Kays Translations

Chapter 264: Midnight Bombardment

At noon, Wang Zhouzhi looked around and sighed lightly. As one of the great generals of the Jin Kingdom, the “Northern General,” he did not want to participate in the campaign against Anyang this time.

The reason was simple. Before departing, Wang Zhouzhi had consulted a famous wandering Taoist named ‘Miao Congrong’ from the local area for a divination. The prophecy he received was: “The geese fly south, but the person does not return.”

The thing is, divination may not always be completely accurate. People can even practice immortality—after all, they can change their fate; so the prophecy is just a reference. However, at least it wasn’t a good omen. According to the Taoist, the timing for the Jin Kingdom’s military campaign was “not right.”

Moreover, Miao Congrong’s divination was always accurate, and he was called the “Iron-Mouthed King of Hell.” This person never said anything good, and he enjoyed seeing others panic, be startled, or lose their composure…

However, with the emperor’s orders, Wang Zhouzhi could not refuse or take leave and had to mobilize his troops. As one of the “Four Generals” of Jin Kingdom, Wang Zhouzhi was not one to be easily intimidated. What if the timing wasn’t right? Didn’t the prophecy say that there’s always a glimmer of hope in the world?

Leading his army, Wang Zhouzhi marched forward with great momentum, with only a few soldiers from Nanyang County ahead of them. The army of 300,000 stretched over more than 40 miles, surging toward the north like a tidal wave.

“Such a large army, even if the timing isn’t right, there shouldn’t be any danger to life, right!” Wang Zhouzhi thought to himself.

As they were marching, Wang Zhouzhi heard a rumbling from the sky. He looked up and saw a cluster of black dots flying out from behind a mountain to the left ahead. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was airplanes. These planes were flying fast; by the time Wang Zhouzhi noticed, the planes had already dropped bombs and were climbing higher.

“Enemy attack!” Wang Zhouzhi shouted, but it was already too late. By the time the army was ready, the planes had already climbed higher and were accelerating as they flew away. Meanwhile, the bombs were falling at a speed faster than that of the planes, faster even than the attack speed of a flying sword at the Golden Core stage.

Two hundred planes dropped more than 5,000 bombs at once. The Jin army, unprepared for such an airstrike, had no experience with it. Some tried to use flying swords to “cut” the bombs, others treated the bombs like harmless stones and attempted to defend against them, while some tried to block them with alternate spells. The most important thing was that everyone was marching in tight formation.

“Spread out quickly!” Wang Zhouzhi shouted anxiously, but he had forgotten the current situation—how could they spread out? Over 5,000 bombs fell like a thunderstorm, and the Jin soldiers were densely packed, never expecting an attack in the middle of their march.

Boom… Boom…

Explosions erupted everywhere, smoke blossomed like flowers, and at the same time, lives were extinguished. Over 5,000 aerial bombs exploded almost simultaneously, with a blast radius of about a kilometer, killing tens of thousands of soldiers. On the hillside, the scene was chaotic—severed limbs rained down, and the wailing and screams were like waves.

A few drops of dirty blood and some dirt splashed onto Wang Zhouzhi’s face and shoulders. He stood stunned, staring at the wreckage of the battlefield. No need to count, just by seeing the scope of it, the corpses scattered across the ground, Wang Zhouzhi had a rough estimate—between 20,000 and 25,000 casualties!

This wasn’t even the battlefield yet, and such casualties had already occurred. Within the blast radius, only a few survivors remained, and even they were not unscathed. At this moment, after the explosions ended, many of the survivors were like wooden posts, only their heads swaying back and forth. On one hand, they were dizzy from the shockwaves of the explosion, and on the other, they couldn’t believe the horrors before them.

It took a long time before Wang Zhouzhi had no choice but to accept the situation. He gritted his teeth and continued to lead the soldiers forward, but this time, he ordered everyone to spread out—small squads of about a hundred soldiers, leaving enough space for evasion. Still, the soldiers were shaken by the bombing.

The air raids continued relentlessly, sometimes with only three or five planes, sometimes dozens, never giving the Jin army any peace. No one knew when the next bombing would come or where it would target.

Especially during the ensuing battle, the planes not only dropped bombs but also used machine guns! Every machine gun attack resulted in a brutal massacre. The form of warfare had changed, becoming a ‘machine’s massacre of life.’

After advancing for 100 miles, Wang Zhouzhi had already lost another 10,000 soldiers. The planes flew overhead, darting north and south, east and west, and could not be tracked. The marching army on the ground, however, was within the planes’ monitoring range.

As Wang Zhouzhi’s army neared the borders of Anyang, the planes’ supply distances grew shorter, and the attacks grew fiercer. Many of the Jin Kingdom soldiers had already begun to fear! No one could endure the continuous bombing from above. Sometimes, a single bomb could take dozens of lives! Sometimes, when a plane dove, its machine guns could carve out a true “blood path.”

Anyang had gone mad, not caring about the consumption of munitions. If it had been another county, there would have been limits to artillery and ammunition, but Anyang had no such limits. No one knew that Anyang had been hiding a massive stockpile of munitions in border fortresses under the guise of arms sales.

Wang Zhouzhi had yelled in anger, sent Golden Core experts to intercept, and shot down two or three planes, but it was all in vain. Anyang continued to bomb relentlessly. Sometimes, the planes dropped bombs from a height of 3,000 meters. Although this height was a bit too high and the accuracy was not perfect, it didn’t matter. With 300,000 soldiers, the whole area was a target.

The few planes that were shot down couldn’t dampen Anyang’s resolve. Since it was war, casualties were inevitable.

However, the Jin army began to hesitate—facing this unprecedented, unfamiliar form of combat, the Jin army, which had been in peace for hundreds of years, was truly fearful. Jin Kingdom was a great eastern nation with vast lands spanning 5,000 miles, almost twice the size of the Great Xia Kingdom, and had not seen war in many years.

If they were fighting a conventional battle, it would have been fine. But to be beaten up right from the start, unable to retaliate, had caused serious damage to the morale of the Jin army. The bombing was so intense that it felt like Thor himself had descended. The Jin Kingdom soldiers, unprepared, were constantly in a state of fear—this was the psychological effect of the bombings.

As a result, some soldiers began to break down. “We can only take the hits, but we can’t strike back at the enemy. I want to go home…”

But it was already too late to turn back. Wang Zhouzhi could only grit his teeth and encourage his soldiers, urging them to find their last bit of courage—“We have no way back now. Once we reach the front lines, we’ll see General Li Lishong, and then we can take our revenge!”

Finally, supported by the desire for revenge, the troops continued to advance.

However, General Li Lishong, whom Wang Zhouzhi and others had placed great hope in, was now furrowing his brows, angry and frustrated.

His frustration was obvious—his elite 10,000-strong force had been wiped out, and he had nearly become a lone man. It was hard to be happy about it. And the anger? Beyond the loss of his army, there was also the current situation—Generals Yuan Jinjiang of Dongyuan County and Nangong Zhi of Nanyang County had refused to cross the river and fight!

To be precise, General Yuan Jinjiang and Commander Nangong Zhi had both disagreed with crossing the river to fight. Not only did they refuse, but they even retreated five miles, saying they wanted the soldiers to rest. Naturally, this meant waiting for the Jin army to arrive!

Li Lishong wanted to scream: “Teammates as stupid as pigs!” The Jin Kingdom army had just used the “Ten Thousand Sword Formation” to destroy Anyang’s main artillery, leaving their defenses wide open. But these “pig teammates” not only refused to attack, they even retreated! If he could, Li Lishong would really want to grab these idiots, slap them one by one, and finally snap their necks and throw them into the Xian Dai River to feed the fish!

But after the anger, Li Lishong gradually came to understand—it was the Jin army that had been too eager. Too eager to obtain Anyang’s technology, talent, and so on, that they were taken advantage of by Nanyang and Dongyuan counties.

Isn’t Jin Kingdom looking for technology? Alright, you go fight, and we’ll cheer you on. The most important thing is that Jin Kingdom is now involved in a war with Anyang, and it’s impossible to stop! On the other hand, Nanyang County and Dongyuan County might surrender at any time!

After thinking these issues through thoroughly, Li Lishong really wanted to slap himself! It was only at this moment that he realized, he was just a commander. Military operations and general political adjustments were fine, but when it came to the back-and-forth political maneuvering with politicians, he was a bit out of his depth.

Behind Nangong Zhi was Kong Donglai, and behind Yuan Jinjiang was Yuan Yong. Neither Kong Donglai nor Yuan Yong was simple. Now, after Jin Kingdom and Anyang faced off, Kong Donglai and Yuan Yong began pulling away the ladder.

At this moment, Li Lishong received a letter from General Wang Zhouzhi from the North—We’ve been bombed!

This really added fuel to the fire. Li Lishong felt a surge of unnamed rage rising in his chest, beginning to scorch his rationality.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself, and began reflecting. Reflecting on his combat methods, reflecting on the changes in war caused by military supplies, and thinking about how he should respond to these changes.

Before there were military supplies, most battles were conducted in a conventional manner, with two armies fighting face to face. Even if occasionally Nascent Soul experts were sent for assassination attempts, the success rate was low. Even Nascent Soul experts could be buried by a sea of enemies.

But now it was different. Planes flew in the sky, dropping bombs; artillery fired from five or six miles, or even further. All the attacks had one goal: to eliminate the enemy’s fighting force. Well, that’s the polite way of putting it. To put it bluntly, it’s “slaughter,” “extermination,” “destruction.”

After half a day of fighting between Nanyang County and Anyang, over 200,000 were dead or wounded. Although many of them were civilian laborers, the number was still horrifying.

In the past, when a million soldiers faced each other, after a whole day of battle, a combined death toll of thirty to fifty thousand was considered significant. But now, after half a day, one side had suffered over 200,000 casualties.

Li Lishong suddenly woke up—We can’t keep fighting. Otherwise, Jin Kingdom will suffer a great setback! Anyang itself produces military supplies. Machine guns, artillery, planes, armored vehicles—all heavily fortified. If Anyang adopts the strategy of “exchanging space for time, exchanging time for slaughter,” Jin Kingdom’s 300,000 troops could be wiped out in two days!

Anyang could wipe out 200,000 in Nanyang County and 100,000 in Dongyuan County, and it could easily wipe out 300,000 of Jin Kingdom’s troops! At least, until now, no negative information had come from Anyang.

But Li Lishong was still the supreme commander of Jin Kingdom, and he wasn’t an idiot. It was obviously not an option to retreat directly, and it would also be embarrassing. Even if he didn’t care, the emperor and the kingdom of Jin needed face—How embarrassing would it be if Jin couldn’t even defeat a small Anyang?

Moreover, if they simply called off the war, the officials in the court wouldn’t agree. There was a risk that he might lose his position. As his mind whirled, Li Lishong came up with an idea—Send someone to negotiate with Anyang, let’s try talking first! But that would have to wait until General Wang Zhouzhi’s main force arrived, and they had more leverage.

So it was decided!

Li Lishong was filled with fantasies. Even if Anyang still had some fighting ability, it should be quite exhausted by now. Once Jin Kingdom showed a willingness to withdraw from the war, Anyang would definitely offer some industrial technologies. He wasn’t greedy, just wanting three types of technology: “artillery and guns, underground toxic gas refining, and machines for manufacturing machines.”

Fantasies are always wonderful, and Li Lishong was no exception. But then, as the sound of explosions roared outside, his mood changed—In the future, Jin Kingdom will have such powerful artillery. Hmm, when the time comes, they’ll attack the western Qi Kingdom, and the southern Liu Kingdom. They’ll definitely defeat the enemy!

Gradually, Li Lishong started imagining the future scene: thousands of artillery booming, the enemy’s army in retreat, himself leading the elite troops to the enemy’s palace, capturing the enemy’s emperor alive!

Time passed quietly, and the night began to fall. General Wang Zhouzhi and his 300,000 troops finally staggered their way to the shore. At the same time, a continuous bombardment came from planes in the sky.

General Wang Zhouzhi’s 300,000 troops had only 230,000 left, and they had been ambushed by Anyang’s elite forces on the way. The 230,000 troops were in low spirits. Upon reaching the shore and hearing the continuous explosions, many soldiers dropped their weapons and crouched down, instinctively covering their heads.

Jin Kingdom’s long-standing peace, long-standing success, and long-standing pride were completely shattered in this war. Facing attacks from both the sky and the ground, and an enemy that was not simple, Jin Kingdom’s soldiers were truly terrified.

Seeing this kind of army, Li Lishong could only sigh and continue to sigh. He made up his mind again—Even if I have to sacrifice my face, I must negotiate with Anyang. With Jin Kingdom’s power and Anyang’s current situation, a deal could probably be reached.

Once the matter was clear, everything became much simpler. For example, this time, Jin Kingdom didn’t want war, it wanted technology. As long as they could obtain the technology, Jin Kingdom would retreat immediately. After all, those two allies were just hindrances; it didn’t matter whether they had them or not.

But although the idea was good, the battle ahead still had to continue! In this day’s time, Jin Kingdom’s 300,000 troops finally arrived, but Anyang had also replenished all its artillery—every artillery piece was transported by aircraft.

Almost at the same time the Jin Army arrived, fifty 150mm artillery pieces and 100 105mm artillery pieces were ready!

Yan Zhengqing gave the order: “Fire! Keep firing until all the shells are used up!”

Dozens of large four-engine planes thundered down from the sky, and with a roar, thousands of large shells were dropped. These transport planes, which were slower, had impressive carrying capacity and were equipped with massive “cloud formations.”

Along with the shells, there were machine guns, and even 30mm rapid-fire cannons used on ironclad ships—specifically for Foundation Establishment experts. Ordinary bullets might be blocked, but what if I give you a machine cannon? Try charging now. Moreover, the machine cannon had a range of up to three kilometers, and even for Foundation Establishment experts, it could cause deadly harm at one kilometer.

Nearby, Wang Jian’s mouth twitched—Fire all the shells? Unless the arms factory stops production, these shells will never stop! Look at these massive planes.

When General Li Lishong of Jin Kingdom and General Wang Zhouzhi of the North were discussing, they saw a flash of fire light up on the northern bank of the Xian Dai River, followed by a series of massive explosions, which then erupted on the southern bank. The artillery barrage covered a range of up to ten miles!

So many artillery pieces! Li Lishong was stunned at that moment.

……

Under the same night sky, as Yan Zhengqing initiated the attack, five ironclad ships sailed swiftly through the waves, heading toward Jin Kingdom’s coast.

The darkness couldn’t block the vision of cultivators. Chang Lin looked ahead at a brightly lit place, “This is it, Baize Town, the largest salt field on Jin Kingdom’s coast, and the administrative center of Jin Kingdom’s coast. Usually, there are tens of thousands stationed here.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that the one in charge here is the ‘East General’ Cheng Yunbo’s son, Cheng Liqiu, a late-stage Golden Core expert.” An Anyang merchant answered. This Anyang merchant was an itinerant trader and unknowingly became an alternative spy.

Chang Lin smiled slyly, “Good. Pass the order, prepare to bombard. Five thousand Marines are ready to land. Try to capture Cheng Liqiu alive! And completely destroy Baize Town.”

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