Infinite Save: I Cultivate Immortality Through Reincarnation - Chapter 405: Sandwind Pass

Sandwind Pass, Great Yu Dynasty.

A burly, imposing middle-aged man wearing heavy armor, his presence commanding even without raising his voice, walked slowly along the fortress wall with his helmet cradled in his arms.

He looked out beyond the ramparts.

Countless corpses and severed limbs lay abandoned on the yellow sand outside the pass.

Brown, dessicated bloodstains stained the ground everywhere.

This had been an extraordinarily brutal defensive battle. Thanks to the stubbornness of the Great Yu garrison, they had barely held off three waves of attacks from the Shanrong.

But he knew clearly that if this continued, Sandwind Pass would not hold for much longer.

“Captain Li.”

A wiry, scar-faced guard who had been posted on the wall approached him.

“About ten of the soldiers on the wall have already come down with heatstroke. They can’t keep it up and need to be taken down. If this keeps up, when the barbarians strike again, we might not be able to—”

The middle-aged man addressed as Captain Li first glanced at the scar-faced commander, then let his eyes fall to the troops arrayed before the wall.

“What does Commander Zheng propose?”

Captain Li asked.

Upon hearing this, Commander Zheng immediately saluted the armored middle-aged man and said, “I respectfully request, Captain Li, that we withdraw the men from the wall, leaving only a small watch to observe the enemy!”

Captain Li hesitated.

If the troops on the wall were withdrawn, it meant that if the Shanrong attacked again, they could not quickly assemble a proper fighting force.

But if the wall guards remained…

Captain Li raised his hand and touched the plates of his armor.

It was burning hot.

If it weren’t for the fact that the soldiers stationed on Sandwind Pass’s walls were mostly lightly armored, there would certainly be far more cases of heatstroke, and some might even be baked to death by the sun.

At this rate, without waiting for the barbarians to attack again, the defenders of Sandwind Pass might lose their combat effectiveness first.

“Do as you suggested.”

After weighing the options, Captain Li gave the order.

“I obey, sir!”

Zheng accepted the command with visible relief. He turned and quickened his pace while shouting, “Yang Pengyi! Take your men and continue to man the walls to monitor the enemy. The rest retreat from the ramparts. Change shifts in one hour!”

The soldiers on the wall, who had been stifling under the heat, brightened a little at once. After enduring such a vicious siege, the Great Yu soldiers’ fighting spirit and morale were understandably low.

Being able to step down from the sun-scorched wall and find some shade to cool off briefly was an undeniable relief to them.

Captain Li, whose name was Li Chong, was the legitimate eldest son of Lord Jing’an Li Chengyuan of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Thirty years ago, when the Prince of the West rebelled and powerful ministers threw the court into chaos, with the Great Yu Dynasty teetering on the brink, Li Chengyuan, then Protector of Weizhou, answered the emperor’s call, led 150,000 troops from Weizhou to the capital to quell the unrest, and later distinguished himself fighting the Prince of the West’s rebel forces. He was ennobled as Lord Jing’an and rose to unparalleled power.

Lord Jing’an was a paragon of loyalty.

Three years ago, the court had realized the wild ambitions of the northern Shanrong tribes. Lord Jing’an petitioned the emperor to appoint his eldest son and heir, Li Chong, then Left General of the Protectorate of Weizhou, as captain of Sandwind Pass in the Northern Desert to defend the border.

To this day, Li Chong commanded thirty thousand defenders here, though only eight thousand were fully combat-ready, organized regular Great Yu troops.

Judging from the barbarians’ repeated sieges, the Shanrong forces assembled this time numbered at least two hundred thousand.

Across the Great Yu Dynasty’s northern border, it was difficult to muster over a hundred thousand troops.

But victory was not impossible.

Li Chong could sense that each time the barbarians’ assault was repulsed, the enemy’s morale dropped a bit.

Still, how many more rounds could the defenders of Sandwind Pass endure?

“Captain Li.”

Zheng stepped closer and lowered his voice, “How long until Protector Song’s reinforcements arrive?”

“They should be arriving soon, no more than three days at most.”

Li Chong answered.

In truth, as he gave that reply to his rugged subordinate, he felt uneasy.

Given the distance between Sandwind Pass and Beizhou, Protector Song’s reinforcements should have reached Sandwind Pass yesterday, yet there had been no movement or word.

Although his relationship with Protector Song was strained, Li Chong could not believe Song would see them die and do nothing. After all, his father was Lord Jing’an.

Li Chong could accept dying at Sandwind Pass, but not dying without support. Otherwise, Lord Jing’an would certainly rend Protector Song limb from limb.

The reinforcements should be near.

That was what Li Chong told himself.

“Report! Captain Li, Commander Zheng!”

A soldier at the wall shouted, “There’s a person outside the pass, looks young!”

“Is he a Shanrong envoy?”

Zheng asked.

“Doesn’t look like it. He’s wearing rough hemp clothing, seems like a civilian!”

The soldier shook his head.

A civilian?

Li Chong frowned slightly. He did not think civilians would be wandering outside Sandwind Pass.

North of Sandwind Pass lay the desolate Northern Desert.

A few days earlier, Sandwind Pass’s vanguard had gone out into the Northern Desert and engaged the Shanrong in a skirmish. Thanks to distance and stamina, the Great Yu vanguard had achieved some success, but ultimately could not overcome the Shanrong’s overwhelming numbers and were forced to retreat.

How could there be civilians out there?

Li Chong and Zheng stepped to the edge of the wall and looked down.

A young man in coarse hemp clothing, handsome-featured, stood below, smiling up at the wall.

“Who goes there?”

Zheng called down.

“My name is Chen Yan. I am a wanderer traveling about at leisure. I have come to Great Yu. I beg you, generals, to do me the favor of letting me into the pass.”

The youth smiled and appeared surprisingly relaxed.

Zheng glanced at Li Chong and asked in a low voice, “Captain, what should we do?”

Li Chong only stood there, watching the youth in rough hemp, and countered, “What do you think we should do?”

“I suspect deceit. It’s impossible for such a young lad to cross the Northern Desert alone and find Sandwind Pass… Moreover, even if he’s not one of the barbarians, we have no obligation to let him in. After several rounds of defense, our Great Yu soldiers have already suffered nearly ten thousand casualties. There’s no need to take any risks.”

Zheng analyzed.