The Demon Lords-Chapter 687 - 134: Breaking Through the Barrier_3

At this moment, the Sword Saint suddenly longed for another battle like the one he had experienced beneath the city tower of Fengxin. However, this wish was destined to disappoint him, because the army had directly stormed into the Snow Sea Pass! Yes, that's right, they had directly stormed into the Snow Sea Pass. Xue Three, who had scouted ahead, had confidently declared that there would be no issues. Liang Cheng also gave his assurance, believing that capturing this city was a foregone conclusion. Indeed, it turned out to be true.

The Snow Sea Pass, on its west side, connected to a branch extending eastward from the Skybreak Mountain range, while to its east lay the ocean. The Snow Sea Pass often mentioned by the Jin people indeed referred to this formidable structure. However, what true military strategists valued was the network of Beacon Forts centered around the Snow Sea Pass, extending for dozens of miles to its east and west. For centuries, this system had thwarted the wild people's desire to move south. And now, the target of the Shengle army was the Snow Sea Pass itself.

Overall, its layout resembled a hollow square. Its north side featured a very long, straight defensive line, somewhat like the Great Wall, linking a series of Beacon Forts and military camps. The Snow Sea Pass itself was not merely this single line; three additional sides were built south of this line, forming a square-shaped city. To enhance its defenses, the Jin ancestors had constructed an outward projection on the north side of this square city, creating a protruding shape. For symmetry, the south side also featured a similar outward projection.

But at its core, the renowned sturdiness of the Snow Sea Pass stemmed from its defensive capabilities against attacks from the northern snow plains, relying on the entire Beacon Fort defensive chain. It was also important to understand that when the Jin ancestors built this formidable pass, they had already expelled the wild people from the land of Three Jin, driving them onto the snow plains. Therefore, it only needed to defend against attacks from the north. As for the south… how could there possibly be an attack from the south?

However, when Zheng Fan's Shengle army launched their assault, they targeted the south side, attacking from south to north. While city walls and fortifications existed on this side, they were perfunctory and lacked the robust, intricate design of the Snow Sea Pass's northern defenses. Simultaneously, the most amusing aspect—and what made Xue Three consider this battle the least challenging—was that the wild people themselves had created several breaches in the southern wall of the Snow Sea Pass. This meant there was no need for battering rams, siege engines, or even scaling ladders; the army could simply charge through these openings.

Two reasons explained this seemingly absurd situation. First, hatred. The wild people truly loathed this pass, which for centuries had confined them and prevented them from venturing south. This was akin to Zhao Lao'er in the history Zheng Fan knew: after finally capturing Taiyuan with great difficulty and suffering immense hardship before its walls, he had simply ordered the formidable city destroyed. The wild people felt similarly; the very sight of the Snow Sea Pass enraged them, and they couldn't find peace until they had inflicted some damage. Second, using a single entrance and exit was too inconvenient. With vast numbers of slaves, goods, and food being transported to the snow plains, it was simply easier to create more openings. These two peculiar reasons had led to the current awkward predicament at the Snow Sea Pass.

In reality, if news of these subsequent tribes daring to act so recklessly hadn't reached the Wild People King, prompting him to swiftly dispatch a messenger to scold and stop them, the Snow Sea Pass might have already been dismantled by the wild people. Even so, these few breaches were more than enough for the Shengle army to storm directly through.

The wild people troops originally stationed at the Snow Sea Pass had been redeployed to participate in the "encirclement." Consequently, fewer than two thousand wild people warriors remained within the pass, and they were scattered. This was because a major tribe was currently transporting a large number of slaves out of the pass and into the snow plains, requiring a significant contingent of wild people warriors to maintain order and prevent escapes. As a result, only a few hundred wild people warriors were actually guarding the city walls.

Even the wisest king cannot prevent blunders among his followers. Capturing this city proved even easier than when General Zheng had taken Mianzhou city at the outset of his campaigns. Back then, General Zheng had only three hundred barbarian soldiers; now, he commanded nearly ten thousand elite cavalry!

The wild people had no time to react before the Shengle army charged into the city, slaughtering any wild people they encountered. Unfortunately, there weren't enough enemies to satisfy the soldiers, who were still fired up from General Zheng's recent speech. Upon entering, they discovered a frustrating lack of wild people upon whom to vent their fury. Even the Sword Saint, leveraging his flying sword, barely managed to claim three heads. Honestly, he mused, this is a pale imitation of the thrill from that night in Fengxin.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

The Shengle soldiers began a thorough search, hunting down and slaughtering wild people like a pack of insatiable beasts. If Liang Cheng hadn't led a contingent of troops to sternly warn and restrain them, these blood-crazed soldiers might have even slaughtered the slaves held captive by the wild people—slaves who were, crucially, Jin people. This was the downside of soldiers overcome by bloodlust. Fortunately, control was re-established in time, averting a tragic incident of friendly fire.

General Zheng, however, seemed quite at leisure. He had taken A Ming and ascended the city wall early on. A Ming sipped methodically from a wineskin, while Zheng Fan cracked sunflower seeds one by one. Both men were adept at projecting an air of nonchalant calm amidst intense and stimulating circumstances.

"A Ming, there are two paths before me now," Zheng Fan said.

"My lord, please elaborate."

"One is to hit and run." Zheng Fan gestured downwards with his finger. "If we don't leave, tens of thousands of wild people will converge here. Once they blockade this pass, escape will be impossible. North of the Snow Sea Pass lies the snow plains, the wild people's heartland."

"And the other path is not to run?" A Ming asked.

"Correct. Not to run, but to hold this position," Zheng Fan replied. He turned to look behind him. There, numerous recently rescued slaves were weeping, while many of his soldiers continued to hunt down hidden wild people. "If we can hold this pass, none of the wild people armies that invaded south this time will escape back to the snow plains." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"My lord, in truth, we have no choice," A Ming stated.

"Why is that?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Because," A Ming explained, "although Lord Jingnan didn't assign us a specific mission and merely deployed us as a surprise contingent, if he later learns that we captured the Snow Sea Pass only to abandon it and flee… Lord Jingnan would kill you."