Chapter 668: Terrified Monarch and Ministers

Lu City.

A cavalryman appeared at the North Gate of the city; before he could even enter, both man and horse suddenly collapsed.

The warhorse he was riding stiffened, let out a whinny, and suddenly fell silent.

The cavalryman scrambled up and, ignoring his exhausted warhorse, rushed into the city.

As he ran, he shouted, "The Yanzhou army has attacked! The Yanzhou army has attacked!"

The Qi soldiers guarding the gate turned pale; they immediately escorted the cavalryman toward the Imperial Palace.

"What! The Yanzhou army has crossed the Jin River?"

In the Imperial Garden, Han Zheng was playing chess with Sato Masahisa.

Hearing this, he stood up abruptly, his sleeve knocking over the chessboard and scattering the pieces across the ground.

Seemingly too shocked, his body swayed involuntarily.

After a moment, he calmed down. "Yan Wang is truly bold and utterly arrogant. How many troops did they bring in total?"

"About one hundred and twenty thousand," the cavalryman replied. "Before I left, they had already surrounded the first Fortress."

Han Zheng furrowed his brows and said to the eunuch beside him, "Immediately summon the ministers to discuss the war. Send envoys to Jinling and Xiangcheng to request reinforcements. We must consolidate our forces at once to punish Yan Wang."

Originally, there was only one month left before the various armies could gather at Lu City to march north and attack Yanzhou.

He had never expected that Yan Wang would take the initiative to attack Qi at this time.

Although this disrupted their plans, their war preparations against Yanzhou were already eighty percent complete.

He believed that if they could just hold on for another twenty-odd days, they would be able to assemble a million-strong army at Lu City; after all, the Xie Family had transported sufficient grain and fodder to Lu City during this period.

Next, he said to Sato Masahisa, "Lord Sato, please have Dongying dispatch its Navy to support Qi according to the plan."

Sato Masahisa felt a surge of excitement; he had been waiting for this day for a long time.

He nodded. "I will immediately have someone return to Dongying to inform the Shogun of the news that we are attacking Yan Wang ahead of schedule."

Han Zheng felt slightly relieved. "Many thanks, Lord Sato. As long as the Dongying Navy mobilizes, I promise you that I will designate Qingcheng as a trading port for Dongying and allow the Eastern Japanese to settle in Qingcheng."

Sato Masahisa was slightly delighted. This was the order the Shogunate had sent not long ago, instructing him to negotiate this matter with Qi so that Dongying could further intervene in the internal chaos of Dasong.

However, Han Zheng had never agreed to it.

At this moment, he had finally brought it out as a bargaining chip.

In his view, Han Zheng had likely been worried all along that if war broke out, Dongying would break its promise and stand by idly.

However, he did not blame Han Zheng; after all, if it were him, he would have made the same choice.

Thus he said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Our Dongying Navy will annihilate Yan Wang's fleet, and the warriors of Dongying will arrive in Qi."

A glimmer of hope appeared in Han Zheng's eyes, and he said, "I can hardly wait."

After discussing this matter, Sato Masahisa left, and he also headed toward the main hall for government affairs.

One hour later, all the ministers and generals of Qi had arrived.

By now, they had all learned the news that the Yanzhou army had crossed the Jin River, and many wore expressions of deep anxiety.

"Your Majesty, this general is willing to lead troops into battle and leave not a single piece of armor behind for Yan Wang."

Before Han Zheng could speak, a young general stepped out of the ranks.

He was Han Lei, the eldest son of Han Qi; during the Battle of Pingyuan City, his father had been captured by Yanzhou soldiers.

Qi had twice sent envoys to Yancheng, and one of the conditions proposed was the release of his father.

But all had been rejected by Yan Wang.

Such a great humiliation—he had always wanted to take revenge during this campaign to punish Yan Wang.

Now that Yan Wang's army had actually invaded Qi, it was the perfect opportunity for his revenge, so he decided to request to fight immediately.

Han Zheng showed a look of gratification; the Yanzhou army was coming aggressively, but at least there were no cowards among the Han Family descendants.

However, after thinking about it, he did not agree to Han Lei's request, but instead cast his gaze toward Yuan Li.

After the founding of Qi, Yuan Li had served as the Zhenguo Great General of Qi.

Under his command were sixty thousand direct troops of the Yuan Family.

Most importantly, Yuan Li had an irreconcilable hatred for Yan Wang; for this campaign against Yan Wang, no one was more suitable than him.

Although Han Lei had courage, he had never experienced a real war.

Yuan Li, however, was different; back during the Ningjindusizhizhan, Yuan Li had made many contributions, which was why he had secured the position of Prefect of Yanzhou.

While guarding Yanzhou, he had also fought year-round against the Northern Di during their Autumn Hunt, and had even engaged directly with Yan Wang's troops.

Sending him was far better than sending Han Lei directly.

Thus he said, "General Yuan, are you willing to go to battle?"

"I am willing," Yuan Li said loudly, his gaze carrying a hint of ruthlessness.

The Anti-Yan Alliance was the only chance to eliminate Yan Wang.

Only by taking this opportunity to eliminate Yan Wang would he have a chance to return to Yanzhou, to return to Fanyang, the place he dreamed of day and night.

For this, he was willing to pay any price.

After all, if Yan Wang conquered Qi, he, Yuan Li, would have nowhere left to stand.

This time he could not hide; he had to fight to the death to stop the Yanzhou army from continuing south and to buy time for the various armies to gather at Lu City.

"Good!" Han Zheng slapped the armrest of his chair in excitement. He said, "I order you to command your sixty thousand troops to go to battle, and I will give you another ninety thousand, for a total of one hundred and fifty thousand troops, to support the Nan'an Dock Fort."

After a pause, he continued, "However, for now, the situation is unclear, and we must wait for more news. You should prepare immediately and be ready to depart at any time."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Yuan Li replied.

At this moment, Han Zheng looked at the ministers and said in a clear voice, "My ministers, the war with Yanzhou concerns the survival of Qi. You must work together, fear no obstacles, and live or die with Qi; only then can we ultimately defeat Yan Wang and eliminate the great enemy of Qi."

Next, he discussed with the ministers matters of war such as raising grain and fodder and recruiting new soldiers.

By evening, another battle report was delivered, causing a great uproar in Lu City.

"The Fortress has fallen!" Han Zheng could not believe his own ears.

This battle report came only half a day after the first, and the first Fortress on the Nan'an had already fallen.

The next day, he received news that made him even more restless: the remaining two Fortresses had also been breached by the troops of Yan Wang.

One hundred thousand Qi soldiers had vanished into thin air.

"Two hundred thousand troops, just like that, gone." In the Imperial Study, Han Zheng looked dejected.

In the Battle of Pingyuan, Qi had lost one hundred thousand troops; he had originally thought that with these one hundred thousand troops on the Nan'an, he could hold off the troops of Yan Wang for ten days or half a month.

But it had only been a single day, and all three Fortresses had fallen.

He believed that Dongping City would likely be taken by the troops of Yan Wang soon as well.

"Your Majesty, this time the troops of Yan Wang seem to have used a new type of firearm; they dug tunnels to reach about forty meters outside the city walls, then threw the firearms onto the walls."

"Because it was so sudden, the defenders on the walls were completely unprepared and often suffered heavy casualties; taking advantage of this, they quickly seized the walls and breached the city."

Inside the Imperial Study, besides Han Zheng, there were also Wang Zi'an and Wang Xie.

In these two battles, the direct troops of their two families had lost more than half their numbers.

If they hadn't replenished some soldiers during this time, they would likely have no troops left to use now.

But even so, the troops of Qi could not withstand such attrition.

Therefore, upon learning this news, he and Wang Xie hurried into the palace to offer suggestions to Han Zheng in order to save the critical situation of Qi.