The Siege Began, Eight Thousand Lu Family Army

The Siege Began, Eight Thousand Lu Family Army

[The next day, news of Zhao Pu's sudden death spread throughout Hulao Pass.]

[Unexpectedly, it did not stir up the anticipated waves or mutiny. Wang Yang personally stepped in and pacified the unrest within the Zhao Family Army.]

[Aside from a few volunteer armies friendly with the Zhao family denouncing it at first, everything was calm seas and quiet winds in the end.]

[The Zhao Family Army began fighting over power internally, and no one cared about the murderer behind it.]

[Several martial-world grandmasters in Hulao Pass examined Zhao Pu's corpse. Afterward, all of them kept silent and shook their heads.]

[They knew full well who had done it, but they were unwilling to pierce that layer of paper.]

[In the end, the Zhao family camp and part of its military supplies were quietly swallowed by other forces.]

[You and Lu Yu had planned this long ago. Relying on the current prestige of the Lu Family Army, you absorbed more than two thousand men.]

[When your father learned of Zhao Pu's death, he knew full well it was the work of you brothers, but he was helpless. Instead, he secretly covered your traces for you.]

[You comforted your father, saying, "To accomplish great things, one must not fuss over small details."]

[Your father looked at you, then saw how you arranged the newly recruited Zhao family soldiers in perfect order, while not lacking thunderbolt methods behind the scenes.]

[With merely one suspicion, you would wipe it out completely...]

[In his heart, he could not help thinking to himself that perhaps handing the Lu family over to you would be a very good choice.]

[At this moment, the heavy burden in your heart finally lightened somewhat. The Lu Family Army's numbers had already grown to eight thousand.]

[You somewhat cheerfully pulled your father and younger brother along to drink a few cups.]

[Lu Yu was somewhat puzzled. It was the first time he had seen an excited expression on your face. It was only eight thousand men, after all. One had to know that the northern Profound Kingdom had a full one hundred thousand well-equipped troops.]

[You smiled and said, "Eight thousand against one hundred thousand. The advantage is mine."]

[Your father laughed and said, "For Divine Continent to actually have such boldness. That sixth prince of North Wind, Tuoba Shuyi, only dared boast of sweeping across the four seas after he had one hundred thousand mighty soldiers."]

[You smiled and said, "In soldiers, what matters is quality, not quantity."]

[Time quietly passed.]

[The atmosphere inside the city grew increasingly tense, pervaded by a murderous chill.]

[You also met those martial-world grandmasters in the city: Spear King "Yuan Chenghao," Yangtze Wave Sword "Li Li," and Ground-Walking Dragon "Cheng Baxian."]

[The most formidable among them was General Sword "Ouyang Jingyu," who was also Wang Yang's personal guard.]

[Every one of them had an extraordinary aura. If you faced them in battle, you absolutely would not be their match.]

[You asked Lu Yu about the strength of these martial-world grandmasters.]

[Lu Yu answered lightly, "If they joined hands, I might need to spend a little effort."]

[This made you even more astonished. Just what realm had Lu Yu reached?]

[Your father drilled the Lu Family Army day and night without rest in formations to counter the Iron Pagoda Cavalry.]

[Finally, the day when North Wind would attack the city was about to arrive, and the Lu Family Army's morale was high.]

[Wang Yang held a grand banquet to reward the three armies, signaling that the true decisive battle was about to raise its curtain.]

[That day, the iron cavalry of the North Wind Profound Kingdom surged over like a tide. The true siege began.]

[Firearms roared, siege engines rolled over, deathsworn charged... The cruelty of war made one's heart turn cold.]

[Corpses packed densely together piled up like mountains, incomparably tragic.]

[After four or five days of fierce fighting, the defenders of Hulao Pass had suffered more than half in casualties. Morale was low, and the situation was hanging by a thread.]

[However, most of the defenders had already resolved to die. Even though the grain, fodder, and medicine within the city were already stretched so thin one could barely cover elbows and knees, they still held firm.]

[Seeing that the city was about to fall, the west gate guarded by the Lu Family Army was not the North Wind Profound Kingdom's main target of attack, with only scattered feints.]

[The south gate became the focus of the battlefield instead, and Wang Yang had long since deployed twenty thousand elite defenders there.]

[However, several volunteer armies inside Hulao Pass harbored thoughts of retreat. They went through the motions without exerting themselves, each preserving their own strength, and it was almost entirely up to the defenders to hold on bitterly.]

[Lu Jiaxuan saw through all of this. He summoned you and Lu Yu to discuss countermeasures together.]

[The disloyal hearts of the various volunteer armies had long since been noticed by those with intentions. Added to the fact that rumors now rose everywhere, talk of abandoning the city and fleeing grew ever more rampant, and the situation became increasingly grave.]

[They probably could not hold out for many more days.]

[Your father looked at the battle situation at the south gate, and he had already made his decision. He planned to go support the south gate. If the city's fall was unavoidable, he would have you two brothers leave on your own and leave the Lu family a thread of bloodline. He would have you go south to find your mother.]

[For the Lu family, having him, Lu Jiaxuan, go to his death alone was enough. The Lu family had nothing to be ashamed of before Great Qing.]

[After Lu Yu heard this, he hurriedly said, "Father, I can protect you and elder brother as we break out of the encirclement."]

[However, your father firmly shook his head.]

[Lu Yu's expression fell silent. He knew his father's resolve could not be shaken.]

[Lu Yu understood that with his strength alone, though he could fight one against a hundred, before an army formation of thousands upon thousands, there was still only death by exhaustion.]

[Faced with this scene, you decided...]

1. Leave with Lu Yu. As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no lack of firewood.

2. Follow your father and resist North Wind together.

3. Personally participate (1/3)

Yu Ke naturally chose 2. Follow your father and resist North Wind together.

This time, he had chosen to descend the mountain precisely to change the general trend of the world and explode rewards.

If he fled before battle now, would that not be a total waste of time?

He might as well have cultivated in the mountains.

He would directly gamble on it. You believed in the history of the past, in the strategy of that Martial Saint whose name would shine through the ages.

[You did not hesitate. You tightly gripped your father's and Lu Yu's hands, and said firmly, "Since Father will not leave, then we father and sons shall live and die together."]

[Lu Yu also expressed without the slightest hesitation, "Where Father is, we will be there."]

[Your father shed tears. This veteran general, who had fought for many years and wanted to recover the mountains and rivers, had tears falling like rain. The words family and nation seemed to rest right in his heart.]

[Your father laughed loudly and said, "Good. We father and sons will go into battle together."]

[At this moment, you believed that sending reinforcements was, on the contrary, the wrong decision.]

[You should open the city and meet the enemy. The reason Hulao Pass had always defended without going out was, first, the gap in military strength. Tuoba Shuyi had one hundred thousand iron cavalry, and behind him there was still North Wind's two hundred thousand-strong army setting out.]

[How many defenders did Hulao Pass have? Among them were volunteer armies with very weak combat strength.]

[North Wind's soldiers were all elite troops and powerful generals, one man able to match several.]

[Second was North Wind's invincible Iron Pagoda Cavalry, which had long ago beaten Great Qing until the mere sound of its name made men lose heart, like a meat grinder on the battlefield.]

[Then you would do the opposite.]

[As you spoke your plan, your father and Lu Yu were both shaken by what they heard.]

[You decided to use the eight thousand Lu Family Army to directly face those thirty thousand Iron Pagoda Cavalry, meeting the enemy in an open and upright manner.]

[The moment these words came out, your father and Lu Yu were both shaken.]

[After all, in past battles, thirty thousand Great Qing troops had once been slaughtered by three thousand Iron Pagoda Cavalry.]

[The strategies you proposed—severing the horses' legs and dispersing the formation—had never undergone the test of real battle. The risks and variables within them were something no one could foresee.]

[However, Lu Yu was willing to believe you.]

[Your father also went through a period of deep consideration. In the end, he chose to believe your judgment.]

[He understood that this was a huge gamble.]

[If a son was willing to accompany his father to death, how could a father not believe his own son?]

[You smiled and said, "Eight thousand breaking one hundred thousand, why not? The advantage is mine."]

[After Lu Yu heard this, his heart surged with emotion.]

Yu Ke saw this point.

He recalled that when he personally participated, he had once seen the discipline and fearlessness of the Lu Family Army.

This was an iron army that did not fear death.

Most of them had suffered persecution by the North Wind Profound Kingdom and bore irreconcilable blood feuds.

Their families had been killed, their homes occupied.

Even if several thousand among the eight thousand were newly joined, as long as the previous four thousand served as the vanguard, it was not impossible.