Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

"You must be the madman Zhu that Feng Dafei has high hopes for, right?"

"We met under these circumstances exactly thirty-six hours later."

Cao Hanfei, the commander-in-chief of the Daqian Zhenguo Army's anti-rebel legion, looked at Zhu Gaoqi, who had already been disarmed, and pointed to his watch.

"Your command post is well set up, and it's dug deep enough."

Seeing Zhu Gaoqi's stiff neck and silence, Cao Hanfei looked around the underground command post and smiled: "What's wrong?"

"General Zhu seems quite dissatisfied with the current outcome?"

Do you feel that you lost this battle unfairly?

"Humph!"

"The victor is king, the loser is villain! I wish the madman nothing more to say."

"Kill or cut into pieces, it's up to you!"

"If I, Zhu the Madman, even frown, I'm no hero!" Zhu Gaoqi twisted his head, tilting it to the side with an expression of unyielding defiance.

"Good heavens! You really are fearless!" Cao Hanfei laughed. "It's just a pity that you don't think your relentless pursuit of death is completely meaningless."

"The entire Liaofu defense line has been lost. Whether you live or die will not change the outcome."

"The question is—why are you now so eager to die?"

Cao Hanfei retorted, "Do you really expect to exchange your death for a medal from Zhuo Yongwang?"

"My actions have nothing to do with Zhuo Yongwang!"

Zhu Gaoqi finally spoke: "I promised Commander Feng that I would hold this Liaofu defense line for at least three months!"

But now...

Zhu Gaoqi looked around, his tone full of self-mockery: "Don't even mention three months! I couldn't even hold out for three days before losing the Liaofu defense line!"

"I have no face to see Commander Feng. Only death can give Commander Feng an explanation..."

“Why bother?” Cao Hanfei shook his head. “If you ask me, General Zhu might as well wait a few more days.”

"In a few days, General Zhu can personally explain to your Commander Feng."

"I think that when the time comes, your Commander-in-Chief Feng will understand very well why the Liaofu defense line was only held for thirty-six hours..."

"Taking Liaozhou will only take a few days."

"Perhaps, it's not impossible that your Commander Feng is more open-minded than you and takes the initiative to lead his troops to lay down their weapons and surrender."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Zhu Gaoqi shook his head and said with absolute certainty, "Commander Feng's entire family is in Jicheng."

"Therefore, Commander-in-Chief Feng would never lead his troops to surrender to you!"

"Even if Commander Feng wanted to surrender, he would have to consider the safety of his family first."

"Moreover, not only Commander Feng, but also the families of many generals were brought to Jicheng."

"Under these circumstances, even if they know that continuing to resist will lead to certain death, they will still fight on."

"Don't think that just because you broke through my Liaofu defense line so easily, you can easily take over the entire Liaozhou."

"If I'm not mistaken, the reason you took over the Liaofu defense line so quickly is most likely because the division commanders stationed there have already been killed in action, right?"

"If the division commanders were still alive, the troops at the front would not have surrendered so easily!"

Of the thirteen division commanders on the Liaofu defense line, only three actually died on the battlefield.

Cao Hanfei then gave the answer: "Of the remaining ten division commanders, three surrendered voluntarily with their troops."

"Five others were tied up by their subordinates and brought to us."

"The other two refused to surrender and were riddled with bullets by the insurgent soldiers."

"General Zhu, you should be considered lucky."

"At least you didn't die in a hail of bullets..."

"You'd better kill me!"

Zhu Gaoqi showed no fear, displaying a rather tough-guy spirit: "My whole family is in Jicheng. If I don't die, they won't live!"

"Please grant our request!"

“We made it clear beforehand that we are all citizens of Qian Kingdom, and there is really no need to make things like this.”

Cao Hanfei smiled and said, "Don't worry, we've already thought of this for you."

"We will announce to the public that you all died in battle, to ensure that your families, who are held hostage in Jicheng, are spared from Zhuo Yongwang's cruelty!"

"You can wait in the secret POW camp for now."

"Once we have recovered the five provinces of Jizhou, we can naturally reunite with your families."

"We will show you the combat efficiency of our Great Qian Zhenguo Army."

"Zhuo Yongwang's attempt to sow discord in the Great Qian Dynasty is nothing short of wishful thinking!"

Ring ring ring! ! !

Just then, the dedicated phone on the table rang urgently.

Upon hearing the sound, Zhu Gaoqi looked over and his face immediately darkened: "That's Commander Feng's private line..."

"Oh? Your Commander Feng is quite good at timing. He just connected the phone line and the call came in."

As he spoke, Cao Hanfei stepped forward to answer the phone.

"Hello! Is this Commander-in-Chief Feng Dafei?"

"I am Cao Hanfei, the commander-in-chief of the Zhenguo Army's Expeditionary Corps of the Great Qian Dynasty."

"We really are destined to meet, as our names both contain the character 'fei' (飞, meaning 'fly')."

"I'm sorry, Commander Feng, just now our Daqian Zhenguo Army has completely captured the Liaofu defense line, and Zhu Gaoqi's command post has also been taken down by us."

"Zhu Gaoqi and a group of officers were all killed."

"If Commander Feng wants to hear Zhu Gaoqi's report, he's probably not going to get one..."

"I hung up..." Cao Hanfei waved the phone at Zhu Gaoqi.

"Commander Cao, the defeat of Liaodong was not due to my madman Zhu's poor planning."

"However, even if heavenly soldiers and generals came, they would have a hard time defending against your style of fighting!"

"I want to know exactly how many shells you fired at the Liaofu defense line during this battle?"

"Not too many, maybe around 200 million rounds," Cao Hanfei said with a casual smile.

"Wh...what??? 200 million rounds???" Zhu Gaoqi was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.

"Yeah, around 200 million rounds. I think they dropped a lot of aerial bombs, so that should be the number."

"Can your logistics keep up with this kind of fighting style?" Zhu Gaoqi asked subconsciously.

"Of course we can keep up, otherwise we wouldn't dare to fight like this."

"Even doubling the base number would be an easy task for us."

"The integrated land, sea and air supply system is designed to ensure sufficient supplies."

"Commander Cao, I, Zhu Fengzi, am convinced!"

Zhu Gaoqi said with deep emotion, "Today, the Liaodong-Fuzhou War was lost at the hands of your Zhenguo Army. It was not a loss!"

"To be honest, we really admire General Zhu's deployment on the Liaofu defense line."

Cao Hanfei said seriously, "If it weren't for the later strategy of persuading them to surrender, which had such a miraculous effect, it would have taken us at least twice as long to take over the Liaofu defense line."

"It would definitely take at least 36 hours to complete, but 72 hours would certainly be enough."

"..........................." Zhu Gaoqi hesitated for a long time before finally managing to say, "Commander Cao is truly modest............I am completely convinced..................."

-------------------------------------

Two hours later.

Within the territory of Jizhou Province—Jicheng, the Presidential Palace of the Yongchang Independent State.

Zhuo Yongwang, dressed in military uniform, stood in front of the stage with a sorrowful expression.

Those standing below the stage were all senior generals of the Independent Army who remained in Jicheng.

"Bad news has just arrived from the Liaofu defense line!"

"Zhenguo Army took less than forty hours to completely capture the impregnable Liaofu defense line!"

"20 soldiers on the Liaofu defense line fought to the very last moment!"

"Commander Zhu Gaoqi and the thirteen division commanders stationed along the defensive line have heroically sacrificed their lives..."

"They defended the spirit of independence with their lives, upholding the dignity and bottom line that a soldier should defend to the death!"

"General Gao Qi's spirit of fighting to the death for the country and not fearing death is something that every one of our generals should learn from and emulate!"

"Although the Liaofu defense line was lost, this battle also demonstrated the spirit and determination of our Independent Army..."

On stage, Zhuo Yongwang passionately and frantically created personas for Zhu Gaoqi and others.

"I now announce that General Zhu Gaoqi is posthumously awarded the rank of Lieutenant General of the Independent Army and the 'Yongchang Hero' Medal!"

"The thirteen division commanders who sacrificed their lives on the Liaofu defense line were all promoted one rank and awarded the 'Fearless Warrior' medal!"

"Although they have left us forever, their indomitable spirit and willingness to fight to the death for their country will never disappear; this spirit will be passed down forever."

No sooner had Zhuo Yongwang finished speaking than Wu Huaiyu took the lead, stepped forward, raised his fist, and shouted slogans: "The spirit of independence will never die, the soul of Yongchang Army will live on forever!"

"The spirit of independence will never die, and the soul of the Yongchang Army will live on forever!"

"The spirit of independence will never die, the soul of the Yongchang Army will live on forever..."

A chorus of loud, unified shouts immediately erupted throughout the venue, creating a truly inspiring and uplifting scene...

After Feng Dafei reported the news of the fall of the Liaofu defense line, Zhuo Yongwang was furious, but he quickly ordered a "motivation and commendation" meeting to be held!

Although the Liaofu defense line was lost, Zhuo Yongwang specifically praised Zhu Gaoqi and others for their spirit of "fighting to the death" and "sacrificing themselves for the country."

Zhuo Yongwang wanted to minimize the negative impact of the Liaofu defense line's collapse through this self-deceptive method.......................

After the "Incentive and Recognition" conference concluded.

Only Wu Huaiyu remained.

"This is the formidable general that Feng Dafei recommended to me!"

"They even said that only Zhu Gaoqi could hold the Liaofu defense line!"

"fart!"

What did he protect?

"With 20 troops backed by a natural barrier, even if I put 20 pigs there and put an idiot as the commander, they wouldn't lose the entire defensive line in less than two days!"

At this moment, Zhuo Yongwang's attitude towards Zhu Gaoqi and others had completely reversed from what he had shown at the "Incentive and Commendation" conference...

"Useless! He's an absolute idiot! I can't even imagine how Zhu Gaoqi managed to fight like this!"

Zhuo Yongwang flew into a rage in his study, scattering documents all over the floor.

"President, please calm down..." Wu Huaiyu looked at the furious Zhuo Yongwang and didn't know how to comfort him.

Even Wu Huaiyu himself couldn't understand why the Liaofu defense line was captured by the Zhenguo Army in just 36 hours.

"Once the Liaofu defense line is lost, the gates to the entire Liaozhou region will be completely open!"

"The gates to the entire Yongchang Independent State are now completely open!"

"Liaozhou is finished! Feng Dafei's 500,000 troops will definitely not be able to stop the advance of Zhenguo Army!"

"The Liaofu defense line only held for thirty-six hours. How long can Liaozhou hold out?"

"Five days? A week? Or ten days or half a month?"

Zhuo Yongwang slumped dejectedly in his seat, looking utterly hopeless: "Is it really fate that Yongchang is doomed...?"

"Huaiyu, do you think this is what they call the inevitability of fate?"

"President, our Yongchang Independent State still has several million elite troops. Although the defeat in Liaofu was too unbelievable, we are not entirely without a chance."

Wu Huaiyu forced a smile and comforted him, "Even if we take a step back, we still have Jicheng."

"Gicheng's defenses are among the best in the world, we..."

At this point, Wu Huaiyu suddenly realized that he really didn't know how to continue.

Logically speaking, the Liaofu defense line was not badly deployed.

If we estimate based on common sense, even if we keep a close eye on things, we could hold out for three months.

But the reality is—not even three months, not even three days!

Some only last thirty-six hours...................

The 20 troops stationed in this strategically important location held out for only thirty-six hours.

Feng Dafeng couldn't understand it, Wu Huaiyu couldn't understand it, and Zhuo Yongwang couldn't understand it even more...