allonlinenovel Chapter 340 The Real Surprise Attack is on the Sea
Chapter 340 The Real Surprise Attack is on the Sea
Both the northern and southern borders of the Xia Kingdom were fighting hard against attacks from the Rongdi tribes and the Yue Kingdom.
On the eastern sea of the Qiankun Continent.
The vast ocean, with its surging waves, is filled with the high-pitched cries of various unidentified seabirds that occasionally skim across the surface before taking flight again.
More than a dozen warships are speeding across the sea.
Guan Liushui stood on the deck of the lead warship, holding the railing and feeling the sea breeze. He appeared calm, but in reality, he was extremely anxious.
He wasn't worried about the northern battlefield because General Qin Shao was defending against the enemy, but in the southern battlefield, King Cheng was facing the Xia Kingdom's arch-enemy—General Liang Changping of the Yue Kingdom.
As the former young master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, Guan Liushui knew the story of the Evil-Slaying Blade.
Back then, Liang Changping and his uncle Hu Yidao suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Fengcheng. Although his uncle died for his country in that battle, his personal sword, the Evil-Slaying Blade, was sent to the Heavenly Alliance by Yang Liuming, becoming a symbol of the Xia Kingdom's soldiers' fearlessness in defending their homeland.
Liang Changping has always regarded the great defeat in Fengcheng as the shame of his life, and for many years he has tried his best to avenge it. Otherwise, he would not have stirred up such a huge storm when he obtained the Demon-Slaying Blade.
If it weren't for His Highness Prince Cheng's scheme, which took advantage of the former Crown Prince of Yue's desire for friendly relations between the two countries, and his exchange of his personal sword, the God-Slaying Sword, for the Evil-Slaying Blade, hundreds of innocent people in Jiaoyang Valley would have suffered a terrible calamity.
At this moment, Liang Changping finally seized the opportunity and led hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Fengcheng. He was bound to go all out!
Guan Liushui was very worried about the safety of Fengcheng, and also about how long Prince Cheng could hold out in Fengcheng.
At this moment, a general in his prime walked up to Guan Liushui and looked at the boundless sea.
"What is the special envoy thinking?"
Guan Shui turned to look at the general.
"General Gao, I was just thinking that with the help of the Song army, the Xia Kingdom will definitely be able to turn the tide this time!"
General Gao made no attempt to hide his concerns.
"There's just one thing I'm not entirely sure about..."
"General Gao, please speak freely. I will tell you everything I know without reservation."
General Gao frowned before continuing.
"Emperor Tian Shang of Yue is really going all out, sending all his troops to the front lines. Is there really no force to defend Chuyang City? That's the capital of Yue!"
The sea, which had just been turbulent, has now gradually returned to calm.
The azure sea reflects the blue sky and white clouds, and the mood of watching the flowing water is as clear as the sea.
He countered with a question to General Gao.
"Didn't you already receive reports from your scouts? Not only is Chuyang City undefended, but even the Baihuazhou military base in the southern border of Yue Kingdom, which borders the barbarians, has withdrawn nearly 90% of its troops to reinforce this great war with Xia Kingdom."
The Baihuazhou military base is located near where Guan Liushui and his group of five went to Guze Town to investigate the case, and it is not far from Gucheng, which was the fiefdom of Tian Shang, the Ninth Prince at the time.
Hu Junfeng, Guan Liushui's cousin, was secretly instructed by the former Crown Prince Tian Yuan to go to the Baihuazhou military base to investigate who the mysterious team that attacked the Xia Kingdom delegation was.
Ultimately, Hu Junfeng obtained the household registration files of those team members, providing them with the most favorable evidence and clues for their investigation.
Thinking of those border guards who died unjustly, Guan Liushui's heart is bleeding.
When General Gao heard about the saying about watching the flowing water, he slowly shook his head, his expression indescribable.
"This newly enthroned Yue emperor is really something..."
General Gao seemed to still have some reservations about the Yue Emperor, but Guan Liushui had no psychological burden and drew a conclusion directly.
"To put it nicely, he is a man of great talent and ambition; to put it bluntly, he is arrogant and self-willed. He doesn't even respect our Xia Kingdom, let alone your Song Kingdom."
The State of Song had always feigned weakness to its enemies, a tactic that had reached its pinnacle. Emperor Xiao Zhensheng of Song was a master of this art.
General Gao laughed heartily.
"Ten years ago, when His Majesty ordered me to secretly build a navy, I was really shocked. I almost thought His Majesty had been replaced by someone else. It was so unlike His Majesty's style. Now that I think about it, His Majesty had planned this all along, and he was not as simple as he appeared on the surface..."
General Gao scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. There were still some things he couldn't bring himself to say when discussing the emperor in private.
"Are you trying to say that your Song Diyuan isn't as gentle and refined as he appears on the surface?"
"Yes, yes, yes, that's the word!"
General Gao readily agreed.
Guan Liushui muttered "old fox" to himself. General Gao probably wanted to use another word to describe Emperor Song, but in the end he felt it was inappropriate and couldn't say it.
For example: ignorant and incompetent, extravagant and dissolute, idle and lazy, and so on.
Guan Liushui stopped talking about the topic and turned his gaze firmly to General Gao.
"I believe that if the Song army truly helps the Xia Kingdom out of its predicament, not only the Xia Kingdom, but also the Yue Kingdom will not dare to underestimate your Song Kingdom!"
General Gao gazed confidently at the distant horizon, a surge of ambition rising within him.
"This is also a good opportunity to test our Song navy! Rest assured, Special Envoy, I will do my utmost!"
?
As the Song navy quietly approached the waters near the Yue coast, Liang Changping led the Yue army in another fierce siege of Fengcheng, employing a human wave tactic.
Gu Jiancheng personally went up to the city wall and fought fiercely with his soldiers. The blood of the Xia and Yue soldiers who died or were wounded stained the city wall red, but Liang Changping continued to send soldiers to build ladders to climb up the city wall.
"Charge! All of you, charge forward! Twenty taels of silver for every Xia soldier you kill!!"
Liang Changping's eyes were now bloodshot. He was on his horse, holding his long sword high, and roaring at his soldiers.
At this moment, on the city wall of Fengcheng, seeing the dwindling number of rolling logs and stones, Gu Jiancheng realized the problem.
"We're running low on logs and boulders. Send word! Have someone move the spare logs and boulders upstairs!"
"Yes!"
Someone immediately responded and left to carry out the order.
But before new logs and stones could be transported to the city wall, more and more Vietnamese soldiers, lured by generous rewards, risked their lives to climb the ladders and scale the walls.
Yang Zilan shouted at Gu Jiancheng beside her.
"Your Highness! It's dangerous here! You must get down immediately!"
Gu Jiancheng brandished his sword and fought fiercely against the Vietnamese soldiers who had climbed onto the city wall, showing no fear on his face.
"Zilan, be careful, don't worry about me, I won't leave!"
Just then, a Vietnamese soldier swung his knife and slashed at Gu Jiancheng's arm. Gu Jiancheng swayed and almost fell.
Seeing this, Yang Zilan leaped in front of Gu Jiancheng and used her spear to repel several Vietnamese soldiers, but more and more Vietnamese soldiers climbed onto the city wall.
Gu Jiancheng and Yang Zilan were surrounded by a large number of Vietnamese soldiers and it was clear that they could not hold them off!
Suddenly, Huang Shuo leaped down from the sky, protecting Gu Jiancheng and Yang Zilan, and killing the besieging Vietnamese soldiers!
Behind Huang Shuo, a row of crossbowmen fired arrows at the Vietnamese army in unison, and in the blink of an eye, the Vietnamese soldiers on the city wall fell to the ground.
Another row of crossbowmen then stood on the battlements and fired crossbow bolts at the Vietnamese troops below the city wall.
Screams and wails rose and fell.
The blood on the city wall was almost coated with a thick paste, clinging to it in a gruesome sight.
It wasn't until several groups of archers took turns firing that the thousand crossbow bolts were finally exhausted, and the Vietnamese army's attack was repelled before nightfall.
Left with no other choice, Liang Changping angrily ordered a retreat.