Chapter 24: Zhang Yu’s Astonishment—Could It Really Be Zhu Zheng?

Zhu Zheng was charging and slaughtering like a madman!

System notifications were continuous. Some were for attribute gains, others for treasure chest rewards. In this battle, Zhu Zheng had completely lost himself to the frenzy. Perhaps it was through this very combat that he had fully adapted to the battlefield.

As the ten thousand Yan soldiers surged into the city, the outcome of the battle was never in doubt; Miyun City, guarded by a garrison of ten thousand, was breached by the Yan army. Once the main force flooded into the city, the defending troops collapsed and surrendered in droves.

"Those who retreat shall be executed!"

At the local government office within the city, the garrison commander was making a last stand with only a few hundred men remaining.

"Brothers, kill!"

Zhu Zheng had already led his men to the forefront, with the army behind him continuing their relentless assault. Seeing the enemy commander before the office, Zhu Zheng did not hesitate. He raised his blade and charged.

A wave of slaughter followed. His soldiers trailed closely behind him, leaving the government office soaked in blood and littered with corpses.

"Die!"

The enemy commander, seeing that the situation was lost, gripped his blade and lunged straight at Zhu Zheng. This was exactly what Zhu Zheng had hoped for.

Their blades collided with a sharp clang. With a sickening crunch, the enemy commander’s weapon snapped, and Zhu Zheng’s steel blade swung down onto the man's neck, cutting through like dry wood. A single strike decapitated him.

"Enemy Battalion Commander slain. All attributes +50. 50 taels of silver collected. 50 days of lifespan collected."

"Tier 1 Treasure Chest awarded."

As the head fell, the system prompts echoed. The surge of fifty points across all attributes washed away much of the fatigue in Zhu Zheng’s body. He picked up the enemy commander’s severed head, scanned the surrounding enemy soldiers, and roared, "Your commander has been slain! Drop your weapons and surrender, and your lives shall be spared!"

His roar was like thunder, shaking the surrounding enemy troops.

"Drop your weapons and surrender, and your lives shall be spared!"

"Surrender and live..."

The surrounding Yan soldiers shouted in unison, every one of them burning with fervor. Under such circumstances, the enemy troops stopped their futile resistance, dropped their weapons, and knelt in surrender.

The government office was taken, the city was captured, and the battle was decided.

***

Outside the city!

"Report!"

"General Zhang, Miyun City has been successfully taken. Our army has won a great victory!"

Several cavalrymen galloped toward Zhang Yu, their faces filled with excitement.

"Good." Zhang Yu’s eyes smiled, though his demeanor remained composed.

Breaching Miyun City was not a difficult task for Zhang Yu; it was merely a matter of how many casualties would be sustained. After all, Zhang Yu—and indeed all the Yan soldiers participating in the Jingnan Campaign—had no other choice. If they did not fight with their lives, their entire clans would face extermination.

"Who was the one who broke the gate first?" Zhang Yu asked with a serious expression. "I saw the vanguard being pushed back by the enemy, and it seemed as though one man alone rammed the gates open. I must personally request a reward for such a warrior from the Prince of Yan." His eyes brimmed with anticipation.

He had been monitoring the battlefield closely. This victory owed much to that warrior; without him, the cost of taking the city would have been far higher.

"Reporting to the General," the messenger replied loudly, "the one who broke the gate with the ram and was the first to charge in was Zhu Zheng, Vice-Commander of the First Thousand-Man Battalion."

"Zhu Zheng?" Zhang Yu’s expression shifted slightly, and he asked with a hint of surprise, "Are you certain it was the Vice-Commander of the First Thousand-Man Battalion?"

"The subordinate is certain. Thousands of soldiers witnessed it. Not only that, but I went into the city to investigate, and Vice-Commander Zhu fought with unparalleled ferocity. Over a hundred enemy soldiers fell beneath his blade. He single-handedly broke the enemy’s morale at the gate," the messenger said, his voice filled with admiration.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu fell into deep thought, though the shock in his eyes was impossible to hide.

"So this Zhu Zheng isn't just lucky? He is truly this ferocious? Pushing the ram alone to break the gates and killing over a hundred men? What a fierce warrior!"

Even for Zhang Yu, these results were truly astonishing.

"Let's go. Enter the city and see for ourselves," Zhang Yu commanded.

"Understood!" his bodyguards replied in unison.

In the Great Ming Empire, holding the rank of Battalion Commander or higher entitled one to personal guards, with the number increasing according to rank. When Zhu Di rebelled, he did so with eight hundred personal guards, accompanied by the personal troops of his loyal commanders.

They entered the city.

***

The fighting had ceased. The streets were filled with corpses and blood. Many surrendered soldiers, stripped of their armor and weapons, were being escorted out of the city.

It could be said that the city was in chaos after such a brutal battle. However, since this was Beiping Prefecture—part of the Ming Empire—there was no wanton slaughter of the innocent, and the military discipline remained orderly.

In front of the government office, a dozen army medics were tending to the wounded.

The battle was over, but Zhu Zheng did not rest. He seized the opportunity, blade in hand, and wandered among the piles of corpses. To others, it appeared that Zhu Zheng was ensuring the enemy was truly dead and checking for any survivors playing dead.

Consequently, his soldiers followed his lead, walking among the bodies and checking for any remnants of life.

"Commander," Zhu Gaoxu said excitedly as he caught up to Zhu Zheng at a pile of bodies, "I've checked those corpses; there’s no one left alive."

Having survived the battle, Zhu Gaoxu was covered in minor wounds and had killed his share of enemies, yet he remained high-spirited. Furthermore, he had been saved by Zhu Zheng multiple times during the fight, and he now looked at Zhu Zheng with total admiration, acting like a devoted fan.

"Stay vigilant," Zhu Zheng replied with a straight face regarding Zhu Gaoxu's reminder.

However, inwardly, he was cursing, "I'm looting the bodies, why are you lot following suit?"

Ignoring them, Zhu Zheng continued his work, seizing every second to loot the corpses and collect attributes.

"Strength +1..."

"Agility +1..."

"Spirit +1..."

Listening to these pleasant notifications made Zhu Zheng, even with his own injuries, feel immense joy. Seizing the time to loot bodies was the path to becoming stronger and the fundamental key to surviving on the battlefield.

"It seems I can no longer collect attributes from the enemies I’ve already killed by looting them again. I wonder if there’s a limit to the attribute gains after a certain point?"

As he looted the bodies of the enemies he had personally slain and received no further notifications, Zhu Zheng realized the correlation between killing an enemy and the looting process.

Just then, a shout echoed around the government office: "General Zhang has arrived!"

All the soldiers turned to look as Zhang Yu, surrounded by his bodyguards, walked over quickly.

"Where is Zhu Zheng?" Zhang Yu asked immediately upon his arrival, scanning the area.