Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

"General, you wanted to see me?"

Captain Wang Erniu of the personal guard pushed open the door and entered. By the dim light filtering through the crack, he saw a pair of eyes burning with some kind of intense flame. Those eyes were bloodshot, yet they radiated a terrifying light, causing Wang Erniu's heart to sink. He was truly afraid that the general had been driven mad by this boundless despair.

Chu Ze offered no explanation, instead quickly rolling up the ancient painting on the table and tucking it into his robes as if guarding his heart. His cold fingers pointed directly to the Guangning city defense map, which he had already carefully rolled up to the edges. His voice was hoarse from suppressed excitement, yet every word was as firm as iron:

"Erniu, don't worry about me. Tell me, of all the Jin army's scout camps outside the city, which one is the furthest from the main camp, the most laxly guarded, and the most arrogant in its usual conduct?"

Wang Erniu's doubts deepened, but his soldier's nature instantly put him into focus. His thick fingers traced the map, finally landing heavily like an anchor on a small red circle three miles west of the city.

"This is it. A scout team of fifteen men from a Niru under Amin's command. These bastards are arrogant because they are the furthest from the main camp. They often go to the nearby abandoned villages to 'hunt for food' and assume that we are cowards who dare not leave the city and are so lax in our defenses that wild dogs can sneak in and steal our food."

Chu Ze's gaze was fixed on the red circle like that of a hawk, and deep in his pupils was the eerie light of a wolf pack before a hunt.

He had thoroughly understood it. The way the "Map of Mountains and Rivers" obtained spiritual essence was primitive and barbaric, yet it was also most suitable for this chaotic world—slaughter!

Killing an ordinary Jin soldier grants 1 point of spiritual essence.

The tens of thousands of Later Jin troops outside the city are an inexhaustible treasure trove of spiritual energy!

But you have to eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time. He urgently needs a valuable "start-up fund".

Take the initiative and launch a night raid on the scout camp!

This insane idea, like wildfire, instantly spread throughout his body. This was a gamble with everything at stake. With Guangning's current depleted forces, any loss could trigger an avalanche. If he failed, the morale he had painstakingly maintained would completely collapse.

But Chu Ze had no choice. To sit and wait for death was certain; to take a gamble might offer a glimmer of hope!

"Erniu, go to the personal guard and pick eleven men to bring here quietly. Remember, I want ruthless characters who dare to risk their lives and can smell the stench of the Tartars even with their eyes closed." Chu Ze's voice was devoid of any warmth, so calm it was chilling.

"General, what are you going to do..." Wang Erniu's expression changed drastically; he had already guessed Chu Ze's intentions.

"Execute the order." Chu Ze's eyes were sharp as knives, brooking no dissent.

"...Yes!" Wang Erniu gritted his teeth, his steps as heavy as a mountain as he turned around.

Soon, ten elite guards, their bodies stained with blood and exuding a murderous aura, gathered before Chu Ze like ghosts. They were wolves who had truly crawled out of piles of corpses; most of their families had perished in the war, their eyes numb yet deadly. This was his last remaining asset, his sharpest blade.

Chu Ze scanned them, offering no grandiloquent words, but instead using the coldest facts to depict a scene of hell for them.

"The city is out of food, and reinforcements won't come. Either we starve or starve to death, and after the city falls, we'll be slaughtered like pigs and dogs, leaving no trace of our bodies."

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; the only sounds were the suppressed breathing of the people inside.

Chu Ze paused, then his voice suddenly rose, piercing everyone's hearts like an awl: "Either we charge out with you! Under the cover of darkness, let's go to the Tartar camp and have a good, satisfying slaughter! Killing one is enough, killing two is a huge bonus!"

"Thump!"

Wang Erniu was the first to kneel on one knee, his rugged face filled with determination: "General! You dug my life out of a pile of corpses! Don't even mention killing Tartars, even if it's a mountain of knives or a sea of ​​fire, I wouldn't flinch!"

"I am willing to serve as the general's vanguard, even unto death!"

The remaining ten men knelt down in unison, their hoarse roars filled with pent-up hatred and a death wish to take everyone down with them.

……

In the dead of night, under a dark and windy sky, thirteen shadowy figures, like phantoms, silently slid down ropes from the shadows of the northwest corner of the city wall, instantly disappearing into the boundless night.

Chu Ze led the way. The soul of a modern special forces soldier endowed him with stealth skills far surpassing those of this era. Like vengeful phantoms in the night, they evaded all visible and concealed sentries, precisely stealthily approaching their target.

Along the way, a troop of Later Jin cavalrymen galloped past, carrying torches. The sound of hooves was close at hand, and the pungent smell of horse sweat mixed with the stench of alcohol hit them. Everyone pressed themselves tightly against the cold ditch, their heartbeats seemingly stopping, until the sound of hooves faded into the distance, only then daring to breathe deeply.

Before even approaching the camp, a chorus of foul language and a woman's heart-wrenching cries drifted on the wind like poison. Chu Ze's heart skipped a beat, and his killing intent instantly surged.

He made a forward-rushing gesture, and everyone quickened their pace.

Pushing aside the waist-high withered grass, the scene illuminated by the campfire was horrifying. A dozen or so Later Jin soldiers were laughing wildly as they tore at the clothes of a Han woman. Her desperate cries were tightly muffled by a filthy hand, leaving only helpless sobs.

There was no emotion left in Chu Ze's eyes. He made a cold throat-slitting gesture towards the person behind him.

The eleven veterans silently dispersed, like a pack of hungry wolves locking onto their prey, quietly closing in on the deadly encirclement.

Before the operation, Chu-Ze pulled Wang Erniu aside and placed a well-worn wolf fang, which he wore close to his body, into his hand. His voice was low and solemn: "Erniu, remember the terrain here. In case... I don't make it back, you immediately lead your men back to the city. Don't even think about revenge, surrender."

Wang Erniu trembled violently, and exclaimed in astonishment, "General, what nonsense are you talking about!"

"This is not nonsense." Chu Ze's voice was as cold as ice. "Living is more important than anything else. Only by living can we remember today's humiliation and have the chance to repay it a hundredfold, a thousandfold!"

Having said that, he stopped looking at Wang Erniu, took a deep breath, and gripped the knife tightly.

The Later Jin soldiers in the camp were completely unaware.

Chu Ze's body was taut like a full moon bow as he silently counted in his mind.

Three, two, one!

just now!

He sprang out like a cheetah, his sword drawing a deadly arc in the firelight!

"Pfft!"

The most recent Jin soldier's throat was instantly slit open, and scalding blood gushed out. The lewd smile on his face froze into eternal astonishment.

"Enemy attack—!"

A piercing roar tore through the night sky, but it was all too late.

Wang Erniu and his men charged out of the darkness like tigers descending a mountain, their steel blades brimming with boundless hatred, hacking down the terrified enemies one by one. This was a premeditated massacre, a calculated attack against the unsuspecting, elite forces against rabble.

The battle ended in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. All fifteen Later Jin soldiers were killed.

In Chu Ze's mind, the cold, mechanical voice now sounded like heavenly music, playing in succession:

[Defeat a Jin armored soldier, Spirit Essence +1]

[Defeat a Jin armored soldier, Spirit Essence +1]

……

Current Spiritual Energy: 30

It's done! Chu Zeqiang suppressed his wildly beating heart, quickly walked to the woman who was cowering in fear, took off his outer robe and draped it over her body, his voice the gentlest he could muster at that moment: "Don't be afraid, we are soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, we've come to save you."

The woman raised her tear-filled face and looked at the man who seemed to have descended from the heavens, finally breaking down and bursting into tears.

"Clean up the battlefield, take everything usable, and head back to town immediately!"

At Chu Ze's command, the group, carrying their spoils, a small amount of dry rations, and a precious thirty points of spiritual energy, quickly disappeared into the night.

He knew this was just the beginning.

A cataclysmic storm that is about to sweep across the entire era will be unleashed by him, by this painting, "Landscape and State".