Five days later, the army set off.
Meanwhile, the Southern Liang emperor gathered all the remaining city garrisons together over the next five days, preparing for a decisive battle against Zhu Yu's 200,000-strong army.
The Southern Liang emperor had almost completely emptied the city's defenses, so Zhu Yu and his men captured it with little effort.
They headed south towards the capital of Liang.
This day was the 18th day of the sixth month of the eleventh year of Jianyan.
Zhu Yu, Lu Xiaoyun, Feng Yan, and Qi Yu, two couples, sat on horseback. They were all dressed in armor, and a gentle breeze lifted their red cloaks. Even the two women exuded a heroic and dashing air.
Behind them stood an army of 150,000 men, standing in neat rows.
Emperor Nanliang shouted from the city gate: "Your Highness Prince An of Great Zhou, Nanliang is willing to offer ten more cities, two million taels of silver, and a letter of surrender, and pay tribute to Great Zhou every year. Please, Your Highness Prince An of Great Zhou, show mercy."
Zhu Yu sneered: "Ten years ago, when you bullied my Great Zhou, killed more than a dozen of my people, and injured my Great Zhou Princess Ruoling, I said that those who offend my Great Zhou will be destroyed!"
"Today, you joined forces with Northern Qi and Chen to slaughter tens of thousands of my Great Zhou people. Today, you must pay with your lives and the entire Southern Liang!"
The sweltering heat of June carried Zhu Yu's cold words to the ears of the Southern Liang Emperor.
"King An of Great Zhou, don't be so arrogant! Although my Southern Liang only has 50,000 troops left to defend it, that is still the most elite army of Southern Liang. If you want to destroy Southern Liang, you'll have to have the ability!"
Zhu Yu ignored them, drew his sword and pointed it to the sky: "All soldiers, heed my command, kill them!"
At the order, smoke rose, ladders were erected one after another to the city walls, countless vanguard soldiers fell, and more soldiers swarmed forward.
Catapults and gunpowder were hurled one after another onto the city walls of the Southern Liang capital.
More and more corpses piled up beneath the city walls, some from the Southern Liang Dynasty and others from the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Arrows rained down on them, and another wave of soldiers fell.
This is the capital of Southern Liang. Months ago, they learned that Great Zhou possessed the invincible weapon of gunpowder, and had already reinforced the city walls with several layers.
The walls of this city were several times thicker and stronger than those of other cities, and the defenders were also very strong, so it was impossible to conquer them for a while.
The Emperor of Southern Liang trained a fierce army of over two thousand men, whose martial prowess was extremely high. These men had been selected from various parts of Southern Liang over the past few years.
They all wore masks and were known as the Ghost-Faced Army of Southern Liang!
The Ghost Face Army has its own unique formation, which is like a dragon swimming into the sea, cutting in and out, killing all the Zhou soldiers who climb up.
It was this masked army that stopped Zhu Yu and his men from breaching the city gate.
"Master, I'll lead the men to attack!" Feng Yan said urgently, watching the constantly changing formations drive wave after wave of Zhou soldiers down the city wall.
They must act quickly, as the battle lines have been stretched too thin. The city they captured earlier has been emptied of its food supplies, and their resupply is now running out. The remaining provisions can only last for five days at most, so they must take the capital of Southern Liang today.
Zhu Yu thought for a moment and nodded: "Alright, don't linger in battle. Take more gunpowder up with you, tear open a gap, and then retreat." Only by tearing this gap can the main army from the rear advance.
"Yes!" Feng Yan accepted the order.
"Your Highness, I will go up with Feng Yan," Qi Yu volunteered.
Feng Yan stopped him: "You stay by the Prince and Princess's side."
"Feng Yan, let me go with you!" Qi Yu stared intently into Feng Yan's eyes, speaking with unwavering resolve.
Feng Yan looked at Zhu Yu, who nodded: "Okay!"
The two selected over a hundred highly skilled soldiers, who, under the cover of the vanguard battalion, quickly approached the city gate.
This group consisted of the most skilled fighters in Zhu Yu's secret guards and personal guards; each of them was capable of taking on dozens of opponents single-handedly.
The Ghost-Faced Army might not lose in a direct confrontation, but their formation is too formidable. Therefore, victory can only be achieved by throwing gunpowder into the formation and tearing it apart.
Therefore, Zhu Yucai instructed them not to linger in the battle.
More than a hundred people climbed up the dozen or so ladders at an extremely fast speed, and in the blink of an eye, they were already standing on the city wall.
As soon as the masked army saw them, they quickly surrounded them, one after the other, trying to throw them off the city wall in the same way they dealt with other Great Zhou soldiers.
However, the Ghost Face Army clearly underestimated Feng Yan and his group's strength. With over a hundred men fighting together, they were unable to kill them all in one go.
Time passed slowly, and the Ghost Face Army grew increasingly anxious.
"Left side retreat, right side spread out, kill!" The Ghost Face Army commander shouted again, holding up his banner.
In an instant, more than two thousand masked soldiers rushed towards them like a giant dragon, and nearly half of them died instantly.
Feng Yan and Qi Yu also had cuts on their arms, and blood gushed out immediately.
"Right side retreat, left side spread out, encircle the middle, kill!" The Ghost Face Army general gave the order again, holding a banner. This time, he poked half his head out from behind a pillar, which was spotted by Zhu Yu, who was staring intently at the city wall.
Zhu Yu narrowed his eyes, took the bow and arrow from Lu Xiaoyun's hand, and said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time, hmph!"
Zhu Yu smiled coldly, drew his bow, and shot an arrow with a whoosh. The sharp arrow, accompanied by the sound of it piercing the air, shot directly towards the commander of the Ghost Face Army.
The next moment, the arrow struck him squarely between the eyebrows, and he fell straight backward.
The Ghost Face Army suddenly lost its commander and began to fall into chaos after killing more than twenty people. Feng Yan seized the opportunity and immediately ordered: "Throw them away!"
Feng Yan had less than twenty soldiers left. Upon hearing the order, they all retreated and pulled out gunpowder from their pockets, throwing it at the giant dragon opposite them.
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