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

"Thirty minutes? What does that mean?"

Upon hearing the report, Zhao Qingshan immediately frowned.

His concept of time was still limited to breath, quarter, and hour; he had no concept of minutes and seconds.

Regardless, he was certain that the Chu army was planning to launch an attack on Huizhou.

Upon seeing the giant ships at sea, Zhao Qingshan had a premonition that today was likely to be a day of great misfortune.

He had never seen such a ship before. Just from its appearance, it was clear that the opponent he was facing was not one of those small foreign countries.

However, as a high-ranking local official, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and set up defenses to resist the invasion of the Chu army.

"My lords, these foreign barbarians are ignorant of their own limitations and dare to invade our Wuzhao territory. We, who eat the king's food, must share his burdens."

"How can we be intimidated? The entire army, heed my command! Prepare for battle immediately and fight the Chu army to the death!"

"roar~"

Inspired by him, a group of soldiers stationed there, who looked like zombies, raised their arms and shouted in unison.

At this moment, under the influence of the atmosphere, Zhao Qingshan's heavy thoughts eased slightly.

He had already begun to mentally rehearse the scene of him engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the Chu army from his high vantage point, once they landed.

Finally, after several days of fierce fighting, they successfully repelled the Chu army's invasion, reported to the imperial court, and received praise and promotion from Li Hong.

Unfortunately, reality is exceptionally harsh and cruel.

After glancing at his pocket watch, Shen Lang immediately ordered, "Start loading the main guns. Target: the coastal fortress. Fire!"

The four 220mm main guns adjusted their muzzles and aimed them all at the Huizhou Fortress.

"fire!"

Boom boom boom——

At a command, all four turrets unleashed a deafening roar.

Four high-explosive shells hurtled toward the fortress as the defending soldiers watched in shock.

boom--

With a deafening roar, the first shell struck the fortress directly, instantly blasting the forty-odd soldiers inside, along with the fortress itself, into pieces.

Boom boom boom——

The other three shells also landed and exploded along the long coastal defense line, engulfing the Huizhou defense line in smoke.

"Mom~"

The moment the cannon fired, the defending officers and soldiers, who had been in high spirits, immediately screamed and scattered in all directions. Fear spread rapidly along the defensive line like poisonous weeds.

The first test firing alone destroyed the defenses that Huizhou had spent decades building up.

More than two thousand defending officers and soldiers collapsed and desperately fled the fortress amidst the roar of cannons.

A lame man ran at an incredible speed, leading the crowd.

Zhao Qingshan was completely dumbfounded.

His fantasy of close-quarters combat was ruthlessly extinguished before it even began.

Now he only had one thought in his mind: escape.

"Guards, follow me and attack!"

After a round of shelling, Lü Meng immediately led more than 30 kayaks to approach the shore, successfully landed on the beach, and quickly occupied the fortress entrance that had been reduced to ruins.

Soon, dozens more small boats docked, and all 800-plus marines successfully disembarked.

Lu Meng glanced at his pocket watch; the time was exactly 29 minutes and 37 seconds.

This time, Lü Meng seized the landing beach without losing a single soldier. However, the battle was not over yet; only by breaking through the inner city could Huizhou be truly occupied.

"All troops, listen to my command and advance towards the inner city of Huizhou. We must end the battle before nightfall."

"Yes!"

After a brief rest, Lü Meng continued to lead his troops toward the inner city.

Meanwhile, Zhao Qingshan, who had fled back to the inner city, was trembling with fear. Looking at Nie Shitu sitting opposite him, his eyes were filled with confusion and anxiety.

"Brother Zhao, now you understand just how powerful our enemy is, right?"

"Brother Nie, why didn't you say so sooner!"

"I told you, but you wouldn't listen. The enemy's firearms are extremely powerful; they can hit hard and accurately from miles away. I told you to be careful, but you wouldn't listen."

"Oh dear, what should we do?"

After blaming each other for a while, the two fell silent.

Right now, they face a very real problem.

What should we do next? Judging from this situation, the Chu army will definitely attack the inner city.

The inner city was inhabited by the families of the military camp and various outer vassal tribes. If anything happened to them, not only the emperor, but even the governor Soin would have him skinned alive.

"There is no other way now. I will send someone to Bozhou to ask Lord Suo for help. I believe he will send troops to our aid."

"That's all it can do."

But just then, a gunshot rang out from outside the city.

The next moment, a soldier covered in blood ran into the government office: "Sir, something terrible has happened! The foreign barbarians have launched an attack on the inner city!"

"What? So fast!"

Zhao Qingshan jumped up in a panic.

"Immediately notify all officers and soldiers to defend the city gates and block them with everything they can. Under no circumstances should we let the foreign barbarians break in. If the inner city falls, we will all be doomed."

"But sir, the enemy's firearms are so sharp, we don't even have a chance to peek out."

"Even if we have to use people to block them, we must hold them off. No matter what, the inner city cannot afford to suffer even the slightest loss!"

"Yes!"

After the soldiers left, Zhao Qingshan immediately wrote a letter requesting assistance and ordered his trusted confidant to send it to Bozhou to ask Suoyin for help.

Meanwhile, outside the inner city, eight 75mm infantry field guns were continuously bombarding the inner city walls.

Surprisingly, the inner city's defenses were extremely strong, made entirely of bluestone mixed with glutinous rice and certain special materials, and the walls were solid inside.

Compared to the sand walls and coastal fortifications of the outer city, the inner city was much more fortified.

Lu Meng frowned and launched several attacks, but was forced back by the rain of arrows and falling rocks from the city wall.

Although there have been no casualties so far, he is very frustrated that he cannot quickly conquer the inner city.

"Commander, why not use high-explosive shells, or adjust the cannon muzzle and fire the shells directly into the city?"

The speaker was Jiang Qin, the deputy division commander and chief of staff of Lü Meng's unit.

Upon hearing this, Lü Meng shook his head, glancing at the pocket watch in his hand: "The reason the commander ordered us to seize the city is to use it as a base to mobilize the enemy's military camps and troops nearby, and then annihilate them all at once."

If we bombard their families indiscriminately in the inner city, it will only make them calmly hold their ground. Remember, we are now leading the Marines.

Their sole responsibility is to eliminate enemy manpower along the coast, not to extend the battle line inland.

Jiang Qin: "But if this continues, I'm afraid we won't be able to capture Huizhou before nightfall. How will we explain this to the commander?"

Lü Meng: "Don't rush, let me think about it some more."

At this moment, a guard came to report: "Commander, a local man who claims to be named Chen Zhong says he has something important to report."

"Bring him in to see me."

"Yes."

Before long, Chen Zhong tiptoed to Lü Meng's side.

Upon seeing Lü Meng, Chen Zhong instinctively wanted to kneel down, but Lü Meng stopped him first.

"No need to kneel. What do you need me for?"

"Sir, my name is Chen Zhong. I have received help from your envoy before. Are you here to attack Huizhou City? I can help you."

Lu Meng's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "How can you help us?"

Chen Zhong said, "To be honest, there is a secret passage underground that leads directly to the inner city."

It was secretly dug by a relative of mine who, to prevent his family from starving, followed the families of military officers hired as day laborers into the inner city a few times.

The purpose was so that when his family was starving, he could steal jewelry from wealthy families through a secret passage and sell it…

After hearing his words, Lü Meng grabbed Chen Zhong's shoulder and said, "Great! Where is the secret passage? Take me there quickly!"