Iron Dynasty Novel Chapter 742

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at/c/caleredhair

“Kill!”

In the narrow valley, soldiers from both sides almost simultaneously erupted in shouts of “kill” after a brief standoff.

The marines imdiately ford ranks on the twenty-ter-wide mountain road. Their rifled muskets belched smoke and fire, and in an instant, the charging Goryeo soldiers fell one after another into pools of blood.

Encountering such a dangerous situation, Liu Chen imdiately ordered his soldiers to protect Yue Yun and retreat, while also having his mortar operators continuously launch li bombs into the Goryeo army.

In this situation, li bombs were the most suitable type of projectile.

White li powder exploded among the Goryeo troops. Goryeo soldiers, their eyes burned by the li, stumbled around in the narrow valley, covering their faces.

Their originally orderly formation was suddenly jamd in the narrow passage due to the soldiers’ confusion.

“Bang, bang, bang…”

The marines, each with a grim face, continuously shot down Goryeo soldiers with their three-stage firing technique.

The Goryeo soldiers at the front had never seen firearms before. Seeing their comrades fall to the ground just a few steps after charging, they instinctively wanted to avoid the danger, but it was too late. They felt a sharp pain and then fell, their consciousness gradually fading.

As the soldiers at the front fell, the Goryeo soldiers behind, unaware of what was happening, continued to push and surge forward. However, due to the corpses on the ground and the effects of the li bombs, the entire Goryeo army appeared sowhat disorganized.

A distance of several hundred ters quickly vanished. The Goryeo soldiers, having suffered heavy casualties, now picked up their swords and slashed at the Great Yu Empire soldiers.

This ti, in attacking Bisa Castle, the marines were prepared for a tough fight. They fixed bayonets onto their muskets, and with a loud shout of “Kill,” charged towards the Goryeo forces.

The soldiers’ faces were resolute and courageous. They intended to make these Goryeo people understand that the Great Yu Empire soldiers relied not only on firearms, but even in close combat, they could still rout them.

The Goryeo general, who had thought they could defeat the Great Yu Empire army with sheer numbers, was instantly dumbfounded. The Great Yu Empire soldiers, brandishing gleaming bayonets, were like tigers entering a flock of sheep.

They used their skilled bayonet techniques to fight the Goryeo soldiers, and each thrust of a bayonet took a Goryeo soldier’s life.

The Goryeo soldiers despaired at this mont. The soldiers behind couldn’t keep up due to the chaos, and they also had to face the Great Yu Empire’s disciplined bayonet charge.

Leaving behind a pile of corpses, the Goryeo soldiers desperately retreated backward, while the soldiers behind them continued to push forward, making the narrow valley battle even more chaotic.

Liu Chen decisively seized this opportunity. He simultaneously had the mortar operators fire at the Goryeo army while commanding the marines to continue their charge.

Corpses piled up in the valley. The marines bypassed the city gate and began to charge towards the inner side of the valley.

The fierce fighting had by now broken the will of the Goryeo soldiers, who finally dispersed towards Bisa Castle.

Liu Chen was panting. The battle had lasted for over two hours, and he and many soldiers were exhausted, but looking at the fallen marines on the ground, his eyes reddened, and he shouted, “Kill! For our fallen brothers!”

As his voice fell, the sound of the charge bugle rang out. The soldiers, filled with fervent emotion, rushed out of the narrow valley and into Bisa Castle.

Yue Yun, who was with the army, felt a surge of energy upon hearing this news. He no longer cared for his own safety and, breaking through the obstruction of two soldiers, also headed towards Bisa Castle.

When the soldiers routed and scattered, Kim Dong fell into despair. At this mont, no matter how much he shouted, the fleeing soldiers only cared about saving their own lives, and no one obeyed his orders.

Around Bisa Castle was a low city wall. Goryeo soldiers climbed over the wall and fled west. The Great Yu Empire soldiers ca from the East Gate, and this West Gate also had a path leading down the mountain.

The Goryeo soldiers, having lost over four thousand n in the valley, were utterly terrified. Using swords against the Great Yu Empire army, which was ard with firearms, was no longer a question of bravery. The sorrow of dying without even touching the enemy was sothing not everyone could bear.

“General Kim.” At this mont, Park Jeong-ho appeared behind Kim Dong.

Kim Dong, who was gathering gold and silver treasures, preparing to flee, turned around and saw Park Jeong-ho staring intently at him.

“This great defeat was caused by your incompetent command as deputy general!” Kim Dong instinctively shifted the bla. He knew very well that the bla for losing Bisa Castle was far more severe than Park Jeong-ho losing a few ships.

However, his voice abruptly stopped. Park Jeong-ho, with a grim face, drew his ceremonial sword and directly stabbed it into Kim Dong’s chest. “Do you think I would let you fra

again?”

Kim Dong looked at the sharp sword in his chest in disbelief. He wanted to say sothing, but his vision went black, and he completely lost his life.

Pulling out his ceremonial sword, Park Jeong-ho fled down the mountain. He had grown tired of the dark rule of the King of Goryeo and had no desire to remain loyal to him. For him, Goryeo’s current internal and external troubles were all caused by the King of Goryeo himself.

…

Haigucheng.

The battle here was equally fierce. Beishan’s siege had lasted for over three days.

Within three days, Beshan continuously dispatched soldiers to assault the city. Now, the area around the city gate and outside the city was littered with the corpses of barbarian soldiers.

“This is the fourth day.”

Ye Qingyun was sowhat tired, and the soldiers were equally fatigued, but Beishan seed to have no intention of stopping the assault.

“This Beishan is truly persistent.” Zou Cheng frowned. He continued, “But since yesterday, he has been using barbarian soldiers to attack the city, right?”

“That’s right. These barbarian soldiers fight fearlessly and are clearly not slave soldiers or Goryeo soldiers.” Ye Qingyun’s mood improved sowhat. At least this ant Beishan was also at the end of his rope.

Zou Cheng said, “If that’s the case, Beishan won’t last much longer. Haigucheng is still strong; he won’t win.”

“Indeed. However, he has kept the city under siege, which ans the Emperor’s plan to force the King of Goryeo to sign a treaty and open trade ports will be continuously delayed. This ti, we must make the King of Goryeo understand that the barbarians cannot protect them!”

Zou Cheng sensed a hint of gunpowder in Ye Qingyun’s words. He said, “General, do you intend to go out and et them in battle?”

“Only by doing so can we defeat Beishan. Rest for half a day, then launch an attack on the barbarian camp this afternoon.” Ye Qingyun said. The current situation was a test of both sides’ endurance.

He wouldn’t have dared to do this before, but now he had confidence because the army’s provisions had been very good these past two years.

The soldiers serving in the army were all well-fed and strong. With regular training, their bodies were even more robust, no longer skinny like before.

Noon arrived in an instant. Amidst the lodious sound of flutes, the soldiers assembled outside the city, marching to the rhythm of military music.

Ye Qingyun, on horseback, stood on the left flank of the formation. When the formation was complete, he ordered the soldiers to advance towards the barbarian camp.

“Thump, thump, thump… thump, thump, thump…”

As the soldiers advanced, the sound of drums and flutes rang out simultaneously. Soldiers, arranged in formations of two hundred n, marched steadily forward with their flintlock guns.

*Apologies, a chapter was missed. Below is the chapter that should have been the next one, but was accidentally skipped, so I’m adding it here instead.

lodious music reverberated in front of Haigucheng.

For Beishan, this was not enjoynt, but despair.

Four consecutive days of siege had decimated more than half of his army. The Goryeo army was directly crushed. Now, he was isolated and helpless, facing the Great Yu Empire’s army alone.

“Prince, let’s retreat.” Guduo glanced at the Great Yu Empire army continuously approaching their camp.

If it had been before, they would surely have led the cavalry in a charge. But after experiencing the hollow square formation deployed by the Great Yu Empire army, they no longer had absolute confidence. Moreover, his current soldiers were very tired after four days of fierce fighting, and he no longer held a nurical advantage.

The marching music of the Great Yu Empire army grew closer and closer. Beishan’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He truly could not understand why an army on the march for battle would beat gongs and drums.

However, he understood that this was a dangerous signal.

Glancing at the twenty thousand cavalry behind him, a fierce glint flashed in Beishan’s eyes. He said to Guduo, “If I retreat, I will never again be able to hold my head high before my Father Khan. The other princes will also mock . Only the heads of the Great Yu Empire generals can wash away my sha.”

With that, he shouted loudly, “Kill these Great Yu Empire bastards!”

Under his command, the bugle call suddenly blared. The barbarian cavalry furiously spurred their warhorses, charging towards the Great Yu Empire army in front of Haigucheng.

Ye Qingyun, seeing this, looked grim. He ordered the army to switch to a hollow square formation.

Previously, the Great Yu Empire army had never directly clashed with barbarian cavalry in open ground. If anything, they had only relied on the advantage of chariots to offset the cavalry’s advantage.

This ti, he very boldly chose to rely solely on the hollow square formation against the barbarian cavalry. This was not Ye Qingyun being reckless, but his trust in the current Great Yu Empire army.

Excellent training, good provisions, and battle-hardened experience—all of this gradually transford the Great Yu Empire army from a weak force into a formidable, wolf-like army.

Under Ye Qingyun’s command, the marching formation suddenly shifted rapidly. In a very short ti, the soldiers ford five hollow square formations.

And at the front of each hollow square formation were twenty heavy smoothbore guns. They now aid their muzzles at the charging cavalry.

Amidst the rumbling of hooves, dust swirled up from the ground. Barbarian cavalry, clad in silver armor, brandished their sabers high. Under the golden sunlight, a cold glint flashed.

The Great Yu Empire soldiers held their breath at this mont. The front-rank soldiers tightly gripped their flintlock guns as if holding onto their lives.

This was their first direct confrontation with barbarian cavalry. Amidst their nervousness, a sense of heroic pride also swelled within them.

“Boom, boom, boom…”

Before the barbarian cavalry could approach the hollow square formations, the artillery on both sides of the hollow square formations began to unleash cannon fire.

As the soldiers advanced, the artilleryn also pushed their six-pound field cannons, following the soldiers forward. These six-pound field cannons were light, and three n could push them forward.

And while the field cannons bombarded the barbarian cavalry, the soldiers carrying mortars also shelled the barbarian cavalry with li bombs.

Under the artillery’s attack, barbarian cavalry began suffering casualties four hundred ters away.

This ti, to assault the open square formation of the Great Yu Empire, Beishan chose a dense charge, because only this way could he break through such a formation in one fell swoop.

And once the formation was broken, what followed would be their massacre of the Great Yu Empire soldiers.

However, the dense formation imdiately beca a target for artillery fire at this mont. Solid shot, like skewered gourds, instantly took the lives of over a dozen barbarian cavalryn.

These cavalryn fell to the ground, impeding the actions of the cavalry behind them. So cavalryn, unable to dodge in ti, were tripped by the fallen cavalry, causing them to fall with their horses.

And those cavalryn who managed to dodge imdiately fell into disarray.

Even more terrifying than live ammunition were the li bombs. These shells had little lethality but were enough to blind cavalry.

Blind barbarian cavalryn and horses crashed around like headless flies. The formation Beishan had organized quickly fell into confusion and was utterly disrupted.

Ye Qingyun watched this scene with satisfaction. The purpose of artillery was to disrupt the enemy’s formation.

Engaging cavalry on such open ground was terrifying, but if the cavalry beca chaotic, they would be easy to deal with.

However, despite the confusion, the barbarian cavalry continued to charge towards the hollow square formation. At two hundred ters, the heavy smoothbore guns in front of the hollow square formation opened fire on the barbarian cavalry.

Clusters of steel balls rushed towards the barbarian cavalry from the muzzles, and instantly, another horse fell, further disrupting their formation.

Two hundred ters was but an instant for cavalry. The heavy smoothbore guns had one more chance to fire.

The soldiers imdiately reloaded and fired a second volley.

After firing, the heavy smoothbore gunners retreated to the inner side of the hollow square formation.

While the heavy smoothbore guns fired, the rifled musketeers also fired simultaneously. Using their range advantage, they fired from over two hundred ters away.

Under successive volleys, the barbarian cavalry charging towards the hollow square formation were in utter chaos. As they entered the one hundred-ter range, the flintlock guns fired their last volley.

Imdiately after, the first rank of soldiers in the hollow square formation quickly knelt down, tilting their flintlock guns towards the direction from which the cavalry ca. The second rank of soldiers continued to fire, followed by the third rank.

Under the fierce firepower, the barbarian cavalry left a trail of corpses. The remaining scattered cavalry charged towards the hollow square formation like moths to a fla.

Warhorses were impaled by bayonets. Barbarian cavalry slamd directly into the Great Yu Empire soldiers. Under the imnse impact, the Great Yu Empire soldiers imdiately staggered backward, and a slight disarray appeared where they were hit.

But the soldiers behind imdiately braced against the cavalry’s impact, preventing them from breaking through the formation.

Under the continuous assault of firearms, the charging barbarian cavalry were rely splashes of water hitting a rock. The hollow square formation remained as stable as a rock.

The first wave of five thousand n failed. Beishan’s face turned ashen. The Great Yu Empire soldiers before them seed to have beco an insurmountable obstacle.

He was shocked. When did the Great Yu Empire’s army beco so refined?

“Prince, let’s retreat. Our tribesn are not afraid of death, but they shouldn’t throw away their lives for Goryeo,” Guduo said anxiously.

Beishan’s eyes dimd. The Great Yu Empire army then advanced again. As they passed by each wounded cavalryman, the Great Yu Empire soldiers would end the Golden Tent Khanate soldier’s life with a bayonet.

This round of assault made Beishan realize that he could not easily break the formation as he had defeated the Great Yu Empire army before.

Turning his horse around, Beishan headed in the direction of Ryukyo City. At this mont, he suddenly realized that the Golden Tent Khanate needed ti to train a firearm army, otherwise, they would never be able to defeat the Great Yu Empire.

Perhaps he should heed the Japanese’s suggestion and et that British man.