Chapter 719: New Pre-BC Night

Huai Xi, Knife Plow camp.

The furnace fire flickered in the night.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) stood before the third furnace, not yet fully extinguished, orange‑red firelight leaping across his face.

Behind him lay the camp's outline gradually sinking into darkness.

The shadows of the wooden walls were stretched long; the newly dug moat resembled a silent wound encircling this fragile vitality.

Xu Da and Tang He stood one on his left, one on his right.

Each held a freshly compiled list.

"Men able to bear arms, including those who fled from the north over the past two days and were vetted and taken in, total five hundred thirty‑seven."

Xu Da's voice was low and clear.

"Of them, 120 were issued iron spearheads; 45 received forged iron swords or hatchets; the rest still used sharpened wooden spears or bamboo lances."

"Twenty‑seven hunting bows, arrows insufficient, currently being rushed into production."

"The camp walls are eighty percent reinforced; on the east and south sides, the directions most likely to be hit, anti‑cavalry obstacles and pits have been added outside the walls. The moat depth meets standards, but the plan to divert water via irrigation canals failed—the riverbank water level is too low."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) listened silently.

His gaze swept over the numbers carefully recorded in charcoal on the list.

"How about food?"

Tang He interjected, his tone somewhat heavy.

"All granaries have been tallied: millet, mixed beans, dried vegetables, plus recent hunting and gathering yields; if rationed, they can last at most two months."

"If… if we take in more refugees, that time will be even shorter."

"Water is temporarily no concern, but following your orders we dug new deep wells upstream and downstream, away from the river. The water from the new wells has much less of that sweet‑foul taste."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) nodded.

The survival baseline remains taut.

But compared to having nothing when we first arrived, at least now we have a rough wall, a batch of iron tools, and a group of people who have begun to cohere in blood and fire.

"Has the news brought by Guo Rong and them been verified?"

"Verified." Xu Da said, "When questioned separately, their accounts basically match. The North‑coming Sha Xing cavalry have a high rate of armor, fast horses, great strength, and are extraordinarily brutal. The places they have swept through see vegetation wither, the land and water corrupted, and…"

He paused.

"Moreover, there seem to be beasts, driven and mutated, active at night."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang)'s eyes narrowed slightly.

Systemic contamination, the embryonic form of a biological weapon?

"How about the coal mine?"

"Mined day and night in shifts, reserves are still fairly abundant. But the deeper we dig, the more blue streaks appear in the rock strata. Coal near those streaks burns with smoke that turns somewhat bluish; we have temporarily isolated and stored it."

"Hmm." Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) pondered a moment, "Select the cleanest, highest‑quality coal, store it separately for possible future key experiments or high‑precision iron‑making fuel. The rest is for daily use."

He lifted his head, gazing toward the deep, starless northern night sky.

"Before autumn…"

He softly repeated that warning from the east once more.

Time is short.

"Starting tomorrow, implement the third training plan."

"In squads, simulate dispersal, blocking, delaying, and rallying counterattacks under the impact of superior cavalry."

"Focus on practicing entangled combat relying on fortifications and complex terrain, not head‑on clashes."

"We lack iron, and have no armor. We cannot fill the enemy's horse hooves with flesh and blood."

Xu Da and Tang He solemnly assented.

"Also, continue the observation logs around the stone formation. Record any slight change, even if a guard merely feels his heartbeat quicken while standing nearby."

"The trial of smoke columns and flag signals has completed its three‑day cycle. Although no direct response was received, per the plan we repeat it every seven days at clear noon."

"Keep this 'heartbeat'."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) withdrew his gaze, looking at the two brothers who had followed him earliest.

"We are here not merely to survive."

"We want to survive, and to survive with understanding, with backbone."

"The enemy to the north, the officials to the south, and that unseen hand pulling the strings of fate…"

"What they want is for us to kneel, or lie down."

His voice rang unusually clear in the night wind.

"But we insist on standing."

"And in this place where we stand, we will pile up our walls, raise our fires, and forge our swords."

Xu Da and Tang He's chests rose and fell slightly.

In the darkness, their eyes gleamed like the embers of the furnace, shining with stubborn light.

Chen Dynasty, Bei Jing Governor's Office.

Yue Fei stood before a huge sand table.

The sand table clearly displayed the terrain where the Bei Jing defense line meets the light curtain.

Blue flags representing Chen Dynasty's military strength were densely planted at key passes, gates, and high ground.

On the other side of the light curtain lay the vast expanse of the script world, largely blank.

Only in the East Liao direction were a few flags inserted, their edges deliberately dyed dark red, beside which small dates and brief information were noted.

"Eleven strongholds…"

Yue Fei's finger brushed over those several dark red flags.

"Slaughter, plunder, swift withdrawal."

"The Yuan Court's response was slow and chaotic, limited to ordering surrounding prefectures and counties to heighten alert, with no signs of large-scale troop mobilization for encirclement and suppression."

By his side stood several young officers from the Martial Lecture Hall, each with a solemn expression.

"Commander Yue, the Jurchen forces this time have shown combat power vastly different from past records. The fleeing soldiers' claims of 'glowing blue eyes' and 'great strength unharmed by wounds' may be exaggerated by fear, but multiple confirmations indicate they must have some extraordinary reliance."

An officer said in a low voice.

"Our defenses are solid, but the light curtain blocks them, making proactive detection difficult. If they digest the spoils of plunder and their strength grows further, their spearhead may not necessarily head only south."

Yue Fei nodded slightly.

"The sovereign has already issued clear orders; the Northern Frontier is fully shifted to wartime alert."

"Starting tomorrow, each defense zone will conduct a ten‑day live‑troop live‑equipment drill according to Plan No. 3 of Class A."

"The focus is to verify, when encountering high‑speed, high‑impact enemies suspected of possessing individual abnormal combat power, whether all‑level command channels remain unobstructed, whether preset fire interception zones are effective, and whether the timing of reserve counter‑strikes is grasped."

His gaze swept over the officers.

"Remember, what we face may not be any army recorded in history."

"Do not let the old names 'Jurchen' and 'barbarian tribes' bind your judgment."

"Imagine them as……a kind of 'disaster' wearing human skin."

"And our duty is to turn this line of defense into a dam that this kind of 'disaster' cannot cross."

The officers stood stern.

"Furthermore," Yue Fei paused, "the newly compiled Manual for Identifying and Initial Handling of Anomalous Phenomena from the Martial Lecture Hall has been distributed to the prefectural level. All officers of rank company commander and above must study it thoroughly."

"It records, based on current information, the possible manifestations of Yuneng Pollution as deduced by the Ministry of Works and the Imperial Observatory, together with preliminary response suggestions based on the principle of potential energy."

"Even if it merely lets the soldiers know, when encountering enemies with glowing blue eyes, the first reaction should not be to turn and flee, but to immediately light signal flares, call for support, hold formation with long weapons to keep distance……"

"That could save many lives."

The lights in the sand table room were bright.

The silhouettes of Yue Fei and the officers were firmly pinned onto the mountain‑river defense line of the Northern Frontier behind them.

Dark Dimension.

The consciousness of the Iron Crow Army's master, like a cold, viscous current, gently swept over the two 'focuses' it paid attention to.

The red dot in Huai Xi seemed to have stabilized somewhat in brightness.

It even 'detected' an extremely faint but continuous 'active fluctuation'.

Like fireflies stubbornly flashing their own frequency.

Foolish.

But……it cannot be completely ignored.

The dark blue region in the north was like clear water into which ink had been poured, its color continually deepening and its range continually expanding.

Each successful raid, each bit of fear that sprouts, makes that dark blue mass a little more solid.

It was quite satisfied.

Compared to the seed in the south that must have its pressure carefully controlled yet constantly pushes tender shoots through the cracks of the rules.

The poisonous vine that grows wildly in the nutrient solution it personally poured in the north obviously suits its taste better and is more efficient.

Continue to nourish……

Its consciousness flowed toward the north, becoming denser.

Make the bones harder……

Make the blades thirstier……

Make their hoofbeats become the death knell for all 'variables' on this land……

It 'looked' at the faint flash to the south.

It also 'looked' at the stable gold‑colored territory opposite the light curtain, which it instinctively despised.

Soon.

When the poisonous vine in the north grows thick enough, it will command this vine to first crush the disobedient spark in the south.

Then, using this vine that has absorbed enough 'historical nutrients' and 'fear toxin', it will entwine, erode, and finally strangle the foundation of the golden barrier opposite.

The script must return to its proper course.

All actors must return to their own positions.

Or……they will disappear forever.

Under the night sky, the old camp of Jianzhou was dotted with bonfires.

Nurhaci was not in the grand tent.

He stood on a hill at the edge of the camp, gazing at the southern land sinking into darkness.

The night wind howled, lifting the hem of his fur robe.

Behind him stood a few trusted officers and the old Manchu holding a bone staff, silent and solemn.

"Any news from Happy Peak Pass, Amin?"

"Report to the Great Khan: the last batch of scouts returned, confirming that the insiders said the garrison would rotate in three days. The newcomers are a bunch of the old and weak, with lax defenses. The location of the granary has also been ascertained."

Nurhaci nodded slowly.

His eyes occasionally flashed an extremely pale, non‑human gray‑blue in the darkness.

The power surging within his body and the occasional crow-like whispers that seemed to come from the Nine Netherworlds in his ears were urging him.

Toward the south.

Seize.

Conquest.

Tell A Min, act according to the plan.

What I want is not to break that wall.

What I want is to make the emperor of the south and his ministers remember deep in their bones——

This wall can no longer block our blades.

Old Sa's bone staff in his embrace, the crystal at its top flickered faintly.

As if responding.

Huai Xi camp, beside the stone formation.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) last checked the basic symbols he would teach those youths tomorrow.

Simple numbers, a few symbols representing direction, danger, and gathering.

These are another batch of seeds he has sown, concerning 'order' and 'knowledge'.

He raised his head.

The eastern horizon was still a sheet of deep black.

But he knew that the darkest moment before dawn was about to pass.

A new day, new collisions, new survival trials will all arrive with the light.

He, his camp, this fragile yet stubborn line of defense.

And on both sides of the light curtain, the unseen player and the heavy piece about to fall.

All have been tensed in the silence of this 'eve'.

A new era written together by steel, flame, belief, and unknown power.

Its curtain already looms.