Xie Lanzhi couldn't help but verbally reprimand her younger brother: "You can't say that. To defeat the enemy, you must fight while conserving your strength. Only in this way can you fight a protracted war."
“I think Artur must have taught you.”
"But you're still too young. You seem to have no experience leading troops at all."
Dali Luo immediately roared, "The murderer has no right to mention my master!"
Xie Lanzhi said, "Why can't I mention it? Do you really think I've fallen into your trap?"
After saying that, her face immediately darkened, and she said, "Naive fellow!!"
"If Artur knew he had such a naive disciple, he would probably regret not teaching you more in the afterlife."
"Shut up." Dali Luo hated murderers who kept talking as if they knew their master very well.
Unexpectedly, Xie Lanzhi suddenly asked him seriously, "Were you born on June 21st?"
These words were spoken.
Dali Luo's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly. Xie Lanzhi, regardless of whether he had listened or not, said, "You and your master were born on the same day. This was told to me by Artur himself."
After hearing this, Dali Luo's fierce expression lessened, as if he had taken it to heart.
This made Xie Lanzhi feel a little guilty. But for the sake of the bigger picture, she could only continue to probe indirectly.
She knew perfectly well that both Daliro and Artu were merely pawns of Achina. The Daliro before her clearly knew nothing, yet he stepped forward to take her place.
Xie Lanzhi continued to probe, "You think you're a substitute, right?"
Dali Luo ignored her. He swung his hammer a couple of times, feeling uneasy. Was Xie Ying testing him? Or trying to mislead him?
Dali Luo immediately attacked, but Xie Lanzhi easily blocked it, while she kept saying, "It seems you really don't know the characteristics of a stand-in?"
"Think carefully about Artur's abilities."
Upon hearing this, Dali Luo paused slightly in his continuous hammer strikes, and his subsequent hammer strikes became somewhat slow.
Xie Lanzhi kept her eyes on him, observing Dali Luo's reaction with every word she spoke.
Dali Luo is still young and can't hide his emotions. As long as something touches on his heart, he will definitely have a series of reactions.
Xie Lanzhi said, "An Shan was struck by lightning and died. Although I hit Artur, he was also struck by lightning."
"These two are the real stunt doubles; they possess extraordinary skills."
As she was saying this, she even ran to the tree and punched it, breaking the tree in half.
A look of disbelief flashed in Dali Luo's eyes.
Seeing his strong reaction, Xie Lanzhi thought, "Now's the time!"
She said, "See? I am Archina's third Stand. Like Artur and Ansan, I possess superhuman powers as a Stand."
"But you didn't!"
Dali Rodon stood there, staring wide-eyed at the fallen tree, lost in thought.
Xie Lanzhi felt she had said enough. There was no need to say anything more.
She said, "With my light-footed skills, I can quickly escape to a safe place. Your cannons can't do anything to me."
"Dali Luo, you're not a stand-in at all."
"And what right do you have to kill me? Think about it carefully."
After saying this, Xie Lanzhi immediately tried to retreat, but Dali Luo quickly drew his flintlock pistol and aimed it at her head. Then they saw the woman opposite her raise a bag and pour out the flintlock pistol inside.
Dali Luo pulled the trigger, only to find that he had fired nothing.
"Dali Luo, if you were smart, you would go back and think about it carefully."
Xie Lanzhi left those words behind, then leaped into the woods, running further and further away in the opposite direction of the stone tablet. Only Dali Luo remained in place, and the last cannonball landed directly at his feet.
With a loud bang, even as Dali Luo lay prone, he was still hit by the force of the cannonball.
Dali Luo fainted.
The Hungarian soldiers at the artillery post were incredulous and reported, "Xie Ying ran too fast; our cannons didn't even have time to be reloaded."
Even after being loaded, the enemy seemed to sense her movements and dodged every time. Even the Xiongnu soldiers were horrified by Xie Ying's evasiveness, and some even doubted whether she was human. Could a human run at that speed? Even cannons couldn't keep up with her speed.
Seeing the Hun soldiers' greatly shocked expressions, the guard immediately said, "It's because our cannonballs are too heavy."
"It's not that Xie Ying is amazing!!"
The time spent loading shells and adjusting their direction is just a material factor. The real issue is their fixed firing points. Plus, Xie Lanzhi's high speed made it even more inaccurate.
Moreover, looking at an object from hundreds of meters away with a cannon is like an elephant becoming an ant. Who knows where it will land precisely? It's already a miracle that there's no radar that can hit it.
Dali Luo was completely stunned.
Upon hearing this, the imperial guards rushed to his rescue. However, they encountered Xie Bing en route. The guards were surprised by Xie Bing's speed; he was indeed not of the same type as the Imperial Guards.
They are the most difficult army to deal with!
The guards quickly engaged Xie Bing in battle. Both sides had firearms, but Xie Bing's crossfire formation clearly gave him the advantage.
The Xiongnu soldiers were overwhelmed by the relentless attacks of the Xie soldiers. They barely managed to kill one Xie soldier, only to have another quickly take their place and launch a counterattack.
The Xiongnu soldiers were stunned by Xie Bing's illusion of a large human force, thinking that Xie Bing had a large army behind him. As a result, the Xiongnu soldiers did not dare to rescue anyone and retreated directly.
The guard was still thinking of rescuing the person when, in a moment of hesitation, a soldier pounced on him and pinned him down. The guard fired his gun, and the soldier, as if indestructible, knocked him unconscious.
Afterwards, Xie Bing took off his steel armor to check it and saw that the bullet had penetrated halfway through the steel plate, just two inches away from piercing him.
Xie Bing shuddered.
Good heavens, he almost lost his life!
Afterwards, the guards and Dali Luo were taken back to the main palace of Lu by Xie Bing.
When Duke Fu Ling of Lu heard that Marshal Xie's men had captured Dali Luo bare-handed, he was stunned. It seemed as if he were shocked for five thousand years. His mind kept repeating, "No way, no way? The General-King secretly went to the front lines and was captured? Is it really okay for the Xiongnu to have such a General-King? Are the Northern Xiongnu out of generals? Or is the Northern Xiongnu truly doomed?"
Otherwise, why would they send a greenhorn to the front lines to get himself killed?
He even dared to fight Marshal Xie at Niliupei, but he not only lost but was also knocked unconscious by his own men.
Faced with the large fish that suddenly leaped ashore, the governor almost wanted to celebrate nationwide. He was practically ready to declare that the king of the Northern Xiongnu had sent a fool!
When Yelü Lili awoke, he heard that two thousand barbarian soldiers had been killed in battle. He was initially disheartened and saddened. However, upon hearing that the Northern Hu Xiongnu general Wang Daliluo had been captured and brought back to the State of Lu by Xie's troops during the battlefield cleanup, he was further saddened.
Li Li was stunned. Suddenly, he began to doubt what he had gained from all the hard work he had put in the first half of his life. It was all less meaningful than the generalship that Xie Shi, a mere soldier, had picked up.
Li Li couldn't believe it; he had to go and confirm for himself who was one of the culprits who had taken over the place.
Xie Lanzhi hadn't returned to the main palace yet. She went to the Xie clan's military camp to re-bandage her right hand, just as the Sun and Moon Secret Agents delivered new intelligence. They witnessed this scene.
Xie Lanzhi immediately hid it behind her back, but this only made things worse; the eyes of the sun and moon are not blind.
Xie Lanzhi broke out in a cold sweat. Oh no, Little Phoenix is going to find out again.
The Sun and Moon spies reported separately: "According to new intelligence, the Great King of the Northern Xiongnu is seriously ill. He has suspended the continued invasion of the central region by troops from various regions."
Now only two small countries remain in the central region, and coincidentally, both are located in the direction of Tianjing. They are like the Huayuankou (Garden Pass) of Tianjing, and the new Tianjing will not stand idly by. These two small countries are desperately trying to curry favor with Si Xitong.
The two rulers had even moved to the new Tianjing. The generals of both countries remained in the main capital.
The weapons provided by Si Xitong were also continuously escorted.
For a time, the war between the Northern Xiongnu and the new Tianjing temporarily divided the territory.
The four kingdoms of the Central Alliance and the entire Northern Region are in the hands of the Northern Hu and Xiongnu. Six of the ten kingdoms are in the hands of the new Tianjing, and even the Huayin Kingdom is in the hands of the new Tianjing.
Alna from the Four Kingdoms region cursed Tianjing Sixi Tong for being shameless, saying that while he and the Xie family were at war, she was just picking up the pieces from behind.
Banaro lost the Bear Kingdom under Mahon's attack, further diminishing Arnaud's territory.
Even though Al-Na was furious, he didn't dare to lead his troops in a direct assault. Now, Al-Na was discussing with the generals in the camp how to cut off Mahon's Changhong cannons.
A strategist pointed out the weaknesses of the Changhong cannon: it was heavy and difficult to transport, and it also required a base of operations. Transportation was extremely inconvenient.
In fact, the Northern Hu and Xiongnu faced the same problem with firearms. The only way to counter them was through weapon upgrades. Relying on a surprise attack to destroy their cannons was also highly unrealistic.
Because the cannon barrels of the Changhong cannons were practically worthless, Ma Hong could easily replace them! New Tianjing now had abundant coal reserves, its steelmaking technology had greatly improved, and gold and iron mines had been discovered in the Jiujin region. With such a favorable geographical location, the steel produced could now be used to mass-produce cannon barrels.
Considering how formidable New Tianjing's ability to generate revenue is, its defensive capabilities and logistical production are even more impressive, demonstrating a remarkable leap forward.
Alna clenched his fists and angrily punched the tree: "Why? Why?! Their New Tianjing has everything, while our Northern Hun has been developing for almost twenty years, yet we can't even compare to them in three years!!"
"Is there any justice left?!"
He looked up and shouted, "God! You're so unfair!!"
Banaro added, "And that Xie Ying, I suspect she's not even human."
Both men were deeply saddened. The situation was now settled. New Tianjing had control of six kingdoms and reclaimed one, making a total of seven. Add to that the incompetent Huayin Kingdom, and that makes eight kingdoms in total.
Their expansion has reached its limit. They can't expand any further.
Looking at the map again, the area occupied by the Northern Hu and Xiongnu in the central region of the Ten Kingdoms was actually surrounded by the new Tianjing.
Arna felt like he was going to vomit blood when he thought about how he hadn't taken any good places. Fortunately, the areas behind them were guarded by his own people, and the Northern Region was also under the control of Shan Yuhou.
Al-Na wasn't worried about being stabbed in the back for the time being. He only needed to maintain the current distribution, counter New Tianjing, and hold off their encirclement, preventing them from going to Luerqu.
The defense of Luerqu is relatively weak at present.
The Northern Hu and Xiongnu have been circling the coastline towards Luerqu to provide support, and now they have five ships full of people. The treasure ships, as massive as mountains, have a cannon installed on their decks at some unknown time.
A ship couldn't resist going to attack the delta.
They were only about two kilometers from the delta when suddenly the Longhong cannons fired, blasting through the ship's gun emplacements. Only three shots were fired before the ship slunk away.
Xie Ji was overjoyed when his scouts told him that the Xiongnu warships had fled!
The ship fled back to Luerqu and told Shan Yuhou about the long-range artillery in the delta. Shan Yuhou immediately ordered the artillerymen to garrison Luerqu city gate and not to go out and provoke anything until the time was right.
As for the gun emplacements of the ship that was bombed, the shipwright informed them that it would take seven days and seven nights to repair them.
The situation on both sides was relatively stable. Only Anshan Jun looked as if his father had died. In fact, his father had died long ago. Otherwise, his elder brother would not have succeeded to the throne.
Anshan Jun never expected that Dali Luo would secretly go to Niliupei to seek revenge. His revenge attempt failed, and he was even knocked unconscious by his own men, allowing Xie Bing to take advantage of the situation.
This is perhaps the most incompetent general in the history of the Northern Xiongnu. If word got out, everyone would laugh their heads off. Now, he can't even suppress public opinion; news of Dali Luo's capture has already spread throughout the Northern Xiongnu.
Strangely, Aqina did not react strongly, and even the state shaman said it was all fate.
It was as if Dali Luo had been abandoned; no Northern Hu or Xiongnu came to negotiate its redemption.