Chapter 792: Trap

Latest website: "Give me three more days to consider." Yan Wang's attitude was equally firm, and Fei Wen felt fear in his heart.

Worried that Yan Wang would launch an attack immediately, he found an excuse.

Immediately, he left in a daze, not even knowing how he had walked out of Lujiao City and arrived at the Pier.

Upon boarding the Warship, his legs suddenly went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

Other Frank officers immediately helped him up.

"What is wrong, Governor?" one person asked.

"Yan Wang has declared war on us; he intends to attack Marka City," Fei Wen said slowly.

Hearing this, the other officers were all shocked.

Then, Fei Wen told them the conditions Yan Wang had proposed.

After hearing them, none of the officers blamed Fei Wen; if it had been any one of them, they would not have dared to agree to Yan Wang.

They had operated their colony in the Dongtu for over two hundred years; how could they possibly hand it over?

"It is time to join the Eastern Land Alliance," an officer said.

Fei Wen nodded; after he and the Stedan Governor went to Calcutta, he had been very tempted to join the Eastern Land Alliance.

Because the Stedan people's colony was connected to the British, they shared a common fate.

Therefore, the Stedan people had immediately agreed to Bolt.

Although he also wanted to join, Yi Prefecture was, after all, too close to Da Song; he was afraid of angering Yan Wang, which would be disadvantageous for Marka City, so he was still hesitating.

But now, since Yan Wang demanded they withdraw from Yi Prefecture, he immediately regarded Yan Wang as an enemy.

Moreover, although his Folangji was currently gradually declining in the Western Lands, it had once been the number one empire in the Western Lands.

Every Frank was arrogant to the bone.

Furthermore, having colonized the Dongtu for over two hundred years, in their eyes, the Easterners were no different from the slaves of the Black Continent.

Deep down, he was full of discrimination against the Easterners.

If it were not for this Yan Wang being too formidable, he would not even want to cloak himself in a veneer of kindness.

As for Yan Wang's troops saving him, he had also provided intelligence to Yan Wang; they were even.

Thinking of this, he looked toward the direction of Lujiao City, his chest filled with killing intent, "If we can defeat Yan Wang, we should kill every single Song person; otherwise, Da Song will ultimately be a scourge."

Looking toward Marka City again, he said: "Go back, we will withdraw to Manila. Marka City is ultimately an isolated city and cannot be defended at all. I lied to Yan Wang, giving him three days to consider; that is enough for us to withdraw."

The officers nodded one after another.

However, just as they raised their sails and prepared to sail south, they suddenly discovered four Steamships, towing Sailing Warships, following them, and getting closer and closer.

Seeing this, Fei Wen was shocked and secretly thought it was bad.

This Yan Wang was smarter than he had imagined.

At the same time, on the Pier.

Zhao Xu and Zhou Yi were watching the constantly receding Frank warships.

Before Fei Wen left, he had suddenly changed his tune and asked for three days to consider.

He believed him for the time being, but he was not a fool to take everything the other side said at face value.

Therefore, he decided to let four warships accompany Fei Wen to the port of Marka City to keep an eye on them.

If war could not be avoided, the soldiers and wealth of this Marka City should not think about leaving.

Otherwise, should he leave them to deal with him alongside the British?

"Let the Marine Corps set out as well." As the Frank warships grew more distant, Zhao Xu gave an order to Zhou Yi.

Responding with a "yes," Pan Zhang immediately led the Marine Corps soldiers to advance along the coastline, heading directly from North Yi Prefecture toward Marka City.

One day later, Fei Wen returned to Marka City.

Stepping onto the pier, he looked at the Yan Wang warships floating on the distant sea surface, his brows furrowed tightly.

Being watched by Yan Wang's warships, his withdrawal plan could not be executed.

After thinking for a while, he said to the officers: "There is no other way; we can only fight Yan Wang to the death. Fortunately, they do not have many soldiers, so we might not necessarily lose."

Pausing, he continued: "Bury Gunpowder Barrels and fuses under the city gates and the roads inside Marka City. Three days later, I will feign surrender to Yan Wang. When Yan Wang enters the city, you will ignite the Gunpowder Barrels, blow them to the sky, and take advantage of the chaos to annihilate the Yan King Army and also resolve this scourge of the Dongtu."

"Yes, Governor." The officers looked at each other and nodded slowly.

This was indeed a method; if it succeeded, they would have eliminated Yan Wang, and perhaps Da Song's Jiangbei would fall into turmoil because of it.

Their Marka City would then be preserved.

Returning to Marka City, the officers immediately led the soldiers to bury the Gunpowder Barrels.

At the same time, they closed the city gates, forbidding the island's commoners from entering or leaving Marka City.

Usually, besides relying on supplies from Manila, Marka City obtained resources from the island commoners they enslaved.

Therefore, the island commoners often entered and left Marka City to transport goods.

In this Yi Prefecture, the Four Courts had long ago deployed informants to collect intelligence.

These informants were mixed in among these commoners, and the unusual movements in Marka City were naturally discovered by them.

The informants outside the city immediately sent out the news that Marka City had been sealed.

The informants inside who could not get out kept an eye on every move of the Frank soldiers, waiting for an opportunity to send out information.

Three days later, Zhao Xu and the Marine Corps soldiers arrived at the foot of Marka City.

Fei Wen immediately ordered the city gates to be opened, while simultaneously hanging a white flag on the city walls.

Seeing this, Zhao Xu frowned slightly.

At this moment, he was already aware of the unusual movements in Marka City, but he did not yet know what had happened inside the city.

So he whispered a few words to Pan Zhang.

Pan Zhang nodded, immediately stepped forward, and said to the Frank officer in front of the city gate: "His Highness says that since you are surrendering, you should show sincerity. How can one accept a surrender inside the city? You must all come outside the city to surrender."

The officer immediately relayed Zhao Xu's order to Fei Wen.

Hesitating for a moment, Fei Wen said to the officer, "This Yan Wang is truly cautious, but there is no other way. Order the soldiers lighting the fuses to hide well; as soon as Yan Wang arrives at the city gate, light the fuses."

Having said this, he left the Governor's Mansion, led the soldiers and officers out of Malka City, lined up in front of the city gate, and discarded their Smoothbore Guns.

"Your Highness Yan Wang, I have thought it through and am willing to live in peace with Great Song." Fei Wen stood before the soldiers and said to Zhao Xu with a sincere expression, "Now, all the soldiers of Malka City have surrendered to Your Highness; Your Highness should believe in my sincerity now, right?"

Zhao Xu nodded; if not for the intelligence provided by the Four Courts, Fei Wen's performance would have been truly flawless.

He chuckled lightly and said, "Do not be in such a hurry. One of my men entered Malka City three days ago and never came back out. It will not be too late to accept your surrender once my soldiers have found him."

After saying this, he gave Pan Zhang a look, and Pan Zhang ordered a squad of soldiers to enter the city to search for the Four Courts' informant.

Beads of sweat immediately broke out on Fei Wen's forehead.

He could not guarantee that his soldiers had not been seen by the commoners entering the city at the time they buried the Gunpowder Barrels.

Now, these commoners were all being detained by him in the prison; if they were found, his scheme would be exposed.

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on his palms.

Meanwhile, the Folangji officers were equally anxious upon hearing this.

One officer realized that exposure was likely imminent, so he steeled his heart and said to the soldiers, "Pick up the Flintlocks and fight them to the death."

The soldiers near him received the order and immediately bent down to pick up the Flintlocks on the ground.

"It really is a conspiracy, Your Highness, watch out!" Pan Zhang blocked the way in front of Zhao Xu and shouted at the same time, "Hand Grenades!"

At this moment, the two armies were only about thirty meters apart.

Upon receiving his order, the Marine soldiers hurriedly unhooked their Hand Grenades, pulled the ignition cords, and threw them toward the Folangji army.

Because they were lined up to surrender, the Folangji soldiers were standing very densely.

The overwhelming barrage of Hand Grenades was thrown over, and amidst the roaring explosions, they were immediately blasted with heavy casualties.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Marine soldiers fixed their Bayonets and charged over.

The remaining Folangji soldiers were stunned by the explosions and had lost all morale; how could they resist the wolf-like and tiger-like Marine soldiers? They were quickly annihilated.