Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved-Chapter 563: Reclaiming the Lost Land

The enemy army was almost upon us, and the Bullet Monarch surely knew.

After a brief panic, he said to his ministers,

"There is no need for alarm, the Great Yan Dynasty is not adept at naval warfare, their ships are outdated, and it’s likely that they are conscripted vessels from their own merchant convoy. Those ducks on land can’t swim, unlike our people and soldiers who are mostly skilled swimmers. Just knock them into the water, and they will pose no threat!"

"We are not like the weak king next door, we are a kingdom destined for strength, we have weapons and food seized through conquest, we are not spineless!"

His impassioned speech set the ministers’ blood boiling.

However...

They had underestimated the Great Yan’s military.

When they saw the young Emperor Jun Yuyan leading at the front, the dense fleet of ships bristling with cannons and arms, the legs of the Bullet Great General at the forefront turned to jelly.

He urgently reported to the Monarch, who immediately fell to his knees, ordering someone to negotiate.

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous!"

Not long after, the negotiating minister came back pale as a ghost.

Upon hearing that Great Yan demanded that all the citizens of Bullet, including the Royal Family, be banished from their land, with the territory reverting to Great Yan, and also demanded the handover of all their wealth, the ministers broke out in curses.

"Monarch, Great Yan is determined to drive us to our deaths!"

"How have we offended the Emperor of Great Yan with our daily tributes!"

"This is obliteration! Total obliteration!"

Could this be tolerated?

Not a single person could tolerate it!

Great Yan stood firm, leaving them no avenue for survival.

The Monarch didn’t understand and couldn’t believe it, "The Great Yan Emperor personally leading a naval battle... what has happened to enrage him so!"

The trembling minister replied, "It’s the Eldest Prince, Your Highness, he led a fleet and slaughtered Great Yan’s officials and hundreds of their people! This has sparked outrage throughout Great Yan, and now they are bent on punishing Bullet! The Eldest Prince is now in their hands!"

The face of the Bullet Monarch spasmed, nearly tumbling from his chair.

What? His eldest son had caused this disaster?

His favorite was his eldest son, born to him by a much-loved concubine before he became Monarch, a woman who was considered someone else’s wife, and was more than a decade his senior. She had passed away only two years prior from illness, and had it not been for her lowly birth, their son would have been Crown Prince long ago.

Since the Eldest Prince could not be Crown Prince, he gave him the best compensation, allowed him free rein, not anticipating this massive calamity!

"How is the Eldest Prince now?" the Bullet Monarch asked shakily.

"The Eldest Prince has confessed, but his hands and feet are broken. The Great Yan Emperor says if we surrender and leave our lands, he will return the Eldest Prince to us."

"No! No way!"

"Absolutely not! Without our land, how can there be a Royal Family! Moreover, we have nearly ten million citizens. Where do we have enough ships to move them? Even if we move, where to? Where is there a place that can accommodate so many of us?"

"Yes, if we fight to the death we might have a chance to survive. But if we surrender, we’ll have nothing left!"

The Bullet Monarch clearly understood this as well.

But his eldest son’s life was at stake too.

Just then, a rumbling sound like thunder came from afar.

"Monarch, Great Yan has started their attack!"

They were not giving Bullet time to think, they were intent on breaking through immediately.

"Defense! Man the defenses! Quickly conscript strong men and block off the coast! We must not let the Great Yan soldiers kill their way up here!"

Under the relentless bombardment of fire-thunder cannons, everyone from the Bullet Royal Family to the common citizens was terrified and panic-stricken.

To protect their homeland, the Monarch had no choice but to keep conscripting strong men, even if their weapons were no match for those of Great Yan and their military strength was inferior. They had to rely on a strategy of overwhelming numbers to worn Great Yan down.

At sea, fresh water was the biggest issue and food was also definitely insufficient. As long as they held out, Bullet might not necessarily lose.

The Bullet Royal Family also moved to a safer location further away from the coast.

But who would have known that countless armies from the neighboring nation would also cross the sea and attack Bullet from both sides?

Then they discovered that those were actually Great Yan’s armies!

The neighboring country had become a supply base for Great Yan!

In other words, Great Yan was not lacking in fresh water or food supplies at all!

The Bullet Royal Family and their elites completely fell apart.

The ancestors of the Eldest Prince had been cursed countless times, and the old ministers regretted their past decisions deeply.

If only they had stopped the Monarch’s bizarre love affair back then, the Eldest Prince would not have been born, and Bullet would not be facing the imminent threat of annihilation it was facing now!

Lying in a dark and gloomy ship cabin, barely hanging on to life, the Bullet Eldest Prince was still unaware that he would forever be known in history as the "Scourge of the Nation," the spark that led Bullet to its complete destruction, the turning point in history.

He wailed in pain, hoping his father the King would win the war and rescue him.

His wish was destined to be unfulfilled.

He would never know that he indeed was a spark, but even without him, one day, Great Yan would have taken action all the same to solve the "neighbouring tumor" to ensure peace for future generations.

After half a month of warfare, the forces of Great Yan were unstoppable, slaughtering their way onto Bullet’s territory.

As was the old rule, those who surrendered were spared; those who resisted were killed.

Three months later, the war was essentially over.

Batch after batch of Bullet citizens were expelled, only allowed to take food and water with them. They could go wherever they wanted, as long as they never appeared on Great Yan’s territory and its surroundings.

The vassal states of Great Yan would not accept these refugees.

The Bullet Royal Family and its elites also had the chance to leave, but little did they know that Emperor Jun Yuyan of Great Yan had issued orders to kill them without mercy.

The Bullet Monarch could never understand how things had come to this point!

And he didn’t need to understand anymore.

There was an old saying in Great Yan, "To cut the grass without removing the roots is to allow it to grow again with the spring breeze."

So even if it meant accruing blood on his hands, Jun Yuyan had to remove roots to prevent future troubles for his people.

It was fine to let go of the common people, the elderly, women, and children; with no gold or silver, their survival at sea left to fate. Those who lived were lucky. It was impossible for Great Yan to eradicate them all – that would have been too inhumane.

Climbing the peaks of the Bullet territory, Jun Yuyan looked down upon the land with disdain.

"If not for future considerations, such a place, even given to me, I would not want. Truly, it is a Bullet State."

Fu Heng, Su Kai, and the others standing behind him all laughed.

Yes, many years ago, Bullet had already submitted to them. If the emperors back then had really wanted to take over, they could have done so easily. It was nothing but contempt for such a small state that had stopped them.

But no one could have foreseen that after all those years, this tiny state would become such a vile and utterly despicable neighbor.

From now on, on the sand table of Great Yan’s territory, there would be an extra position marked, with the flag of Great Yan planted in it.

The ambitions of those behind Jun Yuyan, like Su Kai, started to grow even greater.

"Your Majesty, we shall reclaim all the lands we have lost!"