Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting from Immortal Martial Arts

Outside Guangning City, as the group was talking, a five-zhang-long blade of energy struck the purple-robed man repeatedly, causing him to plummet faster than he could fly, crashing into the forest.

Jia Tang soared through the air, his figure drawing a dazzling rainbow in the sky, heading straight for Tiger Mound Rabbit.

Lin Danhan's expression changed drastically. He tried to retreat, but was held back by Cao Zhao, who was overjoyed at escaping a desperate situation. He couldn't help but burst into blood again. Although his blood energy surged once more, the continuous bursts of blood made his face pale, blood spurting from his mouth and nose, and his internal organs stabbing with pain. He roared, "Miaohua!"

Below in the mountains and forests, Miaohua's mouth was bleeding, and her external blood aura appeared and disappeared intermittently, which was a sign of damage to her internal organs.

The Blood Arrow, which had just been swallowed by the Tiger Head of Qi, was fired by Miao Hua after accumulating 80% of her own Qi for a long time.

Unfortunately, an unexpected cultivator with the ability to transform his qi appeared, ruining the entire plan.

Due to insufficient blood and qi, and a thin protective aura, he barely managed to withstand Jia Tang's continuous sword energy after his blood exploded, and suffered internal injuries.

Having just regained her footing, Miao Hua hesitated upon hearing Lin Danhan's roar. She then mustered her remaining blood energy, slashed at Cao Zhao five times, and instead of taking flight, plunged into the dense forest, quickly escaping.

Lin Danhan could only see the blade's aura but not the person, so he knew that Miaohua had already escaped. Looking at Jia Tang who was about to arrive, a trace of heartache flashed in his eyes. He opened his mouth and spat out a dark pottery jar covered with cracks, holding it in his arms with the mouth of the jar facing Cao Zhao in front of him.

His entire body surged into the bottom of the jar, and the black jar emitted a greasy, bloody light. A blood-red wolf, growing larger with the wind, emerged from it. It was over ten zhang long and nearly seven zhang tall, and opened its blood-red maw to bite Cao Zhao.

Jia Tang looked surprised upon seeing this. A broken, top-grade first-tier Yuan weapon? They must have some resources.

Yuan soldiers are divided into broken and complete. The complete ones are further divided into four grades: lower, middle, upper and extreme. They can be stored in the dantian for nourishment and have an amplifying effect on the qi. The amplification is divided into four levels: one-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths and five-tenths.

The earthenware jar absorbed the blood energy, and then one, two... seven, a total of eight tall and ferocious blood wolves emerged, howling at the sky before attacking Cao Zhao. Each wolf was equivalent to a full-force strike at the limit of external strength.

Lin Danhan watched as the pottery jar that had unleashed eight ferocious beasts in his arms shattered with a crash. He wrapped the shards in his sleeves, turned, and swooped into the forest, fleeing swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, Cao Zhao was in grave danger, and Jia Tang had no choice but to abandon his pursuit and return to his aid.

···

A moment later, in the commander's tent of Guangning City,

As Jia Tang listened to the deafening clamor of gongs and drums from the soldiers in the city, and noticed his colleagues secretly scrutinizing him, he couldn't help but complain, "If you're going to look, look like a man. What's with all the coyness?"

Upon seeing this, Niu Jizong laughed and cursed, "Get lost! Aren't all the people here your uncles or ancestors? And you're acting all high and mighty."

Chen Ruiwen scoffed, "Alright, Old Niu, forget about Marquis Zhao and Elder Cao. But who among us here hasn't been outshone by the 'calf' you're talking about? So what are you then?"

"Get lost."

The command tent erupted in laughter. Jia Tang shook his head and chuckled, thinking that the soldiers were the most interesting to talk to.

Cao Zhao smiled and said with a look of relief, "I was careless this time. I didn't expect that Miao Hua from Inner Khalkha had also reached the late stage of the first tier and set a trap for us with the help of Hu Dun Tu."

Fortunately, young Jia saw through his treacherous scheme and turned the tide; otherwise, my death would be a small matter, but the crime of implicating Liaodong would be far greater.

Upon hearing this, Jia Tang stood up and said, "I dare not presume to say that you, Lord, have done anything to save the day. General Duan also noticed something amiss and deliberately let me go first."

Duan Kailin smiled and pointed at Jia Tang, retorting, "You slippery fellow! The Liaodong army doesn't practice that kind of shirking responsibility like those in the Guanzhong region. Merit is merit, and mistakes are mistakes. Otherwise, if everyone keeps humbly shirking responsibility, what will happen to our comrades below?"

Jia Tang was taken aback, still not quite ready to switch gears. Ancient armies didn't care about being modest about one's past life; the prerequisite was having strength and connections.

He immediately nodded and proudly declared, "That's right, I'm the one who turned the tide."

"Get lost, kid. Who are you trying to convince me to stay with?"

"Damn it, I really want to beat this brat to death."

"Old Niu, look at those little bastards from your founding lineage, they're really arrogant."

Zhao Mingshan smiled and looked at the spirited young man, then tapped the table, his expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Alright, the fake commander Jia Tang has been promoted to a real rank because of his timely rescue and outstanding martial prowess. He now commands two divisions of iron cavalry. Cavalry soldiers from this Houbiao Battalion will be transferred to supplement your unit to full strength."

"Make a note of this for now. Let's stick to the strategy we just decided on and start with small-scale, high-density battles. We'll try to eliminate as many of these scum as possible before we drive them out of the Great Wall."

"only!"

···

November 15th, northwest of Dazhaobao.

With high morale and the entire army fighting hard, they successfully recaptured the front-line fortified positions after more than half a month, driving the Tartars to the Liaodong Great Wall. The Tartars then established camps and fortifications along the city walls, setting up defensive positions.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

At 2:45 AM, with a series of teeth-grinding bowstring twangs, arrows as thick as an adult's head struck the earthen-colored light screen above the Liaodong Great Wall with lightning speed.

Arrows rained down like a dense rain, creating surging waves on the screen of light.

Three miles to the southeast, the Liaodong Army's eastern route, led by Duan Kailin, the Right Assistant General of Jinyi, with three battalions and one guard as the vanguard, took the lead in attacking the Tartar positions on the Liaodong border trenches.

Under the banner, Duan Kailin was directing his soldiers to use crossbows to attack the enemy's defensive positions.

The ballista battalion's position line was relatively long. Due to the range and the need to load large arrows for cross-firing, six ballistae were arranged three miles from the enemy, ten three-bow ballistae two miles away, and thirty double-bow ballistae one mile away. The defensive positions were only set up at the very front.

Each of the Breaking Formation Ballista requires thirty Bone Forging Soldiers to draw the bowstring and fires three crimson gold Breaking Formation Arrows at once, equivalent to a full-force attack from the late stage of the same level.

Each of the three-bow crossbows requires twenty-one Bone Forging soldiers to draw the string and fire three armor-piercing arrows made of thick shafts and fletchings, with huge three-edged arrowheads at the front, equivalent to a full-force strike of the mid-stage of the same level.

Each double-bow crossbow requires thirty Yi Jin soldiers to draw the string and fire two cold iron spear-piercing arrows, equivalent to a full-force attack in the early stage of the first tier.

In this world where vitality is recovering and lower-level combat forces lack long-range means, the ballista, created by both the Great Zhao and the alien races through numerous modifications and derivations by skilled craftsmen within their borders, is undoubtedly a formidable weapon.

After all, in war, it's impossible to send out a first-level outer-strength cultivator to break through the formation while enduring various attacks, just because there's a defensive formation.

The crossbowmen at the forefront kept drawing their bows and firing, while more than a hundred armored soldiers knelt on the ground, holding swift crossbows to keep watch.

The two sides exchanged blows, with thick arrows flying back and forth in the air, occasionally colliding with each other. It was a contest to see who could break through the enemy's defenses first.

Overall, Da Zhao held the advantage, as the other side didn't have as many ballistae.

Covered in blood, Jia Tang led two thousand cavalry to guard the left front of the position, preventing a surprise attack by the Tartars.

All that could be seen on the road in front of the ballista positions were severed limbs and corpses strewn across the field. These were the soldiers sent by the Tartars to launch a surprise attack, who were slaughtered by Jia Tang and his troops who were defending the edge of the defensive position.

The current formations do not have a universal method of identifying personnel, so it is impossible for ordinary soldiers from both sides to return the way they came after leaving the defensive formation in large numbers.

On the right rear side of the position, there was another battalion of daredevils, each with a steel knife in their mouth, a shield in their right hand, and a ladder on their left shoulder, their cold eyes fixed on the light screen that was being bombarded in front of them.

Two hours later, the enemy's formation was nearing its limit. Cracks were shot open in the earth-colored light membrane, and crossbow bolts were constantly breaking through the energy barrier, smashing gaps in the wall. Upon seeing this, Duan Kailin ordered: "Raise the flag, prepare for the advance."

A moment later, seeing the earth-colored light barrier above the enemy shatter and dissipate, and the defensive formation broken, Duan Kailin decisively ordered: "Sound the horn, advance and attack first."

The bugle sounded a long, muffled blast, and the command flags fluttered in the wind.

"The first to ascend will be promoted three ranks, rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver, and granted the Blood Refining Technique."

"Kill them!"

Instantly, shouts of battle filled the sky. The vanguard infantrymen raised their shields above their heads and rushed forward under the rain of arrows to the city wall. After setting up the ladders, they quickly climbed up.

Soldiers on the siege ladders often fell to their deaths after being hit by boulders, thorny trees, or molten gold, or were accidentally killed by arrows from friendly forces behind them.

But more often than not, they stared with bloodshot eyes, trampling over the corpses of their comrades, their copper teeth clenched into steel blades, charging forward one after another.

Behind the city wall, Dorji, the leader of the Chahar-Ujumchin tribe, with a twisted expression, commanded his tribe's warriors to rush forward and block the enemy with their own flesh and blood. As he watched his warriors fall one after another, his eyes gradually filled with rage.

"Damn Han Chinese, damn Ligdan Khan."

Since the Han army launched its counterattack in the past few days, Dorji, who was sent by Ligdan Khan to defend the city, has been under constant pressure. His bows and crossbows have been unable to break through the enemy's defensive formation, and his servants have been unable to overcome the enemy's golden-armored generals, so the casualties he has caused are very limited.

Outmatched by their opponent and suffering heavy losses, with nearly all their servants and soldiers killed, they were forced to send in warriors from the grasslands to fill the gaps. They gained little advantage but suffered a significant blow to their strength.

"No, we can't let our sons sacrifice themselves in vain. They are the treasures of the grasslands."

After a moment's thought, and seeing that soldiers of the Great Zhao army were occasionally seen briefly climbing the wall, Dorji decisively ordered: "Sound the horn, withdraw the troops and return to camp."

The messenger was terrified and said in a panic, "Chief, the Khan has ordered us to hold out until noon tomorrow. The Khoqite tribe will come to relieve us then. If we retreat now, it might be..."

Dorji snorted coldly and shouted angrily, "Hmph, what are you afraid of? Our men have already sacrificed enough. If Lindan Khan dares to blame me, I'll surrender to Jianzhou. Go and sound the horn."