Dominating Martial King
Chapter 482 - 482 254 White Seeking Subscriptions

482: Chapter 254: White (Seeking Subscriptions) 482: Chapter 254: White (Seeking Subscriptions) On May 4th, almost the entire city of Jiangnan County was clad in white.

Especially around the parts of the city near the Water Camp to the north, over three thousand households had raised white flags.

The streets were sparsely populated and the market vibes were gloomy.

At street corners and alleyways, the faces of those who happened to meet were filled with sorrow.

In the city’s taverns and tea houses, and in front of the numerous proclamation boards set up by the government, the gathered crowds could talk of nothing but Chu Xisheng and the Iron Banner Gang.

Meanwhile, in the hall of the Governor’s Mansion, the atmosphere hovered at an ominously oppressive low.

Wang Sheen, the Governor of East State, sat solemnly at the head of the hall.

He was an eighty-year-old man with a spirited and keen disposition, exemplifying middle age.

For him, ‘middle-aged’ indeed fit, as Wang Sheen, who had advanced to the Third Grade and lived three hundred years, was only in the first third of his life span.

Not only did he live long and knew the arts of maintaining a youthful appearance, but he also looked about thirty, with a handsome face and an aura as refined as jade.

The only cold aspect was Wang Sheen’s complexion, which was so chilling it seemed nearly wet.

His voice, too, carried an endless chill, “Didn’t the Jiangnan County Navy Camp just report a victory to the Governor’s Mansion?

They said they had defeated the Iron Banner Gang and were advancing toward the East City Pier downstream.

How could they suddenly suffer a great defeat?

Not only did they lose over four thousand soldiers and generals, but also sixty-seven warships?

Could Dong Tianyue have fabricated his military achievements?”

Dong Tianyue was the Commander of the Jiangnan County Navy Camp, commanding a hundred and twenty warships and thirteen thousand naval soldiers.

“Mr.

Governor, Dong Tianyue would not have the audacity to do that!”

No sooner had Wang Sheen’s voice fallen than a young man below responded.

This man, an advisory officer in the Governor’s staff, clasped his hands in a salute, “I’ve just thoroughly reviewed all the battle reports, and I can assert that Dong Tianyue fell for a trick of luring the enemy.

The Iron Banner Gang feigned defeat to lure the Jiangnan County Navy Camp and the Seventeen Linked Wharves’ large ships to the wide river surfaces, then ambushed them with three thousand strong archers lying in wait.

They unleashed forty thousand arrows in a moment, a massive barrage that nearly swept all the upper decks of the fight ships, resulting in severe casualties among the Jiangnan County Navy Camp soldiers.

At this moment, Tie Xiaosheng also organized thousands of elite soldiers to board and capture the ships, ultimately leading to our significant defeat.”

Wang Sheen furrowed his brow deeply, “If it was indeed a trap, why didn’t Dong Tianyue mention that in his report?

Moreover, where did they get these three thousand strong bowmen?”

In the southern army, so-called ‘strong bowmen’ were at least of Eighth Rank, capable of wielding a twenty-stones Military Heavy Bow, firing thirty times within 15 minutes, and able to hit the bullseye from a hundred steps away.

In the northern border army, the standard was even higher.

Three thousand heavy bowmen could indeed sweep the decks of five or six warships with a single volley.

The question was, where did the Iron Banner Gang get so many Eighth Rank strong bowmen?

“The reason Dong Tianyue did not mention it, must be out of embarrassment, fearing reprimand from you,”

the young advisory officer replied calmly, “As for those three thousand strong bowmen, they likely came from the hunters of West Mountain.

Most of these mountain hunters reach the Ninth Grade peak in their cultivation.

They only lack the money to buy secret medicine to advance their ranks.

And now, with the Iron Banner Gang sweeping all local tyrants along the river, collecting Eighth Rank secret medicines or twenty-stones Military Heavy Bows is not difficult.”

Wang Sheen was startled upon hearing this.

Xiushui County in the south was a major pharmaceutical producer, and it indeed wouldn’t be difficult for the Iron Banner Gang to gather two or three thousand sets of Eighth Rank lower secret medicines temporarily.

As for the twenty-stones Heavy Bows, Daning was replete with martial prowess; which prominent family in the countryside didn’t keep a hundred or eighty of them?

Village squabbles over water and land rights were particularly vicious, involving fierce battles with tens of thousands of people equipped with extensive armor and weaponry, akin to waging war.

(In 1991 in Hunan’s Chenzhou, five thousand people from two villages clashed with guns and cannons for three days.)

However, he was still filled with confusion, “Then how did they transport these three thousand strong bowmen?

Are all the spies from the Governor’s Mansion and Police Pool of Blood blind?

They just watched it happen?

The balance army was at the Ancient Market; didn’t they see any activity across the river?

Moreover, these three thousand hunters would likely have difficulty even standing steadily on water, let alone joining a naval battle and shooting arrows on ships.

Isn’t that absurd?”

The young advisory officer fell into thought, “They must have used the thick fog and grain transport ships.

Recently, the East Pier has been enshrouded in fog all day, and every day ten large ships leave from there, transporting grain and arrows upstream.

If I am not mistaken, those three thousand strong bowmen must have been mixed among these grain ships, evading the eyes and ears of our spies.

As for how they could shoot arrows, I saw a phrase in the battle report: ‘the Iron Banner Gang linked ships like a fortress!’ They connected dozens of large ships together, and with the dense creeks and proximity to Shenxiu River near West Mountain, these hunters are not like the northerners who utterly lack water skills.”

Moreover, reports had already reached from Xiushui County’s side that this was indeed a disastrous defeat that dealt a serious blow to the Jiangnan County Navy Camp.

How else could it be absurd?

Wang Sheen had nothing to say.

He was able to glean some truth from these reports himself; he just didn’t want to accept the reality.

“This Dong Tianyue is truly useless to the extreme.”

Wang Sheen massaged his temple, feeling an immense headache, “I sent him to Xunyang County to assist the Xunyang County Government in clearing the river of water bandits.

Who authorized him to take the initiative to aid a group of bandits at Seventeen Linked Wharves and engage in battle at Xiushui?

If he truly had the ability to engage and win, that would be one thing, but he didn’t know his own capabilities, leading to the near obliteration of my elite navy!”

Even the complete annihilation of a state army of thirteen thousand would not have driven Wang Sheen to such fury.