Chapter 909: Suppression

Baihe City.

Watanabe An observed the camp five miles away through a telescope.

This was precisely the camp of the Coalition of the Zhida Jia and the Maoli.

After arriving outside Baihe City, the two-family Coalition had sent out Cavalry to scout around Baihe City, but had not launched an attack.

It seemed they were waiting for something.

This immediately made him uneasy, and at the same time, various conjectures appeared in his mind.

One of these conjectures was that they were waiting for reinforcements.

But the Beitiao and Ono were three hundred miles away on the western coast, and Yamano Haruno was responsible for defending against them.

It absolutely could not be them.

Then the only remaining possibility was the worst-case scenario he had anticipated.

They were waiting for the Yan King Army.

"Has the Yan King Fleet been spotted off the coast of Edo?" Putting down the telescope, he asked the Cavalry general at his side.

Before heading to Baihe City, he had left behind a unit of Cavalry responsible for scouting the Edo region.

"No," the Cavalry general said, "but if the Great General's guess is correct, they must be hiding somewhere."

Watanabe An nodded, and he said to the general, "Ambush your twenty thousand Cavalry in the mountain forests on both sides of the valley. The Yan King's soldiers cannot be numerous; if they launch a pincer attack from the direction of Edo, launch a surprise attack on them."

After a pause, he added, "I will give you another eighty thousand Infantry to use for a frontal engagement with the Yan King, to facilitate the surprise attack by your Cavalry."

Before heading to Baihe City, he had already anticipated this worst-case scenario.

But he knew that staying in Edo and letting the four northern domains move south at their leisure to control the valley was by no means a wise move.

Because on the Edo plains, they were even less of a match for the Zhida Jia, the Maoli, and the Yan King.

It was better to take a desperate gamble: defend against the Coalition on the surface, while actually aiming to wipe out the Yan King's army in one fell swoop.

These remaining twenty thousand Cavalry were treasures he was loath to use, and the eighty thousand Infantry he sent were also the elites under his command.

If he could wipe out the Yan King's army, the Zhida Jia and the Maoli would certainly be terrified, and it would be easy to turn back and defeat them then.

Once the armies of the Zhida and Maoli fled, he could join forces with the army of Yamada Haruno, kill Beitiao Chuanqing and Ono, and subsequently restore his military prestige to unify Dongying once again.

Afterwards, by waiting for the Westerners to wipe out the Yan King Fleet, the entire Dongying would be revived.

Thinking of this, his hands could not help but tremble slightly.

This was a high-stakes gamble.

If he lost, he lost everything.

If he won, he won everything.

Meanwhile, at the camp of the Zhida Jia and the Maoli.

Oda Shanze and Maoli Yousheng were also observing Baihe City with telescopes.

In their field of vision, the figure of Watanabe An was very clear.

"This telescope is truly powerful; it is worthy of being a masterpiece of His Highness the Yan King." Putting away the monocular, Oda Shanze gently stroked the black metal casing of the telescope, just as he used to stroke his own sword.

This telescope was a gift given to them by Dong An, the special envoy of the Yan King.

Before this, they had never seen such a thing.

Although they knew that Watanabe An had obtained some from the Westerners.

But because of Watanabe An's precautions against the northern domains, they could not possibly obtain any.

By comparison, the Yan King was very generous to them.

Moreover, he also provided them with such powerful firearms as the front-loading rifled musket.

If it were Watanabe An, even if they offered money, the other party would not sell.

"Of course, this is the latest model of monocular from our Great Song; the painted metal casing and the glass lenses, which were precisely polished by a grinding machine, use the purest glass, far clearer than the junk the Westerners gave Watanabe An," Dong An said lightly.

"So that's how it is; it is truly astonishing." Oda Shanze and Maoli Yousheng looked at each other.

Although they did not understand what Dong An was saying, they felt it must be very powerful.

This made them even more in awe of the Yan King.

Dong An smiled.

The monocular was no longer a novelty in the Great Song.

In the army, even a squad leader was equipped with a telescope; it was almost one for everyone.

Among the common people, telescopes of slightly lower quality were just ordinary goods.

As long as one had money, one could buy them.

These two were just things he had bought at a shop in Yancheng before he set off.

They were just ordinary telescopes, still having some gap compared to those used by the army.

But even so, they were far better than the old-fashioned telescopes the Westerners gave to Dongying.

And after he gave the telescopes to the four domain lords.

The four telescopes, which he had bought for only eight taels of silver, had been exchanged for four thousand taels of silver gifted by the four men.

Thinking of this, he still found it both funny and ridiculous.

However, this just confirmed the overwhelming advantage the Great Song had over Dongying in both military and industrial aspects.

Industrial products that were commonplace in the Great Song were rare items when they reached Dongying.

Once Watanabe An was wiped out and they controlled the more populous and wealthier southern part of Dongying.

This place would become a qualified market for the Great Song.

"Lord Dong An, should we continue to wait? We are confident in defeating Watanabe An." After sighing for a while, Maoli Yousheng pointed toward Baihe City and said.

This time, in addition to the front-loading rifled muskets, the Great Song sold them some smoothbore field artillery.

The power of these field artillery pieces also left them astonished.

"That bastard Watanabe An showed a look of contempt when he looked at us just now; he still thinks we are his defeated subordinates. I am already a bit impatient to defeat him," Oda Shanze said angrily.

"No rush. Once we receive the reply from the Marine Corps, we will launch an attack on Baihe City to ensure Watanabe An cannot escape this time," Dong An narrowed his eyes.

After waiting for more than another day, Dong An received a letter from Gong Ying.

In the letter, Gong Ying said the Marine Corps had already landed at Edo and was flanking Baihe City from the rear.

Having received this news, Dong An issued the order to attack to Oda Shanze and Maoli Yousheng.

"Yes, Lord Dong An, please watch the battle from the camp. This battle will be a gift we present to His Highness Yan Wang," Oda Shanze licked his lips, a trace of madness in his eyes.

Maoli Yousheng said, "Lord Dong An, we understand the intention behind your arrangement this time, but our Zhida Jia and Maoli clan are definitely not cowards. This time, we will not let you down; we can defeat Watanabe An relying on ourselves alone."

Patting his chest, Maoli Yousheng said to the generals, "The time to show your courage has arrived. Push the field artillery forward, launch the attack, and take Baihe City for me."

Oda Shanze also waved his hand at the generals under his command.

At this moment, the entire camp seemed to come alive.

One hundred thousand soldiers emerged from the camp one after another, arriving before Baihe City, which was located at the mountain valley pass.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The artillerymen arrived at their positions and immediately launched a bombardment against Baihe City.

Solid shots slammed into Baihe City one after another, sending debris flying everywhere.

Although the field artillery Yang Feng sold to the North Territory Four Domains were already obsolete artillery pieces.

Yet the range and power of these artillery pieces were still significantly stronger than Watanabe An's old, outdated artillery.

Facing the Coalition artillery that was out of their range, the artillery on Baihe City could only take the beating passively.