imperial Guard returned to the Great Wall, and Lin received the honorary title of Grand General of Cavalry.
• Commander Lin told Jiang Yan Hai that the person he had given a choice between Black Powder and his companion had chosen his companion and left.

Jiang Yan Hai warned Commander Lin that the Taotie might have another Beast King, and three days later a vast Taotie force attacked the Great Wall. The Guardian Taotie formed a rising ramp toward the wall, leaving the defenders preparing for close combat as the assault escalated.

• Jiang Yan Hai questioned why the Beast King had fed on the battlefield and remained exposed to repeated attacks, concluding that the Taotie would return and might have more than one Beast King.
• Commander Lin arranged to speed up the transport of Taotie corpses and strengthen patrols along the Great Wall.
• Three days later, Jiang Yan Hai and Commander Lin saw thousands of Guardian Taotie advancing behind a defensive barrier of Bone Shields.
• Commander Lin ordered the trebuchets to fire, but most of the flaming stones failed to break through the shields, and he withdrew the Crane Army from grappling attacks.
• The Guardian Taotie stacked themselves into layers with ordinary Taotie supporting them, rapidly building a slope toward the Great Wall.

The Shadowless Imperial Guard fought to stop the Taotie from completing a bridge over the Great Wall as ordinary Taotie swarmed the defenses. Jiang Yan Hai hurled a Flashbang Grenade at the bridge, uncertain whether it would affect the beasts.

• Commander Lin ordered the Bear Army and Deer Army to prepare for close combat while Siege Crossbows attacked the Guardian Taotie's exposed sides.
• Eagle Army soldiers used Black Powder bombs, and the Siege Crossbows killed Guardian Taotie, weakening the Taotie bridge and briefly halting its construction.
• Ordinary Taotie surged toward the wall, and some climbed the half-built slope as Bear Army and Deer Army soldiers fought them at terrible cost.
• Jiang Yan Hai used precise rifle fire to kill Guardian Taotie and undermine the bridge's support structure.
• Jiang Yan Hai noticed his Flashbang Grenades, then threw one toward the lower side of the Taotie wall.

Jiang Yan Hai helped turn back the Taotie assault, then agreed to Commander Lin’s request for Great Qin Empire assistance. He warned that his forces might need control of the main battlefield, leaving Commander Lin astonished at the prospect of their taking the casualties.

• Jiang Yan Hai used a Flashbang Grenade to disorient the Guardian Taotie, killed four, and helped collapse their slope, breaking the Taotie advance.
• The Eagle Army bombarded the exposed gap, causing the slope to collapse and forcing the Taotie to retreat with their dead and fallen Shadowless Imperial Guard soldiers.
• Commander Lin ordered General Wu and General Chen to organize rescue efforts and recover usable arrows and supplies.
• Commander Lin told Jiang Yan Hai that the defenders likely could not withstand another attack and asked whether his people could stop the Taotie; he answered that they could.
• Commander Lin requested Great Qin Empire assistance on behalf of the Shadowless Imperial Guard and the Song Dynasty, citing the Emperor’s written authorization, and Jiang Yan Hai agreed.
• Jiang Yan Hai said his forces might need to take control of the main battlefield, and Commander Lin stared at him in astonishment.

Jiang Yan Hai secured Commander Lin’s permission for Great Qin’s troops to intervene against the Taotie while keeping control of their combat mission. As the city prepared the wall for their arrival, a huge modern convoy emerged from the Star Gate and stunned the defenders.

• Jiang Yan Hai agreed to Commander Lin’s offer of support, asking him to open the city gate and clear space outside the residential area while not interfering with the battle.
• Jiang Yan Hai called Great Qin’s command center and ordered level-one war status after the other side permitted intervention.
• Great Qin’s troops mobilized a convoy with three thousand soldiers, twelve self-propelled howitzers, twelve rocket launchers, and supply vehicles.
• Jiang Yan Hai told Commander Lin to clear the enemy-facing wall and lower the Crane Army’s mechanisms, and Commander Lin ordered the Tiger Army to comply.
• Commander Lin saw the convoy approach through a cloud of dust and realized its steel machines vastly outnumbered the ones he had seen before.

Jiang Yan Hai’s forces entered the city and began preparing its defenses against the Taotie. The long-range artillery deployed beyond the Great Wall, while Chinese soldiers and the Shadowless Imperial Guard installed heavy machine guns along the wall.

• Commander Lin ordered the city gates opened as the self-propelled howitzers, rocket launchers, and support vehicles entered.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained that the artillery would deploy beyond the residential district to attack from a distance.
• Yang Rui reported that the troops were ready, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered them to follow the battle plan and work with the Shadowless Imperial Guard.
• Chinese soldiers and the Shadowless Imperial Guard carried ammunition and equipment to the wall.
• The troops mounted two hundred rotary machine guns and installed a 20mm Rotary Cannon for roughly every five machine guns.

Jiang Yan Hai prepared Great Qin’s modern weapons and ammunition to defend the city against the Taotie, shocking the local generals with the firepower of the Shadowless Imperial Guard. He left the mines in reserve, planning to use them after the Taotie adjusted their tactics.

• Jiang Yan Hai told General Deng and General Chen that the Shadowless Imperial Guard’s weapons were standard issue and powerful enough to resist the Taotie.
• The guards finished bringing ammunition onto the city walls, and Jiang Yan Hai asked Commander Lin’s soldiers to help assemble ammunition belts.
• General Wu and the Tiger Army agreed to assist with the ammunition belts, while Jiang Yan Hai’s people would teach them how.
• Jiang Yan Hai led the generals below to inspect the larger ammunition stores and outdated mines.
• Jiang Yan Hai decided to save the mines for a later Taotie attack and rely on the abundant ammunition for now.

Jiang Yan Hai demonstrated a manual machine for loading bullets into disintegrating ammunition belts, explaining how China could now afford better ammunition and equipment. Commander Lin and the Shadowless Imperial Guard generals watched as he quickly loaded a belt, leaving them impressed by the machine’s precision.

• Jiang Yan Hai and Commander Lin arrived at the plaza, where Commander Lin worried that the Taotie might attack.
• Jiang Yan Hai assured Commander Lin that they were monitoring the Taotie and could retreat, while drones reconnoitered overhead.
• Jiang Yan Hai explained the advantages and history of different ammunition belts to the assembled generals.
• Jiang Yan Hai demonstrated the loading machine by placing bullets in its inlet and turning the crank.
• Commander Lin and the generals watched as Jiang Yan Hai rapidly loaded bullets into the belt and marveled at the result.

Jiang Yan Hai’s forces showed the Shadowless Imperial Guard how to operate a machine that linked ammunition, and the guard agreed to help. At a commanders’ meeting, General Wu explained why the other side’s weapons and materials were far beyond their ability to reproduce.

• General Wu tried operating the ammunition-linking machine, then offered the Tiger Army’s help.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered soldiers to teach members of the Shadowless Imperial Guard to make Ammunition Belts while the rest of his force prepared for the night.
• Commander Lin asked General Wu to assess the force, and he praised its discipline and the soldiers’ training.
• General Chen asked whether they could reproduce the ammunition equipment, and General Wu showed the generals a durable metal link.
• General Wu demonstrated a spring’s strength and resilience, leaving the generals astonished by the other side’s materials.

Commander Lin and the generals learned how abundant Jiang Yan Hai’s army’s supplies were and prepared to support its defense of the Great Wall. The Taotie arrived at dawn, and Jiang Yan Hai positioned the troops as the enemy approached.

• General Wu told Commander Lin that Jiang Yan Hai’s army had repaid five pigs with at least five hundred pigs and offered to trade food for resources.
• Commander Lin ordered the Tiger Army to assist Jiang Yan Hai’s troops if the Taotie attacked, while the other forces prepared to join the defense if needed.
• Jiang Yan Hai’s soldiers and Tiger Army troops spent the night ready on the wall as drones watched for the Taotie.
• Drones spotted a vast horde of Taotie emerging from distant caves just as breakfast was served, and Jiang Yan Hai ordered everyone to combat positions.
• Jiang Yan Hai assigned attack groups, autocannon teams, and snipers their tasks while Commander Lin and the generals watched from the wall.

Jiang Yan Hai waited until the Taotie reached the Great Wall before ordering the rotary machine guns to fire. The barrage slaughtered the advancing Taotie and left Commander Lin and the other generals stunned by the weapons’ power.

• Jiang Yan Hai refused Commander Lin’s suggestion to attack the Taotie from a distance, choosing to test the Guardian Taotie’s Bone Shields at closer range.
• The Guardian Taotie advanced in formation with their shields raised, while ordinary Taotie followed behind them.
• Jiang Yan Hai ordered the soldiers to fire when the Taotie reached roughly one hundred meters from the wall.
• The rotary machine guns tore through the Guardian Taotie and the ordinary Taotie behind them, piling up a wall of corpses.
• Commander Lin and the generals watched in shock and fear as the barrage stopped the Taotie tide.