New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Since the other party has provoked us, there is absolutely no reason to launch a surprise attack.

Wanyan Zonghan was certain that Tang Qian would never do such a thing, and Aru showed no fear whatsoever, instead displaying a ferocious expression.

His warhorse was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye it had already charged more than ten zhang. With just one more charge, Aru's spiked club could strike Yelü Yilie on the head.

However, the Grand Marshal had ordered that the enemy general be captured alive. Seeing that the other party still did not make any move, he figured that he had been frightened out of his wits by his imposing manner. Aru swiftly put the spiked club behind his back, reached out his left hand, and intended to grab the other party by the neck, lift him up, and throw him onto the horse.

In the blink of an eye, Yelü Yilie suddenly moved.

He held a black steel pipe in front of him, and no one knew what it was. Suddenly, Aru felt the hairs on his body stand on end, and a sense of fear arose spontaneously. Although he couldn't recognize what the other person was holding, he could still feel an extreme danger approaching him.

Unfortunately, his mount was a fine steed, one in a thousand. Even though Aru tried his best to pull the reins and turn the horse around, he was still taken to a place less than five zhang away from Yelü Yilie.

A sharp "bang" rang out, striking Wanyan Zonghan squarely in the heart. On the distant battlefield, the dust kicked up by Aru's galloping steed obscured the view, but Wanyan Zonghan still felt that the battle seemed to be over.

Sure enough, after a short while the smoke and dust cleared, what appeared next left all the golden figures present dumbfounded and speechless.

On the moat by the north gate of Guangling, Yelü Yilie still stood there alone on horseback, not moving an inch. Aru, who had charged forward, had fallen off his horse and lay motionless on the ground. A pool of bright red blood flowed from the gap, staining the yellow sand beneath him black.

The unmanned brown horse neighed loudly, turned around, and galloped wildly back the way it came, clearly terrified and out of control.

Without seeing what Yelü Yilie did, the fierce and brave Aru died inexplicably.

This result left Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Xie looking at each other in bewilderment, even more unable to comprehend it.

Even if Yelü Yilie used a hidden weapon, what kind of hidden weapon could kill Aru with just one strike?

Yelü Yilie's actions completely shattered their understanding.

"Wanyan Xieye, is this all the courage you have? You only know how to send your subordinates to their deaths, and you dare not face me, the prince, in a direct confrontation?"

Completely ignoring Yelü Yilie's rude remarks, Wanyan Xieye's expression was very serious: "Boy, what exactly did you do?"

Yelü Yilie held the black matchlock gun in front of him, then took out a paper packet from his pocket, poured the gunpowder and steel balls into the barrel, and then tamped it down with a wooden stick. Only after this series of actions was the bullet chambered again.

"Want to know? Then come and see for yourself."

Wanyan Xie remained silent, presumably the object in his hand was the new weapon that had killed Aru with a single blow.

What he couldn't understand was what kind of terrifying power Tang Qian possessed that enabled so many new weapons to emerge in Guangling City, things they simply couldn't comprehend.

"Don't bother, they won't fall for it."

On the city wall, Tang Qian's head popped out from the lookout point. "If you don't come back soon, I'm going to order the city gates closed."

Yelü Yilie turned around and looked up, giving Tang Qian a big eye roll. Wasn't it you who said you wanted to give the other side a hard time, which is why you sent me out of the city to provoke them?

Watching Yelü Yilie reluctantly turn back to the city, Wanyan Xie did not dare to make any rash moves. He simply took two steps forward, came to a position where he could talk to Tang Qian, and looked up at him.

"Could you tell me what exactly Yelü Yilie's weapon is?"

“Of course you can. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to do it.” Tang Qian stroked his chin, looking utterly disdainful and irritating. “This is called a matchlock gun. It fires gunpowder to propel the bullet out of the barrel and can kill any enemy. As long as they are within range, even if they are wearing armor, they can be taken down with one shot.”

Looking down at Wanyan Xieye's location, Tang Qian clicked his tongue, "The Grand Marshal is currently in the range of a matchlock musket."

As soon as Tang Qian said this, Wanyan Xie immediately felt a layer of cold sweat seep into his palms and back.

He unconsciously wanted to retreat, but he could not lose his dignity as the commander of the Jin army. He could only suppress his fear and continue to talk to Tang Qian. His ashen face had already revealed the fear hidden deep in his heart.

"I can tell you with certainty that the maximum attack range of the matchlock musket is one hundred zhang. In other words, as long as the target is within one hundred zhang, we have a chance to kill him. Marshal, do you think that if our army were to ambush you outside the Jin army camp with this weapon, we would have a chance to kill you?"

Wanyan Xie was speechless. Tang Qian's tactic was assassination. Even though the Jin army still had 60,000 men, besieging Guangling was no problem. But if they shot them in the back and killed all the Jin generals, the army would be leaderless and would have to retreat.

"For the sake of our acquaintance, let me offer the Grand Marshal another piece of advice: think carefully about what has happened outside Guangling City recently. War these days is not about bravery and brute force, or winning simply by having a large number of people and sharp swords. In the face of firearms, your cold weapons are nothing but clay chickens and earthenware dogs. You cannot take Guangling City. If you still don't believe me, you are welcome to try again. However... this time your invasion of the south has probably brought out all of the Jin Kingdom's military strength. Be careful of the emptiness in your rear, which may be exploited by those with ulterior motives. By the time you rush back, you may have no place to stand."

Now that things have come to this, Wanyan Xie, having seen too many new weapons, has really lost the courage to continue fighting. However, he is not the supreme commander of this allied army, so even if he wanted to retreat, his word would probably not count.

"I must admit, your weapon is indeed powerful, but my Great Jin is not without any trump cards. Are you really not afraid of mutual destruction? If the foundation that Guangling City has accumulated over hundreds of years is completely destroyed in your hands, how will you face the condemnation of the world?"

"You're not convinced, are you?" Tang Qian completely disregarded the other party's threat. "Then let's continue. If you intend to surround us without attacking, I will send out gunmen to kill all your generals. It will only take a little time to ambush them, and I have plenty of that."