knife

Chapter 779 War

Xiang Zhuang reined in his horse and looked at the towering Cuiping Mountain not far away.

Beyond it, Danyang City comes into view.

finally come back!
When he received Xiong Yi's secret letter, he could hardly believe his eyes.

As the saying goes, experience is the best teacher. It was truly unexpected that Xiong Yi could quietly gather such a powerful army right under the noses of the Southwest Wolf Soldiers, and in one night, completely uproot the forces that Wei had left in Danyang City and regain control of the city.

Na Wei is currently engaged in a fierce battle with Jiang Qian in Liyang County, but what can he do?

Would you dare abandon Liyang County and return to Danyang at this time?
If he really dares to do that, then Jiang Qian and Kang Zhen will definitely be able to take advantage of him when he retreats.

He had no choice but to remain trapped in Liyang County. He even had to conceal the fact that Gan Ba ​​and Shen Wu were no longer there, and dared not tell his subordinates, because if he did, tens of thousands of wolf soldiers would surely collapse.

He even had to beg Danyang City not to cut off his food supply. Of course, Danyang wouldn't cut off the supply, as long as Na Wei could hold out in Liyang County.

However, it is essential to clearly distinguish the primary and secondary roles of both sides.

Everything must get back on track.

That means the Southwest Wolf Soldiers must be used as expendable resources, fighting to the death with the enemy on the front lines. On this basis, the imperial court will not hesitate to give Na Wei higher honors and titles. Didn't he give himself the title of regent? No problem, let him continue to be one.

With all the wolf soldiers in the southwest dead, the policy of replacing native chieftains with centrally appointed officials in the southwest can naturally be implemented smoothly.

As for Jiang Qian's counterattack, it is naturally impossible for the Chu Kingdom under Na Wei's rule to gather more strength. However, after Xiong Yi and I take power, we should be able to mobilize more people to unite against Jiang Qian to the greatest extent possible. The situation will only be better than it is now, not worse.

This should be the fundamental reason why Xiong Yi initiated this matter.

The ability to wipe out Gan Ba's thousands of southwestern wolf soldiers overnight and to embark on the journey to the front lines to kill Jiang Qian in the shortest possible time was exactly what Xiong Yi had mentioned to him in his letter.

Xiong Yi hoped to reach Danyang as soon as possible to reorganize the army and expand it further to prepare for the upcoming battles.

Although the Great Chu is currently riddled with problems, as long as it can be brought back on track, everything will be alright.

Thinking it over carefully, Chen Yan had maintained contact with him and repeatedly expressed his commitment that he would absolutely obey the court's orders as long as he could return to Danyang and regain power. Meanwhile, Shang Rong, Chen Zhen, and Qian, far away in the southwest, were undoubtedly taking advantage of Na Wei's absence to undermine him and had already organized their own army. Even in the most difficult times, he had never given up supporting them.

Even the Zhu brothers, who had always been his enemies, sent people to express their willingness to cooperate as soon as they heard that Danyang had been regained control by Xiong Yi.

These people alone could form an army of tens of thousands, and their strength would be considerable.

Everything can be done again.

An old horse knows the way, and with the sound of hooves, Xiang Zhuang let the horse go its own way, while he conceived his next policy program in his mind.

Xiong Yi is getting old, and ultimately, he will have to shoulder the burden of the Chu Kingdom.

The sharp whistling of the arrow shattered Xiang Zhuang's illusions. He looked up sharply ahead, his expression changing drastically.

At the edge of the field of vision, there used to be a vast, empty wilderness, but now, suddenly, countless wooden fences have risen from the ground. They are only about one and a half people tall, with sharp upper parts and triangular lower parts. Once pulled up and spread out, they stand firmly on the ground.

Of course, what was truly terrifying wasn't the wooden fences themselves, but rather the dense array of powerful crossbows behind them, the rows of fully armed soldiers standing in neat formation behind the fences, spears in hand, and the archers behind the pikemen. Xiang Zhuang's smile vanished. Looking to his left, he saw rows of paddy fields. It was spring planting season; although the rice seedlings hadn't been planted yet, the fields were already irrigated and harrowed—a death trap for cavalry!
To the right was a gentle hillside, but now a flag had been planted there, and behind the flag, cavalrymen were emerging from behind the hill.

The road ahead is blocked.

The rapid hoofbeats of warhorses came from behind him. Xiang Zhuang took a deep breath; he knew there was absolutely no good news to be had.

"General Xiang, two cavalry units have appeared behind us, each with about a thousand men!" The messenger's face was drained of color.

Xiang Zhuang lowered his head, then suddenly raised it again. At that moment, a person suddenly appeared in front of the fence.

He knew this person.

Jiangchong, Jiangling Jiangchong.

"Xiang Zhuang, there is no way forward. Dismount and surrender, and you may save your life!" Jiang Chong looked at Xiang Zhuang and said coldly, "The men behind you are your good brothers. Don't let them die here in vain!"

"Why?" Xiang Zhuang looked at Jiang Chong: "Why did Lord Xiong lie to me?"

“It’s very simple!” Jiang Chong said, “Because he has no other choice. You are Xiong Gong’s pledge to preserve the royal bloodline so that it can continue to exist. Otherwise, the Xiong family will have no place to stand in the future! Xiang Zhuang, the Chu state is doomed. If you surrender now, you can still leave the Xiang family with people to burn paper money for at their graves in the future. Otherwise, you should know what the consequences will be!”

"So that's how it is!" Xiang Zhuang murmured, "Jiang Chong, you've all surrendered to Li Dachui, haven't you?"

He looked up at the group of people on the hillside, dressed in uniform samurai attire and carrying identical steel swords, and saw Wang Li leading the way.

"And Hu Tianying, Zhou Zheng, haven't you both betrayed the Great Chu?"

"Xiang Zhuang, no one wants to fight anymore. Everyone hopes that the strife in the world will end soon!" Jiang Chong said, "Everyone hopes to live a peaceful life. Look at the various places in Yuezhou. How peaceful and stable everyone's lives were before. But since you went there, how have they been doing? How many old people have lost their sons, how many wives have lost their husbands, and how many children have lost their fathers!"

"Shut up!" Xiang Zhuang drew his sword and roared, "Jiang Chong, you dare to talk to me about these things? You're only after your own family's wealth and glory. When has your Jiang family ever considered the world or the people?"

Jiang Chong smiled coldly: "Xiang Zhuang, I kindly advised you, but you responded with harsh words. Then I have nothing more to say. I'll just ask you one question: if you don't surrender, do you intend to lead your men to their deaths? Can you really bear to let them fight a battle they are certain to die in?"

Xiang Zhuang looked up at the sky, two lines of tears silently streaming down his face. He turned his horse around to face the three thousand men who had followed him all the way.

"Fight, or surrender?" he asked loudly.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Three thousand soldiers drew their swords in unison and roared fiercely.

Xiang Zhuang abruptly turned his horse around, looked at Jiang Chong, pointed his long sword forward, and shouted sharply, "Fight!"

Jiang Chong chuckled, put his hands behind his back, and coldly watched the thousands of troops ahead.

With shouts and thunderous hooves, the cavalry charged forward without hesitation. Crossbows whistled, and arrows flew like locusts from behind Jiang Chong, passing him and landing among the cavalry.

To do something knowing it's impossible
Even in defeat, one can still be a hero.

(End of this chapter)