January 15th, Year 1333 of the New Yu Era

Dongyuan Path, Shunkang City.

The smell of blood broke through the sky, staining the clouds, the earth seemed to be draped in a pitch-black carpet, the air was filled with the stench of blood, severed limbs were scattered everywhere, and occasionally there was a relatively intact corpse being gnawed on by unknown crows, some tiny wild beasts from the mountains were scampering about, fully indulging in this feast.

These wild creatures, while feasting, greedily absorbed the bloody grievances of the battlefield, not knowing how many would eventually become monsters or demons.

"Clean up the battlefield, the army will garrison in Shunkang for ten days!"

A resounding voice echoed above the prefectural city, the city, which had just been silent, suddenly burst into the sound of crowd movements, and in no time, squads of soldiers marched out of the city gates, starting to clear the area around the gates.

These soldiers were all clad in black-gold armor, with blood stains still on their cheeks, armor, and weaponry, their faces fierce, their bodies still tense, clearly just having been through a bloody battle.

Shunkang City, Prefectural Tower Hall

More than twenty armored generals sat on either side, further ahead were the three Kings of Yuzhao, Xikang, and Lingyun, and at the top of the hall, Emperor Wanyan Cheng of Yuliang held a wine cup and stood up, first glancing at the strategist Li Su beside him, then turned to face the generals, laughing loudly:

"Thanks to your fierce battles, we have taken Shunkang City, now only Yinyu and Baekje remain in the hands of the alliance, once we take these two prefectures, the entire Dongyuan Path will fall under the control of our Great Jin, I toast to you all!"

"To give our lives for the Holy Dynasty is our duty."

"Retired Emperor, your labor deserves merit, I dare not claim credit."

"Retired Emperor, please!"

More than twenty generals still carried the aura of blood, as if the previous battle had been too intense, their cultivation clearly not yet fully retracted, when they spoke, their voices were like thunder, echoing beyond the hall for miles.

After finishing their drinks, Tuoba Xiong, the Lingyun King, laughed heartily several times, and said loudly: "In this battle, our Great Jin has slain over thirty thousand enemies, although it did not hurt the alliance's foundation, it was enough to make them tremble. Yinyu Prefecture has a flat terrain, more suitable for a military attack; Zhao Yulong and the others wouldn't choose to fight us stubbornly at Yinyu, they'd retreat directly to Baekje Prefecture. Looking at it this way, the five prefectures of Dongyuan, we should have already captured four, the last one is within reach!"

"Indeed, Zhao Yulong is weakening with age, although he possesses the realm of a Saint, it's difficult for him to long endure battle with the Retired Emperor. The alliance may have millions of troops, but they come from the various Holy Lands across the seas, all fighting independently, unable to cooperate, how could they compare to our Great Jin's formidable army? Stubborn resistance leads only to death."

"First conquer Dongyuan, then subdue Nanjiang, take the two paths of Zhongzhou, and we can effortlessly invade the territory of Jizhou, this Anti-Jin Alliance, in front of our Holy Dynasty's mighty army, are nothing but a bunch of chickens and dogs, unable to withstand a single blow!"

...…

Having just taken Shunkang City, the generals were already in high spirits, hearing the Lingyun King's words, they all chimed in, each speaking with excitement and fervor, wishing they could immediately take Yinyu and Baekje to unify Dongyuan Path and march on Nanjiang.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Wanyan Cheng chuckled quietly, not stopping them, even he found it surprising to have successfully taken Shunkang City from Zhao Yulong.

Wanyan Jun had taken away two hundred thousand troops, leaving him with only a million Sacred Army, the remaining three hundred thousand were scraped together from three paths, claiming it was an army, but everyone knew it was almost impossible for them to be of any significant use.

The alliance also had a million troops, in terms of manpower, they were actually evenly matched with him. If Zhao Yulong had remained holed up inside Shunkang City, he would truly have no good solution other than a siege.

He had indeed tried several sieges, but without exception, the outcomes were unsatisfactory. Not to mention breaching the city, they scarcely made any significant gains, and on two occasions, their casualties outnumbered those of the alliance.

The Jin Army excels in that despite the soldiers belonging to different kings and lords, they ultimately belong to one family of troops. Previously, they have had joint training, just this alone, compared to the alliance's scrambled million troops from various Holy Lands, is far superior. Encountering more casualties than the alliance is inexcusable.

The siege was unsuccessful, and Wanyan Cheng could think of no other good strategy.

Fortunately, strategist Li Su provided an idea at this time.

Li Su deduced that the alliance's army would want to cooperate with the three-path allied forces from Linjiang Path heading north, and he was certain they wouldn't let them split their forces. So he suggested faking a retreat to lure the alliance's army out of the city.

Wanyan Cheng adopted this suggestion; he also needed to dispatch Pingcheng King Wanyan Jun, so he let Wanyan Jun with two hundred thousand troops play out a ruse before departing.

As expected, once Wanyan Jun moved with two hundred thousand troops, the alliance's army within Shunkang City was stirred, the battle didn't yield much for Great Jin, but it allowed Wanyan Cheng to understand Zhao Yulong's mindset.

Zhao Yulong indeed wanted to drag his one million three hundred thousand troops, waiting for Hou Yuxiao's allied forces from Jiuhua Path to come and attack him from both east and west. So as soon as he showed signs of withdrawal, Zhao Yulong would immediately follow, ensuring his troops did not retreat.

With this premise, Wanyan Cheng knew what to do.

January 9th, Year 1333 of the New Yu Era

He withdrew all the military tents outside Shunkang City, the army feigned retreat back to Jiuhua Path, secretly repositioning the vanguard to the rear, and prepared for a counterattack in advance. Half a day after withdrawal, they were already nearly thirty miles away from Shunkang City.