Chapter 893

Xue Gui was a captain under the Sima family.

Ever since the Sima family joined the merchants’ council, he was dispatched to the Lin’an front line to resist the imperial army’s attack.

For almost two months, they successfully held back the steadily advancing imperial army outside Lin’an City, utilizing the cover advantage of the trenches.

Although there were still heavy casualties in daily battles, the mutual firing had not yet driven their morale to the brink of collapse.

However, a different situation arose today. They observed strange behavior from the Great Yu Empire soldiers, but they could not understand why.

Until he saw dense masses of short sticks flying towards the trench he was in, followed by violent explosions covering a large area. The soldiers in the trenches were completely unprepared at this moment.

The explosion sent large numbers of soldiers falling into pools of blood. For a time, the foremost trench became a living hell.

A hand grenade exploded not far from Xue Gui. The powerful shockwave directly threw him to the ground. At the same time, piercing screams continuously rang out.

Xue Gui was stunned. He had never seen such a weapon before. For a moment, he trembled all over with fear.

But this was only the first round. Before they could even catch their breath, a second round of throws occurred. Soldiers who had just scrambled to their feet suffered a second bombardment.

And in this explosion, he heard a nightmare-like sound: the Great Yu Empire’s charge bugle had sounded.

Opposite, Lu Fei looked excited. Eight hundred hand grenades from two rounds of throws covered an area of over one hundred meters, meaning eight hand grenades exploded per meter.

Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the bombardment, Lu Fei decided to focus on breaking through this hundred-meter defensive zone. Once they entered the trenches, the convenient reloading method of the breech-loading rifle would give them an advantage.

“Charge!”

Amidst the sound of the charge bugle, company commanders, battalion commanders, and regimental commanders led the charge, each taking the lead. The Great Yu Empire’s military law stipulated that officers must lead the charge. Those who flinched would be relieved of their duties and handed over to a military court.

The purpose of this rule was to foster the army’s courageous fighting spirit.

The soldiers, seeing their officers charging, roared and rushed forward.

In the army, they never envied their officers. All they felt was awe, because they understood that those who could become officers were certainly not cowards.

Especially those officers with imperial relatives’ backgrounds, the current Emperor demanded even more strictness from them. All imperial family members, whether among the common people or on the battlefield, had to serve as role models, and leading the charge on the battlefield was also a front-line duty.

Due to this reason, the soldiers increasingly identified with the imperial family. Under the leadership of the current Emperor, the imperial family meant bearing more responsibility.

Although Lu Fei wanted to charge forward with a gun like the soldiers, as the commander of the battle, he could not be so reckless.

Holding his telescope, he could only worry inwardly.

After the charge began, the dazed Lin’an army was simply unable to organize effective resistance. Sporadic gunshots were insufficient to stop the imperial army’s charge.

Soon, the first batch of soldiers charged to the trenches. A portion of them, holding bayonet-fixed Falcon Rifles, leaped into the trenches, while another portion of soldiers crouched or lay down to provide covering fire.

“Boom, boom, boom…”

The cannons in the Sima Army’s trench positions began firing. The prominent gun emplacements in the trenches continuously poured solid shot, and some cannons began using grapeshot.

Under the artillery fire, the charging soldiers began to suffer casualties. They immediately sought cover on the battlefield. Soldiers on open ground adopted a prone firing position.

“Destroy all their cannons! Damn it, where did they get more cannons?” Lu Fei was furious.

During this period of siege, their field cannons had almost destroyed all the powerful families’ short-range artillery. He hadn’t expected another batch of cannons to appear today.

“Boom, boom, boom…”

Cannons loaded with explosive shells immediately began bombarding the enemy’s gun emplacements. One emplacement after another was overturned in the explosions.

Under the suppression of their own artillery, the Sima family’s cannons fell silent. Seizing this opportunity, the second batch of a regiment of soldiers began to charge.

At this time, the soldiers of the first regiment engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Sima family’s army in the trenches.

The grenadiers, mixed among the musketeers, intermittently threw hand grenades at the dense enemy formations that charged them. At the same time, the breech-loading rifles displayed their advantage.

The soldiers moved agilely in the trenches, able to reload their bullets from any position. In contrast, the Sima family’s soldiers could only stand rigidly while reloading, which made them targets for the imperial soldiers’ firing.

For a time, the Sima family’s soldiers suffered heavy casualties. The central trench was successfully breached.

Seeing his soldiers gaining the upper hand, Lu Fei ordered all soldiers to press forward. The two-month stalemate was finally broken.

“Kill!”

Under his command, the remaining over thirty thousand soldiers launched a collective charge.

At the same time, Luo Xin also launched a charge on the west side of Lin’an. Facing the attack of over sixty thousand imperial soldiers, the Sima family’s army finally collapsed.

The trenches had lost their advantage. In front of the imperial soldiers’ superior firepower, they gained no advantage whatsoever.

Especially facing the imperial soldiers’ skilled bayonet techniques, they had no hope of victory in close combat.

On the city wall of Lin’an, Sima Hao watched everything, his heart filled with anxiety. Now, their dug trenches were continuously being occupied. Soldiers scrambled to escape, and the war began to become one-sided.

As he was consumed by anxiety, he suddenly saw four or five hot air balloons drifting towards Lin’an City.

“Damn it, damn it!” Sima Hao cursed. He had grown accustomed to these hot air balloons in the past two months. Every time they appeared, they would drop large quantities of paper.

These papers were filled with writing, all condemning them as rebels, while also publicizing the ongoing reforms in the areas outside Lin’an.

Perhaps this rout was related to the suddenly appearing new weapons, but he also understood that the propaganda during this period had shaken the resolve of many soldiers.

The other powerful families on the city wall panicked upon seeing this. Lin’an City was now an isolated city. The task given to them by the council was to hold Lin’an City and await reinforcements.

But now they had held out for two months, and the council had not sent a single soldier. Now, the Sima family finally realized a problem.

That bastard Cao Kun was merely using them to delay the imperial army’s southward advance. All the promises he made were false.

However, realizing this now was too late. Imperial soldiers had already attacked the city, and the imperial army’s artillery had also pushed their cannons to the front of the city.

“Boom, boom, boom…”

The flashing artillery fire and gunsmoke from hundreds of cannons made Sima Hao dizzy. Looking at the scattered soldiers, he laughed like a madman.

“It is Heaven that wants to destroy my Sima family, not my fault!” Sima Hao looked like he was going insane.

Amidst his roars, the city gate of Lin’an City collapsed with a thunderous crash. With earth-shattering cries of “kill,” imperial soldiers, like tigers and wolves, stormed into Lin’an City.