Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 250: The Attacked Flank
But Nangong Zhi is, after all, Nangong Zhi. Even in such a dire situation, he still managed to organize 30,000 men to maintain order, guard against a sudden attack from Anyang, and protect the retreating soldiers.
However, despite his efforts, the soldiers of Nanyang County continued to flee and die along the way. The vanguard force of 100,000 troops, by the time they managed to retreat back to their original camp where Nangong Zhi was stationed, had dwindled to less than 20,000.
At that moment, Anyang’s cannons roared once again.
“This battle is impossible to fight!” Nangong Zhi felt his heart sinking. The changes brought by industrial development in warfare had left even an old general like him, known for his wisdom, completely unprepared. The Anyang forces had barely even left their city, yet they had already shattered Nanyang County’s army of 300,000.
Seeing that the artillery fire was still ongoing and even targeting his own position, Nangong Zhi had no choice but to continue retreating.
Without even engaging the enemy, they were already routed!
As he retreated, Nangong Zhi muttered to himself: “The disparity is too great. It’s not about cultivation strength, but industrial strength.” This war had made Nangong Zhi truly understand the power of industrialization.
“When I return, Nanyang County must prioritize industrial development, at least in terms of military armament. And those unassuming firearms… they turned out to be even more formidable than cannons. I never expected that. No wonder Anyang never sells firearms, only cannons.”
After retreating another four miles, they were now about three kilometers from Anyang’s border defenses. Only then did Nangong Zhi finally let out a sigh of relief. Their own defensive line in Nanyang County was just four miles—two kilometers—away.
But suddenly, a sharp whistling sound filled the air. Nangong Zhi had already developed a sensitivity to this noise. Sure enough, when he looked up, he saw ten massive artillery shells flying toward them. Before anyone could react, the shells crashed into the army.
Boom—
The unprepared soldiers of Nanyang County suffered devastating casualties. Ten 150mm shells resulted in at least four to five hundred deaths and over two thousand injuries.
“Three kilometers! Anyang’s artillery can fire this far?!” Nangong Zhi’s eyes widened in shock. Damn it, cannons with a three-kilometer range—this was comparable to the attack range of a Nascent Soul cultivator’s flying sword!
One coordinated volley caused the remaining Nanyang County soldiers to be completely terrified. No one dared to linger; they immediately continued their frantic retreat, aiming to escape back into Nanyang County’s defensive perimeter.
However, beyond Nangong Zhi’s line of sight, at Anyang’s border defenses, Anyang’s soldiers were busy at work. They were actually extending the barrels of their cannons.
By using threaded sleeves, they easily doubled the length of the cannon barrels. The extended barrels rested on supports formed through magical techniques. The artillery crew skillfully completed their adjustments, increasing the effective range by another 30%.
Then, the cannons roared again.
Nangong Zhi, having retreated another kilometer, watched as the final wave of 150mm shells landed weakly in front of his army, exploding uselessly. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Six miles… this should be the maximum range of Anyang’s cannons, right?”
Just as he reassured himself, another sharp whistling sound filled the air. But this time, the shells did not land near Nangong Zhi’s position—they fell directly on Nanyang County’s border defenses.
In other words, the artillery shells had been fired from Anyang’s defensive walls and struck Nanyang County’s defensive walls!
“This… this… this…” Nangong Zhi’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and he stood frozen, as if turned to stone.
Anyang’s artillery had fired directly from their own border into Nanyang County’s border—its range exceeded five kilometers! To Nangong Zhi, this was simply absurd. Even a high-level Nascent Soul cultivator would struggle to achieve such an attack range.
People always talked about flying swords that could slay enemies from thousands of miles away, but that was mostly exaggeration. Only true immortals might possess such capabilities.
Watching the explosions tear through Nanyang County’s defenses, seeing severed limbs flying through the air, Nangong Zhi’s heart sank deeper and deeper.
He then looked at his soldiers—dejected, terrified, completely demoralized, their faces pale and filled with despair. At that moment, Nangong Zhi understood: Nanyang County had lost this war.
They had lost to Anyang’s industrial power.
They had lost to machines.
Buzz—
A deep humming sound filled the air. Nangong Zhi, now numb and disoriented, looked up and saw eighty aircraft approaching from the front, heading toward Nanyang County’s border defenses.
As the planes flew over Nangong Zhi’s head, they suddenly began to dive. The cannons mounted on the aircraft opened fire, unleashing a hail of 30mm bullets. From their elevated position, the sheer firepower was overwhelming.
Weapons were machines of slaughter!
On the ground, the soldiers of Nanyang County, unable to escape in time, were torn apart like fragile eggs, their bodies bursting into pieces of flesh and blood.
The aircraft moved quickly. Before the soldiers could react, they had already flown past and reached Nanyang County’s defensive line. Then, they began “laying eggs”—dropping a massive payload of aerial bombs modified from 150mm artillery shells.
With their load lightened, the planes wobbled their wings, arrogantly strafed another round with their cannons—causing even more casualties—and then effortlessly flew away.
It was a surprise attack. Nanyang County’s defenses had no preparation whatsoever.
At the rear, Commander Kong Donglai had never imagined that artillery shells could reach his position, let alone that the sky would suddenly start “laying eggs.”
To be fair, when the Second Prince Xia Xu attacked Dingshan City, Anyang had already demonstrated this type of warfare. Yet, Kong Donglai had still underestimated them. He had dismissed Xia Xu, believing that Nangong Zhi would surely take Anyang. He had only been waiting to reap the rewards of victory. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that things would turn out so differently.
And yet, the devastation was not over!
Eighty aircraft flew away, and Kong Donglai’s somewhat numb eyes finally started to move. Pulling a bloody piece of shrapnel from his shoulder, he was just about to roar in fury.
But suddenly, a louder roar echoed from the sky.
Something was wrong—this direction was wrong! The roar wasn’t coming from the northeast but from the northwest.
The northwest? Could it be…? The worst possible outcome flashed through Kong Donglai’s mind.
Looking up, he saw more than two hundred aircraft approaching from the northwest. These planes all had four engines, making them much larger, resembling dark clouds as they loomed in the sky. From a distance, these massive planes began firing their machine cannons. The ground trembled under the relentless barrage—rocks shattered, trees were broken, tents were overturned; as for people, they were directly blown to pieces.
Only Golden Core-level experts could withstand a direct hit from the machine cannons. Foundation Establishment-level experts might survive if they exerted all their strength and had magical artifacts to aid them—but only for one or two hits. The machine gun fire continued uninterrupted, and soon, even Foundation Establishment cultivators were blasted apart.
As the aircraft neared the Nanyang County border defenses, they began “laying eggs”—thousands of bombs rained down. Some brave and experienced experts tried to slash the bombs with flying swords, but such individuals were rare. Nine out of ten bombs still reached the ground, erupting into dazzling fireworks of destruction.
The planes came swiftly and left just as quickly, but right behind them arrived 30,000 elite troops from Anyang County! These forces, originally attacking Songzhou County, had finally arrived as planned to strike the flank of Nanyang County’s army.
At this moment, the Nanyang County frontline was in full retreat. The center had been completely shattered, and as for the flank… there was hardly any proper defense at all.
Meanwhile, the soldiers of Anyang, led by Yan Zhengqing, were full of vigor, charging forward like a sharp arrow.
When the bombing began, when Kong Donglai finally realized the flank was under attack, Yan Zhengqing had already launched an organized assault with his disciplined troops. The moment both sides clashed, the battle escalated into a one-sided slaughter.
By the time Kong Donglai urgently dispatched around 20,000 elite troops to reinforce the flank, Yan Zhengqing’s forces had already cut deep into the northwest defensive line of Nanyang County.
The vanguard of Anyang’s army consisted of 10,000 Foundation Establishment-level cultivators, each equipped with magical treasures, high-grade artifact sets, hundreds of talismans, and over a dozen bottles of elixirs. The elixirs allowed the soldiers to quickly recover their energy, maintain their peak condition, and even heal injuries on the battlefield.
The 20,000 elite troops that Kong Donglai dispatched in a rush were the core combat force of Nanyang County—similar to the royal imperial guards, only deployed in dire situations.
Yet even these so-called “imperial guards” were no match for 10,000 well-equipped Foundation Establishment cultivators. It was like eggs smashing against rocks, like waves crashing against a cliff—instantly shattered.
Flying swords and magical treasures flashed, talismans danced in the air, spells raged wildly. In the blink of an eye, over 3,000 of Kong Donglai’s elite soldiers were slaughtered. Before he could react, another 5,000 were killed.
Kong Donglai finally realized the severity of the situation and began to panic—but it seemed it was already too late!
At the front, Nangong Zhi was leading approximately 100,000 retreating soldiers back; at his side, only about 30,000 troops still maintained their formation. These remaining forces were desperately trying to fend off Anyang’s pursuit, buying time for the retreating soldiers.
On the left flank, General Kong Zhiying was hastily trying to reorganize the retreating forces, but the process was repeatedly interrupted by artillery shells raining down from above.
In the distant border defenses of Anyang, after successfully extending their artillery barrels, the 105mm and 150mm cannons had now reached an attack range of five to six kilometers—just enough to bombard Nanyang County’s defenses.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Anyang’s General Wang Jian issued an order: 50,000 elite soldiers would leave behind 10,000 troops to guard the border, operate the artillery, and secure the rear, while the remaining 40,000 would march out to engage and drive back Nanyang County’s retreating forces.
The 40,000-strong army marched out in a mighty and unstoppable force. Every single soldier was armed with a rifle and, from a distance, began taking precise aim at the 30,000 retreating elite troops of Nanyang County. Their advance was not fast, but their unified steps, synchronized chants, and coordinated volleys of gunfire created an overwhelming momentum. This sheer force of discipline and firepower struck fear into the hearts of the Nanyang troops, sending them into complete disarray.
Watching as his last 30,000 somewhat organized soldiers were on the verge of collapsing, Nangong Zhi, in a desperate flash of inspiration, suddenly stepped forward and roared, “Anyang warriors, does anyone dare face me in battle?!”
With that, he boldly stood at the very front, his gaze sharp and proud as he stared down the enemy.
This was the ancient tradition of “duel combat”—a challenge between generals. Nangong Zhi’s sudden move caused hesitation among Anyang’s soldiers, unsure whether they should continue advancing. Meanwhile, the soldiers of Nanyang County, seeing their leader standing firm, seemed to regain a sense of purpose, their morale slowly rekindling.