Chapter 29: Dawn Assault

Jia Jing led the soldiers in a thorough sweep of the city from end to end, his gaze astonishingly cold.

In Liaodong these two years, he had become accustomed to life‑and‑death battles, and small‑scale massacres were common in the border regions.

But a tragedy like the complete slaughter of a great city such as Zunhua was his first time seeing.

The Qing are so poisonous!

No wonder they are called the barbarians beyond the passes; they have no trace of humanity!

When I first crossed over, I also feared being ravaged by the Qing, fearing the Ten‑Day Massacre of Yangzhou and the Three‑fold Slaughter of Jiading would happen to me.

Later, after gaining a system, I could secure my place in this chaotic world.

But must these Han peasants endure another tragic fate of Qing incursion, burning, killing, and looting?

No!

Never!

Since I have come to this world, and since I possess the ability to change all this, I must not let them repeat the same fate!

Jia Jing silently resolved this in his heart.

After two years at the border passes, he thought he had become as hard as iron, yet clearly he still harbored compassion for the Han people.

War is cruel, it is merciless, and the suffering always falls on the lower‑class common folk.

Jia Jing calmly turned his horse, with Qin Qiong, Han Qi and Zhu Que beside him, followed by twenty thousand Han Army cavalry.

The soldiers' eyes were also filled with uncontainable fury and deep coldness.

"Soldiers, many of you were already my subordinates, and some have only recently been conscripted under my command!"

"Some know me, others are still not very familiar with me!"

"I am Jia Jing! I am a Tiger Guard Colonel of the Da Han Empire!" Jia Jing said slowly.

Though his voice was not loud, it still reached the ears of everyone present clearly.

Everyone's gaze turned to him, not knowing what his sudden words meant.

"But I have another identity! I am a Han!" Jia Jing shouted suddenly, his voice sharp.

The icy voice resonated, making the soldiers' ears buzz, and murderous intent spread through the indifferent tone.

"You have also witnessed the horror in Zunhua City; the despicable Jurchen arbitrarily launched a border raid, invaded our lands, and killed our people."

"Their blades are soaked with the blood of our compatriots, and their hooves are trampled with the souls of our Han!"

"Those trampled children, those abused sisters, those unarmed civilians lying in pools of blood—they are so innocent!"

"What was once a happy, fulfilled life turned into a living hell within days!"

"This time, if we cannot make these Jurchen repay the blood debt stained with our compatriots' blood, how can we still call ourselves the Han Army!"

"Slay every barbarian that invades our Han lands, leave their heads beneath Zunhua City, cleanse the Da Han Empire's disgrace, honor the wronged souls of our Da Han people, and let any foreign race daring to violate us see the fate that awaits those who provoke the Da Han!"

Jia Jing's icy voice rang through Zunhua City, and the Han Army soldiers present silently tightened their grips on their weapons.

Qin Qiong stood beside Jia Jing, his heart inflamed with boundless zeal, the cold, fierce murderous intent almost radiating from his body.

He thrust the iron mace in his hand overhead and shouted loudly, "Kill all the dog barbarians!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill…" The warhorses of the Xuanjia Army beneath them reared, each letting out a fierce roar from their chests.

The Xuanjia Army, forged in a sea of corpses and blood, is a fierce force; at this moment, the murderous intent and killing aura on them could not be concealed at all.

More and more soldiers, influenced by them, raised their weapons one by one, shouting loudly.

"Kill! Kill! Kill…"

Their ferocious expressions and cold voices echoed through the heavens and earth.

"Then let's go. The Jurchen haven't gone far yet; we will chase them, using the blood and heads of these dog barbarians to appease the souls of our fallen Han!"

Jia Jing rode ahead on his horse,

Behind him, twenty thousand troops surged like a flood across the plains outside Zunhua City, and for an instant it seemed as if heaven and earth were tearing apart.

【5】 The next day at dawn, when the sky was on the verge of brightening.

At dawn on the second day, when the sky was about to brighten but not yet bright.

Jia Jing led the twenty thousand cavalry, and after slaying three Qing Army scouting parties, finally located the Qing Left Route Army's main camp.

The Qing Left Route Army, numbering thirty thousand men and horses, was then stationed at a Han village about a hundred plus Chinese miles from Zunhua City.

Undoubtedly, the village had already been ravaged by the Qing; men's corpses were carelessly discarded outside the camp, and the women had been violated by the Qing.

The Qing soldiers, after a night of killing and lewd revelry, were mostly still asleep, with only a few scouts maintaining vigilant watch.

The cold wind howled as the scouts huddled behind the wall fort; they did not wish to stand guard outside for long, preferring to hide in a warm nest.

What they did not know was that a few miles beyond their main camp, a Han cavalry unit had already arrived.

Under the lingering moonlight, the cold wind whistled, its hollow howl almost completely masking the movements of the Han cavalry.

The Han cavalry each wore cotton jackets, clad in black armor, holding swords and spears, looking toward the nearby Qing camp without a hint of emotion.

Everyone remained silent, quietly following the armored Jia Jing ahead.

The atmosphere was eerily quiet; only the horses sensed the approaching war's aura, restless and agitated,

they tried to whinny, but their mouths were stuffed with chopstick‑like devices, and their hooves were wrapped in cloth; the Han army did everything possible to muffle sound for a stealth attack.

Countless black shadows moved like ghosts, slowly approaching the Qing camp; each Han soldier gripped his long blade tightly, the formation suffused with astonishing murderous intent.

Jia Jing was at the front of the formation, riding his warhorse, no longer wearing the snow‑flake fish‑scale armor,

but had switched to a set of black, mountain‑patterned iron armor, draped in a black qilin cloak stained with endless black blood from the battlefield.

a cyan rainbow treasure sword hung at his waist, he wielded the Longdan Bright Silver Spear, and a newly forged three‑stone iron‑bodied great bow was slung on his horse's back.

Jia Jing's face was full of indifference, his gaze steady and calm as he stared at the Qing camp ahead.

Qin Qiong stayed by his side, his face equally refined yet unable to hide a ferocious edge.

The moonlight was faint; when the army reached within three li of the Qing camp, a faint glow from the camp could already be seen.

"Report, Zhu Que and General Han Qi have already positioned their troops around the Qing camp, awaiting a single command from the general to break out together, ensuring no Qing soldier escapes!"

A messenger soldier came to report to Jia Jing.

Jia Jing nodded indifferently, the killing intent in his eyes grew even stronger.

Since Zhu Que and Han Qi are already in position, our side is now less than three li from the Qing camp, which is just right for a charge.

The moment has arrived.