Chapter 2

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From before dawn, the tens of thousands of Song troops gathered around Yangzhou, the headquarters of the Two Huai Pacification Commissioner's Office, began to enter the battlefield, forming up on the open ground to face their first major battle against the invading Mongol army.

Similarly, the tens of thousands of Mongol troops on the opposite side also left their camps early in the morning to head for the battlefield. They were part of the eastern army of the four Mongol armies planned to subdue the remnants of the Song, led by the Mongol Grand Marshal Yiliugan. They crossed the Huai River in early September, burning, killing, and looting their way to the walls of Yangzhou, the headquarters of the Two Huai Pacification Commissioner's Office. Today's battle would be the key to whether they could successfully besiege Yangzhou.

The sun slowly climbed into the sky, the morning chill gradually dissipating under the sunlight, and the temperature on the battlefield slowly rose. Everyone's breathing unconsciously quickened. Chen Dexing tightly gripped the crossbow in his hand, trying to calm his mind. He was not excited by the impending battle but was extremely afraid and very confused.

Although in his previous life, he sometimes read some boring穿越 (time-travel) novels to pass the time during sea voyages, he had some understanding of the concept of soul transmigration. But when this nightmare-like experience really happened to him, he truly wished he had died completely in that maritime disaster.

"Er Lang! Er Lang..." The tall, thin man began to call out to Chen Dexing again, but the name sounded awkward.

Chen Dexing responded, squinted his eyes, and after some thought, finally found some information about this man and his new identity in his jumbled mind.

This man's surname was Liu, and his name was Heshang. He was the steward of the Chen family, which was now Chen Dexing's family. Previously, he had been a personal guard of Chen Dexing's adoptive father, who was also his uncle, Chen Huai'an. Now, he was a drill instructor and a trusted confidant of Chen Dexing. Chen Dexing himself was from a military family; his grandfather, Chen Hushan, had joined the army under the Huai East Pacification Commissioner Zhao Kui at the beginning of the Duanping era. After serving for over a decade, he died in the battle of Shouzhou. At that time, Chen Hushan had been promoted to the rank of Hengxingguan (a rank from the 7th junior grade to the 5th senior grade, including 25 ranks), specifically the 7th senior grade Wuyi Doctor, and was also a commander of an army.

Along with Chen Hushan, Chen Dexing's adoptive father (who was also his uncle), Chen Huai'an, also died in battle. His rank at the time of his death was Dashi Chenshi (a rank from the 8th senior grade to the 7th junior grade, including 10 ranks), specifically the 7th junior grade Wujing Doctor.

Chen Dexing had inherited his grandfather's "nian meng" (the right to be appointed to an official position due to the death of a family member in battle) and became a Chengxin Doctor, a minor official of the 9th junior grade. In the peaceful Northern Song (which the Southern Song people called "Chengping"), a minor official could live a comfortable life without worry. But in the current chaotic era, being a 9th junior grade military official was not a blessing but a curse!

"Er Lang, Er Lang, don't forget the calibration shot!" Liu Heshang looked at Chen Dexing with concern. The term "calibration shot" generally referred to a test shot, but in this context, it meant measuring the distance. Each unit of archers would have a skilled archer shoot the first arrow in battle. If it hit the target, all the arrows would be released. In the Wu Rui Army, this responsibility was handled by the drill instructor or the training officer.

Chen Dexing had trained in martial arts since childhood under his father, Chen Huaiqing, and had developed excellent martial skills. He could draw a hard bow with a draw weight of 150 catties and hit targets at a hundred paces, though he might not be able to pierce a willow leaf at that distance, he could certainly hit a person or a horse. But that was the real Chen Dexing, not the imposter he now was...

Chen Dexing frowned, just about to ask Liu Heshang to take the calibration shot, when he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly.

"Damn it! The dog Tartars are not real men! They don't dare to charge themselves but drive the Han people to their deaths. Now they are even forcing our Song people to the front lines... Does Yiliugan have any balls at all!"

Chen Dexing was stunned and looked up to see countless civilians, dressed in various rags, being driven out from the gap between the Mongol army formations, supporting the elderly and carrying children!

"This is..." Chen Dexing gasped.

"These are our Song people!" Liu Heshang stomped his foot and shouted, "It's the Tartars' old trick, driving civilians to the front to exhaust our arrows and demoralize us! What kind of Mongol cavalry, in my opinion, are just cowards who bully civilians!"

"Driving civilians to the front!?" Chen Dexing's blood boiled, his voice hoarse with anger, "What should we do?"

The number of civilians being driven out continued to grow, at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand. They were being forced forward by Mongol soldiers with swords, spears, and bows, getting closer and closer to the Song front lines. Chen Dexing could already see the faces of the civilians, some numb, some in pain, some filled with despair, all dressed as Han people. Among them were the elderly and young children...

This was a critical moment in the battle. The Song army had formed eighteen battle arrays, belonging to six armies, with a total of over forty thousand troops, stretching for ten miles. Opposite them was a Mongol army of similar size, with at least eight thousand heavily armored Mongol cavalry armed with long spears. The Song army relied on their well-organized formations and powerful crossbows to counter the Mongols. If these formations were disrupted by the Song civilians, the eight thousand Mongol cavalry could break through and rout the forty thousand Song troops with a single charge!

"What can we do? We can only shoot them down..." Liu Heshang gritted his teeth.

Chen Dexing was shocked again, "But they are our Song people!"

Liu Heshang's face twisted in pain, and he lowered his voice, "Not just our Song people, these are the civilians around Yangzhou, maybe even the families of our soldiers!" He paused, then clenched his teeth, "But if we don't shoot them, we will lose the battle. If we lose, the entire Yangzhou and the entire Jiangnan will be massacred by the Tartars..."

"Transmit the order from the Chancellor: When the enemy drives the civilians to within 120 paces, release all arrows!"

The order was shouted by the messenger, accompanied by the sound of galloping horses, echoing across the battlefield. This was an order from Jia Sidao, though cruel and inhumane, it was the only viable option. At that moment, Chen Dexing seemed to see the eyes of countless Song soldiers, filled with blood and tears.

The Song civilians being driven to the battlefield were getting closer to Chen Dexing's formation. The Mongol soldiers behind them were becoming more frenzied with their curved swords and whips, and the cries, screams, pleas, curses, and calls for help mixed together, carried by the northwest wind to the ears of Chen Dexing and the other Song soldiers, like the sounds of hell.

Chen Dexing's eyes widened, his mouth open, staring blankly at the scene before him, his mind a blank. This was not just a series of numbers in the history books of the future—sixty million or two hundred million (the number of people killed by the Mongols)... In the eyes of future historians, this was merely a negligible cost of ethnic integration or cultural exchange! These were real, living people, right in front of Chen Dexing, a sea of humanity, being driven to their deaths by Mongol executioners.

Among them were mothers protecting their children, young men supporting the elderly, innocent children who did not yet know the impending disaster, wealthy landowners trembling in tattered silk, and numb-faced farmers, as well as scholars wearing Dongpo caps... All the diverse characters that make up a nation were present on this hellish battlefield, awaiting the arrival of death.

"Twang!" A faint sound rang in Chen Dexing's ears, the special sound of an arrow being released from a bowstring. This sound, which had accompanied him throughout his life, now made his heart tremble.

The arrow was shot by Liu Heshang, because some of the Song civilians being driven forward had already reached within 120 paces of the Song army's front line...

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