Chapter 516

The news of the heavy casualties suffered by the Northward Aspiration Army in the Battle of Zhao Prefecture, together with their deeds of turning the tide in dire straits and sacrificing themselves to protect the populace, were like dandelion seeds blown up by the wind, mixed with the scent of blood and fire, drifting to every corner of Hebei, Shandong, and even farther places.

This news was no longer merely a victory report; it was a solemn war song composed with lives, deeply shaking countless hearts struggling and wandering in the chaotic times.

The remnants of the Northward Aspiration Army, together with the rescued civilians, retreated southward all the way, finally taking temporary refuge at an abandoned stronghold called Black Cloud Stronghold at the junction of Hebei East Circuit and Shandong West Circuit.

The terrain here is perilous, easy to defend but hard to attack, and it lies near Chao Gai's secret base, making resupply convenient.

The stronghold walls are not yet fully repaired, and the barracks are mostly makeshift huts, but a brand-new Northward Aspiration banner now flies high above the gate.

The wounded received preliminary treatment, and the exhausted soldiers gained a rare chance to catch their breath.

Yet a low, oppressive atmosphere still hung over the camp.

The grief over fallen comrades, like dark clouds, lingered in everyone's brows.

But this oppression was suddenly shattered a few days later.

First came several small groups of routed troops and village militia, following the rumors to arrive.

Most were in tattered clothes with broken weapons, yet their eyes burned with an unyielding fire.

The leading man found Lin Chong inspecting the wounded camp, kowtowed, and spoke in a hoarse yet resolute voice:

"General Lin! We fled from Ci Prefecture!

The government troops ran faster than rabbits, leaving only us who refuse to be slaves of a fallen nation!

We heard the Northward Aspiration Army are real men, daring to fight the gold dogs to the death while protecting the common folk!

We few hundred have no skills, only worthless lives left! Please, General, take us in and let us follow you to fight back!"

Lin Chong helped the man up, looking at the thin but straight-backed men behind him; the sorrow in his heart, knotted by comrades' sacrifice, seemed to be eased by a warm current.

He nodded heavily:

"All fine fellows! The Northward Aspiration Army wants brothers just like you!

From now on we are one family, sharing life and death, jointly resisting the gold bandits!"

Soon after, visitors from Shandong, Hebei, and even farther afield began arriving in an endless stream outside Black Cloud Stronghold.

Some were leaders of scattered local militias, bringing dozens or hundreds of men to join;

some, having heard of the Northward Aspiration Army's name, sold their estates, bringing provisions and weapons to offer their service as local magnates;

furthermore, some were low-ranking officers in the False Song army, frustrated or utterly disillusioned with the Imperial Court, who shed their uniforms, risking being seen as deserters, and came from afar to join.

"I was originally the Commander of the Garrison of Zhending Prefecture, Zhao Polu!"

A burly man with a fierce scar on his face cupped his fists before Ruan Xiaoer, who was in charge of reception, his voice like a great bell.

"When the city fell, the superiors all fled; it was I who led my dozens of brothers, fighting the gold dogs in the streets for three days!

How hateful that the Imperial Court is incompetent, with no reinforcements arriving!

I am unwilling! This deep blood-sea grudge cannot go unavenged!

I heard that the Northward Aspiration Army's Chief Instructor Lin and Heavenly King Chao are outstanding heroes who specialize in slaying gold dogs; I have come specially to join, willing to offer my humble service!"

Similar words, Ruan Xiaoer has to hear several times a day.

While arranging personnel to register and verify origins, he also sent messengers to report to Chen Wen and Chao Gai, who were holding the rear.

Manpower, horses, and even scattered provisions and arms, like streams flowing into a great river, continually strengthened the Northward Aspiration Army's power.

The forces, which had dwindled after the bloody battle at Zhao Prefecture, not only fully recovered within a short half-month but even slightly exceeded their former size!

However, the rapid expansion of scale also brought new challenges.

Personnel composition is complex, ideological levels uneven, and the commander system faces trial.

More importantly, consumption of provisions and materiel has doubled, and relying solely on Chao Gai's base output and the Chen dynasty's secret transfusions is beginning to feel strained.

Inside the temporarily expanded central command tent at Black Cloud Stronghold.

Lin Chong's wounds not yet healed, his face still somewhat pale, but his spirits were quite uplifted.

He pointed to several newly marked points on the map and said to the just-arrived Chen Wen and Chao Gai:

"Mr. Chen, Brother Chao Gai, now in Hebei West and East Circuits, and even Jingdong East Circuit, there are seventeen large and small rebel militias or local forces that have sent envoys to contact us, expressing their willingness to take our Northward Aspiration Army as leader and jointly resist the gold!

Among the larger ones are Ma Kuo's forces active at Five Horse Mountain, and the Wu Xian group occupying Zanhuang Mountain, etc."

His tone carried a hint of irrepressible excitement.

"If we could integrate these forces, mutually supporting as wings, then our army in Hebei would no longer fight alone!"

Chao Gai slapped the table hard, making the teacup on it jump.

"Good thing! A great good thing!

Now we're no longer just small-scale skirmishes!

Chief Instructor Lin, quickly produce a charter: how to liaison, how to coordinate warfare!

Provisions and weapons, we old brothers will think of ways, squeezing out whatever we can!"

Chen Wen's gaze slowly swept over the map's markings scattered like stars; he could clearly feel a faint but tenacious Fortune Momentum rising from those places, like trickling streams, flowing toward Black Cloud Stronghold and toward the Northward Aspiration banner.

He pondered a moment, then spoke:

"Integrating all sides is imperative.

Yet we must not rush it, nor simply swallow them whole.

We should use the Northward Aspiration ideal as a bond to establish an anti-gold united front."

He looked toward Lin Chong.

"We can dispatch capable agents, carrying our army's charter and tokens, to each rebel force, to explain our resolve to advance and retreat together, to share life and death, and to agree on contact signals and basic principles of coordinated warfare.

At the same time, we can invite the leaders of each army to a set-time covenant to discuss grand plans."

He then turned to Chao Gai.

"Provisions and arms are indeed the pressing priority.

On one hand, increase the transfer effort from the Chen dynasty; the improved transport route renovated by Old Lao Nian of Zhao can handle more;

On the other hand, within the controlled area, we can trial the Military Farming System, mobilizing soldiers and civilians together to reclaim wasteland for production, using war to sustain war.

Furthermore, for prefectures and counties where False Song's control is weak and which are friendly to our army, we can try barter trade to procure supplies secretly.

With the strategy set, the entire Northward Aspiration Army-controlled area sprang to life like a wound-up machine, operating at high speed.

Detachments of messengers carried documents stamped with the Northward Aspiration Army's seal and specially made tokens, rushing to all places;

Chao Gai personally supervised, marking out military farming zones in the valleys and basins around Black Cloud Stronghold suitable for cultivation, distributing seeds and tools, with veteran soldiers leading the newly attached troops and refugees in land reclamation;

Qian Gui's covert lines became even more active, exchanging Shandong sea salt and the special products supported by the Chen Dynasty, through various overt and covert channels, for urgently needed grain, iron, and medicinal herbs.

A spark of fire gradually grew into the momentum of a prairie fire.

A single "Northward Aspiration" banner not only gathered the scattered anti-Jin forces from all over, but also began to construct, across the vast northern lands, a loose prototype of an anti-Jin alliance centered on Black Cloud Stronghold, bound by shared belief and practical interests.

Although the road ahead remains difficult, with strong enemies surrounding us and internal integration no easy task, the seed of hope has already been sown, and, nourished by blood and soil, it tenaciously burns and spreads.