Chapter 515

The victory outside Zhao Prefecture could not reverse the overall collapse of the western Hebei circuit.

The Northward Aspiration army was like a sharp but short dagger, stabbing a few bloody holes in the giant's body, yet far from fatal.

The Jin army's main force, having regrouped, bore the wrath of thunder, like rolling dark clouds, pressing again from the directions of Zhenzhou, Zhongshan, and others.

This time they did not split their forces or underestimate the enemy; tens of thousands of iron cavalry, accompanied by large numbers of siege equipment, came with the force of Mount Tai pressing down, directly charging at Zhao Prefecture, the nail that had humiliated them.

On Zhao Prefecture's city walls, the atmosphere was heavy as if frozen.

Lin Chong, Ruan Xiaoer, Chen Wen, and others stood behind the parapet, gazing at the distant horizon where a black tide continually approached, seeming to connect heaven and earth.

The earth groaned beneath the iron hooves, and the raised dust obscured the sky and blotted out the sun.

That mighty military force was far beyond the stray detachments they had previously encountered.

"After all… it still came."

Lin Chong's voice carried a hint of hoarseness, his spear‑holding hand steady as a rock, but his eyes held an unprecedented gravity.

He knew the true test had only just begun.

"The city is small and its walls thin; it cannot be held for long."

Ruan Xiaoer looked outward, his tone heavy.

"With Scholar Wu absent, the coordination of this retreat must be more careful."

"A head‑on clash is hardly the best plan; we need to make preparations early."

Chen Wen felt the murderous, almost tangible aura of weapons rushing at him, mixed with the cold will of the Iron Crow Army driving history's wheel to accelerate.

He nodded, his tone calm:

"Zhao Prefecture cannot be defended, nor need it be defended to the death."

"We here have delayed the Jin army for months, buying time for the rear, and also established the prestige of the Northward Aspiration army."

"The urgent task is to preserve our strength, relocate the populace, so as to fight again."

His gaze swept over the refugee columns outside the city, those who had heard the news and rushed to gather beneath the walls seeking shelter.

"We cannot let these commoners become souls under the Jin army's blades."

The decision was swiftly issued.

The main force of the Northward Aspiration army began an orderly retreat preparation, while dispatching many personnel to organize and guide the tens of thousands of civilians inside and outside the city to move south.

This was an extraordinarily arduous task; the populace moved with families and belongings, their progress slow, making them easy prey for the Jin cavalry.

The Jin army's assault came on the morning of the third day, as expected, violently.

Massive cannonballs, bearing a destructive howl, smashed into the city walls, causing the rammed‑earth walls to crumble in showers;

arrows like a locust swarm covered the battlements, pressing the defenders so they could not raise their heads;

countless infantry bore ladders, and under cavalry cover they surged toward the walls like ants.

The battle entered a white‑hot state from the outset.

The soldiers of the Northward Aspiration army displayed astonishing tenacity and combat power.

Under Lin Chong's command, they relied on the battered defenses, using logs, rolling stones, boiling oil, and precise arrows to stubbornly resist wave after wave of the Jin army's fierce assaults.

Chen Wen held the city, no longer lightly employing large‑scale Ability Granting; instead, at key sectors and critical moments he gave a short‑duration fourfold boost to small elite units, often achieving a decisive effect that temporarily steadied the wavering line.

The brutal attack‑and‑defense struggle lasted five days.

Large breaches appeared at many points on the city walls, and defender casualties continued to rise.

Yet the Northward Aspiration army yielded not an inch, repeatedly using flesh and blood to bodily block the Jin soldiers who poured into the gaps and drive them out!

Beneath Zhao Prefecture's walls, corpses piled like mountains and blood flowed in channels.

On the sixth day, the majority of the populace finally withdrew from the danger zone under the death‑defying cover of the Northward Aspiration soldiers, moving south.

However, just as the main force began preparing to alternate covering the retreat, a force of about three thousand Jin elite cavalry, exploiting battlefield chaos and familiar‑terrain guides, actually slipped to the south of the city, aiming to cut off the Northward Aspiration army's retreat and encircle the final batch of several thousand civilians still not fully evacuated in an open area backed by hills, difficult to disperse quickly.

"Not good!"

Ruan Xiaoqi, covering the rear, his body drenched in blood, pointed at the distant rising dust and the faintly visible Jin banners, his eyes nearly bursting.

"The Jin dogs have gone around behind us! Many fellow villagers haven't gotten out yet!"

Lin Chong received the report, his face instantly turning ashen.

He glanced at the main force still fighting while retreating, then looked toward the besieged area where desperate cries of the populace rose, and grit his teeth.

"Liu Tang! Shi Jin! Follow me with a thousand brothers to block the Jin dogs at the rear! Cover the civilians' retreat!"

He knew this departure might well be a one‑way trip.

"Instructor Lin! No!"

Ruan Xiaoer hurriedly urged him to stop.

"You are the main army's backbone; how can you lightly venture into danger! Let me lead the men!"

"No need for more words!"

Lin Chong flatly refused, his gaze resolute.

"The people came because they trusted our Northward Aspiration army; how could I abandon them?"

"Elder Brother Ruan, you and Liu Tang lead the main force, protect Mr. Chen, and retreat according to plan!"

"This is a military order!"

Having said that, he did not wait for Ruan Xiaoer's further protest, selected a thousand still‑capable soldiers, turned without hesitation, and launched a death‑defying reverse charge toward the southern encirclement.

Chen Wen stood in the column about to withdraw, watching Lin Chong lead his unit resolutely into the desperate situation, his heart shaken.

He could not stop it, nor was he able to.

This was Lin Chong's choice, and also the embodiment of the Northward Aspiration army's spirit.

He drew a deep breath, focused his mind, and projected the Effect of Ability Granting across the chaotic battlefield onto the core several hundred of that suicide squad.

This was all he could currently do, his sole support.

South of the city, on that land destined to be stained red with fresh blood, the battle had reached an extreme of cruelty.

A thousand rearguard troops of the Northward Aspiration army, facing three times their number of Jin elite cavalry, formed a tight circular formation, protecting the panicked civilians at its center.

Lin Chong was like a war god, charging back and forth before the formation; wherever his spear pointed, men and horses were overturned, as he tried to tear open the Jin encirclement and carve a path of survival for the civilians.

Having received the core of several hundred men granted by Chen Wen from afar, they erupted with astonishing combat power, firmly holding back wave after wave of the Jin cavalry's assault.

Arrows poured down like a torrential rain; war horses neighed as they struck the shields, blades were notched and dulled, and spear shafts snapped.

Northward Aspiration soldiers kept falling, but others immediately stepped into their places.

They formed a barrier with their bodies, using their lives to buy time.

One veteran had his abdomen pierced by a spear, yet he clung tightly to the shaft, creating an opportunity for his comrades to kill the enemy;

A young soldier had both legs crushed by horse hooves, yet he lay on the ground, using his teeth to ignite the fuse of the last thunderclap bomb, perishing together with the charging Jin soldiers……

Fresh blood soaked the withered yellow grass, and severed limbs and arms lay scattered everywhere.

Roars, screams, clashing weapons, and the civilians' wails intertwined into a mournful dirge.

Finally, after paying the heavy price of nearly eight hundred casualties, the vast majority of the besieged civilians, at last, fled in panic through the road carved out of flesh and blood by the Northward Aspiration army, escaping to safety.

And this Northward Aspiration rearguard force, including commander Lin Chong, all bore multiple wounds, being tightly entangled, fallen into layers of Jin encirclement, and stood on the brink of collapse.

At this critical moment, the main force of the Northward Aspiration army returned!

As it turned out, Ruan Xiaoer and Liu Tang had not gone far; after settling most of the civilians, they immediately led the main force back into battle!

The addition of the fresh troops instantly shattered the weary Jin formation that had fought long and hard.

After a bloody struggle, they finally wrested the wounded Lin Chong and his remnants from the very jaws of Ghost Gate Pass!

The setting sun glowed like blood, casting its light over the battlefield that had just fallen silent.

Corpses littered the field, and banners lay shattered.

The Northward Aspiration army suffered its heaviest losses since its founding, with over a thousand loyal souls forever remaining here.

The Jin forces likewise suffered grievous losses, with several thousand cavalry losing nearly half their number, rendering them unable in the short term to mount any effective pursuit.

Zhao Prefecture, this small town, together with the incredibly brutal and heroic defensive and breakout battle fought beneath its walls, will be deeply etched in the hearts of all survivors, and will spread far and wide through the words of those rescued civilians.

On the retreat, the atmosphere was heavy.

The surviving Northward Aspiration soldiers silently wiped the blood from their weapons, bound their wounds, many with hot tears in their eyes, yet they gritted their teeth, refusing to let them fall.

Chen Wen walked among the ranks, seeing these soldiers drenched in blood yet with eyes even more resolute, feeling that force tempered by blood and fire—not dissipated but rather strengthened—the 'Fortune Momentum,' and he understood it clearly.

The brutality of this battle further tempered the Northward Aspiration army's sinews and bones, solidifying their resolve to resist the Jin to the end and protect the common folk.

This banner has taken firm root amidst blood and fire.