Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 1019 – Hanoi Emergency
4th month, 30th day, Annan northwest border.
Mengde City was a small city in the northwest. 10 miles away was the mountain range that Great Xia swept a week ago, along with the few cities in the surroundings.
Yesterday morning, Mengde City was on high alert, the relay, city gate, official paths, and the like were guarded by the Great Xia City Protection Legion Corps to prevent anyone from getting close.
No one was allowed to enter or leave the city.
When the civilians realized that, they knew that something was about to happen. However, even if they wanted to, they could not inform the imperial city because all forms of communication were cut off.
The Black Snake Guards in charge of Annan intel worked with the Military Intelligence Division to lockdown the neighboring area.
All signs showed that something big was happening.
Just last night, north of Mengde City, a black tunnel appeared in the desolate and secluded mountain range, directly connecting to Yunnan Province.
Very quickly, torches were lit up in the tunnel, lighting it up brightly. The Great Xia Army prepared in Mengding Prefecture crossed through the tunnel and magically appeared in Annan.
From night all the way till the afternoon of the 30th day, people and carriages streamed from the tunnel, gathering in the Annan wilderness.
This army included the five legions of the Dragon Legion Corps, the 4th legion of the Guards Legion Corps, and the 1st and 2nd legion of the Bear Legion Corps. They had a total of 560 thousand troops.
The troops that had appeared now were just the start. More and more of them swarmed out of the tunnel. Behind the troops was an even larger support army with a total of 500 thousand men.
During the nighttime, under the accompaniment of Lai Hu’er, Zhang Liao, and the others, expedition commander Baiqi walked out of the tunnel.
“Commander!”
Dragon Legion 1st legion Legion General Zhao Ponu was appointed as the vanguard general and led the 1st legion to be the first to arrive on Annan soil. Seeing Baiqi, he immediately greeted him.
Baiqi had an iron armor on, and he looked really solemn, “Is the area on lockdown?”
“Do not worry, commander, I’ve sent out five sentries to lock down a thousand miles. If there are any action, we will notice it immediately.”
Zhao Ponu was a capable general under Huo Qubing in history. He was good at tracking and sentry work, which was why he was appointed as the vanguard general.
Baiqi nodded; naturally, he did not praise him.
Zhao Ponu heaved a sigh of relief, as to get a nod from Baiqi was a huge honor.
“Increase our guard at night, we cannot mess this up.” Baiqi instructed.
“Yes, commander!”
Zhao Ponu nodded, turning around to make arrangements.
Baiqi, on the other hand, led the other generals to discuss the military operation.
Zhao Ponu, Lai Hu’er, Zhang Liao, Xiao Chaogui, Er’Lai, Chen Tang, and Pei Renji were all here. All seven Legion Generals were present.
Baiqi swept his gaze around before saying solemnly, “During these few days, the enemy has retaliated relentlessly, exceeding our expectations. The three armies have been holding on, but they are losing twenty to thirty thousand men a day.”
When the generals heard that, they all had a solemn expression.
They knew that the sacrifices of the three armies was to create an opportunity for them to drag the main force away from the imperial city.
“We must be quick!” Baiqi concluded, “This cannot drag on. Tomorrow morning, all the troops that have arrived will set off and try to reach Hanoi in four days.”
“Yes, commander!”
They all replied in unison.
As the scale of the army was too huge, Baiqi arranged for the infantry to go through first, followed by the cavalry. Hence, the cavalry would be able to catch up and arrive at Hanoi at around the same time.
At the same time, to lower the chances of being spotted, even the vanguard forces needed to split up to prevent congestion.
As for the specifics, it was up to Baiqi to brief them about it.
Only at 11 PM did this all come to an end. As the commander, Baiqi did not go to sleep. Instead, he called his guards to patrol.
This was a battle that concerned the fate of the dynasty, and Baiqi had no choice but to be careful.
Even for the Qin country in history, Baiqi did not command such a huge army. The burden on his shoulders was not something that outsiders could understand.
…
Time slowly crawled into the 5th month.
Since the start of the battle, Great Xia had spent a month in Annan. Seeing that there was only going to be a month till the country war month, the Battle of Annan became the focus of Asia.
Even the Battle of West Chu was not as eye-catching as this.
Annan northwest border, Great Xia camp.
Morning, the sky at first light, Baiqi, who slept less than six hours, led his troops to move along their designated routes.
From this moment onward, the Battle of Annan would welcome its final battle.
5th month, 2nd day, afternoon, the Great Xia Army broke through the control region of the north troops, officially entering the field of vision of Annan. The hard work of the north troops, the Black Snake Guards, and the Military Intelligence Division had earned the army two days of time.
This was key to the battle.
When the huge army suddenly appeared near Hanoi, it was obvious what a blow it was to the Annan players and the Annan royal family.
“Oh my god, where did they come out from?”
No one could give these people an answer. The northwest border consisted of mountain ranges. Logically speaking, no army could cross it and appear within Annan.
Toward the northwest, Annan had practically zero defenses.
But this thing just magically occurred. Even when all the officials and generals in the Annan Imperial Court wracked their brains, they still could not understand what had happened.
“Weren’t the second batch of troops coming from the ocean?”
The one who spoke had realized that the so-called ocean route was a smoke bomb to deceive everyone.
All of a sudden, the imperial city was in chaos.
Some people predicted, “Maybe there was a hole in the mountains, connecting it to Yunnan.”
Some geologists announced that based on geography and the way that the earth works, it was possible for a tunnel to appear.
However, such an idea did not make sense. It was the 5th year of Gaia, so if there was a rumble, the Annan players would have already found it.
One must know that for the huge army to cross it, the tunnel would have to be huge.
“There’s no point in discussing this. The crucial problem is what should we do now?”
That’s right, what should they do?
The first reaction of the Annan royal family was to call for the guards to return.
Not only the guards, but even the players were all summoned back. After all, the imperial city was the most important.
The moment it fell, the battle would end, and all other victories would be useless.
Helplessly, the three armies were too far away from the imperial city, and they would not be able to rush back in two to three days. The Annan royal family could only join hands with the guild leaders to gather up all the available troops.
A huge storm suddenly swept up Annan.
…
China region.
Different from the panic of the Annan players, the China region players were feeling conflicted.
Two days ago, they were worried that Great Xia was going to fail. In the blink of an eye, Great Xia had turned the situation around.
The flip of the script made one speechless.
Before this, those players who mocked Baiqi and Great Xia were weeded out and humiliated.
As long as they were not thick skinned, they would not dare to show themselves on the forums anymore.
Di Chen and the others were even more depressed. The only thing worth feeling joyous about was that they did not express their views online this time.
Throughout the entire process, the Xia Palace did not make a single sound.
The Xia Palace did not make a statement or not reply. The China region players had an explanation for that, “Great Xia is so amazing. It looks like they were not doing anything, but in truth, everything was under their control.”
“Smart, genius!”
Many people could not help but raise their thumbs up. Toward the plan by Great Xia, normal players could only bow down in awe.
Being influenced by this, Ouyang Shuo’s country war leader votes exploded. On the 5th month, 3rd day, he had obtained 45 million votes, 20 million more than Di Chen.
The race for the position seemed to have ended early.
…
The China region players were happy, but the Annan players were in a bad state.
Apart from those who were still in the imperial city, when the three armies received the military order, their heart sank, and their faces turned ashen white. If they did not understand what was going on, they would not be worthy of being called elites.
Especially Haiphong City Lord Ruan Tianque. When he learned that the Great Xia Army had appeared in Hanoi’s outskirts, his first reaction was disbelief. Then his face turned white and subsequently red.
Shame, he felt totally ashamed!
The matter was already obvious; this was a plot by Great Xia. Ironically, the reason the plot worked was because of a certain Ruan Tianque asking them to attack.
Which meant that Ruan Tianque was the reason for Annan being buried.
Guilt swept toward him like a tsunami. Thinking about the words his countrymen would say about him, Ruan Tianque lost all courage.
He did not dare to face his countrymen that had trusted him.
That night, he killed himself in his reading room. On the table were his final words. Three blood red words were written on a white sheet of paper, “It’s my fault!”
