From Chishuitan to Valen

The 30,000-strong punitive force led by Red Guard Captain Li Ke had actually been wiped out to the last man, utterly beyond the Commanders' Office's expectations. This showed that the rebelling populace was not the ragtag mob they had imagined, but a terrifying armed force with systematic organization. It also showed that their leader possessed considerable military talent: exploiting Li Ke's arrogance to set a trap, first feigning a minor defeat to lure the punitive army deep in, then unleashing ambushers to encircle and annihilate it along the entire front. Such seasoned tactical skill had come from Beastmen, whom humans had always considered brainless creatures of brute strength alone. Those with foresight could not help but ponder: if Beastmen possessed intelligence as cunning as humans', on top of their innate tremendous strength... then humanity, the so-called leader of all things, would be in grave peril.

After the punitive army's defeat, the rebellion was like oil poured onto flames. In barely a month, it spread from one village to seven provincial regions, with as many as five hundred thousand people joining the uprising! Its momentum was so fierce and its spread so swift that everyone was left at a loss.

At this point, someone recalled Chief Inspector Di Lin's earlier prediction and could not help sighing in regret. "If only we'd known..."

At this time, Zichuan Canxing convened a second coordination meeting between the Commanders' Office and the Inspectorate to discuss how to deal with the current situation. By now, the commanders understood their earlier mistake and Di Lin's correctness. They had braced themselves to listen to Di Lin's furious scolding and sharp sarcasm—they had steeled themselves like stone.

Yet Di Lin did not say a word. A faint cold smile hung at the corner of his mouth as he remained silent, making everyone in the Commanders' Office unbearably uncomfortable.

In the end, Zichuan Canxing could not stand watching any longer and repeatedly asked Di Lin, "Does the Chief Inspector have any opinions? Please, say them."

Di Lin answered solemnly, "In reply, my lord, this subordinate has no opinion. I am willing to hear the insightful views of the esteemed commanders." This was simply more painful than killing the commanders. Luobo Minghai's face flushed crimson.

The meeting achieved no result and was hastily concluded.

After the meeting, Sterling found Di Lin.

"Big Brother, I feel like you have something you want to say. Don't you?"

Di Lin gave a bitter smile. "It would be useless even if I said it. When Lei Hong first rebelled, I said the Central Army should be transferred into the Far East, but no one listened. When the uprising began, I said we should immediately recall the forces sent to suppress Lei Hong and use them against the popular rebellion. We could even make a temporary peace with Lei Hong, but again, no one listened. Instead, they said troops should be pulled from west of Valen Fortress. Next, I bet the Commanders' Office will order the Far East Army to ignore Lei Hong's rebels and focus all its strength on the popular rebellion. What a pity—they are always one beat behind the situation."

"Then what is your opinion, Big Brother?"

"My opinion would scare that old bastard Luobo Minghai into a cerebral hemorrhage."

Sterling smiled. "My blood pressure isn't high. You can tell me."

Di Lin looked Sterling straight in the eye. "All right. Listen carefully. My opinion is this:"

Di Lin spoke each word distinctly.

"Ignore both Lei Hong's rebel army and the popular rebellion. The Far East Army must immediately contract across the board, withdraw every frontier garrison and all border defense troops stationed against the Devil Race back to Valen Fortress, and abandon every province in the Far East. That way, we might still salvage something."

Seeing Sterling's face drastically change, too stunned to speak, Di Lin sighed. "Even you've been scared like this. Would there be any point in my saying it?"

The Commanders' Office reacted exactly as Di Lin had predicted. It ordered the Far East Army's main force, currently in Glock Province under Deputy Commanders Lin Bing and Luobo: cease fighting Lei Hong, turn around, and devote all strength to suppressing the popular rebellion!

At that moment, the Far East Army and the rebels were locked in fierce battle, neither side able to break the other. To suddenly order a withdrawal now was tantamount to baring their asses and inviting the enemy to kick them!

Upon receiving the Commanders' Office's order, Deputy Commander Lin Bing furiously shouted, "Does Luobo Minghai know anything about warfare? Turning around at a time like this is sending the army to its death! This old lady will #￥%#* him ten thousand times!"

The steady Luobo covered her mouth with one hand and began arranging the withdrawal.

But fortunately, under Luobo's deeply calculated plan, this maneuver—an about-face right before the enemy that should have been riddled with openings—was arranged to look exactly like an ambush brimming with traps. Lei Hong did not dare pursue rashly. After suffering only slight losses, the Far East Army successfully withdrew from Glock Province and began using its main force of three hundred thousand troops to suppress the rebellious populace.

At first, the campaign went smoothly. Almost every day brought battle reports back to the Commanders' Office, allowing Luobo Minghai to breathe a great sigh of relief.

But after June of Year 779, when the army entered Yun Province, the heart of the rebellion, not a single further report came back. The three hundred thousand troops seemed to vanish from thin air overnight! The Commanders' Office in the imperial capital and the Commander-in-Chief's Mansion descended into hysteria...

Only Chief Inspector Di Lin remained unmoved as he murmured to himself, "Lei Hong hasn't become completely stupid after all."

It was not until July 5 that people learned of the Far East Army's main force again: of the three hundred thousand, fewer than fifty thousand remained. Having discarded all their weapons and heavy armor, they fled back to Valen Fortress in miserable disarray. Behind them came the allied armies of the various races, pursuing like tigers and wolves, along with Lei Hong's fifteen rebel divisions.

Only then did people understand what had happened. The traitor Lei Hong had contacted the allied armies of the other races and voluntarily promised to help them cut off the Far East Army's retreat and supplies. From the alliance's perspective, this was a deal with a hundred benefits and not a single drawback. They hit it off at once, immediately signing the later-infamous "Minsk Alliance Agreement" in Minsk'an, the capital of Minsk Province Area. They agreed that after overthrowing the Zichuan Family's rule, the Far East Region east of Valen Fortress would become freely independent for the various races, while the former heartland of the Family west of Valen Fortress would fall under Lei Hong's control.

Later generations often wondered how Lei Hong, once a Deputy Commander of the Family, could have been so arrogant as to believe that with the support of a few Beastmen and Snake Clan members, he could completely destroy the Zichuan Family—he ought to have known just how powerful the Family was. But some believed that Lei Hong had never dreamed of overthrowing the Family's two-hundred-year rule over the continent. His sole aim was to save his own life; he proposed that condition merely to make the agreement appear more equitable, so the other side would not doubt his sincerity—why else would humans come help us for no reason at all?

The truth was that, with his life on the line, Lei Hong faithfully fulfilled his obligations under the agreement. He sent troops to cut off the Far East Army's retreat, sever its supplies, and block all lines of communication—this was why the Far East Army had vanished without a trace.

When the Far East Army's main force finally managed to catch the elusive main force of the allied races at Chishuitan, both Luobo and Lin Bing were greatly relieved and ordered a formal pitched battle.

Though the soldiers were already hungry and exhausted, the thought that they could withdraw once this battle was over rekindled their vitality and spirit. They fought with tremendous bravery. For a time, the Far East Army held the upper hand and the initiative on the battlefield. The Beastmen, Dragon Clan, Devil Race, and Snake Clan were smashed into total rout by the surging charge of the Ironclad Cavalry, scattering in miserable disorder. Everyone believed victory was already within reach!

Until, as the sun sank westward, gleaming reflections from sabers and lances appeared on the horizon, rumbling like thunder—also Ironclad Cavalry, only in different colors—Lei Hong's rebel army had arrived!

The utterly exhausted Zichuan Family troops could not withstand this fresh force crashing into them.

The rebellious populace, which had already scattered, gathered again and killed its way back—they dispersed quickly, and they regrouped just as quickly.

Luobo personally cut down more than ten fleeing soldiers with his sword. Lin Bing charged to the very front to rally the soldiers to keep fighting—but defeat had already taken shape, and nothing could save them...

In the Battle of Chishuitan, the Far East Army lost 235,000 troops. Three Red Guard Captains, twenty-three Banner Captains, and seventy-six Vice Banner Captains were killed in action, while Deputy Commander Luobo, commander-in-chief of the army, was seriously wounded. Since the Far East Army's founding, it had never suffered such a catastrophic defeat, not even against the Devil Race's elite forces...

The rebellion snowballed larger and larger, eventually sweeping through twenty-one of the Far East Region's twenty-three provinces!

More than a million rebels launched wave after wave of fierce assaults against Valen Fortress! Urgent pleas for aid flew back to the Commanders' Office like snowflakes, their wording growing more severe each time.

"The rebels are attacking Valen in overwhelming strength!"

"Requesting reinforcements. Our forces can barely hold on."

"Medicinal supplies are critically scarce. The wounded cannot be treated!"

"Arrows and rolling stones have been exhausted. Today, we drove back the rebels by spitting at them. Tomorrow, we'll be spitting blood!"

"Today, even the military police guarding headquarters have been sent into battle!"

"The cadet classes from the Far East Military Academy have been deployed too—we're fighting with child soldiers now."

"Chief of Staff Luo will provide cover; Deputy Commander Lin will charge."

The last was a blood letter jointly signed by Lin Bing and Luo Bo:

"If reinforcements do not arrive within a week, then by the time they do, they can help collect our corpses.

Luo Bo, Lin Bing"

Valen Fortress was the strongest barrier between the Far East and the Imperial Capital. Once Valen fell, a million rebels would surge into the undefended heartland where humanity lived and flourished—such a situation absolutely could not be allowed to happen!

On July 30th, Year 779, the Commanders' Office ordered Commander Sterling to immediately lead the 150,000 Central Army troops who had just completed their reorganization as the advance reinforcements for Valen Fortress. Commander Fang Jin was to lead the Black Flag Army and follow behind. (Because the Black Flag Army was farther away.)

In addition, the Family ordered the activation of a Level One emergency state. All reserve officers were to immediately return to active duty.