Chapter 144 A crushing defeat: Hu Dazhu descends like a divine army from the sky with the Jinzhou troops...

Gyeongju.

With its limited military and material resources, Qingzhou was no match for Sun Yannan's army. Zhao Jiashu knew this well, but he would never agree to hand over Qingzhou.

Therefore, the two armies fought more than ten battles in succession, forcing Zhao Jiashu to lead his troops out of the prefecture and causing the prefecture to fall into the hands of Sun Yannan.

Along the way were countless people fleeing their hometowns, dragging their families along, carrying their belongings they couldn't bear to part with, trudging forward with uneven steps.

I don't know where I'll find shelter tonight since it's raining, and I don't know if I'll be able to find a place to live tomorrow.

Everyone was simply trying to stay as far away from Sun Yannan's army as possible for survival.

Zhao Jiashu sat in the carriage, looking out the window at the refugees walking or sitting not far away. Men, women, and children all looked emaciated and numb.

He sighed inwardly, called over a soldier, and ordered, "Go and tell those people to go to Jinzhou."

The soldiers were shocked, but they did as instructed.

The strategist Zhu Kexuan paused, "My lord, do you think highly of He Qinglan?"

Zhao Jiashu shook his head. "It's not that I'm optimistic about her, I just hope she can win and that she can end this chaotic world."

Zhu Kexuan asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Zhao Jiashu narrowed his eyes, a smile appearing on his lips, "Because she sent people to help me."

A hundred miles away, at the Hongmei River, Sun Yannan's army was attacking the Qingzhou army.

The general on the Qingzhou side is named Cao Yuan. He is a tall, mighty, brave, and resourceful military commander with rich combat experience. It is because of his command that Sun Yannan has not been able to conquer the entire Qingzhou.

However, Qingzhou's strength was ultimately insufficient, and if this dragged on any longer... Cao Yuan frowned.

He cast aside those thoughts, calmly gazed at Sun Jun ahead, and ordered, "Fire!"

Countless arrows flew straight towards the enemy camp, and a portion of Sun's army fell.

But soon, Sun Jun's generals directed their soldiers to take out shields and block the attack.

Seeing this, Cao Yuan stopped immediately and ordered, "Withdraw!"

The Qingzhou army quickly withdrew. When the Sun army caught up and reached the spot where they had just stopped, Cao Yuan ordered his men to wave a flag. The soldiers who had been hiding in the shadows activated the mechanism, and huge rocks rolled down the mountain, temporarily blocking the Sun army's advance.

However, Yang Xian and his son Yang Wenchi, who were by Sun Yannan's side, were not to be underestimated. They quickly adjusted their troops. Yang Xian led his troops in pursuit, while Yang Wenchi, traveling light, led a small army to take a detour and outflank the Qingzhou army.

A pincer attack from both sides, the battle begins.

Yang Wenchi, mounted on his horse, held a long-handled sword and stared intently at Cao Yuan. He said, "Surrender, Cao Yuan."

Cao Yuan held his blood-stained spear forward, drops of blood dripping from it. "Enough nonsense! I, Cao Yuan, would rather die fighting than surrender!"

"Very well, very well," Yang Wenchi praised three times, then his expression changed. "Then I'll leave your life at the Red Eyebrow River!"

Cao Yuan sneered, "It's still uncertain who will emerge victorious!"

The spear and the long sword clashed, sparks flying.

The blade bore the indifferent reflections of the two men's faces.

All around them, soldiers from both sides fought fiercely, weapons stained with blood, and flesh and blood flying everywhere.

People kept falling down, and some bodies rolled into the river.

After half a day, the piled-up corpses blocked the river's flow, and the blood stained the river red.

Cao Yuan suffered countless knife wounds, and one of his eyes was even injured by Yang Wenchi.

But he was not discouraged, because he saw reinforcements.

Hu Dazhu led the Jinzhou army from the upper reaches of the Hongmei River, appearing like divine soldiers descending from the sky, and intercepted Sun's army!

Yang Xian was shocked: Why would the Jinzhou army come here?

Cao Yuan laughed loudly, "Yang Wenchi, I told you, the outcome is still uncertain!"

He charged at Yang Wenchi again, spear in hand!

With the addition of the Jinzhou army, the battle, which was originally a foregone conclusion, became uncertain.

Sun Jun had always been brave, but seeing that the Qingzhou army, which was about to win, had received support from the Jinzhou army and was now fighting back with high morale, Sun Jun couldn't help but feel annoyed and irritable.

In addition, the Jinzhou army liked to throw huge stones and cannonballs, which shook the morale of Sun's army.

Hu Dazhu, like a god descending from the heavens, wielded two giant axes and hacked his way through, with countless soldiers falling beneath his blades.

He charged straight at Cao Yuan and Yang Wenchi, and with a single axe strike, forced Yang Wenchi back.

The young general laughed against the light, "Yang Wenchi, which is sharper, your spear or my axe?"

Yang Wenchi sneered defiantly, "How can a rotten axe compare to a famous spear?"

Hu Dazhu flashed a bright white smile, "Then let's see if we have a competition!"

Cao Yuan stepped back and watched as Hu Dazhu and Yang Wenchi started fighting.

Both men fought fiercely. Yang Wenchi feigned several openings, but Hu Dazhu wasn't fooled and even challenged him, "Are you afraid of me, so you resort to trickery?"

This enraged Yang Wenchi, who then fought recklessly.

Unexpectedly, this was exactly what Hu Dazhu wanted. He seized upon several genuine weaknesses in Yang Wenchi's defenses and knocked him off his horse with two powerful blows.

Cao Yuan tore a strip of cloth from his inner garment, used it to bind his injured eye, picked up his longsword, turned and charged back into the battlefield to continue fighting.

Four days later, Sun Jun suffered a major defeat.

Yang Xian ordered the troops to withdraw, and Sun's army left Hongmei River, intending to retreat to the prefecture to recuperate.

Cao Yuan asked Hu Dazhu what he planned to do, "Pursue or not?"

Hu Dazhu said decisively, "Of course we must pursue them! The saying 'Don't pursue a desperate enemy' doesn't apply to our Jinzhou army. Little do they know, 'We should use our remaining strength to pursue a desperate enemy!'"

Cao Yuan: "..."

He recited it thoughtfully: "Should we press on with our remaining strength to pursue the fleeing enemy?"

Hu Dazhu slammed his hand on the table and said, "Sun Yannan has quite a few cavalrymen. Let them see our new weapons!"

Cao Yuan looked up, "What new weapon?"

Hu Dazhu revealed a sly smile.

What is the new weapon?

Hu Dazhu and his men intercepted the retreating Sun army on the road to Qingzhou Prefecture.

They built a wall with barbed wire, blocking their way, and buried countless explosives in the ground inside the wire mesh.

Meanwhile, their own men were on the other side of the barbed wire, drawing their bows and arrows, waiting for Sun's troops to enter firing range.

Sun Jun, encountering barbed wire for the first time, unsurprisingly suffered a defeat.

After all, swords and blades can't cut through it, horses will be stabbed if they collide with it, and people will be injured by hooks and thorns if they try to pull it away by hand...

In addition, there were Qingzhou soldiers constantly firing arrows behind the barbed wire.

Sun Jun suffered numerous casualties.

Yang Xian, as expected of a seasoned general, immediately convened a meeting with his officers and ultimately decided to use fire.

They attacked the soldiers firing arrows from the other side of the barbed wire while simultaneously setting the barbed wire on fire.

Then he rushed through the broken wire and smashed through the barbed wire fence.

Yang Xian and his son fled to the prefecture with the remaining Sun troops.

Cao Yuan was not disappointed; this battle far exceeded his expectations, and Sun Jun's casualties were greater than those of his Qingzhou army.

He immediately hosted a banquet to thank Hu Dazhu for leading the troops.

Hu Dazhu clinked glasses with Cao Yuan and said, "Governor Zhao asked the Goddess for help. The Goddess received the letter and sent me with troops. Your Qingzhou must be grateful for our help and not turn around and join others to fight us."

Cao Yuan spat out a mouthful of wine.

Hu Dazhu quickly took a few steps back to avoid it.

Cao Yuan said "I'm sorry," and then said, "We will certainly be grateful for Prince Yun's kindness. If it weren't for Prince Yun's rescue, I'm really afraid I wouldn't have been able to defend Qingzhou!"

They drank and chatted, and as they talked, Cao Yuan couldn't help but mention the barbed wire fence, praising it highly.

Hu Dazhu was slightly smug, and then said, "It is indeed very useful, but our current manufacturing technology is not enough. Look, Yang Xian set fire to burn a hole in it!"

If the skill of making wire improves and an advanced version of wire mesh is created, combined with muskets, Sun Jun will have to stay here!

Hu Dazhu pondered that he should send a message by carrier pigeon to the ironware workshop as soon as possible regarding the use of the barbed wire, and see if they could make improvements.

In the future, barbed wire will be used on the grasslands.

That is their true battlefield.

Hu Dazhu drank another glass of wine and asked Cao Yuan, "What are you going to do next?"

Cao Yuan said, "I beg your help to reclaim the prefecture!"

“Sure,” Hu Dazhu said, “but I need to meet with your governor to discuss the payment.”

Cao Yuan: "..."

Hu Dazhu laughed loudly, "Brother Cao, are you not planning to give it to me?"

Cao Yuan hurriedly replied, "Not at all, I'll write a letter to our governor right away."

Zhao Jiashu wouldn't be so stingy as to be unwilling to part with this small reward.

He handed the letter to Zhu Kexuan, "Look, Hu Dazhu led his troops and utterly defeated Sun's army led by Yang Xian!"

Zhu Kexuan was both surprised and delighted. "He actually defeated Yang Xian. This Hu Dazhu is really not to be underestimated."

Zhao Jiashu sighed with emotion, "That was a ruthless man who conquered the entire southwest and northwest."

Zhu Kexuan asked, "Shall we go back to the prefectural capital?"

Zhao Jiashu hesitated, "Let's go back later, after Cao Yuan and Hu Dazhu have driven Sun Yannan out of the prefecture. Otherwise, what if Sun Yannan defeats Cao Yuan and his men halfway there?"

Zhu Kexuan paused, holding the letter, and said, "That's true."

Zhao Jiashu said, "I will write to Hu Dazhu right away. If they can recapture the prefecture, I will definitely reward them handsomely!"

Outside the governor's motorcade, on the desolate mountain road, many people were struggling to walk forward.

They stepped over the corpses of their fellow travelers, and over the bones of what they didn't know were either human or wild beasts.

They hoped that the Gyeongju army could defeat the enemy and recapture Gyeongju so that they could return to their hometown.

They also hoped that there would be a place ahead where there was no fighting, so that they could settle down in peace.

The early winter wind blew up a sky full of dust and sand, reaching the distant city of Jinzhou.

The young man, holding a steaming bowl of popcorn, rubbed the sand in his eyes and handed the popcorn to his newlywed wife.

He said, "Lu Hong's army has already started fighting with the Shengzhou army outside Shengzhou. I plan to sign up to go to the front line!"

His wife ate a piece of popcorn, the sweet taste melting in her mouth. She smiled and said, "You should go now. You're a doctor; a doctor's job is to save lives!"

The young man nodded, "Then after I leave..."

The wife picked up a popcorn and fed it to her husband, smiling sweetly, "I'm going to sign up for the debate competition in Jinzhou! I hope you'll see my amazing performance published in the Yunguo Monthly in Shengzhou!"

The young man laughed upon hearing this, "Okay, good luck!"

The couple leaned against each other and slowly walked forward.

I brushed shoulders with many people along the way.

These people, whether they knew each other or not, were also talking about Lu Hong sending troops to attack the Yun Kingdom.

"Now we're fighting in Qingzhou, Queling County, Langya Peak, Ziyang County, and Shengzhou. Is there anywhere else we're not fighting?"

"That's all."

"The world is truly in chaos."

"Nobody's willing to concede to anyone else, so we have to fight it out to find the ultimate winner, right?"

"I heard that Shengzhou lent troops to Yue Yao of Mao'er Mountain..."

"If Lu Hong isn't attacking Shengzhou, how can Shengzhou lend troops to Yue Yao?"

"The soldiers from Jinzhou have already gone to Shengzhou."

"But I heard that General Hu led his troops to Qingzhou. Why would he go to help Qingzhou?"

"Because if Qingzhou falls into Sun Yannan's hands, it will be detrimental to us!"

“There is fighting everywhere now, and countless displaced people are heading straight for Jinzhou.”

"In Jinzhou today, just the fact that you can get enough to eat is already like paradise!"

"Is it appropriate to hold a debate under these circumstances...?"

"What are you saying? Just because there's a war, does that mean people can't live their lives anymore?"

People of all ages are talking about recent major events.

As Gao Shuqing listened, she poured herself a glass of pear blossom wine and sighed, "Sister Fangfang and her female soldiers' battalion are going to the battlefield this time too!"

Wei Taotao, who sat next to me, said, "This is a good thing. If there is no war, soldiers get promoted very slowly."

Gao Shuqing was speechless, "I'm worried..."

Wei Taotao reached out and took the wine glass from Gao Shuqing's hand, and drank half of it in one gulp. "If your sister Fangfang was afraid of getting hurt and dying, she wouldn't have joined the army."

Gao Shuqing was stunned for a moment, "I know, but..."

Wei Taotao laughed, "Worrying about that is useless. Let's do what we should do, support the front lines, and pray for their early victory and return!" She put down her wine glass and asked, "For the next exam, do you want to take it in Shengzhou?"

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Author's Note: There are only fifteen or sixteen chapters left to finish writing.