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Xiahou Zhongtian was pushed outside to be executed in front of the crowd, yet he continued to discuss how to respond to the enemy's attack in the court. "Wu Marshal, what do you think we should do to counter their assault?"
"Your Majesty, I believe we should quickly mobilize troops from the other three cities to rescue our imperial capital. If we delay any longer, it may be too late."
"Send orders to Starshine City and Star Gate City to each gather ten thousand soldiers to reinforce the imperial capital, and Wenxing City should mobilize twenty thousand. There must be no mistakes."
After Yelü Chuxing's command was issued, three mounts flew out from the three city gates, with messengers traveling day and night to deliver the messages.
These messengers, earlier soldiers from Starfall Kingdom, swiftly delivered the messages to the three cities. The city defense generals in those cities immediately dispatched a portion of their soldiers to support the imperial capital. As a result, the number of soldiers in Starshine City and Star Gate City increased to twenty-five thousand, while Wenxing City only had five thousand soldiers left for routine patrol duties.
Due to varying distances and timing of troop movements, the three groups of soldiers from Starfall Kingdom arrived at their respective target cities almost simultaneously.
When Yelü Chuxing, Wu Ta, and Jiang Xingguo stood on the city tower of Starlight City and saw the army of Starfall Kingdom, they felt a mix of emotions that only they understood.
At this moment, the army of Starfall Kingdom had set up camp three kilometers away from Starlight City. Sun Liang arrived with Liu Guanlei's three brothers at a location just one kilometer from Starlight City. Sun Liang wanted to experience the feeling of having everything under his control, especially when facing a great power like Hua Xing; their hearts surged with excitement.
When Wu Ta saw Liu Guanfeng, he was taken aback and immediately instructed his soldiers to keep a close watch on their every move. What surprised them even more was that after the soldiers from Starfall Kingdom reached below Starlight City, they did not take any further action. Every day they would rise on time for military drills and occasionally march toward Starlight City in full formation. The soldiers on the city walls promptly reported this to Wu Ta and Yelü Chuxing. However, when they rushed to the walls, all the soldiers from Starfall Kingdom would retreat.
The actions of Starfall Kingdom's soldiers puzzled Wu Ta and others. That day, Wu Ta and Yelü Chuxing experienced false attacks on three consecutive occasions at the city walls. Unable to contain himself any longer, Yelü Chuxing asked Wu Ta beside him: "Grand Marshal, they have been here for five days now without launching any attacks; they are just putting on a show without even striking. Why is that?"
Wu Ta shook his head: "Your Majesty, I am also unclear about what tricks they are playing."
Jiang Xingshi then remarked: "Could they be waiting for something?"
"Waiting for something?" Wu Ta reacted strongly.
"Wu Marshal, what happened to you?" Yelü Chuxing was puzzled as to why Wu Ta reacted so strongly to this statement.
"Your Majesty, you may not know, but back when we were at Shining Star City, the other side was also pretending to be harmless. One day, dozens of carts arrived at their military camp. However, the next day we saw several large and small objects placed on the battlefield. It was precisely because of these objects that we were defeated in less than half a day at Shining Star City."
"Oh? What kind of objects are so powerful?"
"Your Majesty, look over there at the square-shaped large Little Guys in the Starfall Kingdom's military camp. Those large Little Guys are covered with thick animal hides, making it very difficult for our arrows to penetrate. The belly of those large Little Guys can hold many people, and they can shoot at us through small openings on top. When they feel the distance is right, they can set up a platform from above, allowing soldiers inside to directly ascend the city walls via the platform, which is much more efficient than using ladders."
Yelü Chuxing's eyes lit up after hearing this: "Such amazing things exist? No wonder."
"This is just one type; Your Majesty, there are also smaller objects in their military camp. These smaller ones are about five or six meters tall and can launch very large Stones. Many of our city defenders were killed by these Stones. This allowed those large Little Guys to quickly approach our city walls. Our city gate was also smashed open by Stones."
Wu Ta's facial expression was extremely grim, as if he was recalling something he never wanted to remember.
Yelü Chuxing patted Wu Ta's shoulder: "Wu Marshal, you need not blame yourself. Given that the enemy's generals are not inferior to ours and they possess such powerful siege weapons, it is only natural that you would struggle; there is no need to dwell on it."
While comforting Jiang Xingshi, Yelü Chuxing added: "Not only do they have formidable siege weapons, but their Archers are also quite terrifying. There is a type of soldier whose bows have an exceptionally long range—almost more than double that of our arrows. There’s another type of arrow that is small but has a much greater range than our bows. Moreover, their bows can shoot five arrows in succession after being loaded and can simultaneously shoot four or five arrows at once. We suffered greatly from this kind of weapon when attacking Starlight Village. Additionally, they have a type of large arrow cart in their camp. The arrows used by that cart are enormous; if it hits us both, we would surely perish."
"Where did they get so many good weapons?"
"I heard they purchased them from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce."
"Chinese Chamber of Commerce? I've heard of this Merchant Guild; it seems they specialize in weapons and ores. Have someone investigate the background of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce."
By evening, Yelü Chuxing's subordinates reported some information about the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. When Yelü Chuxing and Wu Ta saw the name of the President, they were stunned because it clearly stated Liu Guanfeng's name. Ever since Sun Liang ascended to the throne, Liu Guanfeng had taken on the position of President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce voluntarily; however, regarding the Red Star Mercenary Group and Huaxia First-Class Hall, Liu Guanfeng had not acknowledged any connection.
"It’s no wonder they have such advanced weapons; it turns out Liu Guanfeng is behind the support for Starfall Kingdom."
"How does Liu Guanfeng know about these weapons?"
Jiang Xingshi picked up a piece of paper and said, "It’s written here that there is a most mysterious component within the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which they call the Research Group, aimed at developing some unusual weapons. All the weapons from Starfall Kingdom were developed here."
In Starlight City, Yelü Chuxing was studying Liu Guanfeng and his Merchant Guild along with the weapons they had developed, while outside the city, Sun Liang and the three brothers of the Liu Family were training and patrolling daily. Meanwhile, fierce battles had already erupted in Starshine City and Star Gate City, just a few days' journey away from them.
On the side of Starshine City, Jin Rong set up camp about ten kilometers away from the city. The defenders of Starshine City became tense when they learned that soldiers from Starfall Kingdom were approaching, but relaxed their vigilance upon discovering that there were only ten thousand troops. Following Liu Guanfeng's instructions, they only set up a camp for ten thousand troops, taking turns to eat, so there weren’t many cooking pots, and the soldiers could barely fit together.
Liu Guanfeng was allowing Jin Rong to deceive the enemy into lowering their guard. Sure enough, the general defending the city became complacent about this "ten thousand troops," thinking it impossible to capture a city held by twenty-five thousand defenders with just ten thousand attackers.
Moreover, reports from scouts indicated that this ten thousand consisted entirely of cavalry; attacking a city with cavalry was foolish unless the commander was out of his mind.
After setting up camp for his troops, Little Black took to the skies under the cover of night and flew into Starshine City. He quickly found the infiltrators known as the Four Great Kings. Little Black addressed them, "Our soldiers are just ten miles outside the city. How long will it take you to breach the city gate?"
Chongkuo replied to Little Black, "We can take down a city gate in less than half an hour."
"Good. We’ll schedule our assault for one o'clock tomorrow. You must ensure that the gate is opened on time; then our troops will naturally rush in."
Chongkuo nodded, "Rest assured, we will complete the mission."
After making arrangements, Little Black left Starshine City. At twelve-thirty midnight the next day, Jin Rong ordered all soldiers to mount their horses and head straight for Starshine City. When they arrived, they saw the city gate slowly opening, accompanied by sounds of battle coming from within.
Immediately, Jin Rong commanded all soldiers to advance. The soldiers led by Jin Rong, consisting of members from Iron Bull's Golden Hammer Squad, were exceptionally strong in close combat. As the gates swung wide open, Jin Rong, leading thirty thousand cavalrymen, reached the entrance. After clearing a path at Chongkuo's command, Jin Rong, along with his deputy commanders Sima Kui and Fei Tian, each led ten thousand men—one heading straight for the lord's mansion, another searching for scattered troops within the city, while the last one rushed towards the military camp accompanied by Little Black.
The three forces suddenly stirred up chaos in Starshine City, with many Hua Xing soldiers being slaughtered before they even understood what was happening, and most were captured. Only a small fraction managed to escape Starshine City.
The next day, when people cautiously emerged from their homes, they found the flag of Starfall Kingdom already flying atop the city walls of Starshine City. However, these soldiers did not harass the citizens within the city; instead, they actively helped rebuild the damaged houses, following the orders of Liu Guanfeng.
Meanwhile, in Star Gate City, Liu Qiang and others had already set up their military camp and reassembled the Well Platform and Catapult. On the first day, Liu Qiang ordered stones to be hurled into Star Gate City, causing the defending soldiers to suffer severe injuries due to their inexperience.
For three consecutive days, Liu Qiang attacked the city walls with the Catapult. During this time, he divided his soldiers into five hundred small groups, each consisting of one hundred men. Eighty of them were tasked with gathering Stone, while the remaining twenty were responsible for launching them.
These five hundred groups relentlessly attacked Star Gate City day and night for three days. The first task for the soldiers defending the city each day was to collect the stones thrown by their opponents. Their mental and physical resources were being severely drained every day.
On the fourth day, Liu Qiang changed his strategy and personally led a team to attack Star Gate City using the Well Platform. After three days of stone-throwing attacks, the defenders assumed that was all their opponents could do and adopted very targeted hiding strategies. By the time they realized what was happening, Liu Qiang had already led his team up onto the city walls. To make matters worse for the defenders of Star Gate City, there was also an air force involved.
The air force would periodically launch aerial strikes on Star Gate City, dropping stones, wood, incendiary devices, and more. Therefore, even though those soldiers could rest in the city, they still could not sleep peacefully.
As Liu Qiang led his men into Star Gate City, many soldiers simply dropped their weapons because they knew that once captured, they would no longer be targeted by aerial attacks and could finally get a good night's sleep.
When news of both cities falling to Starfall Kingdom reached Starlight City, Yelü Chuxing and Wu Ta appeared ashen-faced. Especially Yelü Chuxing, who had sacrificed most of Huaxing Kingdom due to a moment's lapse in judgment and a false report from a Divine Envoy. This was unprecedented since the establishment of Huaxing Kingdom.
Yelü Chuxing sighed deeply: "Heaven, are you determined to destroy my Hua Xing? How can I face my ancestors in the afterlife?"
At that moment, Jiang Xingshi reassured Yelü Chuxing: "Your Majesty need not worry. As long as both I and Wu Ta are alive, there will be a day when we can turn things around for Hua Xing. Please do not blame yourself and take care of your health."
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