Chapter 457: Advancing in Unison

Latest website: Yanguan.

Zhao Xu looked toward the northeast.

At this moment, Mo Yu stood before him like a schoolboy who had made a mistake, holding a piece of paper in his hand and reading from it.

"... The matter of the Northern Di death squads was entirely due to my negligence. From now on, I will certainly strengthen precautions and never let such a thing happen again." Exhaling heavily, Mo Yu let his head droop.

"Beyond that, I fine you half a year's salary as a warning to others," Zhao Xu said.

After the Northern Di death squads were exposed, Mo Yu had requested punishment from him.

However, that was only a few days after the great victory at sea, so he had temporarily ignored the matter.

Coming to Yanguan this time, he had Mo Yu write a confession of guilt to read to him, which was essentially a modern-day self-criticism.

"Furthermore, you will temporarily retain your post as the garrison commander of Yanguan, but if there are any more lapses within a year, I will strip you of your position," Zhao Xu said.

The scheme the Yuan Family played this time, similar to a Trojan horse, was indeed very devious.

Even he had been negligent and careless.

However, since this matter had occurred, someone had to take responsibility.

Of course, his goal was not to dispose of the general, but to use the punishment to alert the entire army.

To make them think one step further when encountering similar events in the future.

"Yes, Your Highness, I accept the punishment," Mo Yu bowed.

He knew very well that Yan Wang had already shown him leniency.

If he were not punished, he would not be able to forgive himself.

Accepting Mo Yu's confession of guilt, Zhao Xu stopped mentioning the matter and instead said, "Zhou Yi and Bai Shang should have arrived at Chrysanthemum Island by now."

This Chrysanthemum Island is called Juehua Island in the modern era, located on the sea to the east of Liaoning Province.

This time, before Zhou Yi and Bai Shang set out, he had specifically instructed the two to take this island.

Because they had Sailing Warships,

as long as they occupied Chrysanthemum Island, the Northern Di would never be able to take it back.

When the time came, this small island would become a chess piece he placed in Ningjin Dusi.

"They should have arrived indeed," Mo Yu said. "Your Highness, should we have the general Chang lead troops back?"

"No rush," Zhao Xu narrowed his eyes. "Ningjin Dusi is merely a feint; the Southern Three Commanderies are what matter most."

When Chang Wei went south to Fanyang, he had given specific instructions.

He ordered him to loot the Rich Clans of the Southern Three Commanderies, burn all land deeds, and drive away all the commoners.

In short, take everything that could be taken.

In this way, the Southern Three Commanderies would become a barren land for the Rich Clans.

He could take the opportunity to make demands of Zhao Heng; after all, he had performed a great service this time.

Of course, the premise was that Zhong Li and his party could save Zhao Heng.

While Zhao Xu was pondering, Zhong Li and his party had already entered the territory of Sizhou.

Upon receiving the news, Ma Han immediately led troops to welcome them.

Under the protection of the Ma Family soldiers, Ma Han accompanied Zhong Li and his party to arrive at Qin Pass.

"Does Captain Zhong Li really not need the assistance of my Ma Family's troops?" Ma Han hesitated.

After withdrawing from Xiangcheng to Sizhou, he had sent someone to see Yan Wang to seek his opinion.

Yan Wang only told them to hold Qin Pass at all costs.

Originally, he thought Yan Wang meant he would lead a large army himself to personally rescue the Emperor, but he did not expect him to only send one thousand Cavalry and three carriages that seemed to be loaded with Baggage Train.

"Prefect Ma need not worry. Too many people would be inconvenient. Let us rest for a while; we will set out tonight. Whether we can rescue the Emperor depends on this trip," Zhong Li cupped his hands.

Zhong Li's confident expression made Ma Han even more puzzled.

But since Zhong Li did not volunteer the information, he did not press further.

Yan Wang and his subordinates always acted in their own unique way.

Sometimes he found it hard to understand.

Thinking of this, he only ordered the Ma Family generals to take good care of Zhong Li and his party.

An County.

After half a day of sailing, the fleet arrived in the nearby waters.

It was nearly dusk, and the entire sea was dyed the red of a sunset glow.

Zhou Yi and Bai Shang discussed it and decided to rest on the ships for the night, launching an attack on the Anxiantiekuang the next day.

Yang Zhen sat on the ground, holding a Flintlock in one hand, examining it incessantly, his mouth constantly emitting exclamations of wonder.

After boarding the Warship, he had developed an illusion.

It was as if he had stayed on the island for ten years, and the outside world had passed for a hundred.

Otherwise, how could Firearm have turned into such huge Artillery?

And how could there be this kind of shrunken Iron Cannon that anyone could hold in their hand to kill the enemy?

Especially when Bai Shang ordered the soldiers to fire for him to see, his body was trembling slightly.

He could only mutter "truly incredible" repeatedly to express his shock.

Beyond the shock came the ensuing ecstasy and tears in his eyes.

For him, there was hope for reclaiming Ningjin Dusi.

He was willing to be a nameless soldier in Yan Wang's army, just to witness this day in the future.

After one night.

The next day, ten Warships lowered their small boats.

Led by Bai Shang, the Wangfu Army soldiers boarded the coast.

Zhou Yi and the navy soldiers remained here, waiting for them to return.

"The iron mine is twenty li northwest of An County," Yang Zhen said, pointing at the map. "We can march boldly; the Northern Di are very arrogant and have always been lax in defending their own hinterland. They could never have anticipated that Yan Wang's troops would come."

Bai Shang nodded and immediately ordered the soldiers to head northwest along the official road.

Along the way, they passed many deserted villages.

These were once villages of the Great Song people.

After the Northern Di occupied this place, they turned them into slaves, letting the villages and nearby fields become overgrown with weeds and turning them into their horse-racing grounds.

On the road, they also encountered some Northern Di who were grazing livestock.

Seeing a strange army approaching, they fled one after another.

Bai Shang did not pursue them; he wanted them to spread the news that the Great Song army had appeared here.

After about an hour, an iron mine indeed appeared before everyone.

At this moment, the Great Song people in the iron mine, wearing shackles, were swinging chisels to break the rocks.

Northern Di soldiers held whips, occasionally lashing out fiercely at the people who had collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

The appearance of their group immediately drew the attention of the Northern Di soldiers.

"Woo woo woo..." A familiar horn sound rang out.

Before long, five hundred Northern Di soldiers swarmed out from the corners of the mining area.

Archers drew their bows to the full on four watchtowers.

"I thought His Highness gave us too few with six thousand men; I didn't expect it was too many," Bai Shang said, baring his teeth and scratching his head.

Clearly, these five hundred Northern Di soldiers were merely there to supervise the people.

The mining area had no specialized army guarding it.

"Kill them!" The smile on Bai Shang's face suddenly vanished, and he shouted to the officers beside him.

"Kill!"

The Wangfu Army soldiers let out a roar, each of them in high spirits.

This time they were attacking Northern Di soldiers in the Northern Di hinterland, which was much more satisfying than staying in Yanguan and being passively beaten.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The officers vied with each other to lead their subordinates in the charge.

They all wanted to claim the first victory.

That way, when they returned, they could brag about it while drinking Wine.

The Northern Di soldiers had long been stunned by this suddenly appearing army.

A question was on everyone's mind: how did this Great Song army arrive at An County?

But soon, they would never be able to think again.

Dense Lead Bullets riddled them like a sieve.