I transmigrated to ancient times and became a king with a title equal to mine.

Xiang Yu guessed that after burning the thousand warships, the Great Xia had sent at least several hundred or even a thousand men to launch a surprise attack on the rear of the Dongjiang Kingdom.

Xiang Yu guessed that the Great Xia had sent at least several hundred or even a thousand men to raid the rear of the Dongjiang Kingdom, so he was furious and wanted to wipe out this Great Xia force.

Little did he know that the burning of the camps was merely a sudden idea by Wang Sheng, an officer in the Yangzhou garrison, on his way to the valley, and he led only five teenagers in a raid.

After the fire broke out, the five teenagers dispersed and sneaked into farmers' homes.

Wang Sheng walked slowly along the horse track, carrying two small gunpowder packets in his arms.

Who's on the other side?

Hearing the accent of the people on the other side of the river, Wang Sheng knew that the person he was waiting for had arrived.

"Who are you people? You're scaring me to death in the middle of the night!" Wang Sheng replied angrily.

Wow, ten people surrounded Wang Sheng.

The powerful aura of the ten men made Wang Sheng somewhat discouraged: Damn, the warriors of Dongjiang Kingdom are really strong?

"Hey buddy, have you spotted a group of soldiers?" the squad leader asked.

Wang Sheng pretended to be confused. The squad leader pointed to the still-burning riverbank and said, "Have you found the arsonist? If you tell us, we'll give you fifty taels of silver right away."

"Fifty taels?" Wang Sheng asked, holding up five fingers in utter astonishment.

The squad leader took out a tael of silver from his sleeve and said, "Fifty taels. But you can't cheat us."

"How could that be?" Wang Sheng grinned and said, "I'm from Jiangzhuang. The boat's cook came to our house to buy chickens just a couple of days ago."

After saying that, he pointed in the direction of the Wujiang River and said, "There are about forty people running along the embankment towards the Shihe Wharf."

"Only forty or so people?" a samurai asked incredulously.

"How many people do you think there were?" Wang Sheng said mysteriously, "There were only five people who actually set the fire. They flew back and forth in the air like eagles, throwing things onto the ship, which exploded with loud bangs. My God! Every time they threw something, it was a fireball."

"If you don't believe me, go ask the soldiers on the ship." Wang Sheng reached out for the silver.

The squad leader and his men exchanged glances, all agreeing that the middle-aged man was honest and wouldn't lie. They gave Wang Sheng a bag of silver and turned to chase after Shihe.

"Don't go! I haven't checked yet whether it's fifty taels."

The squad leader stopped, glanced at him, and shook his head, as if to say, "You damn ungrateful wretch."

Just as the squad leader turned and ran, he suddenly heard two whooshing sounds behind him. As soon as he turned around to look, there were two loud bangs. Four of the ten men died on the spot, and the remaining six were all rendered unable to fight.

Wang Sheng searched the ten men and found various spies, pills, silver, and two carrier pigeons.

After being interrogated by Wang Sheng, the six men told him about the situation of the Dongjiang military camp and their plan to assassinate the Marquis of Wanjiang.

"Holy shit!"

Wang Sheng shuddered in fright and said to the six people in a deep voice, "Go back and tell Xiang Yu that the Great Xia Kingdom is not one that anyone can bully."

"Watch out or I'll take his dog's head!"

Wang Sheng knew this news was extremely important, so he ran towards Lishui City.

Long Bin and his entourage finally entered the city. In front of the Lishui Prefectural Government Office, Lu Yuan read out the imperial edict.

All the civil and military officials of Lishui, as well as the Marquis of Wanjiang who was in charge of drought affairs in Lishui, knelt down and paid homage to the Southern Thousand Years.

The Prince of Nan's Mansion was never built. The Marquis of Wanjiang wanted to give up his temporary residence, but Long Bin refused.

“My staying here would disrupt the normal operation of the government office, so I plan to stay in Fengleji. Currently, I am alone, so I will find a small inn to stay in.”

Ma Gui, the prefect of Lishui, immediately arranged for someone to handle the formalities.

Immediately afterwards, everyone accompanied Long Bin up to the East City, where they looked out over the battlefield from the second floor of the Drum Tower.

The Great Xia army blocked the enemy more than a mile away from the moat, where the two sides engaged in a fierce battle. The battlefield was filled with shouts of battle, the sound of drums, and the smoke of gunpowder.

While observing the battle, the generals reported on the battle situation and casualties over the past few days.

Long Bin clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to the assembled generals and civil and military officials, saying, "On behalf of my father, I would like to thank you all, and ask you to convey to the soldiers who fought on the battlefield, that the Great Hua Kingdom thanks you!"

Having said that, he bowed deeply!

Everyone hurriedly knelt down to express their gratitude.

"Everyone, please stand up."

He then clarified his stance against kneeling and worship, stating that except in the main hall, all rituals should be kept simple.

"Your Majesty, the three cannons are in position." Lin Shan, holding a red and a yellow flag, went upstairs to report.

Everyone looked at Lin Shan in confusion.

Long Bin didn't explain, but simply pointed ahead and said, "Tell the artillery to bombard their camps hard."

"Honor your orders!"

Lin Shan turned to face northeast and waved the two flags seven or eight times.

A moment later, after three whooshing sounds, a deafening roar followed.

Instantly, thick smoke billowed from the Dongjiang soldiers' camp, sparks shot into the sky, and cries and screams filled the air.

Not only were Li Guixiao, Ma Gui, and other officials in Lishui greatly shocked, but Lin Shan and Lu Yuan also did not expect the three copper pipes to be so imposing.

Just as everyone was stunned into silence, chaos suddenly broke out in the enemy's ranks.

Long Bin said in a deep voice, "The enemy soldiers are already in disarray. Remember, after the next three shots, launch a full-scale attack and drive the thieves into the Jiupai River to feed the turtles!"

A chorus of excited voices roared, "Yes!"

Rumble…

The third round of shelling began. Marquis Wanjiang leaped onto the wainscoting, drew his longsword, and roared, "Men, kill...!"

Li Guixiao, Long Bin, Lin Shan, Lu Yuan, and others jumped directly off the city wall.

The commanders on both sides saw thunderous applause in the enemy camp, causing chaos among the enemy's morale. Looking up at the flag signals on the city wall and seeing more than ten people flying down from the top, they raised their arms and shouted, "Kill...!"

In an instant, tens of thousands of soldiers surged towards the enemy like hungry tigers descending the mountain.

At this moment, the soldiers of Dongjiang Kingdom had no will to resist; they all wished they could sprout wings and fly home.

The moment the cannons fired, it was reported that the enemy was doomed.

Xiang Yu, who had been injured by the explosion, had a bandage wrapped around his head. He held a bright silver spear and was about to charge towards the Xia soldiers, but his subordinates held him back.

"Third Prince, retreat quickly, or you won't be able to get back."

Xiang Yu's face was contorted with rage as he roared to the heavens, "Heavens, why did you lend heavenly lightning to the Great Xia Kingdom?"

He believed he had been struck by lightning.

He was very puzzled: "I've been very strict in restraining my officers and soldiers from harming innocent people, from robbing and raping them, and from beating and scolding civilians. Why am I still being struck by lightning?"

"Heavens above, if you are going to strike down the enemy, strike me but not the soldiers, then I am the most wicked person."

Just as Xiang Yu raised his hands to the sky and roared wildly, another round of artillery fire came.

Three thunderous booms echoed through the Dongjiang Formation, sending sparks soaring into the sky and the earth shaking violently.

Tens of thousands of soldiers from Dongjiang were instantly engulfed in the smoke of battle.

People of that era had never seen anything like this before. They were all terrified and ran away in panic. Many soldiers knelt on the ground and cried out, "The thunder has struck! We're doomed!"

Xiang Yu was, after all, a master of the Grandmaster realm. In his moment of fear, he was thrown off by the warhorse and fled in a flash.

With a large number of warships burned, only a hundred or so warships remained on the banks of the Jiupai River.

The Dongjiang army suffered a crushing defeat, fleeing towards their warships.