CHAPTER 825: CHAPTER 502: AMBUSHING PRINCE HENG

From the moment the artillery of the Divine Mechanism Camp covered the battlefield, the outcome of this battle was no longer in doubt.

On the Observation Tower, Prince Heng’s face was ashen, his hands gripping the railing before him tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

He stared hard at the front, and the strategists and civil servants around him dared not breathe loudly; on their faces, there was no more confidence or arrogance.

Only heart-pounding fear, disbelief, and... terror!

No one had anticipated the Qingzhou Army would collapse so quickly. When the artillery covered the battlefield and the chariots began to fall, the smiles on their faces vanished.

As the "Young Master" started the charge, with high morale, slaughtering the nearly collapsed Qingzhou rebel army, the game had reached its "closing" stage.

"Prince!" Everyone only saw Prince Heng’s body stagger awkwardly, nearly falling, causing them to be greatly alarmed.

But soon, Prince Heng stood firm again, his face as pale as gold leaf.

Defeated! Defeated!

Even though Ning Xianzong was still struggling below, the elite of the Qingzhou rebel army still had the strength to fight, but in Prince Heng’s eyes, with just this battle, his ambition to storm into the Capital and ascend to the throne was completely shattered.

"Your Highness, the Thousand-mile tube has been obtained!"

At this moment, a follower, panting heavily, rushed up to the Observation Tower and handed over a "telescope" in his hand.

Prince Heng closed his eyes, took a deep breath, puffed his chest, and then exhaled deeply, trying his best to regain a composed demeanor.

Calmly, he reached out, took the exquisitely crafted and expensive telescope, raised it, placing one end on his right eye, and aimed the other end at the battlefield.

Then, the previously blurred scene suddenly filled his eyes. He saw the central army, already armored and mounted, under Ning Xianzong’s urging, working together with military officers to resist.

He saw Tang Ping, in silver armor and helmet, brandishing a blade and charging into the military formation as if entering an uninhabited place.

He saw on the ground, a Tusk Beast that lay bereft of breath, with its head blasted open.

Finally, Prince Heng lifted the lens and looked towards a hill in the distance, where a group of Five Army Camp officers were also observing the battle, and...

A handsome young gentleman who had just discarded a pear core.

In the lens, Zhao Douan seemed to sense Prince Heng’s gaze; his bright eyes met his directly, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile.

Zhao Douan raised his right hand, his five fingers together, and made a gentle "throat-slitting" gesture at his throat.

"Ah—"

Prince Heng, startled, took two steps back, losing his grip on the Thousand-mile tube, which fell to the ground and rolled beneath the onlookers’ feet.

"Your Highness..." A strategist paused, hurriedly bowed obsequiously, picked up the telescope from the ground with both hands. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard a low cannon sound beside his ear.

Everyone on the Observation Tower instinctively looked up, their souls nearly leaving them as they saw a cannonball wrapped in flames flying straight towards them.

...

"What a pity, the aim was still a bit off."

On the hilltop, Zhao Douan looked disappointedly towards the rebel camp. Although the shell successfully landed in the enemy camp, its point of impact deviated from the Observation Tower by several hundred meters.

The range was too far, making precise aim difficult, and after this shot, with Prince Heng and others fleeing, the best opportunity for "bombarding the prince" was lost.

"The lack of practical experience is still evident. However, after this battle, the Divine Mechanism Camp’s mastery of the new weaponry will reach another level."

Zhao Douan sighed, then turned around with a smile, looking at the large group of Five Army Camp officers behind him:

"Commander Yuan, why aren’t any of you speaking?"

At this moment, the senior officers of the Five Army Camp, led by Yuan Feng, were all dumbfounded, staring blankly at the one-sided battlefield below, their faces filled with the word "shock."

Is this the Divine Mechanism Camp we knew? Is this the power of the new weaponry? Clearly, during last year’s drills, it was not like this at all...

The square-faced Commander stood in a daze, his mind still echoing with the roar of artillery.

And when he witnessed below the camp, after Tang Ping’s charge, the Firearms Team led by Shi Meng exiting the camp, using muskets to assist in sweeping through the Qingzhou rebels, the shock and fear reached their peak.

"Mr. Zhao... this is..." Yuan Feng’s Adam’s apple rolled down fiercely, his voice tinged with an almost imperceptible tremor.

The military officers around him shared similar expressions, looking towards Zhao Douan almost seeking confirmation.

"Indeed, this is the new weaponry of my Divine Mechanism Camp." Zhao Douan nodded with a smile, modestly saying:

"It’s our first appearance; fortunately, we did not embarrass ourselves."

More than that, it was a complete decimation!

After the initial shock, the officers were suddenly elated, not just for this victory, but because, as part of the Capital Camp, as long as there was ample weapon supply, they too could use the new weaponry.

"No wonder when Prince Jing rebelled, he went to great lengths to steal the weaponry blueprints." A senior military officer sighed, with deep apprehension in his eyes:

"If the Jiancheng Road rebels also had such weapons, I’m afraid Minister Xue wouldn’t be able to hold Linfeng."

Zhao Douan smiled without a word.

The version of the weaponry that Prince Jing stole was too outdated, not just a generational gap in weapons, but also a vast difference in understanding of the entire tactical system.

However, this wasn’t something necessary to explain to these people.

"Alright, this battle has come to an end, but it’s not time to celebrate yet. We can’t let Prince Heng escape." Zhao Douan collected his smile and began to walk down the hill:

"Commander Yuan, the task of cleaning the battlefield is yours. I will proceed to capture the prince."

To capture the prince... does he predict that Prince Heng will flee? Yuan Feng’s heart stirred, and he nodded in agreement.

As he watched Zhao Douan glide away using Qinggong, he rallied his spirits, leading the others down the hill, returning to the camp to prepare to capture the rebel prisoners and expand the victory—