Would You Like to Have a Drink

In front of the Hanmen Pass, two armies faced each other.

The ones who truly followed Lord Wu An out of the pass were just a few dozen people, mostly soldiers who had been with him for a long time, and some strategists who had no weapons, lifelong vassals serving their lord.

After standing still, Lord Wu An held the Daxia Longque, looking intently.

When they were on the city wall, looking at the army that was cut off by the snow, they knew the difference in the number of the two armies.

Not to mention standing on the ground with both feet, experiencing this war firsthand.

Not to mention the infantry troops coming from the rear to support, even the Xuan Cavalry wearing cold armor, because the main general just returned to the first battle, they all came out, a total of thousands.

One side had a hundred thousand troops, and the other had dozens of people.

Before Emperor Yu surrendered, there were still 30,000 troops at the Hanmen Pass. If there was support from the rear, if the national power was gathered, it could barely make up 100,000. If the Great Yuan would not continue to send reinforcements, if it was a quick battle, this battle would not be impossible to fight.

It’s a pity that Emperor Yu’s letter of surrender completely shattered this possibility.

To be fair, Lord Wu An was not so unacceptable.

He had been a soldier all his life and had never surrendered once. This time he was ready to die. But under the premise that Emperor Yu had already surrendered, there was obviously no need to let the soldiers die in vain.

There was a sound of horse’s hooves from the Xuan Cavalry.

One by one, the black horses were like Moses dividing the Red Sea, then a divine steed stepped on the snow with its body full of white, and the general straddling above had a calm face.

Lord Wu An hesitated and asked, “Is the one coming the Third Prince of Great Yuan?”

Although riding a thousand-mile divine steed to illuminate the night white, wearing the characteristic white clothes of the Third Prince of Great Yuan. But whether it’s the sword in his hand that was obviously not the Qixing Longyuan or the white hair that seemed to be frosted up, it made Lord Wu An dare not confirm directly.

“Exactly.” Zong Luo nodded.

He dismounted and saluted, “Lord Wu An, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Zong Luo didn’t say much about Lord Wu An’s insistence on not surrendering, but instead his behavior was nothing more than challenging a fight.

If he hadn’t just shot the cup of poison, he’s afraid Lord Wu An would have drunk it now. Just like in his previous life, he never resisted until he died.

In other words, it’s death anyway.

Compassion does not command troops. Zong Luo, who had been leading troops for many years, had long been accustomed to helplessness and understood that when it was time to be cruel, he must not be merciful.

He admired Lord Wu An’s integrity and nobility. He was also willing to fulfill him to the greatest extent as an opponent.

“In that case, why not a zhishi and let the two main generals fight.”

(t/n: ‘Zhishi’ can be interpreted as a challenge. Two armies faced each other. In order to stimulate one’s own fighting spirit, soldiers with high martial arts skills were sent to challenge the other side’s camp. They were used to insult and provoke the other side, demoralize the other side, and frighten the enemy.)

Zong Luo put forward his idea. “I have heard of the general’s name for a long time, and I am willing to fight!”

Different battles have different ways of fighting.

Like a city defense battle, it was a confrontation between attacking and defending the city. There were many considerations for the formation, such as the attacker placing the sword and shield soldiers at the forefront, and the defender arranging archers, all for the sake of the generals.

If it was a plain battle, the two armies confront each other, according to the rules of the previous dynasty, they must first do a “zhishi”.

Zhishi was a very old and primitive way of fighting, derived from the etiquette of the previous dynasty. The etiquette of the previous dynasty was broken, and the emperor existed in name only, but the etiquette was well preserved.

It originally referred to the two armies sending two or three people in chariots before the battle, rushing into the local camp with the speed of thunder and grabbing a few lucky prisoners back. Or send a single cavalryman, rush to the front of the formation, shout loudly in the mouth, do everything possible to provoke, and boost morale.

Later, as the etiquette was perfected, this barbaric and vulgar method was gradually replaced. Nowadays, zhishi mostly refers to the two armies sending several generals to engage in one-on-one duels before the battle.

The result of the one-on-one duel would have an important morale impact on the next battle of the two armies, and it also carried the elegance of a lone hero, which was a necessary process for all countries except for sneak attacks or special circumstances.

The reason Zong Luo proposed a zhishi was very simple.

Surrendering without a fight was equivalent to giving away from both a military and political perspective. Why waste troops if you can take it down without a soldier?

In the final analysis, it was to give Lord Wu An face.

General Wu An laughed. “Although the old man is old, the treasure sword in his hand is not old yet.”

People who practice martial arts may age, but their martial arts skills would not regress.

In terms of martial arts alone, unless it was a martial arts genius with unique bones, the decades of practice by the elderly would definitely not be in vain.

Since he accepted the situation, he was not shy, and he held the Daxia Longque and said, “This sword is the Daxia Longque, the sword’s head is a snake head, the sword’s body is an ancient serpent, illusionary adorn dragon sparrow, hence the name.”

Unlike the competition between two main generals, it was more like a duel between famous martial artists in Jianghu, one had to introduce his own weapons to his opponents before the fight.

For no reason, Zong Luo thought of the martial arts TV series he watched when he was a child, and responded, “This is the Zhanlu sword, the hilt is dark black, therefore it is called Lu. When the sword was made, a long rainbow penetrated the sun, the sun and the moon avoided it, and the spirits howled and cried.”

“Zhanlu treasured sword!” Lord Wu An was astonished.

As everyone knew, the current owner of Zhanlu was the Emperor Yuan, and the sword of the Third Prince of the Great Yuan was the Qixing Longyuan, which was also one of the top ten famous swords. Now, the Third Prince was holding the monarch’s Sword of Benevolence Zhanlu in his hand, but he did not see the Qixing Longyuan, which was surprising.

Lord Wu An sighed. “For many years, the Daxia Longque and Zhanlu have been famous as the heads of swords for a long time. I didn’t expect to meet again, which is really surprising.”

Looking at the Third Prince with white hair and white clothes in front of him, he felt as if he had seen the Great Wilderness’s future with great ambition overlord. Not, not overlord, but rather a wise monarch opening a prosperous age.

Zong Luo smiled.

In the next second, his smile faded, he gathered his inner strength, and his casual demeanor suddenly became sharp. His aura was smooth and harmonious and as he wished, as if he was seamlessly integrated with the sword in his hand, his clothes fluttering.

Zhanlu was a sword with a very majestic charm. The scabbard and hilt were both dark black, but the light that flashed out when it was unsheathed was not inferior to the gentleman’s sword, Qixing Longyuan, known for its beauty.

Since it was cast, over the years, literati have not been stingy with praise, not only ranking first among the ten swords in the world, but also the title of the world’s number one sword.