Chapter 807: Taking Control of Jinling

Latest website: "General Luse, what should we do now?"

Across the Yuntai River, their soldiers were scattering in all directions like headless flies; it was currently impossible to reorganize them at all.

And in war, once the military formation is in chaos, it basically signifies defeat.

"Retreat, retreat to Su City immediately, and at the same time, have the armies in the cities along the river abandon their cities and head to Su City together," Luse said with difficulty.

At present, Jinling City only has fifty thousand troops, and the eastern trench line also only has fifty thousand troops.

One hundred thousand troops are simply unable to block the Yan King Army.

And it is impossible for soldiers from other cities to arrive before the Yan King captures Jinling.

Although the surprise attack failed, there are still about one hundred and fifty thousand of the remaining remnants.

But these chaotic soldiers cannot play any role in the current war situation; on the contrary, they might even be a hindrance.

For example, the remnants retreating toward the Yuntai River.

These remnants will only crash back into the military formation, causing even greater trouble.

It will not be too late to gather these remnants after they have gone to Su City.

"Oh my, Jinling, my Jinling, my life," Xie Duan said upon hearing this, beating his chest and stamping his feet, wishing he could just die by crashing into the ground.

But he knew very well that what Luse said was the truth.

The Yan King Army is taking advantage of the chaos to kill their way toward them; if they don't leave now, they won't be able to leave at all.

Han Zheng and Wang Zi'an looked at each other and sighed at the same time.

Originally, he had hoped that this surprise attack would restore their confidence, but now they have suffered a heavy blow instead.

"Brother Xie, let's go. As long as the green hills remain, there is no need to worry about firewood," Han Zheng patted Xie Duan on the shoulder.

Xie Duan gnashed his teeth again, but in the end, he headed toward Jinling City.

Luse took a deep look at the battlefield; a strong sense of frustration made him almost go mad.

He was defeated at Niu Tou Tan, and he was defeated again under the walls of Jinling City.

All the glory of his life in Da Song had been lost completely.

"I will definitely win back what I have lost; I haven't lost yet," Luse said hatefully, clenching his fists.

Then, he also followed Xie Duan toward Jinling City.

He dared not stay here any longer; with one hundred thousand troops, he might be able to hold on for a while, but the Yan King's army is very cunning, and he feared that when the time came that he wanted to leave, he would not be able to.

Once Luse, Xie Duan, and the others left, the battlefield completely lost control.

The Shizu Army soldiers who ran to the bank of the Yuntai River scrambled for small boats in order to cross the river.

Some soldiers ignored everything else and jumped directly into the river to swim to the opposite bank.

Some of them couldn't swim at all; after struggling in the river for a while, they floated up from the water, drowned.

While there was great chaos at the Yuntai River, the soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army were methodical.

The soldiers responsible for building the bridge were protected in the middle by two rows of soldiers.

They paid no attention to the scattering soldiers, their hearts set only on Jinling City across the way.

Upon reaching the riverbank, the soldiers put the small boats into the water, and the following soldiers placed more small boats down and connected them with iron chains; before long, they had built a pontoon bridge across the Yuntai River.

Other Wangfu Army soldiers crossed the river along the pontoon bridge and charged toward Jinling City.

Along the way, they encountered no resistance at all.

Crossing the second trench, they successfully entered Jinling City and quickly took control of all the key thoroughfares in Jinling City.

Some commanders even led soldiers to climb the city walls, where they waved the flags in their hands and let out bursts of cheers to the outside.

This Jinling City is the Capital City of Da Song; no one in the world does not know of it.

Now that they had recovered this Capital City, they were naturally filled with excitement.

"Hahaha..."

At the Yuntai River, Zhao Xu and commanders like Chang Wei also crossed the river under the protection of their soldiers.

Looking at the soldiers cheering on the city walls, Zhao Xu, Chang Wei, and the others let out hearty laughter.

Originally, there should have been a fierce battle to be fought for this Jinling City.

But the greed of the Shizu had essentially handed Jinling City to them for nothing.

Now the remaining Shizu Army is tucking their tails and continuing to flee south.

But that does not matter; no matter where they run, the Prince's Personal Army will eventually annihilate them.

And the recovery of Jinling City signifies the first major victory of the southern campaign.

It will greatly boost the confidence of the soldiers.

"Back in the day, this subordinate served in the Jinling Imperial Palace for five years; I am familiar with every blade of grass and every tree in the Imperial Palace. I wonder if the Imperial Palace is still the same as it was before," Chang Wei said.

Zhao Xu nodded.

Although Yancheng is now the new Capital City.

Everyone still has some nostalgia for the old Capital City.

For instance, Mi Fei and some of the Royal Clan often mentioned the prosperity of Jinling in front of them.

Zhao Xu looked toward Jinling City, and certain parts of his heart were touched as well.

Perhaps this stemmed from certain memories in his mind.

After all, the Ninth Prince grew up in Jinling since childhood and had very deep feelings for this place.

However, even so, he had no intention of moving the capital to Jinling again.

Dynasties that made Jinling their capital in the contemporary era never had a good ending.

Entering Jinling City with Chang Wei and the others, the group went straight to the Imperial Palace.

At this moment, the Wangfu Army had already taken control of the entire Imperial Palace.

The eunuchs and palace maids who had not managed to escape the palace were detained on the plaza outside the Golden Throne Hall, kneeling all over the ground.

Zhao Xu arrived, and some of the old eunuchs and palace maids recognized him immediately, crying out incessantly, "Spare us, Ninth Prince, spare us! We were also forced to serve the First Prince, spare us..."

Kneeling opposite the eunuchs and palace maids were some of the court officials, many of whom Zhao Xu found very familiar.

They lay prostrate on the ground, trembling with fear.

During the Jinling rebellion, they had chosen to support the First Prince, remained in Jinling City, and assisted the First Prince.

Now that Yan Wang had attacked and taken over, they had not managed to escape in time and were scared to death.

Just like the eunuchs, they also begged for mercy incessantly.

Zhao Xu snorted coldly; these eunuchs and palace maids had all been selected to enter the palace, and some might be innocent.

But among these powerful officials who followed the First Prince, there was no one whose hands were not stained with blood.

Furthermore, since they had chosen the First Prince, they were now traitorous officials.

He said, "The eunuchs and palace maids are to be interrogated; those guilty shall be punished, and those innocent shall be dismissed from the palace. As for these treasonous officials, lock them all in the death row cells to be beheaded."

"Yes, Your Highness." The officer in charge of the detained soldiers gave a military salute.

Chang Wei nodded slightly; his back was held straight, and his neck was stiff, like a fighting cock.

Ever since entering the Imperial Palace, he had been like this.

In the past, when he served as a Small Banner in the Imperial Guard within the palace, he had endured countless slights.

Now, he had returned as the number one general under Yan Wang, possessing a certain arrogance of returning home in glory.

Qin Shan and Guan Tong had once been Chang Wei's subordinates, and they were the same; at this moment, each of them was beaming with high spirits.

Lv Chang was different; he had grown up in Yanzhou and had never been to Jinling, let alone seen the Jinling Imperial Palace, so he was curiously observing everything.

Having announced the disposal of the eunuchs, palace maids, and traitorous officials, Zhao Xu was about to enter the Golden Throne Hall.

At this moment, an officer hurried over, "Your Highness, General Chang, the national treasury and the Granary of Jinling City are both intact."

"That's great! They must have fled in such a hurry that they didn't have time to take them away or destroy them," Chang Wei said with an excited expression.

Hearing this, a smile curled at the corners of Zhao Xu's mouth.

This time, they had truly made a massive profit.