Chapter 571: The Isolated Army's Dire Situation

The sky over Yancheng was gloomier than it had ever been.

Lead-colored clouds hung low over the city walls, as if they might collapse at any moment.

The air had no wind, only a sticky, suffocating heaviness.

Even the usually noisy crows had shrunk into their nests, not making a sound.

Yet this silence was more heart-pounding than any clamor.

The Yue Family Army soldiers guarding the city walls gripped their polished spear shafts or sword hilts tightly, yet cold sweat continually seeped from their palms.

Their gazes were fixed firmly on the north, west, and east.

There, where the once-open fields met the horizon, at some point it had become covered with dense, silently moving black dots.

They were not scouts.

They were organized military formations.

The infantry square formations spread like black moss, slowly and steadily advancing toward Yancheng.

The cavalry clusters resembled wandering wolf packs, tracing arcs on the outer perimeter, sealing off every possible entry and exit route.

Banners stood thick as a forest.

The most striking among them was the great banner embroidered with a ferocious wolf head, representing the personal presence of Wanyan Zongbi.

The main force of the Jin army had finally completed the encirclement.

It was not a probe, not a harassment.

It was a genuine, watertight encirclement.

What made the soldiers on the walls feel even colder was that, in the gaps between the Jin formations, on the southern horizon where friendly troops should have been stationed,

it was empty.

The camp banners of other Song army units that had been faintly visible a few days earlier had vanished completely overnight.

It was as if no troops had ever been stationed there.

Only hastily abandoned fences, extinguished hearths, and some odds and ends left behind in the rush bore witness that they had once been there before fleeing in panic.

Yancheng had become a truly isolated city, abandoned behind enemy lines.

"The scouts sent yesterday by Zhang Xian's unit to contact General Liu Qi's forces to the west have returned."

Wang Gui climbed the city tower, found Yue Fei observing the enemy situation, and his voice was hoarse.

"General Liu Qi's forces... three days ago received an urgent order from the Privy Council to withdraw south to Chen Prefecture (present-day Huaiyang) and take up defensive positions. The message they left for us was... 'Our forces are thin, unable to resist the main Jin force; following orders to move south, we hope Commander Yue... will make a decision soon.'"

Yue Fei did not turn his head, merely gripping the edge of the battlement, his knuckles turning pale from the force.

Make a decision early?

Decide what?

Is it to decide to abandon Yancheng and 'break through' the iron-barrel encirclement of hundreds of thousands of Jin troops?

Or is it to decide to 'follow the order' and stage a doomed-to-fail 'retreat' under the enemy's nose?

"And the east? Any trace of General Han Shizhong's scouts? \" he asked, his voice showing no ripple.

"Yesterday afternoon, the last detachment of Han family army's scout horse banners was still fifty li away. This morning... they had vanished. According to refugees who returned, last night a large cavalry unit marched south at speed, dust obscuring the moon."

Wang Gui's voice grew ever lower.

Yue Fei slowly closed his eyes.

The eastern and western wings, originally mutually supportive like horns and able to respond to each other, thus withdrew without a sound, under the Imperial Court's order or some tacit agreement, leaving nothing behind.

This left him and his Yue Family Army completely exposed to the spearhead of the Jin main force.

No, perhaps it is not 'exposure'.

It is 'offering up'.

Using Yue Fei's head and the blood of tens of thousands of his Yue Family Army soldiers, to add the heaviest chip to some people's 'peace talks grand scheme,' or to present a sacrifice demonstrating 'sincerity.'

What a ruthless heart.

What a ruthless plan.

He could even imagine those officials in Lin'an, at this very moment perhaps sipping fragrant tea while 'worriedly' discussing the news of 'Yue Fei's isolated army advancing recklessly, unfortunately falling into a tight encirclement,' then naturally proceeding to plan the next steps of 'damage control.'

Desolate sorrow.

A piercing desolation, sharper than this deep autumn's cold wind, instantly soaked through his limbs and bones.

But he could not fall.

At least, not here, not now.

"Pass the order."

Yue Fei opened his eyes, bloodshot threads filling them, yet he was now as still as ice.

"Close the four gates, raise the drawbridges. All soldiers, mount the walls according to the assigned defense zones; no one may leave without orders."

"Incorporate the militia into the auxiliary units to assist with transport, medical care, and cooking."

"Granaries, armories, and water sources are to have double shifts, directly guarded by the Iron Mountain Army's personal guards. Without my hand order, not a grain of rice nor an arrow may be moved."

"Tell all the soldiers and civilians of the city—"

He paused, then raised his voice, which rang out clearly over the city tower, overriding that suffocating silence.

"Reinforcements are temporarily gone."

"The retreat route has also been cut off."

"The Imperial Court's order told us to withdraw, but now we cannot withdraw."

On the walls and below, countless gazes gathered on him, filled with panic, despair, and a final glimmer of hope.

"But!"

Yue Fei's voice suddenly rose, like the ringing of metal on metal, resounding firmly.

Yan City is still in our hands!

The city walls are still beneath our feet!

Our Yue Family Army's banner has not yet fallen!

He drew the sword at his waist, the blade pointing toward the endless black tide outside the city.

If the Jin barbarians want to take Yan City, they must ask the swords in our hands whether they agree!

They must ask the iron pagodas that died outside Yan City whether they agree!

We might die.

But before we die, we must make the Jin dogs remember: to gnaw a bone of our Han family, they must first break all their teeth!

Tell Jin Wuchu—

His voice shook the four wilds, carrying a desperate roar.

Grandfather Yue is waiting for him right here in Yan City!

If you have the guts, come!

A brief deathly silence.

Immediately, from various points on the city walls, there arose initially scattered, then merging into a whole, and finally like a tsunami's roar.

Fight to the death!

Fight to the death!!!

Fight to the death!!!

Despair often gives birth to the most frenzied strength.

When retreat is cut off, when hope is slim, what remains is only the bloody courage to perish together with the enemy.

What Yue Fei wants is precisely this bloody courage.

He must twist the fear throughout the city into a single resolve to die fighting.

This may be cruel.

But this is the only thing in desperate circumstances that could possibly create a miracle.

Black Cloud Stronghold.

It was almost the same time that Yan City was being encircled.

Chen Wen, sitting in meditation, suddenly clutched his forehead and let out a muffled groan.

A wave of dizziness and palpitations so strong it almost made him vomit surged upon him.

His vision went dark, his ears rang.

It was not illness.

It was the "Shi Yong" sensation and the "Script Reading" ability, producing a passive yet intense resonance under the impact of the violent, rapidly deteriorating "grand trend" in the south!

He barely leaned on the desk, gasping.

Without needing to actively investigate, countless chaotic, perilous, murderous fragmentary information surged into his perception like a breached dam flood.

The light of that 'sword' was being rapidly devoured and compressed by an impenetrable black 'iron curtain' representing the Jin army!

Other light points representing allied or related forces were swiftly receding, dimming, and disappearing!

And the golden 'chain' coming from the Lin'an direction not only did not loosen, but wound tighter, even beginning to emit a cold, mocking 'light'.

What made his scalp tingle even more was that, within the compressed light of that 'sword', those several murky black dots were abnormally active, 'jumping'!

Among them, one black dot's 'position' and 'activity level' almost completely coincided with the 'grain and materiel transport vital point' he had previously sensed!

The insider... is about to move!

Right when the Jin army is encircling, at the moment of greatest pressure!

Chen Wen instantly understood.

This is the most vicious moment.

Outside there is a siege like Mount Tai pressing down; inside there is the danger of hidden arrows wounding people.

When attacked from both inside and out, even an ironclad army could collapse in an instant!

Fast! Faster!

He roared in his heart.

That secret letter had been sent out two days ago.

According to the most optimistic estimate, it should have just crossed the Yellow River now; from Yan City, it is still at least a day and a half to two days' journey away!

It's too late!

Even if the letter could arrive in time, facing such desperation, what could Yue Fei do?

Could he instantly conjure up food and arrows?

Could he make the vanished allied troops return?

Could he immediately dig out the poisonous thorn hidden in his heart?

No.

So...

Chen Wen suddenly rose to his feet, bloodshot veins spreading in his eyes.

He could wait no longer.

The long-distance channel granted to him, having been overused last time and with the new token not yet formed, cannot currently be stably established.

The northern harassments pose only a limited threat to the Jin main force determined to swallow Yan City in one gulp.

Then, only one last method remains.

A method extremely risky, possibly exposing more strength of the Northward Aspiration Army, and possibly even inviting direct targeting by the Iron Crow Army.

But he must do it.

Someone come!

His voice was hoarse, yet it bore an unquestionable resolve.

Quickly summon Heavenly King Chao, Instructor Lin, Military Advisor Wu, the Ruan brothers, and… Steward Wang Ru, to the Hall of Righteous Gathering at once!

There is an urgent matter that requires an immediate decision!

The personal guards, having received the order, sprinted away.

Chen Wen walked to the window, gazing southward, his eyes seeming to pierce thousands of mountains and rivers, seeing that lone city being battered by black tides.

Brother Pengju…

The letter is still on the way.

But reinforcements… might perhaps arrive sooner by another means.

Hold on.

You must hold on!

He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

The fate of Yancheng, the spark of the Northern Expedition, and even the crucial battle of the entire 'script world' against the Iron Crow Army all hung upon that tottering city wall.

Whatever stakes he could put up, he had to put them all in.