Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

“Very well, I’d like to see how those Chu people invade Anding City.”

Li Siqian slammed his hand on the top of the barricade, his face full of confidence.

leave--

Just then, a piercing shriek came from the air.

Boom~

Before Li Siqian could react, a grenade landed directly on the city wall and exploded.

Suddenly, the ground above the city wall shook violently.

A group of Western Xia soldiers who were carrying mud were blown into the air by the explosion, and when they fell back down, all that remained was mud splattered all over the ground.

At the same time, a huge gap appeared above the city wall.

Li Siqian instinctively lay down under the edge of the battlement and shouted, "What happened!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another piercing shriek echoed in his ears.

Another grenade bypassed the city wall and exploded directly below the densely populated area.

boom--

The moment the cannon fired, severed limbs and blood mist quickly spread across the street.

This scene completely stunned Li Siqian and his group of Western Xia soldiers.

They had never seen such an attack method before. The mud fortifications that had been in place all day were completely useless except for wasting their energy.

However, after the two claps of thunder, there was no further sound, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Up the city wall! Prepare to defend against the enemy!"

Once he came to his senses, Li Siqian seized the opportunity and shouted, directing the Western Xia soldiers to rush towards the city wall.

In an instant, archers and swordsmen hurriedly climbed the city wall. Some stood guard at the crenellations, some began operating the heavy octagonal crossbows, and others started adding firewood to the boiling molten gold.

All the Western Xia soldiers were on tenterhooks.

The painful cries of his companions echoed in his ears, but he dared not turn around to look, fearing that the cruel scene would break his taut nerves.

"Don't panic, everyone stay calm!"

Li Siqian tried his best to calm everyone down.

"You are all the bravest warriors of the Western Xia Kingdom, and no difficulty can defeat you!"

"That was just an accident, there's no mistake, it was just an accident, don't panic."

Under Li Siqian's reassurance, the Western Xia soldiers on the city wall finally rallied and nervously looked out at the deserted city.

Unbeknownst to them, the Imperial Guard artillery battalion, after conducting test firings, began to re-mark the size and distance.

The observer used the gun scope to quickly lock onto the latest position and continuously called out the new coordinates to the operator.

Mu Qingqiu, who was watching from a distance, was equally shocked by what she saw.

"Damn, what kind of weapon is this that can shoot so far? It's more powerful than any magical weapon I've ever seen."

"However, such a powerful weapon must have many limitations, right?"

at this time.

Boom boom boom——

"Damn, that scared the hell out of me!"

The artillery barrage erupted with a deafening roar, so loud that Mu Qingqiu nearly fell off the tree.

As the cannonballs drew perfect black streaks in the air, the Western Xia garrison on the city walls of Anding watched numbly as the "stones" fell one by one.

boom--

The next moment, the entire Anding city wall was covered by extreme firepower.

The devastating explosions utterly ravaged everything in their path.

An octagonal crossbow was shattered by the shockwave, and the sturdy ox-tendon string was instantly ejected, sending two unfortunate Western Xia soldiers flying on the spot.

In addition, a rapidly spinning wooden spike pierced the chest of an archer.

In another location, a grenade landed near Jinzhi, instantly wiping out the three Western Xia soldiers guarding the area.

At the same time, the molten gold splashed everywhere, directly scalding the scalps and cheeks of the surrounding Western Xia soldiers, causing wisps of white smoke to rise. One unlucky Western Xia soldier even had a ladle of it poured over his head, instantly scalding his skin and flesh, with his entire face visibly cracking.

However, before they could even groan, they were easily killed by the scattered shrapnel.

"Cough cough~"

Li Siqian shook his still-ringing head to shake off the dust.

He got up and took a closer look, and immediately gasped.

Apart from himself, there was not a single person standing on the entire city wall. There were hardly any intact corpses to be found; the ground was littered with bodies.

In addition, several of the battlements had completely collapsed after being bombarded by artillery fire.

Looking at it, it's as if you're in a floating hell.

"hateful!"

So many people have died, yet we don't even know where the enemy is?

Thinking of this, Li Siqian roared and suddenly drew his long sword.

"We can no longer sit idly by and wait to die, warriors! Mount your warhorses and follow me out to charge into the fray, and crush those Chu soldiers who dare to invade the borders of our Great Xia into a bloody pulp!"

It must be said that this was the wisest choice.

Faced with such terrifying long-range attacks, continuing to hold the city walls would only lead to further passive defense.

Only by leading troops out of the city to engage in close combat with the enemy can there be a sliver of hope of victory.

Soon, at his urging, seven thousand Western Xia cavalrymen abandoned their defenses, mounted their warhorses, and charged out of the city.

From the distant Imperial Guard camp, Shen Lian saw the enemy troops leaving the city through a spyglass, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

He slowly took out the communication jade tablet.

"Qu Yi and Lü Meng, kill them! Remember, don't leave any alive."

"Yes, Instructor!"

……

"Warriors, charge!"

"For our families, for our wives and children, for the future of the Great Xia Kingdom, follow me and charge forward, crushing those despicable Chu people into a bloody pulp!"

"Kill--"

Outside Anding City, ten thousand horses galloped, what a magnificent sight!

The clanging of iron hooves stirred up billowing yellow sand, forming a giant wave on land, all rushing toward the faintly visible Imperial Guard camp two miles ahead.

In fact, the Western Xia soldiers were exhausted after a day's work, and having just experienced the bombardment of artillery, everyone was on edge, relying solely on their fighting spirit to keep going.

After galloping for some distance, the Western Xia cavalrymen, seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the Imperial Guard camp, drew their respective weapons and prepared to carry out a brutal massacre.

But just as they rushed into the camp, Qu Yi and Lü Meng's troops, who had been lying in ambush on both sides of the plain, suddenly lifted the vegetation camouflage.

"beat!"

With a roar, Qu Yi unleashed a merciless massacre on the unsuspecting Western Xia soldiers, using the Gatling gun and the 98k rifle in unison.

Da da da da——

Hundreds of Gatling guns fired a dense barrage of bullets, instantly creating clusters of vibrant blood amidst the cavalry formation.

In an instant, the Western Xia army suffered heavy casualties.

The soldiers' cries of agony and the neighing of horses echoed incessantly across the empty plain.

"Mortar! Fire!"

Boom boom boom——

Boom boom boom——

The barrage of bullets, combined with the support of 50mm mortars, annihilated the 7,000-strong cavalry force on the plain in an instant.

The entire process took less than forty minutes.

Human life becomes as worthless as grass in the face of military technology.

"I am Li Siqian, a famous general of the Great Xia Dynasty! I will kill you all!"

Seeing that the garrison of Anding had been almost wiped out, Li Siqian was consumed by rage and picked up his tiger-shaped spear, ready to fight again.

Da da da da——

After a burst of machine gun fire, Li Siqian and his warhorse were riddled with bullets and fell on the road ahead.

He kept his eyes wide open until his death, as if he couldn't believe that what he was seeing that day was real.

However, his eyes were now fixed on a broken gun barrel, swaying in the wind...

How could the mighty Xia cavalry, which once dominated the Northwest, have become so easily defeated?

Filled with resentment and questions, Li Siqian's consciousness gradually faded, and soon his vision was swallowed by darkness.

At this moment, Mu Qingqiu, who was on the distant pine tree, was so shocked by the scene before her that she was speechless.

"Damn it, this, this, this..."

She wanted to say something, but in the end she couldn't utter a single word, and her delicate body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"No, I have to ask that kid surnamed Shen where he got these terrifying firearms from."

If I'd known such an overpowered thing existed, why would I have bothered cultivating at all!

Thinking of this, she pondered for a moment, glanced in the direction of Shen Lian, a slight smile appeared on her lips, and quickly drifted away towards Anding.