Kays Translations

Chapter 152: Coming and Going in a Hurry

“Tomorrow morning, go to the Anyang City Lord’s Mansion to celebrate!” A loud and overwhelming voice echoed, the victory and madness of the battlefield stimulating the soldiers, making them forget everything else; in their hearts, there was only one thought—charge, charge forward!

Three kilometers outside the right flank of Zhongshan County, Beichen Yuqing and others watched as twenty war machines slowly descended, and a large number of shells were transported over.

Along with this came Xu Ren’s next order—an hour from now, in other words, two hours later, launch another raid! After expending the shells, retreat back here. War machines will bring more shells, then launch another surprise attack. Your mission here is simply to harass, that’s all.

This process will continue until dawn tomorrow! This time, the goal is not to destroy the enemy’s fighting forces, but to hold them back, especially to hold back the enemy’s “heart,” making them feel that Anyang has no way out and is just making its final struggle.

Beichen Yuqing didn’t quite understand Xu Ren’s plan yet, but executed the orders without hesitation!

After replenishing the ammunition, the main force stayed behind to defend the position, with Yan Zhengqing in charge; Beichen Yuqing then led a small elite group, along with Liu Lei’s team, to continue their surprise attacks!

The brutality of this battle goes without saying; Anyang had truly reached its most critical moment, truly putting everything on the line. Therefore, the next series of attacks by Beichen Yuqing and others, rather than being a disguise, could be seen as an authentic performance.

Meanwhile, Zhongshan County was also racing against time, gaining one more minute each night, increasing the uncertainty. Shi Chengsong could hardly wait to break through Anyang and immediately declare that Anyang and Zhongshan County would become territories of the Cai Kingdom, in order to gain protection.

In front of both sides’ positions, blood had already been shed, and the front lines had been contested several times. As dawn approached, both sides had almost used up all their talismans, and Anyang was starting to face the embarrassing situation of running low on ammunition.

After hearing the intermittent sounds of Anyang’s artillery, Shi Chengsong finally smiled: “Xu Ren is nothing special. Perhaps his ideas were good, but Anyang is ultimately too small.”

Just as Shi Chengsong was commenting on Xu Ren, Xu Ren had already arrived above Shi Chengsong’s head.

Two of Anyang’s long-sealed flying machines were soaring high in the air, two thousand meters above, hidden by shadows, thin clouds, and stealth spells. If one wasn’t paying attention, they would be completely invisible.

And Xu Ren, looking down at the brightly lit central army camp below, with banners flying everywhere, couldn’t help but smile slightly in satisfaction. “Such cooperation. Since you’re cooperating so well, I, Xu Ren, cannot disappoint your good intentions.”

“Everyone, pay attention! Wrap the shells with Wind Escape techniques to mask the sound of their descent.”

“Also, the flying machines will begin to land now, wait for my command.”

They continued to descend, still descending! Two thousand meters… one thousand eight hundred meters… one thousand five hundred meters… one thousand two hundred meters…

Suddenly, Xu Ren saw below the chaos beginning to unfold, with some people looking up.

“Now, release!”

The experts aboard the two flying machines immediately dropped all the large shells, totaling ninety tons. These shells, wrapped in a layer of Wind Escape technique, blended into the night, making them almost impossible to see.

Moreover, Xu Ren had cover! In the sky, small-caliber artillery and machine guns began to fire, seemingly aiming for a decapitation strike.

Upon seeing this, Shi Chengsong laughed loudly. “So this is your last resort, huh? It’s nothing special! What can two small war machines do!”

As he spoke, a protective array lit up around the surface of the camp.

But at the same time, under multiple layers of cover, the shells finally hit the ground! What does it feel like when ninety tons of explosives go off together?

It takes less than a ton of explosives to create a tunnel; ninety tons exploding together, and the heavens and earth darken. The Zhongshan County central army camp was instantly torn apart by the shockwave of the explosion, fabrics and other materials were shredded into threads, and soldiers who were too close were instantly turned into a spray of blood…

Boom! The sound of the explosion rang out, and the shockwave even caused the two flying machines above to shake violently. The shockwave on the ground raged over a hundred meters away. One could clearly see shockwaves rippling in circles, with surrounding soil, debris, and bodies being pushed away layer by layer.

The central flames and smoke rose into the sky, enveloping the flying machines.

Seeing this, Xu Ren gave another command, “The flying machines, immediately descend! Everyone, enter the explosion zone and cut off the heads of all the bodies you can see. Kill the unimportant survivors immediately, and capture the important ones alive! Move quickly!”

In truth, Xu Ren didn’t need to rush too much. The intense explosion had already left the Zhongshan County soldiers stunned. Could it be… a heavenly tribulation? Or perhaps an even more severe divine punishment?

This was one of the downsides of the cultivation world—it easily led one to think of such things!

And on Xu Ren’s side, the elite cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage immediately descended, starting to behead the fallen.

To everyone’s surprise, Shi Chengsong, the Governor of Zhongshan County, and Ye Mingquan from the Kingdom of Cai had not died! The last-activated defense array really saved their lives, allowing them to avoid the first wave of the explosion’s shockwave. However, although they survived, they were unconscious, with their internal organs displaced and their true essence shattered by the impact.

In less than a teacup’s worth of time, the elite soldiers from Anyang, bearing the residual shockwave from the explosion, returned to their flying machines. Xu Ren immediately gave the order to retreat. Looking at the unconscious Shi Chengsong and Ye Mingquan, Xu Ren smiled happily—this aerial assault and decapitation plan had achieved an unexpectedly perfect success!

The high-ranking officials of Zhongshan County had almost all been wiped out!
In the sky, Xu Ren had his subordinates shout loudly:

“Shi Chengsong is dead!”

“All the generals are dead!”

“Zhongshan County has collapsed, leave the army now and you’ll be forgiven!”

“Hurry and run! If you’re caught, you’ll be sent to the royal tombs as slaves, buried with the dead!” (This was also something Xu Ren had them shout.)

…

The two flying machines circled in the sky; meanwhile, the soldiers of Zhongshan County, hearing the lingering sound of the explosion above and seeing the slowly spreading smoke and burning flames at the central army camp… finally broke down!

A large number of soldiers, under the “persuasion” of Anyang’s forces, threw down their weapons and armor and ran for their lives; the surrounding mountains soon had countless escape routes trampled into them by the fleeing army.

At this moment, the only thought these Zhongshan County soldiers had was: Do not get captured! Hurry and go home to pretend to be good citizens!

At this time, the ground troops from Anyang once again began their assault. With Zhongshan County already beginning to collapse, the soldiers were practically wishing they could sprout two extra legs! Once the army began to crumble, it would be like a camp being blown apart—irreversible, and the collapse would accelerate.

By the time dawn broke, when the first rays of sunlight touched the battlefield, the war was over! Anyang had secured victory with its own strength. Of course, the support from Li Liang of Kaiping County in the north had been invaluable. Despite some setbacks within Kaiping County, Li Liang managed to muster 50,000 soldiers, which helped divert a significant portion of Zhongshan County’s military strength.

In the sky, the two flying machines slowly flew by as Anyang’s soldiers cheered. Soon after, they began to weep. This sudden battle had cost Anyang over five thousand casualties! The decisive battle of the previous day had already claimed another three thousand.

Xu Ren looked down at the shattered battlefield and, suddenly pulling out a feather fan, lightly waved it. A rare, cold smile appeared on his face: “Those who stood by and hindered at the critical moment… you will pay the price!”

The war ended so swiftly—have you all, prepared for what’s coming next?

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