We'll have you impersonate the Crown Prince and create a prosperous era for the Great Qian Dyna

Is morale sufficient?

"Then let's fight!"

Zhou Tiancheng took a deep breath, his eyes slightly sharp.

Success or failure hinges on this!

As the barbarian army charged, the battle between the two sides was about to break out.

On the city wall, the Daqian soldiers began the first round of musket fire, and immediately the second round followed.

The three rounds of firing constituted one batch, which precisely maintained a continuous firing rate.

But the barbarians' charge speed was simply too fast.

Before the three rounds of shooting were even finished, the barbarians had already rushed to the foot of the city wall.

At the hole in the wall, the Daqian army decisively began thrusting spears outwards.

Many barbarians were stabbed down while climbing the city walls.

But the screams weren't loud. The barbarians didn't have the habit of screaming. After all, in the far north, screams and the smell of blood would attract bears!

On the contrary, despite their heavy losses, they did not retreat in the slightest, but instead charged forward even more rapidly.

Under normal circumstances, the Daqian army would have retreated long ago.

Because the barbarian army's momentum was simply too terrifying.

But after several months of training, this army was no longer the same as before.

The first group of elderly people rushed over.

"Damn it! I'm here!"

"Come on! Kill me! Long live the Great Qian Dynasty!"

"I'm a martyr!"

Shouting all sorts of things, they charged towards the barbarian army without hesitation.

Behind them, the main force of the Great Qian army also had bloodshot eyes.

They didn't really want to die, but a barbarian's head was worth six taels of silver!

What does six taels of silver mean?

That's almost enough for their family to eat and use for more than half a year!

Kill two and you'll get twelve taels; kill three and you'll get eighteen taels!

"For money... Bah! For the Great Qian Dynasty!"

"kill!"

The soldiers rushed forward very quickly.

Because the wealthy young men had been transferred away, those left behind were ordinary soldiers. At the front were old men contemplating sacrifice, behind them were young men waiting to earn merit, and only at the very back were those who were just coasting along.

The first wave was blocked.

The old men suffered heavy casualties.

The second wave was blocked.

The young people revealed their true, vicious nature.

Those who were just loafing around were originally the ones who were undermining morale, but now that they saw the army and the barbarian army locked in a stalemate, they couldn't just run away. Instead, they pretended to follow and charge forward.

The situation remained strangely deadlocked!

Zhou Tiancheng did not hesitate at all.

"quick!"

"Quickly dispatch cavalry to launch a direct raid on their stronghold!"

"Burn their camp down!"

Khalil Fong shook his head from the side.

"The barbarian army doesn't care about military camps; they only fight like wild beasts."

Zhou Tiancheng sneered.

"Don't limit yourself to the current war. If we advance, the pressure on Northern Xia will lessen. Then, when they send troops over, Northern Xia can push forward. If they don't send troops, we can reclaim our territory!"

"As for these barbarian soldiers in front of us, they've already cut off our retreat; they're practically ours. We'll surround them and kill them!"

Khalil Fong's eyes lit up.

Can we still recover lost territory?

We absolutely have to launch a surprise attack!

So a small group of cavalry left the battlefield and headed straight for the barbarian army's camp.

This battle lasted for a very, very long time.

The real outcome wasn't decided until evening.

Strangely enough, many of those soldiers who were just coasting along ended up dying.

The reason is very simple.

When the battlefield became clear, they suddenly realized that there weren't many barbarians left!

In this situation, with superior numbers, why wouldn't they make a profit if each barbarian earned six taels of silver?

To put it bluntly, they are a group of speculators.

Before, they were afraid of death, but now that there is profit to be made, even they have not backed down.

Until the last barbarian fell, there were no barbarians left standing on the battlefield.

However, the losses were also extremely heavy.

Of the 160,000 troops, only 30,000 remained in the end.

The barbarian army numbered only 70,000, and not a single one was spared!

It looks like a Pyrrhic victory, but such a Pyrrhic victory has never happened before!

Even the military commission generals had no objections, because their family members and relatives had long been transferred away, and the dead were ordinary people, so they weren't sad at all!

Everyone benefited, even the dead were given the status of martyrs and received substantial compensation. Everyone was satisfied!

"So this is the Crown Prince."

Khalil Fong sighed.

He completely overlooked the fact that Lin Tong could also do this.

The only difference is that they won't support Lin Tong...

After the battle, the army immediately set off.

On the one hand, they replenished ice sources in various places, and on the other hand, they began to recover lost territory, re-enter the northern border, and began to face pressure from the barbarian army.

When this news spread, the first to get excited was Bei Xia!

"In this way, the pressure on Northern Xia will be greatly reduced. If they transfer Northern Xia's barbarian army to the battlefield of Da Qian, wouldn't Northern Xia be able to recover a large area of ​​lost territory?"

"The barbarian army's biggest problem has emerged!"

"They've occupied too much territory, but they have too few people. Our chance has come!"

The people of Northern Xia were also incredibly excited.

Although the army did not launch an attack, it began to make preparations.

After all, they truly had a blood feud with the barbarian army!

Before winter, the final chaotic battle between the three sides exposed the weaknesses of the barbarian army.

They were short-handed, and faced with the advances from Northern Xia, Da Qian, and Northern Rong, they felt overwhelmed and disorganized.

They didn't lose much on the main battlefield, but as the fighting went on, large swathes of territory were lost, and internal supply transport began to encounter significant problems.

They had to mobilize the army to escort the supplies.

How much should I adjust?

Inside, 20,000 National Protection Army soldiers were eyeing their supply transport with covetous intent, while outside, three other forces were ready to invade at any moment.

If we can't defeat you head-on, can't we at least defeat the ragtag soldiers transporting your supplies?

Under these circumstances, the barbarian army began to drastically reduce its territory.

They weren't unable to win, they simply couldn't defend!

Continuing the stalemate will only make things worse for them!

It was also during this period.

The cannon was finally developed.

At the arms workshop, Zhou Rui personally attended and watched the first test of the artillery.

When he saw a small hill-like mound of earth razed to the ground, Zhou Rui remained silent for a long time.

"Your Majesty, what are you thinking about?"

Zhou Rui sighed.

"I shouldn't have been so stubborn."

"He always does the right thing."

Huang Chen breathed a sigh of relief, but did not speak.

Zhou Rui sighed and stayed in the Imperial Study until very late that night.

It wasn't until late at night that he spoke to Huang Chen.

"Let someone draft the imperial edict."

"The Crown Prince's contributions are so great that they can no longer be ignored."

"He is to be appointed Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. In addition, the Junior Treasury and Drunken Spring Breeze are to be returned to him."

"Let Wang Ze be his teacher."

The full meaning of this statement is that Zhou Tiancheng should prepare to inherit the throne, and Wang Ze is the successor Zhou Rui has chosen for him.