Keyboard Immortal

Chapter 2844: Danger

“Annihilation envoy...” Zu An thought about the Doomsday Beast, which had been strong enough to single-handedly destroy the powerful Monster World.

An Annihilation envoy was bound to be much stronger than that.

“Mere soldiers harnessing Annihilation power can’t hope to defeat Augustus. It would take someone of the level of an Annihilation deity,” Hermes replied grimly.

“What about the others from the Holy Knight Order, like Adrian?” Zu An asked.

“They went missing after that battle. We didn’t find Adrian’s corpse, but Annihilation worshipers rarely leave intact corpses behind in the first place. It’s unlikely that he’s still alive,” Hermes snorted in displeasure. “I know you have a grudge against Adrian. You must be happy to hear that.”

Zu An was briefly speechless.

Instead of explaining himself, he proceeded to discuss their circumstances. “The imperial court’s reinforcements should be arriving soon. We just have to hold on in the meantime.”

“We should have no trouble holding on here, but I can’t say the same for Jinzhou, where the Sixth Elder is stationed. The Manchus are prepared to ambush any troops we dispatch. Sending reinforcements there will achieve nothing but weaken Guanning’s defenses.”

“I know that. Did you come here just to say these things? Speaking of which, Second Elder, do you know Chen Yuanyuan?”

Hermes was startled. He looked at Zu An warily and asked, “Why are you asking about her?”

Hermes’s reaction hinted that he had fallen in love with Chen Yuanyuan, just as history had dictated. Zu An sighed. “I find it hard to believe that the Second Elder, despite having met all kinds of beauties in the Myriad Worlds, would fall in love with someone here. May I meet her?”

“Hmph! She’s in Beijing. You should stop thinking about useless things and focus on this war.” Animosity flickered across Hermes’s eyes. He truly detested playboys like Zu An.

Zu An wasn't requesting a meeting with Chen Yuanyuan out of lust. Rather, he had a feeling that something wasn't right. Chen Yuanyuan was indeed famous in history, but Hermes, being in a position of power, had met all kinds of beauties. It seemed improbable for him to fall in love with a woman in a trial world.

He regretted leaving the capital so hastily. I should have met Chen Yuanyuan first. That could have resolved my doubts.

...

The meeting could hardly be considered pleasant. The two of them bickered for quite a bit before finally parting ways.

Thanks to the imperial edict, Zu An had the final say over Shanhai Pass. He knew that Ningyuan’s garrison troops couldtn’t be dispatched carelessly, even if it was to reinforce Jinzhou and the other regions.

He spent the next few days scouting the vicinity. He even ambushed some Manchurian scouts to get a grasp of their fighting prowess, but that only deepened his unease. The Manchus were stronger than he had thought.

A month later, the imperial court’s reinforcements arrived.

Jinzhou’s requests for reinforcements grew increasingly urgent. The Second Elder urged Zu An to rescue the Sixth Elder, but Zu An remained unmoved.

Now that he had some grasp of the Manchus’ military might, he understood that Jinzhou couldn’t have lasted this long if the Manchus were truly determined to take it down. Yet Jinzhou continued to hold on.

Clearly, this was more bait from the Manchus. They were counting on Great Ming to continue sending reinforcements, so as to weaken them bit by bit.

So, Zu An played along with the Manchus’ ploy and advanced slowly, focusing specifically on stability. He used Ningyuan City as a base to slowly gnaw at the Manchu troops. He took great care to ensure that their logistical line was never trailing too far behind.

Just like that, he secured a series of victories against the Manchus. He even crushed them at Rufeng Mountain.

The only problem was that he was still some distance away from Jinzhou.

Hermes was extremely unhappy with his fighting style. After enjoying a series of victories, he didn’t think that the Manchus were as fearsome as they initially thought them to be, and he kept urging Zu An to be more ambitious now that the winds were with them.

If they could fight their way down to Jinzhou and join forces with the Sixth Elder, their forces would grow much stronger. They could even be able to threaten the Manchus’ main camp.

But Zu An rejected his proposal. He remained convinced that the Manchus were still withholding their true prowess. He didn’t think their recent strings of victories over the Manchus, including at Rufeng Mountain, had truly hurt the Manchu army.

He had several fights with Hermes over this, but he still insisted on his strategy.

Not long later, First Elder Oberon dispatched a military supervisor named Chen Xinjia over. Evidently, Hermes must have reported him.

However, Zu An knew from history that Chen Xinjia’s interference had resulted in Great Ming’s disastrous defeat in the Battle of Songjin, so he continued to hold his ground.

That prompted the First Elder to issue an imperial edict to remind him that they had to do more than guard their territories. The Order faction had to defeat the Manchu army to complete the Order Ceremony before they could leave this world.

Zu An responded by informing the First Elder about the Manchus’ scheme and his worries, highlighting the dangers of being too hasty. At the same time, he also stated his solution to the problem. He would first slowly wear down the Manchurian forces while advancing to Jinzhou. Then, he would coordinate an attack with Zheng Jinzhou’s navy. The latter would attack the Manchus’ back line, while he eliminated them from the front.

This strategy required more time and was demanding in terms of rations, but it was stable. Fortunately, the imperial court had already launched a series of policies that could finance this war even if it dragged on.

After an intense discussion, the First Elder finally approved his plan. However, he also warned against dragging the war out too long, as Li Zicheng had made a comeback in the northwest. It was unlikely that the imperial court’s finances were sufficient to sustain a war on two fronts.

Zu An was baffled. I crushed this world’s Li Zicheng. How did he make a comeback?

On the whole, he was still glad that the First Elder had approved his plan. That lifted a boulder from his shoulders. At the very least, they had avoided the worst outcome in history. Once he defeated the stronger Manchu army, he could march back into the capital and quell the weaker Li Zicheng.

Just like that, Zu An continued grating away at the Manchu army.

Months later, he arrived at Jinzhou City. The fighting they'd done in the meantime had trained his soldiers up into elites. In contrast, the Manchus were growing weaker from the series of defeats they'd suffered.

Hermes, despite his strong initial objection against Zu An’s plan, slowly came to respect the latter for all he had achieved.

At Jinzhou, Zu An clashed a few times with the Manchus. Through coordinating with Jinzhou’s garrison troops, he was able to turn the tides and reverse encircle the Manchus instead.

But he still felt unnerved. Everything was so smooth that he felt he had overlooked something.

Just then, there was a commotion in the distance. A figure rushed over. The soldiers thought it was a Manchu assassin, so they stepped in to stop him.

The figure shouted, “I want to meet your commander! I have something to report!”

Zu An was shocked to hear that familiar voice. It was Adrian.

He quickly ordered his troops to bring Adrian before him. Adrian displayed nothing of his usual Radiant Son demeanor. His clothes were tattered, his body was covered in wounds, and his breathing was shallow.

Zu An was about to treat him when Adrian clutched his hand and said, “Sixth Elder Naraka is a traitor!”

It was as if Adrian had held on to say these words through sheer grit. Right after he finished his sentence, his eyes dimmed and he breathed his last.

Zu An felt goosebumps. No wonder Augustus died! No wonder Jinzhou didn’t fall despite so much time passing! I thought we'd encircled the Manchus, but the truth is that my army is the one sandwiched between the Manchu army and Jinzhou’s garrison troops!