Chapter 429 Willing to Follow the Princess to the Death
Xiao Xuance helped the people in front of him up. "Get up quickly. You are not wrong. It is the court's fault that the army cannot pay its soldiers, and it is also my fault."
Those grains were grown by them, so taking some seeds is perfectly reasonable.
"No, no, Marshal, how can this be blamed on you? You yourself do not receive military pay, and you often share your share with the families of fallen soldiers. You have done your best. Your subordinates do not need military pay, and only hope that the Marshal can continue to lead us to defeat the enemy."
Yun Zhaoxue believed that military pay must be paid, as a fully paid army was invincible.
Once the silver reaches Zhen Ding Prefecture, they will understand how much silver she has, and that paying them military salaries is not just empty talk.
Xiao Xuance, together with Gu Huai, Zhu Feng and others, worked together to eliminate the men planted by Prime Minister Qin and regain control of the more than 100,000 Zhenbei Army in Zhending Prefecture.
Meanwhile, in Dingzhou, Marshal Ye's former troops were being ostracized and suppressed by the generals sent by the imperial court, leaving them with no place to stand and preparing to retire to their hometowns.
Xiao Xuance's spies, whom he had secretly placed in the army in his early years, made contact with them. The two sides cooperated to eliminate the good-for-nothings and parasites sent by the imperial court.
The people admired Xiao Xuance's talent and respected him as their commander.
No sooner had they regained control of the military in Zhending Prefecture than news arrived that the Great Jing had already marched south.
The Great Jing are ambitious and have never intended to cease hostilities.
Wanyan Zonglie turned the court upside down in Lin'an. The court was controlled by Prime Minister Qin, Zhao Xuan's power was stripped away, and Xiao Xuance's military power was also taken back.
They felt that no one could withstand their iron cavalry.
The Great Jing dispatched an army of 300,000 to attack Youzhou, and captured it in less than three days, greatly boosting the morale of the army.
Upon learning the news, Xiao Xuance quickly summoned his soldiers for a meeting.
The soldiers understood their situation; they now supported Marshal Xiao, not the imperial court, who saw them as a rebellious force that had carved out a territory.
If you don't want to become a rebel, there's only one way: attack the Stone City of Dajing and bring back the retired emperor.
They then used the pretext of "purging the court of corrupt officials" to attack and retake Lin'an.
But facing a powerful enemy with a geographical advantage, and with no one having ever successfully launched a northern expedition since ancient times, could they really reach Stone City?
The thought that the fortress (Youzhou) that they had painstakingly captured was taken back in less than three days made them even more uncertain.
Everyone pinned their hopes on Xiao Xuance.
The candlelight flickered inside the tent.
Xiao Xuance stood in front of the sand table, moving the red flag representing the soldiers of the Great Zhou on the sand table.
The generals gathered around, and a debate began to rise.
"This humble general believes we can send a small team to bypass the mountain and cut off their supply route," a bearded general said, gesturing with his finger along the enemy's likely supply route.
"It would be better to feign an attack on the ferry crossing, lure their main force out of the city, and then ambush them."
...
A sudden, thunderous boom echoed from the hill behind the military camp: "Bang!"
"Boom! Boom!—" Then came another earth-shaking roar, as if an earth dragon was turning over and roaring in anger.
What happened?
Could it be that the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Great Jing have arrived so quickly?
Even if it had wings, it wouldn't be this fast!
The officers in the camp gripped their weapons and rushed out.
"What happened? Where is the sound coming from? From which direction is the enemy attacking?"
The soldiers guarding outside also looked around in bewilderment.
Xiao Xuanwu rushed over to report: "Report! Report to the Marshal, the Princess has had many powerful cannons brought in. With a loud bang, they blasted a crater in the mountain. If they were used on the battlefield, they would surely rout the enemy."
Lu Xiao's eyes lit up. "Cannons? Is that the powerful thing that Zhuiying used to bombard the city gate last time?"
He kept talking about that kind of amazing guy, and sure enough, there is one. That's great.
Xiao Xuance led his men to the back mountain.
Rows of cannons aimed at the deserted hillside and fired a barrage of black shells. The shells landed, exploded with a "bang," and thick smoke and fireballs shot into the sky, lingering for a long time. Then, a deafening rumble reverberated, making eardrums ring.
Xiao Xuance saw Yun Zhaoxue standing behind the cannon formation with her two sons, so he walked towards them.
"Xue'er, did you develop all of these?"
Although it was a question, the tone was already certain.
The impatient second child eagerly answered, "Mommy made it! Mommy is so amazing!"
Two years ago, Yun Zhaoxue ordered people to secretly forge Hongyi cannons, tiger-squatting cannons, muskets, and other cold weapons such as swords, spears, and halberds in the hidden mountains.
During her exile, she acquired a mine in Ezhou and secretly purchased sulfur and saltpeter in Shanxi and Henan, using space to transport them.
Over two years, she produced two hundred Hongyi cannons, one hundred tiger-squatting cannons, and three thousand muskets, all of which have now been transported to Zhengding Prefecture.
After witnessing firsthand the power of cannons and muskets, the soldiers were filled with unwavering confidence in victory.
So what if we are outnumbered? So what if we are attacked from both sides? With such divine weapons, we are bound to win this battle.
The army already knew that the grain that fed the entire army was from Yun Zhaoxue, and now the military pay and the 'divine weapons' were also her doing.
During the camp meeting, Yun Zhaoxue sat in the main seat, with Xiao Xuance sitting below her.
No one objected.
Husband and wife are one; following the marshal is following the princess.
They are willing to follow the princess to the death! They are sworn to be loyal to the princess to the death!
...
Wanyan Zonglie's mission to the Great Zhou returned to Shunzhou, a territory of the Great Jing.
He forced Zhao Furou to get married.
Upon hearing of the success, Princess Tudan Yao of the Tudan tribe pursued Wanyan Zonglie to Shunzhou, disrupted the wedding, and demanded that he marry her.
Wanyan Zonglie hated being coerced the most, so he went ahead and completed the wedding ceremony with Zhao Furou.
Tudan Yao felt deeply humiliated and immediately threatened to withdraw his 200,000-strong army.
How could Wanyan Zongqin allow the cooked duck to fly away?
Despite being the Grand Marshal of the Great Jing Dynasty, he suffered repeated defeats and was impeached by other princes in the court. He finally managed to persuade the Tudan tribe to send 200,000 troops through a marriage alliance, and the army was already on its way.
He intervened and stopped Tu Danyao, deceiving her by saying that Wanyan Zonglie's marriage to Zhao Furou was merely a temporary measure to lull the Great Zhou into a false sense of security. He would kill Zhao Furou and then marry her after the performance was over.
Tu Danyao believed it.
She stayed in Shunzhou, where Wanyan Zongqin got her drunk and took her to bed, half-coaxing and half-forcing her into having sex with him. As a result, the 200,000-strong army of the Tudan tribe fell into Wanyan Zongqin's hands.
The Wanyan brothers led an army of 400,000 south and quickly captured Youzhou, which was defended by only tens of thousands of people.
Xiao Xuance had only a little over 200,000 troops, a difference of half the strength.
If the imperial court sends troops north to attack from both sides, defeat is inevitable. Therefore, a swift and decisive battle is necessary.
Xiao Xuance used the Hongyi cannons and Tiger Crouching Cannons provided by Yun Zhaoxue; the former was used for long-range bombardment, while the latter was used for flexible close combat.
The city gates were breached by the Hongyi cannons, and the tiger-squatting cannons were used to suppress the Dajing cavalry.
The city gates of Youzhou were blasted open by cannons. Xiao Xuance personally led his army to attack the city and swept through the enemy forces, annihilating 20,000 enemy soldiers and recapturing Youzhou once again.
The Da Jing army withdrew from Youzhou and returned to Shunzhou.
Wanyan Zongqin was so angry that he cursed, "Damn it, where did they get such powerful gunpowder? Its power is ten or even a hundred times greater than our fireballs!"
He suspected that the artisans from the Great Zhou Dynasty who were making gunpowder for them were deceiving them, so he immediately sent someone to threaten them with their lives, ordering them to make cannons as powerful as those from the Great Zhou Dynasty, or else they would be killed.
In the past, regardless of victory or defeat, wine and food were always prepared for the enjoyment of beautiful women after the war.
Now that I've seen the powerful weapons the other side has, I can't muster the energy to do anything.
He had a premonition that if they couldn't develop powerful gunpowder, the dream of the Dajing cavalry to conquer the Central Plains would be shattered by the enemy's gunpowder.
Some even felt timid and wanted to negotiate peace with the Great Zhou again, to stop fighting. After all, the Great Zhou emperor was in their hands, and they could make the Great Zhou pay tribute to the Great Jing every year. In addition, the wealth and slaves they had previously plundered were enough to feed and clothe their descendants for generations.
When Wanyan Zongqin heard his subordinates mention negotiating peace, he slammed his fist on the table in anger, "We must fight! Anyone who dares to propose peace again, I, the Crown Prince, will behead him."
The brothers have lost more than ten cities. If they cannot recover the lost territories, the throne will be out of their reach, and they will become marginal figures after returning to the court.
This is his disgrace.
This battle is unavoidable, and we must win.
He was determined to become the next great ruler of the Great Jing Dynasty, unify the world, and leave his mark on history.
Once he was determined to go to war, none of his soldiers dared to oppose him.
But no one dared to lead troops to confront the enemy head-on; everyone was afraid of dying.
Wanyan Zongqin sent men to Stone City to bring all members of the Great Zhou royal family to the front lines.
He would hang them in rows at the city gate and see if Xiao Xuance would dare to bombard the Zhao royal family with cannons.
If Xiao Xuance really dares to fire the cannon, even if he succeeds and later raises an army to become emperor, history will surely record him as a "traitorous minister".
Wanyan Zonglie then sent a message to Prime Minister Qin in Lin'an, ordering the court to send troops to suppress Xiao Xuance's rebel army.
They attacked from both sides and annihilated Xiao Xuance in one fell swoop.
The secret letter had just been written but had not yet been sent.
Zhao Furou personally prepared a meal and brought it to his study.
When Wanyan Zonglie saw her enter, he quickly slipped the letter under the military manual. "Fu'er, what brings you here?"
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