Nanze, inside the main hall of the imperial palace.
Jin Fengluan shivered inexplicably, goosebumps rising on her hands. She involuntarily touched her arm before looking up at the assembled officials and the court:
"Hmph, so what if they're here?!"
"We'll have to fight this traitor sooner or later. Now that he's here, let's be prepared and fight him to the death!"
"Trying to destroy my Southern Lake? Wishful thinking!"
"Listen up, all of you! When the rebels attack, no one is allowed to retreat even a single step. If they attack the city, we must retaliate!"
Not only must we keep them out of the city, but we must also inflict heavy losses on them. Once they are weakened from the siege, we should open the gates and pursue them, determined to capture the rebel leader, the traitor Qin Ze!
"Capture him alive and bring him before me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the assembled officials replied in unison, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Although the conscription didn't yield any significant results, it was a wise decision to concentrate all troops in Nanze and abandon the other cities. At least, putting everything else aside, Nanze now has a considerable number of troops.
Especially at the city gate, a large number of troops have been deployed, and on the city tower, Prince Qing ordered the Shenji Battalion to deploy all the available cannons.
Besides these expensive cannons, ordinary long-range weapons such as ballistae and war siege weapons have also been brought out. Although no major battles have been fought in the past two years, the foundation remains intact.
In order to defend this Nanze, we naturally need to do everything we can, since there seems to be nowhere left to retreat to.
Jin Fengluan then said some encouraging words, and then adjourned the meeting, telling everyone to be on high alert and ready to fight back when the rebels arrived.
After the officials left, Jin Fengluan's face immediately darkened, and Prince Qing, who was left behind, also looked displeased. The two exchanged glances, and Jin Fengluan spoke first:
"Still no news?"
Prince Qing shook his head and said regretfully, "No."
Jin Fengluan's face turned cold, and she shouted, "This is no longer Pingwu's business!"
"But those barbarians are determined not to send troops!"
Prince Qing had previously sent people to meet Prince Jing, but the people sent never returned, and there has been no news since. This shows that something must have happened to the barbarians, which is why they chose not to send troops at this critical moment.
But now that the rebels are about to reach Nanze, they can no longer worry about the barbarians.
Prince Qing pondered for a moment, then looked at Jin Fengluan and said, "Your Majesty, if the barbarians do not send troops, there is nothing we can do. However, fortunately, we have prepared enough troops and are just waiting for the battle."
Jin Fengluan narrowed her eyes slightly and snorted coldly:
"I initially thought these barbarians were just stupid, but I never imagined they were not only stupid but also cowardly!"
"But what if they're not here? We can still do it!"
"They dare not send troops now, but I will make them regret it in the future. Hmph, after winning this battle, my Great Gan will be out of danger, and I will slowly deal with these barbarians later!"
"How dare you be so ungrateful!" Jin Fengluan flung her sleeves, her face full of displeasure.
Prince Qing's expression was solemn, and he continued:
"Your Majesty, Nanze is now the last foundation of our Great Gan, and we have deployed all our forces for today's battle."
"This battle will decide everything. I have already spoken with the generals, and we must advance and retreat together, striving to settle the score in one battle."
Upon hearing this, Jin Fengluan's expression softened slightly, and she nodded, saying:
"good!"
"I will remain in this palace and await good news from the front!"
——
Knowing that Nanze was the last stronghold of the Jin family, and that their counterattack before their demise would be fierce enough, Qin Ze exchanged for more troops this time. Of course, most of these were weapons, and he decided to use the more points he had accumulated in the upcoming battles.
The day before yesterday, while he was in Datong, he received an urgent report from Nangang, saying that they had spotted the movements of foreign ships during their patrol at sea, but they did not sail to Nangang.
Clearly, this is the fleet that Merriel had mentioned earlier.
Those foreigners came from many countries, and naturally, there were also fleets from many countries that came. The exact number is still unclear, but the waters near Nangang are already densely packed with warships. These foreigners must have come at this moment because they were wary of the fleets in the waters near Nangang, which is why they dared not come directly.
Qin Ze knew that these foreigners had long coveted the country and would not give up easily. Therefore, a battle with them was inevitable. So, after dealing with Nan Ze and the Jin family, he could not immediately return to the capital.
Before that, we need to give these wolves and tigers that have come to our territory a good beating!
The fleet remaining in the coastal waters has been fully deployed, with as many as a thousand warships, fully equipped with cannons and other weapons. Most importantly, they clearly understand that the approaching force is the enemy.
However, those foreigners are currently unaware of what is happening here. They have no intelligence whatsoever, which is why they dare not recklessly land on the shore. If they wanted to land, they would probably send ships over to negotiate in advance.
Negotiation is tantamount to luring someone into a trap. Qin Ze is determined to wipe them all out, to kill or capture all these foreigners, and to thoroughly establish the prestige of the Yan Kingdom!
And right now—
Qin Ze looked up ahead. The sun was gradually setting in the west, and the army had made no progress and had not encountered any obstacles.
Clearly, after the Battle of Datong, the Jin family finally realized that they could no longer fight in the open field and could only concentrate their forces to defend Nanze City, which saved them a lot of trouble.
Qin Ze had already sent a proclamation calling for war against the Jin dynasty into the city. He only hoped that the people in the city could stay away from the upcoming battle. Although war would always result in death, he ultimately did not want these civilians to suffer as well.
Since the uprising began in Beiliang, Qin Ze has fought countless battles, all for the sake of the nation's rebirth. Now that this final battle is over, Qin Ze hopes that no more war will ever break out on this land.
The military strength is already strong enough, but for a country to prosper, in addition to military strength, the development of people's livelihood is also needed. Therefore, domestic development will remain a priority, and as for external enemies, we can simply lead our troops to fight them.
Qin Ze still kept the words he had said earlier in mind: "Gather the strength of all nations and bring prosperity to the Yan Kingdom!" He would subdue all foreign enemies who attempted to seize the Yan Kingdom and repay them with their own methods.
Just then, the army's march slowed down noticeably. Qin Ze looked up and saw the outer city walls of the old capital of Nanze faintly appearing before his eyes.
He pursed his lips, then shouted:
"Prepare for the siege!"
"Once the city is breached, we will march straight into the palace and capture the Jin traitors!"
"yes!!"
The echoes resounded through the sky, the warhorses breathed heavily, and the chariots clanged and clattered. This torrent of thousands of chariots and cannons, and tens of thousands of cavalrymen, headed straight for Nanze City!
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