Chapter 23
Seeing the speechless expressions of Hua Mulan and the others, Lia could only laugh and say, "When I develop firearms later, you will realize that the hand grenade is just mediocre."
Of course, the hand grenade has its uses, and the gun has its uses. Although guns are powerful, when facing enemies fighting while hiding in small houses, the hand grenade is still far more effective.
Naturally, the hand grenades, which Lia considered nothing special, completely stunned the soldiers of the Wei State. Leopard also hadn't expected the enemy's weapons to be so powerful.
A single hand grenade thrown down exploded immediately, and soldiers within seven or eight meters instantly collapsed, falling in swathes as if they were being mowed down like grass!
Leopard could only watch helplessly as explosions continuously occurred in the open space outside the distant city gate. Even wooden shields were useless for the soldiers of the Wei State.
Limbs and severed arms were blasted everywhere, and some were injured by flying shrapnel. Wails of agony filled the air, while those who weren't hit scattered and fled like headless flies.
"Damn it, what kind of weapon is this? If this continues, forget about these ten thousand Saber and Shield Soldiers; even if he commits all thirty thousand troops, it won't be enough!"
Thinking of how he had led fifty thousand elite soldiers of the Wei State only to be utterly defeated, if His Majesty found out, wouldn't he be flayed alive!
As soon as he thought of this, Leopard felt his vision darken, and he couldn't help but harbor thoughts of retreat.
"General, what should we do now?" Seeing that twenty thousand of their elite soldiers had already been lost beneath the enemy's city wall, the other commanders could only look toward Leopard.
"What should we do? How should I know what to do!" Leopard glared fiercely at the commander. He had fought wars for decades, yet he had never witnessed such a scene.
But who told him he was the Commanding General this time?
Leopard pondered for a moment. He realized that retreating now might save the remaining soldiers, but it would ruin his reputation.
Leading fifty thousand elite soldiers only to be routed and unable to even breach the city wall—if this reached His Majesty's ears, he would certainly be executed!
Thinking this, Leopard decided to send another ten thousand men to try. If the fierce assault truly failed, he would have to give up. Besides, did the enemy really possess that many of these weapons?
Leopard was skeptical. Such powerful weapons couldn't be supplied indefinitely; otherwise, the enemy could use them to counterattack their Wei State. Therefore, the enemy's stockpile must be limited!
With this thought, Leopard regained his confidence.
Just as Leopard was about to order the companies to attack in waves, he suddenly noticed the enemy pushing strange, black, barrel-like objects onto the city wall.
"What is that?" The commanders on Leopard's side all showed confused expressions.
Chapter 54: Planting a Small Mushroom Cloud
"No good, could that be—!"
Leopard suddenly remembered the intelligence reports brought back to the Wei State, which mentioned that the enemy possessed a black, long-barreled weapon capable of blowing people directly into minced meat. Could this be it!
What Leopard didn't know was that Explosives had already been pre-buried beneath the ground where they stood. As soon as Lia fired the cannons, the buried Explosives would be ignited instantly.
At that time, they would either be blasted sky-high by the buried Explosives or instantly subjected to temperatures of over a thousand degrees, potentially being roasted alive on the spot.
Thinking of the imminent misery of these soldiers, Lia sighed helplessly. But this was war. If she wasn't ruthless enough, then the commanders who followed her would eventually be branded as Rebel Leaders by the enemy.
They would be completely slaughtered, becoming military achievements for the enemy, and finally, Common People under her rule would become targets of the Aristocratic Families' insane retaliation. Therefore, these people opposite her must die!
"Fire!" Following Lia's emotionless command, dozens of Pine Wood Cannons simultaneously spat flames from their muzzles. Accompanied by the sounds of "Bang! Bang! Bang!", dozens of cannonballs flew hundreds of meters and landed directly in the enemy's formation.
First, there was a group of soldiers who were blasted into the air. Then, a tremor suddenly came from beneath the enemy's feet. Just as the enemy troops were wondering what was happening, thinking it was an earthquake, a violent "Boom" suddenly erupted from underground.
The entire ground seemed to collapse suddenly like noodles, and countless soldiers fell directly to the ground. Then, a powerful Shockwave erupted from underground, accompanied by another "Boom."
Countless screaming soldiers were flung into the air, blasted twenty meters high by the Shockwave. Fire-colored light erupted from the ground, followed by a massive pillar of flame soaring skyward, resembling a gigantic Mushroom Cloud. The earth tore open, like the arrival of the apocalypse!
Even Lia and the others, who were hundreds of meters away, could feel the entire city wall shaking from the tremor.
It can be said that in order to terrify the enemy forces in this war, Lia used nearly all the Explosives she had collected, burying a staggering 40 tons of Explosives underground!
Even if these soldiers weren't instantly killed by the blast, they would die from the fall or be burned to death when they dropped from the sky.
Everyone watched this scene in shock. Even the Methods of Immortals couldn't surpass this, right?
Even Common People in Tianshui Commandery noticed the distant tremor and the towering pillar of fire.
It can be said that this single gunpowder explosion directly claimed the lives of thousands of enemy soldiers and injured tens of thousands.
Although Leopard, as the Commanding General, sensed that something was wrong, he immediately protected himself using his Internal Force and True Qi, and quickly fled into the distance. However, the high temperature of the flames was something he simply could not withstand.
Fortunately, the flames only lasted for a little over ten seconds before disappearing completely.
Even so, his entire body had turned pitch black, his hair and eyebrows were burned away, and dark red blood stains covered his skin. He didn't need to guess what he looked like now.
He just glanced around and froze instantly. It was like hell; the ground was covered with various burned soldiers, constantly steaming, and the surrounding air even felt warped.
This was him, standing on the edge. He dared not even imagine the fate of the soldiers who had been in the center!
The soldiers who were slightly further away were unaffected, but judging by their appearance, they had already been completely terrified into idiocy.
Enduring the intense pain from the high temperatures on his body, he used his remaining Internal Force to rush out of this high-temperature battlefield, quickly ran toward a nearby soldier, and immediately mounted a startled horse.
"General, are you alright?" The soldier whose horse was taken cautiously looked at the Commanding Officer, who was almost unrecognizable and swaying precariously on the horse.
Leopard glanced at the soldier, then looked at the scene of "corpses strewn everywhere" in the distance. He didn't even have the courage to rally the fleeing troops. He immediately turned his horse around and shouted to the other equally stunned soldiers, "Retreat!"
Seeing Leopard flee without a word, the other commanders and soldiers who could still move were terrified out of their wits. They ran behind Leopard like stray dogs, secretly cursing their parents for not giving them two more legs, none of them daring to look back.
Seeing this scene, Lia shouted directly from the city wall, "Pursue and kill the enemy!"
Following Lia's words, the soldiers snapped out of their awe at the god-like scene. The city gates were opened, and a cavalry unit rushed out in pursuit of the enemy... Leopard rode his horse almost frantically, only daring to stop and rest briefly once the pursuing soldiers were out of sight.
He hadn't felt it before, but now that he had calmed down, he realized that his entire body felt like it was being bitten by ants, and the pain made him want to scratch.
But he knew that in his current condition, he absolutely couldn't scratch, as that would only make the pain worse. He could only use his True Qi to forcibly suppress the suffering temporarily.
Looking back, he saw that of the fifty thousand elite soldiers he had led, only a few hundred were still following him. Thinking of this, he didn't know how he would explain things to His Majesty upon returning.
"Sir, what should we do next, having suffered such a crushing defeat..." The commanders gathered together, looking cautiously at Leopard.
Leopard glanced at the commanders, who were just as terrified as he was, and sighed, saying, "This is not your fault. When we face His Majesty, I will explain everything. The decision rests with His Majesty."
"General, those weapons used by the Rebel Leaders... what exactly are they?" Thinking of the scene just moments ago, the commanders couldn't help but shudder.
"I don't know." Leopard shook his head.
"Could it be that a Celestial God is helping them?" one commander whispered.
"Nonsense! If anyone were to be helped, it would be our Great Wei, not a mere Rebel Leader! Those Rebel Leaders have simply mastered weapons we don't know about." Upon hearing this, Leopard glared fiercely at the commander.
Heavenly God helps the Rebel Leader instead of the Wei State? Isn't that saying the Wei State's destiny is over! If His Majesty heard this, it would mean execution.
"General, if these Rebel Leaders use these weapons to attack our Wei State, what should we do?" A general's face showed deep worry.
Chapter 55: Complete Victory
"In my opinion, the Rebel Leaders' weapons are only good for defense. If they could attack cities, they would have acted long ago." After calming down, his mind temporarily returned. Leopard pondered the battle against the Rebel Leaders.
Although the power of the hand grenade is decent, it still relies on manual throwing, and it doesn't shoot as far as arrows. It shouldn't be that effective in siege warfare.
As for the cannon with the black tube, he had witnessed its power, but he didn't know how effective it would be if it struck a city wall.
As for the inexplicable exploding flames beneath their feet, he still hadn't figured out what was going on, but it must have been something the Rebel Leaders created and had nothing to do with the cannon. Otherwise, if the weapon were that powerful, they would have used it to attack them already.
The Rebel Leaders were too terrifying. In any case, Leopard dared not return to face them for the time being.
However, some things still needed to be done. Thinking of this, Leopard instructed his subordinates: "Send some men to gather the routed soldiers. Gather as many as you can."
Leopard's decision made the generals breathe a sigh of relief. They were afraid that Leopard, in a moment of madness, would lead them back into the fray.
In fact, Leopard was acting out of necessity. Leading five tens of thousands of elite Wei State soldiers only to suffer a crushing defeat would have a terrible impact on the court. It might even cause other Rebel Leaders within the Wei State to rise up in revolt.
The most important thing now was to gather the routed soldiers, take them back to Chang'an, recruit some new soldiers, and firmly hold Chang'an so that the Rebel Leaders wouldn't have a chance to take it.
Otherwise, if they lost the battle and Chang'an was also lost, his sin would be immense!
As long as Chang'an wasn't lost, the Rebel Leaders would be trapped in Western Liang, and the population of Western Liang could not compare to the current territory of the Wei State.
As long as they could deal with the Song State, wouldn't Western Liang be theirs for the taking afterward?
If they fought the Rebel Leaders to a mutual loss, it would only benefit the Song State. Therefore, eliminating the Song State must come first!
Leopard had been familiar with military treatises since childhood, and of course, he knew which choice was most beneficial to the Wei State right now. As long as they could turn the tide, the previous loss of troops and generals was nothing!
Half a day later, the generals who went to gather the remnants returned. The leading general cupped his hands toward Leopard and said, "General, most of our soldiers were captured by the enemy. We only managed to gather back less than two thousand men."
Leopard hummed and said, "No matter. I had already expected this result. After returning to Chang'an, we can just recruit more soldiers."
Hearing Leopard say this, the general's face became somewhat excited: "General, I think those Rebel Leaders might be using evil magic, so when we were gathering the routed soldiers just now, we took the opportunity to search for some things in the nearby villages."
"We prepared plenty of things like black dog blood, menstrual cloth, and chamber pots. When we encounter those Rebel Leaders, we'll sprinkle these things out first, which will surely greatly reduce the power of the Rebel Leaders' evil magic!"
Leopard: "...In any case, let's retreat to Chang'an first." Leopard glanced at his colleagues who had luckily survived. He estimated that they wouldn't dare lead troops to attack the Rebel Leaders again.
The same went for him. Even if he were punished by His Majesty upon his return, he would still advise against engaging in conflict with the Rebel Leaders again until they fully understood the purpose of these weapons.
The Wei State could no longer withstand such turmoil. The loss of five tens of thousands of elite soldiers this time could be said to have severely crippled the Wei State.
Having to guard against a possible sneak attack from the Song State while also fighting the Rebel Leaders might cause the Wei State to collapse entirely. As long as the Rebel Leaders didn't come to attack the Wei State, they would ignore them for now.
Outside Tianshui Commandery, Lia was leading people to collect the Wei State soldiers who had knelt in surrender or been killed and wounded by the explosions.
What was rather amusing was that these Wei State soldiers all believed that Lia had received help from the Heavenly God or that she could use evil magic.
Consequently, when Lia led her people out, the Wei State soldiers, whether injured or not, obediently chose to kneel and beg for surrender. No one resisted, even when Lia led her people to tie them up.
Once the surrenderers were almost all gathered, a general couldn't help but complain to Li Lin: "General Li, fighting a war like this—no one would believe it if we told them, damn it, right?"
Li Lin glanced at his subordinate and at Lia, who was accepting the soldiers' surrender in the distance, and nodded: "You are right. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either. Perhaps the Lord really is a Divine Maiden reincarnation."
"General Li, do you think the enemy will dare to bring troops here again?" the general asked curiously.
Li Lin pondered, "If I were the enemy general this time, I would probably carry a lifetime of fear. Until the characteristics of these weapons are fully understood, I wouldn't dare return. Of course, I don't rule out that some other reckless fool might come."
"Indeed. Such a massive display. Even we, the victors, feel terrified, let alone the opponents?" The general nodded.
Lia was very happy, so happy she wanted to sing.
Besides capturing so many soldiers, the enemy also provided her with many weapons and armor, as well as over ten thousand laborers.
It must be noted that these laborers were not counted among the elite soldiers; they were logistics personnel.
These laborers and equipment were precisely what Western Liang lacked the most.
Furthermore, there was a significant amount of money and grain. This single battle brought Lia a tremendous profit.
Aside from the consumption of gunpowder, Lia suffered almost no losses in this battle. Now that she had obtained tens of thousands of weapons and armor, tens of thousands of people, and a month's worth of rations for five tens of thousands of troops, how could she not be happy!
Having won such a great victory this time, the Wei State should not make any more moves. She could take some time to recuperate, and then lead her army to conquer all The various kingdoms of the Western Regions and incorporate them into her territory first!
With the population of the Western Regions, she would be able to develop rapidly.
As for the Wei State, which is extremely vengeful, mobilizing another army of over a hundred thousand is fundamentally impossible. Moreover, a newly conscripted army requires more than half a year of training and is not easily raised.
War is not a child's game. Even if the enemy really intends to raise an army of over a hundred thousand to attack her,
doing so would inevitably leave the Wei State's interior empty. The deployment of a large army would easily be discovered by the Liu Song Dynasty. If they seized this opportunity to march north, the Wei State could declare itself finished.
One must remember that during the Tumu Crisis of the Great Ming, two hundred thousand troops were declared finished, which almost led to the collapse of the entire Ming Dynasty. This shows that so-called elite soldiers are not easily cultivated.
Chapter 56: Troops Pointed at Chang'an
Of course, the Wei State could still muster several hundred thousand troops at all costs, but that would first cause Common People to suffer unbearable hardship. Even before attacking Western Liang, domestic rebellions would already erupt.
This is also why Lia was confident that the enemy would not attack her again.
Because the Northern Wei has not yet stabilized, it has the Nomadic Confederation watching covetously from above, and the Liu Song Dynasty waiting for an opportunity below. If the Wei State were to bring a large army to attack her again, those parties would certainly not sit idly by and let such a good opportunity pass.
If the enemy were truly shameless, Lia would also choose a shameless method: directly use Undead Mode and fight them to the death.
The main reason she didn't want to use this was that it was something that couldn't see the light of day. Just thinking about a group of skeletons felt chilling. Haven't they seen in novels that Necromancers are universally reviled?
Even in the worldview of Diablo, Necromancers, despite being heroes who saved the world, were still feared by others. This shows that even if this magic is used for good, people will still be afraid and terrified of it.
If she, such a positive figure, were advertised as a demoness who manipulated corpses, it would be truly counterproductive!
Therefore, Lia would never use such a thing unless she was at her wit's end.
Moreover, according to Merlin, Immortals exist in this world, but they are all recluses and do not participate in matters of dynastic change.
However, if she suddenly created an Undead Army, it would inevitably cause these fellows to appear.
Huaxia people have traditionally valued 'resting in peace'. An Undead Army is essentially unusable. Even if she used it, no one could know she had anything to do with it.