Xie Ying paused for a moment. She quickly replied, "This humble general will never allow the enemy to harm the interests of the Western Jin Dynasty in the slightest!"
Si Xitong flicked his sleeves and said loudly, "Go! The first battle of the Northern Expedition is extremely important. Go and win a brilliant victory for me!"
"This humble general obeys the order!!"
Xie Shangguang remained silent. Si Xitong reminded him, "The rear defense on the battlefield is also extremely important. Whether Ma Hong can continue to lead the main force into the country depends entirely on your perseverance."
Xie Shangguang immediately replied excitedly, "Yes! Your Majesty, this humble general will never disappoint you!"
After the three men bowed deeply to Si Xitong, they left Jianzhang Palace. At noon, they boarded a warship and entered Huayin Kingdom by waterway. In just one day, Xie Ying led 10,000 troops to Ai City.
A thousand Hun soldiers and five silver-shield cannons remained here.
Xie Ying set up the Longhong Cannon and, from a distance of two thousand meters, directly blasted down the newly built building in Aicheng.
The Battle of Aicheng is about to begin!
Xie Shangguang waited behind, only to hear the continuous bombardment from the front, followed by the sounds of charging. The battle in Aicheng had begun.
It took two hours for Ai Cheng to kill four hundred enemies and capture six hundred. All of them were handed over to Xie Shangguang.
Xie Shangguang originally intended to kill them all. But since none of the six hundred men dared to resist, he set up a prisoner camp on the spot and assigned people to guard them.
Xie Ying arrived in Aicheng in less than an hour.
The Northern Hu and Xiongnu then received news of the fall of Ai City.
Liu Zi and Lord Anshan could hardly believe that the Western Jin Dynasty dared to attack them now!
Liu Zi and Anshan Jun reached an agreement for the first time: Anshan Jun would deploy troops, and she would provide money and food to jointly suppress the Jingwei Army that had invaded the country.
The nobles, disregarding the rebellious populace, hastily collected grain and delivered it to the Empress Dowager. Taking advantage of this, the Prince of Anshan raised an army of 200,000 within the country.
He also ordered the Mohist disciples to quickly manufacture a batch of firearms. The Mohist disciples refused to obey.
Anshan Jun couldn't stand the temper of these people, so he directly sent men to smash open the Mo Clan's armory and retrieve seven thousand firearms and one hundred cannons.
Therefore, the Mohist disciples also reminded them that these cannons were not yet finished products and there was a risk of them exploding.
With the military emergency at hand, no one could afford to worry about anything else; they immediately deployed the artillery battalion. Seven thousand men, armed with firearms, and a thousand artillerymen, pushing a hundred cannons, guarded the Yuhai Pass, the national border.
When Xie Ying led 10,000 men to Yuhai Pass, it was already night. They brought out their cannons and blasted holes in the city walls of Yuhai Pass that very night. Immediately afterward, the assault troops, armed with new-style firearms, rushed to the corners of the walls and shot them dead with a single shot.
The Hun soldiers also had firearms and opened fire, but their firearms required ten reloads for each shot, making them three times slower than the Imperial Guards.
At this time, the Beijing garrison had made up for its lack of power by using loaded firearms and gunpowder purified by Lu Qing and Azha Weigong.
They fired rapidly, one shot at a time, and reloaded with a single pull.
The Xiongnu guards on the city wall were terrified when they saw the firearms in the hands of the imperial guards. They could load quickly and fire accurately.
Ultimately, it was proven that the Beijing garrison's firearms indeed gave them a first-strike advantage, allowing them to capture Yuhai Pass in a single night and annihilate 5,000 men. With the aid of firearms, taking the lives of 5,000 people became effortless.
They dealt a heavy blow to the Xiongnu army overnight.
When news of the fall of Yuhai Pass reached Baiweng Palace, Liu Zi was still having breakfast. Upon hearing the news, she lost her appetite and immediately demanded to see Anshan Jun.
Anshan Jun had just gotten up and was practicing Tai Chi when he heard that Yuhai Pass had been breached.
Anshan Jun's expression immediately became extremely solemn: "Once Yuhai Pass is breached, the next step will be the outer city. Once the outer city is breached, the prefecture will be lost as well."
"Men, deploy a hundred cannons outside the city. This battle will determine the fate of the prefecture!"
Meanwhile, Ma Hong heard that Xie Ying had broken through Yuhai Pass and was about to rush into the outer city.
He immediately led 50,000 men north, crossed Aicheng, entered Yuhaiguan, and occupied Yuhaiguan.
By this time, Xie Shangguang had completely surrounded the area near the Red River border. As the number of surrendered soldiers at the front decreased, his pressure also lessened.
The deeper into the city, the less willing the Xiongnu soldiers were to surrender; some even fought to the death with the imperial guards.
To avoid wasting time, Xie Ying killed them directly. She no longer had the patience to persuade a group of desperate criminals to surrender.
When Xie Ying stormed into the outer city, she encountered the strongest battle in her history.
The Battle of the Hundred Cannons in the Outer City.
When Xie Ying attacked the outer city, he discovered that 100,000 people were stationed there, completely surrounding the prefecture behind the outer city.
Xie Ying was stunned by the bombardment from a hundred cannons. She immediately led her troops to retreat three miles and began to think of a way to launch a counterattack.
When the cannons fired at the outer city, they found that the city walls were sturdy and unlike Yuhai Pass, they found it to be a genuine anti-cannon fortress.
This siege has escalated into the most difficult battle in history.
Xie Ying really didn't want to stop there. He concentrated ten Changhong cannons and hastily packed sandbags, advancing forward a certain number of meters to form a sand fortress. Arranged in a triangle, each fortress had three firing points, creating the first line of defense and offense.
Xie Ying continued this strategy, sending men to fight while simultaneously digging trenches, dragging the battle out until nightfall.
Everyone began digging trenches, carrying oil lamps. Since the defeat of the pirate group, the Ministry of Works' industry had rapidly absorbed its strengths, and oil lamps were one of them.
With Jack's help, the Ministry of Works learned how to refine lamp oil.
After Aza's imitation, Tianjing produced two thousand oil lamps. Si Xitong then specially arranged for some of the oil lamps to be made and sold by merchants. The imperial court received 60% of each oil lamp, while the remaining 40% went to merchants and craftsmen.
Actually, there are quite a few.
A merchant hired people to produce oil lamps, and the number of oil lamps increased by more than 50,000 at once. However, it was still not enough.
Xie Ying used trenches and makeshift sand fortifications to resist the bullets from the Xiongnu soldiers and used artillery shells to bombard and suppress them with force.
The outer city gate was finally blasted open. Faced with such a large opening, the Xiongnu soldiers collectively pushed their cannons towards the gate. Xie Ying did not send troops to rush in but instead fired cannons at the gate, continuously pushing them inward.
They even resorted to using artillery shells as a substitute. It has to be said that under the suppression of absolute military force, any tactic seems pale and powerless.
The Xiongnu soldiers retreated hastily, seeing that the city walls were riddled with holes and the city gates were insecure, leaking like sieves. Everyone pushed the cannons and withdrew to the prefecture.
Twenty thousand men were left behind to resist Xie Ying's army.
Xie Ying's army was unable to advance an inch. Just as Xie Ying was becoming anxious, Ma Hong's army joined the battle with drums beating.
Ma Hong arrived with 50,000 men, and in just one night, all 20,000 Xiongnu soldiers inside the outer city were killed.
None of these Xiongnu soldiers surrendered. Ma Hong, as a soldier, admired them, but also despised them. For a hundred years, he had despised them for never learning from their defeats and striving for development and prosperity like the people of the Central Plains.
The Northern Expedition was nothing more than the Chinese people reclaiming the homeland they had lost a hundred years ago.
Now, the dream of the Northern Expeditionary Army to pacify the north, which has lasted for another year, can finally be realized.
"Brothers, let's reclaim the land our ancestors lost and wash away their shame!"
"For His Majesty's unification of the land, for the invincibility of the Western Jin Dynasty, charge!!"
Ma Hong's shouts completely mobilized all the soldiers, and they breached the outer city wall, beginning their defense of it. The engineers also began rebuilding the outer city wall as a rear fortress.
Upon learning that the outer city had fallen, Xie Shangguang immediately led his men north. He was determined to defend key routes and ensure the smooth transport of grain from various regions should Xie Ying and General Ma capture even one city.
When the Northern Regions learned that the Imperial Guards had breached the outer city in just one day and one night, they were all horrified by the current military strength of the Western Jin Dynasty.
The Spring Festival is just seven days away.
Many people began to speculate that, given the current strength of the Western Jin Dynasty, they might be able to spend the Spring Festival at the White Weng Palace.
The 70,000-strong Imperial Guard was engaged in fierce fighting on the battlefield of the Northern Expedition.
However, something equally historic happened in the new Tianjing: the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries, East and West, across the ocean for the first time in history.
The Anluo delegation had already arrived in Tianjing from Fengxi Town, awaiting an audience with the Western Jin emperor.
Marilyn happened to be waiting at the palace gate as well. When they saw each other, they were clearly at odds.
Ever since the Anlu delegation discovered that they had been fooled by Marilyn, they have been extremely unhappy and are convinced that Marilyn is a traitor who is assisting the eldest prince.
Marilyn no longer concealed her support; she clearly stated that she supported Prince Johnson, but as for why she did not support Prince George, she could not say.
While waiting, the two sides couldn't help but bicker: "Miss Marilyn, we need an explanation from you afterwards!"
“You deceived us, keeping us in Fengxi Town completely unaware of the situation.”
"You have deceived the State of Jin. When I see the Emperor, I will expose your true colors before him."
"What an wicked woman!"
Marilyn didn't care at all. She smiled and said, "My goal is the same as the delegation's, just the methods are different. Now that diplomatic relations have been established, can you say that I didn't contribute anything?"
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even have been able to get through the gates of Tianjing. You might have been sent back by the emperor’s ministers long ago.”
"It's really unfair that you're not grateful and are instead criticizing me."
The Anlu delegation clearly wasn't buying it. Even if they wouldn't say anything to the Emperor, they'd let Marilyn explain herself to the old King of Anlu.
The sixth day before the Spring Festival.
Si Xitong received the Anluo delegation and Anluo's special envoy, Marilyn. He also granted Marilyn the title of special envoy of the Western Jin Dynasty. The Anluo delegation dared not speak out against this.
Marilyn happily accepted, knowing that returning to her homeland would not only spare her the old king's punishment but would also earn her his respect.
With the protection of the Western Jin emperor, she naturally knew what to do.
Marilyn deliberately destroyed Jack's traces and added him to the death list. At the same time, she had a general understanding of the current military strength of the Western Jin Dynasty; previously, she could only say she had missed opportunities to investigate them.
Now, the Western Jin's northern expedition made Marilyn realize that the Western Jin might not be as powerful as she had imagined. However, the Western Jin had enormous potential and was developing rapidly. Who knew that it might be able to improve its firearms to a level similar to that of Anluo next year? Therefore, Anluo's desire for the Western Jin remained merely a thought.
By the time Anluo Kingdom sends its people over, the Western Jin Dynasty might already have copied Joseph's warships. Besides, they also have a highly experienced military branch on their side, the Xie clan.
There was also a brilliant and resourceful marshal, Xie Lanzhi.
As long as these people were around, the Western Jin Dynasty was destined to enjoy its zenith for the next twenty years.
Even if Marilyn knew certain information, she couldn't reveal it to the old king. She had her own interests at stake, and it would be a pity if her death were used to advance the interests of her motherland. She feared death, and even more so, being sacrificed.
Anluo was, after all, a patriarchal society, unlike the Western Jin Dynasty. Although patriarchy still prevailed, it had a female emperor and a female general. Furthermore, the ministers of the Western Jin Dynasty gradually changed, taking them as their leaders.
If they had worked hard for another twenty years, women in the Western Jin Dynasty would have enjoyed more human rights than those in Anluo Kingdom.
Marilyn herself is a woman and a feminist who advocates for self-reliance. If the progressive ideas of the Western Jin Dynasty could one day influence Anluo, she might even be able to help bring benefits to women by giving them a push!
Marilyn had to admit that she was bribed by the emperor's appointment as a special envoy.
The members of the Anlu delegation all looked uneasy, but they couldn't show it openly. Even though they disliked Marilyn.
The two countries, represented by Marilyn, signed the credentials establishing diplomatic relations.
Si Xitong personally affixed his imperial seal. After the two sides exchanged credentials, Si Xitong separately assigned a warship and a ship full of gifts to escort the Anluo delegation and Marilyn back to their country.
Before returning to her home country, Marilyn asked to see Xie Lanzhi.
After some hesitation, Si Xitong agreed.