knife

Chapter 255 Desperate Situation
Jebe looked at the small, fortified county town of Chengxian ahead with a gloomy expression.

This tiny place had kept him out for three whole days.

Now, he has figured out the garrison in Cheng County.

Five thousand people.

The fortified village could only accommodate less than two thousand people for defense, while the remaining three thousand people set up camp near the fortified village.

Thick fences, deep trenches, dense crossbow bolts, long spears, and even some stone cannons that could fire stone projectiles the size of large bowls.

A small village of a thousand men was connected to a fortified village by tunnels and trenches, forming a three-dimensional defense system. Wounded soldiers could be immediately transported to the village for treatment via the tunnels, resulting in extremely high morale among the soldiers.

The Yuan army tried every means to attack their opponent, but the position defended by these 5,000 men was like an unbreakable copper pea, standing in their way and leaving them helpless.

Yesterday, they even resorted to digging tunnels to connect with the enemy's trenches, and then sending elite assault teams to break through the small fortified villages below the city.

The tunnel was dug and connected to the Qin army's tunnel trenches, but the assault team never returned.

The city was well-prepared, and their counterattack was extremely sharp.

The counterattack force, led by martial arts masters, engaged in fierce fighting with the Yuan army in the tunnels, while those on the city walls, taking advantage of their superior position, accurately killed the Yuan soldiers in the tunnels with arrows.

While they could hold off the arrows, there were simply too many martial arts masters from the Qin army gathered here.

Li Kaixin, Rank 9 of Xuan Yuan.

Ma Dacheng, Xuan Yuan Rank 8

Xiao Dongwei, Rank 7 of Xuan Yuan

With these people blocking the way, it truly is a case of one man guarding the pass against ten thousand.

The loss of several key generals enraged Jebe, and just as he was preparing to personally take command, a series of extremely bad news arrived.

First, An Xuan was defeated and his whereabouts became unknown.

Then Che Zhe was defeated and his body was separated from his head.

The connection between the left and right flanks failed, but what terrified Jebe even more was that the scouts on the outpost discovered that Qin troops were surrounding them from all sides.

Xiao Changche, Protector-General of the Anxi Protectorate

Li Dachui, Deputy Protector-General of the Anxi Protectorate
Chang Xin, Protector-General of Andong
Chen Liang of the Andong Protectorate.

It was obvious that he had been tricked by Linghu Ye.

Not only have they suffered a huge loss of money for no reason, but now they are surrounded by them like an iron barrel.
The front is impenetrable.

Behind them, a powerful enemy force is closing in step by step.
On either side are the Qingshui River and the Juma River.

According to scouts, enemy warships frequently sailed across the two rivers, leaving Jebe with no chance to even cross them.

To be intercepted by enemy warships halfway across the river would be tantamount to suicide.

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen were confined to this narrow passage, which was no more than twenty miles wide and about a hundred miles long.

It sounds like a very large place.

However, with the combined forces of 70,000 to 80,000 men, most of whom were cavalry, this small area truly offered no room for maneuver; it was a situation where one could see the enemy as soon as they stepped outside.

What worried Jebe even more was the supply of provisions.

He only had enough food for ten days.

Seven days have passed since we set off.

His men had three days' worth of food.

Although Jebe immediately ordered the collection and centralized distribution of all grain after realizing something was wrong, hoping to minimize consumption and expect a turnaround, the total amount was ultimately too small and could not last more than a few days.

More importantly, the barbarian soldiers, due to successive defeats and insufficient supplies, were already showing signs of instability.

Standing atop the high watchtower, gazing at the black flags of the Qin army fluttering not far ahead, Jebe's heart was filled with sorrow.

Now that he's in this situation, he's figured out a lot of things.

Those who tricked him were not only Linghu Ye of the Andong Protectorate and Li Dachui and Xiao Changche of the Anxi Protectorate.

There must also be Tiele's subordinates, and even Akdun's subordinates.
These people colluded and wove a tight net, completely enveloping themselves within it.

The more you struggle, the tighter the gag becomes.

It's really strange that An Xuan and Che Zhe lost so well.

Those were two highly mobile cavalry units, each with 5,000 men, yet they were outmaneuvered and cornered, ultimately suffering a crushing defeat.

The enemy isn't a god; how could they make such accurate judgments without intelligence from someone?

After fighting the Jebe people in the northern frontier for so many years, I've discovered that compared to the Qin people in the south, the barbarians' minds are truly incredibly simple.

Having been invincible in the north, he became arrogant and complacent, thinking himself to be no different from any other hero in the world.

Now he realized that, compared to his enemies, his mind was not much better than that of the barbarians.

"Your Highness, Your Highness!" Qin Gong's voice rang out from under the watchtower. He was waving a letter and looked extremely anxious.

Jebe jumped and fell.

"What happened?" Qin Gong asked anxiously, handing the letter to Zhebie. "Your Highness, news has come from Yandu! The Princess Consort has sent people over. They have endured many hardships on their journey, encountering Qin scouts several times. If it weren't for their superior martial arts skills, they probably wouldn't have made it."

"Yandu?" Jebe asked in shock. "Who has come?"

“Ankara!” Qin Gong said. “He suffered a serious injury and is currently being treated by a physician in the main tent.”

Ankawei is the chief guard of Zhebie's palace in Yandu. He has a martial arts cultivation of the seventh rank. Now that the princess has actually sent him out, it is clear that something big has happened in Yandu.

Upon tearing open the blood-stained envelope and glancing at it for the first time, Jebe felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, staggered a few steps, and nearly fell.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Qin Gong was shocked and quickly helped Zhebie up.

Jebe steadied himself, but overwhelmed with grief, tears streamed down his face.

"Father is gone! Father is gone!"

Qin Gong grabbed Zhebie and whispered, "Your Highness, keep your voice down, keep your voice down. We can't let the people below know about this. Our war is not going well right now. If the news of the Emperor's death gets out, I'm afraid morale will be hit even harder. Your Highness, please accept my condolences and focus on the important matters at hand!"

Jebe took a deep breath, then another, wiped away his tears, and straightened his back. "Take me to Ankara!"

If we were to ask which of Emperor Yingzhuo's three sons had the deepest affection for him, it would undoubtedly be Jebe.

Jebe is Yingzhuo's eldest son. When he was born, Yingzhuo was still just a prince. The father-son relationship that developed at that time was very pure and innocent.

Later, Yingzhuo took Princess Changle as his concubine in order to stabilize relations with the Qin state. He also took Akedun's mother as his concubine in order to stabilize the internal tribes within the country.

At that time, Yingzhuo was already the emperor.

Moreover, Jebe had fought alongside Yingzhuo in the north for several years, spending every day together, which naturally deepened their bond.

This is unlike the Tiele and Akdun, who had long coveted the throne.

Jebe believed that the position of heir was rightfully his.

Therefore, he never bothered to scheme against his two younger brothers.

As it turned out, he was terribly wrong.

Yingzhuo was a wise emperor. When he chose his successor, he was not thinking about the relationship between father and son, but about the long-term future of the Yuan Dynasty.

He will choose whoever is more beneficial to the future of the Yuan Dynasty.

In fact, exiling Jebe to the southern border after Astu's death was already the greatest care and protection one could show him.

However, there are many things that can be done but cannot be explicitly stated, and the person involved needs to experience them for themselves.

Unfortunately, Jebe did not grasp the profound meaning hidden within this, while some of his subordinates may have, but they were unwilling to give up and wanted to try again, just in case they succeeded.

If Jebe had gone to southern Xinjiang and followed Yingzhuo's instructions before his departure, he would not be in this desperate situation today.

Yingzhuo said to Zhebie, "Calm them down with tranquility."

However, Jebe and his men wanted to use a great victory to lay the foundation for his smooth ascension to the throne.

And so, he failed.

Moreover, it failed miserably.

"Your Highness!" Ankara, who was in his early fifties, burst into tears upon seeing Jebe.

It wasn't just for the situation in Yandu, but also for Jebe's current predicament.

Now, let alone returning to Yandu to fight for the throne, even Jebe's survival in this war is uncertain.

Ankawei, who had charged in from the outside, knew that the Qin army's encirclement was tightening step by step, and the Yuan army here was, in fact, trapped like turtles in a jar.

Every message from Ankawei made Zhebie feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Ying Zhuo passed away.

Akdun succeeded to the throne.
The attempt to lure and kill the Tiele at Xuanwu Gate failed.

The Tiele broke through the encirclement and led the Eastern Camp to attack Yandu.

After several days of silence, Ren Duozhong of the Southern Camp and Xi Fengkeqin of the Northern Camp announced that they would obey the emperor's last edict and recognize Akdun as the emperor of the Great Yuan Dynasty.

Before the two major camps in the north and south could make their stance clear, the Tiele led more than 20,000 elite troops from the eastern camp to retreat to Zhengding Prefecture. The areas controlled by the Tiele, such as Zhengding and Dading, claimed that Akdun had murdered the emperor and usurped the throne, and that he had the emperor's edict and that the Tiele were the true Son of Heaven. Thus, the Tiele ascended the throne in Zhengding Prefecture.

Meanwhile, their own western camp is now out of control, and after the Tiele retreated, the northern and southern camps have begun to besiege the soldiers of the western camp.

“The princess asked me to tell you that you must do this immediately…” Ankara started to say, but then stopped herself.

The princess's original words were that Jebe should immediately lead the southern border army back to Yandu. Yandu was still in chaos, and if he returned with the army, there might still be an opportunity.

What's the point of saying all this now?
Jebe was about to face the crisis of total annihilation.

Jebe sat blankly behind the large table. At this time last year, the Yuan Dynasty was still a picture of prosperity and peace. The Northern Frontier had ended its years-long war against the barbarians and returned victorious. The Northern Frontier was now at peace, and the country enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests year after year. Linghu Ye of the Southern Frontier wanted to enter the pass, and the land outside the pass was about to fall into the hands of the Yuan Dynasty.

Therefore, everything indicates that the Yuan Dynasty's glorious moment is about to arrive.

But in less than a year, everything turned upside down.

Everything is turned upside down!

(End of this chapter)