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

Shi Xiushuang led an army of 200,000 men out of the capital and marched towards the location of the Chu army.

Looking at the army that swarmed like locusts, Fang Hanshan, standing on the city wall, was filled with pride and satisfaction.

In countless wars with the State of Wu, he relied on overwhelming the Wu armies from all over the country with his absolute numerical superiority.

Now, this war against the State of Chu will surely be just as I predicted, with the righteous army returning in triumph once again.

After all, the entire Wu Kingdom was at their feet. What trouble could a mere Chu army that had come from afar possibly cause when facing a well-rested and prepared righteous army?

"After this battle, I will ascend the throne as emperor. As for the name of the country, I'll just grab a few stinking scholars to come up with one later."

Fang Hanshan was incredibly confident.

This confidence stems from his ignorance.

……

On the Chu army's side, Shen Lang had already received the news when the Wu army left the city.

"Two hundred thousand?"

Shen Lang was also taken aback when he heard the number.

After a long pause, he chuckled softly: "Bandits are just bandits after all; they don't even have the most basic military skills."

He then immediately ordered: "Send word to our troops to stand ready, First and Second Divisions to form ranks and prepare for battle!"

……

The bandits took a full day to travel the thirty-mile distance.

It was just past noon when Shi Xiushuang gave the order, and the army immediately began to cook.

"Brothers, let's eat something hot, and after we finish eating, let's wipe out the entire Chu army in one fell swoop!"

"no problem!"

Soon, the bandit army skillfully set up cooking stoves, fetched water, and chopped firewood.

Little did they know, their every move had already been recorded by the reconnaissance company that was secretly observing them.

"Go and inform General Qu Yi immediately; the enemy is preparing a meal."

"Yes."

The two scouts quietly retreated and ran to the rear.

In the rear ranks, Shen Lang received Qu Yi's request for a direct surprise attack.

Shen Lang glanced at it and replied directly: "Tell Qu Yi that this time we must defeat the bandits head-on and completely crush their ambitions."

The messenger immediately mounted his horse and galloped towards the front lines.

Shen Lang sat on a flat rock, placed an exquisite hourglass on it, and quietly waited for the battle to begin.

He didn't need to put much effort into dealing with a rabble; he could just sweep them aside.

This is also a good opportunity to hone the will of these new recruits and let them get used to the new fighting style in advance.

After all, after the bandits, there's still the Heavenly Alliance to deal with.

……

"Alright, are you full?"

"After we've eaten our fill, we'll continue our journey and make sure to wipe out the entire Chu army in one fell swoop."

"After this war is over, I'll find you all a wife. You can touch and ride the daughters of officials as you please! Maybe they'll even give birth to a baby next year!"

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Vulgar language always piqued the interest of these bandits.

As Shi Xiushuang spoke, they laughed, grabbed the weapons they had tossed aside, lazily and casually assembled, and continued to march forward in a haphazard manner.

It wasn't that these bandits were careless or lacked vigilance, but rather that the Wu army's pathetic fighting strength gave them endless confidence.

The army marched another ten miles and came to a muddy swamp...

"Stop!"

Shi Xiushuang pulled on the warhorse beneath her and looked into the distance, puzzled.

About three or four miles away, on the opposite side of the swamp, a formation of sandbags had been set up.

Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a group of soldiers in blue uniforms lying prone on sandbags.

"What formation is this?"

This was the first time Shi Xiushuang had ever seen such a formation, and she was quite surprised.

The lieutenant beside him, Guan Ba, the one-eyed eagle, glanced at him and couldn't help but laugh: "Second leader, these Chu soldiers probably know that my righteous army is coming, and they're all so scared that they're crawling there pretending to be dead!"

Shi Xiu narrowed his eyes: "Better safe than sorry. Go up and tell them that as long as they are willing to surrender to my righteous army, we will not make things difficult for them."

"Ok."

Guan Ba ​​spat out a mouthful of saliva, called over a few fierce bandits, and together they carefully rode mules and horses across the muddy swamp to the front of the Chu army's formation.

"The disparity in numbers is overwhelming, and the outcome is already decided. Our righteous army is benevolent and righteous; if you are willing to surrender, you can be spared death..."

boom--

A gunshot rang out, forever interrupting what Kanpachi was about to say.

A clump of brain matter popped out of his head; a 7.62mm bullet had mercilessly taken away the warmth from his body.

The next moment, several more gunshots rang out, and the 98k took Guan Ba's subordinates with him to their deaths.

The weather in June was extremely hot.

But the air was so cold it was suffocating.

On the battlefield, only a few ownerless mules and horses wandered around.

"Dare to kill my men? You're asking for death!"

Witnessing this, Shi Xiushuang was immediately enraged.

He waved his hand and shouted, "Men! Charge forward and tear them to pieces!"

"Ouch~"

"Tuk-tuk-tuk-"

The rousing shouts, like the howls of hungry wolves, echoed across the sky along with the sound of blades striking shields.

The death of Kanjani Eight did not frighten them; instead, it stirred up their fighting spirit.

"Attack!"

"Roar~~"

"Roar~~"

"Roar~~"

As soon as Shi Xiushuang gave the order, tens of thousands of bandit soldiers with swords and shields shouted loud slogans and brandished their iron swords.

Behind them, spearmen and archers followed closely, trudging through the muddy swamp as they slowly advanced toward the Chu army's position.

In the Chu army formation, the new recruits who were going to the battlefield for the first time saw this scene and their hearts were in their throats.

"Don't panic! Quickly recall the training sessions!"

"Check the firearms and ammunition. Machine gunner, make sure the ammunition belt is intact, and aim straight ahead!"

"Then wait for orders, pull the trigger, and that's it!"

At this moment, the officers of various ranks who descended from the Guards demonstrated the qualities of a qualified veteran.

With just a few words, he calmed the troops down.

Holding a telescope, Qu Yi shook his head as he saw the advancing bandit army.

"A mob, easily defeated."

Then, he simply found a rock and sat down to take command.

The bandit army was still advancing, and soon they had covered half the distance.

In fact, even mortar fire at this point could create widespread effects.

But Shen Lang's goal this time was to extinguish the bandits' arrogance.

Using artillery and other plundering weapons would only cause the bandits to collapse instantly, failing to achieve the desired results.

"Ouch~~"

At this moment, the bandit swordsmen and shieldmen were less than 500 meters away from the Chu army's position.

The roar, like that of a wild beast, was already clearly audible to the recruits.

"let's start."

Seeing that the time was right, Qu Yi stood up, said something, and picked up his binoculars to look.

Clang!

A pleasant metallic scraping sound rang out in the formation.

This is the prelude to Maxim's howl.

Sixty Maxim machine guns were lined up in a row along the front line. The machine gunners and ammunition handlers held their breath and quickly prepared for the final shot.

"shooting!"

Da da da da——

In an instant, sixty tongues of fire mercilessly spewed from the muzzle of the gun.

A barrage of bullets rained down like a storm.

Still caught up in the frenzy, the swordsmen and shieldmen didn't even have time to react before they fell into the mud in droves, like leeks being harvested.

In a mere instant, Maxim tore a huge rift through the frontline swordsmen and shieldmen of the bandits.

The scorching bullets rained down directly on the spearmen behind him...

On the battlefield, blood mist filled the air, and the whistling of heavy machine guns completely drowned out the cries and screams of the bandits.

"Ah, no~"

An archer saw a spray of blood erupt from his comrade's body and immediately turned and ran.

The next second, a burst of bullets pierced through his body, shattering his internal organs.

There was also a veteran bandit who, although unaware of what had happened, instinctively pulled a spearman to stand in front of him.

Fortunately, his judgment was correct.

Maxim bullets rained down on his comrades, sending up bursts of blood.

Unfortunately, it was a heavy machine gun with a range of 1,500 meters, so the bullets that hit their comrades also fell on themselves.

In the end, the two of them went to the underworld together.

Within a quarter of an hour, the first wave of bandits who launched the attack had suffered heavy casualties under Maxim's careful care.

Shi Xiu, standing behind, stared wide-eyed at everything that was happening before her, her mind blank, completely bewildered as to what had just transpired.

All I remember is hearing a series of muffled thuds, and then my men fell one after another like dominoes on the road ahead.

The remaining bandits sensed something was wrong, dropped their weapons, and ran away.

But no matter how fast they are, how can they outrun a hail of bullets?

The routed bandits quickly became easy targets for the Chu army, falling one by one into the swamp under the alternating fire of 98K and Maxim guns.

Blood quickly turned the swamp crimson...