Dream of the Red Chamber: After being exiled, I went on a killing spree in Liaodong.

"Damn the Later Jin! They really want to use me as cannon fodder?!"

Lu Qing stood at the rear of the formation, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at Huang Taiji's figure high on his warhorse. Watching the soldiers he had personally trained fall one after another, his heart felt as if it were being squeezed and twisted to death.

These people... were his only support in this chaotic world!

If they all die, Lu Qing will be completely finished!

But there's nothing he can do right now; he can only hope that Shanhaiguan will fall soon. Only when the gates open will he have a chance to survive.

"Sigh...why bother?"

Sun Hai stood on the city tower, looking down at the corpses strewn across the ground below, and gently shook his head.

These men, who should have been iron-willed warriors guarding the frontier, have now been dragged into the mire by Lu Qing, who is greedy for life and afraid of death, and have turned against their former comrades.

Absurd! Pathetic!

"Run—!!!"

After suffering six or seven thousand casualties, the surrendered army finally collapsed.

Some people threw down their shields, turned and ran, their cries heart-wrenching.

But he hadn't even run a hundred steps—

"Swish! Swish!"

A flash of cold light, and the supervisory team swiftly brought down their knives, causing the deserter to bleed from his neck and collapse with a thud.

"Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed without mercy!!!"

The supervisory team stood in a row, their eyes like those of wolves and tigers, their blades stained with blood, their chilling presence terrifying.

The remaining surrendered soldiers trembled, but dared not move. Retreat meant death, while charging offered a sliver of hope.

They could only grit their teeth and charge at the towering city wall once more.

But logs and stones rained down from the city walls, and arrows rained down like locusts, pinning them down. Corpses piled up layer upon layer at the base of the walls, and blood seeped down the cracks in the bricks.

They attacked for a full hour, but didn't even touch the battlements.

"Sound the retreat—retreat!"

Seeing that morale had collapsed, Huang Taiji waved his hand dismissively.

As the gong sounded, the surrendered troops retreated like a tide, leaving behind tens of thousands of corpses that littered the wilderness.

"Give them a breather, then attack again before sunset."

Huang Taiji chuckled lightly, his tone as relaxed as if he were arranging dinner.

"yes!"

Lu Qing walked over, his face ashen, his steps unsteady, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty... the casualties are too great, we've just lost tens of thousands... can we... perhaps slow down?"

He looked at Huang Taiji with pleading eyes, as if he were a lifeline.

"Alright." Huang Taiji nodded.

Lu Qing felt a sense of relief and immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Great Khan! Thank you, Great Khan!"

Before he could finish speaking, Huang Taiji glanced at him and slowly said:

"Take a break, then continue the attack before sunset."

After saying that, he mounted his horse and rode away.

Lu Qing stood frozen in place, his forehead still pressed against the ground, his mind going blank—

Holy crap! You call this rest?!

It's only a little past noon, how many hours until sunset? So you're just giving me a breather before sending me to my death again?!

"Hahaha! Look at that pathetic sight of him!"

The surrounding guards burst into laughter, their sarcasm piercing to the bone.

Lu Qing felt a burning sensation on her face, overwhelmed with regret.

These Jurchens never treated him like a human being!

If I had known... I should have just held Jin County to the death! If we had held out against the high walls, we might have been able to wait for reinforcements from the imperial court...

But now, there is nowhere to retreat.

Two hours later, the drums sounded again.

The supervising officers, armed with knives, drove the surrendered soldiers back to the battlefield like livestock.

"Brothers! As long as we take Shanhaiguan, we'll have a chance to survive!!"

"The first person to scale the city walls—a reward of ten taels of gold!!!"

"Charge with me—!!!"

Lu Qing roared and swung his knife forward.

"gold?!"

Upon hearing this, a bloodthirsty glint ignited in the eyes of the remaining soldiers. Some ran wildly with bloodshot eyes, while others climbed over the corpses of their comrades—they were willing to risk their lives for this one last fight!

"The enemy is coming—prepare for battle!!!"

The alarm bells rang loudly on the city walls.

The garrison at Shanhaiguan took their positions instantly, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Another battle in purgatory has begun.

Severed limbs and blood mist splattered everywhere, accompanied by cries of agony.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!!"

Arrows rained down, dense and impenetrable, instantly turning the area beneath the city walls into a battlefield of carnage.

But the surrendered soldiers still rushed forward like madmen.

They tried everything – ramming city gates, setting up ladders, scaling walls – but were still firmly suppressed.

As darkness fell, the offensive finally came to an end.

The remaining soldiers, exhausted, retreated once again.

"General! The inventory of the storeroom has been completed... one-fifth of the arrows have been used!"

The warehouse manager stumbled over, his voice trembling.

Sun Hai frowned and nodded heavily: "Understood."

Of the 100,000 arrows, 20,000 were fired in a single day.

He looked up at the blood-red setting sun in the distance, and silently recited in his heart:

If we run out of arrows, what will we rely on to defend the city?

Sun Hai knew perfectly well that the Later Jin wolves had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for them to run out of arrows and stones.

But what can we do?

If it weren't for the arrows that held back the offensive, Shanhaiguan would have been trampled into a bloody mess by the surrendered troops long ago.

For the next three days, it went on day after day.

Every day at dawn and dusk, 80,000 surrendered soldiers were whipped like livestock by the supervisory team and rushed towards Shanhaiguan wave after wave.

"kill!!!"

"Whoosh—whoosh whoosh!!!"

Shouts of battle ripped through the sky, arrows rained down like locusts, and even the city walls trembled.

As the defenders ran out of arrows and the rolling stones shattered one by one, the once mighty 80,000 surrendered troops were reduced to only 10,000 remnants, each with a deathly pale face.

If it weren't for the 300,000 Later Jin cavalrymen watching them with knives at their throats, these people would have rebelled long ago.

"General... we're out of arrows."

"The Rolling Stones... only have a dozen or so left."

The soldiers surrounded Sun Hai, their eyes vacant, like the last flicker of light in the life of a dying man.

Without long-range suppression, how can we stop the enemy? Let alone the elite of the Later Jin, even a pack of mad dogs could rush up and bite our throats.

Sun Hai remained silent, looking up towards the direction of the capital city, his throat bobbing, but he couldn't utter a single word.

The wind whipped up yellow sand, as if even the heavens were sighing.

"Ugh—!!!"

Suddenly, the bugle sounded again, deep and thunderous, sweeping across the earth.

This time, it was no longer surrendered troops fleeing from the city.

Instead, it was the main force of the Later Jin army, arrayed in imposing armor, that came in formation!

The war drums thundered, the horses' hooves pounded the ground, and the entire Shanhaiguan Pass trembled.

"Finally, it's their turn!"

"If we keep flushing it, our bones will rot right here!"

"Would you have been out of your mind to surrender to that bastard Lu Qing?"

……

Lu Qing stood behind the formation, looking at the city wall, a smile actually appearing on his lips.

After all this time, we finally don't have to use his people to pay for our lives anymore.

He stared intently at Shanhaiguan, his eyes burning with bloodlust: "Sun Hai... don't die too easily."

"I'm going to chop off your head with my own hands!!!"

Of his 80,000 brothers, 60,000 perished on the way to the siege; each corpse became a scar on his heart.

At this moment, ladders were erected one after another, and the Later Jin soldiers climbed up like ants, their cold blades reflecting the blood, rushing straight towards the city wall.

"Brothers! Let's fight these barbarians!"

"Lord Jia won't abandon us! The time for revenge has come!"

"Kill them all!!!"

Sun Hai roared, drew his sword, and leaped out, his figure like a tiger pouncing on its prey.

Seeing their commander personally leading the charge, the defending troops dared not retreat. They roared and charged to the front lines, where swords flashed and blood clashed in an instant.

Huang Taiji stood on the high platform, hands behind his back, and laughed: "Shanhaiguan is within easy reach."

My great Jin cavalry has been resting and recuperating for many days. Dealing with this group of exhausted and depleted soldiers is a piece of cake.

"Pfft—! Pfft—!"

The sound of sharp blades piercing flesh was incessant; the city walls had become a battlefield of carnage.

More and more Later Jin soldiers climbed onto the city wall, and the defending troops were gradually forced into a corner, their formation teetering on the brink of collapse.

Sun Hai's eyes were bloodshot, and his heart was ice-cold.

Could it be... that Shanhaiguan Pass is really going to be lost in my hands?