Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

In the first year of Xuanji, late autumn.

On the walls of Bianliang, the setting sun shone like blood.

Zhao Yuanlang, the once invincible overlord of the Central Plains, was now gripping the cold city bricks tightly, his knuckles white from the effort, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the dark ocean outside the city that haunted his sleepless nights.

Han Yuan Army!

No, now they should be called the Great Xia Royal Army! That damned black dragon banner became even more glaring after Xiao Chen ascended the throne.

"How could it be so fast... how could it be so cruel..."

Zhao Yuanlang let out a low growl like a trapped beast, his voice hoarse and trembling with despair.

From the first scattered news brought back by the scouts about "Heavenly Thunder" and "Thunderbolt Cart" to the destruction of the first outpost "Black Stone Fortress" in a devastating afternoon, and then to the surrender of the supposedly "Iron Wall" garrison commander of Wancheng... bad news came like an avalanche, one after another, crushing him completely.

Seventeen cities!

In just three months! All seventeen cities that he had painstakingly built and thought were impregnable crumbled and melted away like snowmen under the scorching sun in the face of those unprecedented and terrifying weapons!

"Your Majesty...no, my lord!"

The lieutenant scrambled up the city wall, his face covered in soot, his armor askew, his voice trembling with sobs, "The west city wall... the crenellations of the west city wall have collapsed! The defending troops have suffered heavy casualties, and those 'thunderbolts' are coming up again, this time even closer! And the tunnels they dug, brothers, we can hear them digging down below..."

Zhao Yuanlang whirled around, kicked his deputy to the ground, and roared furiously, "Hold on! Hold on for me! Anyone who dares to retreat a single step will be executed on the spot!"

But he knew in his heart that this was nothing more than a fierce roar that masked his inner weakness.

Below the city, the ferocious behemoth, taller than the city tower—the "Huihui Cannon"—was being slowly dragged by dozens of strong oxen, inch by inch approaching the city wall under the cover of countless shields and oars.

The hanging boulder gleamed with a deathly blue light in the setting sun, like the gaze of death itself.

Further away, dozens of smaller "whirlwind cannons" were already in place, and Xia's engineering soldiers were chanting as they put cans of things sealed in earthenware jars with exposed fuses into leather bags.

"Heavenly thunder..." Zhao Yuanlang's lips trembled as he recalled the tragic fall of Yongcheng ten days ago.

It was a windless night, and the defending troops were still mocking the Xia army for their failed daytime siege.

Late at night, dozens of burning black shadows were launched onto the city wall by "whirlwind cannons," and the defenders thought they were just ordinary fireballs.

However, the thing didn't burst into flames immediately after landing; instead, it emitted a strange hissing sound, and then...

A deafening explosion! Flames shot skyward!

Countless shards of porcelain and iron filings swept across the city walls with the violent airflow, and the unsuspecting defenders were cut down as if by an invisible scythe, their screams tearing through the night sky.

The explosion at the city gate was even more terrifying, as the thick iron-clad city gate was directly deformed and pierced!

The heavily armored infantry of the Xia army, who had been lying in ambush outside, surged into the city in an instant, amidst the smoke and fire, like demons emerging from hell...

Yongcheng fell overnight.

The commander's head was hung on the flagpole of the Xia army camp the next day.

From then on, the terrifying legend of "heavenly thunder" spread like a plague through Zhao Yuanlang's army. The morale of the army had long since collapsed.

"boom--!!!"

A deep, muffled roar, like thunder from the earth, resounded, causing the entire section of the city wall to tremble violently! Dust fell in a flurry.

Zhao Yuanlang stumbled and almost fell.

It was a "Huihui Cannon"! The boulder landed less than ten feet away from where he had just been standing!

A section of the parapet was smashed to pieces, and the dozen or so archers hiding behind it were turned into a bloody mess before they could even scream.

"My lord! We can't hold out! Let's retreat! If we leave through the east gate, we'll still have a chance..." Several trusted generals scrambled over to surround him, their faces filled with terror.

"Retreat? Where to retreat to?" Zhao Yuanlang laughed bitterly, the last bit of madness in his eyes dimming.

Xia Jun's three-pronged encirclement, Han Lie's western army had completely pacified Guanzhong and was advancing eastward under cover of night, Chen Dao's navy had blocked all waterways, and Xiao Chen's main force was right under the walls of Bianliang.

In this vast world, there is no place for Zhao Yuanlang to hide.

Outside the city, beneath the central banner of the Xia army.

Xiao Chen, clad in black armor, did not ride a horse but stood quietly on a makeshift watchtower, gazing at the crumbling city of Bianliang.

The autumn wind whipped the black dragon flag behind him, making it flutter loudly.

"Your Majesty, the thunderbolts are ready, and the tunnels have been dug to the foundation of the city walls, filled with thirty canisters of fire mines. After three more rounds of bombardment by the trebuchets, we can launch the general offensive."

Wang Zhenyue knelt on one knee, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement.

This valiant general still bore the bloodstains left from the siege, yet his eyes burned with a fierce fighting spirit.

Following His Majesty, the battles were truly exhilarating!

Those fortified cities that used to require lives to be lost and take months or even years to conquer have become a joke in the face of these new weapons.

Zhuge Ming lightly waved his feather fan, gazing at the dust-shrouded city walls, and smiled, "Zhao Yuanlang is already a sitting duck. The city's provisions are running low, morale is crumbling, and the people are filled with resentment. In my opinion, the city will fall tonight. However…"

He pondered for a moment, then said, "Bianliang is an important city in the Central Plains, with numerous cultural relics, books, and people. Perhaps we could send someone to persuade them to surrender first, or limit the scope of the attack to minimize damage?"

Jia Wenhe's sinister voice rang out from the side: "Mr. Zhuge, you are overthinking it. Zhao Yuanlang is stubborn and self-willed, like a cornered beast that will fight to the death. He will never surrender."

As for the damage... under thunder and lightning, how can anything remain intact? Only by quickly conquering this city can we deter the remaining disloyal hearts of the world. A little damage can be rebuilt later.

The most urgent task is to take Zhao Yuanlang's head, hang it on the flagpole, and let the whole world see the consequences of resisting His Majesty.

He paused, then added, "However, after the city falls, military discipline must be maintained to prevent indiscriminate killing. Your Majesty is benevolent and still needs to win back the hearts of the people of the Central Plains."

Xiao Chen listened to the two strategists' words, his gaze remaining calm as he watched Bianliang City.

He saw the chaos on the city wall, the terrifying dust kicked up by the falling boulders of the "Huihui Cannon," and further away, he saw the sparking clay pots of the "Thunderbolt" launched by the "Whirlwind Cannon," flying in arcs towards the city wall.

"Pass on the order." Xiao Chen finally spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching the ears of every general around him.

Everyone immediately held their breath.

"Replace the trebuchets with gravel bullets to cover the city walls and suppress the defenders' arrows."

"Thunderclap bombs will be concentrated on the east and west city gate towers, as well as nearby armories and granaries."

"After the explosion, the underground 'fire mines' were detonated. After the breach was blown open, Wang Zhenyue led the heavily armored 'Iron Mountain Battalion' as the vanguard, heading straight for Zhao Yuanlang's pseudo-prince's mansion."

"Anyone in the city who lays down and kneels will not be killed. Anyone who dares to resist with weapons will be killed without exception."

As for Zhao Yuanlang,

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes. "I want him alive. If he commits suicide, he must at least have a complete corpse."

"Your humble servant obeys the imperial decree!"

The order was quickly relayed.

Xia Jun's war machine was once again operating at high efficiency.

Soon, the "Huihui Cannon" was replaced with a specially made ammunition bag filled with rubble and iron fragments. Although it did not have the shock of a giant rock when fired, it had a wider coverage area and a stronger suppressive effect on the city wall defenders. For a time, screams echoed from the city wall, and almost no one dared to show their face.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of lit "thunderbolts" were launched, most of them landing on the city wall, and a small number flying over it.

After a brief hissing sound, came a series of explosions, several times more violent than the previous probing attack!

Flames erupted one after another on the city walls and in key locations within the city, billowing smoke and sending wood and stones flying, interspersed with the mournful and desperate cries of the defending soldiers.

Just as the defenders on the city wall were being blasted into a daze by the "thunderclap bombs" and crying out for their parents—

"BOOM—!!!"

A terrifying roar, far more muffled and penetrating than any explosion, as if it came from the depths of the earth, suddenly erupted from the middle of the city wall!

The section of the city wall first rose upwards, with bricks, stones, and soil shooting into the sky like a fountain. Then, amidst a deafening collapse, it collapsed both inwards and outwards, revealing a huge gap more than ten feet wide!

The smoke and dust rose like a giant yellow dragon, obscuring half the sky.

The tunnel demolition was a success!

"Iron Mountain Camp! Charge with me! Whoever captures Zhao Yuanlang alive will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold and ennobled as a marquis!"

Wang Zhenyue's roar was like a tiger's howl. He took the lead, wielding a giant blade as big as a door, and led the heavily armored infantry of the "Iron Mountain Camp," who were covered in armor and looked like steel monsters, to surge through the gap, stepping on the still rolling bricks and stones! Closely following behind were the Xia army infantry like a tide.

Bianliang City has fallen.

That night, Bianliang, the once prosperous city in the Central Plains, was plunged into chaos of blood and fire.

The resistance crumbled rapidly in the face of overwhelming power and the already demoralized morale of the troops.

Zhao Yuanlang attempted to set himself on fire in the false king's palace, but was held down by his personal guards who rushed in and became a prisoner.

Xiao Chen, surrounded by his guards, slowly walked through the rubble and lingering smoke into the city that symbolized the last resistance of the Central Plains, through a huge breach in the city wall. Flames danced on his cold profile, and the air was filled with the smells of gunpowder, blood, and burnt grime.

Seventeen fortified cities, along with their owners, were crushed one by one by the Thunder Hammer, a new weapon, in just a few short months.

This news will spread to every corner of the world at top speed, carried by fleeing soldiers and merchants.

The consequence of stubborn resistance is utter destruction.

From this moment on, the might of the Great Xia army will truly be unstoppable.

Xiao Chen's gaze swept over the burning palace, over the trembling surrendered soldiers and civilians kneeling on both sides of the street, and finally over the scattered corners in the south that had not yet fully submitted, and the more distant territories that had not yet been incorporated into the map.

The technological gap in weaponry brings not only victory, but also overwhelming dominance.

And this crushing defeat has only just begun.