Chapter 182: The Great Army Marches Out — Kill!

After dealing with the two scoundrels, Zhu Cilang arrived at the great drill ground of the Million Granary in the city, where he saw banners stretching like a sea, and the soldiers of the three armies already assembled in full.

Gazing at his army, a surge of powerful confidence welled up in Zhu Cilang's heart — this was his capital, the capital to trample flat every rebel!

In the future, this capital would only grow larger, until it crushed every obstacle in the path of his advance!

Zhu Cilang drew the sword at his waist and declared in a loud voice: "March out to suppress the rebellion! Kill!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Earth-shaking cheers erupted, and the great army split into three columns, marching out of three city gates with thunderous footsteps toward the outskirts.

The iron-armored host advanced in majestic array along the official road, striking straight for the Eight Guards of Fengyang, while the Royal Cavalry Regiment's three thousand iron riders surged like rolling waves along the Huai River to raid the farthest Changhuai Guard.

All twenty thousand troops of the Tianwu Army marched out in full, dragon banners fluttering, every unit with clear objectives — wherever they passed, local officials and common folk alike were stunned, knowing not what had happened.

The garrison of the nearest Imperial Tomb Guard turned pale and hurried to report to their Guard Commander; when the Imperial Tomb Guard Commander saw the great army bearing down, his body trembled with fear — would the Crown Prince actually use the army to suppress a guard station? He...

Sun Yingyuan rode forward and called up to the Imperial Tomb Guard Commander atop the wall: "Come out of the city and surrender at once!"

The Imperial Tomb Guard Commander shouted: "Sun Yingyuan, the Imperial Tomb lies behind me! If you dare to attack it with troops, that is outright treason!"

Sun Yingyuan shouted back: "By order of His Highness the Crown Prince, the Tianwu Army comes to suppress the rebellion and take over the Imperial Tomb Guard. Any who shut the gates and resist — no quarter!"

The moment he finished speaking, the artillerymen of the Royal Second Brigade pushed their cannons up before the city wall. Each brigade commanded three artillery centurias, equivalent to a full artillery battalion. Heavy guns were few, but there were still several red barbarian cannons; the rest were breech-loading Franji cannons and tiger-crouch cannons.

Seeing several dozen cannons blocking the city gate, the Vice Guard Commander atop the wall went weak in the legs and stammered: "Guard Commander, sir, what do we do?"

Sweat dripped from the Imperial Tomb Guard Commander's brow in pattering beads — he truly regretted heeding Gao Chi's words; now he was truly riding a tiger and unable to dismount!

After a fierce inner struggle, the Imperial Tomb Guard Commander suddenly cried out: "If we surrender, even if we keep our lives, our vast lands will be confiscated! Rather than sit and wait for death, better to fight to the last! I don't believe that Sun Yingyuan dares to bombard the Imperial Tomb!"

Seeing the other side courting death, Sun Yingyuan immediately roared: "Artillery, blast open the gate! Charge in! Any who hold weapons — not one left alive!"

"Open fire!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The several red barbarian cannons let out their roars, and massive solid shot screamed into the earthen wall and gate, producing a tremendous crash that chilled the defenders atop the wall with cold sweat.

The Imperial Tomb at Fengyang was built by the Ming Taizu for his parents and elder brother and sister-in-law, covering over twenty thousand mu. From inside to out it had three walls — the imperial city, the brick city, and the earthen city. The wall before them was merely the earthen city, utterly unable to withstand the furious bombardment of the red barbarian cannons.

After just two volleys, the earthen city's gate was blasted open, and several thousand soldiers of the Royal Second Brigade poured into the earthen city like a flood tide — not even raising their shields, for the Imperial Tomb Guard defenders atop the wall had long since fled.

After entering the earthen city, Sun Yingyuan immediately ordered the brigade's direct cavalry regiment to round up all the mutinous troops, executing on the spot any who still held weapons!

Some guard soldiers, relying on their status as regular troops, took up arms and tried to resist the Tianwu Army — and, unsurprisingly, were all cut down.

The cavalry regiment captured the Imperial Tomb Guard Commander and a hundred or so officers near the brick city, while a large crowd of guard soldiers were bound hand and foot and dumped before the earthen city gate. Many hearts beat with trepidation, not knowing how these fierce Tianwu soldiers would deal with them.

Inside the Imperial Tomb, Sun Yingyuan had some scruples and dared not slaughter wholesale within its grounds — which was precisely why Zhu Cilang had sent him. He ordered all of them locked up.

Having settled the Imperial Tomb Guard, Sun Yingyuan immediately led the Second Brigade out of the Imperial Tomb and ordered the force to split into two columns to attack the remaining two targets: the Left Guard of the Rear and the Central Guard of the Rear.

The Tianwu Army had come too fast, too suddenly — the officers, local magnates, and merchants of the various guards across the Eight Guards were thrown into utter chaos upon receiving the news.

Gao Chi and several other Guard Commanders were utterly dumbfounded. Hadn't the garrison eunuch and the Fengyang Prefect gone into the palace to see the Crown Prince? Why hadn't the Crown Prince been intimidated, and instead sent troops to suppress them? What on earth had they talked about?

In their panic, the several Guard Commanders hastily sent men to contact Yang Yufan, the Regional Commander of Fengyang, begging him to lead troops to block the Tianwu Army, promising that afterward there would surely be heavy reward — a hundred thousand mu of fine farmland, a million taels of gold and silver, and any locale he chose.

In their minds, the only troops in Fengyang Prefecture capable of fighting were the twenty thousand camp soldiers under Yang Yufan. If they could have Yang Yufan's aid to hold the Tianwu Army in stalemate, the situation would be far better — at the very least, the Crown Prince would not dare to make further war.

In the Regional Commander's yamen of Fengyang, Yang Yufan received the letters from the several Guard Commanders and sneered: "A few insatiably greedy fools — at death's door and still clueless!"

Yang Yufan was inwardly furious. These men normally didn't give him the time of day, yet when trouble came they groveled like grandsons. If they'd known this day would come, why act as they did before!

Through his conversations with Xu Sheng, Yang Yufan had already vaguely sensed these men were headed for ruin — he just hadn't expected the Crown Prince to move so quickly.

But Yang Yufan cared not at all. None of this had anything to do with him. As long as his twenty thousand troops did their duty — guarding against the roving bandits and keeping Fengyang safe — that was enough. As for how others made their trouble, he begged to be excused!

Zhu Dadian, the Governor-General of Grain Transport, also received a plea for help. Hearing of the matter, he nearly fainted from fright, muttering over and over: "Disaster! Disaster!"

He had a premonition that this affair would cost many lives, and that he might well lose his post and go home to farm. After thinking for a moment, Zhu Dadian decided to enter the palace to see the Crown Prince and mediate the matter.

Before the imperial city, Zhu Dadian was barred at the very gate. The guard told him that the Crown Prince would see no one for two days.

Zhu Dadian was frantic with anxiety and could only ride to the various guards to stop both sides from coming to blows — but to his despair, the Crown Prince's personal guard battalion had already sealed all four gates of Fengyang city and imposed a full curfew; he simply could not get out!

Not only that, yamen runners began patrolling every street in the city. Any gentry caught gathering crowds and making trouble got a sound beating, after which a great iron chain was clapped around their heads and they were hauled off to the prefectural prison.

Zhu Dadian asked one of the runners: "Where is your Prefect Zhuang Hongchang?"

Seeing him in a second-rank crimson official robe, the runner dared not be negligent and bowed low: "To answer Your Honor, our Prefect has been missing for half a day. Word is His Highness had him seized — and the garrison eunuch, Eunuch Wang, was taken along with him."

"Even the garrison eunuch has been arrested?" Zhu Dadian's heart jolted. He rode hastily back home, shut his doors, and concerned himself with nothing further.