Time Travel: After Seizing the Throne, I Lead the Ming Dynasty to Take Off

Chapter 1438

"Step aside."

“We are here to deliver His Majesty’s decree. Who you are is not important, nor is who we are. What is important is that His Majesty’s decree has been delivered and His Highness Prince Yan has accepted it.”

"Do you intend to obstruct the imperial decree and defy the imperial order?!"

Wu Zhenhai was full of arrogance, and his words were naturally even more forceful. He rebuked Wu Zhenhai with a cold and serious expression.

Zhang Cheng, who was standing next to him, twitched at the corner of his mouth.

"This troublemaker! Does he have to push them to the brink before he's happy? That's too reckless!" He grumbled inwardly, but since he and Wu Zhenhai were in cahoots, he had no choice but to go along with him and say, "Commander Wu is absolutely right. Gentlemen, please make way."

Qiu Fu, Zhang Yu, and the others, who originally wanted to chat a bit more, were starting to lose their composure when they saw Wu Zhenhai, who seemed fearless. Their eyes unconsciously revealed a hint of sharpness.

Qiu Fu and Zhang Yu exchanged a glance, then whispered menacingly, "This lousy commander of the 'Divine Machine Battalion' is incredibly arrogant! He doesn't know his place. I'll kill him first!"

Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, his face showing worry: "It seems we can't hold on any longer."

Tan Yuan said, "Then let's get started! We've been eating sand and fighting in the desert every day, what are we afraid of?! Dealing with them isn't because we're afraid of them, it's just that we want to buy the prince some time."

Zhu Neng brandished his spear and said in a deep voice, "That's right, let's kill this ignorant Wu bastard first!"

During a private conversation.

The expressions on their faces also darkened completely, and their previous pleasantries and flattery vanished.

Then, each of them placed their hands on their preferred weapons, neither speaking nor yielding, simply blocking the city gate, staring intently at Zhang Cheng and Wu Zhenhai. For a moment, it felt as if a thousand troops were watching them intently, creating an extremely oppressive atmosphere; the air outside the city gate instantly became tense and deadly…

Seeing that the others didn't move, Zhang Cheng's heart sank to the bottom. He forced himself to remain calm and asked, "What...do you mean?"

He didn't wait for Qiu Fu and the others to answer him.

Wu Zhenhai, standing to the side, seemed eager to try his hand at it, saying, "What else could it mean? He had treacherous intentions in arbitrarily mobilizing his personal guards on such a large scale. Now that the truth has come out, he's acting guilty and wants to disobey the imperial decree!"

"Zhang Cheng, from the moment they appeared at the city gate, you should have known they had ill intentions. You can't escape what's coming today!"

Wu Zhenhai's tone was accusatory, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up, and his expression and eyes were full of excitement.

Once he exposed them, Qiu Fu and the others simply stopped pretending.

They all drew their swords and spears, holding them horizontally in front of them as if ready to strike. Zhang Yu sneered and said, "Wu Zhenhai, should I say you have guts, or should I say you're ignorant and don't know how powerful the Three Guards of Yanshan are?"

"Don't think you're just some lowly commander of the Divine Machine Battalion. We've killed and captured plenty of Northern Yuan generals and high-ranking officers!"

"I'm putting my words on this now!"

"You...can't get through the city gates, you can't enter the city!!!"

As Zhang Yu and Qiu Fu finished speaking, the other soldiers of the Yanshan Three Guards, who had also followed with a death wish, echoed in unison: "Kill! Kill! Kill!!!"

His voice was like a thunderclap, his momentum was earth-shattering, and he carried the fearless spirit cultivated by the soldiers on the frontier through years of life-and-death battles, which was breathtaking!

Although Zhang Cheng was panicked and had been seeking a peaceful resolution, now that the other side was openly defying them and even their master, he immediately abandoned his initial slightly conciliatory stance. His gaze turned cold as he said, "Are you rebelling?! Traitors, how dare you!!"

"Pass down the order! The Three Guards of Yanshan have disobeyed the Emperor's command and obstructed the imperial decree; their crime deserves death! Sound the drums! Immediately dispatch troops to capture these treacherous officials!"

Holding the transfer orders for the various guards of Beiping Prefecture in his hand, Zhang Cheng gave the order in a deep voice.

"Yes, Your subordinate obeys!" Someone immediately responded from behind him.

As the transfer order was being issued, Zhang Cheng immediately looked at Wu Zhenhai beside him and asked, "Commander Wu?"

Although Wu Zhenhai only brought a thousand men, and Zhang Cheng had been terrified on the way, he hadn't forgotten what his master had told him in the Qianqing Palace: "In addition, I will provide you with another thousand men to accompany you north to Beiping Prefecture to capture the person. We can guarantee that everything will go smoothly!"

That sounds like bullshit.

But when the time came, even if he felt the chances of that coming true were extremely slim, he could only hope that Wu Zhenhai really had the ability to "ensure absolute success".

Wu Zhenhai was very excited at this moment.

He first gave Zhang Cheng a cryptic smile, then his gaze sharpened, and he ordered his deputy behind him, "Pass down the order! The Shenji Battalion will immediately split into three groups—left, center, and right—and disperse in all directions, moving away from the battlefield to find their positions!!!"

He brought archers, those who specialize in ranged attacks. Once a fight breaks out, the best approach is to maintain distance and spread out to maximize their abilities and advantages.

Modern flintlock muskets have a long range, great power, and excellent accuracy; they are utterly shameless—it's always me shooting at you, never you shooting at me!

As Zhang Cheng and Wu Zhenhai relayed their respective military orders.

“Dong—dong dong—dong dong dong dong dong dong—” The solemn and chilling drumbeats, as if carrying a wounding blade, rang out outside the south gate of Beiping City!

The Shenji Battalion's thousand men, following the formations they had practiced, skillfully split into three groups and retreated to their left, right, and rear, rapidly expanding the battlefield.

only……

Seeing Wu Zhenhai's unconventional actions, Zhang Cheng, who had been pinning his hopes on him, was completely dumbfounded: "Wu Zhenhai, what... what do you mean!? If a fight breaks out, you let your men escape!?"

This was something Zhang Cheng had not anticipated at all. A thousand men was not a large number. Even if they did not have the dramatic effect His Majesty had described, they could still be of some help in a normal battle. However, they were forced to flee before the battle.

Zhang Cheng was supernaturally furious at this moment.

Wu Zhenhai gave him a meaningful smile and said, "See you in Beiping." Then he took the reins and drove off...

Zhang Cheng was so angry that he couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

After a moment of silence, he burst out with a truly furious curse: "Wu Zhenhai, I'll fucking smear your mother! You're just here to screw me over, aren't you?!"

However, he didn't have time to pursue Wu Zhenhai's matter at this point; after all, the war drums had sounded, and he, the one who received my transfer order, was now in charge.