Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

October of the tenth year of Yongsheng.

Four infantry divisions of the Salo people entered Fulong Province, which borders Liaozhou, from Liaozhou under the pretext of "building a military buffer zone".

Zhao Xiuqi, the former military governor of Fulong Province who had already submitted his resignation to the capital, ordered the Fulong garrison, which was waiting to be reorganized into the Daqian Zhenguo Army, not to put up any futile resistance, to lay down their weapons and open the city gates to allow the Shaluo army to enter the city without hindrance.

At the same time, three divisions of the Yi Kingdom entered the neighboring Luyang Province from Honghai Province.

The situation was exactly the same as in Fulong Province; the barbarian army encountered almost no resistance and smoothly entered Luyang Province...

The large-scale invasion of the Great Qian Empire by the Saluo army and the Yi Kingdom army officially began.

The capital issued a strongly worded protest and warning telegram regarding the invasion by the Salo and Yi kingdoms.

On one hand, he urgently ordered the Daqian Zhenguo Army's anti-rebel legion to speed up its march and advance towards the five provinces of Jizhou.

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

Within the territory of Luyang Province.

On the smooth, flat road, the invading barbarian army was advancing in an orderly manner.

Amidst the dust, the endless queue resembled a long, winding snake.

The roar of cars and the neighing of horses mingled together, creating a truly spectacular scene.

On the hillside not far away.

General Yamanaka, appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the three-nation allied forces, looked arrogantly at the advancing foreign army through his binoculars.

"Inform headquarters that the Imperial army has entered Luyang according to the established plan."

"There was no sporadic resistance as expected—wherever the imperial army went, the soldiers and civilians of Qian Kingdom voluntarily opened the city gates."

"The Imperial Army will soon complete its takeover of Luyang Province!"

"Given that our unit will complete the occupation of Luyang ahead of schedule, we hereby request permission from the General Headquarters that our unit may divide its forces to continue expanding the occupied area."

After seeing that the communications officer had finished recording Yamanaka's orders, Major General Maruta, the staff officer standing to the side, looked in Yamanaka's direction and said with a smile, "Commander, I think your suggestion will definitely be rejected by General Headquarters."

"The headquarters' plan was formulated based on the latest intelligence from the intelligence headquarters."

"They repeatedly emphasized that we must set up defenses in the Heidang Mountain area, where Luyang and Jia'an meet, before the Qian Kingdom's army could, so as to wait in comfort and strike the enemy hard."

"The headquarters has a high opinion of Shen Moshen's Zhenguo Army, but is also very cautious about it."

"I believe they will not easily change this decision just because the Imperial army is performing better than expected in Luyang Province."

"After all, these Qian Kingdom troops who surrendered to us were not the Zhenguo Army..."

A problem can be found in the conversation between Yamanakai and Maruta Hajime.

That is—although the Salo, the Yi Kingdom, and Zhuo Yongwang's Yongchang Independent State have officially formed a three-nation alliance.

However, during this phase of vying for territory, the armies of Saluo and Yi Kingdom were not unified under the command of the newly established Joint Command of the Three Kingdoms Alliance.

The main headquarters in the Yi Kingdom has already formulated a plan. Although Yamanakai holds the titles of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces and Commander of the Daqian Expeditionary Army.

However, if the battle plan set by the General Headquarters is to be changed, Yamanaka, the highest-ranking commander from the Yi Kingdom stationed on the Daqian battlefield, still needs the General Headquarters' approval before the plan can be altered.

This also reflects the importance and caution that the Yi Kingdom's headquarters attaches to the Daqian Zhenguo Army.

The intelligence headquarters of the foreign country delivered copies of a documentary and photographs, which were taken by the Daqian Zhenguo Army to intimidate the military governors of various provinces of Daqian and had a distinctly "dawn of the empire" feel, to the conference table at the headquarters of the foreign country.

It is said that the chief minister, army minister, and navy minister of the barbarian country, after seeing the appearance of the Great Qian Zhenguo army,

They quickly revised the original battle plan and instead devised the current "conservative plan," which Yamanakai considered overly cautious.

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

"It's not even certain whether the intelligence headquarters' information is accurate!"

"The people of Qianguo have no shortage of people. It's not difficult to find a few professional film directors, use some props, and bring people over to shoot those impressive videos and photos."

"Of course, Shen Moshen's troops are definitely far stronger than the warlord armies of Qian Kingdom."

I don't deny that!

Yamanaka casually handed the binoculars to the staff officer next to him: "The fact that Shen Moshen's troops were able to scare Zhuo Yongwang out of the capital shows that they are definitely much stronger than Zhuo Yongwang's five-province allied forces."

"But how strong can it really be?"

"Anyway, I don't believe that Qianguo has a truly strong army!"

Yamanaka pointed at the marching barbarian army, his face filled with pride: "Take a good look!"

"This is what a strong military should look like!"

"In the face of the imperial army, the army of the Qian Kingdom is utterly insignificant."

Then, Yamanakai added, "Including Shen Moshen's Zhenguo Army!"

"Before coming to Qian Kingdom, after hearing some things about Shen Moshen's rapid rise in Qian Kingdom, I once thought that Qian Kingdom had produced a strong army that could be presented to the public."

"But after arriving in Qian Kingdom and witnessing the 'spirit' of the Qian people firsthand along the way, I think I was overthinking it."

Yamanaka said with disdain, "The people of Qian are all spineless. Even if they are given excellent weapons and equipment, their combat effectiveness will be very limited."

"Therefore, even if the weapons and equipment displayed by the Zhenguo Army are real, there is nothing to fear!"

"Shen Moshen's rapid rise in Qian Kingdom was not due to the strength of his Zhenguo Army."

"It's because Shen Moshen's opponent was really too weak."

"Once Shen Moshen's Zhenguo Army experiences the bravery of the Imperial Army, they will surely become like the other Qian Kingdom armies—only knowing how to surrender and run away!"

"We'll see."

"Any boasting without the backing of real strength will only become a laughing stock."

Yamanaka confidently asserted, "Shen Moshen will definitely regret his momentary act of 'toughness'."

"The Imperial Army will make him understand—what a world of difference truly means!"