Magical Water Margin: They all call me brother

Page 137

Even though the Liao army that attacked was a hastily assembled conscript and reserve force, the Song army, lacking discipline, was still no match for them. They nearly collapsed at the first contact, once again suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the remaining Liao forces. Only Guo Yaoshi's troops managed to maintain discipline and retreat slowly; the remaining 100,000 Song soldiers fled like wild rabbits. Commander-in-chief Liu Yanqing nearly died on the battlefield, and Youzhou fell once more.

At this moment, Guo Yaoshi was extremely puzzled. What kind of country was the Song Dynasty that he had surrendered to?

Chapter 396: Guo Yaoshi Trembles with Fear

At this moment, for the Liao Dynasty, which was on the verge of collapse, the Song army was as incompetent as ever and had no chance of returning to Youzhou.

But the problem is that the Jin dynasty is too strong. Liaoxi and Yanshan have fallen one after another, and Wanyan Aguda is also very troubled at this time. According to the plan, we are to march westward and launch a surprise attack on Yunzhou. The Song dynasty is responsible for eliminating the threat to our south—that is, Youzhou in Hebei.

But now it seems that the Song Dynasty simply doesn't have that capability! If we head west, the Liao army will likely regroup in Youzhou and try to steal our retreat.

Forget it, let's attack Youzhou and eliminate future troubles. Rather than believing that the Song army's third northern expedition can succeed, let's trust ourselves.

Thus, to Guo Yaoshi's astonishment, the Jin dynasty almost effortlessly destroyed six prefectures: Youzhou, Luanzhou, Jingzhou, Tanzhou, Shunzhou, and Yuzhou. They then sold these prefectures to the Song dynasty at a very high price. As a result, half of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, namely the Yan region and Youzhou, one of the thirteen ancient prefectures, finally returned to the hands of the Song dynasty. The Song dynasty's territory reached its peak under Emperor Huizong.

Given the poor performance of Gao Qiu and Liu Yanqing, the Song emperor carefully considered the matter and appointed Guo Yaoshi's Ever-Victorious Army to guard Youzhou, granting him considerable power to oversee the defense of Youyan against the Jin dynasty.

At this moment, Wanyan Aguda also realized something was amiss—wait a minute, these Ever Victorious Army soldiers are all Bohai people, converted to Jurchen, and Khitan from the Northeast, they're all my people! We signed a treaty! Anyone who fled to the other side's territory must be returned to them!

Wanyan Aguda had no choice. At this time, the Northeast was completely undeveloped and had too few people. The entire Jin Dynasty had only a few million people, which was no match for the 100 million people of the Song Dynasty. That's why the treaty focused on population.

The Song Dynasty, having painstakingly cultivated an ever-victorious army, naturally refused to return it. Guo Yaoshi, upon hearing that the Jin Dynasty was demanding his return, trembled with fear and rushed to the capital, Tokyo, to plead his case to the emperor, professing his loyalty and proposing a solution: "The Jin Dynasty only wants people! My ever-victorious army, along with their families, numbers about 300,000. They come from the northeast but have no land. Let's give the 300,000 Han Chinese from Youzhou to the Jin Dynasty! Your Majesty, you can then possess my ever-victorious army forever!"

The Song emperor nodded, agreeing with Guo Yaoshi's plan. He then asked the Jin envoy for his opinion. Wanyan Aguda didn't care about Guo Yaoshi, a nobody. He only wanted people. At this time, the Liao Dynasty still had half of its western territory and didn't want to fall out with the Song Dynasty at this point, which would only create unnecessary trouble. So he nodded in agreement.

Therefore, when Aguda led his army back north, the vast Jin army included 300,000 Han Chinese from Yan who were left with nothing but tears. All the gold, silk, women, powerful families, and households in Youzhou had been plundered and looted clean.

Guo Yaoshi, overjoyed, led his Bohai people to convert to Jurchen and Khitan from the northeast, and entered Youzhou City in a grand procession. They seized the houses, residences, and land that these people originally owned, usurping their rights and becoming the de facto rulers of Youzhou and Yanzhou under the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, relying on the emperor's favor, Guo Yaoshi acted recklessly and arrogantly! The court provided him with whatever weapons, armor, and horses he desired. He sent his subordinates to various prefectures within the Song territory to do business and make money. He also summoned artisans from Emperor Tianzuo's court to create all sorts of rare and precious items to cultivate relationships with powerful figures.

At this time, the Ever Victorious Army expanded from 10,000 to 50,000, and the Xiang Army in Youzhou also began to be formed, reportedly numbering 300,000. However, Guo Yaoshi and his subordinates did not change their clothing; although they surrendered to the Song Dynasty, they continued to wear Liao clothing instead of Song attire. Everyone felt that Guo Yaoshi was the second An Lushan.

At this moment, the 300,000 Han Chinese who were about to be taken to the Northeast by Aguda were also enraged.

When the Song army first returned to Youzhou, the soldiers wantonly slaughtered and looted, treating us as their own people.

When the Song army recaptured Youzhou for the second time, the emperor, in order to preserve a foreign army, abandoned 300,000 Han Chinese. He simply abandoned us!

Very well, since the Song Dynasty doesn't treat us as its subjects, then we'll find our own way out!

Don't go to Kaifeng, home is everywhere.

A massive rebellion broke out, with 300,000 Yan people electing Zhang Jue, the prefect of Pingzhou, as their leader and rebelling in Pingzhou. Zhang Jue led Pingzhou back to the Song Dynasty.

Emperor Huizong was overjoyed, completely disregarding the fact that Pingzhou was territory agreed upon to be ceded to the Jin Dynasty in the maritime alliance between Song and Jin. He also disregarded the fact that he himself had agreed to give away the 300,000 Han people to the Jin. Furthermore, he disregarded the fact that Zhang Jue was appointed as the prefect of Pingzhou by Aguda, and accepted the appointment without hesitation, appointing Zhang Jue as the military governor of Pingzhou.

He even expressed his apology for giving 300,000 Han people to the Jin Dynasty, and exempted them from three years of land rent, which made these Yan people feel that the Song Dynasty was still acceptable.

Emperor Huizong of Song had a brilliant plan. Look how well I've done it! I've preserved 300,000 Yan people, Guo Yaoshi's ever-victorious army, and even gained Pingzhou and its military governor Zhang Jue out of nowhere.

However, when these Yan people returned to their hometown of Youzhou after traveling thousands of miles, they were shocked to find that their land and houses had been occupied by the Changsheng Army, a foreign tribe!

A massive upheaval erupted in the Youyan region due to Emperor Huizong's various baffling actions.

The people of Youzhou felt wronged; this was their land!

Guo the Pharmacist also felt wronged, "This was a gift from His Majesty!"

The Jin dynasty felt even more aggrieved—Pingzhou was theirs! Those 300,000 Han people were mine too! Zhang Jue was mine! He betrayed the Jin dynasty. And you, the Song dynasty, actually appointed him as a military governor? What are you trying to do? Aren't we allies? Is this how you play games?!

Wanyan Aguda was furious and temporarily halted his attack on Liao, turning instead to attack Pingzhou. In the ensuing battle, Zhang Jue suffered a crushing defeat, barely escaping with his life and fleeing to Youzhou. The 300,000 Yan people who returned to Youzhou had no land and were now all in Pingzhou, where they were once again surrounded by Wanyan Aguda, who intended to take them back to the Northeast to cultivate Liaodong.

Not only that, Wanyan Aguda wrote directly to the Song Emperor—according to the agreement of the Maritime Alliance, Zhang Jue is a traitor to the Jin Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty should not accept my surrendered general as an official, but should hand him over to me! Otherwise, the Song Dynasty will break the contract, and all our previous agreements will be null and void!

Emperor Huizong of Song was frightened and eventually handed Zhang Jue over, who was then beheaded by the Jurchens.

At this point, the entire Youyan region could only describe its emperor's actions with one word: fear.

For people like Guo Yaoshi, who are from other ethnic groups, they are also people from Liaodong. Today, the emperor can hand over Zhang Jue in order to avoid war between the two countries. So, if the Great Jin demands me, will Your Majesty also hand me over?

For the Han people of Youyan, the Song Dynasty's return after a century only resulted in three actions: First, plundering their property. Second, handing over 300,000 Han people to the Jin Dynasty. Third, handing over Zhang Jue, the Song Dynasty's own military governor who had tried to save the Han people of Youyan, to the Jin Dynasty for execution.

Suddenly, public opinion in the entire Youyan region shifted dramatically. The Han people of Youyan no longer held any expectations of the Song Dynasty. The custom of welcoming the Song army with food and drink never reappeared. This region was originally the core territory of the Song Dynasty, and the majority of its inhabitants were Han people of the same ancestry.

Now, no one in this territory calls themselves a Song person anymore; the Song Dynasty has lost the hearts of the people in Youyan.

Chapter 397: The Refugees of Youyan Land Are Terrified

After dealing with Zhang Jue, Wanyan Aguda assessed the strategic situation.

At this moment, the crisis in the southern Youyan region has been resolved. The last Liao army in Youyan has been completely annihilated. The Song army stationed in Youyan is Guo Yaoshi's 50,000-strong Ever-Victorious Army, which poses little threat. Zhang Jue, who led 300,000 Han Chinese in rebellion, has also been killed. The only remaining threat is the 200,000 Youyan refugees who were killed in the war and conflict and need to be relocated to the northeast.

This matter is not big or small.

Even if you say he's a big shot, Zhang Jue is dead, so what kind of trouble could 200,000 leaderless fleeing people cause?

Even if you call it small, the migration of 200,000 laborers to Liaodong to cultivate land is still a very large number.

"Zongwang, you take ten thousand men and go. Bring these two hundred thousand Yan people back to Liaodong. The rest of you! On the westward expedition! In one fell swoop, destroy the Liao Dynasty!"

Wanyan Aguda made up his mind and dispatched Wanyan Zongwang, one of his four great generals, with a detachment of 5,000 men to resolve the matter, while the main force continued its campaign against Liao!

Looking out over the shores of the Bohai Sea, the salty wind carries the mournful cries of the dying. Two hundred thousand lives, like driven ants, are crammed together in a dark mass on the mudflats at the edge of the land. The iron hooves of five thousand Jin soldiers weave a net of death behind them, their gold-background, black banners fluttering like dancing golden light.

A thousand Bohai horses, carrying a thousand beast-like humans of predator types such as bears, tigers, and leopards, came charging in with overwhelming force! Behind them were four thousand other members of the Jurchen Alliance, with every hundred members of the same race lined up together, each led by a "mouke," or centurion.

Above ten Jurchen muke, who may be the same or different, an additional "meng'an" will be appointed, who is the commander of a thousand men.

Wanyan Zongwang's commander-in-chief was guarded by ten frost giants, bringing the total number of giants deployed to eleven. Five Meng'an and fifty Mouke. The white breath exhaled from the mouths and noses of the Jurchen alliance tribes, mixed with frost and ice, and the cold light reflected from their blades pierced the sky, gradually forcing the 200,000-strong crowd towards the all-consuming Bohai Sea coast.

Chaos reigned on the shores of the Bohai Sea. Lead-gray, turbid waves gnawed at the icy shore, the crashing of floating ice sounding like the grinding of bones. Two hundred thousand Han Chinese realized they could not escape on land, so they rushed into the icy, biting sea. Mothers, clutching their infants, plunged into the shallows, shivering as the water rose to their waists. Mothers' bluish-purple fingers gripped the cold driftwood, the weak cries of infants were shattered by the north wind, instantly freezing into icicles hanging beneath their eyelashes. Countless others, having only swum halfway, suffered hypothermia from the icy water, stiffening and being completely swallowed by the waves.

The overturned oxcart was stuck in the frozen soil in the swamp, its spokes pointing skyward like broken arm bones. The withered grass had long been devoured, and someone knelt down, digging through the frozen earth, his fingernails torn open to reveal flesh and blood, just to chew a mouthful of the pungent mud. The ground was littered with trampled flatbread and cracked earthenware jars, and an old man desperately protected half a sack of blackened grain seeds, the grains splashing into the snow and mud as he was trampled, like the blood spitting from his mouth.

At this moment, the sounds here were no longer human voices. They were the dying roars of a thousand beasts. Having discovered that both sea and land routes were impassable, a woman tore at her hair, wailing the name of her deceased child, her hoarse cries carried away by the wind; an old man knelt towards his homeland, his forehead pounding against the ice, the blood seeping out staining the frost red; a child huddled in tattered clothes, so hungry that even his cries sounded like the panting of a kitten. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept in, accompanied by golden curses, and the crowd surged forward in panic, like snow being poured over boiling water, the screams of agony instantly swallowed by the waves!

"Alright, alright! Stop running!"

Wanyan Zongwang used a spell to amplify his voice and speak to them.

"I'm not here to kill you! The Song people took your homes and land, and then abandoned you like trash! What is there for you to miss? Come to Liaodong! I'll give you new homes! New land! New farmland! And the taxes will even be lower than those of the Song people! You'll have a good life there! There's no need to be so desperate. Zhang Jue's rebellion only punished the ringleaders; you accomplices will not be punished!!!"

Wanyan Zongwang roared three times in one breath, but not a single Song person believed him. In ancient times, there was no convenient transportation like in modern times. In the dead of winter, how could one travel hundreds of kilometers through the treacherous Liaoxi Corridor, with mountains on one side and the sea on the other, to cultivate land in Liaodong? Only four words could describe the danger involved: nine deaths and one life.

"Alright, you guys, go for a surprise attack, see who's commanding these refugees, and then go for a surprise attack and behead them all."

Wanyan Zongwang sat upright on his horse, his eyes sharp as a hawk's. With a gentle wave of his left hand, he ignited the fuse of the battlefield.

"Ugh——!"

At the command, the five strategists, unable to contain themselves any longer, responded instantly. In a flash, five whirlwinds tore through the air, whipping up billowing dust! Five hundred Jin cavalrymen, like arrows released from a bow, swept across the dry land in an instant. The muffled thud of hooves on the ground coalesced into a thunderous roar, crushing the panicked crowd ahead.

A hundred paces away, the dense crowd of refugees became enormous sitting ducks. Before they even got close, the cavalrymen at the forefront had already skillfully drawn their bows, removed their arrows, and nocked them, their movements fluid and graceful. Accompanied by the muffled thud of bowstrings and the sharp whistling of arrows piercing the air, a cold, iron curtain suddenly rose into the sky, tracing a deadly arc, and crashed down upon the dense crowd of refugees.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft..."

Arrows rained down mercilessly, as densely as a swarm of locusts devouring rice seedlings. The agonizing screams of those struck by arrows merged into a desperate lament, instantly tearing the evening sky apart. Blood splattered, and figures fell one after another like withered reeds cut by a sickle. The cries of children, the screams of women and children, and the groans of the wounded writhed and intertwined in the billowing dust and stench of blood, painting a picture of utter devastation on earth.

Amidst this chaotic despair, Zongwang's cold gaze caught a few unusual signs—a faint resistance was gathering! Several figures were actually going against the tide of escape, shouting for organization, attempting to rely on makeshift handcarts or mounds of earth, using sticks, kitchen knives, or even stones to desperately organize a thin line of resistance against the pursuing cavalry.

"Humph."

A hint of coldness flashed across Zong Wang's lips. Without needing any further orders, as if by telepathy, the sharp eyes of several elite mounted archers in the team responsible for the hunt had already precisely locked onto the figures that were trying to gather together.

One of the elite riders spurred his horse, his body as steady as a rock even at full speed. His left hand pushed the bowstring taut like a full moon, his right hand gripping the bowstring with immense force; his thick knuckles turned slightly white from the extreme strain, and the sturdy horn bow creaked softly. His sharp eyes were fixed on his target amidst the jolting, leaping of the horse, his pupils narrowed to pinpoints. Just as his horse leaped over another small embankment, reaching its lowest point, he drew his bow and released the arrow!

"Boom—whoosh—!"

The bowstring snapped like thunder, and the arrow pierced the air like lightning. A specially made killing arrow transformed into a black line almost invisible to the naked eye, tearing through the air with a deadly shriek. The burly man in the distance, who was raising his arms and shouting, suddenly exploded in a cloud of blood mist from his chest! The immense force sent him flying backward, and the several figures behind him who had just been stirred up were instantly stunned by the splattered blood.

Almost simultaneously, several more treacherous arrows rained down from different angles, and the other key figures who had gathered together fell to the ground like withered branches. Each arrow was chillingly accurate, piercing the throat or the heart, a precise and swift kill, with not a single arrow missing its mark! In such a chaotic battlefield, with its rapid jolts and the shouts of men and the neighing of horses, this pinpoint accuracy was nothing short of miraculous.

Dust billowed, screams filled the air. After a volley of arrows, the few remaining sparks of resistance that attempted to ignite were instantly extinguished by the cold, precise hunt. Driven by the butcher's knife, the desperate tide of refugees was reduced to an even more frantic rout!

Just as the refugees were about to completely lose hope and surrender, huge and terrifying sails suddenly appeared on the sea.

Chapter 398: Liangshan Ship Rescue in Bohai Bay

Wanyan Zongwang narrowed his eyes, watching as ten towering, fifty-meter-tall warships, as majestic as mountains, stood arrayed like giant whales, their massive forms cleaving through the grey-blue waves, steadily sailing towards the shore teeming with the sounds of iron hooves and carnage. Suddenly, on the mast of the flagship at the very front of the fleet, a large apricot-yellow flag was hoisted, bearing four Chinese characters. Unable to read Chinese characters, he used a [Language Proficiency] ability to understand them.

To act on behalf of Heaven.

"General! Those are Liangshan's ships! We've done trade with them before! They always come in these giant warships!"

A frost giant narrowed his eyes and instantly recognized the familiar object.

"Liangshan? What country is that? Isn't the only thing to the south the Song Dynasty?"

Wanyan Zongwang turned his head in confusion and asked.

"Hey, they're not from any country, just a group of rebels within the Song Dynasty, entrenched in Shandong. The Song Dynasty couldn't wipe them out, so Liangshan has been ruling Shandong and even trading with us. What are they doing here? Doing business?"

The giant attendant was also very puzzled, wondering what Liang Shan was doing here. The Jin cavalry, looking at the enormous creature on the sea, were also deeply puzzled and stopped shooting arrows, looking at the behemoth on the sea with either curiosity or awe.

"Send a messenger to ask. Since we are trading partners, let's show some respect and courtesy."

Wanyan Zongwang nodded, wanting to see what Liangshan was up to. He sent a humanoid beast in the shape of an eagle to soar through the sky. But when the beast had flown halfway, a golden light rushed towards him. Countless tentacles of light formed terrifying wings, carrying a golden warrior soaring in the sky. Thirty tentacles of light, like a net, blocked the way. She held two short spears and carried two large banners on her back. She was none other than the valiant Double Spear General and the dashing Marquis of Ten Thousand Households.

"I am an envoy of the Great Jin! My trading partners from Liangshan, I am not here to cause trouble!"

The messenger hurriedly identified himself and then explained what had happened in the area.

"The Song emperor promised to give these 300,000 Yan people to the Jin dynasty, but they rebelled without cause and were defeated by us, killing hundreds of thousands. We are currently transporting our property back to Liaodong, and these 200,000 surviving Yan people are our property!"

Dong Ping paused for a moment, tossed a letter to the messenger, and then replied to the Jin messenger using the words Liu Hong had taught him.

"The Great Song Dynasty is the enemy of Liangshan. Since your Great Jin Dynasty has allied with the Great Song Dynasty, you are also our enemy! This is a declaration of war. Take it back and show it to your emperor! Get out of here! If it weren't for the rule that envoys are not to be killed in times of war, you'd be dead by now!"

The envoy was shocked when he received the declaration of war. He looked at Dong Ping in disbelief, his face filled with astonishment. He didn't dare to linger and fled back as if he were escaping, handing the declaration of war to Wanyan Zongwang, who also looked incredulous.

A group of rebels from the Song Dynasty have declared war on our Great Jin?!

Just then, the Liangshan fleet arrived in the nearby waters. The massive fleet seemed to be held captive by an invisible clamp, brought to a halt on the beach. The heavy wooden hulls groaned under immense inertia, their dark brown shells squeezing the seawater and churning up murky waves. But an even more breathtakingly precise maneuver followed: on the hulls of each giant ship, countless sails shifted wildly at the same time, their massive fore and aft sails tightening and twisting amidst the shrill cries of the rough ropes! The ten warships, their massive, cumbersome bodies moving with the perfect coordination of sails and rudders, resembled a well-trained army, their movements breathtakingly synchronized. They were no longer giant whales riding the waves, but ferocious steel behemoths turning menacingly in the sea!

Fueled by raging winds and towering waves, these ten sea fortresses turned in unison with mechanical precision! Accompanied by the deafening roar of twisting timbers, the taut clang of ropes stretched to their limit, and the furious crashing of waves, their long, heavy, and sturdy broadsides were all pointed at the shore. One by one, the side windows opened, revealing cannons, their dark muzzles like giant eyes opening from the abyss of hell, densely packed and layered, exposed to the air, menacingly aimed at the vast mudflats and wasteland where a human tragedy was unfolding!

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze, even the desperate cries of refugees in the distance were swallowed up by the terrifying pressure that was about to erupt. A piercing command broke the brief silence, and the roar of cannons shook the heavens and the sea!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"

It wasn't ten cannon shots, but hundreds of destructive thunderclaps that exploded simultaneously! Each galleon had forty-six cannons on its sides, a total of four hundred and sixty massive brass cannons, all vying to unleash their deadly flames! The sea was illuminated, and acrid smoke billowed into the sky, surging and engulfing the upper parts of the ships! The intense flames almost dimmed the sun in the sky!

The next instant, countless black reapers, trailing fiery flames and piercing shrieks, descended from the sky!

There were heavy solid iron bullets, exploding bullets that scattered countless fragments, and chain bullets that linked two iron balls with an iron chain, specifically designed to tear apart large targets—like a rain of destruction sent down by God, tearing through the air, crossing hundreds of steps, and slamming into the core area where the Jin army's iron cavalry was charging and rampaging!

Those Jin light cavalry and elite armored soldiers who were whipping their horses and charging fiercely just a moment ago were instantly swept into a pure steel storm. Their proud charging formation was like snow that had been doused with hot oil, instantly annihilated.

At the densest point of the charging column, several heavy bullets fell to the ground like meteors! With a dull and terrifying impact, men and horses were instantly torn apart and crushed. The high-speed spinning bullets plowed through flesh and soil, carving out hideous scarlet furrows. The cavalrymen who were directly hit didn't even have time to scream before they and their mounts, along with fragments of armor, were turned into a burst of blood mist and mangled flesh!

Dense bursts of exploding shells exploded above and in mid-air above the Jin army! Hundreds of scorching hot shrapnel and burning iron fragments swept in all directions like the scythe of death! Within the radius, friend and foe alike were pierced and smashed to pieces! Countless cavalrymen were struck as if by an invisible giant hammer, howling as they fell from their horses, only to be trampled into mud by the chaotic hooves of fleeing horses!

The chain bullets, raining down like raindrops, swept low overhead! They whistled and spun, mercilessly slicing through any life that stood in their path! The heavy iron balls of the chain bullets, dragging long chains, hurtled in, snapping the legs of men and the necks of horses wherever they passed! The sharp edge of the charge was instantly broken and shattered!

Terrified by the deafening roar, the warhorses let out heart-wrenching neighs, instinctively rearing up and spinning wildly in circles or colliding with each other. The knights, terrified, tried to rein in their out-of-control mounts, but the omnipresent symphony of steel and flames utterly destroyed all order!

The raging tide of attack came to an abrupt halt, as if it had crashed into an invisible iron wall, and then collapsed and disintegrated violently inward!

The once well-organized cavalry force was instantly transformed into a chaotic inferno of fragmentation and carnage under this unimaginable barrage of heavy artillery fire! The sounds of battle and bloodshed were completely drowned out, interrupted, and crushed by this destructive symphony from the ocean!

Under the cover of bombardment from these ten giant ships and four hundred and sixty cannons, a large number of small boats carrying Liangshan soldiers began to land on the beach!

In the distance, Wanyan Zongwang, who was standing on the high ground, had his calm and indifferent expression of life and death shattered for the first time by the deafening cannon fire and the unprecedented tragedy.

His pupils contracted, the veins on the back of his hand gripping the reins bulged, and he stared intently at the field covered by smoke, blood mist, flames, and mutilated corpses, as well as the ten steel fortresses at sea that still stood proudly amidst the smoke, their cannons still glowing. He began to calculate the odds of his five thousand men winning against the massive fleet of Liangshan.

Chapter 399: The first formation of Liang and Jin in Pingzhou

As Wanyan Zongwang watched the giant beast firing cannons on the sea and the Liangshan soldiers gradually landing, his thoughts raced. No matter what, it would be too shameful to run away without firing a single arrow.

Moreover, what strange "Liangshan" wants to go to war with the Great Jin? Then I should at least use the troops at hand to test the strength of Liangshan and gather intelligence on the enemy for the Great Jin, so that if anything happens in the future.

Thinking of this, his eyes hardened again. Wanyan Zongwang raised his scepter high, and the once clear sky was as if it had been smeared by a giant hand dipped in thick ink. Rolling black clouds, with the ten giant ships as the absolute core, instantly condensed, rolled, and collapsed from all directions, forming a huge black vortex.

Rumble!

In an instant, thunder roared, and torrential rain poured down. Large raindrops, like invisible giant hammers, pounded down from the clouds onto the sea! The white curtain of rain instantly wove into an impenetrable water screen, as if the Milky Way had been poured out. Mixed in with the raging rain were countless thumb-sized, sharp-edged hailstones! Carrying deadly kinetic energy, they pelted the massive ship's thick oak deck and sturdy superstructure with a dense, crackling sound, like popping beans! The sea instantly boiled, splashing up countless white sprays of despair.