novelraw Chapter 255
Chapter 255
Chapter 255: Explosives? Divine Punishment
The maritime border area was originally Cao Ji’s sole territory, but now half of it was occupied by Cheng Yuan.
This whole process, from reason to result, was extremely shameless.
To guard against Cheng Yuan making underhanded moves behind his back, Cao Ji sent ships to stand watch in the middle that very night, officially saying it was a guard duty to monitor the sea surface and prevent Japanese pirates from launching a nighttime surprise attack.
But as for the real truth, both sides understood perfectly well.
Cao Ji’s actions were fully expected by Cheng Yuan.
He didn’t bother to deal with Cao Ji’s petty tricks; anyway, since they had successfully taken half of the harbor and could openly counterbalance Cao Ji’s navy, that was already a thirty percent strategic victory.
As for the remaining seventy percent, they would wait until the Eldest Prince arranged the explosives near the military camp to proceed.
Thus, Cheng Yuan began his “tyrant’s journey” near the harbor.
Using Japanese pirates as an excuse, he ruthlessly slaughtered those whom he accused of being Japanese pirates who had been betrayed by Cao Ji, while shamelessly following Cao Ji everywhere under the pretense of discussing plans. In short, everything Cheng Yuan did near the maritime border was mainly to harass Cao Ji, preventing him from contacting the Japanese pirates, aiming to separate Cao Ji from the pirates and prevent them from forming an alliance!
Meanwhile, the Eldest Prince, who had been rejected by Cao Ji’s tricks, publicly continued his arrogant dissatisfaction, but secretly, he had already sent people to Cao Ji’s land military camp to survey the terrain, dig tunnels, set up traps, and place explosives…
Both Eldest Prince and Cheng Yuan agreed that explosives were the key to winning their battle against Cao Ji!
They would lay the explosives in ambush beforehand and when the battle started, as soon as someone appeared, they would ignite the fuse, terrifying Cao Ji’s army with deafening sounds!
The explosion would shatter Cao Ji’s army morale, blowing these traitors apart so completely that they would no longer have the courage to raise their blades against them!
It can be said that Eldest Prince and Cheng Yuan had long planned the use of explosives.
Explosive packs had immense power; aside from the sound resembling heavenly thunder, those encountering it for the first time, unaware of its nature, would be terrified out of their wits. If the explosive was thrown into a crowd, it could instantly kill many at once.
If their enemies were Northern Hu or Great Liang people, Eldest Prince and Cheng Yuan would show no mercy, but Cao Ji’s navy was not like that!
Because these men were all Great Wei subjects, mere puppets under Cao Ji. As long as Cao Ji was defeated, after scattering this navy and redistributing them, they would still be soldiers of Great Wei!
Under such circumstances, Eldest Prince felt wronged for every navy life lost.
They didn’t deserve to die—following Cao Ji yet killed by their own Imperial Court’s allies. Wasn’t this unjust?
Therefore, when the Eldest Prince set explosives in the camp, his original intention was just to scare the enemy outside; if anyone was willing to surrender, that would be the best outcome.
It was battlefield etiquette not to kill those who surrendered.
Of course, if anyone refused to give up, Eldest Prince would have no choice but to unleash the explosives in bombardment mode.
–
Regarding the appearance of explosive packs, Wang Sangou had much to say.
He was an ordinary soldier under Cao Ji. Because his swimming skills were not the best, he mainly patrolled the camp on land.
That day, like any winter day, it was a fairly warm and sunny day. The squad leader was trying to curry favor with the centurion, hoping for a promotion and raise.
Without the squad leader watching, Wang Sangou, a veteran soldier patrolling near the camp, along with a few comrades, found a chance to sneak away and laze in a corner.
Behind the tents, they joked around, telling bawdy stories that only men would understand, the atmosphere relaxed and cheerful.
However, misfortune always quietly arrived.
Where they were hidden faced a small mound.
Wang Sangou remembered clearly: at that moment, he was listening to a young kid talk about a courtesan from the county city.
The kid said the girl had a soft body and a lovely voice, but before he could finish describing how soft and lovely, a tremendous explosion erupted with a thunderous "BOOM!"
The small mound in front blew up, yellow earth flying everywhere, sand and stones scattered, dust clouded everyone’s vision, and the enormous shockwave affected all around!
Wang Sangou saw nothing clearly.
He only knew that after the explosion, he was hurled away.
He crashed through the tent behind him and fell hard to the ground. The buzzing in his head made him deaf to everything else for a long time, making the pain throughout his body even more acute.
Wang Sangou was in great pain.
The gut-wrenching agony felt like his internal organs were shattered, making him think he wouldn’t survive.
Yet, he was lucky.
He was alive.
At such a close distance to the explosion, his other comrades all perished, but he alone survived.
Having personally experienced the blast, Wang Sangou could not stay conscious for long.
Before losing consciousness, the last thing he heard was the continuous deafening, thunderous roar like a bolt from the blue.
Wang Sangou suddenly realized: indeed, in this world, those who behave worse than beasts surely suffer divine punishment.
–
“What exactly was that thing!”
“It’s divine punishment! Divine punishment, General! The sky thundered like daylight; the entire camp was struck…”
“Slap!”
A sharp slap sounded suddenly.
In the main command tent, Tang Shi, Cao Ji’s top confidant, gripped someone’s collar with a furious face, harshly scolding their incompetence.
“What nonsense are you spouting! Listen to me, there’s no such thing as divine punishment in this world! Even if there were, you need to act as if there isn’t, do you understand?”
Tang Shi’s gaze was fierce, murderous even, as if if the other said one more word, he would kill them on the spot.
Such attitude might have scared subordinates into silence in the past.
But now?
Terrified by the “divine punishment,” the subordinate no longer cared about Tang Shi’s threats.
With a pale face and dazed eyes, “N-no, it’s divine punishment… everyone in the army says someone, someone was struck dead by divine punishment… ah!”
A blade flashed, and the previously alive person fell clutching their bleeding neck.
Angrily, Tang Shi threw down his sword and shouted toward the tent’s entrance, “Someone! Bring me someone here! Do you hear me!”
After shouting for a long time, there was no response outside the tent.
Listening to the absolute silence around him, Tang Shi suddenly realized something was wrong.
Why was there no commotion outside?
Wasn’t it noisy just moments ago?
Why was it suddenly so quiet?
His violent expression changed abruptly; panic rose in his eyes.
Tang Shi quickly picked up his sword and charged out of the tent without hesitation.
He wanted to escape, wanted to find General Cao at the harbor!
However, after just parting the tent flap and taking two steps outside, Tang Shi dared not move further.
Because outside the main command tent, rows of drawn bows were aimed directly at him!
Someone sat mounted on a horse, positioned behind the rows of archers, looking down on him.
“Traitor Tang Shi, by order of the Eldest Highness, I am here to arrest you. Please cooperate.”