Chapter 129: The Power of Steam

The five squadrons of chariots amounted to five hundred vehicles, representing half of the total chariot force under Xiang Yan’s command. Among these five hundred, two hundred were reinforced with thick iron-spear battering rams, capable of shattering heavy wooden gates with their high-speed impact.

To facilitate command, Wu Song seated himself inside a giant mech. While a personal guard controlled the machine’s movements, Wu Song operated seven command flags; wherever the giant blade pointed was the direction for the steam-powered forces to attack.

“The Northern King is not the only one difficult to contend with! The Northern Army is becoming increasingly powerful!” As the Northern Army entered Chu territory, the venerable Lord Chunan could not help but disguise himself to observe the battle. He was not alone; many experts and spies were hiding in the vicinity. Even the Taoist Heavenly Sect, which claimed to remain aloof from all worldly affairs, had sent an elder to watch, and the royal houses of the various states were likewise unable to remain idle.

Naturally, such a monumental event could not exclude the Mohists. Two giant mechanical birds floated high in the sky; one was the Mohist Vermilion Bird. “The machines of the Great Leader are becoming more and more numerous!” Liu Zhi was perplexed. The steam engines they had painstakingly developed were not even as efficient as a single ox. After years of focused effort, they had managed to build only ten new White Tigers and ten new Vermilion Birds. This was the limit for the Mohists; to produce these, Liu Zhi had been forced to empty the organization’s coffers. While the Mohists had learned to forge high-quality steel, they lacked the capacity for large-scale refinement, forcing master craftsmen to polish every individual component by hand.

The five hundred chariots roared forward, led by the battering rams. “Hmph! Just in time.” Wu Song’s giant mech immediately swung its great sword, and blood-red command flags emerged from its shoulders. “Good! It is our turn.” As soon as the order was given, the machine guns erupted with a thunderous roar.

“How do they ensure the pressure doesn’t cause an explosion?” Gongsun Chou frowned as he watched from atop a large wooden bird. The most difficult aspect of a steam engine lay in the pressure chamber and the pressure-resistant piping. Few materials could withstand such immense steam pressure. This was precisely why the Mohists’ steam engines were so inefficient.

“Alas! I have seen enough.” Seeing fireball after fireball erupt within the chariot ranks, Lord Chunan sighed and turned to leave. Within minutes, hundreds of chariots had been reduced to pyres, only to be crushed into dust by the oncoming steam-powered vehicles.

“General-in-Chief! It seems we cannot stop them!” Zhu Ying was loath to admit it, but he could already see the outcome. Xiang Yan remained silent; he could only hope that the hundreds of mechanical crossbows and catapults would prove effective.

Just then, a reconnaissance balloon drifted toward the giant mech. Seeing the scout approach, Wu Song immediately brought the machine to a halt. “Deputy Commander Wu, there are hundreds of catapults and mechanical crossbows hidden ahead, and they are not firing ordinary stones or bolts.”

Upon hearing the scout’s report, Wu Song opened the hatch and shouted to those behind him: “Black Tigers, disperse and advance at full speed! Watch out for the crossbows and fire arrows.”

Thirty Black Tiger mechs immediately surged forward. “Understood!” While the Sea Spiders were larger, they lacked the agility and speed of the Black Tigers, and the chariots were too poorly armored to withstand incendiary bombs.

“Damn it! They’ve discovered us!” Xiang Yan frowned. It appeared this battle would not be so easily won. After a moment’s thought, he knew he could no longer wait. “Keep fifty thousand men in the center to hold the line! Let the left and right wings launch an active assault on the Northern Army’s armored infantry.”

The generals immediately understood the order. “General-in-Chief, let me hold the center!” Zhu Ying knew his own limitations, but he also realized the center was the most perilous position. Xiang Yan nodded, “Very well! Do your best, General Zhu.”

Xiang Yan already foresaw the result of using fifty thousand men to stop the mechanical beasts. “I only hope the Northern infantry is as hollow as it appears.”

Once discovered, the Chu army’s catapults and crossbows opened fire. The Black Tigers leapt high to dodge the incoming bolts, and the fireballs were even easier to avoid. As they charged, the machines fired their cannons and machine guns simultaneously, their dense barrage of projectiles stripping the Chu crossbowmen of any ability to retaliate.

*Boom, boom, boom, boom!* The war drums beat in a frantic rhythm. The crossbowmen were quickly annihilated, though by then, no one paid any mind to such trivial losses.

“Charge! Charge!” Ten thousand cavalry and five hundred chariots led the assault, followed by nearly one hundred thousand troops surging from both flanks. The center was not idle either; Zhu Ying began issuing orders. “Shield-bearers, advance in formation! Archers and crossbowmen, prepare to follow.” As the commands were given, mounted messengers galloped along the lines, shouting the orders.

*Baa-aa, baa-aa!* The sounding of the great horns signaled the start of the decisive battle. Xiang Yan personally led the ten thousand Dragon-Tiger Iron Cavalry—the most powerful force in Chu and the pride of the Xiang family. Most of these riders were third-rate warriors, with squad leaders at the peak of the third rate and the five grand commanders being top-tier martial artists of the late first rate. In the seven states, true martial experts were rare, and most belonged to private factions; few remained in the regular army.

Before the Dragon-Tiger cavalry could reach their objective, the Black Tigers and the rest of the steam-powered units had already clashed with the Chu center. After a few rounds of bombardment, more than half of the ten thousand shield-bearers were dead or wounded. The twenty thousand Chu archers also unleashed their fury; even the heavily armored soldiers dared not underestimate such a dense rain of arrows. Yet, when the arrows struck the steam-powered units, they merely produced a metallic *clinking* sound.

“Quick! Shield-bearers, form a wall! Halberdiers, set the formation!” Ignoring the exploding fireballs, Zhu Ying shouted from his horse. The elite and fearless Chu soldiers, after an initial moment of panic, began to arrange themselves into formation.

At this point, the Black Tigers had nearly exhausted their shells and machine-gun ammunition, and their tiger-like maws began to close. Thousands of shield-bearers huddled into spheres, attempting to use their bodies to block the monsters’ advance. Twenty thousand armored halberdiers stood with their blades pointed forward like a forest. Behind the ten thousand small-shield swordsmen, the twenty thousand archers and crossbowmen began swapping their weapons for spears and swords. The temperature seemed to drop, and the archers’ hands and feet began to tremble.

“Hmph! Still trying to split your forces? That is just seeking your own death!” Wu Song sneered, ordering his sixty steam chariots to split into two groups and slaughter the Chu forces on both flanks.

The Chu shield-spheres were dense and sturdy, such that even horse-drawn chariots could not shatter them in one hit. However, these formations could not withstand a swipe from a mechanical tiger’s tail, nor could they survive being crushed by a Sea Spider.

“No! No!” Watching his armored soldiers being sliced in two, Zhu Ying could no longer hold back. *Giddy-up! Giddy-up!* Without another word, Zhu Ying spurred his horse and retreated, followed closely by his personal guard and messengers.

The Black Tigers and Sea Spiders easily leapt several meters into the air, landing heavily upon the halberdiers. “Raise your halberds! Raise them!” the small commanders shrieked. The panicked halberdiers reflexively lifted their weapons, but human strength could never hold back machines. With a thunderous crash, groups of halberdiers were crushed to the ground; fortunately, the Black Tigers showed mercy and did not press their underbellies down upon them.

*Boom... boom...* The giants had not yet arrived, but the ground was already trembling.

“Run! Run for your lives!”
“Hurry! We can’t stop them!”

Discarding their halberds, the fleeing Chu soldiers didn’t forget to shout warnings to their comrades.

“Damn it, we’ve lost!” After one glance, Zhu Ying officially abandoned the main army. As he fled, the archers immediately followed suit, and the ten thousand shield-swordsmen quickly joined them. The halberdiers who had turned to run were left stunned: “Damn! They’ve all run away!”

“Quick! Run!” With the thundering roar behind them, the Chu soldiers fled in even greater disarray. The Dragon-Tiger cavalry was fast enough to evade the blockade of the steam chariots, but the infantry behind Xiang Yan were not so fortunate. Although the horse-drawn chariots had two horses each, they were not fast, and the hundreds of charging vehicles were intercepted by thirty steam chariots.

“Forget it! Let us go as well!” Seeing the steam chariots open fire, the Black-Finger Great Leader had no heart left to watch. “Yes, Great Leader!”

*Boom... boom...* The explosions echoed behind him, but Xiang Yan dared not look back. He knew they were defeated; there was no hope of victory for the Chu army in this battle. Watching the cavalry charge away, Wu Yangjing felt a sense of regret. The empire’s main force was its cavalry, but crossing the sea was difficult, and the only ten thousand warhorses were currently resting and could not possibly be deployed.