Chapter 765: The Great War Erupts

"You..."

"What are you people doing?"

"Qiao Yuan, what do you want to do?"

Xie Fang was instantly jolted out of his drunken stupor. He, who had just been enjoying himself so much he forgot his home, now had a face ashen with shock. The coldness of the blades pulled him from his beautiful dream back into the cruel reality.

"Qiao Yuan, you..."

He could not understand; he had been communicating very well with this Qiao Yuan in his letters previously. He had even promised, in his capacity as Crown Prince, that if Qiao Yuan were willing, the two could cooperate and find a way to keep Liu Zheng in Liaodong forever—by way of death, of course. Then, he would provide Qiao Yuan with support, and Qiao Yuan could continue to be his own Liaodong Regional Commander.

Qiao Yuan had naturally agreed with pleasure.

Therefore, when Qiao Yuan arrived with his great army, Xie Fang naturally felt that his reinforcements had arrived, and without hesitation, he had brought his few guards and run over.

However...

Those few guards of his had by now become souls under Qiao Yuan's blades... and all this had been carried out right under Xie Fang's nose.

Eek!

Could Xie Fang not be terrified? It was very clear that his status as Crown Prince, which he relied on to act superior, was now worthless in Qiao Yuan's eyes.

He had rebelled!

He wanted to rebel!

The slow-to-realize Xie Fang was already trembling all over, though he did not know if it was from anger or fear.

Qiao Yuan looked at Xie Fang coldly: "Hahahaha, Your Highness the Crown Prince, what is this? You just said you liked it here, so wouldn't it be better to just stay here with me forever? You want fine wine, I will give you fine wine; you want Beauties, I will give you Beauties..."

At this moment, the Beauties and such were naturally no longer appealing.

"Qiao Yuan, what exactly do you want to do? What do you want to do!"

Xie Fang roared, but because the blades were at his neck, he dared not move in the slightest.

Qiao Yuan looked left and right, exchanged glances with his subordinates, his eyes sinister and a mocking smile on his face, and walked over slowly: "Your Highness the Crown Prince, why is it that even now, you still cannot see the situation clearly... With a Crown Prince like you, how many more years can this Longyan last? Everyone, tell me, how would I, Qiao Yuan, do as this Crown Prince?"

He laughed loudly, extremely arrogant, and even began to pace around the tent.

Everyone followed suit, laughing.

"Good!"

"The Great King has grand strategies and talent; how can this coward compare?"

"Great King, Crown Prince, Crown Prince!"

A group of people jeered.

Xie Fang's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

He was mad!

This man Qiao Yuan was already mad!

He had not expected that the majesty of the imperial family could no longer make this Qiao Yuan feel respect, but instead made him even more insane.

Once Qiao Yuan finished his excitement, he bent down slightly, reached out to pat the cheek of the dumbstruck Xie Fang, and smiled grimly: "Your Highness the Crown Prince, do you think that with you here, if I launch an attack on Wangchuan this morning, they would dare to defend it..."

"Pfft..."

Xie Fang was finally so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Qiao Yuan, you bastard..."

He shouted in rage.

The next day.

Just as Liu Zheng had guessed.

Qiao Yuan, who had sent a calling card just a few days ago wanting to meet Liu Zheng and the others, launched a thunderous, fierce attack on this Wangchuan first thing in the morning without a word.

This battle was absolutely sudden, but it was also within Liu Zheng's expectations.

So, although they were caught somewhat off guard, they were not in a state of disarray.

Qiao Yuan's three hundred thousand troops were rested and ready, striking with the force of a thunderbolt. Although the Liaodong Army did not usually have border defense duties and lacked combat experience, they were, after all, a regular army, and the harsh, bitter environment of Liaodong had tempered their skills. The Liaodong Weaponry and Equipment were standard-issue Longyan Weaponry and Equipment, and their quality was not bad.

The first wave of the attack, one hundred thousand troops, was dense and overwhelming, like a mountain collapsing or a sea roaring.

Even with the defensive works prepared over many days, the resistance here at Wangchuan was still somewhat strenuous.

"Boom—!"

"Boom—!"

With the debut of Yintan City's improved Red Barbarian Cannon, nowadays, whenever a battle occurred—whether it was a siege or an attack on a canyon filled with defensive works—the Cannon always went first. When the Cannonballs landed on the defensive works, they still blew people and horses into a mess.

"Quick, quick, quick, carry the wounded down!"

"Over here, over here, reinforce the troops!"

"Over here, hurry and bring the supplies up for me!"

"Hold on, hold the line for me!"

Wangchuan Valley was in a state of chaos. Either there were too many wounded on one side, or a gap had appeared on the other. Fortunately, they had been prepared early on; otherwise, it was feared that in half a day, it would have been taken by this Liaodong Army!

"My Lord, My Lord... you absolutely cannot fight, you cannot fight!"

"My Lord, the Crown Prince is still in their hands..."

"My Lord..."

This group of people, Liang Zheng and the others, were all crying and pleading in various ways.

Liu Zheng and the others were caught between laughter and tears.

Things had reached this point, and you are still telling me we cannot fight?

All the defensive works of Wangchuan were now protecting this Tomb Cluster, and Qiao Yuan was naturally aiming for the Tomb Cluster as well. Once Wangchuan Valley was lost, the Tomb Cluster would be gone, and that would mean the Imperial Jade Seal would be handed over to others.

In this situation...

You want me to stop attacking?

Of course, Liang Zheng and his group had their own ideas... They were all people making a living by following the Supreme Prince; if the Supreme Prince successfully ascended the throne, they would all be his meritorious subjects, and there would certainly be a time to divide the spoils! Therefore, in their eyes, this Imperial Jade Seal, a dead object, was indeed not as important as the Supreme Prince.

"Guards, drag them away for me! Crying and wailing on the battlefield, what kind of decorum is that!"

Prince Yong and Liu Zheng were easy to talk to, but Prince Wei would not indulge them, and he snorted coldly.

Boom—!

Just as these people were dragged away, a Cannonball exploded not far away.

"Watch out, watch out!"

Liu Zheng and the others hurriedly dodged.

"It seems this Qiao Yuan has hoarded quite a lot of wealth over these years..."

Prince Yong said with a bitter smile.

The battle had already lasted for half a day, but the artillery fire still did not cease, bombarding and striking incessantly.

Prince Wei snorted coldly: "It is only because Vice Minister Liu disagrees; otherwise, if I were to send out my Qingzhou Armored Soldiers, how could we be so passive?"

Liu Zheng shook his head: "Prince Wei, we can only hold our ground now. With the freezing cold, the most important thing is to protect the tomb site; we must minimize losses as much as possible. We do not know when reinforcements will arrive. If this Qiao Yuan is not a fool, he abducted the Supreme Prince to lure us into launching an offensive. If we were to commit our entire army, we would surely fall into his trap."

Prince Yong also hurriedly chimed in.

Prince Wei had fought for many years, so it was impossible for him not to understand this principle, but after being suppressed so miserably all day, he spat and said: "It's all that bastard Supreme Prince's fault!"

Hold.

We can only continue to hold.

To put it plainly.

On the side of Wangchuan Valley, Liu Zheng holds the initiative.

But once outside Wangchuan Valley, that is Qiao Yuan's territory.

Both sides can only control the battle within the range of Wangchuan Valley and the few dozen miles in front of it.

The time to test willpower has arrived.

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