Chapter 741: Prelude

"Second Lieutenant Carter, would you like to try it?" Yamada Haruno patted the Koryo King's chair, his smile carrying a hint of obsequiousness.

As for Xie An, who was beside Carter, Yamada Haruno ignored him directly, not even sparing him a glance.

To him, in this Eastern Land Alliance, Britain held the highest status, the Sam Country was second, and then came their Dongying.

The Shizu of Great Song were merely pawns for them to manipulate; if it weren't for the fact that their Dongying needed to use these Shizu to keep Yan Wang in check, they wouldn't be qualified to join the Eastern Land Alliance at all.

Therefore, he did not hold the Shizu generals and soldiers of Great Song in any regard.

"Of course." Carter stepped forward, and Yamada Haruno immediately vacated the seat, bowing and stooping to invite Carter to sit.

In this war, Carter had provided many brilliant suggestions and had even pointed out many flaws within the Dongying Army and the Shizu Army, allowing them to make corrections.

Whether it was their Dongying Army or the Shizu Army, all had benefited greatly.

Yamada Haruno was therefore increasingly respectful toward Carter, even though, by comparison, his own status was far superior.

Xie An was furious inside, but he dared not show it; he had never suffered such indignity before.

However, who could blame anyone but themselves for the Shizu being the least significant in the Eastern Land Alliance.

With a cold snort in his heart, he looked elsewhere, pretending to admire the scenery of the Koryo royal palace, and did not participate in the conversation between Yamada Haruno and Carter.

Carter sat in the Koryo King's chair for a while and said to Yamada Haruno, "In a month at most, the war in Koryo can be ended, but the Sam Country is too far away, and I fear I won't be able to make it back in time for Christmas."

Yamada Haruno understood what the Christmas Carter spoke of was, and he said, "What does that matter? Why not spend it in our Dongying's Edo? By then, I will present you with a big gift."

He emphasized the word "big."

Carter understood and smiled with tacit agreement.

He had chosen to come to this barbaric Eastern Land ultimately to earn a high salary; after all, who would turn their back on money?

The two laughed for a while, and then Carter said to Yamada Haruno, "To end the war as soon as possible, let us march north tomorrow, how about that?"

Yamada Haruno did not care, saying, "They are just some remnants and defeated soldiers, why must we go out ourselves? We only need to wait here in the Koryo royal city for good news, and while we're at it, enjoy the Beauties of Koryo—wouldn't that be better?"

Carter laughed, though his intuition told him this was wrong; one must remain vigilant until the war is completely won.

But the Koryo Army was truly pathetic, and Yamada Haruno's words seemed to hold some truth, so he nodded.

……

Ancheng.

Zhao Xu stood at the harbor Pier, looking out at the boundless ocean, with Zhou Yi at his side.

To protect his safety, the Yanzhou Fleet had been deployed in full force.

After all, the navy had detected that the Joint Fleet of the Eastern Earth Allied Forces was cruising between the waters of Koryo and Dongying.

It would only take two days of travel for them to reach Ancheng Port.

Moreover,

since he would not let Zhou Yi and the others provoke them, they could only devote all their energy to protecting Ancheng Port.

Besides Zhou Yi, the Koryo King and Yin Boming were also by Zhao Xu's side.

The Eastern Earth Allied Forces were advancing like a hot knife through butter, and the Koryo Army was collapsing like a mountain; for the sake of their lives, many Koryo ministers and generals, including the Crown Prince, Princess, and Imperial Concubines, had all fled to Ancheng.

After all, the news had already spread that Ancheng had received the protection of Yan Wang, and the Warships of the Yanzhou Navy were docked at Ancheng Port; if the situation turned dire, they could be sent to Yanzhou at any time.

Thus, this place had become the temporary capital of Koryo.

"Your Highness, this humble king has just received news that a vanguard of the Eastern Earth Allied Forces, consisting of 80,000 men, has reached Dongchang Commandery; once past Dongchang Commandery, it is Qingbo Bridge," the Koryo King said, his heart filled with grief.

Now, it was basically equivalent to the total annihilation of Koryo.

As for Ancheng, he had already returned it to Great Song, and he was only residing here temporarily.

Yin Boming looked at Zhao Xu cautiously; after arriving in Ancheng, this Yan Wang was neither hurried nor impatient, which made them even more anxious, as they did not know what this Yan Wang was thinking, and he seemed not at all worried that Koryo would be entirely occupied by the Eastern Earth Allied Forces.

"Is there any other news?" Zhao Xu asked; he knew the Koryo King and Yin Boming were anxious, but war was not a matter of haste.

He was simply waiting for the Eastern Earth Allied Forces to become arrogant and conceited, to march deep into the territory alone, and to reach the vicinity of the Qingbo River.

In this way, in the first battle, Chang Wei would be able to annihilate this rash Eastern Earth Allied Forces entirely.

The Koryo King continued, "There are another 100,000 of the Eastern Earth Allied Forces coming from the south to the north, and it is estimated they will reach Rang City today; among them are three core generals of the Eastern Earth Allied Forces."

Zhao Xu nodded; Koryo was, after all, the Koryo of the Koryo people, and letting the Koryo people collect intelligence was still very convenient.

At the same time, Chai Wu was also gathering various information on the Eastern Earth Allied Forces, and what the Koryo King said was about the same as the intelligence Chai Wu had sent him.

He asked this question also to test the Koryo King, to prevent this Koryo King from setting a trap for him that would lead to unnecessary casualties for the Prince's Personal Army.

After these few days of verification, the information provided by the Koryo King was quite accurate, and he gradually felt at ease with the Koryo King.

Once he expelled the Eastern Earth Allied Forces, the Koryo King would become his loyal puppet.

"They have come at just the right time. This Prince asks you: regarding the secret passage in Rang City, besides you, does a second person know of it?" Zhao Xu suddenly asked.

The Koryo King said, "Absolutely not. This secret escape route is a secret passed down by word of mouth through generations of Koryo Kings, specifically so that if disaster were to strike in the future, one could escape from inside the city to the outside."

Upon hearing this, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Zhao Xu's mouth.

The Eastern Earth Allied Forces would certainly defend the Koryo royal city to the death to engage him in a tug-of-war, but they would never imagine that what they had obtained was not a great city with excellent defenses, but a death trap.

Looking toward the direction of Rang City, Zhao Xu said, "You only need to wait quietly; there is no need for you to concern yourselves with the war. What this Prince has promised you, I will certainly fulfill, and I will let you return to the Koryo royal city you dream of day and night."

……

Dongchang Commandery, Fengming Mountain.

While Zhao Xu was listening to the latest intelligence, the Prince's Personal Army, led by Koryo guides, arrived at Fengming Mountain on the north side of Dongchang Commandery.

Just as Yan Wang had said, once they entered Koryo, the mountains suddenly became numerous; along the way, there were mountain paths everywhere, as well as lush green mountains, making travel exceptionally difficult.

In order not to hinder the speed of the march, Chang Wei ordered the army to be divided into two parts, front and rear; the front part was composed of 60,000 Infantry traveling light, with soldiers carrying only firearms, Bullets, dry rations, and Hand Grenades.

The rear army was responsible for transporting the Field Artillery and Howitzers.

The reason he did this was that the Koryo guides had provided them with a key piece of information.

A vanguard of the Eastern Earth Allied Forces, consisting of 80,000 soldiers, was approaching their direction.

Before long, they would reach the Fengming Mountain area.