knife

Chapter 817 The eve of the decisive battle
When all conceivable methods have been tried, yet nothing can be changed and events continue to proceed as before, then the only option left is to concentrate all resources in the hope of defying fate in the final battle.

In fact, Chang Lei has another path to take.

That meant abandoning his infantry and leaving with only his cavalry.

Chang Lei could have left before Jiang Qian completed her final encirclement.

But leaving means utter failure.

Not only in military terms, but also in political terms.

"There's no need to talk about retreating!" Chang Lei waved his hand, interrupting Kou Wenhai.

At a meeting of senior generals, Kou Wenhai made this suggestion in front of everyone, seemingly showing his loyalty and that everything he did was for Chang Lei's benefit.

But everyone knows perfectly well what's hidden inside.

Chang Lei was sent to Dongdu instead of being taken to the north because of problems within the Chang family. Now that things have come to this point, Chang Lei does indeed have a way out compared to Kou Wenhai.

Kou Wenhai had no way out. The Kou family was Li Dachui's mortal enemy, and recently, it was finally revealed that Li Dachui was responsible for Kou Zhong's death. This led the Kou family to have no choice but to go down a dark path.

If Chang Lei launched the Southeast War simply to save face or for his future status, Kou Wenhai did so for the continuation and survival of his family.

If Jiang Qian wins, it's the same as Li Dachui winning, and the Kou family will be wiped out.

At this moment, Kou Wenhai is the one most worried that Chang Lei will run away or even turn against him.

"Not only can I not leave, but the young marshal can't leave either!" Chang Lei stared at Linghu Yong.

Linghu Yong gritted his teeth and nodded. Compared to Chang Lei, he was even less willing to lose.

"Actually, things aren't as bad as they seem!" Chang Lei smiled at everyone. "It seems they wanted to lure us to the outskirts of Danyang City and annihilate us in one fell swoop, but our actions thwarted their plan, so they have no choice but to fight us here!"

"We still don't know exactly how Liyang Nawei was destroyed!" Mentioning this matter, Kou Wenhai felt his hair stand on end. The fact that seventy or eighty thousand people died silently was like an invisible hand, constantly squeezing their hearts.

This has been confirmed by some prisoners captured in the past two days; the garrison of Liyang has been completely wiped out.

But the prisoners didn't know exactly how it was destroyed.

They're all dead anyway.

"No matter how they died, one thing is certain: it's unlikely that such a thing will happen again in a short time!" Chang Lei said. "If they can really do that, then who in this world can compete with them? What need do they have to mobilize troops to hold us off here? What need do they have to massively conscript troops in the north to prepare for a decisive battle with the Commander-in-Chief?"

Although they were uneasy, Chang Lei's words reassured many people to some extent.

As long as it's a conventional method, people won't have much fear.

"The troop strength of both sides is now roughly equal, and our combat power is not inferior either!" Chang Lei said sternly, "We have no way out but to fight to the death and win. There is only one path: the winner takes all, and the loser loses everything."

Inside Anfu Temple, the once-lofty bodhisattvas and Buddhas ultimately could not escape the clutches of the army. They were dragged down from their pedestals and thrown into obscure corners to make room for more personnel. This place has now become the supreme command center of the entire army.

Jiang Qian has already moved in here.

The flag flying high proudly and confidently proclaimed her existence.

If they were previously far behind Chang Lei's troops in terms of cavalry, with the arrival of the Azure Dragon Brigade, White Tiger Brigade, Jiang Yuyan's personal guards, and the inner disciples of the Five Tigers Broken Gate from Danyang City, their elite cavalry quickly increased to over five thousand, a force capable of going toe-to-toe with Chang Lei's personal guard cavalry.

The 30,000-strong central army and 10,000-strong left army formed the frontal defense line of Anfu Temple. On the western front was the vanguard of 20,000 infantry and cavalry led by Fang Xiaomao, who came from the direction of Ruyin County. On the eastern front were the Danyang troops mobilized by Zhou Zheng and Zhu Chi, and the rearguard led by Ke Wuji, totaling nearly 30,000 infantry and cavalry.

“Chang Lei has already rejected our offer to surrender!” Jiang Qian said. “His troops have limited supplies, so he will definitely fight to the death. The first battle will be the decisive one. Moreover, his main attack will be focused on my direction; if he kills me, he will win!”

"Go straight for the heart of the enemy?" Fang Xiaomao said, "That's not a wise choice. We have the strongest forces on the front lines."

"This battle has nothing to do with reason, but is closely linked to courage!" Jiang Qian said with a smile. "It may seem foolish, but it is Chang Lei's best choice. So once the battle starts, the enemy will definitely take a defensive stance on the east and west sides, while Chang Lei will definitely lead the army to launch an attack on the front!"

Inside Danyang City, in stark contrast to the high tension of the previous period, the city gates were wide open, and pedestrians came and went in a steady stream, everyone with a relaxed expression on their face.

For ordinary people, the best thing is that there is no more war.

The security in Danyang City was so lax that it was unbelievable. Yan Su walked along the outer city all the way to the vicinity of the imperial city before he saw a few soldiers standing sparsely on the city wall.

They merely glanced at the serious approach before turning away, seemingly engaged in some unspeakable discussion.

Yan Su felt that if he could organize a group of men now, he could easily storm into the city and capture the emperor of Chu alive.

But what good does that do?

The reason no one was paying attention here was because everyone knew that the emperor of Great Chu had already begun his countdown, and the true ruler of Chu was currently confronting General Chang at Anfu Temple.

If I were to kill this emperor, it would be doing a great service and would save Jiang Qian a lot of trouble.

Yan Su really didn't have much confidence in this decisive battle.

Whether it was Chang Lei or himself, in the end, they all suffered from their insatiable greed.

It now seems that the best outcome would be to stop after taking over the southeastern prefectures, consolidate the territory gained, and at the same time strongly support the anti-Li Dachui Jiang Qian forces in the Chu interior. Judging from the reactions of various parties in Chu, they were completely unprepared for Chang Lei's sudden military action.

Unfortunately, there's no going back in life. The previous success made Chang Lei think he could further expand his gains, especially with the help of Na Wei, who could swallow Jiang Qian whole. No one could resist such a temptation!
He lowered his head solemnly, looking somewhat pained.

He didn't believe Chang Lei could win the final battle at Anfu Temple.

If this battle is lost, everything will return to square one. No, the situation will be even worse, because Jiang Qian has purged the opposing forces in the south and also eliminated the last remaining force of the Linghu Group in Dongdu.

The Jiangqian Group's move from Nanyang to attack Dongdu, and subsequently threaten Chang'an, is already a foreseeable future.

(End of this chapter)