For access to a complete chapter, you can subscribe to my patreon.com/caleredhair
“Six thousand rifled guns!”
A gasp of astonishment arose in the camp, and the generals’ excitement was evident.
During the conquest of Wei, they had already tested the excellent performance of this weapon on the battlefield. This batch of firearms not only had a long range and great power, but also were easy to load and had a fast firing rate.
An ordinary flintlock gun could fire two to three bullets per minute, but this kind of rifled gun could fire double the number of bullets per minute, which was very important for flintlock guns that relied on firing density to inflict casualties on the enemy.
“General, please give these 6,000 flintlock guns to our Southern Expeditionary Army. I am willing to be the vanguard!” Lu Fei stepped forward and cupped his hands to Niu Ben.
Ye Qingyun immediately became displeased. “General Lu, that’s not fair. How can the vanguard be yours, and these flintlock guns also yours? Even without these rifled flintlock guns, our Dengzhou Army is willing to be the vanguard!”
“That’s not right. How come all the good things go to your Southern Expeditionary Army and Dengzhou Army? You’ve already profited from the war in Wei. Now it should be our turn!” Di Ying, the Governor of Yunzhou, said.
“Exactly, you Southern Expeditionary Army and Dengzhou Army shouldn’t always hog all the limelight. This time, it should be our turn.”
“…”
The generals spoke one after another, none giving way to the other.
“All of you, shut up!” Niu Ben roared when he saw this.
The generals immediately clamped their mouths shut, each with a serious expression.
Scanning the eager generals, Niu Ben said in a deep voice, “I know you are eager for battle, but there can be no mishaps in this battle. This is not the time for you to vie for credit. I’ll make it clear beforehand: if anyone dares to disobey orders in this battle, or disrupts the formation to rush the attack, I will chop off his head.”
“Yes, General!” The generals responded in unison.
Nodding with satisfaction, Niu Ben looked at the sand table. This sand table represented the terrain between Yunzhou City and Kaizhou City. This time, the armies of Prince Yan, Prince Zhao, and Prince Liang were relying on Bingzhou, and their large army advanced twenty li outside Yunzhou City to set up camp. Their momentum was undeniably grand.
Although Yunzhou City also concentrated most of the state’s army this time, Niu Ben still dared not be careless, because this would be a battle that would determine the situation in the north for the state.
If this action annihilated the 350,000 allied forces, the offensive and defensive balance in the north will be completely altered from then on, and the state will break free from its passive defensive posture.
“Lu Fei, I order you to command the central army. Luo Hong, I order you to command the left army. Ye Qingyun, I order you to command the right army. Bai Mu, you lead 20,000 cavalry to protect the left flank of the infantry. Qi Guangyi, you lead 20,000 cavalry to protect the right flank of the infantry. Luo Xin, you will establish the artillery positions with me.” Niu Ben issued orders one by one.
All the generals who heard the orders bowed and responded.
Allied Forces Camp.
While Niu Ben was deploying for battle, here, they were fiercely arguing about the upcoming war. This time, Prince Yan sent his younger brother Cui Huai to command the entire army. Prince Zhao sent General Zhao Ang, and Prince Liang’s army was personally led by the Second Prince.
Although the three princes had agreed to jointly attack Qi this time, the soldiers in the allied forces’ camp were distinctly separated, not only that, even provisions were managed by each army for itself.
“Why should our Yan army serve as the vanguard, while your armies watch from behind? Since we are allied forces, we should naturally advance and retreat together!” In the tent, Cui Huai looked displeased at the Second Prince and Zhao Ang.
Zhao Ang said upon hearing this, “This allied army is led by Yan. The vanguard should naturally be handled by Yan. Moreover, if Qingzhou is conquered, Yan will benefit the most, won’t it?”
Cui Huai’s face instantly flushed. He said angrily, “That’s wrong! This great army’s presence is by no means for Yan’s selfish interests. I ask you, if we just watch Xiao Ming grow stronger, who benefits? You are judging a gentleman’s heart with a villain’s mind!”
“General Cui is absolutely right. Our purpose this time is to destroy Xiao Ming and prevent him from ascending the throne. Is General Zhao Ang unwilling to exert effort because he admits that the Thirteenth Prince is not legitimate?” The Second Prince said blandly.
Whenever the Second Prince thought of Xiao Ming, intense hatred would surge within him. If Xiao Ming hadn’t relentlessly pursued the assassination incident back then, he wouldn’t have been demoted to a desolate place like Bazhou and suffered so much.
This time, Prince Liang’s large army initially did not have him as the main commander, but under his strong insistence, Prince Liang finally compromised. For him, as long as Xiao Ming was alive, his hatred would not be quelled.
Zhao Ang, being cornered by Cui Huai and the Second Prince, his expression shifted, and finally he said, “The Thirteenth Prince is naturally legitimate. Xiao Ming’s enthronement is an act of rebellion.”
“That’s it then,” the Second Prince sneered. “When battle begins tomorrow, I hope both of you can provide strong support.”
Although Zhao Ang was unwilling, facing the aggressive stance of the two, he had no choice but to agree. However, Prince Zhao’s words before his departure still echoed in his ears: these 40,000 Xuanjia iron cavalry were Prince Zhao’s treasures. He would still try to minimize casualties.
At this moment, the Second Prince and Cui Huai exchanged glances, their eyes crossing paths. Both were somewhat wary of each other.
The next morning, wisps of cooking smoke rose from Yunzhou City, and the allied forces’ camp also began to light fires and prepare meals. After the soldiers had all eaten their fill, a thunderous sound of war drums suddenly echoed through the camp.
Then the allied forces slowly approached Yunzhou City amidst the sound of war drums.
At this time, a hydrogen balloon in Yunzhou City had already ascended, and the flag signaler on the hydrogen balloon continuously relayed the movements of the allied forces to Niu Ben on the city wall.
“The flag signaler says they observed 150 cannons from the allied forces being pushed towards Yunzhou City,” Niu Ben said to Luo Xin.
“General, it seems Prince Yan and Prince Liang have brought out all their family fortunes this time,” Luo Xin said.
Niu Ben nodded, “These cannons are yours. Destroy them all.”
“Yes, General.” Luo Xin nodded. Then he descended from the city tower and headed towards a high ground outside the city. This high ground was now set with a hundred cannons, and there was also an artillery position on a slightly higher piece of land corresponding to it.
Outside Yunzhou City, Lu Fei, Luo Hong, and Ye Qingyun led the left, center, and right armies respectively, arrayed in horizontal lines. These horizontal lines were further composed of smaller horizontal lines of two hundred men each.
On the open land outside Yunzhou City, the two armies drew closer, and the atmosphere on the battlefield grew heavier.
An hour later, the allied forces of the three princes stopped 300 meters from Yunzhou City’s army. The musketeers in front began to advance towards Yunzhou City’s army.
This time, Prince Yan sent all his musketeers, a total of 20,000 men, and Prince Liang sent all 10,000 of his musketeers from his state.
Hundreds of thousands of troops were arrayed from east to west, the dense soldiers appearing like an ant colony from above.
For both sides, this battle had no elaborate schemes; it was a direct confrontation between the two armies.
“Rumble…”
As the allied forces’ musketeers continuously advanced towards Yunzhou City, the sound of war drums grew more fervent, and amidst the war drums, the field guns also roared.