Chapter 898: Pacification

"Boom, boom, boom..."

After the first round of artillery fire, there was a second round.

After firing three consecutive rounds and seeing that not a single soldier on the city wall dared to show their head, Chang Wei signaled the artillerymen to stop. "Hahaha... satisfying!" he shouted.

The three volleys of fire had severely damaged the battlements on the Gao Family Fort wall, making it look like a mouth that had had its teeth knocked out.

The city wall was deathly silent, with only thin lines of blood trickling down from it.

The Wangfu Army soldiers were initially terrified, but once they came to their senses, they suddenly erupted into huge cheers.

"Ahhh..."

"Well shot."

"Mighty, mighty!"

"..."

The soldiers raised their arms high, and some even jumped for joy.

Such terrifying things were actually their Weapon.

From now on, their enemies were in for bad luck.

"Commandery Governor Gao, how does it taste? It is still not too late to leave the city and surrender." A loud-voiced soldier mocked them at this moment.

Liu Fu and Chang Wei both laughed.

The sheer power of what had just happened had made even their own legs tremble, let alone Gao Yuan and his men.

"Help... help me down."

On the city wall, Gao Yuan heard the words of the soldiers below, but he dared not show his head to curse back again.

Now, he did not even dare to remain on the city wall.

Regardless of the fact that he had wet his pants, he only wanted to get down.

Gao Man hurriedly helped his father up; only after the loud noises from below the city ceased did he dare to crawl up from the ground.

At this moment, his disheveled state was no less than his father's.

His Helmet was crooked on his head, his legs were shaking uncontrollably, and his entire face was deathly pale.

The two of them barely made it down the steps, and the officials below the city immediately gathered around.

"My Lord, what was that loud noise?"

Although they were inside the city, they had also been frightened quite badly.

After all, they had seen the wretched state of Gao Yuan and the soldiers on the city wall, which terrified them greatly.

"It's... it's nothing, just a Firearm." Gao Yuan kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

He dared not tell the truth, otherwise, if the Rich Clan officials learned of this, the morale within the Wubao would be even more unstable.

Seeing Gao Yuan like this, the officials were half-believing and half-doubting.

But they did not dare to climb the city wall to see for themselves.

"Everyone, do not panic. I calculate that Lord Yuan's troops will arrive in these two days. As long as we hold the city, we will certainly be safe and sound," he added, offering comfort.

Hearing this, the officials could only comfort themselves; they dared not think about the consequences of the city falling.

Outside the city.

The soldiers' cheers gradually died down, but these three rounds of artillery fire had brought their morale to its peak.

Chang Wei pointed at the city wall and said to Zhao Xu, "Your Highness, now they have become turtles hiding their heads; not one of them dares to come out."

Zhao Xu nodded. Now, not a single figure could be seen on the city wall, as if the Gao Family Fort had instantly become an empty city.

Yet he knew clearly that the soldiers were all hiding behind the wall.

"There is no need to play cat and mouse with them. Use the Artillery to smash open the city gate and let the soldiers charge in," Zhao Xu said.

This was his purpose in bringing the Artillery.

While boosting morale, it was also to smash open the city gate, saving the soldiers from having to use their bodies to withstand the damage.

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei received the order and left.

At this moment, out of the ten pieces of Artillery, three adjusted their muzzles to aim at the Wubao city gate, while the rest guarded against the Rich Clan soldiers on the city wall.

"Fire!" Mo Yu shouted, pointing at the city gate.

Chang Wei had had his fill of fun, and now he wanted to try it himself, taking this task from Chang Wei's hands.

"Boom, boom, boom." With three loud bangs, the Iron Ball flew straight toward the Wubao city gate.

"Crack, crack..." sounds came, and three holes appeared in the city gate.

Behind the Wubao city gate, one thousand Rich Clan private soldiers were guarding the area.

After the three loud bangs, they saw the wooden planks of the city gate smashed by something.

Black things flew out from the shattered holes.

Before they could react, a row of soldiers fell like rice in the wind.

Looking closely, these soldiers either had broken arms or broken legs, and some even had a large hole in their chests.

After killing a row of soldiers, the black things continued with undiminished force, rolling into the Wubao.

The soldiers guarding the gate were terrified; they had never encountered such a bizarre thing.

While they were still at a loss, more loud noises came.

Instantly, three more holes appeared in the city gate, black shadows flew by, blood mist rose, and another group of soldiers died.

This time, they finally reacted; staying in the gate tunnel was just waiting for death.

It was unknown who shouted, but the soldiers guarding the city gate scattered in a panic.

The news quickly reached Gao Yuan, and the sweat on his forehead increased.

Yan Wang was going to launch a full-scale assault.

He hurriedly ordered Gao Man to have the soldiers on the city wall prepare to counterattack.

His order had just been issued when suddenly the city gate collapsed with a boom.

Under the bombardment of the Artillery, the city gate was riddled with holes like a sieve.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The sound of the cannons continued incessantly.

But amidst the deafening noise, Gao Yuan and his son heard the battle cries of the Wangfu Army.

The Wangfu Army was about to charge in.

"Kill, kill them for me!" Gao Yuan, looking like a madman, pointed toward the direction of the city gate and shouted.

The city gate was broken, and the Wubao lay before the strong men like an undefended maiden.

Now, he was completely desperate.

The Rich Clan officials were dumbfounded.

The Wubao that Gao Yuan had boasted about had not even lasted half an hour before Yan Wang.

And not even a shadow of the Yuan Family's reinforcements had been seen.

"It's over, we are dead," a Rich Clan official sat down on the ground with a thud.

Now he began to regret it; wasn't it just land? If he had handed it all over, he would still have his life.

Before, he had thought about resisting Yan Wang to keep his land, but now he could keep nothing.

"Gao Yuan, this is all your fault, it has nothing to do with us. As long as you die, we can live," a Rich Clan official said, pointing at Gao Yuan with his own private soldiers, "Seize him and send him to Yan Wang."

"You are courting death!" Gao Man cursed loudly, drew his sharp sword, and slashed at the official, who immediately fell into a pool of blood.

His private soldiers were also killed by the Gao Family soldiers.

But the matter was not over yet; the other officials all wanted to trade Gao Yuan's head for their own lives at this moment.

For a time, the Wubao fell into chaos.

"Kill!" Just then, the Wangfu Army surged into the Wubao.

They held their swords and blades high, their morale soaring.

The Rich Clan soldiers who attempted to resist fell one after another under their blades.

And as the number of Wangfu Army soldiers entering the Wubao continued to increase, their advantage kept expanding.

Relying on their sturdy Armor and Weaponry, as well as their superior physical fitness, a single Wangfu Army soldier felt no fear even when facing three Rich Clan soldiers, charging straight in to slaughter them.

In the ambush battle, the Rich Clan's private soldiers had already lost their elite forces and were relying entirely on the Wubao to bolster their courage.

Now that the Wubao's gate was broken, the psychological defense of the Rich Clan's private soldiers also shattered.

Soldiers who were not from the Rich Clan families dropped their weapons and stopped resisting, which made the Wangfu Army even more unstoppable.

The Wangfu Army soldiers wearing Silver Armor spread like water to every corner of the Wubao.

The battle lasted for more than two hours and ended before dusk.

Upon learning that the Wubao had been completely controlled, Zhao Xu and generals like Chang Wei walked slowly into the Wubao.

"Your Highness, the Rich Clan members in the fortress have all been captured, awaiting your disposal."

On the open ground inside the Fortress, over a thousand Rich Clan officials and their family members knelt on the ground.

The Wangfu Army stood in a circle, surrounding them.

Seeing Zhao Xu arrive, Lv Chang stepped forward and said.

After the city gate was opened, he and other Captains led their troops to charge in.

After a fierce battle, they successfully took the Fortress.

Zhao Xu nodded, his gaze sweeping over the Rich Clan members who were shivering with fear at this moment.

For them, he felt not a shred of pity in his heart.

Power struggles are often this cruel; it is either you die or I die.

If he had not learned of the conspiracy of these Rich Clans in advance and had been captured during the ambush.

He believed these Rich Clans would definitely have killed him.

And if he were dead, Yuan Li would certainly lead the Yuan Family's army to slaughter his Personal Guards and everyone in the Wangfu.

"Kill them," Zhao Xu spat out the three words lightly.

According to Da Song Law, raising an army to rebel is punishable by the execution of the nine clans.

When they embarked on this path with Gao Yuan, they should have thought that this day would come.

"Your Highness, spare our lives!"

"Your Highness, spare us, we were all bewitched by Gao Yuan."

"Your Highness, spare us, we will definitely be loyal to Your Highness."

"..."

Hearing this, the Rich Clan members began to cry and shout one by one, and some were so frightened they fainted.

Zhao Xu remained unmoved and walked straight past them.

Gao Yuan's residence was at the innermost part of the Fortress; he wanted to see what the soldiers had searched out from inside.

After he left, the Wangfu Army raised the blades and swords in their hands.

They hated these Rich Clans even more than Yan Wang did; whose hands among these people were not stained with the blood and tears of the common people?

They deserved to die!

In their ears, the miserable screams of the Rich Clan members reached them.

At this moment, a soldier hurried over, "Report, Your Highness, we have seized a large amount of supplies inside the Fortress."