Chapter 68: The Mohist School’s Mechanisms Are Unrivaled Under Heaven

The thirty thousand halberdiers led by the old General Yan had originally prepared to face Xuan Jian’s shield and blade soldiers, but now they found themselves confronting mechanical beasts instead.

Standing atop the tall chariot, Le Jian could see the mechanical war vehicles emerging from the dust.

“Damn it, there are still more than ten left! What nonsense is this so-called Mohist mechanical path?”

Even surrounded by Mohist experts, Le Jian could not restrain his anger. The useless Mohists hadn’t managed to destroy a single war vehicle.

Ashamed and panicked, the Mohist experts who had fled dared not argue. Once, they too believed: the Mohist mechanical path was unrivaled under heaven.

“Halberdiers and shieldmen, form ranks in the center! Crossbows to the flanks, prepare the catapults for support!”

The thirty thousand halberdiers ahead had not yet fallen into disorder, but Le Jian was already prepared to abandon them. What was once an offensive had turned into a defense.

After several rounds of bombardment, the steam tanks exhausted their ammunition. The machine cannons had fifty armor-piercing shells, a hundred fire rounds, over a thousand machine gun bullets, but even that was insufficient for the gunners.

Once the pressure cannon ceased, the panic-stricken twenty thousand halberdiers steadied themselves, though the war vehicles were about to overrun them.

The old General Yan had stopped issuing commands, retreating to the side on horseback.

The general was wise, and the soldiers not foolish. The twenty thousand strong army fell into complete chaos, dodging the war vehicles and the black tiger.

Many clever men, like the remnants escaping from the war vehicles, fled toward the flanks.

A loud rumbling signaled movement among the previously quiet twenty thousand northern cavalry. With the onset of a rain of arrows, the halberdiers collapsed entirely, abandoning their long weapons.

“Forget it! Better not disobey orders!” Remembering the royal command—no wanton slaughter of defeated soldiers—the war vehicle drivers began to slow down.

Running at high speed, the drivers were drenched in sweat; even the black tiger’s driver could not help but open the cockpit, letting cool air inside.

Watching the cavalry capture the halberdiers, Le Jian was unconcerned. He knew that Yan’s ten thousand cavalry could never best five thousand Hu horsemen.

In the past, Yan cavalry were not inferior to the Hu, but now the Hu riders were fully equipped, the iron cavalry of the northern army.

Slowly, the battlefield grew still, distant war vehicles still emitting fire and smoke.

“Why does the Grand General not advance?”

At the halt of the army, Yan Chun Jun, who had been boasting at the rear, hastily rode forward.

Advance, damn it! But Le Jian dared not utter it aloud.

“The army is defeated! Qing Qin and the old General Yan have been captured, the war vehicles utterly destroyed, and the thirty thousand halberdiers have surrendered!”

“What? How can this be?” Zhao Jia cried in panic, not worried for Yan’s troops but for himself!

Could it be… Yan Chun Jun’s face turned pale as he scrambled onto the mobile platform.

High up, he could see farther, but the scene before him was not what he wished to witness.

Wood still burned across the battlefield, black smoke rising in columns, as if the cries of corpses.

Occasionally, trembling red horse legs revealed the unwilling spirit of the steeds.

“Damn it! Where are the Mohist mechanical beasts?” Seeing the war vehicles and black tiger halted nearby, Yan Chun Jun seemed to understand.

At some point, the Mohist experts had slipped away, even the Vermilion Bird in the sky had begun its return.

The Six-Fingered Black Hero had decided: never again to come to Yan, the Mohists would retreat to seclusion and prepare their grand stroke.

“Hmph! The world is bright, yet I alone remain in darkness! Today, I finally understand.”

Le Jian smiled bitterly and shook his head; these Mohists truly possessed black hearts—no doubt they would soon slink back to their lair.

Understanding dawned, and Yan Chun Jun understood completely.

“Damn Mohists! Grand General, can you repel them?”

Now, Xuan Jian’s twenty thousand infantry began to press forward, waiting for the war vehicles to finish cooling before the Liao West army would attack.

Repel them? Le Jian wanted to spit in his face!

“Yan Chun Jun, I am incompetent and have suffered a great defeat. I willingly accept punishment. I ask you to lead the army personally and inspire our troops. Thus, Yan’s warriors will fight to the death and may break the Liao West army under the North King’s resistance.”

Le Jian was sincere, kneeling at once to confess, his deputy holding the tiger tally in both hands.

“Yes! Yan Chun Jun, take the tally and steady the army!” Zhao Jia was frightened; he sensed Yan’s morale had collapsed.

Le Jian meant to escape, leaving him to die. To enter the field now was certain death.

“Damned Le Jian! I once urged the Yan King not to break the alliance, but you all acted with arrogance and unruliness! You hold the line, I’ll return to Ji City to ask the king to halt the campaign!”

Yan Chun Jun instantly understood! The alliance of two nations and three armies, the six hundred thousand coalition—surely, it was doomed!

Even the weakest Liao West army could defeat them, let alone the terrifying North King who had yet to act.

“This—Yan Chun Jun!” Le Jian gritted his teeth; the Yan royal family planned to make him the scapegoat.

Indeed, the Yan royals were never benevolent! Once, the mighty General Le Yi had to flee to Zhao in the end!

“Yan Chun Jun, what do you mean? Shouldn’t we defeat the northern army first?”

“What if the Yan King blames us? Have you thought of that?”

Zhao Jia was furious—the Yan dog meant to flee! If so, Zhao’s army would surely be defeated as well.

“Hmph! Zhao Jia, if not for your country’s schemes, how would Yan break ties with the North? Absolute Shadow, watch over Prince Jia, do not let him come to harm!”

Yan Chun Jun, face twisted with rage, spurred his horse away, abandoning both his ornate carriage and war vehicles.

Zhao Jia was restrained by Absolute Shadow, dragged onto a warhorse and taken away.

With the fools gone, the remaining generals could no longer contain themselves.

“Grand General! Yan Chun Jun has fled, what should we do?”

“We cannot wait any longer—if the North King arrives, the Yan army will be utterly destroyed!”

Yes! That terrifying man has not yet come! The North’s most formidable snowfield wild-men army has not appeared!

“Alas! Order the army to retreat at once! Le Shan, you stay behind to cover us!”

Le Jian spoke mournfully; he could only leave his eldest son to cover the retreat, else the commanders would refuse.

“Yes, Father!” Le Shan bowed deeply. This farewell might be forever.

Ha! The generals rejoiced, mounted their horses, and hurried back to camp; those who once showed respect for Le Jian now ignored him.

Everyone understood, Le Jian was finished.

Le Jian himself knew he could not die yet; otherwise, the Yan king’s wrath would fall upon the Le clan.

Of the sixty thousand Yan soldiers, only ten thousand shield and halberd men, along with the chariot crossbows and catapults, remained. The other fifty thousand hastily retreated.

In the chaos, many commanders could not find their own men—perhaps the soldiers deliberately avoided their officers.

Liao West army, rear formation.

A thunderous roar echoed.

The dragon horses bellowed loudly.

“It’s the King! Quick—make way!”

“Make way!”

The dense ranks fell into panic, an avenue formed down the line.

The King! Xuan Jian frowned.

The divine demon chariot hadn’t arrived, but that strange rage was visible from afar as a blazing fire.

“Quick, board the war vehicles! The King is coming!” Drivers still cooling themselves hastened to their posts.

As long as the machine cannons and guns were inactive, the war vehicle boilers would not radiate excessive heat.

Xuan Jian had just opened the cockpit, then stopped.

“Xuan Jian stays with infantry to handle prisoners; Thunder leads the cavalry to capture Yan’s army.”

Ignoring the officers’ reactions, the chariot accelerated, soon appearing before the Yan troops with a whistle.

“It’s their North King!”

“How is that chariot so fast?”

Earlier, amid the chaos of the northern army, Le Shan had hoped Zhao’s cavalry had arrived!

But instead, a great chariot roared forward in a cloud of dust.

A rumbling thunder.

“Mindshadow troops, do not eat anyone!” In the future, Lin Shu would travel to Yan and did not wish for a reputation as a cannibal.

The dragon horse let out another bellow, expressing its anger.

[It’s the commander!] Mindshadow was a little disappointed—the airship hadn’t fed in a long while.

Devouring men not only absorbed spiritual energy, but most importantly deepened the integration with the world.

The lingering souls of the devoured also merged into the main brain, used to build and condense Mindshadow’s soul body.