BXBX NOVEL Chapter 416
A few days later, Song Jinglan led his troops to march in person. The news that they had arrived at the south bank of the River Huai was sent back to the capital of the Great Lin Empire.
By then, everyone had realized that war would be unavoidable.
During this tumultuous period, Lin Qing was dealing with a pile of political matters every day. Not only did he not dare to relax even in the slightest, he no longer had a good night’s rest due to the stress.
In the middle of the night, Lin Qing suddenly heard hurried footsteps echo outside the palace. Before the palace servants addressed the issue, he had already woken up instantly. He turned over and sat up suddenly, asking the palace servants in a deep voice, “Did the Song Empire march their troops?”
The palace servant knelt in front of Lin Qing’s bed with a plop as he sobbed in a low voice, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, His Majesty, has passed away.”
Right then, seven death knells sounded from the palace.
Emperor Lin, who had sustained himself with elixir decoctions for a long time, finally passed in the middle of the night.
Lin Qing’s eyes saw nothing but a blur.
The late Emperor Lin had to pass away at this time.
Despite the preparations, Emperor Lin’s death still brought a heavy gloom to the panic-stricken capital. Many people have already started packing up, preparing to flee the capital city. But where could they go? Once the Yong Kingdom and the Song Empire joined forces to attack, every inch of land in the Great Lin Empire would be devoured and engulfed in the flames of war.
Early the following day, every court official dressed and lined up as Lin Qing ascended the throne.
The Lin Empire officials carried out the funeral of the former Emperor in an orderly manner, but no one had the time to grieve. After all, judging from the current situation, the Song Empire and the Yong Kingdom were about to declare war on the Lin Empire’s soil very soon. The most urgent task that had to be done was to figure out a way to mobilise the Great Lin Empire’s troops and stop the two outside forces from encroaching on the land.
This battle would determine whether Lin Qing could keep on to the Great Lin Empire’s centuries worth of foundation.
…
To the north of the River Huai, Xi Xun, the General of Zhenguo, led 70,000 soldiers and horses, and stationed themselves on the river bank as they faced the 100,000 men of the Song Empire that were across the river. The two armies confronted each other for many days, but no one made any major movements. On the other hand, as the Song Emperor was personally present, the Song army troops’ morale was high, and the Lin Empire soldiers could hear the charismatic shouts of the soldiers practising every day from afar.
However, when it came to the army of the Great Lin Empire, due to the former Emperor’s passing, the new Emperor’s ascension, and the fact that the Yong Kingdom was going to attack them, the soldiers knew that they were about to make a last stand. Hence, the atmosphere was rather tense but dignified. Everyone squeezed the weapons in their hands, ever ready to fight to the last man standing.
On this day, the Great Lin Empire’s troops were waiting for the commencement of the impending battle when they suddenly saw the Song troops on the other side raising a blue flag.
(Editor’s note: Old chinese wars in mainland china, when it came to full frontal head on war, is really a show of force and grind, with a lot of emphasis to terrify the opposition before actually doing a full frontal assault. Even then, there are lots of ‘rituals’ and ‘rites’ as well, like how medieval European wars are conducted, just on a much bigger scale)