Li Lisong, the general of the State of Jin, flew to the capital of the State of Jin, Lequan City, in one breath.
Looking at the majestic and magnificent palace in front of him, Li Lisong was actually afraid to take a step; he was defeated, he was defeated by the broken Xia Kingdom that everyone looked down upon. Three hundred thousand troops went north, but he returned alone - not only was he defeated, he seemed to be a deserter.
Li Lisong stood at the door in a daze, but the guards on both sides of the palace knew Li Lisong. A captain of the guards "ignored" Li Lisong's embarrassment and just kindly reminded him: "Marshal, His Majesty has been in the Imperial Garden for the past few days to attend court."
"Holding court in the Imperial Garden?" Li Lisong was stunned, not knowing what this meant.
The captain of the guards sighed and said, "It's all because of Anyang. Five ironclad ships appeared on the east coast of our Jin State, bombarding military fortresses such as Bai Ze Town and Dongguan Town, causing tens of thousands of casualties."
When Li Lisong heard this, he no longer hesitated and rushed into the palace. After several inspections, he met the Emperor of Jin in the Imperial Garden.
His Majesty the Emperor did not look very good; Li Lisong did not look very good either.
"Defeated?" These three words were the first words the Jin emperor said when they met.
Li Lisong knelt down with a thud and said, "Three hundred thousand soldiers have been killed. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."
The Jin emperor looked up at the sky with rolling clouds, sighed a few times, and finally ordered the guards around him, "Invite all ministers, generals, etc. to come and discuss politics."
Li Lisong was kneeling on the ground, too embarrassed to look up; the Emperor was standing like a sculpture; only the graceful and lively birds in the imperial garden were chirping in joy. These ordinary birds and beasts enjoyed the tranquility and abundance of the imperial garden; some of them even had the blood of monsters, and were intelligent and gorgeous.
Soon, all the officials of Jin State gathered together. When they saw Li Lisong kneeling on the ground, in a mess, with dried blood on his clothes, they suddenly understood what had happened. No one spoke, but quietly lined up on both sides of the emperor, surrounding Li Lisong in the center.
After all the officials arrived, the Emperor of Jin looked at Li Lisong and said, "Li Lisong, tell me everything, from the time you led the troops to the time you returned, without missing a word."
Li Lisong began to narrate. As expected of a commander-in-chief, he described the entire process accurately, right down to the last thing, the lighting of the beacon fire and the transmission of information. It was only lacking the rhetoric and ups and downs of a novelist, which made the story a little bland; but the officials around him could feel the cruelty of the battlefield from this calm narration.
Planes bombing continuously, artillery that can fire ten miles away, tens of thousands of fully armed foundation-building masters in Anyang; machine guns that can kill 200,000 people in half a day, machine guns that hit foundation-building masters as fragile as fruits...
Everyone was silent after listening to Li Lisong's story. More than 200,000 people were killed or wounded in half a day, and 30,000 people died in a single charge. Such a tragic war situation was beyond everyone's expectations. In the end, Nanyang County and Dongyuan County stood aside and even rebelled, which completely buried the 300,000-strong army of Jin.
"I, your Majesty, beg you to punish me." After saying this, Li Lisong fell to the ground, his voice choking. The Jin State had launched its first major war in a hundred years, but the 300,000-man army was defeated.