Chapter 147: The Escaped Temujin

Seeing this Jin officer who had just killed several of his brothers, the soldiers who had been kneeling to beg for surrender turned cold, picked up the discarded spears, and walked toward the Jin officer, quickly surrounding him.

Seeing these men approaching, the officer who had just urged his troops to fight bravely now retreated step by step, shouting desperately:

“What do you want? I tell you, I’m a Jurchen—I’m your master! If you kill me, the Great Jin will not let you go unpunished; our iron cavalry will slaughter every last one of your families.”

But his shouts did not scare off the armed soldiers; instead, they closed in further. In an instant, over a dozen spears thrust forward together, piercing the officer clean through.

“Surrenderers will not be killed; the Revolutionary Army treats prisoners well.” At that moment, a thunderous cry echoed from afar, and the trembling of hooves shaking the earth made them all shudder.

Tens of thousands of cavalry surged forward like a storm, arriving swiftly and sweeping over them in the blink of an eye.

The leading cavalry officer galloped past them at full speed and shouted: “We have no time to take you prisoner—surrender to the infantry behind you.”

Saying this, he ignored them entirely and charged forward after the front-line troops.

Wherever the cavalry went, the Jin soldiers dropped their weapons and surrendered without resistance; even when a few brave officers charged at them, they could not stand against the Revolutionary Army’s overwhelming numbers without any soldiers to follow them.

At this moment, they felt like a sharp knife stabbing into a table of tofu—long and thin, but offering no real resistance.

In a single night, their six-hundred-thousand-strong army was shattered and scattered; the only difficulty they faced was logistical pressure, for they had captured far too many prisoners.

Of the six hundred thousand Jin troops, one hundred fifty thousand fled, one hundred thousand were killed, and the remaining three hundred fifty thousand were all captured.

Of course, good news came from more than one front: while they attacked the six hundred thousand Jin troops, the infantry units besieging the city launched their own assault and captured Zhongdu City at the very moment the Jin army was crushed.

Now, the infantry units were searching Zhongdu City for Temujin and Wanyan Honglie.

If Temujin and Wanyan Honglie were captured, the remaining Jin forces would be swept away like autumn leaves before the wind; if they escaped, it meant they could still retreat beyond the passes and cling to survival.

After all, the lands inside the passes had already been largely conquered—Jizhou, the Central Plains, and Qilu were all in their hands.

The Guanxi region was now under Guo Jing’s control; not long ago, Nie Huaishang led Mongol forces through Yehu Ridge and seized the territory of Jin State.

Only Bianliang in the south remained under their control—but if Temujin fled there, they’d be overjoyed: fleeing there would be like waiting to be crushed between their forces and the Southern Song.

Meanwhile, outside Zhongdu City, Wanyan Honglie and his group staggered out, gasping for breath; since the Revolutionary Army broke in, he had changed into peasant clothes, evaded pursuit, and fled blindly until he could no longer see any trace of the Revolutionaries.

“Brother Wanyan, if it weren’t for your human-skin mask, we’d have been captured alive by the Revolutionaries—I can’t believe how lifelike their portraits are,” Temujin panted, unable to help marveling at how many strange devices these Revolutionaries possessed.

“Brother Temujin, we must act quickly. Now that we’ve escaped, let’s immediately rally armed forces across the land to rescue the emperor and crush the rebels,” Wanyan Honglie began, but Temujin cut him off.

“There’s no time to waste—you must return immediately to the Jin capital in Shangjing, rally all Jurchen forces to retreat behind the passes, and order local landlords and gentry to bring their wealth and people with you to the lands beyond.”

Seeing Wanyan Honglie’s confusion, Temujin sighed: “Your Majesty, don’t you understand? The Revolutionary Army had the strength to take Zhongdu long ago—why did they wait? Precisely to encircle the city and lure reinforcements.”

“By besieging Zhongdu, they drew armies from all directions to come to the emperor’s aid. With their knowledge of the terrain and popular support, they waged guerrilla warfare. Twenty thousand troops were enough to hold off all of Jin’s forces. Meanwhile, as Jin sent out reinforcements, their other units freely expanded their bases.”

“Now that they’ve taken Zhongdu, it means they no longer need to drag this out—their strategic goal is complete. The Revolutionary Army has nearly destroyed all Jin forces and seized all Jin territory.”

Wanyan Honglie turned pale, shaking his head frantically: “No, no—there aren’t many regular troops in the Revolutionary Army; most are guerrillas. All Jin landlords and gentry oppose them. How could they sweep through Jin so quickly?”

“It would be impossible on their own—but what if the Xixia Revolutionary Army and the Mongol Revolutionary Army joined them? Look at those cavalrymen surrounding the city—their horses are mostly Mongol steeds, and their rifles are identical. They’re all one family.”

Temujin stopped speaking, for Wanyan Honglie had collapsed onto the ground, wailing uncontrollably.

“So now I’m supposed to slink back to the lands beyond the passes with my people?”

Hearing this, Temujin couldn’t help internally scoffing: Slink back to the passes? Do you think they’ll let you go so easily? They’d rather you stay safely beyond the passes.

That’s like dreaming. If they didn’t send troops to exterminate you, it wouldn’t be like them at all.

Of course, he couldn’t say this aloud—if he did, Wanyan Honglie would draw his sword and kill himself.

Honestly, this guy is just too fragile—everything knocks him into despair.

Honestly, aren’t all the hardships you’ve suffered entirely your own doing?

If you hadn’t murdered a husband and seized his wife in Niujia Village, raised another man’s son as your heir, you wouldn’t have provoked Zhang Chu’an’s ultimate counterattack.

Though Guo Jing chased you from Mongolia to Xixia and back again, you might not have lost if Guo Jing hadn’t had those terrifying rifles.

When you saw their strength was extraordinary, you immediately formed a coalition to attack—even though you never won, does that prove you’re weak? You’d never faced an enemy with such insane organization and weapons that crushed yours.

Every time you fought them, they always pulled out something new: at the steppe coalition battle, every soldier carried rifles that could shoot four hundred paces and pierce armor.

When you fought alongside the Xixia coalition, they brought out cannons capable of destroying heaven and earth.

Here in Jin, Zhang Chu’an’s army and bases had both grown enormously—if Temujin hadn’t urged her to stage a coup, this man would have just watched helplessly as Zhang Chu’an smashed his crystal.

Honestly, the one who should be collapsing and weeping is you—your opponent isn’t weak, they’re cheating, and your most reliable ally is this fragile, whiny Wanyan Honglie.