Chapter 554: Chapter 554. Surrender
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
After eating and drinking to his heart’s content, Xiao Zeyu continued to study the war. He realized that after eating Qing’er’s noodles, his mind was clear, and his thoughts were nimble. He could even think of a better strategy.
Three days later, the army would officially attack Shanhai City.
Zhong Yong volunteered to blow up the city gate. Xiao Zeyu felt that Zhong Yong was too impulsive, so he did not agree to let him bring his men along. He let Zhang Jinglin take the artillery battalion and a team of highly skilled guards. There were only a hundred people, so the target was relatively small.
The army set up camp at the foot of the mountain and pretended to attack the city to distract attention from Zhang Jinglin. Zhang Jinglin wore a short coat and secretly sneaked into the forest with over a hundred people.
Some of the hundred-odd people who were proficient in traps were leading the way. They were mainly worried that there were hidden traps in the forest. Along the way, they found a few traps. The traps were all sharp bamboo that would pierce through the intestines, and they would rot to death if they fell into them. When they were about to leave the forest, they also found a row of arrows. If they touched the traps, they would be shot to death by thousands of swords.
Xiao Zeyu had done this mechanism before, so before Zhang Jinglin left, he had explicitly told him where he could set up this kind of mechanism and told him to be more careful.
Because they were careful along the way, their speed was plodding. Zhang Jinglin took people into the mountain before dawn and only reached the designated hill in the evening. From this position, they could see the city gate of Shanhai City.
The soldiers on the city walls were patrolling, and the city gates were tightly shut. Zhang Jinglin used Su Qing’s binoculars to look up, but he found no traces of the mortars.
They had initially planned to bomb the mortars first, but they couldn’t find them after searching for a long time. They only saw bows and arrows being transported from the city.
“Still waiting?”
Zhang Jinglin hesitated. He had agreed with the Young Master to fire at dusk, but they had yet to find the mortars. If they were to fire, they would have to do it in full swing and not give the Wan Family Army a chance to catch their breath.
In the end, Zhang Jinglin made up his mind and ordered the cannons to be set up and ready to fire.
At this moment, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from the forest. Zhang Jinglin immediately became alert. He ordered the soldiers to open fire while leading the guards to block the front of the forest to ensure that the cannoneers could open fire without any hindrance.
“We are here to surrender.”
The people in the forest shouted first, but Zhang Jinglin did not let down his guard. The person who suddenly appeared to surrender was either a traitor or a fraud. He must have come to ambush them. Zhang Jinglin shouted into the forest,
“Throw your weapons on the ground and come out with your hands above your head.”
The people in the forest obediently threw their weapons out and walked out with their hands raised.
There were more than thirty soldiers in total. They were all wearing the uniform of the imperial court and had bows and arrows on their backs. Their expressions were respectful.
“Official, we are here to surrender and join the Xiao Family Army.”
The soldier in the lead said to Zhang Jinglin with a smile. Zhang Jinglin did not say anything and ordered his men to tie them up. At that moment, he smelled a strange fragrance, and the soldier who went to tie them up fainted.
The people who came to surrender had smug smiles on their faces. They bent down to pick up their weapons. They were sure their knockout powder would knock out Zhang Jinglin and the others. The rest was simple. They would s.n.a.t.c.h these mortars to defend the city.
Zhang Jinglin had already held his breath and covered his nose with a handkerchief when he smelled the fragrance. He took out a grenade and threw it at these people.
The grenade exploded among these people, killing more than a dozen of the Wan Family Army. The remaining people were injured and deafened by the explosion. When they reacted and wanted to counterattack, Zhang Jinglin threw out a second grenade, and the remaining people were all blown away.
“Fire!”
Zhang Jinglin ordered the artillery behind him to open fire. The artillery was a little further away from them, so the knockout powder did not have much effect on them. Although they were also confused, it did not affect their firing.
Zhang Jinglin did not feel dizzy even after taking the handkerchief. Only then did he remember the purse Young Master had given him before he left. He quickly took off the purse and gave it to each of the fainted guards to smell. Soon, all the fainted people woke up.
It turned out that the young Master was prepared. This pouch was used to resist the knockout powder. It must have been given to him by Su Qing.
The mortars were fired together, and the ground shook. The walls of Shanhai City were smashed open, and the main gate was blown into pieces. Zhang Jinglin directed the cannoneers to attack the archers.
Regardless of whether they had mortars, the archers posed a considerable threat to the Xiao Family’s Army, so they had to get rid of them first.
Xiao Zeyu led the army to wait at the foot of the mountain. When they heard the cannon fire, they ordered the siege. The army rushed towards Shanhai City like a tide.
The soldiers defending the city hurriedly accepted the challenge, but they were stunned and scared by the explosions. They were like a bunch of headless flies, and they were quickly wiped out by Xiao Zeyu and his army, successfully taking down Shanhai City.
The Capital
Wan Yulin had just woken up from his coma. The imperial physician heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the Emperor had woken up. The Empress had ordered that if they could not save the Emperor, their entire family would be buried with him.
Fortunately, the Emperor woke up, and the lives of the entire family were saved.
Wan Yulin had just awakened from his coma and asked about the battlefield. How could the Empress dare to let him know? She said everything was normal, and the Xiao Family Army did not continue to attack the city.
Only then did Wan Yulin drink the medicine with peace of mind. He wanted to recover as soon as possible to destroy the Xiao Family kid outside Shanhai City.
“Reporting to the Empress, urgent military report.”
Wan Yulin had just drunk a bowl of medicine when he heard a loud report from outside the hall.
The Empress’s expression changed, and she ordered people to chase him away. Wan Yulin slapped her, and the Empress fell to the ground. Blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. She looked at the Emperor aggrievedly and persuaded Wan Yulin with tears in her eyes,
“Emperor, you can’t be excited now; it’s better not to listen.”
“You witch, you want to destroy my kingdom. Come and take off the empress’ phoenix crown and throw her into the cold palace.”
Wan Yulin was a lunatic now. He would start a ma.s.sacre at the slightest displeasure. He was able to spare the Empress’s life because she had given birth to Wan Qingzhi for him. Otherwise, the Empress would also lose her head.
The Empress knelt and begged for mercy. Wan Yulin waved his hand with a gloomy face. The eunuch had no choice but to go over and pull the Empress out. The other concubines were so frightened that they dared not make a sound. None of them dared to plead for the Empress.
Soon, the courier who had delivered the urgent military report was brought in. He looked very anxious. His eyes were red as he knelt in the hall and reported in a sad voice,
“The Xiao Family Army has conquered Emperor Shanhai City.”
“What?”
Wan Yulin felt his vision darken, and he felt another sharp pain in his chest. He could not help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
Once Shanhai City was destroyed, they would no longer be able to stop the Xiao Family Army. The capital would be exposed, and his empire would be in danger. Wan Yulin would fall on the dragon bed.
The imperial physician went over to perform another round of emergency treatment. He used acupuncture and boiled medicine. He used all the methods that could be used to save Wan Yulin. It was not easy for him to wake up.
“Change my clothes. I want to lead the army personally..”