Chapter 539: Chapter 539. Completely Unexpected
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Qing’er, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to go back and rest?”
When Xiao Zeyu saw Su Qing, he frowned and walked over to reprimand her. She was pregnant, and yet she still ran to the front line. She didn’t cherish herself.
“I loaded five cannonb.a.l.l.s and got someone to carry them to this position one mile away from the Wan family army camp…”
Su Qing pointed at a high point on the sand table. From there, he could fire at the Wan Family Army camp from a distance.
“Alright, I’ll have to go personally.”
Xiao Zeyu heard that Su Qing had already loaded the sh.e.l.ls and was even more confident in this battle. Initially, he only wanted to use grenades to launch a sneak attack. Of course, having sh.e.l.ls was better than grenades.
“You… Did you go to the smithy?”
While Xiao Zeyu was happy, he thought Su Qing might have run off to work at the blacksmith’s forge. He began to blame himself. He had initially wanted to send Su Qing back to Jingshi Dao, but he was unwilling to do so. Especially since Su Qing was pregnant and couldn’t travel long distances, he had abandoned this thought.
Su Qing said casually,
“No, this is the empty sh.e.l.l you made. I just loaded it with gunpowder.”
“The guards let you in?”
Xiao Zeyu’s expression changed. Military orders were like mountains. Without rules, there would be no order. The army had to obey orders. Although Su Qing was his wife, he had ordered that no one was allowed in. They had neglected their duties.
“No, I drugged them all.”
Su Qing’s words made Xiao Zeyu not know whether to laugh or cry,
“You… You drugged them?”
Su Qing nodded with a relaxed expression.
Zhang Jinglin did not dare to raise his head. His sister-in-law was really…
Different from the rest, who had ever heard of drugging one’s army? Only Su Qing could do it.
“Alright, I fainted.”
Xiao Zeyu smiled and shook his head. He wouldn’t be surprised by anything Su Qing did. She was the type to do things her way. Perhaps she had fainted because she disliked the soldiers blocking her way. She didn’t lose her temper, or else she would have killed them all.
With the mortars and cannonb.a.l.l.s brought by Su Qing, the sneak attack became an open attack. The city gate opened, and Zhang Jinglin and Zhong Yong led a thousand elite soldiers out of the city and rushed toward the Wan Family Army.
After Wan Qingzhi confirmed the attack plan for tomorrow, he heard his subordinate report,
“Reporting, the Xiao family’s army has left the city.”
Wan Qingzhi was slightly surprised when he heard that the Xiao Family Army had left the city.
“How many soldiers did Luo City send out?”
Wan Qingzhi asked the sentry calmly.
“About a thousand people, all riding warhorses.”
The sentinel answered truthfully, and Wan Qingzhi’s expression became solemn.
“The Iron Cavalry Battalion is going out to meet the enemy.”
With only a thousand people, they must have brought a great weapon to ambush him. He immediately ordered the archers to attack. The Wan Clan’s cavalry was mighty, and every one of them was a master archer. If they fired ten thousand arrows simultaneously, victory would be a.s.sured.
They had to win their first battle in Luo City, or it would be a ma.s.sive blow to their morale.
“Yes.”
The several hundred armored cavalry of the Wan Family Army mounted their horses and galloped towards the battlefield. They ran very fast, and these warhorses were all trained. With a single stomp from their master, they understood the intention and galloped away, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Zhang Jinglin also saw the cavalrymen rushing from the Wan Family’s camp. There was no trace of panic on his fair face. He ordered his soldiers to stand in front with shields to block the Wan Family’s rain of arrows. As they loaded the sh.e.l.ls in an orderly manner, the cavalrymen’s arrows fell all over the ground in front of the shields, not hurting a single soldier of the Xiao Family’s Army.
Zhong Yong a.s.sisted Zhang Jinglin at the side, making cannonb.a.l.l.s with his master and big brother. He had also seen with his own eyes how his master loaded the cannonb.a.l.l.s into the mortar. He was very familiar with this terrifying killing machine. His cooperation with Zhang Jinglin was as smooth as flowing water. After loading the cannonb.a.l.l.s, he ordered the soldiers in front to make an opening and aim at the Wan Family Army’s cavalry to fire.
A cannonball whistled through the air and landed in the middle of the Wan Family Army’s cavalry. The armored and masked Wan Family Cavalry flew into the sky with their horses. Zhang Jinglin and Zhong Yong immediately loaded another cannonball. Just as they were about to fire, they heard a familiar whistling sound.
“Everyone, get out of the way.”
Zhang Jinglin’s expression suddenly changed. He pulled Zhong Yong and jumped into the ditch at the side.
Zhong Yong was not willing to give up his life. Before he jumped into the pit, he dragged the mortar into the pit as well. As soon as he landed in the pit, he saw that the place where they fired the mortar had exploded into a deep pit. A few soldiers who did not have time to escape were blown into the sky. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and limbs fell from the sky. Smoke filled the air.
Zhang Jinglin and Zhong Yong stood up from the pit. They were extremely sad when they saw the dead soldiers of the Xiao Family Army. The Wan Family Army’s cavalry regrouped and rushed over again.
Xiao Zeyu couldn’t believe what he saw from the top of the city walls. The Imperial Court had a weapon of ma.s.s destruction. There was no time to think about it. If they did not hurry to rescue them, Zhang Jinglin, Zhong Yong, and the 1,000 soldiers would be annihilated.
Xiao Zeyu hurried down the city walls and led his troops out of the city to rescue them. Fortunately, the Iron Cavalry had taken some time to regroup after being bombed, and Xiao Zeyu had arrived just in time to block their path, saving those soldiers who had been blasted into a daze.
Zhong Yong’s face was blackened, and he climbed out of the pit like a black-faced dog. Fortunately, Zhang Jinglin pulled him quickly, and Zhong Yong was not injured.
Xiao Zeyu didn’t want to continue fighting with these cavalry. Otherwise, it would be dangerous if the Wan Family Army attacked.
Xiao Zeyu threw a few grenades over, killing the armored cavalry at the front. The warhorses at the back were frightened and fled in all directions, averting the crisis.
“Give me the cannon.”
The battlefield was filled with smoke, and visibility was low. Xiao Zeyu felt that if he missed this opportunity, he would not have another chance to launch a sneak attack.
He ignored the danger and asked Zhong Yong to bring the mortar out of the pit. There was still one sh.e.l.l in the mortar that had not been fired in time. Xiao Zeyu stood high and prepared to fire.
As the smoke dissipated, Xiao Zeyu saw the Wan Family Army charging towards them.
Xiao Zeyu took the opportunity to fire a cannonball, killing a large number of people. Wan Qingzhi’s eyes were red. One death from the Iron Cavalry was equivalent to three deaths. This was all his father’s blood and sweat. He shouted for the army to regroup and ordered the soldiers to fire in Xiao Zeyu’s direction.
Since Xiao Zeyu had come out of the city to save them, Wan Qingzhi had decided to attack the city. He could not let go of this opportunity no matter what. The child of the Xiao family must die today, or his father will not be able to sleep or eat in peace.
Inside the city, Su Qing heard the noise and rushed to the city wall. From above, she could see a mortar on the high hill behind the Wan family army. It was precisely the same as what she had done.
Su Qing was shocked. The direction of the cannon was where Xiao Zeyu was standing.
“Shuisheng, get out of the way.”
She couldn’t care less about her surprise as she stood on the city wall and shouted at Xiao Zeyu. However, her shouts were drowned out by the sounds of battle on the battlefield, and Xiao Zeyu couldn’t hear her at all.
Su Qing ordered the soldiers on the city walls to shout with her, but it was already too late. Su Qing watched as the Wan Family Army’s artillery sh.e.l.l flew out and exploded towards Xiao Zeyu. Her heart was in her throat as she clenched her fists tightly. She looked nervously at the battlefield as the artillery sh.e.l.l fell to the ground and smoke rose….