Chapter 333 The Veteran's Wish
Kill from early morning to dusk.
When the shouts of killing were left far behind and the endless snowfield appeared before their eyes, the Lion Army realized that they had finally succeeded in crossing the defense line.
The soldiers wanted to continue charging forward, but when they passed the "camp" behind the rebels, everyone couldn't help but slow down.
All that was heard was the heavy panting after running.
The soldiers looked around and saw no barracks or main tents, and no defensive arrangements.
A few sticks and rags together make a leaky "barracks".
The straw beds on the snow were the "beds" where the rebels spent the night.
Even the rebel leader's residence was just a shed filled with letters. Apart from that, there were only piles of blood-stained herbal towels, a few empty wine jars, and an even thinner straw couch.
The canvas, keel, etc. of the night flying wing were piled into two hills.
It looked like a failed test flight, which showed how much manpower and resources had been wasted in order to airdrop packages to the Lion Army. About a thousand flying wings had to be sent into the storm to ensure the successful airdrop of a hundred.
The wings of the other "hill" were clearly stained with blood, and both wings were covered with dense arrow wounds.
The entire "camp" is simple, casual, unrefined, and even loose and chaotic.
There was no one left in the camp.
A soldier exclaimed "Huh?" and picked up a square piece of straw paper from the corner of a straw couch.
When I opened it, the first sentence I saw was:
"Mother, I am an unfilial child. I cannot take care of you in your old age and see you to the end of your life..."
Seeing this, the soldiers searched on the surrounding straw beds.
Letters from the rebels were subsequently turned out and spread out in the snow.
"Dad, I have two hundred yuan in my room. Use it to prepare a dowry for my younger sister. I can't go back, so I won't need it..."
"Brother Liu, my package is still at the martial arts gym. Please pack it up and send it to my wife..."
"Mom, don't cry. Your son is a hero who defends our country. You should be happy..."
The black words on each piece of straw paper tell the most simple and unpretentious last words of the rebel soldiers.
Huo Gannian walked into the rebel leader's shed, turned over the straw couch, but did not find the suicide note.
Yun Chen, however, was sharp-eyed and saw a shabby little wooden table in the corner with a menacing tiger-tooth dagger stuck on it.
The tip of the dagger pinned a square suicide note on the table. Yun Chen took it down and unfolded it. There was nothing else but four heart-wrenching words:
Worthy of all mankind.
When the storm swept away hundreds of letters pleading for help, no one would have thought that the response would be so tragic and heart-shaking.
The soldiers were shocked and looked back at the defense line where the righteous army and the rebel army were still fighting. The black smoke was still billowing and the shouts of battle had not stopped.
Looking at the road under my feet again, the white snow has been trampled hard and is glowing red like hot blood.
No wonder there was no one left on duty in the entire camp. It turned out that they had already made up their minds that the entire army must die.
The soldiers solemnly put the rebels' suicide note into their arms, as if carrying the most sacred mission in the world.
At this moment, they hope very much that they can survive and one day deliver this suicide note to its destination.
The Wuyi Blood Guards standing by could not understand this emotion. They did not know why these Lion-Mighty Army soldiers stood solemnly in front of them, looking back to the southeast with tears in their eyes.
Rebel Army
The word "righteousness" is probably the thing that the Unrighteous Blood Guards understand the least.
Risking your life just to let others escape?
Not asking for money, not asking for women, just asking for "righteousness"?
Although I didn't understand it, I was quite shocked.
Not a single heartless Blood Guard joked. They took off their swords and bowed their heads along with the Lion Might Army to show their respect.
Finally, take a look at Southeast, for which I have fought for two years.
There were 300,000 heroes when they came, and 120,000 people with guilt and regret when they left.
The Lion Army regrouped, looked toward the towering snow-capped mountains in the north, and embarked on a journey northward.
…
…
At the same time, in Guangyuan City, Youzhou.
After Ye Yan and Buyan left with the first batch of horses they had collected, Yun Zhongjun gathered the entire clan in the main hall and publicly announced the decision to disband all horse farms and separate the clans.
No matter how the clan members cried and made a fuss, they were reluctant to give up Yun Zhongjun, their cash cow. Yun Zhongjun remained stern and forced everyone to sign the division agreement without any room for negotiation.
After the crying and noise in the hall died down, Yun Zhongjun went alone to the highest attic of the Yun Mansion, overlooking the mansion that he had poured his life into and was about to fall apart.
From a wasteland to a million-hectare horse farm;
From a shabby little hut to the majestic "Cloud Mansion";
The young boy has become the "Horse King", and the days of high spirits are gone forever. Only gray hair remains, writing the twilight years of a generation of heroes.
Now, the banquet has begun and ended, and everything has to go back to zero, back to the beginning.
"well--"
A faint sigh brought Yun Zhongjun back to his senses. Huo Leiting walked up to the attic, stood side by side with Yun Zhongjun, and also looked at the entire mansion.
"One hundred and twenty thousand horses, plus the eighty thousand militiamen you've recruited under your name as 'Horse King,' should be more than enough to support the rebels. Ye Yan and his men are fast, so there's no need to worry too much."
Yun Zhongjun said nothing, just shook his head.
Huo Leiting nudged him with his elbow and asked teasingly:
"Aren't you worried about the war? Are you reluctant to give up this family business? Yes, with so many houses, shops, land deeds, and gold and silver, if you divide them up among your relatives, and then deduct what's left for your children, there probably won't be much left. It would hurt me too."
Yun Zhongjun still shook his head. "You and I both know this day will come sooner or later. The Eastern Palace will not allow the Huo and Yun factions to unite. Only when one of them falls from power will the Eastern Palace approve. So, either your Huo faction disbands, or I, Yun Zhongjun, fall. If you think about it, it's more cost-effective for me to fall."
"Yes, it's better to be defeated actively than passively. At least the lives of the entire clan can be saved." Huo Lei Ting said, looking into the distance:
"The imperial court won't easily abandon the southeast unless it's absolutely necessary. From this, we can infer that the Northern Expedition must have suffered a major setback, forcing the Lion Army to march north and ask us for help. I hope the people Ye Yan brought can hold the southeastern defense line. Otherwise, the flames of war will sooner or later spread to Youzhou, and I'm afraid no one will be spared."
"So I'm going to lead the battle myself." Yun Zhongjun straightened his back, which was already a little bent with age, and said in a deep and firm voice:
"Eighty thousand troops can fight the rebels, but they are far from enough to fight against the upcoming 130,000 Black Scale Cavalry. I will recruit another group of people and call up all the retired veterans of the Black Armor Army. I will be the leader and personally guard the southeastern defense line."
When Yun Zhongjun spoke of this long-considered decision, Huo Leiting showed no surprise, and even his eyes lit up with excitement:
"Have you already planned everything? How many more people do you need to recruit?"
"At least fifty thousand, no upper limit."
"Where does the military funding come from?"
"I sold the house and the pasture."
After a moment of regret and silence, Huo Leiting began to flex his muscles in a joking manner, rubbing his hands together and saying:
"Then let's go together! How about I be your deputy commander?"
Yun Zhongjun looked Huo Leiting up and down:
"Forget it. We're almost 150 years old between us. Especially with your white hair, it would probably make the enemy laugh out loud."
"Hey, hey—" Huo Leiting was unhappy. "Brother, I used to be a vanguard, please show some respect!"
"Then you are also an 'Old Pioneer' now! I promised my son-in-law to take good care of you, and I can't break my promise."
"I've been taken care of very well! I've been living comfortably here for over a year with free food and drink! Don't even think about pretending to be a national hero. What's wrong with you? 'Zhongzheng Zhongjun', you're the only one with a good name, your family is the only one who knows how to come up with names? Isn't my 'Thunderbolt Shock the Enemy' famous?"
"You're overthinking it. My father is uneducated, so he named us three brothers 'Yunqianjun', 'Yunzhongjun', and 'Yunhoujun'. I'm the second oldest, so I just happened to be called 'Yunzhongjun'. There's no real meaning behind our names."
“…”
"Come on, it's time for us two old bones to stretch our legs and meet those young guys in black leather. Maybe we can beat them!"
"So what if we can't win?"
"Can't win? Then I'm going to turn the world upside down and make a name for myself in history!"
"When the birds are gone, the bows are put away. When the rabbit dies, the dog is cooked. I hope that the court will see fit to grant our two children a happy marriage."
"I hope so."
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