Within Anyang City, the highest point was Tingshan.

Tingshan was not truly a mountain — only a large, elevated slope, but its position within Anyang was singular.

From here, the entire city lay spread below, and beyond the walls the surrounding landscape was visible as well.

Atop Tingshan stood a temple, long since abandoned, which had simply been called Tingshan Temple.

No one knew how many years had passed since anyone had come here. The halls and pavilions still stood, but they had fallen into ruin long ago.

There is a saying: however old and crumbling a house may be, as long as someone lives in it, it endures. But even a new house, left empty long enough, will see its life span shrink with startling speed.

This place too had once been glorious. Now only desolation remained.

Because Anyang was prosperous, and Dachu embraced all under heaven, missionaries who had come from the Western Regions had, in an earlier age, built Tingshan Temple here in Anyang.

The idea of cause and consequence made many a merchant, many a high official, a little uneasy in their hearts.

If spending a little money could wash away one’s sins, of course that was hardly an unreasonable thing.

So this place had once been thick with incense and worshippers. Then came Dachu’s internal upheaval, and the people of Tingshan Temple left Anyang. Where they went, no one knew.

Now, this high point commanding the whole city — this crumbling temple — was the Chu Army’s last redoubt.

After the northern city fell, the Ning Army began pushing through the streets in block-by-block fighting.

This was an opponent the formidable Chu Army had never faced before — because this opponent utterly shattered Chu Army confidence.

The Chu Army was proud. But they could not deny that this time, their enemy was the better warriors.

When advancing down the main streets, the coordination among Ning Army soldiers was seamless to a degree that made one’s blood run cold.

If a force of Chu soldiers was cornered in a dead-end alley, the Ning Army would never charge blindly in through the entrance.

If there was sufficient manpower and arrow coverage was possible — not a single life would be spent.

If crossbow carts could be brought up, even if it took some time, they would bring up the crossbow carts and loose into the alley.

Only when neither option was available would the Ning Army’s tactics show their most fearsome aspect.

A row of shield-bearers, each gripping an infantry shield. Behind them, Ning Army battle soldiers holding repeating crossbows. Behind those, another row of shield-bearers. Behind those, another row of crossbowmen — three layers stacked in alternation.

An alley mouth is narrow — typically enough for three or four men to pass abreast.

A standard infantry shield is nothing like a great tower shield reaching above a man’s head. In Ning Army configuration, infantry shields came in three types.

One was the assault infantry shield — roughly three feet in length, under two feet wide, and not excessively heavy.

One was the formation defense shield — roughly as tall as a man, thick and heavy, utterly impervious to ordinary arrows.

And there was a third type: the wall shield — a single panel requiring seven or eight men to move.

These wall shields could, in open terrain, be rapidly assembled into a fortified defensive position to receive enemy charges.

But wall shields were enormously expensive to produce and extremely difficult to transport. They appeared only rarely in the Ning Army’s inventory — and only in the supply lists for large-scale engagements where robust logistics were available.

The Ning Army soldiers entering the alleys carried no great defense shields — only standard assault shields.

So they entered crouching low, shields raised at the front, crossbowmen behind them bending low to follow.

Once inside, the crossbowmen would rise and loose aimed fire at the Chu soldiers, rapidly emptying a bolt magazine before dropping back down.

The next row of crossbowmen would then rise and empty their magazines in turn — then the third row.

By the time three rows of repeating crossbow fire had been expended, whatever Chu forces were bottled up in that alley had lost nearly all capacity to resist.

Chu Army tactical training was formidable — that was universally acknowledged. But that training had hundreds of years of history behind it.

The Ministry of War of Dachu, which held authority to revise training doctrine, had gone several hundred years without anyone thinking to make improvements.

Perhaps someone had thought of it — but the officials in post would find it troublesome.

If improvements were made and Chu garrison combat power rose, well — that was not something they were likely to be around to see recognized.

Reforming training took years before results appeared, and those results needed war to validate them.

Which of the Ministry of War’s senior officials wanted to invest that kind of exhausting effort for no reward?

And if the reform went badly — if a major campaign suddenly broke out and the Chu Army suffered a catastrophic defeat because of a changed training doctrine — the Ministry of War officials would lose their heads.

No reward, great risk. So — no action.

The Ning Army’s tactical integration, by contrast, had been the product of Li Chi and Tang Pidi working together — taking Dachu’s garrison training methods as their foundation, refining and reconsidering endlessly, until they arrived at what now existed.

At the high ground.

Yu Wenshang Yun sat there, his face filthy, his body filthier still.

After a night of unrelenting battle, the Chu Army had been driven back to this last position.

Using the terrain advantage, they had beaten back the Ning Army’s assaults twice — but what did two repulses mean?

Only a temporary check, not a defeat. The Ning Army’s next push could come at any moment.

He had had a chance to withdraw from Anyang while that window was open. But he had felt there was still a fight to be won — and so he had given up the exit.

Now even that chance was gone. Aside from fighting to the last, there seemed to be no other choice.

“Supreme Commander — please, have some water.”

An aide offered him a water skin. A shake of it told him how little remained — perhaps two mouthfuls at most.

Yu Wenshang Yun took it, felt the weight, understood immediately — and did not drink.

After a silence, he looked at the aide: “Do you resent me for this?”

The question jolted the aide. He bent at once in a quick bow: “Supreme Commander, this subordinate would not dare.”

Yu Wenshang Yun spoke as if to himself: “Last night during the fighting, we had a chance to break out through the eastern gate — but I couldn’t bring myself to admit defeat. You all know — I have never been a man who surrenders easily. And to run from battle is a humiliation I cannot endure.”

He looked around at the soldiers surrounding him. Each and every one seemed to have been pushed to the absolute limit — and yet not a single hand had released a weapon.

A full night of brutal fighting — exhausted, sleepless, parched, starving — and they were still soldiers.

This was a formidable force that Yu Wenshang Yun himself had forged. Now it seemed he was about to destroy it with his own hands as well.

“You are all my personal guard. If any of you wish to go — slip away quietly, without drawing attention, strip off your uniforms…”

Yu Wenshang Yun looked at the aide: “Go. We have been defeated.”

The aide shook his head: “Wherever the Supreme Commander is, we are. The Supreme Commander fights — we fight alongside him. We all swore an oath. We swore to follow the Supreme Commander unto death.”

Just then, a soldier came running up from below, calling out as he ran: “Supreme Commander — Prince of Ning Li Chi requests to see you.”

Yu Wenshang Yun’s expression changed sharply. His hand instinctively closed around his sword hilt.

“Where?!”

“Just outside our defensive line — no escort with him. He came alone.”

Those words made Yu Wenshang Yun’s expression shift again. He hesitated a moment, then returned the sword to his hip and stepped forward, descending.

At the outermost defensive perimeter, Yu Wenshang Yun looked up and saw Li Chi standing alone out there, without weapons.

“Prince of Ning!”

Yu Wenshang Yun clasped his fists in salute.

Li Chi returned the salute.

“Did the Prince of Ning come in person to serve as an envoy?!”

Yu Wenshang Yun called out loudly.

Li Chi answered: “I did.”

Yu Wenshang Yun let out a cold laugh: “I think not. The Prince of Ning holds every advantage right now. This battle has been fought to this point — the Prince of Ning has already won. Coming to negotiate at this moment is nothing more than coming to humiliate me.”

“I once went to Jizhou, served at the Prince of Ning’s side. Looking back on it now — I thought it was something to be proud of. I told people it was the great achievement of my life. Thinking about it now, I truly must have looked like a fool.”

“Prince of Ning, there is no need to come and humiliate me. I know my own shame. Please return and make your preparations properly. There is still this final battle — I ask that you take it seriously.”

He clasped his fists once more: “Prince of Ning — I hold you in respect. So I ask you: please say nothing further.”

Li Chi said: “Why will you not surrender?”

Yu Wenshang Yun was taken aback. He had assumed Li Chi had come to humiliate him. The thought that Li Chi had come to urge his surrender had not occurred to him.

After a moment, he shook his head: “I am a man who commands armies. I am also a man of pride and arrogance. The Prince of Ning should understand — I am not fighting merely for Dachu.”

“In my heart I hold the realm. Before my eyes I see all under heaven. I have trained troops and led armies because I want to contend for supremacy across this land. The Prince of Ning asks whether I will surrender. The pride within me says: no surrender is permitted.”

“A man like me, when I was feigning allegiance to you — being a subordinate under those circumstances was one thing. But to truly submit to someone as a subject — to obey commands, to be directed, to bow and scrape and exchange pleasantries every day, reading people’s expressions…”

“Prince of Ning — if I had no choice but to make that kind of choice, if I had to choose one man to surrender to, one man to serve as my lord — in this age, I would choose only you.”

“But!”

Yu Wenshang Yun said: “My pride tells me — dying in battle lets a man keep his pride. My ancestors and forebears, the men of the Yu Wen name, bent the knee out of habit. In my generation — I will not bow.”

He looked into Li Chi’s eyes: “Prince of Ning, please go back. In this final battle, please do not hold back.”

Li Chi was silent a moment, then raised a hand and pointed toward the Chu Army soldiers around them: “What about them?”

Yu Wenshang Yun said: “They are my soldiers. Naturally, we live and die together.”

“Tch.”

Li Chi let out a sound of contempt. “They can live. It is you who insists on taking them all with you to die. You feel that dying without surrendering is your pride — and now you want to add the weight of every man’s life to that pride of yours.”

Yu Wenshang Yun said: “They may curse me for it. They may hate me for it. They are my soldiers — this is the lot they were given.”

Li Chi said: “You will not live to see how beautiful this realm may become one day. But I hope that among these men of yours, some will live to witness it — to see a prosperous, splendid Central Plains.”

“Yu Wenshang Yun — if you wish to die, I will give you the chance to fight me, one on one. If you win, I will let your soldiers go. I will not let you go — but your men will walk free.”

He looked into Yu Wenshang Yun’s eyes: “Have you not wanted to defeat me? This is your only chance.”

Yu Wenshang Yun turned and looked back. The soldiers were all watching him.

In that moment, something ached in Yu Wenshang Yun’s chest.

“Prince of Ning.”

Yu Wenshang Yun looked at Li Chi: “Why would you put yourself in danger like this?”

Li Chi answered: “I feel for these fine soldiers. If they could serve me, I would lead them to rebuild this realm. If you are resolved to die, I will not try to stop you — but these soldiers, I truly want.”

Yu Wenshang Yun gave a low exhale: “You are rather frank about it.”

Li Chi said: “Why conceal it?”

Yu Wenshang Yun was silent for a long while, then looked back again at the soldiers. He knew that if he gave the order, these men would still accompany him through this final battle.

This high slope would be covered in the bodies of brave soldiers.

“Prince of Ning!”

Yu Wenshang Yun called out in a loud voice: “Will you treat them well?!”

Li Chi answered: “I will.”

Yu Wenshang Yun suddenly drew his saber: “Then treat them well. Take them to see what you speak of — to see how prosperous and splendid this Central Plains will become. On your road to ruling the Central Plains — Yu Wenshang Yun… will see you one step of the way!”

He turned to face his Chu Army soldiers and called out in a resounding voice: “I now give you my final order. Chu Supreme Commander Yu Wenshang Yun commands… you… you all… surrender.”

The words spoken, he drew the blade across his own throat. Blood sprayed out in an instant.

Moments later, the body fell.

His personal guards surged forward, trying to pull Yu Wenshang Yun back from the edge of death — but Yu Wenshang Yun had already breathed his last.

“The Supreme Commander is gone!”

The aide who had earlier offered him the water skin rose to his feet, wrenching his long blade free: “Any of you may surrender — follow the Supreme Commander’s final order. But we are the Supreme Commander’s personal guard. Where the Supreme Commander is, we are.”

They had all sworn an oath. Sworn to follow unto death.

With that, he drew the blade across his own throat as well.

Hundreds of personal guards, blades in hand — one by one, they took their own lives.

“Men of the Yu Wen name!”

One of the commanders drew his long blade and laid it against his own throat, letting out one last cry toward the sky: “We have been defeated — but the Yu Wen name does not bow! The Supreme Commander said: in our generation, we do not bend the knee! Let us follow our Supreme Commander!”

The blade crossed.

Among the gathered commanders, those bearing the Yu Wen name drew their blades — one by one, one by one — and died by their own hand.

Li Chi stood there in silence for a long while.

Then he raised his hand in a military salute.

—