"Do you know what can drive someone crazy?" The Japanese chieftain's demeanor was unusually refined, as if he were not talking about something heinous, but rather about tea tasting, flower arranging, or playing chess.
The old mercenary leader asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"
"It's easy to drive someone mad; just instill fear in them. Your men have sent word that the defenses of Kuanglan City are weak. What will the people think if they see us?"
“I’m scared…” the old mercenary general said.
“Yes, they are afraid. If I approach them, they will have no way to escape and will only be able to resist. But now, they see me from afar, and fear and terror will drive them mad. They dare not resist and can only hide as quickly as possible, the farther the better. In this way, I can kill them one by one.” The Japanese chieftain said with a smile, “Human nature is always like this, greedy for life and afraid of death. Except for us Japanese, the children of the gods, all you people of Shenzhou are like this.”
Sure enough, someone let out the first scream, and soon the entire city of Kuanglan was engulfed in screams. The panicked people scattered in disarray, unsure where to hide to escape the approaching danger. The Japanese's infamous reputation for burning, killing, looting, raping, and committing all sorts of atrocities was enough to terrify them. Compared to other forces in Yuzhou conquering Kuanglan City, this outcome was far more terrifying.
"It seems there aren't many defenders in the city, otherwise they wouldn't be in such a panic." The Japanese chieftain inadvertently revealed a hint of his true intentions. The reason he so brazenly hung up the pirate flag was largely to test the city's strength.
The first ray of sunlight shone down from the horizon at that very moment, illuminating the Japanese swords, making them appear blood-red. A mournful horn sounded, and the Japanese soldiers stood motionless, ready to attack.
Dozens of Peace Army soldiers hurriedly ran from the crowd to the sea, their chaotic movements visible from afar. Even from a distance, they hastily shot arrows at the ship, but the arrows fell limply into the sea dozens of feet from the vessel.
"Hahahaha..." The Japanese chieftain laughed loudly, his sword gleaming with blood in the morning sun. He pointed towards the harbor: "Charge! Kill them all, loot them all, burn them all!"
His voice was sharp and piercing, and all the thousands of Japanese people roared strangely. Thousands of eyes shot out a light of cruelty and greed. The old mercenary general looked at the image in front of him and a cold smile appeared on his lips.
But the Japanese chieftain's next words made the cold smile on his lips vanish without a trace. "We Japanese will become the masters of these inferior people, and we will make these inferior people obey us like dogs. The Divine Land should be ruled by us Japanese!"
"Quite ambitious..." The old mercenary leader began to have doubts, wondering if he had let a wolf into his house. But at this moment, the situation was no longer in his control. The Japanese soldiers jumped into their small boats and began to approach the city.
Seeing the large number of Japanese soldiers approaching, the few dozen Peace Army soldiers turned and fled. The Japanese were overjoyed, and all sorts of strange roars filled the air, presumably cursing the Peace Army as cowards in Japanese.
The elderly mercenary couldn't help but sigh. Although he hated Li Jun to the bone, he didn't want the Japanese to burn and kill so easily in the cities of Shenzhou. He would have preferred the Peace Army to put up an effective resistance and then be defeated, rather than this.
"For the past six months, I have been running around and seeking refuge with so many people. Only with the guidance of Lord Peng did I find this plan to avenge the commander. No matter what, I cannot ruin this great undertaking because of a moment of soft-heartedness!" The old mercenary general heard his commander's shouts of revenge echoing in his ears as Qi Guang of the Flying Tigers charged towards Li Jun's heavy halberd. These shouts made the last bit of sympathy he felt for the people of Shenzhou vanish.
"Kill!" He drew his sword and unleashed a deadly shout towards Kuanglan City, towards the enemy who was not there.
The first group of Japanese pirates landed on small boats and quickly occupied the port facilities. In fact, the people there had already fled, so their occupation was effortless. Soon after, Japanese warships arrived. Large numbers of Japanese people poured out of the ships and onto the dock.
Just then, a rapid, rain-like drumbeat rang out. Caught off guard, the Japanese pirates were felled in droves by the impenetrable barrage of arrows. The sounds of arrows thudding into the water echoed one after another. One pirate, shouting fiercely, brandished his sword, parrying the arrows while charging towards the incoming barrage. But in an instant, he was pierced by more than forty arrows, dying without even a groan. Behind him, another pirate immediately collapsed, using the pirate's body as a shield to crawl forward.
The Japanese chieftain realized in an instant that he had fallen into a trap. However, he had no other choice at this moment. He had several thousand Japanese soldiers under his command, while the city's garrison was only that many. In his experience, the soldiers of various races in China, especially ordinary soldiers, were no match for the brave Japanese. As long as they could break through the blockade of arrows, they still had a chance of victory.
"You!" He glared at Sun Yu, the old mercenary commander and deputy commander of the Flying Tigers, and said, "Take your men and charge!"
"This is suicide!" Sun Yu refused decisively. "Why not send your men to charge in?"
"You, you inferior person, tricked us into coming here. If you don't rush forward to prove you haven't colluded with Kuanglan City, I'll kill you!" The Japanese chieftain's small eyes flashed with a fierce and vicious light, like a venomous snake choosing its prey.
Sun Yu glanced back at the Flying Tiger mercenaries who followed him, their faces showing resentment. These warriors were veteran mercenaries who had followed him and Qi Guang for many years. Because Qi Guang's death was so tragic, they had endured humiliation and sought revenge for him at every turn. Now, he couldn't bear to throw these loyal comrades into a slaughter with no chance of survival. But if he didn't go, these Japanese pirates were capable of anything and might immediately draw their swords against him.
Finally, Sun Yu yielded. He charged forward first, followed by the remnants of the Flying Tigers. They were met with volleys of arrows. Sun Yu dodged and parried, his soldiers falling one by one. After paying the price of hundreds of lives, he finally reached the enemy.
"Kill!" he roared, slashing at a Peace Army soldier coming towards him. The soldier was startled by his imposing manner and turned to flee before he could even raise his weapon to parry, but Sun Yu stepped forward, and with a flash of his blade, the Peace Army soldier was decapitated.
"He's a normal person!" He heard the Peace Army soldiers roar angrily. Dozens of people surrounded him, and countless hatred and anger pressed towards him from all directions. He looked around and saw that there were very few soldiers left in the Flying Tiger Regiment. On the road they had cleared with their blood, the Japanese pirates surged forward like a tide.
"I have no regrets!" he shouted, swinging his knife again. The blade shimmered like lightning and moonlight, felling four Peace Army soldiers in succession. But this only fueled the Peace Army soldiers' hatred for him, and more Peace Army soldiers surrounded him.
"Form ranks!" A sharp shout reminded the Peace Army soldiers, followed by the sound of horns signaling the start of the battle. The Peace Army's Crimson Dragon Formation quickly took shape. In this battlefield divided by port buildings, these small formations gathered and dispersed with incredible agility. The arrogance of the Japanese pirates, surging like a tide, was suppressed by the bloody blows brought by the Crimson Dragon Formation.
The Japanese chieftain kicked a retreating Japanese bandit to the ground and roared in Japanese, "Bastard, if you're afraid of being killed by inferior people, then commit seppuku! Charge forward and don't come back alive!" The Japanese bandit, dizzy and disoriented, rushed back and, after struggling for only a moment amidst a shower of swords and blood, became a corpse.
"Kill!" All the Japanese pirates on the seven ships disembarked and charged at the Peace Army. These thousands of ferocious beasts, like madmen, charged forward with a suffocating momentum that forced even the Peace Army to cower in fear.
There were no Flying Tigers soldiers left by Sun Yu's side; they had all fallen in the Peace Army's frenzied attack. Seeing the Peace Army's sweeping offensive, Sun Yu felt a chill of terror. No matter how resolute his desire for revenge against Qi Guang, no matter how deep his hatred for Li Jun, at this moment, hearing the screams of dying men and seeing the mutilated corpses fall, he couldn't help but feel fear.
He suddenly turned and charged back the way he came. Under the threat of his blade, the Peace Army soldiers had no choice but to make way. Immediately afterward, thousands of Japanese soldiers rushed forward. Under their fierce onslaught, the Crimson Dragon Formation became unstable, and the Peace Army was forced to retreat.
"We can't retreat any further! We can't retreat any further!" a young Peace Army soldier cried out in anguish. "If we retreat any further, we'll let the Japanese invaders into the city. This is our city, every inch of it is ours! We must not let the filthy blood of the Japanese invaders stain our city!"
Shouting and brandishing his sword, he broke away from his Crimson Dragon Formation and charged alone against the forest of Japanese swords. A Japanese bandit slashed at him, but he didn't dodge; instead, he met the bandit's blade head-on. The bandit's sword pierced his shoulder, but he seemed to feel no pain, slicing the bandit in half. Immediately afterward, he kicked another bandit, knocking him to the ground. Just as he was about to finish him off, a wicked sword pierced his chest, penetrating his passionate heart.
The young warrior fell helplessly, neither his mother's gaze nor his lover's tears could awaken him. His blood-stained face turned towards the sky. The morning sky over Kuanglan City was peaceful and beautiful, and the surrounding battles seemed to have receded into the distance. He breathed his last softly. At the spot where he sacrificed himself, the Peace Army's Crimson Dragon Formation charged towards the Japanese pirates once again. His bravery and anger drove away the fear in the hearts of the Peace Army.
The Japanese pirates retreated slightly, but quickly regrouped and charged even more fiercely at the Peace Army's defensive line between the port and the city. If they could break into the city, they would have won half the battle. However, their tidal wave of attacks was repeatedly thwarted by the Peace Army's rock-solid and unshakeable defensive line.
"You!" The Japanese chieftain pressed his sword against Sun Yu, who was panting heavily, and said, "Didn't you say that all the city defense soldiers had left? Didn't you say that only a few hundred people would remain? How come there are still so many? There are a full three thousand people!"
The fierce battle between the attacking and defending sides had turned Sun Yu's face pale, and his white beard was stained red with blood. There wasn't a single Flying Tiger Regiment soldier around him. He glared at the Japanese chieftain with equally angry eyes: "I told you long ago that Li Jun is cunning and treacherous. You didn't take it seriously. Didn't you say that you Japanese are the children of God? Go for it! Charge! Why are you like this?"
The Japanese chieftain swung his sword, slashing at Sun Yu with lightning speed. Sun Yu quickly retreated, dodging the blow, and turned to counterattack. Suddenly, the chieftain stopped and roared, "If you're still alive after we take Kuanglan City, we'll settle this score then. Now, you and I will charge together!"
Sun Yu stared intently at him and said, "Let's charge! I have nothing left to hold me back!" Without the slightest hesitation, he mobilized all his remaining spiritual power, swept up in the horde of Japanese pirates, and charged towards the Peace Army's defensive line once more.
Having already lost hundreds of men, the Peace Army faced Japanese pirates who outnumbered them by nearly half. They had no choice but to muster their remaining strength. The cries of the fallen soldiers, "We must not let the dirty blood of the Japanese pirates stain our city," still echoed in their ears. How could they possibly back down?
The Crimson Dragon Formation nearly collapsed under the onslaught of the Japanese pirates. Despite their defensive formation, they were powerless against the furious attacks of the Japanese chieftain and Sun Yu. Countless drops of blood stained the entire harbor crimson, even turning the surrounding seawater a deep red. The exhausted Peace Army struggled to hold on, on the verge of being routed by the pirates, when suddenly, the faint sound of a young girl's song drifted from behind them.
"What joy is there in life, what fear is there in death? What sorrow is there, what happiness is there?" The girl's voice was melodious and clear, but it had a deep and sorrowful tone. This song was originally a dirge for the barbarians when they were buried at sea. Now, it was sung during the battle between the two armies, which made it seem even more tragic.
"Born to be a hero, died for the country, through wind and rain, my soul returns to my homeland. Through wind and rain, my soul returns to my homeland..." As she sang, the girl repeatedly chanted this line. The life-and-death struggle before her seemed to completely disappear. She slowly walked from the city to the battlefield.
Chapter Eleven: Conquering Yu Yang
Section 1
If Tu Longziyun were here, with his extraordinary memory for women, he would surely recognize that this girl was the one who lost her brother on the Haikuo.
The girl's song, in the midst of the battlefield, shouldn't have been so loud. But for some reason, her faint voice pierced through the fighting, through the shouts, reaching the ears of both sides. The peace army felt only grief and indignation, wishing they could annihilate the Japanese invaders before them. The Japanese invaders, for some reason, longed for their homeland, for their wives and children who waited for them there. The peace army, which had begun to scatter, began to regroup, to rally, and to regain their courage at the girl's song. The soldiers witnessed with their own eyes that, as they bled and sacrificed, those they protected were with them.
"Shoot her dead!" roared the Japanese chieftain, whose mind had been thrown into disarray by the singing. He snatched a bow and arrow from a Japanese bandit, aimed at the girl, and fired.