Niu Jinda stood high, so naturally he could see far. The Silla people’s fighting will exceeded his expectations. In such a life-and-death purgatory of iron and fire, they still fought to the death without retreating. Seeing the scene before them like Asura hell, they could still have the courage to step into the wire fence—this itself indicated they were already prepared to make sacrifices for victory.

How does one drive a nail into wood? There’s no other good method—only using an iron hammer to pound it in, one strike at a time. If one hammer blow couldn’t break the Silla people’s will, then two blows, three blows would do.

The sharp whistle sounded again from the hot air balloon. The officer grinned fiercely at Niu Jinda and said: “Commander, please sit comfortably and watch how your sons kill the enemy.”

Niu Jinda stroked his long beard and nodded with satisfaction. In that battle just now, although the time was short, the war had developed to its extreme in the shortest time. This deeply embodied the true essence of military strategy.

Seeing the young people eager for battle, Old Niu smiled even more happily, patting his knee and saying: “Just go ahead and do it. This old man will sit right here and watch. I’ve always been delighted to see young men and women establish achievements and careers.”

The officer shouted his acknowledgment and strode to the front of the military formation. He took down a yellow flag, faced the eight-ox crossbow formation, and shouted loudly: “Gunpowder crossbows, elevation three, five hundred paces! Fire oil crossbows, elevation two, three hundred paces! Fire!”

Niu Jinda shook his head. Such mechanical repetition probably wouldn’t have much killing power against a fierce general like Kim Yusin, but Niu Jinda didn’t plan to make adjustments. Being able to let the young people grow quickly was the greatest gain from this battle.

Kim Yusin advanced with difficulty through the crossbow bolts. Subordinates continuously fell on the advancing road. Finally nearing the wire fence, flying claws tightly hooked onto the wire. Kim Yusin tied the flying claw’s rope to his saddle and urged his horse to walk back. Countless people were doing this same thing simultaneously. Doing this was extremely painful—crossbow bolts continuously fell from overhead, and after falling, they would explode. With each explosion, lives would be taken away.

This required tremendous courage to overcome. Humans are naturally filled with awe toward loud noises and explosions. From thunder to volcanic eruptions, all have been endowed with powerful mythological colors. Now these divine manifestations were descending upon their own heads. Military soldiers who could still strictly follow military orders at this time could be called fierce soldiers.

Unshaken when attacked, unalarmed when facing change, surviving after being placed in deadly ground—this was Niu Jinda’s assessment of the Silla people. Watching these fierce soldiers fall one after another on the advancing road, his heart was filled with bitterness. One powerful life after another couldn’t compare to a small gunpowder bomb. This gunpowder bomb worth three hundred copper coins could tear fierce soldiers who had survived a hundred battles into fragments. The value was unequal.

The form of warfare was changing. So far, a fierce general like Kim Yusin had been forced by a young officer to personally take to the battlefield, braving arrows and stones like a suicide squad. This was the sorrow of old soldiers.

Tushi had died—died like a joke. All throughout the Great Tang, people were telling this joke, but the old generals collectively shut their mouths. Yuchi Gong huffed for a long time before squeezing out a sentence: “When that little bastard comes back, this old man will beat him up!”

“He really should get a beating!” Niu Jinda muttered to himself. Yun Ye’s new combat methods had thoroughly swept the original methods of warfare into history’s garbage heap, which meant that people like themselves had also been swept into history’s garbage heap.

He always felt something was wrong. Clubs beat fists, bows and arrows beat clubs—could it be said this was progress? Now seeing a young fellow whose baby fuzz hadn’t even faded, riding on top of an old general like Kim Yusin and beating him painfully—no matter what, this couldn’t make Old Niu happy.

A piercing whistle came again from the hot air balloon. A copper tube fell from the sky. A personal guard brought it before Niu Jinda. He unscrewed the copper tube, poured out the paper slip, on which were written only a few simple words: “Three wire fences have been broken through.”

Niu Jinda grinned slightly and handed the paper slip to the officer. The officer’s face immediately turned bright red. He cupped his fists and quickly ran out. Seeing that the officer had become somewhat angry from embarrassment, angrily roaring demands for the eight-ox crossbows to increase their firing rate, Niu Jinda stood up, stopped the officer’s roaring, and ordered his cavalry to deploy, making harassing attacks along the outermost three wire fences.

“Weapons are certainly important at times, but necessary physical contact is equally important. The battlefield changes in myriad ways. As an excellent commander, if you only want to rely on powerful weapons to win, you’re underestimating the heroes under heaven too much.”

The Wuli Marshal Feng Yuan smiled and added: “Commander, you are naturally a veteran of a hundred battles. Liang Ke and these younger generation fellows still need your guidance. From the day battle formations were born, they became a contest of courage and wisdom. Without old commanders like you looking after them, those young people won’t amount to much.”

Niu Jinda used his telescope to watch the young officer leading cavalry in fighting outside the circle. Although there weren’t one or two figures whose courage crowned the three armies, there wasn’t a single cowardly one. Sharp war blades continuously flashed light in the flames. Although rapidly forming six-petal formations in small areas to use many against few was somewhat embarrassing, and occasionally encountering one or two fierce Silla people who could escape made them seem somewhat weak, overall they killed in a proper and orderly manner, restraining Kim Yusin’s frenzied attack. Such scenes didn’t only appear directly ahead but appeared universally everywhere.

“Where have the fierce generals gone?” Niu Jinda looked at Feng Yuan with a half-smile: “Where have my Great Tang’s brave men gone? I remember that our Great Tang should have the most such men.”

Feng Yuan responded with a smile: “Commander doesn’t know—now when selecting generals in the army, heroism is no longer determined by bravery alone. If you want to see fierce generals like Xue Rengui and Xue Wanche, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”

“Strong soldiers, strong soldiers! Without strong soldiers, how can one speak of blood courage? In today’s battle, the most outstanding were the Silla people, not our Great Tang soldiers. Good men view life and death as ordinary matters. Fierce generals with generous and tragic songs are the soul of the army. Although Guo Xiaoke and they died tragically, their deeds can make the blood energy in Great Tang people’s chests surge. The soldiers wore white caps in mourning. Guo Xiaoke’s fame will flow for ten thousand generations, sufficient to be a model for our generation.”

“Even if Yun Ye campaigns ten thousand li invincible under heaven, with fifty thousand troops in the desert, looking at the heroes under heaven as if they were nothing, slaughtering great talents like slaughtering dogs—so what? This old man just won’t submit to him. Heroes forged under war blades are true heroes.”

“Yun Ye’s victory can only represent the Great Tang military equipment’s victory—it doesn’t count as heroism!”

The more Old Niu spoke, the angrier he seemed to become, heavily pounding his fist on the chair beside him.

“Commander Yun raised our nation’s prestige in the Western Regions. With only fifty thousand bear-and-tiger soldiers under his command, he made the Western Region nations not dare to look east even once—what mighty authority! Commander, you’re being too demanding of the younger generation.”

No matter how hard Kim Yusin fought, he remained helpless against the Tang army with its hundred stratagems. On the battlefield, hand crossbow bolts flew everywhere. No matter how powerful a warrior was, first they were killed by crossbow bolts. If they couldn’t be killed, they were killed with small gunpowder bombs. Only after powerful warriors became half-crippled would someone come up and finish them with a blade.

Such scenes were everywhere around him. Kim Yusin roared and threw the flail in his hand far out, striking down a Tang soldier who was sneakily preparing to attack his deputy general. Watching that Tang soldier vomit blood and fall from his horse, his heart felt somewhat better. Hearing the gong signal from his own formation, he slowly withdrew from the wire fence area and returned to his main formation.

“Such fighting has no meaning whatsoever.” Queen Seondeok set the tone of the conversation as soon as she spoke. Now all they could talk about was withdrawal or ceasefire.

Kim Yusin stared intently at Queen Seondeok and said: “Now the soldiers’ morale has just been ignited. Withdrawing rashly would be desecrating those who died in battle. Please give this humble minister a little time. This humble minister will certainly break through the Tang people’s battle formation.”

Seondeok shook her head and said: “General Kim, haven’t you seen it yet? The Tang people are deliberately making us bleed. Just now, after you broke through three barriers, they only sent out a small force to fight you. We have too few troops that can squeeze into the front line. If too many people go, those people will immediately suffer attacks from the Tang army’s gunpowder bombs. You’re always fighting them with the same manpower—this is adding oil tactics. I even believe they’re using our army to train their own soldiers.”

How could Kim Yusin not know these things? Watching his efforts all turn to flowing water, the remains of soldiers who died in battle still fallen on the battlefield, and looking again at his own tattered left hand, sorrow couldn’t help but come from his heart, tears streaming down his face.

The Grand Sangdaedeung Pidham cupped his fists toward Kim Yusin and said: “General, you’ve already done your utmost. Heaven and earth can bear witness, spirits and ghosts all know. You may not yet know that at this very moment, Zhang Liang, that demon, has once again killed his way into our country, attacking cities and seizing territory, committing all manner of evil. His man-eaters are eating people even more unscrupulously. Wherever the army goes is like a ghost realm. General, I beg you—let us go back.”

Kim Yusin pointed sadly at Queen Seondeok and the Grand Sangdaedeung, pleading with a sobbing tone: “Let us try again, try again. We can’t fight by attacking here and there. If we don’t put in full effort anywhere, we won’t be able to take down anywhere. The Tang army is formidable—we were already very clear about this when we raised our army. There isn’t a single Tang army that’s easy to deal with.”

“You always want to lead the army everywhere to fight fires—this won’t work. Their three armies take turns fighting us. In the end, the one who will be exhausted will only be us. Better to endure for now and, accepting heavy casualties, annihilate one enemy army. Injuring the enemy’s five fingers is not as good as severing one finger. Your Majesty’s wisdom surely understands this principle.”

“Making Your Majesty exhaust yourself running about on this land is the Tang army’s treacherous scheme. You absolutely must not fall into the trap. Grand Sangdaedeung, the lower pass is being harassed and harmed—Kim Yusin feels the same pain. Although that is your fief, please temporarily endure this moment of pain. In the future, Kim Yusin will definitely compensate your losses. I only beg you to give us one more chance. Let us try a nighttime attack. If the night assault still doesn’t work, we’ll all go back home together to await death. The Great Tang’s emperor certainly won’t let us off.”

“Kim Yusin, you’re being unreasonable!” The Grand Sangdaedeung Pidham roared loudly.