Chapter 1025

Chapter 1025: The Dragon Soars Through the Sky (Part 1)

Woo~

Accompanied by the mighty and resounding horn sound, the city gate of Hanhai Pass slowly opened to the sides under the powerful turning of a giant winch.

Since its establishment, this fortress guarding the border between Dayang and Dayan had seldom opened its main gate; most of the time, only a side gate was used for merchants to pass through.

But today was clearly a special day.

When the heavy cast iron gates, each weighing tens of thousands of pounds, fully opened, the fully-armed new Hanhai army marched out in formation, like a vast torrent flowing westward.

"Out of the pass! Out of the pass!"

The loud slogans echoed everywhere.

Wang Chen stood atop the tall city wall, overlooking the imposing army preparing to leave the pass alongside Wu Zhao.

For hundreds of years, regardless of how relationships between the two nations fluctuated, the Dayang army had never set foot on Yan’s territory.

The reasons were complex.

On one hand, the successive Liang Emperors lacked the ambition to expand westward and had no intention of exhausting national resources for it.

Secondly, the strength of Dayan was quite similar to that of Dayang; if a war broke out between them, it would only benefit the northern power, Daqi.

Thus, over the years, Dayang and Dayan maintained a high degree of tacit understanding, refraining from invading each other, and even forming an alliance through marriage.

However, after Emperor Shaowu’s fall and Emperor Yuanjing’s successful coup, Dayang fell into internal turmoil, and Dayan, seeking the initiative, dispatched troops to attack Hanhai Pass.

As a result, they faced a humiliating defeat.

But in that defeat, the biggest loss was the three sixth-level martial honors; the main force of the Yan army remained unharmed.

Two years later, they returned!

Yet today was different; after receiving intelligence from Yan, Wang Chen discussed it with Wu Zhao and decided to take action, actively engaging in battle with the Yan army to thoroughly eliminate the trouble from the west.

A legion of the Kingdom of Xiliang, consisting of thirty thousand new Hanhai troops, fifty thousand Divine Machine troops, along with a large number of auxiliary troops, officially took its first step toward dominating the world!

Once the entire army exited the city, Wang Chen turned to Wu Zhao and said, "Your Majesty, wait for my victorious return!"

"Mm!"

Wu Zhao nodded vigorously, her phoenix eyes glistening with tears.

She believed that Wang Chen would lead the Xiliang army to victory over the Yan army, but at this moment, her heart was stirred with emotion.

An impulse welled up within her, prompting this queen to disregard the surrounding guards and suddenly leap into Wang Chen’s embrace. "Master!"

Wang Chen’s broad and warm embrace made her feel as if she had returned to the past.

Wang Chen was taken aback for a moment, then gently brushed her silky hair and smiled, "You’ve grown up."

Wu Zhao sniffed and reluctantly stepped out of Wang Chen’s embrace.

Wang Chen reached out to wipe away the tears at the corner of her eyes, then soared high into the air, unfolding his invisible wings to fly forward.

This battle concerned the national fortune of Xiliang, so he led the troops personally.

Countless soldiers inside and outside Hanhai Pass witnessed this scene and erupted in thunderous cheers!

In recent years, Xiliang had grown increasingly powerful, and Wang Chen’s influence had not dissipated with his retreat into the background but had instead become even stronger, engraved in the hearts of millions of soldiers and civilians in Hanhai and West Sea counties.

Everyone believed that under his leadership, the Xiliang Army would be invincible and unstoppable!

"Advance! Advance! Advance!"

"Victory to Ten Thousand!"

The morale of the Xiliang Army soared to its peak as they marched proudly on foreign soil.

At this moment, Wang Chen, who had arrived at the central army, gathered many military officials, pointing to the map hanging on the cart, and said, "In three days, I want to capture Dongwang City!"

Dongwang City was the easternmost city of the Yan Kingdom, located just thirty miles from Hanhai Pass.

This city was built to respond to the existence of Hanhai Pass and to provide support and logistics for the attacking Liang army, later becoming a transit point for merchants.

It was the eastern outpost of Dayan, not only with a very strong fortification but also housing a crack elite army.

Three years ago, when eighty thousand Liang soldiers tried to capture Dongwang City, they couldn’t have done it even in a year and a half.

Now the generals of the Xiliang Army exchanged glances and replied in unison, "We obey the orders!"

They truly had that confidence!

With a show of force, the one hundred thousand strong Xiliang Army, including auxiliary troops, spread out a lengthy Marching Formation on the plains outside the pass, showing no intention of concealing their movements.

In the ranks of the Divine Machine Troops, packhorses pulled artillery, and the jet-black cannon bodies gleamed with a metallic shine.

These field cannons were modern products built with better materials and higher craftsmanship, equipped with various types of ammunition, their power far surpassing previous models.

Each soldier in the Divine Machine Troops was armed with flintlock rifles, handguns, and bayonets, everyone was fully equipped to the teeth!

As for the thirty thousand new Hanhai Army soldiers, they were all cavalry, including a unit of five thousand Heavy-Armored Cavalry.

As the main force advanced, Light Cavalry Scouts broke from the formation to search for enemies within a radius of several dozen miles.

Screech~

Suddenly, a sharp cry of an eagle rang out from the sky, and a large eagle circled above the Xiliang Army, occasionally emitting a sharp scream.

Wang Chen, stationed in the central army, looked up, his right index and middle fingers joined to form a sword finger, pointing at the soaring eagle in the sky.

Puff!

The eagle burst into a cloud of blood mist, countless feathers falling from the sky.

This was merely an unimportant episode during the advance of the Xiliang Army, which reached the foot of Dongwang City without encountering any obstacles.

They made camp to rest five miles away from the city walls.

At this moment, the gates of the Yan city were tightly shut, displaying a state of heightened vigilance, with large cannons mounted atop the walls.

These cannons had never appeared in Dongwang City before; they were only set up with the arrival of the Xiliang Army, indicating that the Yan side had been plotting for some time and was already prepared to attack Hanhai Pass again.

However, they clearly did not expect that this time it would be the Xiliang Army taking the initiative!

This was indeed quite incredible; after all, defending Hanhai Pass was undoubtedly much easier than attacking Dongwang City. The defenses on the Dongwang side seemed to have caught them off guard. Many defensive measures were obviously hastily put together, appearing crude and chaotic.

"Grandmaster!"

A guard came to report, "Dongwang City has just sent envoys wanting to meet with you."

"I refuse to see them."

Wang Chen decisively replied, "Tell them they have three hours to decide whether to surrender or not!"

At this point, negotiation was meaningless.

The enemy had only two choices: either kneel or die in battle!

Three hours quickly passed, and no surrender flag was raised on the city walls of Dongwang.

This was entirely within Wang Chen’s expectations; he ordered, "Attack the City!"