Dragon Ball, simultaneously traversing countless worlds

Luo Yan's Iron Eagle Warriors number five hundred. Although their numbers are small, their combat power is terrifyingly strong.

After the army was formed, Luo Yan led his men eastward from Xiangzhou to attack Daming Prefecture.

Luo Yan could have led his men directly into flight, heading straight for Kaifeng Prefecture and annihilating the Song court, but he did not do so.

He directly captured Kaifeng Prefecture, and the government troops and rebels in various provinces and regions would only think that it was his achievement of a surprise attack. Even if Luo Yan took Kaifeng Prefecture, there would be armies from all over the country to come to the aid of the emperor.

He planned to fight his way from Xiangzhou to Daming Prefecture, then to Yingtian Prefecture, then to Yingchang Prefecture, then to Jiangling Prefecture, Xingyuan Prefecture, Jingzhao Prefecture, Yan'an Prefecture...

After a series of battles, the Song Dynasty would be fully aware of its strength, and then the Song Dynasty would be destroyed by a direct attack on Kaifeng.

Luo Yan's strategy was unprecedented in history. Instead of directly attacking the heart of the court, he circled around the core of the imperial court and fought a roundabout battle. It can be said to be very cunning.

But Luo Yan wanted the world to see that even without launching a surprise attack on Kaifeng Prefecture, he had the strength to conquer one prefecture after another and seize control of the country.

Moreover, after such a campaign, he could also wipe out the government troops and rebels who came to the emperor's aid in various places, reducing the difficulty of governing the country in the future.

At the same time, while fighting this battle, we can also recruit talents, expand the army, and educate the local people.

This can be considered a win-win situation.

……

The former prefect of Daming Prefecture was Wang Ge, who was cruel in his use of torture. During his tenure, he aroused popular uprisings in various parts of Hebei. Later, Song Huizhang replaced Wang Ge with Xu Churen to become the prefect of Daming Prefecture.

Xu Churen was a rigid and rule-abiding person, not a treacherous or corrupt official. He had significant disagreements with Cai Jing and Tong Guan regarding the price stabilization issue and the Yumin Bureau, and was not considered to be part of Cai or Tong's faction.

Xu Churen was very accomplished in politics and was known as a talent for governing the prefecture. In order to alleviate the tense atmosphere in Daming Prefecture caused by Wang Ge's reign, Xu Churen opened the city gates and withdrew the soldiers from the inner city after taking office, and the people were at peace.

Now, this rigid Confucian official looked at the reports below with a worried expression.

His subordinates reported that Luo Yan and his group of rebels, who called themselves the Iron Eagle Warriors, were attacking his Daming Prefecture.

Daming Prefecture and Kaifeng Prefecture are connected by waterways. Once Daming Prefecture falls, Kaifeng Prefecture will be in danger, and the emperor will punish him.

Therefore, Xu Churen had a great headache dealing with Luo Yan's rebel army.

He had also heard about Luo Yan's rebel army. It was said that their leader, Lotus Boy, was a deity incarnate with divine powers, capable of transforming into a ten-thousand-foot-tall figure with three heads and six arms, able to carry mountains and move peaks.

Xu Churen scoffed at such legends, but Luo Yan's victory over Cai You, who had come to annihilate him, and the capture of 10,000 government soldiers was a fact.

This rebel force, which has received a large amount of standard equipment, is definitely not to be underestimated.

Xu Churen rubbed his temples, feeling that as the emperor became increasingly absurd, the Song Dynasty was also becoming more and more chaotic.

Leaving aside Luo Yan's rebel army.

Just in June, Emperor Huizong of Song issued another edict, exempting laborers in Yan and Yun from paying taxes on their journeys.

This edict was intended to plunder the people to supply the military expenses of the Ever Victorious Army stationed in the Yanshan Prefecture area.

The people of Hebei were exhausted. With the imperial edict, the salt tax was increased, and famine struck Hebei. The people's lives were reduced to eating elm bark and wild vegetables, and even the tragedy of cannibalism occurred.

Unable to survive, the people rose up in rebellion, plunging Hebei into chaos.

Zhang Xian gathered a crowd of 100,000.

Gaotuo Mountain gathered a crowd of 300,000.

Zhang Di, 50,000.

Xu Jin, 50,000.

The rebels Zhang Xianshui, Liu Dalang, Yang Tianwang, Toushouhua, Wu Hu, and others each commanded tens of thousands of troops.

Numerous rebel forces directly devastated Hebei.

The other bandits hid in the surrounding area, and none of them dared to attack Daming Prefecture.

Luo Yan is really something else. He dares to attack Daming Prefecture with only a few thousand civilians and a few hundred soldiers. He's simply insane.

After thinking it over, Xu Churen decided to order Liang Fangping to lead 7,000 soldiers to annihilate Luo Yan.

This Liang Fangping was not a sycophant like Cai You who rose to power through flattery; instead, he was a eunuch.

During the Song Dynasty, civil officials and eunuchs controlled the army. Although military generals like He Guan could be used in Hebei, Xu Churen preferred to employ eunuchs.

When Liang Fangping was defending Huazhou during the later Jin army's southward advance, he fled directly, causing He Guan's troops to collapse at the mere sight of them. With no one left to defend the south bank of the Yellow River, the Jin army then marched straight to the capital.

He Guan was somewhat knowledgeable about military affairs, but Liang Fangping was simply a useless piece of trash. Xu Churen's decision to send him to lead troops to quell the rebellion was not due to a lack of discernment, but rather a matter of tradition in the Song Dynasty.

However, Liang Fangping received Xu Churen's order, mustered his troops, and refused to leave Junzhou. He had made up his mind to wait for Luo Yan's rebel army to attack the city, so that he could use the city's strategic location to wear down Luo Yan's troops and then defeat them.

The idea was good, but when rows of steel patriots marched in unison to the foot of the Junzhou city wall, Liang Fangping was dumbfounded.

Chapter 200 Missile Siege

The distance from Xiangzhou to Junzhou is neither far nor near.

Luo Yan's camp contained the elderly, women, and children. In order not to hinder their journey, he settled them in Xiangzhou and took only five hundred Iron Eagle Warriors to attack Junzhou.

His iron army flew at low altitude and at an incredible speed. While Liang Fangping was still setting up the city wall defenses, they had already arrived outside the city.

One of the Iron Eagle Warriors' centurions said to Luo Yan, "Your Majesty, the walls over Junzhou are so low; we can easily scale them and break through the city walls. Why stop outside the city?"

Luo Yan replied, "What do you plan to do after flying directly into the city? Go on a rampage?"

"We, the righteous army, must establish our authority above all else. We must not slaughter our compatriots, nor commit indiscriminate killings."

If Luo Yan truly had no real strength and only a cold weapon army, then in order to conquer the world, he certainly wouldn't have shown any mercy and would have flattened Junzhou without even blinking an eye.

However, he was so powerful that destroying the Song Dynasty would be easy for him. Therefore, in the process, he was merciful and spared the lives of soldiers and civilians in the city, only punishing the ringleaders.

Moreover, by refraining from indiscriminate killing, one can accumulate good karma and gain the support of the people, thus winning their hearts more quickly after overthrowing the Song Dynasty.

"How can we establish our authority without killing people?" the centurion asked, scratching his head.

"Idiot, just tear down the walls of Junzhou, disarm and tie up all the soldiers, and then I'll reveal my Dharma form to intimidate them, that's all."

"Yes, sir!"

The centurion saluted and ordered his men, "Attention! Adjust the trajectory, target Junzhou city gate... Ready!"

Five hundred Steel Patriots crouched down in unison, their missile racks slightly raised behind them, and the bases slowly launched one 'ex-wife' missile after another.

“Liang Zhongguan, the rebels have made a move. Why aren’t those armored soldiers attacking the city? Instead, they’re all kneeling on the ground.”

The general guarding the city had never seen such a scene before, so he asked Liang Fangping, the imperial eunuch beside him.

"We don't know either. As for fighting and defending the city, we still have to rely on General Wang," Liang Fangping said, passing the buck back to General Wang.

"Then why don't we have the archers fire some arrows to test the waters first?" General Wang asked cautiously.

"Can!"

General Wang straightened his back and said to the soldiers guarding the city wall, "Archers, prepare...fire!"

The Song Dynasty did not have many horses, but it had a great many archers. Even in the small state of Junzhou, there were more than a thousand archers and a thousand crossbowmen.

Of course, these archers were a hastily assembled team, and many of them had only recently come into contact with bows and arrows. There were only about two hundred archers who had received long-term training.

Bows and arrows have a longer range than crossbows, so archers were naturally needed to deal with rebels a mile away.

The powerful bow was drawn, and arrows rained down like a storm, covering Luo Yan's position.

Most of these arrows missed Luo Yan's Iron Eagle Warriors. It was no easy feat to hit a target a mile away with a powerful bow.

It takes extraordinary arm strength and long-term training to achieve such accuracy. Soldiers who only pick up a bow and arrow in battle are already quite good at drawing it.

Even if there were real archers who drew their bows and shot his men, those iron arrows could not pierce the paint of the Steel Patriot.

The iron arrow struck the mech's mask, sparks flying, but the armored warrior didn't even flinch, focusing intently on setting the missile's trajectory, awaiting the centurion's launch order.

The clanging of metal echoed from Luo Yan's position, and in no time, thousands of arrows had piled up in front of them.

A minute later, the rain of arrows thinned out. Each of the archers could only fire five or six arrows with their powerful bows before their arms ached and they could no longer draw their bows.

On the city wall, seeing that his own arrows had not achieved any success, General Wang sensed something was wrong.

Just how thick were the enemy's armors?!

Even an arrowhead made of a fine chisel couldn't pierce through it. Is that a steel plate covering its body? How can this enemy still move?

General Wang looked at Liang Fangping and said, "Liang Zhongguan, the enemy's armor is too thick, and our arrows are ineffective. It would be better to wait until the enemy attacks the city and then use logs and stones to block them. I suppose they won't be able to climb the city walls too quickly because of their heavy armor."

Liang Fangping nodded: "Alright, we'll do as General Wang says."

The Song army ceased firing, waiting for Luo Yan's troops to swarm and attack the city, at which point they would use molten gold and iron, along with wooden blocks and stones, to repel the enemy.

Unfortunately, General Wang's understanding of war was still based on the classical era, and he didn't know what the Steel Patriot mech meant.

If Luo Yan and his men need to launch a surprise attack on the city, and the Song army doesn't collapse even after a volley of missiles, then they've lost.

Seeing that the time was right, the centurion reported to Luo Yan, "The ballistic calibration is complete. Please give the order, Your Majesty!"

Luo Yan waved his hand and shouted, "Launch!"

"Launch!" the centurion shouted into the mech's internal channel.

In an instant, all the Steel Patriot missile platforms on their backs launched their 'Ex-Wife' missiles, the white smoke trails resembling white dragons.

boom!

The first missile accurately hit the gate of Junzhou City.

The gate, made of century-old wood and copper nails, was blown to pieces by a missile, revealing the sacks and stones piled up behind it.

Liang Fangping was so afraid of death that he dared not go out of the city to meet the enemy. He simply filled sacks with mud, sand, and stones and sealed the city gates completely.

He thought that by blocking the city gate, the enemy wouldn't be able to break it open, and he could rest easy.

The massive explosion sent rocks flying everywhere from the sacks, and some soldiers standing on the city wall were caught off guard and were hit by flying debris, breaking bones and tendons.

Liang Fangping was also hit in the chest by a piece of gravel, and his ribs were broken.

He collapsed to the ground, wailing, "What happened? What happened?"

General Wang, standing next to him, wasn't much better off; his ears were ringing from the missile explosions, and his helmet was dented from a rock.

He shouted hoarsely, "It's a thunderclap cannon! The enemy has thunderclap cannons!"

Before he could finish speaking...

More missiles came flying.

Rows of missiles bombarded the city gates and walls one after another.