216: Chapter 216 The War Begins

“You have stained your hands with the blood of the innocent for that so-called god of light, not even sparing the babes at the breast. Do your hearts truly feel not a shred of hesitation or remorse?”

“Are you truly willing to spend your entire lives as lapdogs, with your necks leashed by a hypocritical faith?”

Gu Shenwei's words were like invisible heavy hammers, striking hard at the hearts of the man in the Thunder mask and the man in the Falcon mask not far away, who was also locked in a bitter struggle with the number one expert of the Net.

Their bodies stiffened in unison.

In their minds, scenes of the bloody and cruel human tragedies they had witnessed during their missions involuntarily surfaced.

Those innocent civilians burned alive at the stake in the name of “heresy”; those ancient noble families wiped out for refusing to believe in the god of light; and those shrill, desperate wails and curses uttered under their blades...

At this moment, their faith wavered violently for the first time!

“Although the Wu Dynasty emphasizes the order between ruler and subject, father and son, and the hierarchy of status, we never judge a person's guilt or punishment based on faith.”

Gu Shenwei stood up, looked at the two top assassins who had fallen into silence, and continued in a voice filled with temptation:

“The Wu Dynasty embraces all rivers and is vast in its tolerance. As long as you are willing to abandon darkness for light and serve the Wu Dynasty, I can guarantee that not only will you gain the true freedom and respect you have dreamed of, but I can even provide you with a path to the heavens that allows you to glimpse a higher Martial Realm!”

“What say you? Choose to continue being a lapdog that could be discarded at any time, or choose to become a person who can truly control their own destiny?”

Gu Shenwei's words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back, completely shattering the already crumbling psychological defenses of “Eagle” and “Thunder.”

They looked at each other and saw the same emotion in each other's eyes: “struggle” and “longing.”

Finally, the giant codenamed “Thunder” was the first to let go of the resistance in his heart. The violent thunderous power on his body slowly subsided. He bowed his proud head, which had never bowed to anyone, with difficulty before Gu Shenwei.

On the other side, the man in the Falcon mask codenamed “Eagle” also retreated after exchanging blows with the Net's number one expert, put away his eagle claw blades, and knelt on one knee before Gu Shenwei, performing a knight's salute of submission.

Seeing this, a smile of genuine satisfaction finally appeared on Gu Shenwei's face.

He knew that he had once again recruited two top-tier talents for Your Majesty and this Empire, capable of playing a huge role in the dark battlefields of the future!

The defection of “Eagle” and “Thunder” also brought the Wu Dynasty the first-hand, precious intelligence they needed most: the misty organizational structure and operational patterns within the Inquisition!

An invisible clash that took place in the darkness ended in a complete victory for the Net.

And this was just the beginning.

With the defection of “Eagle” and “Thunder,” these two top executors of the Inquisition, a detailed intelligence network map of the Taixi Empire's darkest core finally slowly unfolded before Gu Shenwei.

The intelligence they brought was far more in-depth and concrete than what Evelyn, the Saintess, understood, even involving the internal personnel composition, training methods, secret strongholds, and even the personality weaknesses and ability intelligence of the three mysterious Grand Inquisitors.

This intelligence was like the most precise scalpel, completely dissecting the seemingly impenetrable dark veil of the Taixi Empire for the Wu Dynasty, allowing Gao Feng and his entire War Cabinet to have an unprecedented, bone-deep understanding of this enemy they were about to face.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

When the last piece of the intelligence puzzle was perfectly assembled, Gao Feng knew that the time to launch the epic national war that would determine the ultimate fate of the two civilizations had finally fully matured.

The autumn of the thirteenth year of Qiyuan was a season destined to be recorded in history, filled with a murderous aura.

The vast Hall of Supreme Harmony square in the Divine Capital was already a sea of people, with banners blocking the sun. Hundreds of thousands of carefully selected elite soldiers of the Wu Dynasty, who were about to set out on the Western expedition, were clad in polished black armor, holding sharp steel weapons, and lined up in neat, huge square formations, standing silently on the square.

There was no tension or fear on their faces, only an unparalleled pride and fanaticism, as they were about to embark on a journey to create a great era unprecedented in history.

Their gazes were focused, like the most devout believers, on the high white marble steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and on that supreme figure standing as tall as a mountain, wearing a black dragon robe embroidered with nine ferocious black dragons, and a crown with twelve tassels.

Behind him, the civil and military officials were lined up on both sides according to their ranks, their expressions solemn.

The autumn sunlight passed through the thin clouds and gently shone on the huge, blood-red “Expedition” commander banner, which was held up by dozens of burly Imperial Guards, embroidered with a Dragon flying and a Phoenix dancing, filled with endless killing intent, making the banner appear so bright and shocking.

Commander-in-Chief Zhao Yu, clad in the Qilin Swallowing Heaven Armor, which symbolized the highest military power of the Wu Dynasty, walked steadily step by step up the ninety-nine steps, and finally knelt on one knee before that towering figure, shouting in a voice filled with excitement and determination: “Subject Zhao Yu requests Your Majesty to bestow the banner!”

Gao Feng's eyes were calm and deep, his gaze, which seemed to be able to see through the past, present, and future, slowly swept over the boundless black forest of steel and will below, and over the countless Wu Dynasty citizens who had come spontaneously to see the army off, their expressions excited.

Finally, his gaze landed on Zhao Yu's face, which was filled with endless loyalty and Battle Intent.

He slowly stretched out his hands, took the heavy commander banner pole made of ten-thousand-year cold iron from the attendant's hands, and personally handed it to Zhao Yu's large hands, which were trembling slightly with excitement.

“Commander Zhao, rise.” Gao Feng's voice was not loud, but it clearly spread throughout the entire square to everyone's ears through a strange device called an “Amplification Array” newly developed by the Tiangong Pavilion.

“Today, I entrust this ‘Expedition’ commander banner, which represents the supreme will of the hundreds of millions of soldiers and civilians of our Wu Dynasty, into your hands, and entrust the four hundred thousand most elite soldiers of our Wu Dynasty into your hands.”

“I do not want your victory reports, nor your military exploits. I only want you and our soldiers to be able to plant this banner on the highest point of the Taixi Empire's pseudo-temple! I only want you to completely wipe those red-haired barbarians who dare to blaspheme the dignity of our Dynasty, slaughter our border soldiers and civilians, and attempt to confuse the world with a false god, off this continent!”

“Can you do it?!”

Zhao Yu suddenly raised his head, his firm eyes instantly soaked with a layer of excited tears! He used all his strength and let out a heaven-shaking roar like an injured tiger!

“Subject, even if I die ten thousand times, I will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!”

“Good!”

Gao Feng turned around abruptly. His sharp, falcon-like gaze swept over the civil and military officials below and the hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers. His voice, filled with endless majesty and dominance, exploded like rolling thunder over the entire Divine Capital!

“I, today, proclaim to the world!”

“The Taixi pseudo-dynasty does not respect the mandate of heaven, acts against the law, is arrogant and conceited—this is its first crime!”

“Blaspheming the dignity of our Dynasty, insulting our envoys, and slaughtering our border people—this is its second crime!”

“In the name of a false god, acting to fool the people, poisoning the common people, and confusing the world—this is its third crime!”

“...”

Gao Feng's voice was impassioned, every word striking like a gem, as if the sharpest swords were piercing the hearts of every Wu Dynasty soldier and civilian! In one breath, he enumerated the “Ten Crimes” of the Taixi Empire, which were too numerous to record, defining this impending war of annihilation as a righteous war to act on behalf of heaven and punish the rebellious!

“Now, I follow heaven and respond to the people, sending out an army of tigers and wolves to mourn the people and punish the guilty! All citizens of our Wu Dynasty must unite in hatred and face the national disaster together! In this battle, if the Western barbarians are not broken, I swear not to return to the capital!”

“Army! Set off!”

With the final order from Gao Feng, filled with endless killing intent, the entire Hall of Supreme Harmony square was instantly submerged by a fanatical roar like a landslide or tsunami!

“Long live! Long live! Long live!!!”

“Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Great Wu Dynasty!!!”

The cheers of millions of people converged into a terrifying wave of sound capable of shaking heaven and earth, rushing straight into the clouds, shaking the clouds in the sky apart!

In this wave of fanaticism, the three armies, which had long been ready to go, rushed out of the thick city gates of the Divine Capital like three black dragons about to go to sea to wreak havoc, and embarked on the road of Western expedition full of unknowns and dangers!

The Northern Route Army was jointly led by the Minister of War Du Wei and the newly rising mountain warfare expert Xue Biao. This army of one hundred thousand was mostly composed of elite infantry and crossbowmen selected from the Baiyue region in the south and the mountains in the southwest, who were best at mountain warfare in complex terrain.

They were not equipped with heavy armor, but instead wore a type of light and tough soft armor made of multiple layers of tough cowhide mixed with silk.

Their weapons were mostly short knives and hand axes convenient for climbing and jungle warfare, as well as the “portable divine arm crossbow” newly developed by the Tiangong Pavilion that could be disassembled, folded, and carried easily.

Their mission was the most arduous and dangerous link in the entire Western expedition plan.

They needed to cross the towering, desolate, and peril-filled Northern Tianshan Mountains like a group of silent ghosts, bypassing the seemingly impregnable frontal defense line set up by the Taixi Empire at the Tianshan Pass.

Like a poisoned dagger, they would plunge deep into the enemy's vast, relatively weakly defended northern provinces, stirring up a monstrous wave in the enemy's heartland that would leave them unable to attend to both ends at once!

The central army was the absolute core and the iron heavy weapon of this Western expedition!

This main force of 200,000 troops, commanded personally by the Commander-in-Chief Zhao Yu and the fierce general Ma Qianli, gathered almost all of the most elite ace units of the entire Wu Dynasty!

The 50,000 Dragon Steed Iron Cavalry, clad in three layers of heavy armor and armed to the teeth, both man and horse, were unstoppable mobile fortresses on the battlefield and the ultimate nightmare for all enemy infantry formations!

The 50,000 musketeers of the Divine Mechanism Battalion, equipped with the latest "three-stage volley" muskets and the incredibly powerful "high-explosive Demonic Energy grenades," were the messengers of death, remote killing machines capable of unleashing a steel storm from a hundred paces away!

There was also an entire legion of the Divine Mechanism Battalion's artillery, composed of 50,000 of the most elite artillerymen!

They operated hundreds of "Divine Might" heavy cannons, improved by the Tiangong Pavilion, featuring longer range, greater power, and faster loading speeds!

They would use the earth-shattering roars capable of leveling mountains and rivers to play the most magnificent war overture for the entire army's advance!

Most eye-catching of all in this main force was undoubtedly the "Thor" legion, consisting of 300 war golems of the latest generation, which were "Demonic Energy modified," resembling moving mountains and filled with endless oppression!

These 300 steel demon gods, standing five zhang tall, had "Demonic Energy steam cores" enhanced by magic runes, allowing them to unleash terrifying power more than 30% greater than before!

The "Thor Cannon" condensed in their palms was enough to blast enemy city walls into dust from a thousand paces away!

And their "energy shields," which could be activated briefly, allowed them to withstand the enemy's dense cannon fire like raindrops at critical moments!

This steel legion, composed of countless ace units and so luxurious it could be called extravagant, had only one mission: to advance head-on!

They would advance from the Tianshan Pass with an unreasonable, overwhelming force like Mount Tai, crushing all the main forces deployed by the Taixi Empire on that defense line, tearing open the enemy's seemingly solid defense in the most direct and violent way, and paving a broad road to victory for the subsequent army to pour in!

The southern army was a surprise force composed of 150,000 elite Marine Corps troops, jointly led by the new Naval Grand Admiral and founder of the Marine Corps, Xiang Hao, and the naval warfare prodigy Zheng Sen, who possessed unparalleled talent in naval battles!

They were aboard a massive steam-powered ironclad fleet, built by the Wu Dynasty Navy using the entire Empire's strength, consisting of over a hundred ships with a displacement of over 10,000 tons, wrapped in thick steel plates, and covered with dense heavy artillery on both sides of the hull!

This mobile steel behemoth legion, invincible at sea in this era, aimed to bypass the long and storm-filled shipping routes, and from the vast and boundless Southern Endless Sea, launch a surprise amphibious landing operation against the Taixi Empire's wealthy but long-coastlined, yet relatively weakly defended southern provinces!

They would open a second front in the enemy's heartland, like a sharp scalpel, ruthlessly cutting off the enemy's life-sustaining maritime trade and logistical supply lines from the southern colonies, causing that seemingly powerful land behemoth to eventually collapse from excessive blood loss!

The three armies, totaling 450,000 elites, were like three arrows released from the bow, carrying the Wu Dynasty's unquestionable supreme will to unify the entire continent, whistling towards the Western continent full of unknowns and challenges!

An epic, century-defining gamble that would determine the fate of two vast civilizations for hundreds or even thousands of years to come had officially begun its magnificent and bloody prologue!

With the grand departure of the three armies, the entire Divine Capital and even the entire Wu Dynasty entered a special state of war that was both incredibly tense and filled with infinite anticipation.

Countless provisions, ordnance, and medicinal materials poured like an endless river from all corners of the Empire toward the Western Regions border.

Countless workshops were working overtime day and night, producing various war supplies urgently needed at the front lines.

Countless young men, at the call of local governments, eagerly signed up to join the army, ready at any moment to offer their hot blood for this Empire and this holy war.

The entire Empire was like a precise and massive war machine running at its absolute limit, with every gear and every part spinning at high speed for the same goal.

As the absolute core and supreme controller of this massive war machine, the Martial God Gao Feng sat in the deep Forbidden City in the Divine Capital, which symbolized the center of imperial power, dealing daily with mountains of reports and military intelligence arriving like snowflakes from the front lines and the Empire's various rear provinces.

His life became busier and more regimented than ever before.

Every morning before dawn, he would appear punctually in the Imperial Study to begin reviewing the most urgent reports compiled overnight by the Cabinet.

In the morning, he would convene members of the Supreme War Cabinet to conduct sand table simulations based on the latest military intelligence from the front, discussing and formulating the next strategic guidelines.

In the afternoon, he would spend most of his time in technical discussions with the Minister of Works, Gongshu Ban, and the top craftsmen of the Tiangong Pavilion.

He would personally oversee the development progress of every new weapon and, using his strategic vision that far exceeded this era, offer them all sorts of forward-looking improvement suggestions.

And at night, when the entire Imperial City fell into silence, he still could not rest.

He needed to handle the incredibly complex civil affairs coming from all the provinces of the Empire.

War is fought not only with military power at the front but also with the national strength and the hearts of the people in the rear.

He had to ensure that while the soldiers were fighting bloody battles at the front, the rear of the Empire could remain stable and prosperous.

He had to ensure that every grain of food could be accurately delivered to the mouths of the soldiers at the front.

He had to ensure that every family that had lost loved ones due to the war could receive the most proper compensation and resettlement.

During this special period, Gao Feng pushed the diligence and wisdom that an emperor could achieve to the extreme.

At the same time, he also began consciously delegating more specific administrative affairs to his Crown Prince, Eldest Son, who was already sixteen and whose mind was becoming increasingly mature.

He would have Eldest Son attend every Cabinet meeting, letting him hear firsthand how the Empire's top brains analyzed the situation, weighed the pros and cons, and eventually made one major decision after another that could affect the fate of millions.

He would also hand over some civil affairs reports that were not so urgent but equally important to Eldest Son, allowing him to try making his own judgments and responses under the assistance and guidance of the Chief Cabinet Minister Liu Chengfeng and the female Prime Minister Li Qingzhao.

"Eldest Son, take a look at this report from Jiangnan Province."

In an Imperial Study that was still brightly lit late at night, Gao Feng pointed to a report and asked his Crown Prince, Eldest Son, who was sitting upright and looking serious beside him, "The Jiangnan Weaving General Administration has petitioned that, due to the tight war situation at the front and the sharp increase in military orders, they hope to unify and forcibly purchase the raw silk from all local private silk workshops to ensure the production of military uniforms. What do you think about this?"

Eldest Son frowned slightly upon hearing this.

He picked up the report and read it carefully again.

After pondering for a moment, he replied cautiously, "Father, I think this move is inappropriate."

"Oh? Tell me why." A look of interest appeared on Gao Feng's face.

"I believe that while national military affairs are certainly paramount, the imperial court cannot therefore completely cut off the livelihood of private merchants," Eldest Son's reasoning was very clear.

"Jiangnan's silk not only supplies our dynasty's military needs but is also an important commodity for our foreign trade. If we forcibly purchase all raw silk, it will inevitably severely dampen the production enthusiasm of those private workshops and may even lead to the bankruptcy of a large number of small and medium-sized merchants who make a living from silk trading."

"In the long run, this will not only affect our dynasty's tax revenue but may also trigger unnecessary public grievances and unrest in the Jiangnan region. This is extremely detrimental to our vast Empire, which is currently in a state of war."

"Then in your opinion, how should this matter be handled?" Gao Feng continued to ask.

"I believe that this matter should be managed through guidance rather than blockage." Wisdom flashed in Eldest Son's eyes.

"We can have the imperial court step forward to negotiate with the Jiangnan Weaving General Administration and representatives of those private workshops to set a reasonable purchase ratio for raw silk. For example, we can stipulate that all workshops must prioritize selling 70% of the raw silk they produce to the government at a reasonable price slightly higher than the market price to meet military needs, while the remaining 30% can be freely sold by them on the market."

"In this way, we not only ensure the supply of military needs but also give those private workshops enough profit margin and a way to survive. We can even take this opportunity to sell the surplus silk through sea routes to more distant, uncivilized Nanyang countries in exchange for more gold and spices, thereby feeding back into our war treasury."

After listening to Eldest Son's well-reasoned and thoughtful analysis, a heartfelt smile of relief finally appeared on Gao Feng's usually serious face.

He nodded slowly, picked up the vermilion brush, wrote a large "Approved" on the report, and then handed it to Eldest Son.

"Just do as you said."