In the middle of February of the year 78o, there was already a hint of chūn days in the Far East, the ice and snow were already melting, the frozen rivers were cracking little by little, and the earth was revealing speckled brown sè. It is foreseeable that the arrival of the day of Chūn is not a very distant thing.

But here, in the Pai region of Tussauds, the day of Chūn is still far away for the brave defenders of the lonely city, and it seems to be far, far away, in the midst of the harshest season. On the seventeenth day of February, the Zōngyāng army ushered in the thirtieth morning of holding the Pai.

As usual, the first thing Commander Stirling did when he woke up in the morning was to look out at the west of the city to see if the reinforcements promised by Dilin had magically appeared. And as usual, he was disappointed. As far as the eye can see, the gray water river plain in winter, a piece of snow, and a piece of black oppression, all of which are the positions and tents of the demons.

He then turned to inspect the sentry posts and the defensive units. At this time, the various defense areas were in the process of changing shifts, and columns of soldiers who had handed over their shifts dragged their tired bodies towards the camp, and their steps were staggering. The costumes of everyone in the queue are really varied, because of the cold winter, the original tattered military uniforms of the soldiers have long been unbearable to keep out the cold, and everyone hangs everything they can find on their bodies, so there is a lot of warmth in the cold. Some soldiers even put on tent cloths, sacks for grain, and wraps for bushes, and they looked very wolf-like.

Watching his subordinates walk by, Sterling was really sad. These veterans who have been through a hundred battles are so hungry that they walk like ghosts. They are tired of toil, lack of sleep and sleep, have nothing to eat, only hunger, and no sleep, only hard fighting. The infantry struggled to walk, their trembling hands barely holding their spears. Even the ironclad cavalry, who were imposing on the battlefield, were now nothing more than a group of skeletons in ironclad armor.

Many people contracted typhoid fever, but there was no medicine to cure them, and their companions could only watch the sick die in agony. Cold, hunger, disease...... These enemies outside the battlefield are even more unstoppable than the swords of the demons, and they ruthlessly destroy this tired soldier and horse, making them weak.

Even so, this army is still the sharpest force in the entire Zichuan family. Every time the demons came up, as soon as the military horn sounded, as if it were a miracle, this half-dead army immediately rejuvenated. Those sick, weak, and skinny men suddenly became refreshed, their eyes flashed, and they quickly lined up in formation, striding forward, and fiercely slaughtered the demon soldiers who were several times more numerous than them. The fierceness of the knife and spear, the high-pitched shouting of killing, where does it seem to come from the mouth of those sick and weak. Although the demons and the rebels had the advantage in numbers, every time they clashed, they were so frightened by the fierceness of the Pai defenders that they were killed, and they came up with a fierce momentum, and the wolves were defeated and retreated.

The brave soldiers of the zhōngyāng army have fought hard against the enemy, and you can't remember who they are. After Yun Qianxue succeeded as commander, there were two large-scale attacks with a scale of more than 200,000 people, not to mention countless surprise attacks and night battles. No one can say exactly how many intruders' corpses were buried in every square meter of land under the city of Pai, and how many human warriors were mixed with the blood.

Seven days ago, the demons launched their last large-scale attack on Pai. The commander of the demon clan, Yun Qianxue, thought that the powerful allies of cold, hunger, and wounds had already helped him defeat the zhōngyāng army, and he was bound to win this attack, and he dispatched 200,000 horses to the regular army of the demon clan alone, not to mention the countless rebel militias. He was full of confidence and waited to report the good news to His Majesty the Divine Emperor.

But when the time came, all the attacking teams came back dejected. The team leaders wept and mourned, they had suffered heavy losses, and their most sharp soldiers had already died on the battlefield.

The small city of Pai still stands majestically.

Demon Commanders Yun Qianxue and Kalan couldn't help but look at each other in shock. So far, the demon army, known as the strongest army on the mainland, has only faced a lone weak brigade of human beings, they lack food and clothing, and they have no successor. In terms of its soldiers and horses, in a national war, this point of men and horses is just the strength of a vanguard scout. It was such a few men and horses, such a city that was not dangerous, but it was enough to block the main force of the demon army for a month, causing them to pay countless casualties, losing six or seven generals, and making the main force of the demon army unable to join the Ling Buxu front army that had already been blocked outside Valen City to complete the task of capturing Valen.

Although Stirling was surrounded, the demon army itself was also very unhappy. Because in this kind of stalemate war of attrition that is equivalent to the two sides "struggling to eat", the advantage of the strong strength of the demon army has become a burden, and the only advantage of having more people is that they can eat more. In order to supply this nearly one million army for operations, all the grain and grass needed were transported from the country, and after thousands of kilometers of long transportation lines, every pound of grain transported to the front line had to cost one pound on the road. This loss ratio is really terrible. Some subordinates proposed to plunder on the spot to solve the supply of grain and grass, but they were opposed by the commander Yun Qianxue: this time it was different from the past, the Protoss and the Far East army formed an alliance, and the Far East region is not the production area of grain, and the grain here usually relies on the family's inland import, if it is plundered in the Far East, which is almost equally barren, even if you insist on plundering, you may not be able to plunder anything, and it will only offend the allies in the Far East in vain.

The Demon Kingdom has a vast territory, but the land is barren and the resources are not abundant. Before rì, the demon army master Heisha had already talked to Yun Qianxue, saying that because of the long battle line and the protracted battle of the army, it was becoming more and more difficult to supply the logistics. He told Yun Qianxue that it was best to end the battle of Pai before the chūn season. Because at that time, the rain and muddy roads would make the supply more difficult, and at that time, whether it was the demon army or the Far Eastern rebels, the soldiers would be concerned about the seeds at home and had no intention of fighting, hoping that Yun Qianxue would do his best to end the Pai war and wait for the next winter to fight again.

Feeling the impatience revealed in his words, intentionally or unintentionally, Yun Qianxue faintly felt a trace of ominousness: he had been delaying it for too long, and His Majesty was already impatient. It is conceivable that once His Majesty's limited patience is exhausted, his fate will definitely be much more miserable than that of his previous commander, Prince Caton...... He began to feel uneasy, and an extremely heinous and incredible thought came to his mind: just a besieged zhōngyāng army and a small Pai city were so difficult to deal with, and one day Rì was going to fight a fierce battle with the whole army of the Zichuan family, and to capture the Valen Castle, which was known as the first fortress on the mainland, how strong would the resistance that the Protoss was about to face? Not to mention that there were also many heroes and famous generals among the human race. In addition to Sterling, there is another tricky guy in Zichuan's family, Dillin. I heard that there is a more amazing female general in the west of the continent called Liufeng Shuang......

Yun Qianxue felt a kind of fear, and for the first time, he had a lot of wavering in his firm belief in the invincibility of the gods - but no matter how he thought about it, he would never declare these rebellious thoughts. Especially today, His Majesty the Divine Emperor will personally visit the front line of Pai to personally inspect the army and check the enemy's situation. For Yun Qianxue, who served as the commander of the whole army, it was undoubtedly a rare honor for His Majesty to be there in person, but it was also an ominous sign: His Majesty had lost his patience......

February 17, heavy snowfall.

The sky was gray, and the gray clouds pressed low, obscuring the sun. Dense snowflakes fell silently on the neatly arranged phalanx of Senean soldiers, on their hard shoulders, and on their frozen red faces. The soldiers remained motionless in an upright position, covered with a thin layer of snowflakes that concealed their jagged armor and coats, as if they were not living soldiers, but a group of stiff sculptures made of snow, which were lined up in a phalanx of 100,000 people, neatly and solemnly.

"This is a unique and tolerant people...... "Standing at the head of the city of Payi, Commander Stirling thought silently, "and a terrible people." ”

Since six o'clock in the morning, before dawn, the demon position began to be busy, in the open space less than a few miles away from Pai City, one after another troops were transferred over, lined up into a number of huge and spectacular phalanxes, and more than 100,000 demon soldiers stood as straight as nails one by one, motionless.

At first, the human defenders thought that the demons were about to launch a large-scale attack again. An urgent bugle sounded, sounding through the Pai camp. The soldiers who woke up in their sleep hurriedly put on their clothes, grabbed their weapons and ran into the defense zone where their troops were located, and took their places. In the chaotic footsteps and the sonorous sound of weapons colliding, there was not the slightest noise of human voices, showing that the zhōngyāng army was not a ragtag unit of the ordinary black army, but worthy of being the first-class jīng sharp army in the entire Zichuan family and even the human world.

But three hours passed, and the huge phalanx of the demons did not approach under Pai City, but stood still in the snow. Humanity is starting to be amazed.

"My lord, something seems wrong. Deputy Commander Qin Lu, the commander on duty at night, said to Sterling: "They are all lined up there, neatly lined up, I'm afraid there aren't 100,000 people, right?

Stirling nodded, and was about to speak, when suddenly, the gongs and drums in the demon camp were noisy, and in the neat phalanx of 10,000 people, a huge cry burst into the sky: "Sem Heilin!" - fighting with the demons many times, the soldiers of the zhōngyāng army have long been familiar with it, this is the battle cry of the demon army when it charges. Normally, as soon as this voice sounded, hundreds of thousands of demons would rush over like cháo water. The head of the city immediately became highly nervous, and watched the movements of the demon army outside the city with full attention. only to find that after shouting the slogan, the demon array still did not move.

The soldiers began to whisper, "What's going on with the demons today?" You ask me, I ask you, but no one knows.

A voice came from behind: "What's the matter? The demons are making a lot of noise early in the morning. Zi Chuanxiu came up with sleepy eyes and yawned.

Sterling asked him, "Ah Xiu, what do you think is going on? The demons shouted the battle cry, but they didn't rush up?" He knew that Zi Chuanxiu had been in the Far East for many years, and he could speak a very beautiful demon language, and he knew their situation well.

Zi Chuanxiu approached the city wall: "Let me see—well, it's so neatly arranged, it's like participating in a review." Sterling, do you know the original meaning of the phrase 'Semhelin' in the Demon language?"

"Huh, isn't that the slogan they charged?"

"The slogan is an extended use, and its original meaning was 'Long live our emperor', and it was used specifically to praise their emperor. ”

Knowing the meaning of his words, the faces of the officers who were listening around turned white.

Zichuan Xiu said lightly: "Today we are blessed." Everyone can pay homage to the noble jade face of the Demon God Emperor for free. Do you want to shout 'Long live my emperor' with me?"

The majestic military music sounded, and the 100,000-strong phalanx lined up on the plain let out an earth-shattering shout: "Long live my emperor!" The officer shouted loudly: "Draw the sword!" The straight soldiers of the Guards Brigade "poof" neatly drew their long knives, a blue sè sword light, and a bright band of anti-shè light.

The group of people with bright armor and gorgeous clothes, followed by a large group of dignitaries and generals who came here with the Demon God Emperor. Almost all the high-ranking generals of the Protoss have arrived here with His Majesty.

His Majesty the Demon God Emperor walked at the front of the procession, he was dressed in a black sè cloak, a white sè velvet coat, with a graceful and noble temperament that no one could imitate, he walked in front of the team, inspected his majestic army, and between his gestures, he was proud and hawkish.

The contemporary Demon God Emperor is extremely talented and magnificent, and the soldiers worship him fanatically, because he is not only their monarch, their idol, but even the supreme god in their hearts! Just for his call, the tens of millions of soldiers of the Demon Race did not hesitate to abandon their wives and children, leave their homeland, and even run to death! Today, when everyone can finally see the idol they worship the most, the officers and men of the three armies are all overwhelmed by His Majesty's peerless demeanor, and the fanatical love is like a rushing river, which can no longer be controlled, and the spontaneous cheers of the soldiers come and go: "Long live my emperor!", "Long live my emperor!"

But as soon as the cries fell, a cry was heard from the human defenders on the other side of the city of Payi: "Semhelin!" - the same voice was high, majestic, but the pronunciation was a little inaccurate, and it sounded strange.

Yun Qianxue and the accompanying ministers looked at each other, and before they could react, the second call of the human race came again: "Se-m-black-forest-" The tone was long, strange and strange, and there was weakness, as if it was about to die.

Then came the third cry. A gong-like voice was giving everyone a voice: "Sam, that—"

Tens of thousands of human defenders sang in unison: "Black Forest!"

"Sam, that-"

Tens of thousands of people sang in unison: "-- Heilin!"

Break your voice: "Sam, that black forest, Sam Heilin, oh!" The tune ends on a high note. There was a burst of laughter from the top of the city, mingled with the sounds of clapping, whistling, and cheering.

The scene was very embarrassing. The princes and ministers kept their faces straight one by one, not daring to show the slightest expression, for fear that His Majesty would misunderstand that he was snickering. The group of native soldiers below couldn't help but whisper a chuckle, and the officers shouted, "Don't laugh, don't talk!!!" but even the muscles on their own faces twitched. The queue finally quieted down, but the warm and touching atmosphere just now, the intoxicating feeling was that there was no longer zài.

Yun Qianxue was very annoyed.

Today's review was very well arranged. His Majesty inspected the troops of the three armed forces, the officers and men of the three armed forces shouted long live, and His Majesty ascended the high platform to give lectures to the officers and soldiers of the three armed forces, encouraging the soldiers to fight hard, and the soldiers shouted in response: "Your Majesty has no borders!", and then His Majesty went into the tent to rest, eat, meet with senior generals and soldiers who had made meritorious contributions to the battle, and hold military meetings with the important generals and ministers -- all of them were perfectly planned, and the connection of time, the arrangements for the reception of personnel, the resting place of His Majesty, and the preparation of food and ...... He arranged it painstakingly and prepared properly, and finally had the perfect scene just now.

But now, it's a mess.

He longed for a thunderbolt from heaven to destroy himself and the entire city of Pai, so he hurriedly stepped forward in fear and pleaded guilty: "Your Majesty should die! Your Majesty can't let Your Majesty suffer this insult......"

The Demon God Emperor smiled dumbly, turned to gaze at the Pai Castle looming under the winter mist, shook his head and said, "I can't imagine that among the human race, there is such a lion as Sterling, you should not be underestimated!"

The words of the Divine Emperor were very soft, but they spread incredibly to every corner within a few tens of kilometers, and every soldier of the enemy and our armies could hear them clearly, and the sound seemed to come from their ears.

Sterling and Zi Chuanxiu glanced at each other, and looked at each other: The contemporary Demon God Emperor is worthy of the title of the strongest person in the continent, and the skill shown in this sentence alone has reached an unbelievable level, and he will face a terrifying master that he has never encountered in his life!

The black figure in the distance, whose face was not clear, just stood casually, pointing with one hand to the person next to him, in a very relaxed and natural posture - somehow, it was such a figure, but it gave the people in the city an incomparably heavy sense of oppression. The momentum he exuded alone overwhelmed the fighting spirit of the hundreds of thousands of troops around him.

From top to bottom, the human army felt an inexplicable oppression, as if the air suddenly became stagnant, producing an invisible weight that made them uncertain and fearful. Officers with martial arts, because their senses are much sharper than those of ordinary soldiers, they feel even more intensely: a terrifying aura so powerful that it is almost irresistible rushes over their faces, and a nameless fear arises in their hearts, which is irrepressible and makes people lose their fighting spirit at all.

Stirling calmed down, looked around and saw that many of the officers were already blue-faced, their bodies trembling, and their foreheads drenched with sweat. Many people had already screamed and clutched their heads to the ground. They had been forced to collapse by this terrible momentum!

Sterling was shocked: "What kind of martial arts is this, it is so terrifying! The momentum of one person can suppress the entire army from a few thousand meters away!"

He looked at Zi Chuanxiu, but found that his face was blue, his eyes showed deep hatred, his teeth were clenched, and he could see the bloodshot flowing from his lips.

Sterling was shocked and asked out loud, "Ah Xiu, are you okay?" Reaching out to his veins, he wanted to check his meridians, whether he had gone mad.

Zichuan Xiu pressed his hand with his backhand, sighed, and said, "I'm fine." Only then did Sterling realize that his nails had dug deep into his flesh.

Sterling asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Zi Chuanxiu raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and said, "It's nothing." He pointed to Sterling, "Look, there is the fourth one standing on the left side of the Demon God Emperor, the one I knew before. He smiled casually: "Old acquaintance!" In his smile, there was a cold murderous aura.

Sterling felt strange, the Demon God Emperor must be a high-ranking general of the Demon Clan, how could Zi Chuan Xiu know such a person? He also opened his eyes and looked hard, and found that it was a thin and tall middle-aged man, who was nodding and saying something to the Demon God Emperor, but he couldn't see his face clearly because he was too far away.

"Who is he? I can't see clearly. ”

"What his name is, I don't know. But I know that in the past he was Lei Hong, the deputy commander of the Far Eastern Army-I also knew him when he turned to ashes!"

Sterling was shocked: "It's him!"

Two years ago, the Far East was peaceful, but now it is full of flames, rebellions, and broken land. In the final analysis, although there are political and economic factors, in just two years, there has been such a huge and fierce catastrophe, and Lei Hong, the number one traitor of the Zichuan family, is undoubtedly the culprit!

It was he, ungrateful, who, in order to seek power and glory, suddenly poisoned Ge Yingxing, the commander of the Far East who had always valued, cultivated, and promoted him, and shook the mainstay of the entire Far East; it was he, seeing that the matter was exposed, brazenly raised troops to rebel, conspired with the Far Eastern ethnic rebels at Chishuitan, and led the tragedy of the Far Eastern Army's officers and soldiers killing each other; now, it was him, seeing that the family royal army had quelled the rebellion, and the rebels were already powerless, and he immediately saw the wind and betrayed the Far East to the demons again. If the curse could cause death, Lei Hong would have died tens of thousands of times. In the entire family, tens of millions of subjects, whether they are mountain husbands or nobles Hua Xian, no one wants to cut him with a thousand knives and crush his bones and ashes!

Zi Chuanxiu said slowly: "This time I came to the Far East, my biggest purpose was to find him, but I couldn't find him. Unexpectedly, he actually ran into the camp of the demon clan. I really didn't expect it!" The tone was very calm, but tears flowed from his eyes. Sterling was gloomy, he knew that in Zichuan Xiu's mind, the Far East Commander Ge Yingxing, who died young, had always occupied a sacred and irreplaceable position.

He understood Zi Chuanxiu's mood very well at this time: in order to take revenge, he searched for it with all kinds of hardships, and finally saw with his own eyes that the enemy was right in front of him, but he was at the end of his rope, and it was difficult to even save his life!

Sterling didn't say what he thought, he shook Shikawa Xiu's hand and squeezed it tightly to show his support. Zi Chuanxiu shook it hard, but he didn't make a sound, but the tears in his eyes splashed little by little.

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