23: Chapter 23 Landing! Unifying the South Bank

Of the three thousand snow wolves that crossed the An Shen River, only a dozen or so made it alive to the southern bank. After all, no matter how many years of domestication and improvement they had undergone, their fear of fire could not be removed from their genes.

General Tang Xing stepped onto one of the war wolves without hesitation, waving to the dozen or so remaining cavalrymen: "Cavalry and one hundred infantry, follow me and charge the oil depot! The rest of the infantry, form up and attack the pass!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the dozen war wolves turned into streaks of lightning, rushing toward the oil depot with the speed of a gale.

Although there were over a thousand soldiers guarding the area around the oil depot—those who had just been pouring oil and those holding weapons—General Tang Xing and his Cavalry moved as if they were in an empty land, cutting through the enemy like a hot knife through butter, charging recklessly.

The guards at the oil depot had long been terrified by rumors of the Starfire Empire Cavalry. Now, seeing their companions' heads flying through the air, they were even more terrified, shielding their heads as they fled in a chaotic scramble.

"Run! Forget the oil depot! If we're a second late, we'll lose our heads!"

"Is this the Whip of the Xingyang God? It's even more terrifying than the devil."

Soon, General Tang Xing captured the Four Kingdoms' oil depot. He instructed his subordinates: "Quick, infantry, use this oil to burn their arrow towers. Cavalry, follow me. Everyone grab a bucket and a torch; we're going to burn their catapults! Cover the subsequent landings!"

In the ranks of the Starfire Empire army on the northern bank, a loud horn sounded—the signal for the general offensive.

The First Army had long been unable to wait; everyone was scrambling to get on the boats. Because their Legion Commander was in the middle of the enemy's ranks on the other side, the soldiers of The First Army were burning with anxiety.

The Legion Commanders of the other four legions were also anxiously urging their subordinates to seize boats. They saw that nearly a thousand of their own men had landed on the southern bank—a number never seen before. Thus, their confidence soared, and they did not want other legions to steal too much of the credit.

The gray-haired Emperor Tang Fei stood up shakily from his throne at the front of the formation, shouting at the top of his lungs: "The Xingyang God is eternal and immortal; we vow to spread the glory of the God throughout the universe!"

Nearly four hundred and eighty thousand Starfire Empire soldiers shouted in unison along with the Emperor. "The Xingyang God is eternal and immortal; we vow to spread the glory of the God throughout the universe!"

The sound soared into the clouds and reached the opposite bank. Instantly, most of the defenders of the Four Kingdoms coalition lost the will to resist.

Inside the coalition's camp, Mo, who had been calm and composed just a moment ago, lost his steady demeanor and shouted anxiously at his generals: "Quick! Quick! Send men to retake the oil depot! Also, send more troops to the arrow towers and catapults! The Star Fire Nation's follow-up troops are crossing the river again. The follow-up troops don't have iron ships—hit them hard!"

The kings of the other three races were already as anxious as ants on a hot pan, pacing back and forth.

The king of the Tree People was as pale as death: "What are we to do? The Star Fire Nation is determined this time. Five hundred thousand troops! A full five hundred thousand, and now the oil depot is lost."

"What are you panicking for!" Mo roared, trying to boost the morale of everyone and himself: "Five hundred thousand people will have to cross the river in dozens of batches, and they've already used up their iron ships. Our arrow towers and catapults will be able to do their job. Besides, we will retake the oil depot."

But by now, no one had the heart to listen to his encouragement. Everyone in the tent stared intently at the war situation on the An Shen River.

On their own defensive positions, two arrow towers and one catapult had already been set on fire by those dozen or so Star Fire Nation cavalrymen.

The nearly one thousand Star Fire Nation infantry who had landed, though they had lost nearly half their number, still maintained a perfectly orderly formation with the remaining five or six hundred, tenaciously resisting the coalition infantry that outnumbered them by dozens of times.

Previously, the Empire was mainly strong in Cavalry, and their infantry had no advantage against the infantry of the Four Kingdoms. But now, they had clearly practiced their phalanx formations countless times for this landing battle, and had selected the strongest warriors.

The Star Fire Nation soldiers on the northern bank were also braving arrows and flying stones to force a crossing of the An Shen River. Even as their comrades fell in droves beside them, there was no fear in their eyes, and their straight postures did not waver.

The king of the Stone People was so scared that he slumped to the ground, muttering to himself: "Is this... the will bestowed upon them by the Xingyang God?"

As morale shifted, before the vanguard was completely wiped out, the first batch of follow-up troops finally landed on the southern bank—this time, there were over five thousand of them.

Among them, the soldiers of The First Army first searched through the piles of dead to find their Legion Commander. General Tang Xing, whose arms had been severed and whose body was filled with arrows like a hedgehog, was on the verge of death, but he still squeezed words out through his teeth: "Move south! Unify the southern bank! The Xingyang God is eternal and immortal!"

The soldiers nodded vigorously. After leaving a dozen men to take care of their Legion Commander, the rest immediately charged toward the Four Kingdoms coalition's defensive pass!

Under the fierce, death-defying onslaught and cover of these few thousand men, the Starfire Empire's troops successfully landed on the southern bank, one batch after another.

The soldiers of the Four Kingdoms coalition, seeing that the situation was lost, chose to surrender their weapons and armor for the most part, one after another, capitulating to the Star Fire Nation.

Before nightfall, the tent where the four kings of the coalition were located was surrounded by the Imperial army.

The Emperor of the Empire, with the posture of a victor, squinted his eyes as he looked at the leaders of the Four Kingdoms emerging from the tent.

The kings of the Stone People, the Tree People, and the Music Person all knelt down.

"We are willing to piously believe in the Xingyang God; we beg Your Majesty to forgive our sins!"

The king of the Artisans, Mo, was disdainful: "You can kill me, but don't think you can make me submit to you!"

Emperor Tang Fei nodded. The general beside him immediately stepped forward a few paces and drew his saber. With a swift stroke, Mo's head traced a long arc in the air, rolling to the ground along with a trail of blood.

The remaining three kings immediately pressed their heads to the ground, their entire bodies trembling like chaff.

They were all praying over and over in their hearts: Xingyang God, I already believe in the Xingyang God, please let the Starfire Empire spare us.

But Emperor Tang Fei clearly had no intention of stopping there. He looked coldly at the three people in front of him and asked viciously: "Those proclamations saying the Xingyang God is an Evil God, those blasphemous texts—who wrote them? Stand forward!"

The leaders of the Stone People and the Tree People both turned their heads to look at the king of the Music Person.

The Music Person had strong talents for writing, songs, and poetry, as well as dance and music, so many of the proclamations slandering the Xingyang God were the work of the Music Person.

Emperor Tang Fei saw this scene and understood everything. So, he gritted his teeth and gave an order to the soldiers beside him: "The Music Person of the Southern State, leave none alive! Kill them all!"

After speaking, he looked up at the sky, tears streaming down his face, "Great Deity Xingyang, I thank you for your grace in allowing me to truly unify the continent in my lifetime. I can die without regrets now."

Suddenly, a beam of golden light that seemed to illuminate the heaven and earth flashed by, and a figure stood before everyone, speaking slowly: "There is no need to exterminate the Music Person."

Emperor Tang Fei wiped his dim, aged eyes, looked again and again, and then asked timidly and hesitantly: "Who are you?"