The Court Abandoned the City, but I Made It the World's Mightiest Fortress

The bridge must be destroyed before 3 p.m., but more than a hundred people are still on it.

When Cheng Ye opens his eyes, he's gone from being a bridge engineer to a squad leader in the border army of the Great Yong. He delays for half an hour before raising the flag to blow the bridge. The people are saved, but in return he receives a military report accusing him of abandoning his post in the face of the enemy. He awaits judgment.

That night, an order to retreat arrives in Lindu City. Its final eight characters read: “All other soldiers and civilians, fend for yourselves.”

The soldiers have withdrawn, and the grain has been hauled away. More than two thousand people remain in the city, with barely enough food to last until the winter solstice.

The garrison commander asks him, “If I leave and you stay, then the accusation of ‘abandoning your post’ will be true.”

Cheng Ye says, “Then let it be true.”

A map of the terrain that seems to grow on its own has appeared in his mind, and he now has a set of spear techniques passed down from someone unknown.

The court may not want this city, but he does.