At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

Wanhu City, East Gate.

Before dawn, shouts of battle outside the city shattered the silence of the night sky.

The Daqian soldiers guarding the city were startled awake from their sleep and hurriedly grabbed their weapons to rush up the city wall.

The flames spread from the distant horizon, like a surging mass of lava, drawing ever closer.

"The Eastern Barbarians are attacking! Quick! Quick!"

The garrison commander roared, but his roar was like a mosquito's buzz amidst the deafening war drums and battle cries.

General Sasaki Musashi, the vanguard general of the Eastern Barbarians, rode on a black warhorse, his twin swords drawn, their blades gleaming coldly in the torchlight.

A bloodthirsty smile crept across his lips as he pointed the blade at the city gate.

"Charge in! Leave no one alive!"

Five thousand Dongyi soldiers surged toward the city wall like a tidal wave.

The siege ladders were erected, and arrows rained down.

The garrison of Daqian is too small. Wanhu City was not an important town to begin with, and the garrison force in the city is less than two thousand men.

"boom!"

The battering ram smashed open the city gate, and the heavy iron and wooden doors collapsed inward, kicking up clouds of dust.

"kill!"

The Dongyi soldiers roared and charged into the city gates like locusts.

The first to rush in was a burly Dongyi centurion. He brandished his broadsword and cut two Daqian soldiers who charged at him in half at the waist. Blood splattered all over his face, but instead of wiping it off, he stuck out his tongue and licked it, revealing a ferocious smile.

The garrison commander and his soldiers desperately blocked the city gate, brandishing swords and spears, fighting to the death without retreating.

But there were too many Dongyi people. As those in front fell, those behind continued to charge forward, stepping over the corpses.

The captain cut down three Dongyi soldiers, but when he came down with his fourth blow, his sword was knocked away, and a spear pierced his abdomen, pinning him to the wall.

"General!"

The remaining soldiers, seeing the captain's corpse, finally broke down and turned to run.

But they hadn't run more than a few steps when they were hacked down by the pursuing Dongyi soldiers.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the city gates had completely fallen.

Sasaki Musashi rode his horse and arrogantly entered the city gate.

He carried his two swords on his shoulders, and drops of blood dripped from the tips of the blades.

He sniffed the blood in the air like a beast that had caught a whiff of blood, his eyes filled with enjoyment.

"Wanhu City is ours."

Five thousand Dongyi soldiers poured into the city, like vicious dogs released from their cages, and began a brutal massacre.

On the main street, people were running out with their families, but the city gates were already blocked.

An old woman carrying an infant stumbled a few steps before being kicked to the ground by an Eastern barbarian soldier.

The Dongyi soldier bent down, snatched the baby, grinned maliciously, raised it high, and slammed it onto the stone steps by the street.

The baby's crying stopped abruptly.

The old woman screamed, and was then killed with a single blow.

In the alley, several Dongyi soldiers kicked open the door of a house.

A family of five was hiding inside the house!

An elderly man with gray hair, his wife, two young daughters, and a boy of twelve or thirteen.

The Dongyi soldiers first killed the old man with a single blow, then dragged his two young daughters out from under the bed.

They cried and struggled, and the boy rushed over and desperately punched the back of an Eastern Yi soldier, but his strength was like a tickle to an adult.

Without turning his head, the Dongyi soldier swung his sword and pierced the boy's chest.

The boy's body stiffened abruptly, then he collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from his chest and staining the ground red.

"Help...help me..."

A Daqian soldier with his leg severed dragged his bloody severed limb as he crawled laboriously through the mud and water on the side of the street.

A long trail of blood was left behind him.

An Eastern Yi soldier walked over, raised his knife, and stabbed him in the back, the tip of the knife protruding from his chest.

In a courtyard, more than twenty people from the Great Qian Dynasty were forced to kneel against the wall.

A centurion from the Eastern Yi stood before them, uttered the word "Kneel down" in broken Daqian language, and then raised his weapon, smashing it on the head of the old man at the front.

The old man's head exploded like a watermelon, splattering blood everywhere!

The Dongyi centurion laughed heartily and then waved his hand in acknowledgment!

The Dongyi soldiers behind them swarmed forward, hacking and slashing with swords and axes. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all twenty-odd men lay dead in pools of blood, their deaths gruesome and unbearable to witness.

The shops along the street were looted; cloth, grain, copperware, silverware—everything was stolen.

What you can't take with you, set it on fire.

Flames licked at the wooden doors, windows, and beams, and the entire street quickly turned into a sea of ​​fire, with thick smoke billowing and obscuring the sky.

The air was filled with the smell of burnt meat, making it impossible to tell whether it was a burning house or a burning corpse.

The moat of Wanhu City, which was originally clear, is now tinged with a dark red color.

Several corpses, some soldiers and some civilians, floated on the water, rising and falling with the waves.

The streets of Wanhu City are filled with more and more corpses.

Some were charred and curled up in a ball, like burnt charcoal.

Some of them still maintain the posture they were in when they died, with their hands outstretched, as if they were begging for help.

Some were hacked so badly that it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female.

Blood pooled on the ground, forming streams that flowed along the cracks in the bluestone slabs to low-lying areas, creating dark red puddles.

……

On the steps of the government office gate, Musashi Saki jumped off his horse and stepped over the corpses and broken tiles scattered on the ground, walking step by step into the government office that had been ravaged by blood.

All the officials and constables in the yamen were killed.

The bodies were laid out on the ground, head to the south and feet to the north, in neat rows.

Without even glancing at him, Sasaki Musashi walked straight to the head seat and sat down.

"Take the valuables, burn the rest." He waved to his adjutant beside him, "Send a few women back to the town's customs for the commander to see, and the rest you can divide among yourselves."

The lieutenant grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "Yes, sir!"

……

Zhenhai Pass, the main base of the Dongyi army.

Inside the central command tent, Shimazu Ryunosuke sat in the main seat, with a map of the East China Sea spread out in front of him.

His expression was smug, as if he was confident of winning this battle!

"Report!"

At this moment, a scout strode into the tent, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a loud voice.

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief! General Saki has captured Wanhu City! The entire city is now pacified, and the spoils of war are being tallied. General Saki requests that the Commander-in-Chief come to inspect the spoils in person as soon as possible!"

A cheer immediately erupted from inside the tent.

Otomo Tetsumaru was the first to stand up, slamming his hand on the table and shouting:

"Hahaha! That guy Saki is really quick! He took Wanhu City so fast!"

Murakami Tou leaned back in his chair, twirling a dagger in his hand, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

"The people of the Great Qian Dynasty are nothing more than this."

"We wiped out 30,000 troops, and Wanhu City fell in less than three days."

"What famous generals, what elite soldiers, are all useless before our Dongyi warriors."

Takenaka Hyōe held a jug of sake in his hand, sipping it slowly, his voice neither hurried nor slow, yet carrying a hint of sarcasm.

"The Great Qian court must be as anxious as ants on a hot pan right now, right?"

"It is said that their crown prince is gathering a large army, preparing to come to the East China Sea to fight us."

Ōtomo Tetsumaru scoffed, "The Crown Prince?"

"He's probably a useless piece of trash."

Murakami Tou added, "It's perfect timing. If we capture the Crown Prince of Daqian as a hostage, won't the Daqian Emperor have to obediently cede territory and pay reparations? Then, we can take over the entire Jiangnan region without lifting a finger."

Commander-in-Chief Ryunosuke Shimazu stood up, walked to the map, and pointed heavily at the location of Ninghai City, saying:

"No matter who the Great Qian sends, I'm determined to seize this piece of fat meat, the East China Sea."

He turned around and glanced at the generals in the tent.

"Send word to General Saki to rest in Wanhu City for five days and replenish his supplies."

"Attack Ninghai City in five days!"

He smiled, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth.

"Once Ninghai City falls, Haizhou City will be in our grasp."

"Once Haizhou City is captured, there will be no more defensible terrain in the East China Sea."

"Then we can march straight in and head south of the Yangtze River."

"I believe that soon, the most prosperous region of Jiangnan in the entire Great Qian Dynasty will be firmly in the grasp of my Eastern Barbarians!"

The generals in the tent shouted in unison, "Our commander is brilliant! We've captured Ninghai! We've crushed Haizhou! We've annexed Jiangnan!"