Chapter 787
The Great Battle Between Chen 94 and Zhu Chong 8
The 3rd day of the first month of the 16th year of the Zhizheng era of the Great Qian Dynasty!
An urgent military order reached Chen Jiu Si's Jiujiang camp: Zhu Chong Ba's naval vanguard, under Feng Sheng, had brazenly advanced into the vicinity of Wucheng yesterday, intending to launch a preemptive strike.
The commander of Wucheng was Shi Gengming, who had returned from Luoyang, and he commanded 50,000 Vermilion Bird troops.
A small-scale skirmish occurred between the two sides, which then escalated into a large-scale military battle. Chen Xiaohu, who was stationed at Hukou, led his White Tiger Legion to Wucheng to provide support.
Tang He's troops also received the news and immediately dispatched their own forces to Wucheng to provide support.
Thus, the battle evolved from small-scale skirmishes into localized skirmishes, which in turn led to the escalation of the war, with the four commanders of both sides locked in direct combat.
This sounded the battle cry for the decisive battle between the two sides.
War was imminent. Chen Jie was celebrating the New Year with his soldiers in the military camp when he heard that a large-scale battle had broken out in Wucheng, with more than 100,000 people involved.
Chen Jie knew that he and Zhu Chongba were like two piles of dry tinder, which could be ignited by a single spark. Now Shi Gengming and Feng Sheng had lit the fire, and Tang He and Chen Xiaohu had made it burn even bigger.
There's no turning back now; the decisive battle has begun.
Chen Jie looked at the military intelligence reports coming from the front lines and immediately summoned all the officers.
Soon the camp was filled with high-ranking officers, including Jin Yanzi, the commander of the Qinglong Army; Ding Pulang, the commander of the Fobing Army; Ou Puxiang; Zhang Dingbian, the commander of the Qihuo Army and the commander-in-chief of the front line; and Ni Wenjun, the deputy commander of the entire army.
There's also foreign aid, Yuan Sanjia, who's third in the world.
After all the generals had arrived, Chen Jie was the first to explain the situation to everyone.
"The fighting has already broken out in Wucheng, and the situation is escalating. Our scouts report that Zhu Chongba is preparing to assemble a large army to go to Wucheng. This battle is the decisive one, and the fate of the world will be decided today!"
After finishing his sentence, Chen Jie took a deep breath and said, "Now I will announce an appointment: Zhang Dingbian."
"Your subordinate is here!"
"In terms of military ability, no one in the entire army can surpass you. Our army has always valued those who are capable and therefore assigns more tasks. So I hereby formally appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the decisive battle, responsible for the overall command of the army. Victory or defeat hinges on this battle."
Are you confident?
At this moment, Zhang Dingbian clasped his hands and said, "King of Han, I, Zhang Dingbian, do not speak empty words. If we are defeated in this battle, I, Zhang Dingbian, will atone with my death!"
Seeing Zhang Dingbian's expression, Chen Jie patted him on the shoulder and said, "Okay."
"Then I will issue the order, Golden Swallow!"
"exist!"
Jin Yanzi clasped her hands in a fist salute and stepped out of the crowd. Chen Jie said, "I appoint you as the vanguard to clear the way for my central army!"
"promise!"
"Ding Pulang, Ou Puxiang."
"exist!"
The two men stepped forward and clasped their hands in greeting. Chen Jie said, "I hereby order you two to lead the Buddhist soldiers as the rear guard to protect the central army."
"promise!"
Chen Jie then said, "Zhang Dingbian, the Grandmaster, and I will jointly command the central army. Do all the generals understand?"
"understood."
Chen Jie said, "Good, beat the drums and assemble the three armies. I will personally mobilize the three armies, and we will surely win this battle."
"Victory is assured in this battle!"
Inside the tent, the generals received their orders, while outside, eighty-one drums sounded to signal the mobilization of troops.
dong dong dong...
All three armed forces, assemble!
Chen Jie looked outside and saw that snow was falling from the sky. He said, "Snow falls on the earth, creating a new world. Zhu Chongba, are you ready?"
Meanwhile, in the direction of Hongdu.
Zhu Chongba also made the final arrangements.
Inside the tent, everyone looked at Zhu Chongba with serious expressions.
The battle in the direction of Wucheng has become the fuse for this great war. Now that the war has begun, we must go all out.
"Xu Da!"
"exist!"
Zhu Chongba said, "I appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, in charge of the outcome of this decisive battle."
"promise."
Zhu Chongba patted Xu Da on the shoulder and said, "Second brother, I've staked all my wealth on you."
Xu Da said, "King of Wu, rest assured, if we fail in this battle, please cut off my head."
"What would I do with your head? I want to win!"
"promise!"
Xu Da immediately agreed, and then Zhu Chongba asked, "Where is Deng Yu?"
"exist!"
Deng Yu immediately stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting. At this moment, Zhu Chongba said, "I hereby appoint you as the vanguard of the army to clear the way for me. Do you accept the order?"
"Leader!"
Deng Yu immediately clasped his hands in response.
"Where is Wenzheng?"
Zhu Chongba shouted, and at that moment Zhu Wenzheng clasped his hands and said, "Here!"
"You and Wenzhong will lead 50,000 men as the rear guard to protect the main camp. Do you dare to do this?!"
"promise!"
Zhu Chongba said, "Master, Xu Da, you and I will lead the central army. Let's fight Chen Jiu Si to the death!"
"Let's give it our all!"
With a roar, the gates of Hongdu Water Village burst open, and warships appeared, heading straight for Wucheng. This was the decisive battle!
Watching the ships sail away, Ma Xiuying held Zhu Chongba's hand and said, "Chongba, my child and I will wait for you to come back."
Zhu Chongba said, "Yes, I will definitely come back!"
After Zhu Chongba finished speaking, he stood at the bow of the boat and headed straight for Wucheng.
Meanwhile, in Jiujiang Prefecture.
After the snow cleared, 30,000 soldiers stood solemnly like a forest beneath Xuanwu Terrace.
These were the elite troops selected by Chen Jie from the 200,000-strong army. Since 200,000 men were too many for Jiujiang Prefecture to handle, he chose these 30,000 officers of the rank of captain or above as representatives.
At this time, the front rank of 5,000 was the "Ironclad Army", wearing full iron lamellar armor and carrying twelve-foot-long spears; the middle rank of 10,000 was the artillerymen, holding new-style firearms and carrying pills on their backs; and the rear rank of 15,000 was the "Boatmen", lightly armored and short-armed, specializing in boarding and jumping onto ships.
Further on, nine hundred warships were moored on the river, their masts like a forest, their flags frozen stiff in the cold wind.
The Xuanwu Platform is nine zhang high and has three levels. At the bottom level stand a hundred generals, all in armor and with their hands on their swords; at the middle level are Chen Jie's strategists and civil officials; at the top level, there is only a seat and a table, behind which stands a three-zhang high black banner with a scarlet "Han" character written on it.
At 3:45 AM, the bugle sounded.
Chen Jie emerged from behind the platform. Today, he was not wearing royal robes, but rather a specially made gold-lacquered mountain-patterned armor—the armor plates were crafted from fine iron from Fujian, each plate engraved with a dragon pattern, gleaming with a cold, hard light in the thin sunlight after the snow. Hanging from his waist was not a jade belt, but a bronze animal-head belt, from which hung a four-foot Han sword. The scabbard was jet black, with only an inch of dark gold hilt protruding from the scabbard opening.
He walked slowly, each step making a dull "crunch, crunch" sound on the snow-covered stone steps.
Thirty thousand pairs of eyes followed his footsteps, and the entire training ground was so quiet that one could hear the rustling sound of snow sliding off the pine branches. Chen Jie ascended to the top floor but did not take a seat. He walked to the edge of the platform, placed his hands on the cold white marble railing, and looked down at the thirty thousand soldiers below, gazing at the fleet on the river in the distance.
The silence lasted for a full thirty breaths.
Then he spoke. Without using a megaphone, his voice, carried by his inner energy, easily overpowered the river wind and reached the ears of every soldier clearly:
Today is the third day of the first month of the Bingwu year.
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the audience:
“At this time of year, you should be at home with your parents, visiting relatives, exchanging New Year's greetings, and saying auspicious words.”
One of the soldiers' Adam's apples bobbed.
"But today you stand here," Chen Jie's voice suddenly rose, "standing in the snow, standing under the battle flag! Why?"
He suddenly turned around and picked up a wine cup from the table—it wasn't a wine glass, but a rough earthenware bowl filled with murky rice wine, covered with a thin layer of ice.
"Because someone is preventing us from celebrating the New Year!"
He raised his bowl and pointed east:
"Zhu Chongba, a beggar monk and a cattle thief, occupied Nanjing and thought he was the true emperor? He sent people to Jiujiang to say that I am a 'false Han,' he sent troops to Hongdu to kill our brothers, and he wants to go up the Yangtze River to demolish our houses, seize our land, and turn your parents, wives and children into slaves of the Zhu family!"
The ice in the bowl crackled and popped from his roar.
"Will you agree or not?!"
"No way!"
"No way!"
A roar erupted from the audience, like muffled thunder in winter.
"That's the right thing to do!"
Chen Jiefang put down his bowl and walked to the side of the table, where a huge wooden sign stood, covered with a red cloth. He ripped off the red cloth—
The wooden sign features a huge map of Poyang Lake and its surrounding area, with mountains, cities, and waterways marked in different colors of paint. More striking are three piles of things: thirty gold ingots on the left, fifty silver ingots on the right, and ten human heads that have been pickled in lime and turned black in the middle.
“Look carefully!” Chen Jie tapped the wooden sign with his sword sheath. “This is Poyang Lake, eight hundred li long, the largest lake in the world! Where is Zhu Chongba’s navy?” He pointed to the location of Hongdu. “Here, three hundred thousand men, twelve hundred ships.”
He then pointed to Jiujiang, where he was located: "How many men do I have?" He answered himself, "Three hundred thousand men, thirteen hundred ships! We are evenly matched, are you afraid?"
"Not afraid."
"Not afraid!"
"it is good!"
Chen Jie shouted "Good!", walked to the silver ingots, picked one up, and weighed it in his hand:
"This is the pay. Before the campaign, each person will receive three taels! For every enemy head slain, an additional tael will be given! Whoever captures an enemy general will be rewarded with one hundred taels! Whoever takes the head of Zhu Chongba..." He slammed the gold ingot heavily on the table, "will be enfeoffed as a marquis of ten thousand households, rewarded with ten thousand gold pieces, and his descendants will be exempt from taxes for generations!"
Heavy breathing could be heard from the audience.
Chen Jie walked up to the head and picked it up with his sword sheath. The head was contorted in a grotesque face with wide-open eyes. It was Tang Shengzong, a general under Zhu Chongba, who served under Feng Sheng and had been killed by Shi Gengming.
"Do you recognize who this is? Tang Shengzong, one of Zhu Chongba's twenty-four generals of Huaixi." Chen Jie threw the head off the platform, and it rolled to the front of the army formation. "A few days ago, he bypassed Wucheng and led more than 10,000 men to launch a surprise attack on Jiujiang and take my life. Unfortunately, he was beheaded by General Shi Gengming. Today, his head is here, so it's a good sacrifice."
He drew his sword abruptly, its blade flashing coldly in the snow.
"Today, we use the head of Emperor Shengzong of Tang as a sacrifice; tomorrow, the head of Zhu Chongba will also be hung here! His 300,000-strong army will also sink into Poyang Lake to feed the fish!"
Chen Jie sheathed his sword and walked back to the center of the platform. His voice suddenly lowered, but became deeper and heavier, like a stone falling into a deep well:
"Where did we come from?"
He pointed to an old soldier in the front row: "You, where are you from?"
The veteran was taken aback, then hissed, "Your Majesty, he's from Nanyang!"
"Nanyang," Chen Jie repeated, "In the eleventh year of the Zhizheng era, the Yuan army massacred Nanyang. How did your parents die?"
The veteran's eyes suddenly reddened: "He was... he was dragged to death by the Yuan dogs with horses..."
"And you?" Chen Jie pointed to a young soldier.
“I’m from Huangzhou! My mother… my mother starved to death. There was a terrible drought that year, and they ate all the tree bark…”
"you?"
"A man from Qizhou! My elder brother was forced by the government to repair the river. He died from exhaustion, and his body was never found..."
Chen Jie listened quietly, and only when the voice gradually faded did he slowly speak:
"I also come from a poor background, as everyone should know. I'm from Mianshui. The world was in chaos. My father's original surname was Xie, and he was a fisherman. Later, he married into the Chen family. My father died first, then my mother, and I was all alone. There was also your wife in the family. Life was miserable. Back then, there were fishing gangs and herdsmen... So, along the way, we've learned a lesson: be kind to the people and ruthless to the enemies. If you're not ruthless, they will bite you to death!"
He paused, his eyes bloodshot:
"Later, I joined the Southern Red Turbans, killed the Yuan dogs, seized grain, occupied prefectures and counties, and survived. Then, Xu Shouhui declared himself emperor, bringing disaster to the country and the people! He became suspicious of us, stripped us of our power, and finally even tried to kill me!"
He slammed his hand on the railing:
"Because he wouldn't give us a way out! Later, Master Peng was forced to kill him. Now that I think about it, even if Master Peng hadn't made a move, I probably would have killed him too!"
"Because he is not on the same side as me. I sit on this throne because I hope that my soldiers have food to eat, clothes to wear, and land to cultivate! When they die, their sons inherit their titles, and when they die, they are given a grand funeral. I want you to live a good life."
He stared at every face in the audience:
"Now that Zhu Chongba is here, he doesn't care about that. He only cares about his old brothers in Huaixi. He will take back the land and distribute it to his old brothers in Huaixi! He will erase your military achievements and say that you are 'traitors'! He will make you slaves for generations, just like the Yuan dogs!"
"Back then, Xu Shouhui wouldn't let you live a good life, so we killed him. Now Zhu Chongba is also making things difficult for you. What do you say we should do?"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The roar of 30,000 people shook the snow off the pine branches.
As Chen Jie and the others' shouts subsided, he picked up the bowl of frozen wine, bit his left thumb, and dripped blood into the bowl. The ice met the hot blood, making a slight hissing sound as it melted in a circle.
"Bring the wine!"
A hundred guards carried fifty large vats onto the stage, each filled with the same murky rice wine. Chen Jie walked to the first vat and dripped his blood into it. Then came the second, the third… He walked slowly, each step heavy, blood dripping continuously from his thumb, leaving a line of bright red footprints on the snow.
Fifty vats of wine, all dripped with Chen Jie's blood.
"Distribute the wine!"
The guards used wooden ladles to scoop wine and distribute it to each of the centurions below the stage. The centurions then distributed it to their soldiers, each receiving only a sip, but that was enough.
Chen Jie picked up his bowl and held it above his head:
"Let us drink this bowl of wine together! After we drink, we will be like grasshoppers tied to the same rope, brothers in the same boat! There are only two paths to Poyang Lake!"
He surveyed the audience, speaking slowly and deliberately:
"Either bring back Zhu Chongba's head, and we'll celebrate the next New Year together, ten years, a hundred years!"
"Or, scuttle the corpse at the bottom of Poyang Lake, let the fish and shrimp gnaw on it, let the aquatic plants entangle it, so that future generations can point to the lake and say: 'Look, that's the fool who followed Chen Jiu Si in the rebellion back then!'"
He grinned, a smile as ferocious as a wolf's:
Which one do you choose?
"Bring back Zhu Chongba's head!" The roar was like a mountain collapsing.
"Good!" Chen Jie tilted his head back, drank the blood wine in one gulp, and then smashed the earthenware bowl on the platform. "Let's go!"
"Victory! Victory! Victory!"
War drums thundered, and horns blared. Thirty thousand elite troops turned and marched in orderly steps toward the riverbank, boarding their warships. Sails rose one by one, and oars plunged into the water.
Chen Jieli stood on the stage, watching his army surge like a black tide toward the Yangtze River, toward Poyang Lake, toward the battlefield that would decide the fate of the world.
The snow started falling again, landing on his shoulder armor and melting away in an instant.
“Zhu Chongba…” he murmured to himself, his hand on the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly. “This year, we’ll spend the New Year together. At Poyang Lake, in the underworld.”
The wind swirled snowflakes, sweeping over Xuanwu Terrace and past the scarlet "Han" character flag, making a mournful sound that was both like crying and laughing.
Meanwhile, to the east, Poyang Lake, spanning five hundred miles, is quietly waiting.
Waiting to devour all this ambition, blood, and life. (End of Chapter)