Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Boom boom——!
Several explosions were heard.

Several mortar shells rained down from the sky, landing in the midst of the Japanese troops, causing chaos and casualties.

Incendiary bomb isolation wall!

That's right,

Ximen Tang began firing incendiary bombs along the retreat route of the Japanese army.

Some Japanese soldiers who retreated to the area bombed by incendiary bombs were quickly engulfed by flames, letting out miserable screams.

Then,

The elite troops of Ximentang, armed with replica AK47 assault rifles, opened fire on the Japanese soldiers who approached, intending to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Thud-thud-thud!
The assault rifles fired rhythmically, instantly felling rows of Japanese suicide soldiers and other Japanese warriors who rushed forward to fight for their lives.

Moreover, after firing his assault rifle for a while, Simon immediately threw out a grenade.

A deluge of grenades rained down, followed by another violent explosion.

Countless Japanese soldiers who wanted to resist were blown up about 30 meters away from Ximen Hall.

Crossfire!

That's right,

Previously, at long range, Ximentang's mortars and heavy machine guns formed a crossfire, preventing the Japanese army from advancing any further.

And now,
The two sides entered close combat.

Unexpectedly, Simon once again used a replica AK47 assault rifle and grenades to create crossfire suppression.

The Japanese assassins and elite warriors were simply unable to engage in true hand-to-hand combat with Ximen Tang.

The continuous crossfire quickly killed or wounded more than half of the Japanese assassins and samurai.

Without the counterattack of the Japanese samurai and their loyal followers, the Japanese army was thrown into chaos once again.

Simultaneously,

The cannon fodder of the Taiwanese indigenous people and their puppet troops also completely collapsed at this moment.

With the arrival of Ximentang's support, the situation reversed.

Kono Iwao's loyal followers are now reduced to less than twenty.

Moreover, every member of the suicide squad was wounded, with Iwao Kono being particularly badly injured.

His arm was cut by shrapnel, and one of his ears was shot off by a sniper rifle bullet; blood was gushing out continuously.

Simultaneously,

His leg was also injured, pierced by a bullet.

Fortunately, he was highly skilled in martial arts and possessed an unwavering belief in the way of martial arts.

If it were anyone else, they might have collapsed long ago after suffering such severe injuries.

Clang——!
Kono Iwaori then planted his katana into the ground to steady himself and prevent himself from falling.

Fifteen meters in front of him.

Tang Feng led the elite guards of Ximen Hall, pointing their replica AK47 rifles at him.

in addition,

The other two heavy machine gunners beside Tang Feng lay on the ground, using their two heavy machine guns to control the distance between the two sides.

Catch him alive!
This was the order Chen Jie gave to Tang Feng.

Kono Iwaori coughed a few times and glanced at his injuries.

He looked up and sighed. It seemed he could only hold off Ximentang's army for a short while.

This battle,
This will be the final resting place for the Sakurai family's assassins. It's better that they die; at least their deaths will have value.

My lord should have returned to Taipei by now, right?

As a suicide soldier, I have accomplished my mission and upheld the dignity and honor of Japanese warriors.

It's a great pity that I didn't die at the hands of a top swordsman, but rather fell to gunfire.

Pity--!
Kono Iwaori let out a long sigh, his heart filled with resentment.

Although he knew his life was nearing its end.

However, Iwaori Kouno did not give up. He gripped his katana tightly with both hands, took a deep breath, and brought himself to his peak condition.

Then,

He slowly raised his katana horizontally and looked straight ahead.

Clang—!
Several Japanese assassins at the late-stage Transformation Realm beside him, like Kouno Iwaori, raised their katana, intending to sacrifice themselves to the blades.

Cough cough—cough cough—!
Gunshots ring out!

Tranquilizer grenades!
That's right, these are tranquilizer darts fired by Simon's personal guard.

This ammunition was also the latest product developed by Ximentang based on the production line provided by Chen Jie. It was produced in limited quantities and was specially supplied to the Royal Guard.

As the tranquilizer darts were fired, the wounded Japanese samurai and suicide soldiers fell to the ground.

Kono Iwaori was shot and felt his brain buzzing.

He truly lived up to his reputation as a super expert at the Blood Refining Pill Realm. Even after being hit by a tranquilizer dart, he was still able to stand upright and resist the effects of the tranquilizer.

but,

As Ximentang's soldiers stepped forward and took the samurai sword from his hand.

He finally collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.

"This guy truly lives up to his reputation as a Japanese master. Despite suffering such severe injuries, he can still stand up without falling."

"This person is no ordinary person. His martial arts skills are extremely high. I fired five shots in a row just now, and he easily dodged them all."

"If nothing unexpected happens, this person's status in the Japanese army is definitely not low."

"Could this guy be the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army?"

"He shouldn't be the commander. Judging from his clothes, he doesn't look like a commander. He looks more like a Japanese ninja."

"The Japanese ninja's martial arts are so strong. He was able to dodge bullets repeatedly at such close range. If the surroundings hadn't been completely sealed off, he might have been able to escape."

"What's the use of high martial arts skills? Under saturation firing, no matter how high your martial arts skills are, you can't escape being shot to death."

"As the young master said, warfare in the era of cold weapons has become history. The future mode of warfare will be completely rewritten by our Ximen Hall."

"Haha—I get really excited whenever I think about shooting a Dan Jin expert!"

"—"

Tang Feng led his personal guard to tie up Kono Iwao and several of his top assassins and send them to the rear.

Kono Iwaori could no longer hear what the Nishimado guards were saying.

Even if he could hear it, he probably wouldn't understand what the Ximentang guards were talking about.

With the capture of suicide soldiers such as Furuno Iwaori, the Japanese army's last counterattack was completely ineffective and ended in failure.

Then,

The Japanese army collapsed across the board and was no longer able to mount any effective counterattack.

They fled in terror under the firepower of the French mercenaries, utterly powerless to resist.

The battle is over!
Sakurai Chojiro led his army and, after two consecutive bombardments, finally retreated to Taipei City.

However, of the 70,000 Japanese troops and 80,000 cannon fodder puppet troops, only less than 10,000 remained in the end.

More than 50,000 people were killed or wounded by the French mercenaries and the Simon Church's combined forces, and more than 60,000 were captured.

The rest of the people were hit by the shelling and fled in panic.

The French mercenaries suffered only 1,200 casualties.

The vast majority of them were killed by skilled Japanese samurai during close-quarters combat.

Ximentang stayed behind to cover the rear, and suffered almost no casualties.

The main force in this war was the French mercenaries, which was also the bloody battle of Jack Bonaparte's mercenary group.

This is his destiny; he must undergo this baptism of blood before he is qualified to board Ximentang's chariot.

To gain Simon's unconditional support, the French mercenaries must make sacrifices.

Although this battle was a great victory for Ximentang.

but,

The final spoils of war were almost negligible.

Not only were there few weapons and ammunition, but even armor, warhorses, and other such items were scarce.

Ximen Tang looked down on the equipment of the Japanese army, even considering it beneath him to collect scrap.

Perhaps the only gain was a group of samurai swords used by suicide soldiers in the Japanese army.

These samurai swords were specially made by the Japanese military, and each sword has a serial number.

Especially the samurai sword of Kouno Iwaori, which is exquisitely crafted.

After Tang Feng confiscated Kono Iwaori's katana, he was so shocked by the pattern on the katana that he was speechless.

Even Chen Jie praised the knife highly.

Nice knife!

While Kouno Iwaori's katana may not seem like much compared to modern craftsmanship, its pure handcraftsmanship makes it highly collectible. This battle was crucial for the French mercenaries.

Although Jack Bonaparte lost some of his elite men, he knew that this was a step he had to take.

After this battle
The main force of the Japanese army has been almost completely annihilated.

In the short term, the Japanese army received no support, and the sea had been blockaded by the Ximentang fleet.

Therefore,
The Japanese army was no threat to Ximentang at all.

but,

At this point, Ximentang did not take Taipei City in one fell swoop, but continued the siege.

To put it simply, at this time, Ximentang divided his forces to begin clearing the entire bay island.

From Kaohsiung in Tainan to Taichung, the remnants of the Japanese army were driven towards Taipei.

The closer we get to this point, the more we need to stay calm.

If Taipei were occupied directly, the remaining Japanese troops in Taiwan would be like headless flies, running around aimlessly.

We must leave them an opening, so they can see hope.

Therefore,
Under Chen Jie's orders, the current strategy is to besiege Taipei City but not to launch a full-scale attack.

In the following period, Jack Bonaparte took all the prisoners to Keelung and made them dig fortifications.

It's more appropriate to leave such coercion of prisoners to the French.

Anyway, Jack Bonaparte was operating under the banner of a pirate army.

Since they were 'pirates', how could they possibly treat their prisoners well?

Chen Jie led his personal guard to Taoyuan.

The Japanese assassins and captured samurai masters were all imprisoned in Taoyuan.

Chen Jie's original intention was to occupy Taipei long-term and turn it into a military base for Ximentang.

therefore,

Whether it's Keelung, Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, or Kaohsiung, ports and fortifications will be needed soon.

Therefore,
In the coming period, the entire Taiwan region will need a large number of migrant workers.

The prisoners of war must not be wasted; they must be put to good use.

This is also why Chen Jie did not directly occupy Taipei City.

However, although they did not directly occupy Taipei City, they forced Sakurai Chojiro into the inner city.

Taipei City was similar to the cities of the Daqian Dynasty, consisting of an outer city and an inner city.

The inner city is the core area, where commerce and residential areas are concentrated.

Moreover, the city walls were very thick, and the interior was like a castle, with arrow towers.

The elite troops of the Japanese army, as well as Japanese immigrants, women, and others, lived in the inner city to distinguish them from the local people of Taiwan.

After leading his defeated army to retreat to the inner city of Taipei, Sakurai Chojiro immediately summoned his key generals to discuss the next course of action.

The Japanese army suffered heavy losses in this battle.

Many generals of the Japanese army, including Watanabe Kubo Takashi, died under the fire of the Nishinado cannons.

The remaining key generals of the Japanese army had all experienced the power of the Ximentang cannons.

Therefore,
Now no one dares to stand up and clamor for a counterattack on Keelung City.

but,

The Japanese are indeed very tenacious; they are still fighting desperately and refusing to surrender.

They believed that with the people of Taipei as leverage, Ximentang would be hesitant to launch a full-scale attack.

Because Taipei's inner city has a moat and thick walls, it has a natural barrier, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

With the people of Taipei as leverage, they could restrict Ximentang's artillery and heavy machine guns.

In this situation, if the inner city of Taipei were defended by 10,000 Japanese troops, they should be able to withstand Ximentang's strong attack.

therefore,

After discussing with the remaining key generals of the Japanese army, Sakurai Chojiro finally decided to defend the inner city of Taipei to the death.

There's no other way but to surrender.

Next,
Sakurai Chojiro dispatched a suicide squad to break through the siege and seek help from the Kyoto of the Eastern Empire and the Kwantung Army stationed in the northeast of the Great Qian Dynasty.

If the Eastern Fleet can relieve Wandao, it might be able to tie down Ximentang's forces.

In that case, Sakurai Chojiro would have a chance to break through.

Although the Sakurai family and Emperor Meiji were not on good terms and had even had some conflicts.

but,

Ximentang is too powerful; it has already become a formidable threat to the Eastern Empire.

Sakurai Chojiro believed that once Emperor Meiji learned of the news, he would definitely send troops to provide assistance.

-

Taiwan Island, Taoyuan!
Jail!

This place was once a key location for the Japanese military garrison and was also known as a restricted area.

Ever since the Japanese occupied Taiwan, this place has been heavily guarded.

but,

After Ximentang occupied Taoyuan, everything here was taken over by Ximentang.

The prison, also known as the Heavenly Prison.

It houses many serious criminals from the entire island of Taiwan who have been imprisoned there for years.

and,

Many of those imprisoned were top-tier fighters captured by the Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese.

The prison was divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower.

The top layer is where ordinary prisoners are held, usually troublemakers among the native Taiwanese.

Although these people were unruly and incorrigible, their crimes did not warrant death, and they held a certain prestige among the natives, making it inconvenient to execute them.

Therefore,
The purpose of imprisoning them in the highest level of the dungeon was to restrain the local indigenous villages, making them hesitant to act recklessly.

The people imprisoned in the central prison were some of the top fighters from the local forces.

They are usually the leaders or big bosses of certain forces in Taiwan.

These people rose up in resistance against the colonization of Taiwan Island, and were eventually captured and imprisoned on the second floor of the dungeon.

The lowest level is where the most mysterious and powerful are imprisoned.

Each of them possessed martial arts skills at least at the late stage of the "Marrow Transformation and Energy Conversion" level. They were usually top-tier masters who had been captured by the combined forces of the Japanese Black Dragon Society and the Dutch heavy armor legion.

Among these people, there are even super strong individuals who have the strength to break through to the 'Blood-Moving Pill Force' realm.

but,

Perhaps because of the Japanese and Spanish, the Dutch felt that these super-strong people were still useful, so they never executed them.

Undeniable,

At the very bottom of the entire prison, every person imprisoned was an unruly and powerful individual, a master among masters.

Releasing any one of them from prison would cause chaos in Taiwan.

These top experts have regained their freedom, and they will pose a threat to the Japanese, the Dutch, and the French.

Even the top experts of the Japanese Black Dragon Society's Taiwan branch would find it difficult to suppress them.

of course,

Now that Ximentang has taken over Taoyuan Prison, the situation is completely different.

Under the overwhelming firepower of Ximentang, Chen Jie still didn't believe that anyone could escape from the third level of the Heavenly Prison.

Even if you reach the late stage of Blood Pill Strength, so what?
Only powerful individuals like Nanzo Mitsuko and Yokoyama Sora, who possess the Qi of the Tongmai Gangjin, could possibly escape the overwhelming firepower of Ximen Hall's inescapable net.

Click——!
The iron gates of the prison were all cast iron doors, each over twenty centimeters thick.

Ordinary experts simply cannot break through the iron gate, let alone several iron gates in a row, each of which is guarded.

Chen Jie looked up at the prison and frowned slightly.

Next,
He stepped inside.

At the main gate, the special operations battalion of Ximentang began to take charge of guard duty.

Meanwhile, Tang Feng led his personal guards, following closely behind Chen Jie, never leaving his side.

The jailer in charge of guarding the prison quickly stepped forward and bowed in salute when he saw Chen Jie enter.

He who knows the current affairs is a hero!

The jailer was a smart man; he knew that the entire Peach Garden had been occupied by Ximen Tang.

Therefore,
He immediately surrendered and offered no resistance.

Then,

The jailer led the way, guiding Chen Jie and his group towards the deepest part of the third level of the prison. (End of Chapter)