Chapter 707: Peng City

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"You deserve to die, especially you, Shang An!" Shang Bin looked at the fat King of Ryukyu trembling on his knees before him.

After the Dongying Army occupied Ryukyu, his seventh younger brother, Shang An, had acted as an accomplice to a group of ministers for the sake of the Ryukyu throne, slaughtering tens of thousands of Ryukyu commoners who resisted Dongying.

Over these years, in order to curry favor with the Dongying Army, he even forced decent Ryukyu women to go to the Dongying military camps, leaving them to be humiliated by Dongying soldiers.

Regarding taxes, Shang An imposed heavy levies on the Ryukyu people to pay the Dongying Shogunate, winning the Shogunate's recognition.

Such conduct was simply worse than that of beasts.

Killing Shang An and the Ryukyu officials who aided the tyrant a thousand or ten thousand times would not soothe the hatred in his heart.

Looking toward Zhou Yi, he said, "General, kill them; these people's hands are stained with the blood of the Ryukyu commoners."

"Drag them all out and behead them!" Zhou Yi shouted.

Upon hearing this, the group of Ryukyu ministers kneeling on the ground collapsed in terror, begging for mercy incessantly.

Some Ryukyu ministers even lost control of their bowels.

From the moment he was captured, the King of Ryukyu, Shang An, had been trembling uncontrollably and could not utter a single word; now, he fainted outright.

Upon receiving the order, the Marine soldiers dragged all the Ryukyu ministers out of the palace.

Before long, cries and screams rang out one after another, followed by silence.

At this moment, Shang Bin said to the ministers behind him, "You are to immediately take over all the government offices in Ryukyu. For the Ryukyu officials in those offices, judge them according to their crimes; those who have committed heinous acts are to be executed without mercy, others are to be imprisoned as appropriate, and those who can be used shall be used."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the Ryukyu officials shouted in unison.

With Shang An executed, Shang Bin was now the King of Ryukyu.

Immediately, they turned and walked outside.

Zhou Yi then dispatched over a thousand soldiers to accompany them to take over the government offices.

Following that, he said, "Your palace is in such a mess; I won't eat here tonight. Let's wait until the entire Ryukyu Kingdom is taken."

There were still the South Island and North Island to the north and south of Zhongdao, and they had only occupied Zhongdao.

Shang Bin smiled and said, "Once I have taken control of Ryukyu,

I will certainly treat the General and the soldiers."

He ordered the Marine soldiers not to harass the commoners and spent the night in the Ryukyu Royal City.

The next day, Zhou Yi ordered Pan Zhang to take the South Island and the North Island.

After two days of fighting, the remaining eight thousand Dongying soldiers were all annihilated.

At the same time.

The news of Shang Bin's return to Ryukyu spread throughout the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Because the Marine soldiers committed no offenses, the Ryukyu commoners also walked out onto the streets.

At this time, they learned that Shang An and the heinous ministers had all been executed.

Furthermore, King Shang Bin had overturned Shang An's decrees; the heavy taxes were gone, and the women who had suffered in the Dongying military camps had returned home.

"The King has returned; the bitter days of Ryukyu are finally over," the elders of Ryukyu wept bitterly.

The young and strong had tears in their eyes, even though they had only learned of this Heir of Ryukyu through the stories of the elders.

But the decrees Shang Bin introduced had already won their hearts.

Together with the elders, they came before the royal palace, kneeling across the ground and kowtowing to the palace.

Shang Bin, dressed in royal robes, waved to the commoners from the palace walls.

Zhou Yi stood by Shang Bin's side and said, "You really do have some popular support."

Shang Bin's face was full of smiles as he took Zhou Yi's hand and waved to the commoners together, "This all relies on the grace of His Highness and the bloody battles of the soldiers. From now on, Ryukyu is my, Shang Bin's, Ryukyu, and it is also the Ryukyu of His Highness, Yan Wang."

"Hahaha..." Zhou Yi laughed.

The location of Ryukyu was very important; the South Island, Zhongdao, and the North Island stretched for over six hundred li, lying between Yizhou and Dongying.

Controlling this place would greatly expand the range of naval operations.

Without needing to carry supply ships, they could extend their range of operations from Yanzhou to the Yizhou sea area.

At the same time, Merchant Ships would also benefit from this.

After all, Ryukyu was originally a transit point for trade between Dongying and the Xitu Guo.

……

Peng City.

At the same time Zhou Yi took Ryukyu, Chang Wei arrived here with the main army.

From Lu City to here, the distance was six hundred li.

Except for the one day spent taking Yi City, their time was almost entirely consumed on the road.

After all, from Lu City to Yi City, the road was basically all mountain paths.

But after passing Yi City, it was an endless plain.

They had walked for a day without seeing a single mountain.

Not until Peng City were there a few scattered small hills standing on the earth.

However, these small hills were basically individual ones, not connected in a range.

There were large tracts of farmland between the two mountains, which did not affect their march at all, nor did they provide a natural barrier for Peng City.

"No wonder they say the world's grain comes from the Xie Family; there are farmlands, lakes, and rivers everywhere here," Qin Shan remarked, looking toward the walls of Peng City.

Guan Tong said, "What Xie Family? Soon this place will be ours."

"Isn't that so," Lv Chang chimed in.

Along the way, the speed at which the Shizu Army disintegrated was basically equal to the speed of their march.

This Peng City would also be easily captured.

The three of them finished speaking, exchanged a glance, and burst into laughter.

Chang Wei paid them no mind.

He was focused on looking toward Peng City.

Since ancient times, this Peng City has been a place of strategic importance for military strategists.

The reason is that south of Peng City lies

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the Huai River.

Taking Peng City is equivalent to controlling the Huai River.

And by controlling the Huai River, the commanderies and counties south of the Huai River will have no natural barriers to rely on and will only be swallowed up by the enemy.

Their only path will be to flee to Jinling and rely on the natural barrier of Jiujiang to defend against the enemy.

Therefore, the Shizu Army has hoarded heavy troops here to fight them.

If they win, they hold the Huai River, and the southern commanderies and counties will be safe and secure.

If they lose, they can still delay the advance of the Yanzhou troops.

According to news sent by the Scout, during these days of retreat, the Shizu have been recruiting private soldiers from Rich Clan on a large scale.

There are about 300,000 private soldiers from Rich Clan who scattered from Qizhou, as well as those who rushed over from Yuzhou, Ningzhou, and Bozhou.

Half of them are gathered here.

The remaining half continued south, following the Shizu Army toward Huai City.

However, even so, there are about 300,000 people in Peng City.

The troops of the Xie Family, Wang Family, Han Family, and other Shizu each have 50,000, plus 150,000 private soldiers from Rich Clan.

Although these private soldiers from Rich Clan are like clay chickens and pottery dogs in their eyes.

But having so many troops piled into one city will still cause them some trouble.

At the very least, it will cause the Prince's Personal Army to pay a higher price in casualties.

Moreover, I am afraid they cannot take Peng City in one day; it will take a few days.

It is just that they have no choice but to fight; bypassing the city to head south would be equivalent to exposing the back of the Prince's Personal Army to these 300,000 troops.

"Wait until we take Peng City, then you can be happy, it won't be too late." Chang Wei put away the Telescope, "Prepare to attack the city!"

After acknowledging with a "yes," Qin Shan and the other two returned to their respective armies.

Immediately, they sent soldiers to dig a Trench toward the city wall.

Although this new style of warfare is monotonous and boring, it is very effective every time.

It can often win victories with minimal casualties.

This battle will only take more time, so it is even more necessary to use a Trench to protect the safety of the soldiers.

Dear, this chapter is finished, I wish you a happy reading! ^0^