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

Forty li outside the Sanguan Road, the garrison troops who were carrying firearms dared not advance further after learning of the complete defeat of the front-line military camp and the outer vassal states.

The commander-in-chief, Man Shan, was terrified and decisively ordered his army to use Yongning County as a base to build fortifications to prevent the Chu army from advancing north.

The day after the order was issued, Man Shan handed over command of the army to his deputy, Lu Wenwu, and then:

"The barbarian army is too powerful to be defeated by force. We need to return to the capital to ask the Emperor for instructions. You all must hold your ground here and not let the barbarians advance even a step. I will bring reinforcements from the capital to come to our aid. At that time, we will attack from both inside and outside and surely defeat the barbarian army."

Using this as an excuse, he brazenly abandoned his 35,000-strong army and fled north with a group of Di tribe confidants in the army, without looking back.

Lu Wenwu was so angry he wanted to curse. He thought Man Shan's words were utter nonsense.

Lu Wenwu knew exactly what was going on.

All of Wu Zhao Kingdom's mobile elite forces that could be mobilized have been wiped out. Where can they conjure up another tens of thousands of elite troops?

Why should you hold out until reinforcements arrive? Your tens of thousands of elite troops, paid with military pay, have been completely wiped out. What can you, a bunch of unarmored rabble, do to hold out?

Lu Wenwu had no choice but to order the defenses to be reinforced to resist the Chu army and try to hold out for as long as possible.

To his surprise, when the local military families learned that the garrison troops had arrived and that the main force of Wu Zhao at the front line had been completely defeated and almost wiped out, they took the initiative to ask them to stay in Ning'an County to stop the Chu army from invading.

These Di people were truly terrified.

The news that Fu Lin'an had ordered the execution of the families of those military officers was shifted to the Chu army. Furthermore, when Seng Qinlin's Huizhou city fell, the military officers' and soldiers' acts of raping and looting in the inner city were also blamed on the Chu army, which terrified them.

Now, facing the threat of the Chu army and with the annihilation of the most elite troops in the military camp, the families of these elite soldiers living in the inner city are trembling with fear, lest they be slaughtered by the Chu army.

Therefore, they did not hesitate to offer money and food to the stationed soldiers to stay and protect them.

Looking at these military family members who used to be stingy and bully the common people, now they were pleading with him to stay and protect them.

At this moment, Lu Wenwu finally understood a principle: even the most powerful person knows how to make choices when faced with a life-or-death situation.

But, with the strength of the garrison, can they stop the Chu army's offensive?

Just as he was pondering this, a soldier suddenly reported: "Lord Lu, an army dressed in strange clothes has been spotted ten miles outside the city and is heading towards Yongning County."

"What? The Chu army has arrived so quickly?"

Upon hearing this news, Lu Wenwu jumped up from his chair.

"Quickly, relay my order: everyone, proceed to the city walls immediately and prepare to defend against the enemy!"

After saying that, Lu Wenwu grabbed the sword on the table and rushed out of the command post...

Jiang Qin led two companies of soldiers, riding on captured military horses, to conduct a reconnaissance mission towards Yongning County.

Due to the Chu army's successive victories on the Wu Zhao battlefield, an atmosphere of pride inevitably spread within the army, leading to widespread disdain for the Wu Zhao army.

Even when on patrol, they appear openly from the enemy's perspective.

Jiang Qin did not do much to stop this, because he himself believed that Wu Zhao's army was already vulnerable.

After all, if even a powerful cavalry force could be defeated by them, what kind of trouble could a group of poorly trained garrison soldiers possibly cause?

With the Yongning city wall just a few hundred paces away, the Chu soldiers not only failed to take cover, but instead brazenly circled the Yongning County fortifications.

However, the soldiers guarding the city walls did not dare to peek out when faced with the provocations of the Chu army outside the city.

They themselves believed that they could never defeat the Chu army, and their immediate priority was to play the coward and avoid conflict with the Chu army as much as possible.

Jiang Qin held up his binoculars and observed the Yongning city wall for a while. After noticing that the enemy was not moving, he immediately ordered: "All troops, listen up! Close the city wall another hundred paces!"

"Yes!"

With the clanging of iron hooves and the swirling of crimson clouds, the two companies of 480 soldiers, upon receiving orders, immediately began to tighten their encirclement towards the city wall.

At a distance of two hundred paces, the soldiers guarding the city wall held their breath, their Adam's apples bobbing.

When Lu Wenwu arrived at the city wall and observed the scene outside the city, he was also uneasy.

"Is this the Chu army?"

Seeing soldiers in such strange attire riding back and forth on horseback for the first time, Lu Wenwu was very worried.

But my officer's principles told me that I couldn't back down at this point.

If he were to reveal any signs of weakness, the entire army of tens of thousands would inevitably collapse.

Therefore, he had to do something.

"Musketeers! Quickly block all the key points!"

At Lu Wenwu's command, three hundred Wuzhao soldiers, armed with matchlock guns, nervously shrank behind the battlements.

Then they began pouring gunpowder and lead bullets into the muzzle, tamping it down with a tamping strip, and then pouring ignition into the touch hole.

After doing all this, he took a fire rope from his waist that had been soaked in horse urine and then dried, fixed it to the fire door, and then lit the fire rope with his personal fire tongs to ensure that it burned slowly.

Then they extended their gun barrels out of the crenellations and aimed at the Chu soldiers who were moving rapidly ahead.

"Aim carefully, and fire when the target is within a hundred paces."

"No one is allowed to fire without my order!"

After giving a reminder, Lu Wenwu said to a group of soldiers who were still loading their muskets, "Hurry up, if we encounter an enemy attack, we'll have to rely on you to defend against them."

Upon hearing this, the soldier with the rifle immediately sped up the loading of ammunition.

Seeing that the enemy troops inside the city still did not react, Jiang Qin immediately ordered his men to move fifty paces closer to the city wall to probe the enemy.

But just as the soldiers approached the city wall by 150 paces, the musketeers on the city wall could no longer resist and decisively pulled the trigger.

boom--

A gunshot rang out, the raised gun emitted a bright flash of light, followed by billowing smoke.

The whistling bullets shot directly from the long barrels of the guns, hurtling towards the Chu army.

puff--

The bullet flew through the air and landed in front of a Chu soldier's horse.

Instantly, the soft ground splashed up patches of mud and sand, startling both humans and horses.

"Enemy attack!"

The soldier roared, immediately dismounted, grabbed the reins, and pointed his Garand at the city wall.

bang bang bang-

The next moment, due to the mistake of the gunner, the firing of the first bullet directly triggered a series of reactions from the defenders on the city wall.

Upon hearing the sound of gunfire, all the musketeers simultaneously pulled their triggers.

In an instant, three hundred bullets were fired simultaneously from the city wall, launching a frenzied attack on the Chu army in conjunction with muskets.

However, due to the great distance and the fact that the accuracy of smoothbore muskets was unpredictable beyond thirty meters, the Chu army only heard a bang and did not suffer any real damage.

"Who told you to shoot?"

"Enemy attack! Take cover!"

Faced with this unique situation on the battlefield, Lu Wenwu and Jiang Qin displayed different attitudes.

The Chu soldiers immediately dismounted, using their horses as cover, and quickly formed a battle formation on the spot.

Lu Wenwu lamented that the distance was too great, and apart from the muskets, the other firearms posed no real threat to the Chu army.