Chapter 717: The First Hard Battle

The ten savages had become playthings for this large army.

They played with them all along the way.

This made the one hundred thousand prisoners extremely happy.

Whatever ghosts or monsters there were.

Whatever mountain spirits or wild demons?

They were all damn fakes!

They were all just a bunch of guys putting on a show! Unconsciously, this gave the troop the confidence to keep going. For a time, they also developed a sense of worship toward Vice Minister Liu.

With a man like this leading them, was Wangchuan still hard to traverse?

Those who had been causing trouble also became well-behaved one by one.

In the following days, there were no more incidents of prisoners being abducted at night.

And these ten savages were also led along the way by Gu Guan and his group.

"Woo woo woo woo..."

"Gurgle gurgle..."

Although this group did not share a language, they could at least use hand gestures. At first, these savages were still very irritable. But no matter if it was a person or something else, nothing could withstand hunger. Just like that, after being starved for three days, they also began to see stars, and subsequently, they all turned cowardly one by one.

After a few days, they started begging for food.

Because these savages had their civilization and intellectual development restricted to a great degree by the Liaodong side, for them, living in this world relied only on instinct.

That was hunger.

They were given only water to drink for seven days, with no food to eat.

In Liu Zheng's words, this was "taming the hawk."

When they were so hungry they were seeing stars after seven days, only then did Gu Guan come to feed them.

At this moment, where was their previous irritability? Upon seeing the food, they all revealed expressions of longing and begging.

In Gu Guan's eyes, this was just a pack of untamed beasts.

When this continued a few times, they had become obedient only to instinct.

Gu Guan became their true master.

For this, one naturally had to thank the people of Liaodong Commandery. They had trained these savages into animals that only obeyed hunger.

A few more days passed.

The famous Wangchuan Valley had finally arrived.

Liu Zheng intended not to continue forward, but to set up camp near Wangchuan Valley.

He needed a few more days to properly train these savages.

Wangchuan Valley.

It was a very long canyon deep in the mountains; one look was enough to know that this was the most suitable place to lay an ambush.

Gu Guan also did not suggest that Liu Zheng continue forward, because it was too dangerous.

Return the way they came?

Matters had already reached this stage; without figuring out exactly how many enemy troops were deployed in the mountains, it was impossible for Liu Zheng to turn back.

Taixi Stockade.

"This Liu Zheng has been in the mountains for about a month now, right?"

Xie Fang had been living in luxury recently.

But there was one problem.

That was that this place was truly too cold! Even wearing a cotton-padded jacket every day, it was cold!

"That is indeed the case, Your Highness..."

Liang Zheng laughed from the side: "But there has been no news from Liaodong..."

"Hahahaha, it seems the outlook is grim!"

"Your Highness, then we..."

Xie Fang was incomparably excited: "What does Qiao Yuan say?"

Liang Zheng said: "Your Highness truly predicted things like a god; the reason Wangchuan City is terrifying is indeed Qiao Yuan's doing! Qiao Yuan said that as long as Your Highness does not threaten his position as the Liaodong Jiedushi, our group will certainly be able to pass safely!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was overjoyed.

Xie Fang also laughed heartily: "Good, good, good. Send a reply to him; no matter what, find a Method to keep this Vice Minister Liu's life in the mountains for me!"

"Yes..."

Looking at the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Yong.

After Liu Zheng entered the mountains, there had been no news, and it would be a lie to say the two were not anxious.

However, both had absolute confidence in Liu Zheng.

"Continue stockpiling explosives!"

For the Prince of Wei, this was his most important task at present.

He had already mobilized all of Qingzhou to concentrate all the explosives produced in Qingzhou at Taixi Stockade. The more, the better!

This matter was naturally carried out in secret.

"Come, come, drink, drink!"

Central Asia battlefield.

On Zhai Shiqing's side, the speed of the main army's advance was not fast.

The reason was that they ate, drank, and made merry the entire way.

At this time, the generals of these allied forces practically treated Zhai Shiqing like a god; where had they ever seen such Soap, Perfume, or high-purity white liquor from the Longyan?

They were all good things!

In just a few days, everyone was being very polite to Zhai Shiqing.

Once night fell, it was time for these high-ranking generals to begin their banquets.

Zhai Shiqing watched all of this with a polite smile on her face.

Corrosion.

Corruption.

Sometimes, this is a sharp weapon.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

Very soon.

Her idea was verified.

Just as the army of over one hundred thousand had entered Mumbai, they were met with a fierce attack by the local Maratha people of Mumbai.

A great battle arrived unexpectedly.

The Maratha were fighting on their home turf and possessed strong military force.

Two hundred thousand Maratha, under the banner of protecting their homeland and preventing foreigners from entering, began their rebellion against the royal family of Aurangzeb.

Zhai Shiqing knew.

Her first hard battle had arrived.

Furthermore, she could only win this hard battle; she could not lose.

As for this bunch of guys who coveted luxury and harbored their own ulterior motives, if they were to lose, it would mean the entire war situation in Central Asia would be affected.

"Keep attacking for me!"

"Attack!"

This was a Maratha fortress.

The one hundred and fifty thousand-strong army had been attacking for seven days, yet they had achieved nothing at all; it was truly just as Zhai Shiqing had predicted—these generals were all just going through the motions, considering their own interests above all else at every turn.

They were unwilling to see their soldiers die in battle.

They were unwilling to see their military strength depleted.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman Navy would likely arrive at Mumbai Port in ten days.

If the three hundred thousand-strong army of the Ottoman Empire were allowed to successfully land in Mumbai, it would be devastating for the entire war situation in Central Asia.

On the eighth day, Zhai Shiqing stepped forward.

She ordered her subordinates to bring cart after cart of gold and silver to the front lines.

Those generals of the Five-Nation Allied Forces, who had been pretending to work very hard, stopped breathing the moment they saw that glittering gold and silver.

"Whoever captures this fortress will be rewarded with five million taels of silver!"

"For every head taken, the reward is five taels of silver!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire scene exploded.

Zhai Shiqing picked up a few ingots of silver and threw them out.

The entire crowd went wild.