novelSusiti Chapter 11: Dawn Arrives, Kings of 5 Kingdoms Acknowledge Their Lord!
Chapter 11: Dawn Arrives, Kings of 5 Kingdoms Acknowledge Their Lord!
At 9:00 AM, the sky was bright and the sun rose in the east.
Outside the city of Troy, the once verdant fields were now a blood-red expanse, a tapestry of severed limbs and broken armor.
"Hey! Hey!"
Countless vultures circled in the sky, their eyes greedily fixed on the flesh and blood on the ground.
The three thousand White Horse Cavalry were already stained with blood, looking as fierce as gods of war.
Standing beside the black horse, west Jun Ying Xuan's long, black hair was stained with blood in strands.
"Your Majesty."
"Except for Philip V, the King of Antigonus, who was beheaded by you."
"King Atalus of Pergamon, King Mithridates III of Pontus, King Nicomedes of Cappadocia, King Macarios of Bithynia, and King Arialates of Cyprus have all surrendered."
"We captured approximately 150,000 troops from Antigonus and approximately 250,000 troops from the other five nations."
"This battle was a resounding victory."
Fa Zheng excitedly informed Ying Xuan of the victory.
"So many!"
Han Xin and the other generals were somewhat surprised.
However, upon further reflection, they realized that only 200,000 Antigonid Dynasty troops were truly engaged in fierce combat with the Qin army.
In fact, with Philip V beheaded by Ying Xuan, Antigonus's army, leaderless, chose to surrender on the spot.
As for the armies of the other five states, only a small portion were killed by Qin light infantry; the majority were probably trampled to death by their own people.
"What are our casualties?"
Glancing at the battlefield that was being cleaned up, Ying Xuan inquired about his own losses.
"Your Majesty."
Han Xin meticulously reported: "In this battle, our army suffered approximately 30,000 casualties."
"The infantry, with full combat capability, numbered approximately 90,000, and the cavalry, numbered 30,000."
"Um."
Ying Xuan nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.
The infantry suffered only 20,000 casualties in the direct combat, while the fighting between cavalry was much more brutal, with 10,000 casualties.
However, in this battle, the casualties of 30,000 men were exchanged for the killing of 100,000 enemy soldiers and the forced surrender of 400,000 enemy soldiers.
This is an unprecedented victory in both Eastern and Western history!
"Di Qing and Wang Yanzhang."
"Your Majesty."
Di Qing, whose face was covered by a bronze mask, and Wang Yanzhang, whose face was rugged, came from the same family.
"The 200,000 men in this battle were the last remaining strength of the Antigonid dynasty."
"Without them, the Antigonid dynasty could no longer maintain its rule over Thrace, Greece, and Macedonia."
"Di Qing was the commander-in-chief, and Wang Yanzhang was the deputy commander-in-chief. They led 85,000 infantrymen and 15,000 cavalrymen to form the Zhenxi Army."
"Cross the Istanbul Strait, conquer Pella, and clear out the three places."
With a cold and stern gaze, Ying Xuan issued an imperial edict.
"only!"
Without a word, Di Qing and Wang Yanzhang accepted the order and left.
"Bring them here."
Immediately, Ying Xuan gave the order.
"only!"
Zhao Jiang, accompanied by a group of attendants, escorted five richly dressed Western prisoners to the group.
With dark hair, high eyebrows, deep-set eyes, a three-dimensional facial structure, and a robust physique, he looked just like a gorilla.
"Your Excellency, Lord Xijun!"
"The Kingdom of Pergamon is willing to submit to you!"
"Your most loyal servant, Atalus, is at your service."
King Atalus of Pergamon was the first to kneel down and kiss Ying Xuan's boots, which were stained with blood and bits of flesh.
"Kingdom of Pontus/Kingdom of Cappadocia/Kingdom of Bithynia/Kingdom of Cyprus...."
The other four kings all did the same thing, displaying extreme humility.
This scene made Han Xin and the others frown. They had never seen such a monarch even in the history of the Central Plains dynasties, which refreshed their worldview.
"Ding! You have destroyed the kingdom of Pergamon and randomly obtained an S-rank general card: Gan Ning!"
"Ding! The capital of the conquered nation has been destroyed. Randomly obtained S-rank weapon card: Five-Toothed Battleship (10 ships)!"
"Ding! The nation of Bithynia has been destroyed. Randomly obtained A-level troop card: Jiangxia Navy (30,000 men)!"
"..."
At this moment, mechanical prompts kept ringing in Ying Xuan's mind, and he couldn't help but smile.
After destroying five kingdoms, I obtained the following: S-level general card: Gan Ning; S-level siege weapon card: ten five-toothed warships; A-level craftsman cards: Fan Ziyuan, Ping Jian, and Chao Shuozhi; A-level troop card: eight hundred brocade sail pirates; A-level troop card: 30,000 Jiangxia naval troops; and A-level generals: Li Jun, Zhang Shun, and Ruan Xiaoqi.
The Qin Dynasty had already destroyed all the small states in West Asia, and the fall of the Antigonid and Ptolemaic dynasties was only a matter of time.
Currently, the only threats are Rome and Carthage, two powerful Mediterranean nations.
Carthage controlled the western Mediterranean, possessed a large fleet, and its inhabitants were skilled seafarers.
The Roman Republic, having won the First Punic War and seized northeastern Sicily, was also waging the First Macedonian War against the Antigonid dynasty, and its rise to power was at its zenith.
The fall of the Antigonid dynasty would inevitably bring Rome an unprecedented opportunity for development.
Only by destroying Rome and Carthage and completely controlling the Mediterranean could the Qin Dynasty have no worries about the future.
To achieve this, a powerful navy capable of traversing the Mediterranean is essential.
Han Shizhong, under Ying Xuan, was one of the few naval commanders in China.
Gan Ning, along with Li Jun (the River Dragon), Zhang Shun (the White-Striped Wave), and Ruan Xiaoqi (the Living Yama).
A qualified naval team has been formed.
The Jiangxia Navy was Liu Biao's trump card in Jingzhou at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it once overwhelmed the Jiangdong Navy.
The Eight Hundred Brocade Sail Bandits were Gan Ning's Iron Rod subordinates, a group of ruthless and vicious river pirates.
The Five-Toothed Warship was a masterpiece of shipbuilding technology from the Sui and Tang dynasties. It had five stories, was over a hundred feet tall, and had six cypress poles, each fifty feet high, placed on the left, right, front, and back. It could accommodate eight hundred soldiers. Yang Jian used this powerful weapon to conquer the Southern Chen dynasty and Yang Guang used it in his three campaigns against Goguryeo.
Ten five-toothed warships were enough to dominate the Mediterranean; the warships of Carthage and Rome were no match for them.
Moreover, there were the three shipbuilding masters of the Northern Song Dynasty: Fan Ziyuan, Ping Jian, and Chao Shuozhi.
They built the Northern Song Dynasty's Shenzhou (a type of ancient Chinese ship) with a displacement of about 600 tons, while the West did not build ships of 600 to 800 tons until the 13th century.
"Your Majesty."
Fa Zheng couldn't help but call out, interrupting Ying Xuan's reverie.
"Cough cough."
Ying Xuan snapped out of his daze, looked at the five uneasy kings, and said indifferently, "I can spare your lives."
"However, you must go back and give up all your cities and people."
"Yes, Master."
Atalos and the others immediately put on fawning smiles.
『..............』
Han Xin and the other generals looked at them with disdain; these Western barbarians really had no backbone at all.
Even Goujian endured hardship and humiliation to achieve his goal, yet they, having lost only one battle, willingly acknowledged their enemy as their master.
"Zhao Jiang, Wei Xiaokuan, Wu Jie, Meng Gong, Zilong."
"Each of you take three thousand cavalry and escort these fellows back."
"If they have ulterior motives, you know what to do."
Ying Xuan then gave further instructions.
"only!"
A fierce glint flashed in the eyes of Zhao Yun and the other five generals, and they left in response.