Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 347 Strange Movements in the Black Dragon Kingdom

Emperor Yue took the intelligence from the female guard, glanced at it briefly, and his expression became somewhat serious.

Seeing the Emperor's serious expression, the ministers in the hall wondered if the Great Wu army was really no match for the Northern Kingdom.

At this moment, Emperor Yue handed the intelligence report to the female guard beside him and said coldly, "Read it."

After receiving the intelligence from Emperor Yue, the female guard immediately read aloud: "On the ninth day of the tenth month of the Divine Phoenix, the Great Wu sent 300,000 troops to Yong'an County, but they were defeated by the Northern Kingdom with a mysterious weapon. The weapon is shaped like a sphere, and when it explodes, its power is like that of a Grandmaster-level martial artist exploding their dantian. The Northern Kingdom threw thousands of these weapons at the Great Wu army, and the Great Wu army formation was broken instantly. Ying Feiyu led his soldiers to retreat to Lingyun City. The Northern Kingdom's general led his troops to counterattack, and Lingyun City fell at dusk. Ying Feiyu led a hundred cavalrymen to escape."

Upon hearing the intelligence read aloud by the guard, the officials were instantly stunned.

Da Wu actually lost?

And they were defeated in just one day!

That's an army of 300,000!

How is that possible?

How could the Northern Kingdom possess such formidable military strength?

What is the mysterious weapon mentioned in the intelligence report?

The explosion was so powerful that it resembled a grandmaster exploding his dantian!

If it is really as the intelligence says, then let alone the Great Wu army, even an army with Grandmasters would not be able to withstand such a powerful weapon, right?

Where on earth did the Northern Kingdom obtain such a terrifying weapon?

This world has never seen a weapon with such power before!

If the Northern Kingdom could mass-produce such weapons, what place would martial artists have left in this world?

The old order based on martial artists will be completely overturned, and the world will no longer belong to martial artists!

After a long while, the ministers in the hall finally reacted. At this moment, one minister said, "Your Majesty, if the intelligence is true, judging from the current situation, the main force of Da Wu is likely to be defeated by the Northern Kingdom. We must make preparations in order to prevent the Northern Kingdom from entering the territory of our Da Yue under the pretext of pursuing the remnants of Da Wu."

Although intelligence indicated that most of the Northern Kingdom's soldiers were in Yong'an County, the fact that the Northern Kingdom had suddenly produced such powerful and mysterious weapons in large numbers made it difficult to predict who would win or lose.

Although the main force of Da Wu has two Grandmasters, the Northern Kingdom also has Grandmasters. Moreover, the mysterious weapon of the Northern Kingdom is comparable to the power of a Grandmaster exploding his dantian. Such a weapon can even be effective against Grandmasters.

When the time comes, facing the main force of Da Wu, the Northern Kingdom will bombard Da Wu's 300,000-strong army, and Da Wu's main force will be unable to withstand it.

At this critical moment, Dayue must take action. It must send troops to the border to deter the Northern Kingdom and prevent Northern soldiers from entering Dayue.

Just then, a soldier's voice suddenly rang out from outside the main hall, "Urgent report from the Northwest!!!"

The ministers were startled again; an urgent report from the Northwest?

Why is something happening in the Northwest again at this time?

Could it be that the barbarians have once again assembled a coalition army to prepare to march south and attack Dayue?

Haven't they learned their lesson from last time?

Just as the ministers were puzzled about what had happened in the northwest, a messenger entered the center of the hall, immediately knelt on the ground, and held up a letter bucket with both hands, saying, "The Black Dragon Kingdom has sent an army of 100,000 to approach our Great Yue, their purpose unknown!"

Upon hearing this, the officials in the hall were instantly stunned.

Black Dragon Country?

Why would the Black Dragon Kingdom send a large army to cause trouble on the border of Dayue at this time?

The Black Dragon Kingdom is just a small country. If we only look at the overall strength of the country, the Dayue Dynasty is not afraid of the Black Dragon Kingdom at all. The main reason is that the ruler of the Black Dragon Kingdom is somewhat special. People once suspected that the ruler of the Black Dragon Kingdom was a Celestial Realm expert. Of course, people have no evidence and this is just speculation.

The fact that the Black Dragon Kingdom was able to establish a country in such a remote and desolate place in the Northwest, and was completely unafraid of attacks from barbarians, proves that the Black Dragon Kingdom is no ordinary small country.

Logically speaking, there should be no conflict between Dayue and Heilong Kingdom. Heilong Kingdom rarely expands outward or causes trouble. Most importantly, it seems that the ruler of Heilong Kingdom established his power in Heilong Kingdom's current territory a long time ago.

When the Dayue Dynasty was founded, the power of the Black Dragon Kingdom already existed, although it was not called the Black Dragon Kingdom at that time. However, the Black Dragon Kingdom ruler at that time did not expand outwards, nor did he occupy the land where the Dayue Dynasty is now located. This also proves that the Black Dragon Kingdom ruler did not have much ambition.

Why are they suddenly thinking of sending troops to the border of Dayue? Are they trying to cause trouble for Dayue?

At this moment, Emperor Yue frowned slightly, and then said to a military officer in the hall, "General Qin, you must immediately go to the northwest border and find out why the Black Dragon Kingdom is sending troops to approach Great Yue."

Upon hearing the Emperor's command, a tall, burly man in the main hall immediately stepped forward and said, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

The general then turned and left the hall. The Black Dragon Kingdom's sudden dispatch of troops to approach Dayue made Emperor Yue feel uneasy, as the Black Dragon Kingdom had been too active lately.

A while ago, a large number of caravans from the Black Dragon Kingdom appeared in Dayue. Although the Black Dragon Kingdom caravans seemed to be just doing business and did nothing else to threaten Dayue.

But the more this was the case, the more distrustful Emperor Yue became of the Black Dragon Kingdom.

If the Black Dragon Kingdom were to send troops to Dayue at this time, Dayue would send troops to the northwest border. At that time, the Northern Kingdom would then wipe out the remnants of the Great Wu army and flee into Dayue's territory. If a conflict were to break out between Dayue and the Northern Kingdom, it would be extremely disadvantageous for Dayue.

Emperor Yue was not yet sure if his plan had succeeded. If Murong Xue'er had already captured and controlled the Northern King, then the Northern King would be an excellent pawn for her. If the Northern King was not under her control, and the Northern Kingdom launched an attack on Dayue at this time, Dayue's army would most likely be no match for the Northern Kingdom, and Dayue would have no way to deal with the Northern Kingdom's mysterious weapons.

The next question is whether the main force of Da Wu can break into Yan City and whether the Northern King can be controlled by Murong Xue'er.

……

at the same time.

Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen were completely unaware of what had happened in Yong'an County. They had already entered the northern lands by passing through Dayue and arrived at Yingyang County, which was close to Dayue.

Yingyang County doesn't have many cities, with only one crucial one: Yunzhong City. Once Yunzhong City is captured, the main force of Dawu can advance unimpeded and directly attack the core area of ​​the Northern Kingdom.

For the Northern Kingdom, once Cloud City falls, Yan City will be virtually exposed to the main force of the Great Wu.

Upon arriving outside Yunzhong City, Zhan Hong and Xu Xingwen were completely unaware of what was about to happen. Looking at the tightly closed city gates, Zhan Hong smiled and asked Xu Xingwen, "General Xu, how long do you think it will take us to conquer Yunzhong City?"

Xu Xingwen glanced at the dilapidated earthen walls of Cloud City, then replied, "Three days!"

Zhan Hong chuckled, then said, "Three days? You overestimate the Northern Kingdom's garrison. In my opinion, they can take Yunzhong City in just one day!"

Having said that, Zhan Hong immediately ordered his army, "Set up camp immediately and attack the city first thing tomorrow morning!"

As soon as Zhan Hong finished speaking, the soldiers of Da Wu began to set up camp.

At this moment, on the city wall of Yunzhong City, Song Xuelin and Dongmen Feiyue looked at the distant Dawu army with expressionless faces. They were not afraid of the Dawu army. Although they only had 200,000 troops, which was 100,000 fewer than the Dawu army, they had cannons and mortars provided by the Northern Kingdom.

Before the Da Wu army arrived at Yunzhong City, Dongmen Feiyue and Song Xuelin had already familiarized their soldiers with the use of firearms. Although they had not yet developed any specific tactics, they knew that attacking the enemy with cannons would throw their army into chaos, making it unnecessary to use any tactics at all.

At this moment, Dongmen Feiyue said, "I don't know where the King got such terrifying weapons. These weapons don't look like they come from this world."

Both men came from the far north and were not very familiar with firearms. When they witnessed the terror of firearms, they were both shocked by their power.

They were all grandmasters, and they were actually quite unhappy about the existence of such powerful firearms, as their appearance had seriously affected their status as martial artists.

So the two decided to let the cannons bombard them during the test. As a result, they found that although the cannons could not directly kill Grandmasters, they could suppress their attacks on their opponents. In front of the cannons, they had already used all their strength to defend against the shells, and it was difficult for them to launch a counterattack.

After their inspection, they were finally convinced. They thought to themselves that since cannons were only available in the North for the time being, and it was they who were using cannons to bombard others, not the other way around, they didn't need to care so much.

Moreover, by using cannons, their king was able to unify the world more quickly. From this perspective, they, as his subjects, should not have any negative views about cannons.

Upon hearing Dongmen Feiyue's words, Song Xuelin said indifferently, "Who cares? Anyway, only the Northern Kingdom possesses such weapons right now. By the time other dynasties or forces have these cannons, Your Majesty might have already unified the entire continent."

At this moment, Dongmen Feiyue sighed and said, "With such powerful weapons, we won't be as important to the King anymore."

Hearing this, Song Xuelin chuckled and then said, "General Dongmen, why are you thinking so much? Weapons are just weapons. No matter how powerful a weapon is, it still needs someone to use it. If His Majesty wants to expand the territory and unify the entire continent, he still needs us. How can you think we've become unimportant?"

Dongmen Feiyue said, "That's true."

Hearing what Song Xuelin said, Dongmen Feiyue felt a little better. A few days ago, when testing the power of the cannon, Dongmen Feiyue was blown to bits by the cannon and was completely defeated. He was also greatly affected.

During the test, the people using the cannons were all ordinary people, not even martial artists. Yet, this Grandmaster struggled to even fight back against these ordinary people, leading him to some negative thoughts, such as whether the Northern King no longer needed Grandmasters.

Looking at the Da Wu soldiers in the distance, Song Xuelin said, "This should be the main force of Da Wu. Let's take the initiative tonight and try to end the battle as soon as possible."

The main force of Da Wu has come from afar and is already exhausted. There are 200,000 troops in Yunzhong City, and with the support of cannons, if a surprise attack is launched at night, Da Wu's 300,000 troops will have no chance to resist.

This was the first battle Song Xuelin and Dongmen Feiyue had participated in since arriving in the Northern Kingdom from the far north, so they attached great importance to it.

Now that the Northern Kingdom possesses such terrifying weapons as artillery, the status of Grandmasters is not as important as it used to be. Therefore, in their view, if they want to gain the King's attention, they must earn more military merits.

In this battle, they not only want to win, but to win perfectly.

After nightfall.

Inside the Da Wu army camp, piles of firewood were still burning. Zhan Hong, Xu Xingwen, and other generals did not relax after arriving at Yunzhong City. They were in their tents, looking at the map of the Northern Kingdom and making plans for the next step.

Their current plan is what they will do next after capturing Cloud City. In their eyes, Cloud City is already theirs, and this dilapidated city is no match for them.

At this moment, Xu Xingwen spoke up, saying, "Although Zhuge Chongguang entered the Dao through literature, very few people have seen him make a move. His actual strength is likely to be stronger than we estimated."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Hong laughed heartily, and then said, "General Xu, this is not like you. You would actually be afraid of a weak scholar."

Xu Xingwen continued, "According to the intelligence that the Eldest Princess collected in Daxia, there is a Grandmaster Supreme Realm above Grandmaster. When a Grandmaster enters the Supreme Realm, he can trigger a celestial phenomenon and enter the Pseudo-Celestial Realm. Although he is not a true Celestial, his strength is likely to increase significantly."

"There were unusual phenomena in the North, which indicates that Zhuge Chongguang has also entered the pseudo-Celestial Realm. We have never fought against enemies in the pseudo-Celestial Realm before."

"General Zhan, we'd better be careful."

Hearing this, Zhan Hong smiled, still not taking Xu Xingwen's words to heart. "Even if Zhuge Chongguang were a fake celestial being, I wouldn't be afraid of him!"

"General Xu, when did you...?"

Before Zhan Hong could finish speaking, a loud "boom" rang out outside the tent, and the generals inside the tent were also shocked by the sound, their ears ringing.

Realizing something might have happened, Xu Xingwen immediately went to the tent entrance and asked the soldiers outside, "What happened?"

Just as Xu Xingwen finished speaking, another loud bang came from not far away, and Xu Xingwen saw some soldiers' bodies being blown into the air.

The next moment, the voices of soldiers rang out in the camp.

"Enemy attack!!!"

As they drew nearer, the sound of horns filled the air.

The soldiers emerged from their tents, weapons in hand, ready for battle.

Zhan Hong led the true elite of Da Wu. These soldiers reacted very quickly, and they were ready for battle shortly after the bugle sounded.

Zhan Hong came out of the tent at this moment, looking at the scene in front of him in disbelief.

They had only just arrived in Cloud City, and before they could even launch an attack, the enemy had already come to ambush them.

These soldiers from the North Kingdom are underestimating them. Perhaps they think that the North Kingdom soldiers are exhausted from their long journey and will soon be thrown into disarray by the surprise attack.

Ha, how ridiculous!

These 300,000 troops are the elite of the Great Wu army. Even when faced with a surprise attack, they can react in a very short time and organize a counterattack.

I originally wanted to let the garrison of Cloud City live one more night, but they didn't know what was good for them, so I won't blame them!

I've caught a cold, so updates will be less frequent for the next few days. I'm also feeling a bit dizzy, so there might be some issues with the content. If you find any typos, please let me know and point them out.

(End of this chapter)