Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 320 The Day the Royal Army Destroyed the Demon Clan in the North

A vast ice field.

Snowflakes are falling.

Boom boom boom!
The drums thundered, and all the soldiers in the tents came out and began to assemble.

……

……

Standing at the back of the line, Zhao Dayi felt a little disoriented as he listened to the Marquis's voice that echoed throughout the entire venue.

He thought of the old Marquis, and of many years ago…

"Uncle Chen, Aunt Liu..."

He was a resident of the northern border of the Great Liang Dynasty. Fifteen years ago, the demon race invaded the northern border again. His village encountered the demon race, and many people in the village were killed by the demon race. Most of the children in the village were also taken away by the demon race.

If it weren't for... if it weren't for the arrival of the Zhenbei Army, even he wouldn't have escaped.

Uncle Chen and Aunt Liu, who took care of him, fought against the demons to protect them, but also died at the hands of the demons.

Uncle Chen and Aunt Liu were martial artists who had retired from the Zhenbei Army.

His parents died five years ago at the hands of the demon race.

That day, he met the Zhenbei Army and the old Marquis.

The old lord held his and several other village children's hands and bowed to the dead villagers. He was then taken back to the Zhenbei Army by the old lord.

Later, he studied martial arts in the army, training his internal organs and opening his senses... until he reached the eighth rank.

Over the years, he has killed many demons who invaded the border regions and also seen many villages that were invaded by demons.

The demon race is cunning and moves very quickly. Moreover, the northern border is very long. Even if the Zhenbei Army is vigilant and patrols at all times, it is difficult to guard all the borders.

Moreover, the border between the Northern Frontier Demon Clan and the Great Liang is separated by the territory of the Han Kingdom. Many demons would also enter from the Han Kingdom's border. Every time the demons launched a sneak attack, the Han Kingdom would simply say "sorry" and then brush it off.

In some villages, after being invaded by demons several times, only a few elderly people remained.

He wanted to take these elderly people back to the rear, but they were unwilling to leave. They said they were used to living here and did not want to leave their homeland in their old age.

Zhao Dayi knew in his heart that these elderly people did not only not want to leave their hometown, but also because their relatives were buried here.

Furthermore, this is the territory of Daliang. If people leave, this land will likely be occupied by Han Kingdom.

If you retreat one foot, you lose one inch of land.

They can't leave!
To this day, he still remembers what one of the old men said.

“I’m old, I can’t walk anymore, and I don’t want to walk anymore. The fact that we are here proves that this is the territory of Daliang. Back then… when I was young, I heard my grandfather say that when he was young, his great-grandfather said that when Emperor Taizu had just established Daliang, the Han people seized our land and claimed it as theirs. But in the end… they found the graves of the people of Daliang here, with traces of the lives of the people of Daliang. I heard my grandfather say that Emperor Taizu said that the graves of the people of Daliang are the proof of the territory of Daliang. If the Han people do not return them, then there will be war!”

"Child, don't worry about me. If I die, just bury me under that mountain. When our Great Liang completely wipes out the demon race, if you are still alive and if you still remember this old man, come to my grave and tell me."

"Go, go and kill a few more demons."

……

"What is Da Yi thinking?"

The voice of his companion beside him brought Zhao Dayi back to his memories.

"The Marquis just said that this time we will wipe out the demon race in the northern border in one fell swoop and restore lasting peace to the northern border of our Great Liang. If the Han Kingdom dares to interfere, then we will go to war with the Han Kingdom directly."

"Does Your Excellency really say that?"

Zhao Dayi's eyes were filled with shock. Having served in the army for more than a decade, he knew very well why the demon race in the northern border could not be wiped out: it was because the Han Kingdom was interfering.

"How could it be false? The Marquis just told us some exciting news. In this year's martial arts academy ranking competition, our Liang Canglan Martial Arts Academy's genius Lin Chen overpowered the four major martial arts academies of Korea, causing the Korean martial arts academy to collapse mentally and give up directly."

Who is Lin Chen?

Zhao Dayi was somewhat puzzled. Having lived in the northern frontier for many years, on the front lines of the battle against the demon race, he rarely had time to pay attention to the situation in China.

"You ask me, I don't know either, but as long as they are geniuses of my Great Liang, that's fine."

His companion chuckled, and Zhao Dayi nodded emphatically. Yes, it doesn't matter who Lin Chen is, as long as we know that Lin Chen is a genius of Daliang.

"Those bastards from South Korea couldn't beat Lin Chen in a head-on fight, so they tried to bully the weak and stifle the genius of our Great Liang. Fortunately, Pei Qingming arrived in time and wiped out all those bastards in one fell swoop."

"Pei Qingming has shown up?"

"Yes, the Marquis said that Pei Qingming has broken through to the upper grade, and can kill second graders with one sword as easily as cutting vegetables."

Zhao Dayi knew about Pei Qingming. This man had been famous in Daliang for more than ten years. Even though he was far away in the northern border, he had only heard about him from other martial artists.

The greatest martial arts genius in the Great Liang Dynasty in the past three hundred years.

"With Pei Qingming in the past and this little guy Lin Chen in the future, the martial arts of my Great Liang are no worse than those of the Han Kingdom."

His companion's words resonated with Zhao Dayi. At that moment, he recalled the scene of the old Marquis's death a year ago. At that time, the entire Zhenbei army was in a state of panic and could not accept the fact.

The old Marquis was the soul of the Zhenbei Army and the anchor of the entire northern frontier.

Later, the young marquis became a marquis and quickly calmed the army's morale. However, he was still worried. With the old marquis gone, could they still eliminate the demons of the northern frontier?

Because of the voices coming from the military camp, the Zhenbei Army can negotiate with the demon race, so that they don't have to sacrifice thousands of soldiers every year.

With the old Marquis around, these voices dared not emerge. It wasn't that he didn't trust the young Marquis, but he feared that the young Marquis's prestige wasn't enough to suppress such voices.

But later, the young marquis acted swiftly and decisively, displaying a courage no less than that of the old marquis. The entire Zhenbei Army once again shared a single voice: Exterminate the demon race and restore peace. "These three cups of wine, one is dedicated to the people who died defending our Great Liang."

"This second cup of wine is to honor the loyal and heroic souls of the Zhenbei Army who died in battle throughout the ages."

The Marquis's voice came from the front and echoed throughout the area. Soldiers stepped forward and poured each of them a cup of wine.

"This third cup of wine... is a toast to victory in this battle, a toast to the eternal peace of the northern frontier, and a toast to all of you."

Zhao Dayi's hand trembled as he held the wine bowl, not out of fear, but out of excitement, as did his companion beside him. They had been waiting for this day for a long time.

My former companions are all gone.

They may not see the moment when the Northern Frontier Demon Clan is truly destroyed, but they believe that the Northern Frontier Demon Clan will definitely be destroyed.

Respect yourself!

All the soldiers drank their wine and waited quietly.

"Form ranks, the army sets out, and slaughters all the demons."

"Slay all the demons!"

"Slay all the demons!"

The roars of nearly 100,000 warriors soared into the sky, causing the falling snowflakes to melt in mid-air, leaving not a single snowflake visible in the entire military camp.

Zhao Dayi also roared, a roar he had waited fifteen years for.

Fortunately, the passion in my heart had not yet dried.

Fortunately, he got his wish.

One after another, military flags were raised, and all the soldiers marched northward like an iron torrent, heading towards the demon royal court.

"After this battle, may the northern border of our Great Liang be free from worry."

……

……

Boom boom boom!
The earthquake-like tremors awakened soldiers in another military camp hundreds of miles away.

The commander's tent.

The faces of several elderly men turned grim at this moment.

The Great Liang army has set out, and despite facing the menacing 30,000 troops of the Han Kingdom, they actually dared to launch a final attack on the Northern Frontier Demon Clan.

"Senior Brother Li, what should we do?"

The man in the middle hesitated as he listened to his junior brother's question. Compared to Liang's army of 100,000, they only had 30,000 men. Even with the remnants of the demon race, they couldn't stop Liang's army.

The reason for sending only 30,000 troops was that the court felt that 30,000 troops would be enough to intimidate the Liang Kingdom. After all, going to war with them would mean going to war with the Han Kingdom, and the Liang Kingdom did not have the courage to do so.

The final outcome of this matter, as predicted by the court, was that the Northern Frontier demon race would send out another batch of demons to be killed by the Liang Kingdom. The Liang Kingdom would then save face and withdraw its troops. The arrival of these people was more of a statement of the Han Kingdom's attitude.

For so many years, South Korea's attitude alone has been enough to deter the other eight countries.

But now, the Liang Kingdom is ignoring their 30,000-strong army and launching a final all-out attack on the demon royal court.

It's not that they don't care; Liang Kingdom has certainly taken ample precautions, guarding against any potential attacks.

Even a first-rank martial artist in the military camp can only be worth three thousand low-rank martial artists at most. This time, they only have three first-rank martial artists, while the Liang Kingdom also has three first-rank martial artists. If they really intervene, they may not be able to return.

"A message has been sent to the imperial court that the Liang Kingdom has already taken action against the demon race and has ordered them to send a large army to provide support."

"Senior Brother Li, if we wait until we send the message back and summon a large army to support us, I'm afraid the demon royal court will be doomed."

The old man beside him shook his head. Even if a large army were mobilized immediately, the demon royal court would no longer exist. If the army came at that time, would they really have to start a full-scale war with the Liang Kingdom?
"Then what should we do, Junior Brother Wang? Should we rush to the front of the Liang army, block them, and tell the Liang people that if they want to conquer the demon royal court, they must step over our corpses, and the Liang people will not dare to make a move because they are afraid of our identities?"

The elder's rhetorical question silenced the person who had just spoken.

The moment the Liang army began its operation, it signified that Liang was prepared to break with Han and even go to war.

On the contrary, whether Han Kingdom should go to war with Liang Kingdom is probably still undecided in the capital.

For thousands of years, the Han Kingdom has believed in instigating the other eight kingdoms to restrain each other, rarely taking direct action itself. This strategy has allowed the Han Kingdom to maintain its position as the number one among the nine kingdoms for thousands of years.

Many people were used to this way of doing things, and now, faced with Liang Guozhen's declaration of war, they were somewhat at a loss.

"That's it."

The elder leader made the final decision: "If our Han Kingdom is truly going to war with the Liang Kingdom, it makes no difference whether we have one more Northern Frontier Demon Clan or one less. The Northern Frontier Demon Clan is already crippled and barely clinging to life; they are of little help to our Han Kingdom. If the court does not intend to go to war with the Liang Kingdom, then there is even less reason for us to take action."

A hint of dissatisfaction flickered in Wang Lingchun's eyes. Unlike his senior brother Li, he believed that Han Kingdom and Liang Kingdom were bound to fight. In that case, protecting the demon race in the northern border would at least provide them with more strength. However, his senior brother Li held the old-fashioned traditional view that Han Kingdom should not directly fight against other countries. Since Liang Kingdom was provoking Han Kingdom, he should support the other countries in launching a military campaign against Liang Kingdom.

After the discussion, Wang Lingchun and another old man walked out of the tent.

“Junior Brother Wang, don’t worry. We don’t need to take action against Liang. We can instigate Zheng and Xiang, and then unite with a few other countries. At least it won’t be our Han warriors who die, and all we have to give up are some martial arts resources.”

Another elderly man patted Wang Lingchun on the shoulder with a smile on his face.

"Senior Brother Duan, I just feel that this time it might not be so simple."

"Haha, Junior Brother Wang, you're overthinking it."

(End of this chapter)