Chapter 1138 – Battle of Manila
After starting the quest, Ouyang Shuo took a look at the specific details of Yu the Great Nine Cauldron's quest.
Quest Name: Yu the Great Nine Cauldrons (S rank)
Quest Background: Yu the Great crafted nine cauldrons. These cauldrons are the symbol of absolute power and the authority of the king, and it shows the prosperity of a dynasty. It is both the country protecting treasure and the most important rite tool in a dynasty.
Quest Requirement: The nine cauldrons are scattered around the nine imperial cities and are in the hands of the royal family of each dynasty. You need to find them all one by one and gather them in the Capital City and undergo the Son of God ceremony.
Quest Reward: The nine cauldrons will become the country upgrading treasure and can be used to become an emperor dynasty.
When he saw the details of the quest, Ouyang Shuo's brows furrowed tight.
The quest was not just a normal level of difficulty. Apart from the cauldron in Dali, which could be obtained without difficulty, the other eight cauldrons were going to be a huge problem.
Ouyang Shuo reaching the Son of God Rank and Great Xia obtaining absolute authority in China meant that the eight dynasties needed to send gifts over to Great Xia. However, this did not mean that Great Xia truly suppressed them and ruled the land.
Through these series of changes, Ouyang Shuo understood that Great Xia's position of absolute authority was similar to Zhou Tianzi's in history. It only occupied a meaning in name and was the 'collective master'.
Qin, Han, Shu Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing were like the states during the Warring States Period. In name, they respected Zhou Tianzi as the authority, but in the dark, strength spoke louder.
Whoever was stronger, whoever had more power.
Them viewing Great Xia as the authority did not mean that they would hand over the cauldrons.
The cauldrons were the rite tool of the dynasty and was not something that could be given so easily. Giving the cauldron would also mean that the dynasty had truly bowed its head to Great Xia and regarded Great Xia as its master.
"Difficult!"
Ouyang Shuo did not expect that Gaia would actually give him such a problem. With the personalities of Qin Shihuang, Hanwu Emperor, Tang and Song, which one of them was willing to yield to others?
None!
The moment the Yu the Great Nine Cauldrons mission was released, it would definitely push their friendly relationship to an awkward level.
Luckily, the quest did not have a time restriction, so Ouyang Shuo could relax and turn his eyes toward the Southeast Asia battlefield first. He did not forget that the Battle of Luzon was still far from over.
...
11th month, 15th day, Celebes Sea.
While the Son of God Rank matter had China Region bustling, the Battle of Luzon was still underway.
Since he was not willing to let the 200 thousand troops just get trapped in Mindanao, Java Lord Uwais valiantly sent out the Badong Squadron. He ordered them to go through the Celebes Sea to fetch his forces back.
However, he did not know that his actions would make him fall right into the trap of Great Xia.
Not long after the Badong Squadron went out to sea, a combined squadron formed from the Emperor Squadron, the Yashan Squadron's three divisions, and the Indian Ocean 4th division set up a giant ambush on the ocean.
The anxious Badong Squadron ran right into the net of a hunter.
The two sides engaged in a totally uneven naval battle. The Badong Squadron, who had been crushed by the Emperor Squadron before, could not hold on anymore and fell in the vast ocean.
Badong City had lost their navy protection.
When the news spread out, not only Java Players, but even Luzon players felt chills run down their spine. Everyone knew that at this point, Great Xia had total control of the Southeast Asia region.
This was like lightning on a sunny day for the island states.
The combined patrol and defense that TWP released would have no chance of working in Southeast Asia.
Uwais was fuming. Not only did he fail to save the territory army, but he even lost the even more precious Badong Squadron.
Such an event showed that a good Lord had to maintain a clear head at all times.
...
The following Battle of Luzon was unsurprising.
11th month, 20th day, the Great Xia Guards Legion Corps sailed across the ocean and disembarked on the east coast of Luzon Island, meeting up with the Dragon Legion Corps. As for the Australian region, the Auckland Formation would temporarily take charge.
22nd day, the reserve force -the City Protection Legion Corps 1st legion - disembarked on the island where Lloilo was on. In just two days, they crushed it, announcing the total defeat of the Luzon territory army.
Along with the surrounding powers in Luzon being weeded one by one, the battle focused on the imperial city Manila.
11th month, 27th day, the Battle of Manila began.
Great Xia's participating army included the Dragon Legion Corps, Guards Legion Corps, 1st, and 5th legions of the City Protection Legion Corps. Apart from that, there were 100 thousand special guests, which were the imperial city guards that Ouyang Shuo had specially invited.
The guards chosen were from the Shu Han dynasty.
Although the Shu Han dynasty would not pose a direct threat to Great Xia, Ouyang Shuo did not want such a dynasty to exist in his borders. Destroying the Shu Han dynasty and unifying the Shu Lands had to be done.
This million strong expedition army pushed toward Manila. On the Luzon side, they did not choose to defend the city to the death. Instead, they set up five defensive lines with Manila as the center.
The two sides, one attacking and one defending, giving rise to an arduous and time-wasting tug of war.
To support of the frontline forces, merchant ships from the oceans arrived endlessly, transporting grain and resources. A shocking amount of goods were used up every day.
During this battle, they pretty much used up 70% of the grain storage prepared by the Combat Logistics Department.
Not only Yizhou Prefecture, Qiongzhou Prefecture, and Hanoi Province, but even Lingnan Province, Chuannan Province, and Yunnan Province needed to follow the plans of the Combat Logistics Department to transport grain to the frontlines.
It was also a huge problem for Luzon.
They had no way out and also did not have any reinforcements, so they had to rely on the 800 thousand guards to fight to the death with Great Xia.
Under the flames of war, Luzon Island became a piece of ruins. Civilians hid in the mountains to hide away from the cruelty of battle. Every city that Great Xia took down was basically 90% empty.
Even the nearby villages were empty.
As the flames of war spread, there was no safe places on the island.
...
12th month, 10th day, Manila.
After 10 days of sieging and occupying cities, Luzon's five lines of defenses were broken one by one by the Great Xia army.
The expedition army sacrificed 100 thousand people to finally reached Manila.
The current Manila was a tragic sight. Hungry and thirsty people roamed the streets. As a result of the successive battles, the imperial city did not have any grain or resources, as they were all transported to the frontlines.
The huge granaries of the imperial city were all empty, with not a single grain left.
Since Lloilo fell, Manila's supply line was hit. Without territory grain supplies, the imperial city was not self-sufficient.
Luzon island was also a lone island, and it was unable to receive grain support from the outside.
From the start of the battle till now, the last bit of fighting spirit of Manila was used up. This city was like an old man, all dried up and on the brink.