Chapter 58: then translation of title, then ===GLOSSARY=== then list of named entities appearing in these lines, using exact English

The commander was startled, "You mean we should mobilize all 170,000 troops?"

The Yu Guo Crown Prince's young face was already somewhat twisted, "Could it be that I haven't made myself clear enough?"

"Crown Prince!" the commander knelt and advised, "Such rashness is truly improper; I suggest we first gather the army's senior generals to devise tactics together, and we don't need to mobilize the entire army!"

The Yu Guo Crown Prince roared, "You're all high-ranking, powerful generals of Da Yu; why are you so hesitant in battle? If we had just rolled over them earlier, how could we have lost 30,000 troops? Stop nagging me, or I'll have you beheaded!"

The commander had a lot of advice to give, but it got stuck in his throat and he could only swallow it down.

This guy keeps coming up with ideas on the fly, knows nothing about warfare, and acts entirely on whim.

The loss of those 30,000 elite troops ultimately stems from an eager-to-please commander running into this haphazardly commanding crown prince; he bears the greatest responsibility.

Moreover, he repeatedly violates taboos of leading troops in battle; now he hasn't even clarified the situation at Xi Tun Guan before losing his temper and wanting to attack.

Besides, his status is exalted; if anyone defies him, later he'll complain to the monarch, and all the commanders will suffer.

"Yes... Crown Prince, I'll relay the order now." The commander, with a complex expression, lowered his head and backed away.

Just after the first watch, the Yu Guo Army set off in mighty array.

The 170,000 troops stretched as far as the eye could see, seemingly capable of trampling Xi Tun Guan flat.

However, when they were still ten li from Xi Tun Guan, they were spotted by the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army's drone scouts.

Duan Wu, who had replaced the old general Duan as commander of Xi Tun Guan, immediately made arrangements.

He had four other commanders hold the fort, while he and General Li Yao took five thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor cavalry and rushed out the city gate.

About half an hour later.

The Yu Guo Army arrived before the gate of Xi Tun Guan.

The Yu Guo Crown Prince wore a set of exquisite, handsome golden armor and sat on the commander's chariot.

Around him, tens of thousands of elite troops guarded him.

"Crown Prince, you've worked hard marching all the way." A deputy general beside him said, "Why don't you rest awhile and let us send a few men to scout, at least to find out the condition of their gate and walls, and whether there are any ambushes nearby."

The Yu Guo Crown Prince, full of vigor, gazed into the distance at the night‑shrouded walls of Xi Tun Guan and laughed, "This poor, remote borderland is nothing but earth and stone walls."

"As for ambushes, hum, they have only a mere ten thousand troops—tell me, how could they possibly ambush my 170,000‑strong army?"

"You needn't be so cautious; otherwise you're just boosting their morale while deflating your own."

Saying that, he pondered briefly, then ordered the use of catapults to break the defenses.

Never mind what gate or wall.

Given Xi Tun Guan's conditions, even if built superbly, it could not withstand the Yu Guo Army's catapult barrage.

Hearing this order, the deputy general let out a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Crown Prince's first attack order was normal.

Soon, rows of catapults were pulled forward by horses and positioned before the army, while hard boulders were lifted onto them.

At the command of the catapult officer,

the boulders shot high into the air and then, like meteors falling from heaven, accurately smashed into Xi Tun Guan's walls.

Boom—

The impact deafened, the ground faintly trembling.

Under the bright moonlight, the gate tower and the walls on either side were instantly swallowed by swirling yellow sand and dust.

"Hahaha!" the Yu Guo Crown Prince burst out laughing, "Those folks in Xi Tun Guan must be scared stiff, they haven't even reacted yet—the walls are gone! Hahaha!"

Then he smugly glanced at the nearby commanders.

"Crown Prince… something doesn't seem right…" a commander's eyes showed astonishment.

"What's wrong?" the Crown Prince turned his head to look ahead again.

But seeing the dust settle, the outline of the wall remained.

His face twitched slightly, "Each boulder used in the catapult weighs thousands of catties, even up to ten thousand—how could Xi Tun Guan's walls possibly withstand it?! Keep pounding them for me!"

The commanders felt something odd, but for now they could only obey the Crown Prince's order.

Boom! Boom!!

More boulders were hurled toward Xi Tun Guan's walls.

Each strike hit harder than the last.

Little did they know, at that very moment Duan Wu and Li Yao were leading the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army nearby, watching the spectacle.

"How's it going, all right?" Duan Wu asked into his walkie‑talkie.

"All good!" came the excited voice from the walkie‑talkie of the commander garrisoned inside Xi Tun Guan, "The steel‑reinforced concrete bestowed by Jinli Fairy is truly formidable; after using it to reinforce the walls, it completely fears no attack from the Yu Guo catapults—not a single crack!"

Duan Wu asked again, "How about the gate?"

The reply: "The gate's outer layer is bound with rebar, and it's fine too!"

"Good then," Duan Wu said with a smile, "If it weren't for the explosive materials Jinli Fairy gave us running low, I'd really like to return the favor."

Li Yao gazed afar at the Yu Guo Army's catapult convoy and sighed, "Too bad we don't have any catapults right now."

Duan Wu replied, "Aren't the enemies delivering these to us? Later we'll capture those catapults and use them to launch gas‑canister bombs!"

The sound of boulders hitting the walls, which had been as dense as rain, gradually grew sparse.

Not long after, the commotion ceased entirely.

The Yu Guo Crown Prince could scarcely believe his own eyes.

All usable boulders have been expended, yet Xi Tun Guan's walls still haven't collapsed!

"How… how did they manage?" the crown prince exclaimed in shock, "Who can tell me why a wall of loam and rubble can withstand such an assault?"

Several deputy generals also stared at each other, their eyes equally filled with astonishment.

Never mind ordinary earth‑and‑stone walls; even a properly built brick‑stone wall ought to have been breached at least.

Logistically, the Xi Tun Guan region lacks the conditions to construct brick‑stone walls at all.

Yet, right under their very eyes, they endured the catapult's fierce barrage without a single hair damaged!

For a moment, the Deputy Generals recalled Ba Yong's annihilated fifty‑thousand army and the fate of the thirty‑thousand vanguard two days earlier…

Could it be… truly aided by spirits?

They thought so, yet dared not speak it.

"Crown Prince… you have also seen it; the situation is very wrong. Shall we withdraw first and attack after we understand it?" a Deputy General mustered courage to suggest.

Yu Guo Crown Prince's expression wavered; without a second thought, he gritted his teeth: "We simply haven't breached their walls. To retreat now would only embarrass me further. Deploy troops at once and let me scale the wall!"

"Yes… Crown Prince…"

The Deputy General relayed the order again.

Immediately, a massive wave of Yu Guo elite soldiers bearing long ladders surged toward the wall like a tide.

One wooden ladder after another was set up; everyone scrambled up, each eager to claim the merit of being the first to mount.

At that moment, Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers stationed on the wall suddenly emerged.

Armed with curved swords and spears, they hacked or thrust, cutting down the Yu Guo elite attempting to climb.

After a brief but fierce wall assault, the Yu Guo elite suffered countless casualties, and none managed to scale the wall.

The Yu Guo Crown Prince's eyes reddened with urgency, ordering more troops to be added, even if they had to climb atop corpses!

He declared: "The first to ascend shall be granted a thousand households and rewarded ten thousand taels of gold!"

It is said that under great reward, there will be brave men.

More Yu Guo elite poured in, several times the number of the first wave.

Seeing a genuine chance to pile the crowd and climb the wall, the commanders inside Xi Tun Guan remained calm, ordering everyone inside to pour the pre‑prepared stone‑oil mixture from the wall's top outward.

The black, sticky stone‑oil mixture cascaded down like a waterfall.

The enemy climbing the ladders slipped instantly, falling one after another.

The densely packed enemy below the wall quickly descended into chaos; before they could discern what clung to them, a series of swooshing sounds rose overhead.

They looked up.

Flaming arrows streaked across the night sky, falling like a sudden rain.

Whoa!

In the blink of an eye, raging flames erupted!

The Yu Guo elite were shocked to discover that the sticky substance on them ignited instantly upon contact with fire, impossible to extinguish.

In just a moment, the area beneath Xi Tun Guan's wall became a sea of fire!

The Yu Guo elite, gathered in overwhelming numbers, panicked and trampled each other, worsening the casualties.

Harsh cries of agony, together with the flames and billowing smoke, shot straight into the night sky!

"How… how could this happen!" the Yu Guo Crown Prince exclaimed, standing up in shock, gazing at the inferno like a furnace, his mind blank.

"Crown Prince! Withdraw!" the Deputy Generals knelt together, pleading.

"Xi Tun Guan is truly too bizarre!"

"The wall is as solid as golden broth, yet it can counterattack! We are ill‑prepared; a further assault, no matter how many troops, would only waste lives!"

Faced with the Deputy Generals' counsel, the Yu Guo Crown Prince wavered.

What he witnessed tonight had already exceeded his expectations.

He had thought that a full force of 170,000 could sweep Xi Tun Guan flat even without tactics.

But…

Not only did they fail to breach the wall, but casualties were severe.

He had never been on a battlefield before; now, seeing countless Yu Guo soldiers wailing miserably in the sea of fire, his heart was struck like never before.

"First, escort the Crown Prince out!" a Deputy General, seeing the Prince's pallid, dazed face, shouted decisively.

This is Da Yu, the future monarch.

Even if his performance in this campaign is terrible, not a single hair of his may be harmed.

Immediately, the Crown Prince, protected by several commanders and ten‑thousand elite guards, rode a war chariot away from the main army.

Thus, amid the countless war chariots, the sudden change was quickly spotted by Drone scouts.

Duan Wu, lurking near Xituan Guanyuan,'s eyes lit up: "Finally located that kid's position! Everyone, obey, follow me! Slay their commanders and capture the Yu Guo Crown Prince alive!"

He and Li Yao had previously led a contingent of Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers out, precisely for this purpose.

After all, even if the Prince‑leading troops is a fool, the enemy's 170,000 elite cannot be handled by their few thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers.

Only by eliminating as many Yu Guo enemy commanders as possible and seizing the Prince can the battle be fundamentally resolved.

Within the Yu Guo army camp, a Deputy General seized the command baton; once the Prince's chariot had gone far, he organized an orderly retreat, and while doing so, he made sure to cut off the Prince's rear three layers deep both inside and out.

As for the countless corpses left beneath Xi Tun Guan's wall, there was no time to attend to them.

At that moment, five thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Cavalry emerged from nowhere, like a massive sword, tearing a gap in the edge of the Yu Guo army camp.

The Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Cavalry thundered forward, brandishing horse‑spears, cutting a swath straight toward the Prince's escape route.

The Yu Guo elite army, which had been retreating in order, was instantly thrown into chaos.

"Protect the Crown Prince! Protect the Crown Prince!!!" several Deputy Generals leading the guards shouted hoarsely.

Unwittingly, the Yu Guo army's objective shifted from crushing Xi Tun Guan to protecting the Prince's withdrawal.

These enemy troops, after being caught off‑guard by the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Cavalry and in disarray for a while, quickly reformed their formation and fought back fiercely.

Thus, Duan Wu and Li Yao, leading five thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers, saw their pursuit speed slow.

At first, they surged like a blade through bamboo, fully tracking and slashing the enemy, but as the enemy's formation coalesced, although they killed more, even more forces surged to surround them.

The Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers could not breach the layered enemy formation for some time, while the enemy, outmatched in weapons, could only rely on a relentless stream of lives to block them, unable to wound the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers.

During the tangled combat, the Yu Guo elite grew increasingly disillusioned.

Before this, their iron armor and weapons were outstanding across the whole Zhong Yuan.

Thanks to the abundant high-quality iron ore within Yu Guo and their mastered smelting and forging techniques, although their troop numbers were not as many as the other six nations, their combat prowess made the remaining six nations dare not underestimate them.

But now.

Their proud hard armor, in the face of the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers' strange long blades, was hardly sturdier than an eggshell.

Their hand-held weapons, long recognized by the Seven Nations of Zhong Yuan as the sharpest forged iron, could not even pierce the strange armor on the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers.

What material could their armor and weapons be made of, to be superior to forged iron?

This godforsaken Xi Tun Guan, a broken place that doesn't even attract bird droppings and suffers severe drought, when did it acquire such heaven-defying manufacturing capability?!

What's more unbelievable is that the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers actually fight on horseback.

They witnessed for the first time that cavalry could wield weapons and slash while charging, its power not only surpassing the traditional notion of cavalry limited to hit-and-run archery, but even far exceeding that of mainline infantry!

How is this achieved?

Why don't they fall off the horse?

Although the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers are few in number, they grow braver with each battle.

The Yu Guo elite army's forces were vast as the sea, yet amid continual doubt in life, the more they fought the more fearful they became; had it not been for their absolute numerical superiority and the need to protect the Crown Prince, their formation would have been broken.

Thus both sides gradually fell into a stalemate of fierce fighting.

At this moment, Ning Jinli drove her vehicle to the vicinity of Xi Tun Guan.

Before even seeing the city walls' high ramparts, she already heard the noisy commotion.

Both of them could tell from the sound that a fierce battle was underway ahead, and its scale was not small.

Xiao Qidi's face darkened; without thinking, he knew that the only side capable of fighting here would be the Yu Guo Army and the Xi Tun Guan defenders.

This situation was somewhat unexpected.

Originally he had surmised that after the Yu Guo Crown Prince's 30,000-strong vanguard suffered losses, he would certainly wait for the barbarian army to arrive before daring to launch an offensive.

Now it seems his estimate was slightly off.

Ning Jinli surveyed the surroundings, spotted a high point not far away, and decisively changed direction, driving her vehicle up onto it.

Before the situation was clear, she did not want to recklessly bring the wounded Xiao Qidi charging onto the battlefield.

After the vehicle stopped, she and Xiao Qidi hastily disembarked and gazed toward Xi Tun Guan.

The moonlight was bright, and with a sea of fire before the walls of Xi Tun Guan, the two could roughly overlook the battlefield.

"Hiss... so many people?" Ning Jinli sucked in a breath of cold air.

Xiao Qidi kept searching; upon seeing the charging Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army, his pupils constricted: "Not good, the enemies gathering around the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army are growing ever more numerous; if this continues…"

"Miss Ning!" he said without hesitation, "Please drive the vehicle closer to me!"

Ning Jinli knew he wanted to go onto the battlefield himself, and urgently urged: "No! In this situation, even if you went, it would—"

Seeing her firm attitude, Xiao Qidi stopped wasting words, turned, and set off on foot toward the battlefield.

Just then, the ground faintly trembled, the commotion coming from another direction.

Ning Jinli turned her head to look, then immediately shouted: "Wait! Don't go yet! Quickly look over there!"