A Pawn's Passage

Soon, Wang Zicheng, the local county magistrate, and the company commander rushed over to the Xia family residence.

Along with them came a large number of cadets, police officers, Black Robes, and Green Phoenix Guards. Almost all the manpower of the local government office was mobilized, totaling nearly a thousand people.

A company commander was an upper-sixth-rank military official, the same rank as the Green Phoenix Guard Major and two ranks higher than an upper-seventh-rank county magistrate. Thus, a company commander was not subordinate to the county magistrate.

This dynasty was aware of the shortcomings of the previous dynasty, which emphasized civil affairs and neglected military affairs. Thus, the Great Xuan Dynasty focused on both civil and military affairs equally.

The power of military officials in the Imperial Court was not weaker than that of civil officials. There were also no clear boundaries between civil and military affairs, so many ministers were proficient in both. Therefore, the status of a military official in the Great Xuan Court was not low. Unlike in the previous dynasty, where a low-ranking civil official was superior to a high-ranking military official.

According to the Great Xuan military system, a Company Commander led 500 troops, including 200 elite soldiers and 300 auxiliary soldiers. The Black Robes were regular combat soldiers who would focus on training. As the name suggested, auxiliary soldiers assisted combat soldiers, such as transporting grain and grass, building fortifications, cooking, feeding horses, maintaining firearms, and so much more.

Company Commander Zhao brought 150 soldiers and 200 auxiliary soldiers this time. The combat soldiers were all equipped with firearms and armor. They did not use the pistols that were commonly used by Daoists. Instead, they used long guns, which had a longer range and allowed more storage of projectiles in the magazine. Thus, shots could be fired continuously. The auxiliary troops mainly brought over four types of cannons.

In the early usage of muzzle-loading cannons, the size of cannons was distinguished by the weight of the cannonballs. At that time, the military commonly used four types of cannons: heavy cannons with 30-kilogram cannonballs, mid-size cannons with 10- to 15-kilogram cannonballs, and small cannons with 5-kilogram cannonballs. Among them, the heavy cannons were only equipped on large naval vessels or fixed at forts, so they could not be moved.

However, as artillery technology continued to evolve, the cannons used in the military gradually changed to rifled breechloaders. Thus, it no longer made sense to judge the size of the artillery based on the weight of the cannonballs. Instead, the caliber of the artillery became the primary criterion.

The army of the existing dynasty was equipped with four classes of cannons: D-class artillery, ranging from 63mm to 76mm; C-class artillery, ranging from 102mm to 119mm; B-class artillery, ranging from 149mm to 152mm; and A-class heavy artillery, which had a caliber of over 152mm. Among them, heavy artillery had further distinctions. Some heavy artillery could only be fixed on forts or mounted on ironclad warships, which were not used by the local military units.

This time, Company Commander Zhao brought four C-class cannons with a caliber of 102mm to 119mm. They were not powerful enough to attack a city wall, but they were powerful enough to destroy a mansion.

In addition to the Black Robes, who were the frontliners, Company Commander Zhao also led a large number of local government officials and police officers. In this regard, it was similar to Tiangang Hall. A police officer had two deputies, and each deputy had a helper. The three squads of cadets totaled 200 people. They were mainly responsible for clearing the streets, enforcing martial law, dispersing crowds, and preventing accidental injuries to ordinary civilians.

In addition, the Green Phoenix Guards from the Major’s Office were also mobilized to assist the Black Robes.

The Green Phoenix Guard was the emperor’s personal army and mainly focused on criminal investigation. Many high-ranking Black Robes were transferred to the Green Phoenix Guard before being transferred to the Ministry of Justice and other departments, finally becoming ministers. Many Green Phoenix Guards used to be Black Robes, so it was not difficult for both parties to cooperate.

When Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu arrived outside Xia Chang’s mansion, they saw that the place was completely surrounded.

Although the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court had different rank systems, the Great Sage of the Taiping Sect was also the Imperial Preceptor, which became the benchmark for comparing ranks.

A local county magistrate, company commander, and major of the Green Phoenix Guard were all inferior to Zhang Yuelu, a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist priest. Only Wang Zicheng was at an equal level to Zhang Yuelu, so they were both in command.

Wang Zicheng asked, “The Xia family is still unwilling to come out and surrender?”

Company Commander Zhao replied, “I have asked my soldiers to shout out the terms. As long as they are willing to open the door and surrender, we will only execute the evildoers. But if they persist in staying cooped up inside, we will destroy everything. By then, it will be too late for regrets. But even so, there is still no response from them. Please advise us what to do next, sir.”

Wang Zicheng glanced at Zhang Yuelu. “Mage Zhang, what do you think?”

Zhang Yuelu stated, “A normal family would have opened the door and defended themselves if they saw this commotion outside their door. Since no one responded, it only indicates that they are guilty. In that case, there’s no need to be polite with them. Let’s blast open their gate and walls and storm in.”

Wang Zicheng nodded. “Company Commander Zhao, follow Mage Zhang’s orders and aim properly.”

Company Commander Zhao, who was wearing black armor, obliged. He walked to the two cannons, which were aimed at the gates of Xia Mansion about 300 meters away. The other two cannons were positioned to aim at the side wall.

Qi Xuansu observed the cannons with great interest.

This kind of artillery was developed and designed by Daoist Tianji Hall and jointly produced by the Ministry of Works and the Divine Armory.

It adopted a multi-layer composite barrel structure, with the entire cannon composed of dual barrels of different sizes, forming a compound multi-layered barrel. The smaller barrel had intricate rifling. Breech-loading resulted in shorter loading times compared to muzzle-loading artillery.

Overall, compared to the muzzle-loading cannons of the previous dynasty, the current breechloader was lighter and had a longer firing range. The cannonballs were not solid projectiles but were shells containing gunpowder, which exploded upon impact.

Company Commander Zhao raised his right hand and shouted, “Load!”

The soldiers stationed at the four cannons moved at the same time. Two well-trained gunners quickly opened the wooden box, lifted a metallic conical shell, and loaded it into the barrel from the rear of the cannon.

The gunner shouted, “Loading complete!”

Company Commander Zhao suddenly swung his palm downward. “Fire!”

Qi Xuansu only felt a hot wave of air blowing at his face. At the same time, the ground beneath him shook, as if there were an earthquake.

The gatehouse of the Xia Mansion completely disappeared, and a section of the courtyard wall collapsed. There were still some flames in the ruins.

Company Commander Zhao raised his right hand again. “Adjust the angle and reload.”

The gunners discussed the timing, direction, and angle before they rotated the cannons, each aiming in different directions. The gunners then cleared the barrel and reloaded the shell.

“Loading complete!” The four gunners reported one after another.

Company Commander Zhao waved his hand again. “Fire!”

The four C-class cannons roared again, spewing out flames more than three meters long from the muzzle while huge waves of heat escaped from the rear end of the artillery.

The four shells whistled in the air and traced an invisible arc in the sky before exploding in the Xia Mansion, creating massive shockwaves and a sea of fire with billowing clouds of smoke. The debris from shattered rocks, trees, and soil blasted into the air.

Qi Xuansu felt the ground shake again, and his ears buzzed from the explosion.

Even a Xiantian Being would not be able to survive this kind of firepower.

After two rounds of bombardment, Xia Mansion was completely devastated. Any protective formations would have been destroyed as well.

Wang Zicheng then ordered the troops to attack the mansion.

Qi Xuansu, Zhang Yuelu, and Wang Zicheng walked in later, while the county magistrate stayed outside to maintain order in the surroundings.

The smell of gunpowder was strong in the courtyard. Zhang Yuelu stretched out her hand to fan the smoke. She whispered to Qi Xuansu, “I remember a little-known story about the Holy Xuan and Donghuang. After Donghuang narrowly escaped death during the Great Bao’en Temple Incident, he was rebuked by the Holy Xuan.

“That was because Donghuang was complacent about his background, cultivation level, and authority, underestimating the collective strength of others and overestimating his own abilities, which led to his significant losses. I’m not sure if this rumor is true, but since then, the Daoist Order would not act alone if they could get assistance from others when exterminating Ancient Immortals. Today, we’ve saved some energy and cleared the way with firearms.”

Not long after, the Black Robes and Green Phoenix came back with reports, saying that they found some dead servants in the backyard. However, these servants did not die from the explosion. They were poisoned. It looked like someone wanted to silence them. Besides the dead servants, they did not find anyone else in the mansion.

Wang Zicheng became more certain that this was the Lingshan Witch Cult’s stronghold, so he ordered a thorough search of the place.

The Green Phoenix Guards were the professionals in this regard.

Luo Xiao personally led the search and soon found the entrance to the underground palace in a rockery.

Wang Zicheng ordered his people to blow up the rockery with explosives, revealing the entrance to the underground palace below.

The opening of the underground palace was wide, allowing four people to walk side by side. It sloped downward, with steps and even tracks for push carts.

Company Commander Zhao shouted, “Shield!”

More than a dozen fully armored Black Robes men with large shields walked side by side into the entrance of the underground palace.

Although these foot soldiers were only Houtian Beings, they were strong, especially with the Bull Dragon Armor. This armor was composed of 360 scales, each the size of a baby’s fist and slightly thicker than cardboard. It was specially designed to withstand qi attacks and resist various spells.

The soldiers also wore another layer over the Bull Dragon Armor called the Cotton Brigandine. The cotton was specially processed, soaked in water, and dried in the sun for rigidity. It was also lined with metal plates on the inside and secured with copper nails.

After the emergence of firearms, traditional metal armor became outdated. The heavy armor improved by the Daoist Order was too expensive to be distributed to ordinary soldiers. Thus, during the Jin Dynasty, fabric armor with metal plates in strategic spots protecting one’s vitals emerged. It eventually evolved to include face armor, protecting the soldier from smells and poisonous gases.

The large shield they carried was called the Hyena Shield, which could block half of the body. It could withstand bullets, qi, and some spells.

Behind the soldiers holding the shield were more soldiers carrying long guns, so they could shoot from the gaps between the shields.

The troops advanced step by step, determined to annihilate the cultists.