Fighting Bloody Battles To Defend The Border, The Love-Brained Empress Ordered The Troops To Withdraw? - Chapter 1

“Tell my mother—I’m no coward!”

The bloodcurdling scream echoed as his eyes locked onto the barbarian invaders scaling the walls of Shanhé Pass, their weapons gleaming in the sun.

The bl00d staining those blades was the bl00d of Great Yu Dynasty soldiers.

The bl00d of his compatriots.

Once again, in the crisp days of autumn, the barbarians had launched a southern invasion.

This time, they aimed to breach the mighty border stronghold—Shanhé Pass.

But even in death, they would never be allowed to cross this line!

With a sudden charge, he used his body to block the incoming spears and pikes. A gaping hole was pierced through his chest, bl00d gushed out like a fountain, and the pain contorted his face.

But he did not retreat.

Instead, summoning the last of his strength, he grabbed five or six barbarians who had just climbed the wall and hurled them off alongside himself from the towering ramparts.

A thunderous crash blended into the roar of brutal warfare.

Bones shattered—utter obliteration.

One soldier, unafraid of death!

And around him, his comrades—his brothers—were no less fearless.

Facing hundreds of barbarians who had breached the wall, and knowing they couldn’t hold them back, soldier after soldier followed suit, dragging enemies off the wall with them.

Bl00d for bl00d!

Life for life!

Their very flesh and bone became a wall of resistance.

“Father, Mother, your son is unfilial!”

“If I’m going to die, I’m taking one of you bastards with me!”

“Damn you barbarians—I’ll fight you to the end!”

…

The roars of fury exploded across the battlements.

Below the wall, corpses piled higher and higher, becoming small mountains within minutes.

But few noticed—most of those fallen soldiers had been on the battlefield for less than half a stick of incense’s time.

This year, the barbarians were more frenzied than ever.

They had mobilized nearly their entire force.

With an army of 800,000, they marched relentlessly for ten days, storming all the way to Shanhé Pass.

But inside the city, there were only 80,000 defenders.

A ten-to-one ratio.

It was already nearly impossible to hold, and the barbarians’ onslaught was relentless and savage. Shanhé became a meat grinder in mere moments.

Reinforcements had to be drawn from nearby counties, towns, and villages in haste.

Many of the new soldiers were constables, militia farmers, local braves, and conscripted civilians… handed rusty or broken weapons and rushed to the front.

Most of them had marched over fifty miles—barefoot in straw sandals, clad only in thin tunics—sent off with tearful goodbyes by countless citizens.

Yet once they reached the front and stormed the walls, they fell within minutes.

Alongside them fell bailiffs, county captains, commandants—even generals!

This battle claimed countless officers in its carnage.

Yet no one retreated.

The barbarians—who viewed Central Plains folk as sheep—would not be allowed a single step into the Great Yu’s land!

“Kill!”

The battle cries shook the heavens.

The fighting had reached a fever pitch—chaotic and brutal. The walls were taken, retaken, and taken again in a relentless cycle.

Then suddenly—

After failing to breach the wall, the tightly shut main gate of Shanhé swung open without warning.

A passageway appeared.

The barbarian vanguard commander was stunned, as if even the heavens had fallen silent for a beat.

“The gate opened?”

He was about to charge in excitedly.

But then he saw it—a lone figure on horseback standing just behind the gate.

Man and horse, clad in white.

The man wore silver armor, his face sharp and cold, eyes like frost. In his hand gleamed a silver crescent halberd, his mount a snow-white Zhaoye Jade Lion.

“Shanhé Pass Commander, Li Yunfei!”

The barbarian leader recognized him immediately.

But then he saw more—behind Li Yunfei stood a unit of cavalry.

All clad in silver armor, long sabers in hand.

Their eyes burned red with rage. Their presence exuded overwhelming fury.

A terrifying aura gathered behind them.

“Li Yunfei’s White-Robed Army!”

“His elite among elites!”

The barbarian commander trembled violently. His pupils shrank with horror as he realized Li Yunfei’s intent.

“They’re stretched thin already—he actually dares to charge out?”

“Is he mad?!”

Whether or not Li Yunfei was mad, this barbarian would never know.

Because the moment Li Yunfei squeezed his knees, the Zhaoye Jade Lion shot forward like an arrow.

A sudden white flash— And the barbarian leader’s head flew skyward.

Perhaps the halberd’s brilliance was too blinding.

Even the sunlight at the gates seemed to dim. The barbarian warriors froze in shock.

Li Yunfei was already upon them like a tiger in a flock of sheep—slaughtering them at will!

“If we can’t defend the gate, then we won’t defend it!”

“Soldiers, follow me—straight to the barbarian central camp!”

The White-Robed Army roared in unison.

They surged forward like a dragon, cleaving a bloody path.

In half a month, the barbarians had attacked over a hundred times. This final assault, the fiercest yet, had thrown tens of thousands at the city overnight.

Even the mighty walls of Shanhé Pass had begun to crack.

But now, with Li Yunfei leading this sudden charge, the barbarians were caught off guard. Their formations collapsed. Morale broke.

On the wall, a soldier shouted,

“It’s General Li—he’s charging the enemy!”

“I knew it! He’d lead us to victory!”

“Hell with this damn wall—I’m going with him to kill the barbarian chief!”

“We can’t hold it anyway—let’s follow General Li and charge!”

…

The defenders’ eyes turned red with passion. Most wore little more than rags—barely armor at all—soaked red with bl00d.

They grabbed their weapons, abandoned the walls, and charged after Li Yunfei and his cavalry.

In an instant, the tide turned.

From the sky, one would see Li Yunfei at the front, his halberd cutting through arrows, caltrops, shields, and spears.

Behind him, the ordinary soldiers followed.

They moved as one—an unstoppable arrow, piercing straight for the barbarian main camp.

The surprise was complete.

The barbarians, caught off guard, fell into disarray and retreat.

Li Yunfei seized the opportunity instantly.

Since his reincarnation, he’d discovered his body was now supernaturally strong—fearless in battle, like the ancient warlord Xiang Yu. He had a near-divine instinct for battlefield timing.

Like the great Yue Fei once said: “Mastery lies in the heart.”

So he charged, undaunted, under immense pressure—leading a fearless assault.

The barbarians were thrown into chaos.

They scattered. They panicked and fled. Even as they rang the retreat, Li Yunfei gave relentless chase with tens of thousands at his back.

The battle raged for three hours—until the sky dimmed, and the sun and moon lost their light.

By the time night fell pitch black, the barbarians had left behind mountains of corpses and fled in utter disgrace.

Only then did Li Yunfei halt.

Only then did he pull out the two arrows embedded in his left arm.

The pain was sharp—but somehow invigorating.

Dismounting, he found his Zhaoye Jade Lion foaming at the mouth and covered in bloody wounds. It was dying.

But facing this battlefield of carnage, Li Yunfei had no time to grieve.

He turned to the bl00d-drenched soldiers and civilians behind him and raised his halberd high.

“We have won!”

Silence.

Everyone stood with bloodshot eyes—numb from killing.

Only his deputy, Duan Peng, blinked in confusion.

“We… won?”

“Yes, we won. We defeated the barbarians. We shattered their ambitions for Shanhé Pass. We made them flee in terror… We won!”

Duan Peng finally reacted.

He shouted at the top of his lungs:

“We won! We won!”

That roar jolted everyone awake.

Cheers erupted like thunder.

“We won!”

“We beat the damn barbarians!”

“They ran like dogs!”

…

“What’s the casualty count?”

After cleaning the battlefield, Li Yunfei returned to the command post for medical treatment—but his mind was still tense. He asked Duan Peng immediately.

“General…” Duan Peng’s face was pained. He reported, “The losses are devastating.”

“Of the 80,000 garrison troops, fewer than 30,000 remain.”

“Of the 120,000 reinforcements, fewer than 40,000 survived.”

“Even your elite 5,000 White-Robed Army… now less than 1,000. If you count only the uninjured, not even 500 remain…”

A hardened veteran of the frontier, Duan Peng’s voice trembled. Tears welled in his eyes.

Too brutal.

Mountains of bones. Rivers of bl00d.

They were his comrades—his brothers.

Men he’d drank with just days ago… now buried beneath dirt.

Seeing him like that, Li Yunfei felt a piercing ache in his chest.

These were his comrades, too. His brothers.

Now, their bones lay beneath Shanhé Pass.

But quickly, he calmed himself.

Wasn’t this their duty as soldiers?

In his past life, this had been his mission.

Now, it remained so.

In his previous life, he had guarded the border for over ten years. When faced with armed criminals, under the rule of not firing the first shot, he and his comrades still charged.

He personally executed over a dozen enemies—and though he fell from bl00d loss, he died with no regrets.

As the red flag covered his body, and peace was preserved for millions, he felt only deep pride.

This was the duty of a man.

Thus, when reborn into this other world as General Li Yunfei, he held fast to the same belief.

—To protect the people and the land.

With this in mind, Li Yunfei patted Duan Peng’s shoulder and said solemnly, “Still, we won, didn’t we?”

“The barbarians took a heavy blow. They won’t be attacking again this year.”

“We defended Shanhé Pass. The people behind us—millions—can now live in peace. Isn’t that worth it?”

Duan Peng’s expression lightened. “Yes, General. According to our estimates, the barbarians lost at least 300,000 this battle!”

“A total defeat!”

“They won’t recover this year—or even next year. They won’t set foot in Great Yu again!”

His excitement grew.

Though the cost was great, this was an impossible victory. If the court heard of it, it would shake the empire!

At that moment, a messenger rushed in. “General! An imperial envoy has arrived with a decree from His Majesty!”

Fighting Bloody Battles To Defend The Border, The Love-Brained Empress Ordered The Troops To Withdraw? - Chapter 1

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