Evening arrived slowly.
The setting sun leaned toward the horizon, painting the sea with streaks of golden red light.
On Silk Island, the soldiers of the Gao Family Village militia had just finished a very satisfying meal. Cooking smoke drifted lazily through the air while the men sat around, looking out at the sea and the sunset.
The mood was relaxed and comfortable.
At that moment, the Special Water Combat Dao Xuan Tianzun suddenly climbed out of the cabin of the flagship Wanli Sunshine.
He stretched his arms in an exaggerated yawn, then walked to the bow of the ship and began playing a one man version of the famous Titanic pose.
The soldiers on the island immediately noticed him.
They hurriedly stood up and saluted.
Li DaoXuan raised his voice.
"Everyone come here. I have a few words to say."
The moment he spoke like that, everyone understood.
A divine instruction was coming.
All the soldiers and officers hurried over. The crowd quickly gathered in front of him.
Standing in the front row were Cheng Xu, Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu, Flat Rabbit, Zheng Gouzi, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, Shi Lang, and Zheng Sen.
Behind them stood a dense formation of soldiers, each one pricking up their ears to listen.
Li DaoXuan spoke calmly.
"Tomorrow we will attack Dandong City."
Everyone responded in unison.
"Yes!"
Li DaoXuan continued.
"This seems to be the first time all of you will conduct a proper assault on an enemy city."
He paused for a moment.
"The battle where Shi Jian attacked the frontier fort does not count. That place had no civilians."
Everyone thought about it carefully.
And suddenly realized something surprising.
That was actually true.
Gao Family Village had fought many battles before, but they had never truly assaulted a city. Their enemies were usually bandits, mountain strongholds, or rebel camps.
Li DaoXuan continued.
"From a purely tactical perspective, attacking a city is not much harder than attacking a mountain bandit fortress like Tieshanping. As long as we use artillery bombardment, the enemy can be crushed very quickly."
The soldiers laughed.
"All thanks to the weapons bestowed by Dao Xuan Tianzun."
Li DaoXuan nodded slightly.
"But there is one question I need all of you to think about."
His tone became serious.
"Can a city be covered by artillery fire?"
Many people froze for a moment after hearing that question.
Cheng Xu was the first to answer.
"No."
Zheng Daniu scratched his head in confusion.
"Why not?"
Gao Chuwu looked at him as if he had asked the most foolish question imaginable.
"Are you stupid?"
Zheng Daniu blinked.
"So why not?"
Gao Chuwu thought for a moment before answering with great confidence.
"Because Instructor Cheng already said we cannot."
He folded his arms proudly.
"We are soldiers. Orders are absolute. If Instructor Cheng says we cannot, then we cannot."
Zheng Daniu nodded immediately.
"That makes perfect sense."
The surrounding soldiers stared at the two of them in silence.
At that moment, Cao Wenzhao sighed softly and finally spoke.
"Dandong City, also known as Andong City, used to belong to our Great Ming."
He looked toward the distant city across the water.
"Inside that city there are not only the Three Shun Kings and Qing soldiers. There are also ordinary people of the Ming."
As soon as those words were spoken, the crowd suddenly understood.
If civilians were inside the city, then artillery bombardment was obviously impossible.
Anyone who dared bombard civilians would probably be flattened into meat paste beneath Dao Xuan Tianzun's divine seal.
Li DaoXuan gave Cao Wenzhao an approving look.
"Cao Wenzhao is correct."
"Dandong City is a Ming city. The people inside are citizens of Ming. We absolutely cannot cover it with artillery."
Then he added another sentence.
"And I want all of you to remember something else."
His voice carried across the entire gathering.
"Not only Ming cities."
"Even if the city belongs to the Qing dynasty, or Joseon Korea, or any other enemy nation, as long as there are civilians inside, you cannot simply cover it with artillery fire."
The soldiers reacted with surprise.
"Ah?"
Li DaoXuan smiled faintly.
"As for why, the explanation would be very long. Explaining it now would only waste everyone's precious rest time."
He waved his hand.
"If you carefully recall the education you received after joining Gao Family Village, you will understand."
The soldiers fell silent and began thinking.
After a long pause, Cheng Xu spoke again.
"Everyone heard the divine instruction clearly."
He looked around at the soldiers.
"In tomorrow's siege we cannot rely on our usual tactic of shouting 'Blow them up' to force the enemy to surrender."
"We must be prepared for a prolonged struggle against the city walls."
He continued carefully.
"Every artillery shell must be aimed at the walls as precisely as possible. Avoid firing into residential areas."
"Especially explosive shells. If one lands in a civilian district, it could cause massive casualties among the population. That is unacceptable."
He raised his voice.
"Does everyone understand?"
"Understood!"
At that moment a militia soldier hesitantly raised his hand.
His voice sounded nervous.
"What if civilians help the Jianzhou soldiers transport supplies? Or even assist in defending the city?"
Cheng Xu suddenly fell silent.
He did not know how to answer.
Li DaoXuan closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.
"If enemy civilians step onto the battlefield, they must be treated as enemy soldiers."
He opened his eyes again.
"You do not need to hold back."
"I cannot ask you to show mercy toward someone who is attacking you with a blade."
"That would be unreasonable and unfair."
He spoke calmly.
"Showing mercy on the battlefield is equivalent to signing your own death sentence."
"When the moment comes to strike, then strike."
The soldiers paused for a moment before shouting together.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun is merciful!"
---
When the first rays of morning sunlight appeared on the horizon, two battles began simultaneously.
Across the Korqin Grasslands, the steel torrent of iron vehicles swept forward like a storm.
The Korqin tribe had long been the Mongol group most closely allied with the Qing dynasty.
They had submitted to the Qing very early and even married several women into the imperial family.
The famous Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang herself came from the Korqin tribe.
In return, the Qing established multiple banners there. The Korqin Right Wing Middle Banner, Right Wing Front Banner, Right Wing Rear Banner, Left Wing Middle Banner, and Left Wing Front Banner. The nearby Gorlos tribe also received its own banner.
For a long time, Korqin Mongol cavalry had served the Qing army as forward units.
But today their cavalry could no longer function.
More than a hundred iron vehicles tore straight through their chaotic banner formations.
Korqin nobles soon found themselves surrounded.
On one side stood the iron vehicles.
On the other side were the cavalry of the Wushen tribe.
All around them were muskets, bows, and blades aimed directly at their position.
Under such circumstances, the Korqin leaders had only one option.
They raised their hands and declared surrender.
From that day forward they severed their vassal relationship with the Qing dynasty and returned to the rule of the Great Yuan's Heavenly Khan, Erzh'e.
At the same time, on Silk Island, the Gao Family Village militia began their assault on Dandong City.
Warships filled the water and sealed off every route of escape.
Naval cannons began bombarding the city walls with thunderous force.
The city gate most likely to release cavalry received especially heavy fire.
Inside the gate passage, Qing cavalry waited nervously.
They had originally planned to charge out and drive the landing enemy back into the sea.
But artillery shells kept exploding just outside the gate.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Fragments of metal flew everywhere.
The stone walls of the gate tunnel were already embedded with shattered iron shards and tiny metal balls.
The cavalry stared at the scene with trembling fear.
How were they supposed to charge out through that?
If a cannonball landed beside them the moment they exited, both rider and horse would be blown into a bloody sieve.
Under the cover of artillery fire, the Gao Family Village militia began landing on the beach using all kinds of strange transport vessels.
The moment they stepped onto the sand, the soldiers immediately crouched down and raised their muskets.
At that exact moment, the cavalry of the Three Shun Kings finally charged out.
"Charge!"
The Qing cavalry rushed forward through the smoke.
"Fire!"
From the ships and from the beach, every firing position unleashed a storm of gunfire at the charging riders.