Chapter 85

"General, what do you mean by these words?"

Lan Yu glanced coldly at Zhu Cilang and gritted his teeth, saying,

"A son of a thousand gold does not sit beneath a hanging hall. Your Highness coming this far is already enough!"

"Please, Your Highness, move to Jinzhou!"

"I will not go."

Having spoken, Zhu Cilang's face darkened; he grabbed his sword and moved forward to fight the Qing army.

Before Zhu Cilang could take a few steps,

a somewhat weary voice came from behind.

"Crown Prince, do you wish for us to die in vain?"

Zhu Cilang's body instantly froze in place.

For no other reason.

These words were simply too heavy.

For everyone under heaven,

those who died in battle were all members of the Great Ming Huangshi Sect.

But for Zhu Cilang,

these people were all his elders.

Zhu Cilang painfully turned his head around.

Only then did he discover

that standing behind him was none other than Tang Wang Zhu Yujian.

"Grand-uncle..."

Zhu Yujian looked coldly at Zhu Cilang and scolded,

"We are useless to the state; if we die, we die."

"The Crown Prince is the foundation of the nation."

"If you die, and a dispute over the foundation of the nation arises again in court,"

"can Your Highness truly have a clear conscience?!"

Zhu Cilang immediately opened his mouth to speak,

"But..."

"There is no 'but'!"

"Now, immediately, move to Jinzhou!"

Zhu Yujian stared fixedly at Zhu Cilang, allowing no room for doubt.

One second ago, Zhu Yujian was Tang Wang and Zhu Cilang was the Crown Prince.

But this second, Zhu Yujian was the grand-uncle and Zhu Cilang was merely the grand-nephew.

Having spoken, Zhu Cilang was not allowed to argue.

Two Personal Guards directly dragged Zhu Cilang onto the carriage.

Shortly after, they disappeared into the night.

Lan Yu examined Zhu Yujian closely; the two looked at each other in silence, then immediately charged forward one after another toward the distant canyon.

At this moment, the entire canyon was already ablaze with fire reaching the sky.

On the hillside, Huang Taiji stared fixedly at Jirgalang, Ajige, and others behind him, shouting sternly,

"Where is the oil I ordered you to bring from Shengjing?!"

"Your Majesty, Shengjing has no oil left; not even fire oil, let alone petroleum made into fire oil, has been transported directly here!"

Firelight flickered constantly on Huang Taiji's face.

Huang Taiji's face appeared even more hideous.

"Then order more! Soybean oil, pork fat—anything that can burn, send it all here!"

"Yes!"

Regardless,

this Ming army outnumbered the Qing army several times over.

Without fire attacks, it would be almost impossible for the Qing army to completely devour this group of Ming soldiers.

And just at this moment,

Kong Youde's Deng-Lai New Army had also completed loading their ammunition.

Amidst the rumbling of cannon fire,

the entire canyon turned into a sea of fire.

Just as all the Eight Banners troops were gradually thrown into the battlefield,

Fan Wencheng, standing atop the canyon and gazing at the battle, saw his face gradually turn ashen.

There were simply too many unusual aspects to this Ming army.

They were clearly all new recruits.

Yet their fighting spirit far exceeded that of any other Ming army.

Even the elite forces of the Nine Frontiers, with the battle fought to this extent,

should have been shattered by now!

Is it really just because these people are all relatives and clan members?

If it truly is so.

What a massive family this must be.

At this thought, Fan Wencheng's heart suddenly gave a "thump."

(PS: The term "petroleum" was coined by Shen Kuo of the Northern Song in his "Dream Pool Essays".)

79, Fan Wencheng: Where exactly did this troop come from?

Where in the world could such a massive family exist?!

A sense of ominous foreboding immediately arose in Fan Wencheng's heart.

He immediately waved his hand, summoning several Personal Guards.

"Mr. Fan."

Fan Wencheng looked at the few men before him with a somewhat grim expression and spoke in a low voice,

"Have the Great Ming troops at Xingshan collected the bodies yet?"

"Not yet. With the battle fought to this extent, who is there to collect the bodies?"

Fan Wencheng's teeth clenched tightly as he gave orders in a low voice,

"Send people to Xingshan immediately to find the name tags of those Great Ming soldiers who died in battle."

"In short, anything that can prove their identity—the more the better, quickly!"

"Yes!"

The several Personal Guards were sent away by Fan Wencheng.

The scent of scorched corpses permeated the entire valley.

And by now, the Eight Banners soldiers had also killed until their eyes turned red.

Even the candles in the military camp had been melted down and poured down.

"Report! The Second Beile has slain the Great Ming Prince of Chu!"

"Report! The Fourth Beile has slain the Great Ming Prince of Shu!"

"Report! Oboi has slain the Great Ming Prince of Lu!"

"Report! The Gusa Beizi has slain the Great Ming Prince of Zhao!"

"Report! The Sixth Beile has slain the Great Ming Prince of Fu!"

"..."

Listening to the frontline battle reports, Fan Wencheng's sense of ominous foreboding grew ever stronger.

However, Huang Taiji had long been blinded by the great victory of 510 before his eyes.

And the fire in this valley was so vast that it illuminated the entire sky, making the night as bright as day!

On the walls of Songshan City.