Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

"put!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Buckshot exploded on the cliff, and hundreds of iron balls were sprayed in a fan shape. The Northern Yuan archers fell like wheat being cut, and their screams echoed in the valley. A round of volleys destroyed most of the ambush troops on the left cliff.

On the right cliff, Alutai, a trusted general of Nai'erbuhua, saw the situation and ordered urgently: "Concentrate the rockets! Shoot down the Ming army's artillery first!"

Dozens of rockets whizzed down, and one rocket hit the gunpowder barrel. With a loud "boom", three Ming army gunners were blown to pieces. Zhang Cheng was also knocked over by the blast, and his forehead hit the gun carriage, bleeding profusely.

"Captain!" The personal guards came to support him.

"Leave me alone!" Zhang Cheng wiped the blood off his face and roared, "Switch to chain bullets! Break their rolling log support!"

The gunners quickly replaced the special ammunition with thick iron chains wrapped around the shells, which would rotate at high speed after being fired, specifically targeting civil fortifications.

"put!"

Chain bullets whistled out, like the scythe of the god of death sweeping across the cliff. The support for the rolling logs was cut in half, and the pile of rolling logs and rocks collapsed, killing many of the Northern Yuan ambushes.

Taking advantage of this gap, Lan Yu personally led his cavalry to the valley entrance. His long spear was like a dragon, and he successively killed three Northern Yuan cavalrymen. The guards behind him formed a cone formation and forcibly tore a hole in the encirclement.

"Wang Zhen! Bring your men to follow!" Lan Yu turned around and shouted.

The remnants of the vanguard camp in the valley immediately rushed to the gap. The Northern Yuan army launched a frantic counterattack, with arrows and spears raining down. With every step forward, a Ming army soldier fell.

"Ah!" A Ming army centurion was pierced through the chest by a spear, but he held on to the spear shaft tightly to buy time for his companions. Another soldier's legs were crushed by rolling logs, but he still insisted on shooting with a musket until he was shot into a hedgehog by arrows.

Lan Yu's eyes turned red as he suddenly took something off his saddle - it was the "Fire Dragon Emerging from Water" specially made by Ouyang Lun. He pulled the fuse violently, and the cylindrical weapon spewed out blazing white flames. The Northern Yuan cavalry within thirty steps were instantly engulfed by the sea of ​​fire, and screamed and fell off their horses.

“Get out!”

Taking advantage of this brief gap, the remnants of the Ming army finally rushed out of the valley. However, the Black Stone Valley behind them was completely engulfed in flames, and more than a hundred soldiers who did not have time to withdraw were turned into charcoal in the flames.

Lan Yu counted the number of people, and found that more than half of the vanguard battalion had been killed, but the main force was still there. He looked at the remnants of Nairbuhua who were reorganizing their troops in the distance, and murderous intent was boiling in his eyes.

“Zhang Cheng!”

"The end is here!"

"Gather all the 'Fire Dragons Out of Water'." Lan Yu's voice was as cold as ice. "Today I want to let Nai'er Buhua know what the real power of firearms is!"

Fifty "Fire Dragons Emerging from Water" were quickly set up at the front line. This new weapon was shaped like a thick bamboo tube and contained gunpowder and caltrops. It had a range of two hundred steps.

Nai Er Bu Hua was organizing the last cavalry, preparing for a desperate struggle. The wound on his shoulder continued to bleed, but he still insisted on mounting his horse: "Warriors of Changshengtian! Follow me--"

"Release!" Lan Yu slashed down with his command flag fiercely.

“Swish—Boom!”

Fifty tongues of fire streaked through the sky, and incendiary bombs exploded in the Mongolian army. Caltrops scattered in all directions, piercing through leather armor and piercing flesh; kerosene splashed, turning men and horses into torches. The Northern Yuan army was instantly thrown into chaos, and the horses were frightened and ran wildly, trampling on each other.

"Rifle Team! Forward and Fire!"

Three thousand musketeers lined up in three rows, advancing steadily to the beat of drums. Every ten steps forward, they fired a volley, and the deadly barrage of lead bullets advanced layer by layer. The surviving Northern Yuan cavalry tried to charge, but were shot into sieves a hundred steps away.

"Cavalry! Outflanking!"

The Ming light cavalry rushed out from the flank, holding short guns and firing at close range. This new short gun can be fired with one hand on horseback and can penetrate heavy armor within thirty steps. The Mongolian warriors were knocked off their horses by lead bullets before they could even raise their scimitars.

Nai Er Bu Hua was surrounded by the Ming army with only a hundred guards left. He looked at the approaching Ming army musket array and suddenly laughed wildly: "Lan Yu! Do you think this is the end?"

He suddenly ripped open his battle robe, revealing the gunpowder packs tied all over his body!
"Protect the Duke!" Zhang Cheng was quick-witted and threw Lan Yu to the ground.

"boom--!"

Amid the earth-shattering explosion, Nai'erbuhua turned into a ball of fire. The strong shock wave knocked over everyone within a radius of twenty steps, and broken limbs and weapon fragments fell like raindrops.

When the smoke and dust cleared, Lan Yu pushed away Zhang Cheng who was protecting him, and saw a large charred pit at the center of the explosion. This famous general of the Northern Yuan Dynasty finally chose to perish with his ambition.

The battlefield gradually became quiet, leaving only the groans of the wounded and the crackling sounds of burning things.

Lan Yu stood up, leaning on his spear, and looked around. The Black Stone Valley was still burning, illuminating half the sky; the battlefield was littered with corpses, both from the Northern Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

"Godfather." Lan Yong limped over, his left arm drooping weakly, "Our army suffered more than 4,000 casualties, annihilated 50,000 enemies, and captured 8,000."

Lan Yu was silent for a long time, then suddenly laughed up to the sky, his laughter was filled with indescribable desolation: "Good! What a great Nai'erbuhua! You want to bite me before you die!" He turned and looked to the south, as if he could see Yingtianfu thousands of miles away. In this battle, he washed away the shame of the past, but he also paid a heavy price.

"Pass the order," Lan Yu's voice suddenly became extremely calm, "Use Nai Er Bu Hua's golden helmet to fill the wine. I want to toast the brothers who died in the battle."

The personal guard handed over a golden helmet inlaid with gems, and Lan Yu poured the strong liquor into it, slowly sprinkling it on the charred land.

"Ouyang Lun," he said silently in his heart, "the firearms you gave me are really powerful."

Lan Yu stared at the bloodstained golden helmet in his hand, his fingertips stroking the crack on the edge of the helmet caused by firearms. The night wind, carrying the smell of gunpowder, poured into the armor, and he suddenly shuddered - this was not because of the cold wind in the northern frontier, but because of the shock that came after he realized it belatedly.

"Duke, the seized Northern Yuan weapons have been counted." The military officer stepped forward holding the bamboo slips, but Lan Yu raised his hand to stop him. The old general walked alone towards the burning valley, his boots stepping on the scorched earth mixed with blood, and every step seemed to be stepping on the nightmare of seven years ago.

The flames of Black Stone Valley stretched his shadow very long, and vaguely overlapped with the memory of the last battle against the Northern Yuan Dynasty. At that time, he led 30,000 elite cavalry to pursue Kuyuk Timur, also in such a valley, and the sky was full of rockets. But there were no explosive chain bullets, no fire dragons that sprayed caltrops, and no musket teams that could fire three times in a row. The corpses of 30,000 men are still weeping in the wind and sand at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain.

"Ouyang Lun," Lan Yu clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into the old scars on his palms. The prince consort who always had a weird smile on his face was more impressive than any other general in the court. The crazy words this guy said while pointing at the sand table in the Ministry of War a few years ago were still ringing in his ears: "In the future battlefield, firearms will not be auxiliary, but dominant."

The cry of the night owl awakened his memories. Lan Yu bent down to pick up the half-burnt feather arrow, and suddenly found a few strands of silk wrapped around the arrow shaft - this was the guiding tail of the Ming army's standard rocket. His pupils shrank slightly, and he remembered the 300 "firearms craftsmen" specially transferred by Ouyang Lun before the expedition. Those people stubbornly tied this light silk to each arrow amid the ridicule of the soldiers.

At that time, even he himself felt that it was unnecessary, but today, when the canyon was confronted, the Northern Yuan rockets hit 20-30 out of 10, while the Ming army rockets hit 70-80 out of 10. Now that I think about it, those silk ribbons that were ridiculed as "strange and lewd tricks" by civil servants in the Ministry of Industry archives have saved countless lives.

"Captain!" Zhang Cheng shouted hoarsely from behind, "The wounded have been taken care of, that is... that is..." The iron-clad man suddenly choked up, "Less than 30% of the brothers in the Firearms Battalion are alive."

When Lan Yu turned around, she saw those young faces illuminated by the torches. They were wearing new light armor—thirty percent thinner than traditional iron armor but tougher, a secret method that Ouyang Lun had obtained from Western merchants. Some were holding onto their exploded muskets, while others were loading their short guns with special lead bullets, which had spiral patterns engraved on the bullets. It was said that this would allow them to shoot farther and more accurately.

The old general suddenly felt his throat tighten. If it weren't for the firearms tactics that he practiced day and night after the military reform, and the improved equipment that was criticized by the censors as "wasting the national treasury", he would probably have died today when facing the ambush of 50,000 troops.
Today, he avenged his blood revenge in another way by using those "strange tricks" that he once sneered at.

He suddenly realized that what really defeated them in this bloody battle might not be the Northern Yuan cavalry, but the shackles in his heart called "prejudice."
-
The Yan vassal camp, on a high hill ten miles away
The night wind blew, blowing the scarlet cape of Yan Wang Zhu Di. He reined in his horse and stood on the ridge. His cold eyes penetrated the darkness and looked at the fire rising to the sky in the distant Black Stone Valley. The roar of the explosion was faintly heard, and the earth trembled slightly, as if a dragon was turning over.

"What a fire dragon emerging from the water." Zhu Di narrowed his eyes, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the whip, "Brother-in-law Ouyang is really amazing! He really has some skills."

"Lan Yu was doomed to fail in the ambush. If it weren't for the advanced weapons of Brother Ouyang, he would have died!"

"They are all good weapons! It's a pity that our vassal army can only use weapons that are one or even two generations behind!"

Zhu Di was not too concerned about whether Lan Yu won or lost. He was more concerned about the new weapons and had already started planning how to get some from his brother-in-law Ouyang Lun.

Yao Guangxiao, who was dressed in black, chuckled softly, and the Buddhist beads in his hand glowed faintly under the moonlight: "Amitabha. The Duke's battle has saved His Highness a lot of trouble."

Zhu Di snorted coldly, "The old dog Nai'er Buhua plundered my Daxing Village last autumn and killed more than 300 people from the Yan vassal state. If the court had not urgently transferred Lan Yu to the north, he would have been very angry. "When he said this, he clenched his fists and the horse whip left deep marks on his palms. "I will personally lead the cavalry to hang his head on Juyong Pass!"

Yao Guangxiao tilted his head slightly, the firelight cast a flickering shadow in his deep eye sockets: "Your Highness, calm down. Now the imperial army and the Northern Yuan are fighting to the death, isn't that what I want?" He suddenly lowered his voice, "Look at the power of the fire dragon coming out of the water - if we fight against the imperial army in the future..."

Zhu Di's pupils suddenly contracted. In the distance, there was another earth-shattering explosion, dyeing half of the night sky blood red. With this fleeting light, one could clearly see the bulging blue veins on his forehead.

"Master Daoyan, be careful with your words!" Zhu Di turned his head abruptly, his wolf-like eyes piercing the black-robed monk, "Lan Yu is following the orders of the emperor."

"Your Highness, please understand." Yao Guangxiao calmly put his hands together and saluted, but there was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, "I am just feeling that these firearms supervised by Prince Consort Ouyang can be used by the Yan vassal in the future..."

Before he finished speaking, the sound of hurried horse hooves suddenly came from afar. The personal guard commander Zhang Yu galloped over and dismounted five steps away: "Report! Nai'erbuhua blew himself up and died. The Northern Yuan army was completely wiped out!"

Zhu Di's facial muscles twitched violently. He suddenly rode forward a few steps, staring intently at the direction of the battlefield. There, the Ming army's fire dragon was still raging, devouring the fleeing Northern Yuan cavalry one by one.

"Lan Yu." Zhu Di squeezed out the name through his teeth, "After this battle, his prestige in the army has increased."

Yao Guangxiao approached quietly, his robe rustling in the wind: "Don't worry, Your Highness. The greater Lan Yu's achievements, the more likely he is to die." He looked towards the south meaningfully, "Don't forget, the emperor is..."

"Shut up!" Zhu Di shouted, but he couldn't help looking towards the capital. In a trance, he seemed to see his elder brother sitting on the dragon throne in the deep palace and his father in the Taile Palace smiling at the war report from the northern border.

The night wind suddenly turned strong, carrying the smell of blood. Zhu Di took a deep breath, suddenly drew his sword and slashed at the dead tree beside him: "Order! All troops light torches and march forward!" He pointed his sword at the battlefield and said in a thunderous voice, "I will 'accept' General Lan's triumphant return!"

Yao Guangxiao clapped his hands and laughed, "Excellent! This will not only preserve the dignity of the court, but also allow us to personally witness the results of the new firearms." He suddenly took out a booklet from his sleeve, "This is the weapon parameters recorded by my disciples who were stationed in the army. Your Highness may wish to read it."

Zhu Di snatched the booklet and stuffed it into his arms. As he turned his horse's head, he suddenly whispered, "I heard that Brother-in-law Ouyang is developing a new thing called the 'Magic Arrow'? Try to get the blueprints."

The black-robed monk smiled but said nothing, but the Buddhist beads in his hand spun faster.
-
Yan Fan Camp, Central Army Tent

Zhu Di threw his helmet heavily onto the table, and the sound of metal collision startled the guards outside the tent. He grabbed the wine jug and drank it headfirst, the amber liquid dripping down his chin onto his chain mail, and it was as glaring as blood in the firelight.

"Daoyan, you are right." Zhu Di suddenly spoke, his voice full of suppressed excitement, "We must get those Fire Dragons Emerging from Water and the Magic Arrows."

Yao Guangxiao poured a cup of tea slowly, the hot steam blurred his deep eye sockets: "Your Highness is on good terms with Prince Consort Ouyang, this is a godsend opportunity." He tapped the rim of the cup with his fingertips, "I heard that Prince Consort Ouyang is developing a 'Flying Fire Dragon' recently, which can shoot a thousand steps away."

"If we can get the latest weapons, it will greatly improve the strength of the Yan army. We can also use the tactics of divine punishment from the sky! This is too important for our Yan clan!!" (End of this chapter)