To put it bluntly, the Western Zhou's so-called peace talks were essentially capitulation. The other smaller states that had previously formed alliances with the Western Zhou observed this and despised it, but they could do nothing about it. In the past, they had no connection with Beichen, but no matter what, they lived their own lives. While their national strength was somewhat weakened, they were still free.
But things are different now, because Guibezhe agreed to attack Beichen together with Xizhou. Instead of taking Beichen, he was targeted by Beichen first.
Rong Chengxuan sent people to give them a final ultimatum one by one. If they wanted to live and still wanted their own country, they had to surrender and become vassals of Beichen like the Western Zhou Dynasty, paying tribute every year. If they refused to obey, the Beichen army would immediately use thunder to flatten their small broken countries.
How could those small nations withstand Rong Chengxuan's intimidation? Moreover, they had witnessed the power of the thunderbolt before; it was too terrifying, truly too terrifying. So, after careful consideration, the rulers of those small nations decided, "Well, surrender! Accept your fate!" It was their fault for being on the wrong side in the first place.
They said they surrendered, but in their hearts, the rulers of the smaller states were still cursing the Western Zhou monarch. Not satisfied with his own demise, he was dragging them down with him. The annual tribute to Beichen only made their already scarce existence even worse! It was truly detrimental.
In a border battle, Beichen conquered half of Western Zhou and conquered several new foreign kingdoms. Rong Chengxuan's military achievements made him the object of admiration throughout Beichen, and the legend that he was a god of war spread like wildfire.
Of course, his fame was matched only by his newly-wed wife, the Princess An, Prince An's principal wife! Because the story of the thunderbolt had already spread throughout the world, Rong Chengxuan didn't deliberately conceal it and simply announced to the world that it was Princess An who had made it.
At the same time, it also made those who coveted the Heavenly Thunder think twice. Princess An was not someone who could be touched by anyone. If they wanted the Heavenly Thunder, they would be doomed unless Yun Wanwan gave it to them personally.
The common people were even more adventurous than him. They said Rong Chengxuan was the God of War, and Yun Wanwan was a fairy who had come to help the God of War fight and expand his territory. The God of War and the fairy were a natural match, which meant Rong Chengxuan and Yun Wanwan were made for each other, a perfect match.
For a time, the legend of Prince An and Princess An spread throughout the world, enough to elevate a person to a deity. Yun Wanwan felt that this was too much; after all, she had only acquired a few more untapped insights than they did, and wasn't some celestial being descended from the heavens.
Yun Wanwan, a 21st-century atheist, always felt that this statement was strangely applied to her. Yet, she couldn't control the speed and scope of the spread. After all, if she had suppressed the rumor while it was still a small-scale issue, the current situation wouldn't have happened. Now, practically everyone in the world knows about it, and Yun Wanwan alone couldn't control everyone's mouths.
Rong Chengxuan, on the other hand, was more open-minded. He comforted Yun Wanwan, "Let it spread. I can't do anything about it, so you might as well accept it. Besides, Wanwan, you're already a fairy in my heart, so what they say isn't a lie."
Yun Wanwan was discussing business with Rong Chengxuan, but was distracted by his thoughts. He was talking about how in his mind, she was a fairy. Yun Wanwan blushed. "What nonsense! I'm just a normal person. I'm not even qualified to be a fairy."
Rong Chengxuan grabbed Yun Wanwan's hand and placed it on his chest with hers. He said affectionately, "As long as you are in my heart, it's fine."
Yun Wanwan unexpectedly tasted the flavor of modern old-fashioned domineering CEO novels from Rong Chengxuan's words, and got goosebumps. She rubbed her arm with her hand, turned around and left without paying any attention to Rong Chengxuan.
Just as Rong Chengxuan and Yun Wanwan were about to return to the capital, the king of Western Zhou suddenly tore up the peace agreement and sent troops to capture several cities north of the capital. When Rong Chengxuan received this news, he and Yun Wanwan had already reached the border. He could never have imagined that the king of Western Zhou would suddenly tore up the peace agreement and caught them off guard.
Rong Chengxuan immediately reorganized the army and marched back towards the desert. When passing Pingxing City again, Zhou Hang also provided Rong Chengxuan with a map of the next few cities of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and described in more detail the strange climate changes in the Western Zhou Dynasty after passing Pingxing City.
Rong Chengxuan let the army rest in Pingxing City for a few days to adapt to the hot climate of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Three days later, the army set out again, bypassing the three cities that had not yet been recaptured by the Western Zhou Dynasty, and finally stood at the gate of Anqing City, which was not far from the capital.
A spies from the front reported that there were about 20,000 soldiers from the Western Zhou Dynasty in Anqing City. They had learned from the experience of previous battles with Beichen and were defending the gates desperately. However, they did not block the gates with huge rocks, so the army could break through.
Blocking gates with huge stones was a common practice in Western Zhou city defense. When attacking the previous cities, Jiang Younan was more focused on attacking them than defending them, so he didn't use huge stones to block the gates. However, Anqing City was clearly a defensive battle, and it was not far from Pingxing City. Both sides had large armies stationed there, so it was somewhat surprising that the gates were not blocked.
Rong Chengxuan commanded the army with his inner strength: "After Anqing City, we will enter the tropical climate. The heat will hit us and the temperature will rise sharply. All soldiers, take precautions and act according to your capabilities. If you can advance, then advance. If you can't advance, then retreat. Retreat is not defeat. As long as we are alive and well, we can fight the Western Zhou at any time."
That day, the two armies faced off, and the Beichen soldiers engaged in the most exhilarating battle since entering the desert. Under Rong Chengxuan's command and Yun Wanwan's strategic deployment, a large number of Western Zhou generals were lured south of Anqing City, leading them directly into the tiger's mouth.
Because Xi Zhou had gone back on his word, Beichen showed no mercy with the thunder in his hand and threw it directly into the city. The battle came and went quickly. It took only half an hour for Anqing City to be broken.
Yun Wanwan entered the city with the army. As they passed through Anqing, a sudden heat hit them. It was heat, not heat. This heat was on a completely different level from the heat in the previous three cities. It was a heat that penetrated directly into their bodies, seeping through their clothes and into their skin.
Facing the midday sun, even Yun Wanwan couldn't help feeling a little drowsy, and so did Rong Chengxuan.
Looking back at the soldiers of the army, some of them fainted on the ground due to the heat as soon as they entered the city, and some who were barely able to stand were already shaky.
This is the situation after we attacked the first city of the Western Zhou Dynasty again. If we continue to fight, won’t there be only a few soldiers left who can stand up and fight?
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