Imperial Expedition, Bombing of Andres Capital

San Andres Empire, capital city, Xis.

That day, King Simon Andres, who was playing inside the palace, suddenly heard a guard's report that a giant flying iron bird had appeared above the empire.

"Slap!!"

"You bastard, what nonsense are you spouting? How could a bird made of iron possibly fly in the sky?"

Hearing the guard's words, Simon, whose pleasant mood had been disturbed, felt as though his intelligence had been insulted. He stepped forward and slapped the guard across the face.

The slapped guard touched his swollen cheek, on the verge of tears. He felt deeply wronged—after all, what he had said was the truth.

Besides, even if he were lying, he wouldn't dare come before Simon, the king, to deceive him. That would be nothing short of seeking death.

"Your Majesty, how would I dare to lie? And this matter isn't something I alone saw. If you step outside and ask, you'll find out."

Seeing the guard's aggrieved expression, Simon nodded. He had just wanted someone to vent his anger on. Now that his temper had cooled, it was time to attend to serious matters.

He followed the guard outside the palace and looked up. Sure enough, he saw several black dots in the distant sky, accompanied by a roaring sound.

He then fetched a monocular, the most primitive kind of telescope, and aimed it at those black dots. Through it, he could vaguely make out that these dots had bizarre shapes and truly seemed to be made of iron lumps.

Gazing at these strangely shaped "birds," Simon couldn't help but speculate.

"Could these bizarre things be some secret weapon cooked up by that strange Yanhuang Empire? After all, that country loves tinkering with these odd contraptions.

I heard that decades ago, they even built a steel monster that could carry several hundred people and run endlessly without getting tired."

The San Andres Empire had never stopped keeping an eye on the Yanhuang Empire.

After all, they hadn't forgotten how they had fled like beaten dogs a hundred years ago at the hands of that empire.

Nor had they given up on the idea of stealing the Yanhuang Empire's technology.

But because of their different appearances, the people they sent into the Yanhuang Empire had to skulk around like rats, unable to even enter the cities.

As a result, over the years, many of their people had died, yet the gains they obtained were pitifully few. At most, they gleaned some information from the Yanhuang Empire's weekly reports.

Using that information, they tried to develop their own technology, aiming to strengthen their nation through science.

But as time passed, after they left North America and the Yanhuang Empire couldn't be bothered with them, and they beat the neighboring Inca Empire like dogs, they gradually grew somewhat arrogant.

Finally, after several generations of diligent kings passed away, the new kings spent their days indulging in pleasure and forgot all about advancing technology.

Take the current king, Simon Andres, for example.

Meanwhile.

Over a hundred miles away from the San Andres Empire, a military base stood.

Inside the command room.

The commander in charge of this area was General Li Mingfeng. At that moment, he was in the sparsely equipped command room, discussing with his officers the plan to attack the San Andres Empire.

"General, since the San Andres Empire is the first target chosen by the empire for attack, and it was founded by those Spanish barbarians, in my view, we should crush them with overwhelming force. As for the lives of these barbarians, there's no need to care."

"I agree with Yufeng's suggestion. They're just barbarians, not even worthy of being taken as prisoners. We might as well kill them all."

"Besides, since this is the empire's first war with another nation, we should fight it brilliantly. We can't let those civil officials in the empire look down on us."

The command room buzzed with voices, all expressing the same sentiment: life or death didn't matter, but no survivors were to be left.

The military officers of the Yanhuang Empire had been suppressed for over two hundred years. Now that they were finally rising up, their desire to prove themselves was explosive, and their bloodlust was rarely seen in the world.

Li Mingfeng listened to the discussions and nodded. The thoughts of his subordinates were also his own.

Because he, too, had been pent up for too long and wanted to let off steam, while also showing those civil officials in the empire what they were capable of.

He then set the tone: "In that case, let the fighter jets first conduct high-altitude bombing over the main cities of the San Andres Empire, followed by a full-force assault by the ground troops.

As for those captured, not a single one is to be spared."

"Yes, General."

Seeing Li Mingfeng agree, the others broke into smiles.

Because every head counted as military merit. Military merit was established by Ye Chen, modeled after the Great Qin's system of military rewards, and could be used to raise one's noble rank.

The Yanhuang Empire's noble ranks were divided into one hundred and eight levels, including seventy-two Earth Ranks and thirty-six Heaven Ranks. Each rank corresponded to a name from the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

When the empire's noble rank system was first established, Ye Chen, to avoid the awkward situation in the future where there would be no higher ranks to bestow, set up one hundred and eight levels, each with corresponding territories.

Moreover, the noble titles could be inherited by descendants, but only for three generations.

Of course, if these levels weren't enough, he could add more. He still had the Three Hundred Sixty-five Star Mansions in mind, waiting to be used.

After all, he was the founding emperor. The empire's laws were written by him. Adding a few ranks was as easy as speaking a few words.

So, don't worry that Imperial We is stingy. As long as you can achieve merit, then Imperial We dares to grant it.

If Blue Star's territory isn't enough to bestow, then after the empire colonizes other planets, giving a planet or an entire star system as a noble's fief to a meritorious person would be no problem at all.

As for whether giving away so much territory might lead to the problem of vassals becoming too powerful, Ye Chen could only say: you're overthinking it.

In the Yanhuang Empire, a centralized state where all power rests in the emperor's hands, and with the empire's future technological advancement and tight control over local regions, trying to stir up trouble is nothing but wishful thinking.

If you started something in the morning, Ye Chen would likely know about it by noon, and by the afternoon, the army would be at your doorstep.

As for whether his descendants would one day have a sudden brain fart and hand over their power—that was none of his concern.

After all, by that time, he would already be retired. How could he possibly worry about so much? Let's just say children and grandchildren have their own fortunes.

If his descendants turned out to be unworthy, what could he, their old ancestor, possibly do about it?

San Andres, above the capital.

With a roar, several fighter jets appeared in the sky. Amid the curious gazes of those below, a few large iron lumps dropped from the air.

"Boom!!"

With a deafening explosion and a sea of flames, anyone caught in the blast was instantly obliterated, leaving not even bones behind.

And even more were left gravely wounded, on the verge of death. Everywhere, wails and screams filled the city, shrouding it in smoke and fire.

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