Chapter 467: No More Regrets. The Family of Generals Is Here!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The white silhouette who had appeared at the very last moment to shield Fu Baoguo was Bai Yixue.
It could only be Bai Yixue, of course.
As he had entered the Fortress of Resilience, Old Marshal Qiu Jianhan had immediately felt the suffocating atmosphere of anxiety, a finely-honed sense of danger developed from years of being at constant war. He had immediately instructed Bai Yixue to scout ahead and assist Fu Baoguo to ensure his safety.
Bai Yixue's current level and cultivation base were still insufficient to change the outcome of the war, but it was more than enough to protect a single person. He had flitted between the pelting arrows to join the battle and save Fu Baoguo.
Bai Yixue's capabilities would have put him among the top ten swordsmen in his generation. It was, however, impossible to compare with him with Jun Moyan; the differences between the two were still significantly vast.
Nonetheless, Bai Yixue, who was already at sixth heaven, was securely at the peak of this world. Despite not being at the pinnacle standard, he was still a paramount, able to go toe to toe with the Five Venerable Lords.
Qiu Jianhan surveyed the ruins of the Fortress of Resilience after the war. Even with his old, gnarly character, he could not help but feel a pang of sorrow which threatened to cajole tears from his eyes.
The word tattered could barely describe the state that the Fortress of Resilience was in; it was absolutely inadequate. The Fortress of Resilience was crushed; everything had been torn and ruined, as far as the eye could see.
Rows upon rows of injured soldiers were asleep, snoring loudly after collapsing on their sides. Their faces were lined with pure fatigue. Their wounds were still bleeding, but they were sleeping so soundly that the newcomers could barely bring themselves to wake them up and treat them.
There were veterans who were still moving about on the road. Walking was a generous term, as they were all dragging their legs, as if their feet were weighed down by thousands of catties, and could not be lifted up at all. Their faces were all filled with unspeakable exhaustion and numbness.
If they were to sit down, they would have started snoring immediately and slept through the next three days!
There was also the buildings scattered throughout the fort, but the majority of them were in a sorry state.
A successful attack against a secure fortification would have utilized all kinds of weapons; the same could not be said for their defensive maneuvers as the best tactic they could resort to was rolling wood and rocks. Otherwise, Fu Baoguo would not have asked the Steel Cavalry to bring the materials back each time they returned to restock rations in exchange for weapons and arrows.
However, the wood and rocks that were needed during defense that had been brought back by the Steel Cavalry were like a drop of water in the ocean; the biggest source of these supplies had to come from the Fortress of Resilience itself. The materials of the buildings inside the fort, the pillars, tiles and roof beams had all been used. As the war stretched on, there were barely a handful of structures that could be found intact in the fort!
"It's all in ruins! It's a catastrophe!"
Qiu Jianhan sighed into the sky, conveying what he had seen and the anguish weighing down on his chest, all by this single sigh.
Fu Baoguo who was drained, both mentally and physically, did not go to rest at once, but was carried to the marshal's hall; his legs were trembling, his face was pale. The slightest bit of human color eluded him. It was best if Fu Baoguo could sleep for three days straight to recuperate, but he insisted on resting only after he reported the current situation to Old Marshal Qiu.
Looking at Fu Baoguo's forlorn state, Qiu Jianhan retrieved the five-hundred-year-old aged ginseng he brought along to boil it into a broth for the former without another word. Only then did Fu Baoguo, who was thoroughly wounded and exhausted, look a little better.
"How do things fare? Report it quickly and then go get some rest!" Qiu Jianhan asked irritably.
Fu Baoguo looked utterly upset. He knew that Old Marshal Qiu would ask this and he had prepared himself for it, but the moment the question was asked, a piercing heartache sliced through his heart again.
He closed his eyes, his voice hoarse.
"When this subordinate came to the Fortress of Resilience, I had a hundred thousand soldiers, one thousand janissaries, three hundred thousand militants from the Fortress of Resilience itself. This makes up a total of four hundred and one thousand, five hundred and three brothers."
"There was a hundred and eight thousand, six hundred support personnel following the supply trains."
"Later on, the relief troops that arrived included everyone from martial world practitioners to ordinary citizens who came voluntarily. There were over sixty thousand men who had arrived within these two months and they were all area enforcers, students of schools and sects, passionate martial artists, retired veterans, adults, and youths. They made up sixty-three thousand and a hundred and forty-eight people."
"When the western border's support came in the form of a hundred and fifty thousand brothers, our total military strength came up to seven hundred and twenty-three thousand, two hundred and fifty-one people!"
"Up until now…" Fu Baoguo found it hard to continue.
"Of the hundred and fifty thousand men of the Steel Cavalry, we are left with ninety-three thousand cavalrymen, while thirty thousand units of our forces have not been used. The remaining forces in the fortress… including all sorts of military personnel… comes up to only a hundred and seventy-nine thousand, four hundred and nine people! This also includes the wounded and sick."
When Fu Baoguo spoke, Qiu Jianhan and all the relief troops who had just arrived looked aghast.
"Four hundred and twenty thousand people..." Qiu Jianhan's voice cracked and trailed off.
"No... It is four hundred and twenty thousand... eight hundred and forty-two people." Fu Baoguo appeared stoic, but tears were running down from the corners of his eyes.
The foyer quieted down suddenly, leaving behind a pin-drop silence. Everyone felt like their hearts were being gripped tight, making it difficult to breathe.
"This number... is increasing as we speak."
Fu Baoguo said, "Our medicine supplies have been exhausted long ago. Now, every day, every hour, and even in every breath… many wounded soldiers are dying. Some were severely injured, some were incurable and died from blood loss. Some tried to hold on until their last breath, and now that the Fortress of Resilience' crisis has been overcome, they can't hold on anymore. They slipped away with a breath of relief…"
Qiu Jianhan stood up and said with a grim face, "I've prepared for this. We've brought enough medicine on this trip, a thousand and two hundred carriages of them. At the same time, we've brought three thousand and two hundred physicians. They can start operating now, to save the injured eastern members with all the effort they can muster."
"Shangguan Lingxiu!"
Qiu Jianhan ordered.
"Here!" Shangguan Lingxiu, whose eyes were moist, stepped out.
"Raise the flag of the Shangguan Family of Generals! Let our warriors and brothers see it. Let them know that the Family of Generals are here and have arrived at the eastern defense line!" Qiu Jianhan uttered solemnly.
"Yes!"
Qiu Jianhan turned to look at Sun Zihu and said faintly, "Sun Zihu, if you're still alive after this war, go back and tell your Marshal Wang Yunzhu that his soldiers are a tough bunch indeed. He didn't embarrass your father! The reputation of the western elites is well earned; their passion to defend the country and guard the people is second to none!"
It was a very ordinary compliment, but Sun Zihu's tears streamed down his face like a broken dam. He was practically sobbing as he said, "Thank you, Old Marshal! This subordinate will report to marshal without leaving a single word out!"
"Yes, yes." Qiu Jianhan hummed and mused for a good while before saying unhurriedly, "I've spoken anyway, let me say more. Tell your Marshal Wang that after this war, whether this old man is alive or dead, let him kneel in the Qiu Residence when he goes back to the capital. You Sunzi (Grandson), you shall come together."
"Yes!"
Sun Zihu almost roared his reply, immediately falling down on his knees and bowing twice. "Sunzi (Grandson) will bow to you, elder, on behalf of marshal! You will surely be able to receive marshal's obeisance in the capital city afterward!"
Qiu Jianhan grinned, nodding.
This rumored 'Grandson' was a smart man; he understood the entire picture with just a few hints. What a great mind he had!
When others called Sun Zihu as Sunzi (Grandson), he would grow upset. This included Marshal Wang Yunzhu, who had called him so for almost a decade. However, there was only one person in this world whom Sun Zihu felt exceptionally honored and enthusiastic when he called him 'Grandson'.
That person was Qiu Jianhan, Old Marshal Qiu!
It was not that Sun Zihu was especially fond of becoming Marshal Qiu's 'grandson', but there was a story behind this. Almost no one among Yutang's higher authorities knew that Marshal Wang Yunzhu of the western troops was actually Old Marshal Qiu Jianhan's prized disciple.
More than ten years ago, when Wang Yunzhu was still only a middle-ranked assistant general, he had violated his military orders and did not return within the prescribed time. It was found out later that the fellow had even gotten married in secret during that period and what was worse, he had practically kidnapped his bride!
Infringing orders and marrying before a war were both heavy penalties in the military. For Wang Yunzhu to commit two serious crimes simultaneously, Qiu Jianhan, as his teacher, was enraged. He had punished him with a hundred lashes of the military cane and deployed him to the western border to start over as the lowest-ranked soldier. He had even chased him out of the school and ordered him to never acknowledge himself as a student of Marshal Qiu from then on.
Under normal circumstances, it was almost a certainty that Wang Yunzhu would never be successful again, as background was highly regarded back then. A disciple who was chased out of his school by his master who was of the highest ranking militant of Yutang's military would have found it impossible to rise again.
No one could have expected that Wang Yunzhu would step up to each war in the eastern line and was fearless of death. In only ten years, he had accumulated his merits and went up in rank, step by step, and managed to get promoted to the position of the western troop's marshal.
Qiu Jianhan got to know the truth behind what had happened after that, that a popinjay had taken a liking to Wang Yunzhu's fiancée and wanted to forcefully marry her as his concubine; his father-in-law was a materialistic man, thus had broken their promise and instead agreed to the popinjay's request.
How could Wang Yunzhu hold himself back in the face of such a matter? Enraged, he brought some men and charged into his father-in-law's house to take his wife away. He had even set up a banquet that very same night to officiate their marriage…
Despite the reasons behind what had happened, and the mutual love, the fact was that Wang Yunzhu had still taken a woman by force. His father-in-law had reported it to the officials as such.
Knowing the truth, Qiu Jianhan annihilated the popinjay's entire family to vent his fury, but he still did not allow Wang Yunzhu to return.
Chasing someone out of a school was not something that was easily retractable; besides, masters then could never be wrong – even if they were wrong, they were right!
Wang Yunzhu would go on to Qiu Jianhan's residence and bow down in front of it whenever he had to go back to the capital city; in all this time, Qiu Jianhan had never opened his door.
This was Wang Yunzhu's biggest regret!
From then on, Wang Yunzhu was aggressive and fearless in war but loved his soldiers like his own. In spite of this, he was vulgar with his words, but this was a trait he learned from his teacher, Qiu Jianhan. It could be said that the current Wang Yunzhu was the exact copy of a young Qiu Jianhan.
He was promoted as the years went by, and every time before Wang Yunzhu returned to the capital, he would always have a discussion with his trusted subordinates, "Help me think, how can your father enter the old sir's house?"
Even when Wang Yunzhu had resorted to all kinds of measures and tactics, his wish was far from being fulfilled, each and every time. This had also caused him to constantly have an attitude of diffidence towards the whole matter.
A disowned disciple of his school!
The western line generals all knew about their marshal's sore point.
As the closest subordinate to the marshal, Sun Zihu naturally knew better about the source of his marshal's pain.
Even to the moment that he had personally faced Old Marshal Qiu, Sun Zihu would never imagine that the old sir had already allowed his marshal to return. When he faced Old Marshal Qiu, he was unable to say anything yet.
His emotions were a rollercoaster ride; all he wanted was to bawl in order to vent the frustration that had clouded his chest.
Qiu Jianhan sighed.
It would have been embarrassing for him, so he was reluctant to take back what he had said then, despite the fact that it was something small. Dragging the matter to this day, not only had he hurt himself and the child, Yunzhu, he had also hurt those around him; he had sinned…
Thinking about the matter, Sun Zihu was immensely impatient; he apologized and went out to write a letter, sending it away with an eagle so this bomb could be dropped immediately. He could already imagine what state his marshal would be in when he read the letter.
It was a critical moment in the war now. What if he died in this war? It was fine if he did, but he had to relay such massively good news back to the western line at once anyhow. This was the bonus they had gotten their marshal for the western troop's outstanding performance!
"That fellow will definitely be crying," Sun Zihu chuckled suddenly thinking about the moving passage he had written and sneaked furtive glances around with a guilty conscience.
"I wonder how the marshal looks like when he cries? How ugly he must look! I'm so happy thinking about it now. This will live on in my memory for my whole life. No, I can't be fine with dying; I must survive this war no matter what happens. Only then will there be hope for me to personally witness the marshal's stupid look. Marshal Qiu said it earlier, I, this 'grandson', can visit him alongside the marshal. I'll have the right to personally witness the marshal's pathetic state within melee range. To be the witness of that historical moment, I have to keep on living…" Sun Zihu secretly made his wish after the thoughts within his long and wild imagination came to an end.
It was said that a woman's heart was hard to figure out, but so was the man's. Who would have thought that Sun Zihu, who was tall and burly, would actually have such an exasperating thought!
…
The Shangguan Family of Generals' flag was rising slowly.
This was the first time it was hoisted again, after so many years.
All the veterans who were still awake stood up in unison when they saw the flag; no matter how expended they were, they forced themselves up.
The flag that was embroidered with a crimson flying dragon along with a long spear that threatened to pierce the firmament had attracted everyone's attention at the very first moment it went up!
The veterans immediately turned solemn, adjusting their standing position to the most accurate stance. Only then did they raise their arms to salute formally.
They could not help the hot tears that stung their eyes.
"The Shangguan Family of Generals' flag has finally reappeared on Yutang's battlefield!"