The military dispatch came from the northeastern frontier — something had gone wrong there. The kind of unexpected event that no one could have predicted.
After Li Chi heard the news, his mood turned deeply grave.
The frontier pass in Yanzhou had been built within a gorge, its two sides bounded by sheer cliff faces that were nearly impossible to scale — a formidable fortress that had always served as the unyielding bulwark against the Bohai forces.
Yet just half a month ago, perhaps because snow had been falling continuously for many days, the cliff face on one side of the mountain pass had suddenly collapsed.
Whether it was the weight of snow that caused it, or some other reason, could not be determined — but after the collapse, boulders tumbled down, and an avalanche followed.
Snow had been accumulating there year after year, and the sheer weight of it was likely what triggered the collapse.
Flying rocks and cascading snow brought devastating losses to the Bohai forces within the gorge — at least ten thousand men were buried and killed by the avalanche.
One of the fallen boulders had smashed through the mountain pass fortification, and the avalanche then buried the ruins.
Although the avalanche’s main impact had been on the Bohai side, the defensive garrison within the pass had still suffered significant losses — far fewer than the Bohai forces, but considerable nonetheless.
With the pass walls collapsed and the snow pressing down on top, it formed a slope that led directly up to where the walls had stood.
Incredibly, the Bohai forces didn’t even stop to rescue their buried comrades — almost immediately after the avalanche, they launched an assault. The sheer ruthlessness was staggering.
With Bohai King Shi Zaixin personally overseeing the battle, the frenzied Bohai forces had already broken through the frontier pass and poured into Yanzhou.
Shi Zaixin declared that this was a heavenly sign of Central Plains’ impending destruction, that the gods were watching over Bohai’s great army.
The Bohai forces believed it utterly, and their morale surged in an instant.
Jizhou’s military commissioner Xu Ji had arrived first with ample reinforcements — but once the mountain pass broke, the gorge on the Ning Army’s side became even narrower, leaving no room to deploy their forces properly.
This meant that the Bohai forces’ relentless, no-cost assault had taken effect — they had literally shoved the Ning Army out of the gorge by piling up bodies.
Shen Shanhu had been on an inspection tour of the coastal defense line and was already racing over after receiving word — she likely hadn’t arrived yet.
With the mountain pass broken, those wolf-like Bohai forces would come flooding in.
Right behind the army were the near-starving masses — they all believed the Central Plains was a land of plenty with food everywhere.
So once these people came pouring in, it would be like a locust swarm. Everything in their path would be stripped bare.
“Issue the order — the army is to prepare its arms and equipment. We set out at first light tomorrow to provide reinforcement.”
Li Chi looked toward Yu Jiuling.
Yu Jiuling immediately turned and ran out to relay the order.
Dantai Yajing, who had returned with Li Chi’s army, said, “I’ll take the cavalry ahead — every bit faster we can get there matters.”
Li Chi gave a sound of assent and reminded Dantai to be careful.
Dantai Yajing went out at once. The cavalry wasn’t large in number, but getting even a few thousand men there first could potentially tip the balance.
“This is going to be tricky to handle.”
Li Chi looked at Gao Xining and spoke with full seriousness: “You and the Tingwei Army will stay at Mengyuan Fort. The three elders cannot follow the army either.”
Gao Xining said, “I’ll go with you — I’ll leave a contingent behind to protect them.”
Li Chi shook his head: “Historically, even when the frontier pass in Yanzhou has been broken through, it’s always been possible to push the enemy back. This time is different — the pass walls have collapsed and the snowpack has formed a ramp. It’ll be very difficult to push the Bohai forces back through the gorge again, and they’ll be able to keep funneling reinforcements through unchecked.”
He gently patted Gao Xining on the shoulder: “Wait for my word. If things don’t look good, take the Tingwei Army and withdraw first to Dragon Head Pass.”
Gao Xining started to say something else. Li Chi said, “You need to listen. Only when all of you are safe and steady can I be safe and steady.”
Gao Xining could only nod: “Then rest easy. I’ll take care of everyone.”
Li Chi acknowledged this and strode quickly out the door.
“Liu Ge.”
Li Chi called out while walking: “Dantai is taking the cavalry ahead. You’re in charge of the rear supply train.”
Liu Ge acknowledged promptly. By the look of things, Prince Ning intended to personally command the army.
Meanwhile, in Bohai.
Bohai King Shi Zaixin had already learned that Kuokedi Wuyan Liang and the others had returned to Bohai after their defeat. After breaking through the pass, he immediately sent men back to tell Wuyan Liang to ship troops as quickly as possible to land along the coastal line and link up from there.
Shortly after Li Chi received the news, Kuokedi Wuyan Liang received it too, and immediately issued orders to the Sang people — the fleet was to set sail once more.
At this time of year, the Sang people had no desire to venture out to sea. The waters were never calm during this season.
Chunbian Chili spent a long time explaining the dangers of the sea, but Kuokedi Wuyan Liang, far away in the north, simply did not understand, and had no interest in understanding.
The land-locked Black Martial Empire had no conception of what perils the sea held. He simply assumed that Chunbian Chili had been frightened by the Central Plains forces.
Left with no choice, Chunbian Chili agreed — yet his heart was full of anxiety and dread.
Showing no reverence for the sea guarantees the sea will teach you the price of that disregard.
Just as it had, many years ago, when the Meng Empire was at its zenith and swept across the world — the Central Plains, Black Martial, the Western Territories — all had fallen under the Meng Empire’s dominion.
At that time, the Meng Emperor heard that beyond the sea there were immortal islands, home to immortals who knew the secrets of eternal life.
And so he dispatched a great army to conquer Sang. Yet out of complete ignorance of the sea, two great expeditions were sent forth — and both, halfway through, were caught in tremendous storms and nearly annihilated to the last man.
After that, the Meng Empire never again entertained any notion of conquering Sang.
In truth, had the Meng commander simply moved the date of the campaign forward by one month or back by one month, nothing would have gone wrong.
And if the Meng Empire had successfully conquered Sang back then, Sang would at this moment be living a life worse than slaves.
Though Chunbian Chili had agreed, he dared not bet everything on a single throw. Using the need to rotate sailors and service the vessels as his justification, he convinced Kuokedi Wuyan Liang to split the fleet into two groups, taking turns going out to sea.
People are peculiar that way — when he warned Kuokedi Wuyan Liang that the sea held dangers, Wuyan Liang didn’t believe him. But when he said the ships needed maintenance and upkeep, Wuyan Liang believed that, because he thought: of course — if the ship isn’t solid, nothing else matters.
A few days later, half of the Sang naval fleet, carrying fifty thousand Bohai soldiers, set sail toward the Yanzhou coastline.
—
Mangyuan Mountain.
At the base of the mountain was the Ning Army’s main camp. They had blocked the Bohai forces here, and both sides had been locked in continuous fierce battle for more than twenty days.
The Ning Army had only a fifth of the Bohai forces in numbers — but aided by terrain, combined with a massive advantage in arms and fighting capability, the Bohai forces found it impossible to push forward any further.
Xu Ji was standing with Shen Shanhu and Dantai Yajing on high ground, observing the enemy’s movements, when he turned and looked behind him. Another contingent bearing blazing crimson battle flags was approaching from the rear. His heart eased a little more.
Reinforcements were continuing to arrive — that was the reason every soldier fighting on the front line could feel settled in his heart.
The era of the frontier armies fighting in isolation under Chu rule was gone for good.
When that contingent entered the camp, he learned it was Prince Ning himself who had arrived, and everyone hurried down the mountain to receive him.
Before they even reached the base, Prince Ning had already brought his men up the mountain.
One flank of this battlefield was Mangyuan Mountain — fortunately it was there, for the Ning Army held the high ground and could suppress the Bohai assault.
Li Chi waved for them not to bow and gestured toward the summit. Everyone turned around and fell back in alongside him.
“We’ve been building a wooden stockade — it isn’t finished yet. The ground is frozen solid and driving stakes is extremely difficult, so the walls haven’t gone up quickly.”
Xu Ji walked behind Li Chi, reporting as they went.
Li Chi stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Xu Ji: “Send men to collect dry grass. Stack the dry grass into a wall, then pour water over it.”
Xu Ji heard this and paused — such a simple method, and he had somehow overlooked it.
In Mangyuan Mountain’s climate, the water would freeze into a solid wall in no time at all. Far faster than building a wooden stockade.
“Tell me our losses and casualties.”
Li Chi continued up the mountain.
Xu Ji said, “The original frontier garrison had twelve thousand men — all veterans of the former White Mountain Army, who had been kept on after Shen Shanhu took them under her command. The Bohai assault was ferocious, and our frontier troops took heavy losses. Combined with the avalanche casualties, of the twelve thousand, fewer than four thousand remain — yet the enemy they killed numbered at least thirty or forty thousand.”
Li Chi said, “Relieve those frontier brothers and let them rest.”
Xu Ji said, “Already done. They’ve been moved to the rear camp to guard the supply train.”
Li Chi nodded: “Tell me about the enemy situation.”
Xu Ji said, “Bohai King Shi Zaixin is personally commanding. The frontline force has already exceeded seven hundred thousand. Even accounting for the tens of thousands they’ve lost, reinforcements keep coming through the gorge without stop — until we can seal the gorge again, they’ll keep funneling men through.”
At this, Xu Ji said with some concern, “Our troop numbers aren’t at too great a disadvantage right now — but our weapons and equipment are being consumed at a rapid rate, especially arrows and javelins. The Bohai forces charge with ferocity and seem to have no fear of death.”
“And on their side, proper weapons are scarce — they don’t even have enough long swords to go around. So after every assault, they drag their dead back as best they can to recover our arrows and javelins.”
Li Chi furrowed his brow in thought, then looked around at his surroundings.
The expanse of silver-white in every direction — staring at it too long made even the eyes uncomfortable.
“How much hide armor do they have?”
Li Chi asked.
Xu Ji shook his head: “What hide armor? Most of the soldiers don’t even have thick cotton coats. But Bohai’s climate has always been like this — they’re more accustomed to it than we are.”
Li Chi turned and headed back down the mountain: “Come with me and try something — see if we can use what heaven and earth have given us to resupply our weapons.”
He reached the base: “Go heat a pot of water.”
Xu Ji immediately had men go to do it.
Li Chi had someone bring a wooden log and set it to the side. He then used his Minghong blade to carve a sharp triangular pit in the ground, followed by a long channel.
He set the wooden rod in the channel. Once the water had boiled and been left to cool, Li Chi poured it into the pit he’d carved.
There was barely any waiting at all before the water that had been poured in froze into solid ice — testament to just how bitter the cold was here.
Li Chi picked up the rod. It had been frozen fast, with a sharp cone of ice at the tip.
He turned and hurled it forward. It struck a great tree with a thud — the ice shattered, leaving a gouge in the bark.
“It’ll work adequately as a javelin.”
Li Chi gave the order: “Suitable timber won’t be easy to find — just freeze the ice cones directly. There’s no shortage of snow. Melt it down and freeze it into ice spears — we don’t need to worry how many we go through. As long as they’re usable, that’s enough.”
“Yes, sir!”
Xu Ji acknowledged at once, eyes gleaming.
—