Origin Paradise!

Boom boom boom!

A series of divine spears were launched, like giant ballistae.

Jiang He stepped forward, activated the Heavenly Hunter skill to leave the attack behind, and suddenly leaped up, his blade carrying a gale as it slashed down, instantly crushing the three players in front into mud. He used the momentum of his fall to sweep across, five lines of blood suddenly blooming, and their heads rolled out.

"kill him!"

"At that speed, turning around means certain death!"

One after another, spare lances came flying in.

Jiang He grabbed the blue spear that the deputy commander was thrusting at him with his bare hands, and with a burst of immense force, snapped the entire epic-level spear in two.

When half of the gun barrel pierced the opponent's eye socket, he had already slashed several times. The arc of the blade sweeping across the neck was precise, like a sickle cutting wheat. Dozens of heads flew off at the same time, and blood wove into dark red silk. The Sharpshooter Adventure Team was utterly defeated.

As a dominant life form, it possessed absolute battlefield dominance in its time. If not for the special existence of the sun's core in this world, a single strike would be enough to decide the outcome of a battle.

The adventurer group began to scatter, but Jiang He charged directly into the crowd. The black blade in his hand no longer cared about techniques, only slashing, thrusting, and horizontal cutting, leaving blood and flesh flying wherever it passed.

A martial arts assassin attempted to ambush him from behind, but Jiang He swiftly cleaved him in two from above, his warm entrails splattering blood onto his robe.

Realizing that Prince Yong intended to pursue and kill the Kaishan Camp, General Hou immediately mobilized the spear and shield battalion to advance. Jiang He simply stopped and began to kill. For a full half hour, the corpses on the ground piled up into a small mountain, and severed limbs and remains were scattered like a rainstorm. The blood-dripping black knife in his hand reflected the limbs scattered on the ground, but the Tiange Army still maintained a strong fighting spirit.

When evaluating a general, in addition to tactics, strategy, offense and defense, adaptability, and decision-making, the level of training troops also has a significant impact.

The entire 3,000-strong spear and shield battalion was wiped out. The killings they had accumulated gathered into silkworm patterns, further strengthening someone's power.

"The power of the four dragons and four elephants".

Jiang He activated the Heavenly Hunter and charged straight to the top of the city wall. His physical strength and energy were greatly depleted. He thrust both hands straight at the foundation of the city wall, and his internal energy spread out.

Under the shocked gazes of both sides, the Dongyang City Pavilion was slowly raised. He carried the pavilion to the city wall, leaving deep pits along the way. The defending soldiers retreated to both sides as if they had seen a ghost.

boom!

The pavilion collapsed in front of the city wall opening, sending dust billowing into the sky.

On the General's Platform, General Hou and Duke Tiele fell silent one after another. Mr. Jian hesitated to speak, and finally sighed helplessly.

"One should press on with one's might, but the momentum will wane on the second attempt and be exhausted on the third."

"It is not advisable to fight again. We have suffered heavy losses in Dongyang, and this southward march has been completely pointless."

The intensity of the siege gradually decreased, and by the afternoon, the Tiange army received orders to retreat, and the army retreated to the camp like a tide.

……

At night, the garrison soldiers used grappling hooks to retrieve the corpses of both enemy and friendly soldiers outside the city, including some military equipment and weapons, and then buried them all at the altar of the royal palace.

In front of the original site of the city gate tower, Pei Yuye tallied up the damage.

"Seventy percent of the city's defensive equipment has been used. Nine hundred soldiers were killed or wounded in the south, east, and west areas of the city, and one thousand one hundred were killed or wounded in the north area, for a total of two thousand."

"As for the enemy, they suffered approximately 10,000 casualties among the Tiange infantry and 3,000 surrendered soldiers, a quarter of which were due to the Prince's efforts."

"It's no problem for Third Master Jiang to be promoted to Deputy Commander-in-Chief, a rank of Third Grade."

Jiang He thought to himself that their losses were devastating, with equipment being severely depleted. Of the 5600 men in Dongyang Guard, only about 3600 remained. The reason they hadn't collapsed was mainly because the soldiers were mostly locals with their families in the city, and they had undoubtedly won the battle today.

“Reassignment: Dongyang Guard will send out three thousand-household teams to guard the east, west, and south city walls. If a brother dies, the brother will retreat; if a father dies, the son will retreat; if the only son in the family is also gone, these six hundred men will be responsible for patrolling the streets.”

"The Prince Yong's Guard will send out two thousand-household squads to defend the north of the city, and leave one as a reserve."

"The Skeleton Dragon Riders are temporarily stationed at the Royal Palace."

Pei Yu tentatively asked, "Your Highness, what about the compensation?"

This time, the compensation alone will amount to 72,000 taels of silver. If we add the reward for the heads taken, it will be another 40,000 taels. If we also include this month's military pay, it will be approximately 120,000 taels of silver.

Moreover, the premise is that Jiang He himself does not want the reward money for his head.

The Prince's Mansion couldn't come up with this money. Once the cannons roared, gold would be worth thousands of taels of silver. Even though the Prince Yong's Mansion had a considerable fortune, it would still take them six years to accumulate it.

In fact, the Southern Liang court's annual tax revenue averaged 20 million taels, but after deducting local retention, various losses, and the embezzlement by powerful families and officials, the amount that ultimately entered the national treasury was no more than 4 million taels. Emperor Wu of Liang's decision to devote himself to a Buddhist temple may have been motivated by a desire to cooperate with Tianchan Temple to earn "redemption fees," though this was only a secondary intention.

"Dongyang Guard," Jiang He said expressionlessly, "shouldn't it be under the jurisdiction of the imperial court?"

Pei Yu shrugged. Normally, it was considered a great act of benevolence by the commander-in-chief if half of the military pay was actually distributed. He didn't mean to criticize, because the Pei family was also one of the major parasites.

Jiang He touched his chin, his once jade-like hand now covered in dark red. He couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "Your Pei family wouldn't even want to spend money, would you?"

"The main problem is that the rules have been broken, which will make things difficult later..."

"Then I will surrender outside the city tomorrow morning."

"The Pei family has taken over!"

Pei Yuye's expression changed slightly. It wasn't that he couldn't see the difference between money and defending the city. It was inevitable that the military pay and compensation would be paid in full. He originally planned to make the Prince of Yong owe him a favor, but he didn't expect the other party to be so stubborn.

Jiang He patted Brother Pei on the shoulder and left.

Back at the palace, the ground beneath the altar of the land and grain was covered in blood.

The loss of 15,000 men on both sides was enough to train 3,000 ordinary vicious soldiers.

As one vicious soldier after another crawled out of the dungeon, the third elite force was born, following the Skeleton Dragon Cavalry and the Yongwang Guard.

"The Vanguard Battalion".

Jiang He pointed his two fingers to the ground, and the Gluttonous Black Light swept out, beginning to refine the dungeon made of Grade A Yang Steel.

For top-grade Yang steel, the most difficult part is not collecting materials or incurring costs, but processing it. Without a blacksmith with considerable skill, it is difficult to forge it into military equipment.

The entire dungeon was filled with Yang Steel blocks embedded in the rocks, which melted. Jiang He first activated the Water Turbidity and Heavenly Yellow, and then activated the Time Ring again to replenish energy, ultimately creating six thousand sets of Grade B armor, as well as three thousand lances and three thousand halberds.

The Skeleton Dragon Riders and the Vanguard Battalion came one by one to collect their main combat equipment, but weapons such as bows and arrows and short swords were still scarce.

Jiang He opened the door to the realm.

"Everyone will be there; they'll go in and train for ten years."

Jiang He looked inward at the Great Zhao Granary in the Blessed Land of Gluttony, which contained two million shi of grain. This grain was essentially the heroic energy of the Blessed Land. He did not intend to waste it, but he also did not plan to use it.

Chapter 562 Fierce Battle at the Gaps

September 11th, the 20th year of Yongqing.

Yesterday's battle to defend the city ended, and the battlefield was not completely cleared until dawn. The large hole dug by the Kaishan Camp could not be repaired in time, so molten iron was poured in to temporarily support it.

As the head of the Pei family, Pei Yuye is undoubtedly one of the main figures in Dongyang City at this moment.

Given the need to preserve a way out for the family to surrender, this man did not hold any official position, but from early morning he mobilized his servants and officials of the Provincial Surveillance Commission to do three things.

First, despite strong opposition, all uninhabited houses in the city were demolished, regardless of whether they were owned, and used as expendable military equipment during the defense of the city.

Secondly, the soldiers piled up military pay and compensation money at the foot of the city wall, and distributed the "silver mountain" in front of most of the garrison. They also promised that any adult male who was willing to climb the city wall to transport supplies would receive 100 coins per day, provided that the settlement was made after the war. If Dongyang fell, then it would be as if nothing had happened.

Regarding the compensation, it wasn't that Pei Yuye couldn't offer more, but rather that he had to consider the soldiers' feelings. Otherwise, if the soldiers risked their lives to fight, only to receive less than the civilians who transported goods, mutiny and retreat would be almost inevitable.

It is worth mentioning that when Pei Yuye was accumulating "silver mountains", he found Yiwei Zheng Laohei and asked him to send people to maintain order. In addition to verbally probing and winning him over, he was actually very wary of the soldiers.

Finally, there was a gesture of condolence.

Pei Yuye organized the families of Dongyang Guard to come to the city wall. As a reward, these people could receive a shi of grain for free. However, the grain was not in his hands, but in the hands of wealthy households in Ronghua Ward, so they had to go and get it together.

Because their families were present, the soldiers showed remarkable restraint when facing wealthy households, despite the high pressure of defending the city. Similarly, due to the sheer number of people, the grain delivery process was not particularly difficult, and with the option of offering words of comfort, some powerful and wealthy families who were concerned about their reputation were quite amiable.

However, there were still die-hards who refused to see anyone. After all, the siege was going to last for who knows how long, and food was the lifeline. Fortunately, Pei Yuye had planned from the beginning to use these guys as venting outlets and to make an example of them.

……

In the afternoon.

When Pei Yuye, who had been busy for half a day, arrived at the city wall, he found that Prince Yong was lying on a thorn-woven recliner, flipping through ancient books. The contents of the books looked like scribbles, somewhat like the alchemy techniques of the Daode Sect.

“Your Highness, the military pay and grain collection are almost done,” Pei Yuye said. “When we collected the grain for the second time at noon, Ronghua Ward cooperated fairly well, so things shouldn’t change in the short term.”

Jiang He raised his hand and pointed outside the city, his meaning clear.

Pei Yuye stood before the city wall and gazed into the distance, his pupils slightly contracting.

He had been wondering why the Northern Wei army didn't attack the city continuously, but now he had the answer.

On the plains outside the city, tens of thousands of soldiers were digging a canal and collecting earth and stones. Not far to the west was the Xia Bian River. The Northern Wei army was obviously planning to cut off the river and attack the walls of Dongyang.

Jiang He turned a page of the Fushi Ancient Book and said, "Yesterday, the Kaishan Camp damaged the city wall. They probably obtained information about the wall. The city wall is unlikely to be safe. Let's prepare in advance."

Pei Yuye remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Why doesn't Your Highness lead the Skeleton Dragon Cavalry out to harass others?"

"First, of course, is the fear of a trap."

Jiang He shook his head and said indifferently, "Secondly, I hope this battle will be as fierce as possible."

Pei Yuye turned around stiffly, his eyes filled with disbelief. If he hadn't been prepared to die here, he felt he might not have been able to suppress the anger in his heart.

After a long pause, he forced a smile.

"Your Highness is truly no ordinary man."

Jiang He calmly said, "Fortune and misfortune are brought about by one's own actions. No matter what, it was your own choice. Giving up the supreme command is the right thing to do."

"Is it too late to regret it?"

"Maybe in the next life."

……

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Dongnae County.

A group of thirty men arrived on horseback. The leader was fair-skinned and beardless. When they arrived at the city gate, they requested the local garrison to send troops to escort them to Dongyang City to deliver the imperial decree.

"The cabinet documents are here."

"We intend to go to Dongyang City to summon Prince Yong to the capital to receive his reward."

"Commander, dispatch troops immediately."

Unfortunately, the cavalrymen shouted for half an hour under the city wall, but not a single person in charge showed up.

The commander of Donglai leaned against the battlements and yawned lazily. Let alone angels, even if the emperor himself came, unless Xiao Qingzhi, the second most powerful eunuch in the world, put a sword to his neck, the Pei family would still be in charge of Qingzhou.

A long while.

The leading eunuch snorted coldly, cracked his whip, and led his men away.

From Donglai to Dongyang, in the four cities along the way, not a single commander or even a mere garrison commander came out to respond.

"Arrogant, utterly arrogant!"

"Is this world not His Majesty's world?"

"A bunch of treacherous opportunists!"

The junior eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs couldn't help but fly into a rage. He was a favorite of the Grand Eunuch, and none of the high-ranking officials in the capital, even those who frequented the residences of the Six Ministries Ministers, had ever been treated with such disrespect.

"Sir, please calm down."

A third-realm expert from Xuanjin Manor clasped his hands and said, "The fact that the Five Guards of Qingzhou are staying at home shows that the battle situation is critical."

"Critical situation?" The eunuch raised an eyebrow. "So what if it's critical?"

"Can the gains or losses of a single city or place compare to the foundation of the nation?"

"If the Holy Emperor were to ascend the throne in the future, with a court full of upright officials, he would surely be able to eliminate the treacherous ministers, sweep across the land, and restore the former dynasty's territory in one fell swoop."

"For this, what does it matter if we have to give up the entire Qingzhou?"

The so-called "holy emperor" refers to the faction's belief that, with their support, the prince they choose will be incomparably wise, since even if he occasionally makes a mistake in the future, there will be wise ministers to advise him.

The Xuanjin expert remained silent, feeling that these officials, both inside and outside the court, had become somewhat obsessed with fighting each other.

The thirty riders continued eastward. The junior supervisor, annoyed by being turned away several times, decided to lead his men directly to Dongyang City.

When the group arrived at the banks of the Xia Bian River, they looked around but found no one there. The outbreak of war at the front had caused the fishermen to flee downstream. The young supervisor's face grew increasingly grim.

"Where is the person who was supposed to provide backup?!"

Whoosh!

A top-grade Yang Steel Heavy Arrow struck like a cannonball, hitting the young supervisor in the abdomen and shattering him completely.

The unexpected change happened suddenly.

The Xuanjin expert roared, "Enemy attack!"

Two hundred riders charged from the front, rear, flanks, and rear. Gui Man, clad in heavy armor captured from the enemy and wielding a giant axe in each hand, led the charge with a ferocious expression.