Chapter 805: Thunder Array

Latest website: The night wind blows.

The willow trees on the riverbank make a rustling sound.

The armies of both sides stand in a standoff like beasts about to tear each other apart, but neither side took any action throughout the entire day.

At dusk, Luse observed that the Prince's Personal Army seemed to be burying pots to cook meals around their tents.

And when it became pitch black, he sent out a small squad of two hundred men to row across the river and sneak toward the camp of the Yanzhou Army.

To prevent the Yanzhou Army from advancing, they had blown up all the bridges on the Yuntai River.

The squad went ashore and, under the cover of night, headed toward the Yanzhou Army camp.

When they were three hundred meters away from the tents, the lead Mercenary took out a Telescope to observe.

They dared not continue to approach, fearing they would be discovered.

This distance was neither too far nor too near, just right for observation.

Through the Telescope, the Yanzhou Army's tents were quiet at this moment, with only a few Yanzhou soldiers training.

Moreover, these soldiers were lazy, appearing not at all worried that the other side would launch a sneak attack.

Between the tents, there were still burning campfires.

Through the light of the campfires, they discovered that the enemy's Artillery were arranged without any order.

The muzzles were not aimed uniformly outward.

What surprised them most was that on the wooden racks beside the campfires, a row of muskets was leaning.

And in front of every tent, there were basically such wooden racks.

This meant that the soldiers of the Yanzhou Army were by no means sleeping with their weapons ready, but were currently sleeping without any precautions.

Overall, the enemy's defenses were very lax.

Having scouted this point, the Mercenaries returned quickly and reported this news to Luse.

"General Luse, this is an excellent opportunity." Wang Xie had not slept yet, just waiting for this result, "Clearly, the Yan Wang's army is too arrogant."

"This is called 'arrogant troops will be defeated'; if we miss this opportunity, it will be difficult to fight a comeback battle again."

Luse's heart was also surging with Bolan at this moment, his heart beating uncontrollably.

Even if this were a trap, as long as they could get their army within three hundred meters of the tents, they could order the soldiers to charge in.

In clashes with the Yan Wang's firearms, he had somewhat lost confidence.

By relying on numbers to fight a melee battle with the Yan Wang, perhaps they could win.

Thinking of this, he nodded to Wang Xie, "Order the soldiers to cross the river immediately, take off their shoes, quietly surround their tents, and once the cannons fire here, launch an attack on the tents."

Worried that his own numbers were insufficient, he added: "Go to Jinling City and ask for another fifty thousand."

They had retreated to the second Trench, and Xie Duan, Han Zheng, and Wang Zi'an had transferred soldiers from the eastern front to the Trench on the western front, supplementing their troop strength to two hundred thousand.

Only about fifty thousand were left on the eastern front to guard against the Yan Wang splitting his forces for a sneak attack.

After all, the Yan Wang and his subordinate generals had always been cunning in their use of troops.

But to ensure this sneak attack would succeed, he felt it was still not enough, so he borrowed another fifty thousand.

After all, there were one hundred thousand troops stationed in Jinling City, and keeping them there was useless.

If the Trench was lost, Jinling City could not be held either.

Wang Xie nodded and immediately sent men into the city.

Before long, Xie Duan, Han Zheng, and Wang Zi'an arrived, and along with them came fifty thousand troops.

This matter had alarmed the three of them as well.

In the defeat at Niu Tou Tan, they had lost about seventy thousand men.

When the news reached Jinling, the three were restless.

They had originally thought that with Luse and his twenty thousand Mercenaries, they would be fine, but they had not expected to be defeated nonetheless.

Moreover, it had only taken the Yan Wang's army two days to take Niu Tou Tan, which made them feel desperate.

Therefore, upon learning that there was a way to decide the outcome in one battle right before them.

They immediately came to the Trench works in person to watch the battle.

"General Luse, these fifty thousand are all elites of my Xie Family; they are all handed over to you. You must annihilate this Yan Wang army and crush their spirit," said Xie Duan.

Clenching his fists, he continued: "Furthermore, the Yan Wang is in the camp; kill the Yan Wang, and the Great Song will be ours."

When Xie Duan said this, he was trembling with excitement.

During the Niu Tou Tan battle, Wang Xie had discovered the Yan Wang on the other side of the river through a Telescope.

Therefore, he was certain that the Yan Wang was in the camp.

This was also the reason why he, Han Zheng, and the other two were so excited.

And in their view, since the Yan Wang went to Yanzhou, he had never lost a battle, large or small, so his arrogance and conceit were within reason.

But this time, they would make him die in his own arrogance.

"I will do my utmost," Luse said with a grave expression.

He likewise wanted to eliminate this Yan Wang.

The battle at Niu Tou Tan made him realize that this Yan Wang was a powerful enemy.

This was a huge threat to the interests of Britain in Dongtu.

Taking advantage of the internal chaos in the Great Song to contain him was the best opportunity.

After encouraging each other, Luse gathered his generals to deploy for the sneak attack.

"Let those who can swim swim across the river directly, and those who cannot, cross by boat," Luse ordered.

It would take a great deal of time just for the two hundred and fifty thousand-strong army to cross the river.

He estimated that after completing the encirclement, they would be able to launch the attack just before dawn.

The commanders nodded one after another, each taking their own soldiers to their designated deployment positions.

Afterward, he returned to the army, led the soldiers across the river, and at the same time, following Luse's orders, had the soldiers take off their shoes.

After crossing the river, the barefoot soldiers, either holding swords or carrying muskets with bayonets fixed, headed toward the Yanzhou Army camp.

Because they were barefoot, there was not a sound as they walked.

The night remained silent, and the darkness concealed the figures of the Shizu Army soldiers.

Moving around the tents, the 250,000-strong Shizu Army completely surrounded the Yanzhou Army camp.

With the encirclement complete, soldiers immediately returned to the trench fortifications to report this news to Luse.

Upon hearing this, Luse took a pocket watch from his pocket and glanced at it; it was currently the Mao hour of the Great Song.

Since it was still spring, the nights were long and the days were short, and the sky was still dark.

He nodded and issued an order to the artillerymen.

Immediately, three muffled, thunder-like sounds of artillery from the trench fortifications resounded across the sky.

"Kill!"

At that very moment, the Shizu Army soldiers surrounding the camp let out waves of shouts and charged toward the Yanzhou Army camp.

The Wangfu Army soldiers who were patrolling two hundred meters outside the camp immediately ran toward the barracks.

However, these Wangfu Army soldiers did not take a straight path, but rather a zigzagging route.

But the charging Shizu Army soldiers clearly did not think much of it.

Under the orders of their commanders, they only wanted to rush into the barracks and slaughter the Yanzhou soldiers to the last man.

Yet, just as they entered within two hundred meters of the barracks, a soldier running at the very front suddenly felt as if he had stepped on something.

The object even sank inward, but he did not think much of it and lifted his foot to continue charging forward.

But at that moment, with a loud "Boom!", a massive ball of flame erupted from the ground.

The soldiers at the center of the explosion were instantly blown to pieces, and nearby soldiers were also sent flying by the shockwave; many soldiers' eardrums were nearly shattered, and the world was left with nothing but the sound of ringing.

This was only the beginning; next, all around the entire camp, there were continuous, string-like explosions everywhere.

The sudden explosions stunned the Shizu Army soldiers, causing them to falter in their steps.

Just then, the Wangfu Army soldiers rushed out from the tents one after another, picked up their rifled muskets, and moved in an orderly fashion to their positions.

At the same time, the artillerymen quickly moved the artillery to the designated positions, preparing to return fire on the ambushing Shizu Army.