Gongshu's Devices

Qi State, Shangyuan City.

"What did you say!?" Ning Weiyuan stared at his confidant in shock. "The garrison at Cliff Mountain Port was defeated?"

The latter gave several uneasy hushing sounds. "Your Majesty, keep your voice down, keep your voice down! I only learned this through secret inquiries. Don't let those Fangshi notice."

"Are you certain this news is accurate?"

"Yes, didn't you tell me to place more of our own people over there?" The man rubbed his hands together. "A fast horse arrived in Shangyuan today, reporting that the shoreline docks had come under fierce attack from the Jinxia Army. The forward camp retreated thirty li in rout, with over a thousand dead and wounded. The entire coast was swallowed by a sea of flames!"

Ning Weiyuan stood frozen where he was, unable to believe it.

An attack on the docks meant Jinxia had launched the battle from the sea. Naval warfare required ships, skilled sailors—or, to put it bluntly, vast amounts of money to sustain it. The Seven Stars Bureau of Military Affairs, led by Xu State, had not been wholly unprepared either. If their Naval Force had been defeated by the Jinxia Army, did that not mean Jinxia had invested even more into the sea than Xu State?

Using the wealth of a single province to contend against a mighty kingdom, he truly could not imagine how his Third Sister had managed it.

"What else did you hear? Tell me everything!" Only after a moment did Ning Weiyuan recover. He seized his confidant and lowered his voice.

Though the man had only learned scattered fragments from the battlefield, Ning Weiyuan's own military experience allowed him to piece together a rough picture of what had happened.

In short, the Seven Stars Forces had collapsed before incomprehensible long-range firepower.