This is awkward.

Alibaba's boasts were still going strong when it was slapped in the face.

Boom boom boom...

The deafening roar of cannons stunned everyone on the city walls.

Ali's jaw nearly dropped: "How could this be!"

Why were the cannons in Guangzhou so much worse than those in the Song Dynasty navy, even though they were both artillery?

Ali's face turned ashen, and he was terrified.

He was initially full of confidence, but he was shocked by the strength of the navy right from the start.

Chen Zhaohong and several other young talents from the Chen family also turned pale.

Ammid, Baishar, and the charioteer Kapil stared wide-eyed.

The Song army's fighting strength exceeded their expectations.

Ali felt a sense of foreboding, but forced a show of bravado, saying, "Nothing special. We have hundreds of thousands of troops; we're nothing to fear!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly descended the city wall, surrounded by his entourage.

The Chen family members also quickly followed them down the city wall.

Chen Zhaohong's face had turned into a pig's liver, and the kind that's been stir-fried.

Kapil, trembling behind, kept shouting, "Quickly, quickly, go and mobilize troops..."

Anmid and Baishar, on the other hand, were much calmer. With 100,000 troops still in the city, they were not a threat at all.

Moreover, there were countless Han Chinese civilians being held hostage.

Aliben said viciously, "Quickly mobilize troops to guard the south gate. Capture another five hundred Han Chinese here. If Li Bao dares to make any more moves, kill all of them!"

After giving his orders, Ali had already run to the city walls, where many Yi soldiers were gathering.

Boom boom boom...

The Song army's cannons blasted in through the doorway, blasting the bluestone slabs on the ground into flying fragments, and no one dared to approach.

Chen Zhaohong followed closely behind Aliben, feeling suffocated. The fighting power of this Song army was completely beyond his expectations.

Chen Zhaohong asked anxiously, "What should we do? What do we do now?"

He was no longer as calm and composed as before; the powerful sound of the cannons was truly awe-inspiring.

"No need to rush, our 100,000 troops are more than capable of repelling these Song soldiers!"

"But the city gates have already been breached!"

"Just wait to become emperor, leave all this to me!"

Aliben's speech quickened noticeably, and his gait became strange, indicating extreme anxiety: "Quickly seize five hundred Han Chinese, seize as many as you want! Don't treat them like human beings!"

A line of barbarian soldiers kept surging towards this side, filling the street.

Chen Zhaohong followed Ali Ben into the city.

Time seemed to slow down, and every moment seemed to last a long time.

Ali, speaking in broken Chinese, said, "In your Han language, calm down. After today's battle, we'll use the heads of Song generals as a sacrifice to the flag, and tomorrow we'll hold your coronation ceremony!"

Chen Jialuo said, "Father, Aliben is right. We have nothing to fear. We have an army of 100,000 and hostages in our hands!"

Anmid and Baishar laughed too.

Amed said, "In the last half hour, the Song army in the south of the city has probably been driven back, hahaha!"

"Of course, capturing five hundred Han Chinese will be enough to deter them!"

Chen Zhaohong seemed to be calmed down by their confidence.

Just then, a soldier ran up quickly: "Something terrible has happened! The Han people in the city are gathering together and are about to rebel!"

Aliben's face twisted into a ferocious grin: "What are you afraid of? Anyone who dares to rebel, we'll kill them! We'll kill them all!"

Chen Zhaohong was sweating profusely, and a sense of foreboding crept into his heart.

No sooner had that soldier left than another came running up: "Something terrible has happened!"

The tension in everyone's nerves was almost about to snap. Aliben was extremely agitated, veins bulging on his forehead, and he wished he could chop the soldier into mincemeat.

"Spit it out!"

"The south has fallen, and the enemy is about to attack!"

Ali finally couldn't hold back and jumped up, slashing the soldier with his sword.

"Bullshit! We have 100,000 elite troops!"

He put away the knife, stood up, and walked out with very hurried steps.

Chen Zhaohong called out from behind, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Dongguan County to get reinforcements so we can surround and annihilate the Song army in Guangzhou!"

Holy crap! Chen Zhaohong was about to jump up and down!

Damn it! Aliben, if you're going to run away, can't you come up with an even more sophisticated and unconventional reason?!

The Chen family members all had faces as red as pig liver.

They're the kind of people who risk the lives of their entire families while working.

A couple of days ago, when you, Alibaba, were bragging, you weren't like this at all.

Back then, you were going to trample the whole world under your feet.

Why are you trying to run away now?

Chen Zhaohong felt he had been tricked by Ali Ben; he was a fraudster!

"You're not allowed to go anywhere!" Chen Zhaohong stepped forward and grabbed Aliben, who then shoved him to the ground with brute force.

"Get out of my way! I did all this for you!"

"It's all your fault! You're the one who instigated me to rebel!" Chen Zhaohong jumped up completely. "Right now I'll arrest you all and hand you over to the Emperor to plead guilty!"

"You dare!" Aliben immediately drew his knife and, without hesitation, slashed Chen Zhaohong on the head.

With a snap, the sharp knife struck the skull, producing a teeth-grinding sound.

Chen Zhaohong screamed in agony, blood gushing from his forehead, before convulsing and dying.

Meanwhile, his sons were enraged and rushed forward to fight Aliben, but they were all weak scholars and no match for him.

They were all stabbed to death in just a few strokes.

"Let's get going!"

Aliben led Amid and the others in a hasty escape.

Those soldiers, composed of barbarians, had been drinking and eating meat for the past few months, and their bodies had long since collapsed.

At this moment, they were bombarded by the Song army's cannons and fled in all directions.

Muskets and crossbows relentlessly claimed lives; the Song army killed any foreigners they saw, and before long, the southern city was littered with corpses.