"These cowardly Ming soldiers are putting up a really tough fight!"
Inside the main force of the grassland army, Prince Dula, as the commander-in-chief, looked at his cavalrymen being pushed out of the city gate by the Ming army once again, and his face was somewhat unpleasant.
They've already breached the city gates, yet they've been stuck at this point—what a disgrace!
"Your Highness, do not be anxious. The men of the grasslands are skilled in open field battles, not in sieges. Those Ming troops are merely putting up a stubborn resistance. Just one more shot from the Hongyi cannons will be enough to break their army."
A scholar standing nearby smiled faintly, noting that the man's appearance was quite different from that of a nomadic person; he looked more like a Han Chinese, clearly indicating that his identity was not simple.
" Mr. Cheng is right. No one can withstand the Hongyi Cannon. I must thank Mr. Cheng for bringing this cannon; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to take this heavily fortified city in such a short time."
Dula's anger turned to joy, and he offered a flattering remark with a smile. Then, his expression turned cold as he looked towards the city wall and said resentfully, "It's just a pity that Li Xiongxin is too cunning. We failed to capture him in Hulan City, which led to the premature exposure of the Hongyi cannons."
The Hongyi cannon was originally intended to blast open the gates of the Da Ming capital, but who would have thought that he would have to use this powerful weapon as soon as he entered Da Ming territory.
After the Da Ming took precautions, it became much more difficult to achieve victories using the Hongyi cannons.
After all, this man surnamed Cheng only brought one cannon, and the shells and gunpowder were also limited, so it wouldn't be used many times.
What Dula failed to see was the hint of mockery deep in the eyes of the scholar surnamed Cheng, clearly indicating that he was not genuinely interested in cooperating with him.
"What an idiot!"
The scholar surnamed Cheng smiled disdainfully. Their plan was to use the strength of Dula and the steppe army to break through the capital, wipe out the Da Ming imperial family, and then use the strength of other Da Ming armies to completely destroy the steppe army as well.
In this way, the nomadic tribes of the grasslands will be unable to invade Huaxia for ten years, and they can then proceed with their plans to change dynasties with peace of mind.
With this purpose in mind, they naturally wouldn't actually strengthen the power of the nomadic tribes of the grasslands.
Of course, it would be even better if we could find the legendary Great Yuan Treasure with the help of this man Dula.
As Prince Dula and the scholar surnamed Cheng were talking, the cannons in the distance finally prepared for their fourth shot.
Just as the fire was about to burn out, an arrow as long as a spear shot from the distant city wall, piercing the Hongyi cannon, which was made of Thousand-Forged Refined Steel, at an angle, and the hard shaft got stuck in the muzzle.
"Boom!"
The muzzle was jammed, preventing the shell from being fired. The unreleased power of the burning gunpowder inside continued to accumulate, eventually exploding under extreme temperature and pressure.
Countless fragments of the cannon barrel shot out, turning the area within a radius of several dozen feet into a death zone. Everyone and everything was blasted into pieces, a truly tragic sight. As for the huge red cannon, it had been reduced to fragments scattered all over the ground.
Even if it is forged from the Thousand-Forged Refined Steel, it cannot withstand the power of gunpowder explosion.
Needless to say, that arrow was shot by Sun Ruonan.
At this moment, Sun Ruonan, atop the city wall, braced her Purple Gold warbow against the parapet, one foot on the bow, her Purple Gold wings touching the ground to steady herself. She then drew the bowstring with both hands, preparing to attack again. This time, however, her target was the leader of the grassland army— Prince Dula.
This bow-and-arrow shooting posture is the mode of a ballista, which can mobilize the strength of the whole body. In this state, she can draw the Purple Gold war bow a foot, and the power of the shot will naturally be more powerful.
Of course, this method also has significant drawbacks. Although it is more powerful and can shoot farther, it can only be used to shoot at fixed targets, like the previous Hongyi cannon and the current Prince Dula.
"What's going on? Why is there no movement at the city gate?"
Hearing the distant cannon fire, Prince Dula looked in confusion at the still-silent city gate. Logically, the Ming soldiers at the gate should have been blown to bits by now, so why hadn't anything changed?
Even the shells didn't get through?
Not only was Prince Dula puzzled, but the scholar surnamed Cheng standing beside him was equally perplexed.
Logically, this shouldn't be the case!
Just as the two were wondering, a huge arrow shot out rapidly, accurately piercing through Prince Dula's shoulder, and finally disappearing into the earth a hundred feet behind him.
Prince Dula, whose shoulder had been pierced, had half his body gone. Only then did the sound of the arrow piercing the air reach them, clearly indicating that the arrow had traveled faster than the speed of sound.
Prince Dula, who died with his eyes wide open, fell from his horse and lost all life.
The scholar surnamed Cheng, who was splattered with blood, was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly jumped off his horse and ran in a sorry state toward the rear of the army.
They were originally positioned very far back, a full three hundred zhang away from the city walls. At such a distance, apart from powerful weapons like cannons, even siege crossbows would be unable to reach them.
But to everyone's surprise, the enemy actually managed to attack this place.
He didn't want to be hit by any of those terrifying arrows, otherwise he would definitely die, just like Prince Dula before him.
"Did it succeed?"
Li Xiongxin, standing on the city wall, asked excitedly, and the soldiers beside him also looked over with eager expressions.
"It's done!"
Before Sun Ruonan could answer, Zhao Fengxue, whose eyesight was equally sharp, replied with delight. He clearly saw Prince Dula dismount, which meant the battle was essentially over.
"Whoosh!"
On the other side, Sun Ruonan was panting heavily, leaning on her Purple Gold war bow, but her face was filled with joy.
To be honest, crossing 300 feet to attack a target was indeed a considerable challenge for her. Fortunately, the weather was perfect at the moment, with no wind affecting her accuracy.
However, three hundred zhang was too far, and it ultimately missed by a little bit. It was originally aimed at Prince Dula's chest, but it ended up hitting the other's shoulder instead.
Fortunately, the arrow carried immense power, and the spiraling arrowhead caused the arrow to spin rapidly, further tearing open the wound and killing Prince Dula instantly.
"Order the soldiers to shout that Dula is dead and the foreign tribes must surrender!"
Li Xiongxin was overjoyed and quickly issued a military order to spread the news.
Soon, the Ming soldiers on the city walls began shouting that Dula was dead. The steppe army did not believe it at first, but when they turned around, they found that Prince Dula was indeed gone. They sent men to check, but they only found Prince Dula with half of his body remaining. He was obviously dead.
The ten commanders of the steppe army gathered together, exchanged glances, and all chose to retreat.
There was no other way; even their leader was dead. There was no point in continuing the fight. It would be better for them to retreat to the grasslands as soon as possible and make further plans.
Otherwise, once the Ming reinforcements from Datong Prefecture arrive, it will be troublesome for them to retreat.
Before long, the 100,000-strong grassland army began to retreat in an orderly manner. However, they also plundered Hulan City in the rear and set it on fire before leaving, plunging the entire Hulan City into a sea of flames.
This city is ruined, and it's unknown how much money and time it will take to rebuild it!
Meanwhile, Zhao Fengxue also made an unexpected gain: he captured a major traitor within the Ming army.
" Zhao Da, what's going on?"
Li Xiongxin, who was discussing with his Admiral how to repair Hulan City, stared in astonishment at Zhao Fengxue in front of him and a deputy general being held captive behind her.
"What do you mean by this, Zhao? General Qin was struck by a warhorse and suffered internal injuries, yet you treat him like this. What are you trying to do? If you don't give me an explanation today, I'm not finished with you."
A hot-tempered general flew into a rage, drew his weapon, and looked ready to start a fight immediately.
The other generals also stared at Zhao Fengxue Zhao Fengxue with unfriendly expressions, waiting for her to give her an explanation.
General Li, please take a look at this first!
Zhao Fengxue offered no explanation, but instead tossed a rolled-up piece of paper to Li Xiongxin; this was the evidence.
"This... General Qin, are you really colluding with outsiders and foreign tribes?"
He unfolded the note with a puzzled expression, and after reading what was written inside, Li Xiongxin's rough, old face changed drastically, becoming extremely cold.
The note briefly described the entire battle, with a focus on the Xun Feather Cloth worn by his niece; its purpose was self-evident.
The other generals looked at each other, and finally their eyes all focused on the note in Li Xiongxin's hand.
Clearly, they had realized something was wrong; Zhao Fengxue must have some irrefutable evidence to arrest General Qin.
So, General Qin is...
Upon realizing this, the generals' expressions changed, and their gazes toward General Qin, who was being forced to kneel on the ground, were now filled with disgust and resentment.
Traitors and spies are the most hated elements in any faction.
I knew you weren't a good person a long time ago!
Sun Ruonan, who was resting to the side, looked at General Qin kneeling on the ground and couldn't help but curse angrily.
Because that General Qin was the same bearded general who refused to open the city gates and welcome Zhao Fengxue and the others into the city last night. Sure enough, he had ulterior motives for saying that.
"You could say that! Originally, we wanted to take this opportunity to completely trap those 100,000 alien troops here, but unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and such an anomaly occurred. However, don't think this matter is over yet. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how you deal with the court's greed."
After a moment of silence, General Qin suddenly raised his head and laughed maniacally. As soon as he finished speaking, his body froze on the spot, and then he completely lost his breath.
"Damn it, this guy's nails are poisonous!"
Zhao Fengxue, who immediately sensed something was wrong, quickly checked the situation and found a wound in the other person's tightly clenched palm, where a fingernail had pierced the skin. The blood on the wound was an eerie blue color, clearly indicating that the person had died from poisoning.
This infuriated Zhao Fengxue. He had specifically ordered someone to search the guy thoroughly, even his teeth, just in case he committed suicide.
After all, this guy is far more valuable alive than dead.
But who would have thought that in the end, it was still impossible to guard against, and this guy actually committed suicide in such a way.
What angered Zhao Fengxue even more was the guy's last sentence, which clearly indicated that he had more than one source of information.
Once the power of the Xun Feather Cloth and the Purple Gold Battle Bow becomes known, and with the help of the forces behind them, they will be in real trouble.
After all, this battle shows that the force cooperating with the nomadic tribes of the grasslands must be an unimaginably powerful force, otherwise they would not have been able to acquire such a forbidden weapon as the Red Barbarian Cannon.
General Qin was definitely sending a message to the forces behind him, and they certainly wouldn't miss it.
After much deliberation, Zhao Fengxue finally hardened her heart and made a decision.
It's time to prepare for the worst!
Li Xiongxin, sitting in the head seat, also looked very unpleasant, not only because of Sun Ruonan's troubles, but also because of General Qin's own problems.
You have to understand that this guy was personally promoted by him and made his deputy general. Now that this guy has become an internal traitor, he, as the commander-in-chief, is also to blame and will inevitably be punished by the court afterward.
The lightest punishment would be dismissal from office; if those people were more ruthless, it would be uncertain whether they could even save their lives!