knife

Chapter 327 Confrontation
Li Dachui and Wu De sat in front of the sand table model of Jianmen Pass.

Judging from the terrain of Jianmen alone, it was a rather hopeless situation for the attackers.

Dajian Mountain and Xiaojian Mountain face each other, forming two passages, the East Pass and the West Pass. The Dajian Creek in Xiling is about a hundred feet long and only three to five feet wide. The Jinniu Road passes through here and leads directly to Chengdu.

Jianmen Pass was built in the western pass, effectively blocking this vital transportation route.

The towering mountains and steep slopes of up to 40 degrees on both sides are enough to deter any attacker.

An inexhaustible supply of stones is the best weapon for defending the pass. If all else fails, a dam can be built upstream to store water and flood the attackers downstream.

The eastern pass was even more treacherous and difficult to traverse, unsuitable for large-scale troop movements. The Shu army built some watchtowers and sentry posts here for warning purposes.

There is a way to bypass Jianmen Pass. Dozens of miles to the west is Xiaojianmen, where the terrain is almost a replica of that of Dajian Mountain. The Shu army has moved the defensive system of Dajian Mountain here, only on a smaller scale.

Between the Great Sword Gate and the Small Sword Gate, the Shu army constructed the Zhu Family Village, Liang Family Village, Thunder Village, and Chicken Heart Village, forming a defensive system that stretched for dozens of miles.

The Shu army stationed here numbered over 20,000.

It's no exaggeration to describe it as impregnable.

Wu De's army, which was said to number 50,000, actually consisted of only a few thousand inspectors and soldiers. The rest were mostly troops stationed around Chang'an and artisans from the General Works Camp that Zhang Songlin had built up over the years. They were good at making up numbers, but sending them to attack the treacherous Jianmen Pass was just a pipe dream.

So Li Dachui pointed to another location.

"I will lead three thousand elite soldiers in a surprise attack on Yinping, then proceed along the narrow paths of Yinping, passing through Fucheng and Mianzhu, and then head straight for Chengdu!"

Wu De's army, armed and ready, charged straight towards Jianmen Pass with overwhelming force. The Shu army also actively responded. In addition to the more than 20,000 troops already stationed at Jianmen Pass, Prince Ji, Li Shen, and the Tang clan of Shu, under the banner of protecting the borders and defending Shu, recruited a large number of troops and marched towards Jianmen Pass.

"Intelligence from Shu indicates that Li Shen's first batch of recruits reached 30,000. If they all march to Jianmen Pass, the garrison at Jianmen Pass will number as many as 50,000. Can they still be considered a garrison?" Wu De laughed and said, "Sima Zhao's intentions are obvious to everyone."

“Then naturally we should defeat you first, and then march on Chang’an.” Li Dachui said, “Prince Ji has been holed up in Shu for decades. It seems that he is the only one left in his generation of the Li family. Of course he has the right to go to Chang’an and ask questions!”

Upon hearing this, Fang Xiaomao put down the knife she was sharpening and looked up at Wu De, saying, "In that case, I'm afraid you'll have to be careful after we leave. The Jianmen garrison is so strong, they certainly won't just hold out; they'll take the initiative to attack. Can you hold them off then?"

"The terrain here is so treacherous, it's not just advantageous to them, it's also very convenient for me to hold a place!" Wu De said, "We can set up camp here, attract their attention, and wait patiently for good news from you, Protector-General. After you break through Fucheng and Mianzhu, I'd like to see whether the garrison at Jianmen Pass will turn back to block you, or continue to entangle with me here!"

"Have Hong Zhan and Yi Ming arrived yet?" Li Dachui asked.

"Wei Xiang said that these two seniors will definitely be there when we arrive at Jianmen Pass!" Wu De said, "There are two Xiantian masters, Tang Yin and Liao Ran, in Shu. We naturally have to be there too, otherwise we'd be courting death!"

"Are there any other innate masters in Sichuan?" Fang Xiaomao asked.

"General Fang, do you think it's so easy to become a master of the Innate Realm?" Wu De shook his head and said, "In all these years outside the pass, there has only been one old city lord, Zhou. Only in the last two years have Linghu Ye and Chang Jian appeared. According to the intelligence we have gathered from various sources in Shu, there are only two people, Tang Yin and Liao Ran. Moreover, it is said that Tang Yin has entered a period of decline because he is too old and cannot break through. Some people even believe that a martial arts master at the peak of the Ninth Rank can fight him."

"These two have been lured to Jianmen Pass, leaving the other side vulnerable. With you leading the team, young master, haha, we'll surely sweep through with unstoppable momentum!" Fang Xiaomao happily wiped his knife again.

"There is a team of ours hidden in Fengchi Mountain near Jiangyou Pass. It is a team that our Black Ice Guard has trained for many years, with more than 500 elite soldiers. But when fully mobilized, it can gather about 2,000 men. After arriving in Chengdu, another team of ours, which the Shu army calls the Meishan Bandits, is the main force of our Black Ice Guard, with more than 2,000 men. They will approach Chengdu from another direction as you approach Chengdu, as a backup," Wu De said.

“Zhang Songlin’s operations in Shu have been quite effective. By then, the main force of the Shu army will be drawn to the vicinity of Jianmen, leaving the interior vulnerable. As long as we can take Chengdu Prefecture, capture Prince Ji and the main direct descendants of the Tang family, and then have Zhang Songlin and others come forward to rally the people’s hearts, the war should be resolved soon!” Li Dachui said with satisfaction, “This time, we are conducting a decapitation strike. What we need to do is make the first battle the decisive battle and decide the fate of the world in one battle.”

Taking over Shu swiftly and thoroughly would not only control the problems in this land of plenty, but also use Shu as a base to give the Wei clan more confidence to fight against Linghu Ye and others in Chang'an. In the process, the Wei clan would be continuously weakened, while Li Dachui, Wu De and others could gradually erode the opponent's power. When the Wei clan could no longer hold on and had to retreat to Shu, that would be the time to completely swallow up the opponent.

Only at this point did Li Dachui have the resources to compete with other powerful figures in Guanzhong. Even if he couldn't go all out due to other factors outside the pass, his strength inside the pass could still rival other forces, or at the very least maintain a balance, waiting for the mighty army from outside the pass to enter.

Tang Xiaofeng stood atop the Jianmen Pass city wall, with Tang Yin, the Tang family's patriarch and a master of the Innate Realm, seated on a large chair beside him. As a key member of the next generation of the Tang family, Tang Xiaofeng's peak Ninth Rank martial arts cultivation was enough to make him the envy of the Shu region.

Over the past century, the Tang family's power has grown by leaps and bounds. Families that were once on par with them in Sichuan were defeated and annexed in a series of struggles after Tang Yin emerged, ultimately leading to the Tang family's dominance in Sichuan.

No matter how powerful they are, their influence is confined to Sichuan. Once the Tang family tries to leave Sichuan, they will be attacked by powerful external forces, suffering repeated defeats.

It wasn't until Prince Ji entered Shu that the two sides reached an agreement.

At that time, the Chang'an Incident occurred, the Crown Prince's faction was defeated and the Emperor was seriously ill. In order to stabilize the court, the court sent all the princes, including Prince Ji, to other places to take charge, leaving only Li Anmin in Chang'an.

Although Shu was rich, in the eyes of the people of Chang'an, it was still a remote and insignificant place. Apart from contributing some wealth to the central government, it was nothing special.

Therefore, the most senior Prince Ji was sent to Shu, which was also to prevent Prince Ji from causing trouble once the emperor died, and Li Anmin would not be able to control him.

This provocation enraged the originally unambitious Prince Ji. "Since you treat me like this, then don't blame me for being impolite."

Prince Ji harbored ambitions to conquer the world, and the Tang family wanted to expand beyond Sichuan and become a top family like the Wei family of Chang'an, the Kou family of Pengcheng, and the Yang family of Hongnong, rather than being confined to the mere region of Sichuan.

However, the emperor died and Li Anmin ascended the throne. Wei Zhengdao and Kou Zhong were skillful and quickly stabilized the situation.

This forced Prince Ji and the Tang family to lie low again, waiting for an opportunity.

Historically, even when the country was in chaos, nothing ever came of it in Shu (Sichuan), let alone when the country was basically stable, in which case there was even less chance of success.

Only by accumulating strength and patiently waiting for the right opportunity can we succeed.

This wait lasted for nearly thirty years.

The world finally descended into chaos.

The opportunity is here.

As for the fact that nothing had ever been accomplished in Shu (Sichuan) throughout history, Ji Wang and the Tang family considered it completely unreliable. They were extremely confident individuals who believed that records were meant to be broken and that history was created by people; just because others couldn't do it didn't mean they couldn't.

"This is our best chance!" Tang Yin looked down at the lush mountains before him. "I am already eighty years old this year, and I can clearly feel my limits approaching. My physical decline is unstoppable. If I can lead the Tang Clan to take this crucial step before my time comes, I will be content!"

“Father, didn’t you say that advancement is a matter of chance, or that one day you will be able to cross the insurmountable barrier and open up a vast world?” Tang Xiaofeng said.

Tang Yin smiled and shook his head: "It's always good to have hope, but don't take it too seriously. Otherwise, disappointment will consume you and make you move faster. Are you confident in this battle?"

Tang Xiaofeng sneered: "Hong Zhan and Yi Ming, these two innate masters, are being held back by Father and Daoist Liaoran. What's left is just soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals. Wu De is a guy who specializes in eavesdropping and digging into people's privacy. Whether he's doing crooked tricks or just a skilled fighter, in a battle between two armies, it's all open and honest. I don't take him seriously!"

"This guy has some skills!" Tang Yin said. "Just because someone comes from the Black Ice Guard doesn't mean they can't fight. Zhang Quanyi is quite capable, isn't he?"

"Father, rest assured!" Tang Xiaofeng scoffed. "A mere 20,000 men think they can attack Jianmen Pass? That's wishful thinking. Besides those madmen like the Black Ice Guard, who dares to be so confident? Let them fight first, wear down their morale, and then annihilate them in one fell swoop. Next, the Shu army will launch an attack, marching out of Jianmen Pass, through Jinniu Road, taking Hanzhong, and heading straight for Chang'an. Then we'll compete with Linghu Ye and see who can take Chang'an first. We have the Prince Ji card, but he doesn't."

Tang Yin smiled and nodded, looking at the vast mountains, then suddenly stood up: "An old friend has arrived, I'll go see him."

Tang Xiaofeng was slightly taken aback, but Tang Yin had already risen gracefully, his white beard and hair fluttering, like an immortal, and drifted into the distance.

(End of this chapter)