Chapter 137: Treachery (2)

"What do you want to do with the bodies, your Majesty?" A Gu soldier asked his King. Gu Tian took a moment to glance at the corpses that were being piled up, studying their faces, their blood-soaked uniforms and their sustained wounds.

"Burn the bodies, we will send Larys Cassell's head back to his nephew. Hopefully, this time he will understand what type of relationship I want to have with them," King replied uninterestedly. 

The soldiers gave an enthusiastic bow and saw to the King's orders. With the carnage concluding, Crown Prince Gu Lintian, approached his father to give him an update. "Father, I have dispatched Brother Yichen to take care of the remaining Luxenberg soldiers. Most likely the poisoned food will have killed them all, but it is better to be safe than sorry."

King Gu Tian grinned at this news and nodded his head. "Excellent! Send a message to your brother in Guangdong. He has permission to finally sink the Luxenberg ships. Emphasize that failure is not an option." Gu Lintian gave a firm nod and bowed before rushing off to send that message via carrier pigeon.

In the aftermath of the delegation's murder, Prince Gu Yichen, the second Prince of Gu and a general in the Gu Army was tasked with dealing with the remaining Luxenberg soldiers. He shared many similarities with his brothers, the only noticeable difference was that he a massive scar across the bridge of his nose.

The plan was to have the innkeeper poison the soldier's meals so that there would be no need for a messy bloodbath, however, sending the second Prince of Gu and his men was just a precautionary measure.

Just as planned, when Prince Gu Yichen and his men arrived, they were met with the poisoned corpses of 80 Royal Guard soldiers from the Kingdom of Luxenberg. There had been no need for a single shot to be fired. Their enemy was wiped out from a poisoned lunch.

"Looks like we were not needed after all men. Since we are here, let us dispose of these corpses with the ones back at the palace," Prince Yichen said with an indifferent tone. At his command, the soldiers began to start loading corpses onto their wagons. They would join their slain comrades at the palace to be burned.

Everything was going as King Gu Tian had hoped and within a couple of days, a carrier pigeon arrived for Prince Gu San-Tong in Guangdong. His delight was evident when he received his orders. 

That night he began to order any cannons in the city to be pushed to the harbour, while his ships would move into position under the cover of darkness. He planned to carry out a similar strategy that he used against Commodore Moreau's fleet.

Grand Admiral Nelson was on the upper deck with a few of his sailors playing dice when he began to notice torches moving in droves on the docks. He grabbed his spyglass to observe what antics were going on at the docks.

Through his spyglass, Grand Admiral Nelson could see Gu soldiers pushing cannons to line the docks. The sight of this was alarming, it was evident that they planned to ambush the Luxenberg fleet while they were unaware of what was happening.

"Sailors. One of you wake up the men. Tell them to ready the guns and prepare to sail." Grand Admiral Nelson said while continuing to give out orders. He pointed at one of the other sailors gathered and said, "Get any men you can find on the main deck and have them help you raise the anchor."

The final sailor left in the group was ordered to flag down the other ships and signal that an attack was imminent, requiring them to retreat. "Be quick about it men, otherwise we shall all meet a watery grave," Grand Admiral Nelson stated.

With the orders given, the sailors rushed into action. A group of sailors on the main deck frantically rushed to raise the anchor, so the ship would be able to move. Dozens of awoken sailors began to rush out from their hammocks, readying the guns and unravelling the sails.

The other ships in the Luxenberg fleet were quickly alerted to what was going on and began doing the same things. Grand Admiral Nelson then peered through his spyglass once more to assess the situation further. 

Dozens of cannons could be seen being set up along the docks, while the 15 ships of the Gu fleet remained on either side of their current position. From what the Grand Admiral could see, the Gu sailors were also beginning to prepare their cannons.

Turning to his First Mate, Grand Admiral Nelson asked, "Are the gun ready?" The first mate nodded firmly. All 140 guns were ready to be loaded and fired, however, due to the ship's current positioning they would only end up hitting their own ships.

"All sailors! Prepare to depart at once! Quartermaster! Ready About!" Grand Admiral Nelson barked. There was no mucking around by the crew. They were precise in their action, albeit, they were quite noticeable.

One of the Gu sailors was quick to notice, and promptly informed Prince Gu San-Tong in his quarters about it. "My Prince, the Luxenberg ships have begun frantically preparing to set sail. I believe our impending attack has been discovered."

Prince Gu San-Tong was livid at this revelation. His forces were almost ready to attack, but the fact that they had already been discovered was troubling. King Gu Tian was explicit that failure was not an option.

"Are our cannons ready to fire?" Prince Gu San-Tong said, holding back his frustration. The soldier shook his head and said they would need a few minutes to load the cannons. Gu San-Tong was clearly agitated, his face was scrunched up and his fake smile was twitching.

Upset with the current situation, Prince Gu San-Tong raced out of his quarters up onto the upper deck and grabbed out his spyglass. He could see Grand Admiral Nelson dishing out orders while the other ships in the Luxenberg fleet followed suit. He could also see that his cannons back at the docks were not even ready to fire yet.

"Fucking imbeciles, they must have given us away," Gu San-Tong muttered. It was now a race to see who could arm themselves first.