Besides the middle-level disciples of various aristocratic families, nearly 50,000 bloodline disciples were also willing to accompany the Crown Prince to North Sea City to open the passage!
As the heir apparent, Wang Shiyu is actually highly regarded in many ways, but ultimately his seniority is too low!
The Duke of Duke of Wei had a son late in life, and Wang Shiyu was younger than many of the grandsons of the Duke of Wei's contemporaries. Although he had been carefully cultivated by the Duke of Wei since childhood and had participated in many battles, demonstrating remarkable talent and military ability, it was a fact that his prestige was still insufficient!
After the Duke of Wei left, it was barely possible to stabilize the situation, but in a life-or-death situation like the current one, it is basically impossible to make a decision on major issues, even if the plan he proposed is the only way out at present!
However, thanks to reasoned arguments, the Duke's mansion's resources, and the support of a large portion of the Duke's subordinates, the rescue of North Sea City was eventually managed to be barely successful.
Each aristocratic family was willing to send people, even middle-aged men with considerable fighting ability, but they could not be the eldest sons or the heads of the family; they had to keep a potential heir in the family.
Various aristocratic families were willing to send their bloodline members to fight alongside the army, and the quality of these members was quite good. However, the most elite members were still kept by their side, in preparation for a breakout.
Wang Shiyu saw this and sighed helplessly. He knew very well that the reason for keeping it intact was that the aristocratic families still had options. At worst, after the city fell, everyone could break out on their own. With a few elites protecting the important members of their families, the chances of breaking out were still very high. Without the burden of a large number of people and logistics, they could travel light and the core of the aristocratic families could even break through all the way to the capital.
Since there's a way out, of course we can avoid going to North Sea City to gamble on that slim hope, but...
They've fled, but what will happen to the city's remaining billion inhabitants?
Having established a family lineage in the Northern Lands for a thousand years, are they really going to stand by and watch all the people of the north fall into the jaws of snakes?
Anyway, Wang Shiyu couldn't do it. Even if Laoda opposed it, he would insist. In this battle of North Sea City, he forcefully took away nearly 60% of the Wang Household's armed forces, determined to fight to the death!
As the army departed the city, countless people watched with bated breath. The entire city was packed with people, so densely packed that the ground was covered with burlap sacks. Each sack usually housed four or five families. Due to the lack of proper maintenance, the streets reeked of excrement and urine.
The former largest capital city in the Northern Lands has been completely turned into a slum. The streets are so crowded that you can't even leave your door. This time, the army's journey will require a lot of people to clear the roads.
The people of the Northern Lands have always lived a hard life. The land is bitterly cold and has suffered many calamities. In the twenty years since the Great Jin, while other regions have been recuperating and rebuilding, the Northern Lands has been constantly conscripting soldiers and fighting wars. There has never been a day of peace. Moreover, it is the place where the most demonic incidents have occurred!
Are they now even taking away our most basic survival?
Riding on the Dragon Horse, Wang Shiyu gazed at the countless numb eyes, a suffocating feeling pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe. Heaven had never been kind to anyone, especially the people of the Northern Lands. How many more calamities would they have to endure before they could finally find some peace?
Thinking of this, he recalled his experiences in Jiangnan.
In that picturesque place, everyone is full of energy and smiles. At sunset, you can hardly see anyone working. People stroll around the streets, call out to friends on Great Azure Mountain, have a couple of drinks, or a group of people simply go to the cool ditch to fish until midnight.
What an enviable scene!
Originally, I planned to create a beautiful place in the Northern Frontier, like the Jiangnan region, before I died, but now it seems that I will never have the chance.
"Let's go!" Wang Shiyu took a breath and led the way, with his adjutant following closely behind in a long line, arranged according to the previous formation.
The Battle of North Sea City was a swift battle, fought entirely by cavalry, each man carrying only one day's rations—it was a fight to the death!
Fifty thousand cavalrymen, lightly armed and riding fine horses from the Northern Lands, formed an extremely well-coordinated vanguard. Occasionally, large snakes would emerge from the ground, but they were quickly dispersed and strangled. Their agility was unparalleled, making the retreat of the large number of civilians back north much easier than before!
This has made countless young men even more restless.
He couldn't help but think that if he broke through the encirclement and headed straight for the capital, it might be a way to survive.
Amidst this unrest, some members of the bloodline actually banded together in small groups and quietly broke away from the main group while it was moving at high speed, heading directly towards the capital!
Upon seeing this, the leader was about to draw his bow and shoot, but was stopped by the prince at the front.
"As I said before, this trip to the North Sea is entirely voluntary. If anyone wants to leave, we won't stop them!"
Upon hearing this, the soldiers, who had initially been wary, exchanged glances, reined in their horses, saluted, and followed the direction in which they had secretly fled without looking back!
"Your Highness!"
A deputy general standing nearby, who appeared to be over fifty, said sternly, "How can you give such an order at this time? The morale of the troops will collapse!"
"Let them disperse then." The prince shook his head. "They weren't originally trained assassins. This trip to the North Sea is fraught with peril. Forcing them might not be a good thing in the end. Those who are willing to risk it can come, and those who want to escape can escape."
Everyone: "."
"But where can we escape to?" The prince gazed at the azure sky and chuckled coldly, "With natural disasters looming, the ancient past reappearing, and a golden age of demons about to begin, where can we possibly escape to?"
"Your Highness."
"None of you were sent here this time are core members of the family. You all possess considerable abilities, but due to the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, you can only remain subordinate to others. If you want to run away with your subordinates now, I won't stop you. After all, when it comes to enjoying resources, you weren't among the first to receive them, but when it comes to fighting for your lives, you were chosen. I imagine you're not happy about that, are you?"
"What is Your Highness saying?" Several adjutants frowned. "Given the current situation, is this the time to concern ourselves with such things?"
"That's precisely why we have to be so calculating!" Wang Shiyu grinned. "I promise you, if we can successfully open up the North Sea and establish contact with Jiangnan this time, I'll vouch for you if you ever want to join the Fighter Army!"
"The Crown Prince?" The people around were immediately taken aback!
"You've all heard of it, right?" Wang Shiyu said in a low voice, " The Jiangnan Fighter Army has a unique advancement method that doesn't rely on bloodline. Many collateral bloodline members in Jiangnan have gained strength stronger than the direct descendants after joining. It's another way out!"
"But..." Several generals looked puzzled. That was Chen Qing's faction. If they wanted to join the Fighter Army, they had to be under his command!
The meaning of the Crown Prince
"If Jiangnan can save my people in the North, I am willing to take the lead in serving them!"
"That's probably impossible, isn't it?" The adjutant who had spoken earlier gave a wry smile. "Putting aside the opposition from so many aristocratic families, how would Lord Duke of Wei and Bai Sang view the heir apparent if they successfully returned?"
"We should look at it however we want!" the prince gritted his teeth and said, "I was raised by my father, and I know very well what kind of person he is. If my father were here, he would think the same as me: if Chen Qing can save people, then he is the emperor of our North!"
"As for the aristocratic families," the prince said coldly, "From the moment they prepared to abandon their people and flee, they ceased to be worthy of being called noble families!"
--
"Oh, you actually brought people with you?"
On the city wall of North Sea City, a seven-foot-tall old man stood proudly, looking down at the dust billowing as cavalry gathered in the distance!
I just received a letter saying that the eldest son of the Duke of Wei failed in his assassination attempt and has decided to lead men to break through North Sea City in order to seek help from Jiangnan.
" The Duke of Wei is truly blessed," the old man sighed. "What an outstanding descendant! To dare to take the lead and gamble on this situation, Hong'er."
At this point, the old man's voice visibly choked, and the other elderly people around him remained silent, clearly knowing that the other person was referring to Lu Ming's eldest son in West Sea City, the Lu Household's most promising eldest grandson.
"What about Jiangnan? Still no progress?"
The old man suddenly looked to the other side, where a strange person was shrouded in a black robe. Both his exposed arms and half of his face were covered with thick snake scales, and his body exuded the stench of a rotting snake.
" Jiangnan possesses a very special power!" the black-robed snake-man said in a hoarse voice. "In this world, to be able to activate such a massive magic array is truly unbelievable. However, it probably won't last long, since in this era, it's impossible for such power to persist!"
"That's for the best!" the old man sneered. "I'm warning you, you signed a magical agreement. Everyone in Jiangnan must be buried with my son, and that Chen Qing must be captured alive. I want him to suffer a fate worse than death!!"
"As you wish!" The snake-man turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared from the spot. The next instant, the entire ground shook, the surrounding yellow soil writhed, and countless giant snakes burst out of the ground, converging on North Sea City like a tidal wave.
The old man looked at the open city gate and nodded slightly. They had come to North Sea City to make preparations long ago. In order to prevent people from Jiangnan from coming to rescue people, there were at least tens of thousands of giant subterranean pythons here. If they all broke out of the ground, they would be enough to completely overturn North Sea City!
Not to mention Earth Mother hidden at the very bottom.
That young man from the Duke of Wei's family certainly has guts, but unfortunately, this is a hellish road with no chance of survival. Entering this city gate is like entering a snake's mouth. Let alone 50,000 troops, even if the imperial court's million-strong army came, they would all perish here!
The situation of the Northern Aristocratic Families and the final outcome in the North Sea will be intertwined. Let me explain this first, so that no one will think Mofang writing bits and pieces here and there.