Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

throat!
A gunshot!
The former general of the Imperial Guard who shouted that he was surrendering was shot in the head.

He collapsed to the ground with a thud, ending his life.

Blood instantly stained the ground red. It was unclear whether he was killed by the Japanese in the city or by a sniper from Ximentang.

Anyway,

That unlucky guy died a terrible death.

One shot to the head, and he was left without a complete corpse.

This scene served as a warning to everyone and made the garrison outside the city realize a fact.

The city gates of Ezhou were completely closed.

There was no chance of entering the city; the only chance of survival might be to surrender.

Moreover, according to newspaper reports, Simon Tang treated prisoners of war well.

Whether they were rebels of the Great Qian Dynasty, Japanese, or even Westerners, they were treated quite well after being captured by Ximen Tang.

They could usually save their lives, as long as they worked in the Simon Church's factory to atone for their sins, and after a few years they could regain their freedom.

At the Ximentang Shandong headquarters, as well as in Nanjing and even Tianjin.

Many of the captured rebels were forced into labor in factories throughout Simon Church.

Hard labor such as building railways, mining, coal mining, and dock handling was performed by prisoners of war as atonement, and it was rare to hear of prisoners being killed.

in addition,

As long as you work hard labor in Ximen Hall for a certain number of years, you can earn a considerable salary.

Therefore, surrendering to Ximentang is also a good option.

At least it guarantees a way out.

Even though the unlucky guy who just shouted to surrender was shot in the head and killed.

but,

In the following time, hundreds of people put down their weapons and ran towards Ximentang.

They raised their hands, unarmed, and shouted:

"Don't shoot! We surrender! Don't shoot! We surrender!"

at the very beginning,
Lin Song of the Ximentang Special Operations Regiment hadn't reacted yet and was preparing to have the heavy machine guns start firing.

but,

When he saw that these people had raised their hands, he quickly realized what was happening and ordered a halt to firing.

More than 500 Japanese troops stationed outside Ezhou City raised their hands in surrender.

They gathered in the direction designated by the West Gate, and someone was there to handle their surrender.

this moment,
Upon witnessing this scene, all the other soldiers of the Japanese Allied Forces raised their hands.

surrender!

If we don't surrender, we're doomed.

The artillery and heavy machine guns of Ximentang have been deployed to the front lines.

The two trench defense lines were completely captured by Ximentang.

Ozawa Kaiki, standing on the city wall, was stunned and speechless upon witnessing this scene.

How could this be?
He never expected that all the troops stationed outside the city would surrender!
"Baka!—!"

At that moment, Ozawa Kaiki was enraged and immediately ordered the heavy machine guns and field guns on the city wall to launch a fierce attack.

It wasn't aimed at the elite Ximentang Special Forces Regiment, but rather at the surrendered Japanese Allied Army soldiers.

As a result,
The troops stationed outside the city, whether they were Hong Chaoge's elite troops, the local soldiers, or even the Japanese soldiers, were forced to have only one way to survive—surrender!
Wow——!
Some Japanese soldiers who had not originally intended to surrender had no choice but to raise their hands along with everyone else.

Seeing that the Allied Forces of the East had withdrawn their forces, Xu Xiaodao realized that the casualties in this battle were minimal, and that they had achieved an initial victory.

The fortifications set up by the Japanese outside the city have been completely occupied.

As darkness fell, it was no longer a suitable time to continue the offensive.

Therefore,
Xu Xiaodao quickly called a retreat, intending to wait until tomorrow to fight again and take Ezhou City in one fell swoop.

have to say,

With only 20,000 troops from Xianning Prefecture, it would be extremely difficult to take over Ezhou City, which was defended by 80,000 men.

Being able to eliminate the two lines of defense outside Ezhou City can be considered an initial victory.

In this battle,

Ximentang annihilated a total of 7,600 Japanese soldiers and captured more than 2,800.

The number of Japanese Allied soldiers who retreated and fled back to Ezhou City did not exceed five hundred.

No one died in Ximentang, only 36 were injured, which can be considered as establishing the reputation of Ximentang Special Forces Regiment.

Lin Song, this fierce general of the special operations regiment, truly lived up to his reputation.

After Xu Xiaodao finished tallying the battle losses, he was naturally very pleased and ordered his men to send all the prisoners back to Xianning Prefecture for imprisonment.

He ordered everyone to set up camp outside Ezhou City, rest and reorganize the troops, and prepare to launch a general attack on Ezhou City early the next morning.

but,

The ensuing battle took Xu Xiaodao by surprise.

The war reached a stalemate, and the Ximentang army of Xianning Prefecture finally encountered a tough nut to crack.

The Allied Forces of the East relied on the strong city walls of Ezhou and put up a tenacious defense.

of course,

Most importantly, the elite troops of Ximentang stationed in Xianning Prefecture lacked heavy firepower.

Incendiary bombs and armor-piercing bombs, etc., are deployed in small quantities.

Moreover, most of the heavy artillery was used for the defense of Xianning Prefecture and was difficult to transport to Ezhou Prefecture.

Therefore, in the time to come,

Xu Xiaodao launched a three-day offensive against Ezhou Prefecture.

Although the city walls were all blown down, the entire south gate was blown open.

but,

The Japanese Allied Forces fought to the death, and to avoid casualties, Xu Xiaodao had no choice but to order the Ximentang elite troops to retreat.

Although Ximentang suffered few casualties over three days, the consumption of artillery shells was becoming unbearable.

Xu Xiaodao was getting impatient. This attack on Ezhou Prefecture had taken nearly five days, and the goal had not yet been achieved; the city of Ezhou had not been breached.

Two days ago, Ximentang launched a fierce attack and breached the city gates of Ezhou.

but,

Unexpectedly, the Allied Forces of the East had 50,000 troops who came to support them from the North Gate.

These 50,000 troops were all elite Japanese troops, equipped with advanced weaponry and extremely fierce in combat.

Therefore,
Xu Xiaodao had no choice but to retreat. He even thought that attacking Ezhou City this time was a mistake.

The attack on Ezhou continued, which not only tied down Ximentang's army stationed in Xianning Prefecture.

Simultaneously,

Throughout the Hanzhong region, the garrison at Ximentang will be bogged down, while needing a continuous supply of weapons and ammunition from the supply troops in Nanjing.

Just as Xu Xiaodao was struggling with whether or not to continue attacking Ezhou City...

An urgent telegram arrived from Nanjing, stating that the 300,000-strong Eastern Fleet had bypassed the East China Sea defense line controlled by Ximentang, landed in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, and was making a major push to reinforce southern Hunan and southern Jiangxi.

This time, the Allied Forces of the East vowed to avenge their previous humiliation.

In addition to the 300,000 Kwantung Army soldiers, there were also 200,000 Fubing soldiers, bringing the total strength to as many as 500,000.

The troops split into two groups, heading towards Hanzhong from southern Jiangxi and southern Hunan.

It looks like,
The Kwantung Army shifted its battlefield, abandoning Shanhaiguan and instead advancing directly into the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.

After receiving news that Xu Xiaodao had failed to capture Ezhou City, Chen Jie advised him not to launch a relentless attack on the city.

The most urgent task is to deplete the strength of the Allied Forces of the East.

The 30,000 elite troops of the Ximen Hall in Xianning Prefecture began to concentrate their forces and fight mobile warfare, rather than siege warfare.

Xu Xiaodao was shocked when he received the news.

He never expected that the Japanese would mobilize such a large force to attack the Hanzhong region.

Originally, the entire Hanzhong region, including Hong Chaoge's remnants and the Japanese Allied Forces, only had a total of a few hundred thousand elite troops.

Now that the army has been reinforced to 500,000, the 30,000 troops stationed at Ximentang in Xianning Prefecture are definitely not going to be able to fight them head-on.

With 500,000 troops, plus the 200,000 troops originally in the Hanzhong area, that's a total of 700,000 troops.

at the same time,

Xu Xiaodao also received a battle report from Aman, stating that the rebel forces from Huainan and Gannan were converging on Jiujiang Prefecture.

Next,
Jiujiang Prefecture will be the main battlefield for Ximentang, the rebels, and the Japanese army.

Under Chen Jie's orders, Xu Xiaodao abandoned the attack on Ezhou Prefecture and began to circle around to Jiujiang Prefecture to join forces with Aman's 60,000-strong army.

The decisive battle in Jiujiang Prefecture!
The entire Hanzhong, Huainan, northern Jiangxi, and southern Jiangsu regions quickly calmed down.

Both sides are beginning to mobilize troops and converge on Jiujiang Prefecture!
-

It's late at night!
A cold wind howled, and a full moon hung in the sky.

rustling—rustling—!
The leaves rustled in the night breeze.

A group of people on horseback galloped swiftly along a mountain path through the woods. Generally speaking, few people travel at night.

but,

At this moment, the group of people were running at high speed in the night, which shows that they had urgent business to attend to.

They were enveloped in mist, and a powerful surge of true energy circulated throughout their bodies.

As the cold wind approached, it automatically avoided them.

The urgent neighing of warhorses could be heard from time to time.

"Who goes there?! Show yourself—!"

With a fierce roar, a figure dressed in tight-fitting clothes leaped into the air from the back of a warhorse.

He was like a soaring eagle, with the momentum to fly into the sky, fierce, domineering, and swift.

Clang——!
In an instant, the sword was drawn and slashed down at a large tree beside the forest path.

This one strike changed the very fabric of the world.

It seemed that the light of the full moon was all absorbed by this one strike, containing the power of heaven and earth!
The Great Perfection of Meridian Opening and Qi Strengthening!

That's right,

From the way this person leaped into the air and unleashed this sword strike, it can be seen that his martial arts level has broken through to the Great Perfection of the Meridian Opening Qi.

The power of a single strike, its sharpness fully revealed!
Suddenly, two hands appeared behind the big tree.

These are hard-to-describe hands; they look chubby and harmless.

but,

The moment the hand emerged from behind the tree, it was as fast as lightning, as if it had transformed into a cobra.

It resembles a claw but not a claw, a palm but not a palm; a light touch of the finger, followed by a flick.

Fingers!
This is a Shaolin martial art, possessing extremely profound power.

When Shaolin Temple was burned down, most of Shaolin's unique skills were collected into the Daqian Armory.

but,

Many of these unique skills were scattered throughout the martial arts world, and some even spread to the Western Regions, Tibet, and overseas.

Many martial arts manuals were seized by the Japanese and became the foundation of Japanese martial arts.

Woohoo——!
A sharp gust of wind swept through the woods, heading straight for the blade of the battle sword.

Everything around was shrouded in the intent of the blade, but the Flicking Finger technique was like snatching chestnuts from a fire, touching and withdrawing instantly, breaking through the blade's momentum in an instant.

The black shadow that soared into the air seemed to be filled with apprehension as it faced a pair of fingers.

Whoosh-!
It's unclear how he managed to gain leverage after taking off.

Under the moonlight, his body spun like a top, instantly flipping back into the air.

The shadowy figure pointed his long sword diagonally at the ground and sneered:

"Hmph! I thought it was someone important, but it turns out to be a bald monk from the Lingta Ancient Temple of the Western Regions Tantric Buddhism."

"Amitabha, good, good!"

A fat old monk slowly emerged from the woods.

"Zhao Hong of the Taiping Ship, you are a powerful figure in the martial arts world, yet you are spewing vulgarities, which is very disappointing!"

Beside the obese old monk was another thin old monk.

The stark contrast in the physiques of the two bald monks creates an extremely comical effect.

After emerging from the woods, the fat monk looked up at the dark figure who had just wielded the knife and scoffed.

At this time,

Another elderly man dressed in black dismounted from his warhorse and walked over unhurriedly.

He smiled calmly and said:

“Brother Zhao Hong, this is where you went wrong. Master Moza of the Western Regions Tantric sect is compassionate. How could you lay a knife on Master Moza?”

“These bald monks are full of benevolence and morality, chanting Amitabha Buddha and praying for the salvation of all sentient beings.”

"If you lay a knife on him, it is tantamount to killing a Buddha, and it is disrespectful to the Tantric Buddhist community."

"Some things are better left unsaid, but if you actually use a knife, Buddha will be enraged and punish you so severely that you will never be able to reincarnate!"

"Haha—watch out for these bald monks, they'll curse you in the name of Buddha!"

Clearly, this person didn't take the Buddha of the Western Regions Tantric Buddhism seriously at all.

People in the martial arts world revere martial prowess!
Whoever has the best martial arts skills holds the most weight.

Of course, people in the martial arts world are very cautious about their spheres of influence.

Masters of the Western Regions Tantric Buddhism rarely venture into the Central Plains, but unexpectedly, these great lamas have come to the Central Plains.

Therefore,
The old man in black was full of sarcasm and showed no respect to these people from the Western Regions Tantric sect.

The thin, burly lama, his anger blazing, roared:

"Xue Changcun, how dare you utter such arrogant words and insult the Buddha?"

The old man in black was named Xue Changcun, the leader of the Small Knife Society, who had dealings with the Western Regions Tantric sect.

Judging from his tone, he had a grudge against the esoteric sects of the Western Regions.

Seeing the Western Regions Tantric practitioners appear in the Central Plains, he naturally didn't want to let the matter rest, so every word he uttered was meant to provoke them.

The fat monk was Master Moza, and the thin monk was Master Gano; both were top masters of the Western Regions Tantric Buddhism.

Zhao Hong of the Taiping snorted coldly:

"Gano, you worship Buddha, but we in the Central Plains martial arts world do not worship Buddha!"

"Stop trying to preach with your nonsense. Nobody here cares about your Buddha!"

"If Buddha blocks our path, we will destroy Buddha; if God blocks our path, we will kill God!"

boom--!
The surrounding true energy swept down, and an incomparably domineering aura enveloped the area.

At this moment, the fighting spirit of both sides reached its peak, and their momentum was overwhelming.

"asshole--!"

Master Gano couldn't help but swear, his anger flaring up.

He usually spends his time chanting Buddhist scriptures and arguing with these martial arts figures at the Lingta Ancient Temple; how could he possibly be a match for them?

Therefore,
A few words quickly enraged him.

The caravan stopped, and all the martial arts masters looked at the several high lamas of the Western Regions Tantric sect in front of them.

Those who came to Xiangnan in Daqian this time were all top martial arts experts from the Hongmen, Taipinghao, White Lotus Sect, and Xiaodao Society.

This is, after all, the Central Plains of the Great Qian Dynasty, and it is completely at odds with Tibet and the Western Regions.

For thousands of years, the martial arts worlds of both sides have fought many battles, and they are irreconcilable enemies.

Decades ago,

When Emperor Li Zheng of the Great Qian Dynasty ascended the throne, the people of the Western Regions Esoteric Buddhism came to Great Qian once and made a fuss about separating from it.

Therefore, various martial arts sects and the Western Regions Tantric sects had fierce battles.

this moment,
Upon meeting, their eyes quickly reddened.

Several Hongmen masters, eager for a fight, drew their longswords and took up advantageous positions.

If those two bald monks, Moza and Ganuo, from the Western Regions Tantric sect, dare to speak disrespectfully, we should seize this opportunity, under the cover of darkness, and kill them.

unfortunately,

Both sides are on the verge of war, but it is impossible for them to actually fight.

A single Buddhist chant was heard, as if the entire world was enveloped by the sonic power of the Esoteric Buddhist tradition.

No one could tell where the sound was coming from; it was like a thunderclap right next to your ear.

"Amitabha, well said! Benefactor Zhao Hong, Benefactor Xue, is Benefactor Situ, the leader of the Hongmen, here?"

Om-!
Everyone around felt a buzzing in their head.

What powerful internal energy!

Sound wave power!
That's incredible!
The pinnacle of martial arts—indestructible even when facing gods!
This person's martial arts level has broken through to the peak of martial arts, above the Tongmai Gangjin (通脉罡劲).

Zhao Hong of the Taiping and Xue Changcun of the Small Knife Society both had their expressions completely change.

Zhao Hong took a deep breath, stepped forward, and respectfully bowed with the highest level of martial arts etiquette, saying:
"So it turns out the Golden Venerable Dharma King has come to the Central Plains. Zhao Hong has been impolite!"

"The ancient temple of the Western Regions has no connection with the martial arts world of the Central Plains. I wonder what brings the Golden Venerable Dharma King to Hunan!"

Golden Venerable Dharma King!

The strongest practitioner of the Lingta Ancient Temple of the Western Regions Esoteric Buddhism, whose skills have reached the pinnacle.

In the esoteric Buddhist sect of the Western Regions, the Dharma King wielded immense influence.

The Buddha is the master of all Dharma teachings. He freely transforms into sentient beings and universally saves all beings, hence he is called the Dharma King!
It is a Buddhist title of respect, transcending all sentient beings, a teacher of gods and men, who can grant all wishes and lead them to enlightenment!

Although the martial arts world of the Central Plains during the Great Qian Dynasty and the Buddhist Tantric sects of the Western Regions have always been at odds.

However, no matter what, the Western Regions belonged to the Great Qian Dynasty.

Even though the Western Regions have always wanted to separate, they have not been recognized by the Great Qian Dynasty. No matter how much they want to separate, it is just a mirage.

Zhao Hong may not care about the Lingta Ancient Temple, but he cannot ignore the Golden Venerable Dharma King in front of him!

The top master of the Lingta Ancient Temple of the Western Regions Esoteric Buddhism has broken through to the level of 'Indestructible Before the Gods'!
He has already reached the pinnacle of martial arts. Who in the world would dare to disrespect him?
Therefore,
Zhao Hong and Xue Changcun immediately dared not speak disrespectfully again, nor did they dare to call the Golden Venerable Dharma King a bald donkey.

His words became much more subdued. (End of Chapter)