Do you have the strength to force me to join the Liangshan bandits?

Chapter 534 As long as they defeat Cai Fu, why worry about the imperial court not offering amnesty? [3rd update, please vote!]

Sin!

Song Jiang was weeping inside:

You surnamed Cai, if you give me just one more year, I'll be able to control the State of Chu!

If you can't give me a year, six months will do!
How could you attack me when I had just started?

If Cai Fu were to conquer the State of Chu, Song Jiang would have no chance of being granted amnesty...

Song Jiang looked helplessly at Wu Yong: "Strategist, what should we do?"
Wu Yong fanned himself hard with his feather fan a few times, his mind racing with ideas.

"Your Majesty, please hear me out."

"The best course of action now is for us to reorganize our troops before the Qi army reaches Nanfeng Prefecture."

"First, Nanfeng Prefecture must be a united front. Second, we must send proclamations to all prefectures, ordering them to send troops to Nanfeng Prefecture to defend the emperor."

Fan Quan quickly pressed on, "What if they don't come?"

"Whoever doesn't come, we'll settle accounts with them after we defeat the Qi army."

Wu Yong said confidently, "Fortunately, the Qi army only has 50,000 men."

"Our Chu Kingdom has a large army and many generals. Even if there were no troops to come to the aid of the king, there would be 80,000 troops in Nanfeng Prefecture alone."

"Eight thousand against five thousand, the advantage is in my hands!"

"it is good!"

Fan Quan slapped his thigh: "Let's do as Minister Wu says!"

"Most of the Imperial Guards in Nanfeng Prefecture are former subordinates of the Duan family. We will first integrate the army and then send proclamations to all prefectures to come to Nanfeng Prefecture to defend the emperor!"
"I will ensure that the King of Qi never returns!"

All the civil and military officials said they would obey the imperial decree.

Song Jiang and Wu Yong exchanged a glance, their faces lighting up with joy. Integrating the army would make it easier for them to control military power.

There isn't a single person in Nanfeng Prefecture who can fight!
Even with Wu Yong, the Privy Councilor, assisting Qin Ming, the Grand Commander, he still couldn't seize military power in Nanfeng Prefecture.
As long as they defeat Cai Fu, why should they worry about the imperial court not offering them amnesty?
The imperial court granted Cai Fu amnesty and bestowed upon him the title of Prince of Qi. After they defeated Cai Fu, wouldn't Song Jiang be granted the title of Prince of Chu?
Song Jiang's thoughts grew increasingly rosy, only regretting that the Qi army had not yet reached Nanfeng Prefecture...

……

Xijing.

"General, please rise!"

Cai Fu helped up Xi Sheng, the commander who had knelt down to surrender.

In the original novel, Xi Sheng was skilled in battle formations. He once fought Zhu Wu in a battle formation, but the formation was broken and Xi Sheng died in the chaos of battle.

However, this time the Qi army arrived too quickly and was too strong, so Xi Sheng was captured before he could even set up his formation.

As for the chief official of Xijing, Gong Duan, one of Wang Qing's two disciples and the Pacification Commissioner, fled in panic beforehand.

Xi Sheng stood up and glanced at Li Zhu, Li Huai, Du Xue, Feng Tai, Mi Sheng, Liu Yuan, and others behind Cai Fu:
Good guy!
The war has only just begun, and the Prime Minister, Grand Commander, and Pacification Commissioner of Chu are already under enemy command!
What the hell is this?

It was precisely because Li Zhu and Du Xue were both under Cai Fu's command that Xi Sheng surrendered so readily.

Cai Fu never intended to return Xijing to Emperor Huizong of Song after capturing it, so he directly appointed Lu Zhishen as the commander-in-chief of Xijing.

Because Lu Zhishen was impatient, Cai Fu arranged for his advisor Tian Qi and his deputies Xi Sheng, Niu Gao, and Dong Xian to assist him.

There were about 40,000 surrendered soldiers in Xijing, and after streamlining, there were still more than 8,000.

Cai Fu incorporated these 8,000-plus men into his 50,000-strong army, and then selected 10,000 men to be left to guard Xijing for Lu Zhishen.

Then Cai Fu led his army to Shannan Army without stopping.

The only thing separating Xijing from Nanfeng Prefecture is Shannan Army. Once Shannan Army is defeated, Nanfeng Prefecture can be directly approached.

Li Zhu, Du Xue, and other former generals of Chu had already told Cai Fu everything about the situation of the Shannan army.

The commander of the Shannan army defending the city was Duan Er, Wang Qing's brother-in-law.

He had a military advisor named Zuo Mou, as well as generals such as Que Zhu, Weng Fei, Qian Bin, and Qian Yi, and 50,000 troops under his command.

Between Xijing and Shannan Army lies Longzhong Mountain. Longzhong Mountain was guarded by the "Four Brave Generals of Longzhong"—He Ji, Mi Sheng, Guo Gan, and Chen Yun—with an army of 20,000.

However, the story of the Four Heroes of Longzhong is quite interesting. Two of them, He Ji and Mi Sheng, have already defected to Cai Fu.

Chen Yun, who had accompanied Du Xue on an assassination mission, had already died under Shi Baodao's blade.

In other words, of the four brave generals of Longzhong, only Guo Gan remains today.

He Ji and Mi Sheng had a close relationship with Guo Gan, so they took the initiative to ask Cai Fu to let them persuade Guo Gan.

Cai Fu let the two of them go ahead first, and the main army would follow.

When Cai Fu's army arrived at Longzhong Mountain, He Ji and Mi Sheng had already persuaded Guo Gan, who then led 20,000 troops to surrender.

Cai Fu's army temporarily stationed itself at Longzhong Mountain, and after integrating 20,000 surrendered soldiers, it gained more than 5,000 elite troops.

Meanwhile, the Shannan army had already learned of Cai Fu's army's occupation of Longzhong Mountain.

"With General Duan absent, only we can hold off the Qi army for now!"

Military Advisor Zuo Mou convened the generals to discuss countermeasures:

"Send another messenger to Nanfeng Prefecture. General Duan is the emperor's brother-in-law; he'll surely be able to bring back more reinforcements!"

The generals of Shannan Army, including Que Zhu, Weng Fei, Qian Bin, Qian Yi, Geng Wen, and Xue Zan, all said that this was the proper way.

But just as they had decided to defend Shannan Army to the death, a fast horse arrived from Nanfeng Prefecture.

"Xilulu——"

The fast horse arrived at the Shannan army, where the soldier collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and died of exhaustion!
The rider on horseback also fell to the ground, looking at Zuo Mou, Que Zhu, and Weng Fei, and wailed loudly:
"Generals, the Duan family has been wiped out—"

"what?"

Zuo Mou, Que Zhu, and Weng Fei could hardly believe their ears:

The Duan family wielded immense power in the State of Chu; how could they possibly have been wiped out?
They were all Duan Er's loyal followers, and they hurriedly surrounded the knight:

"But why?"

The knight, a retainer of Duan Er, had barely escaped from Nanfeng Prefecture and tearfully told them:

"Generals, blah blah blah..."

"Your Majesty, my master, Governor Duan, Privy Councilor Fang, and the Imperial Guard Commander have all died in the palace!"
"Generals, you must avenge my master!"

"Ah this..."

Zuo Mou, Que Zhu, and Weng Fei looked at each other in bewilderment.

As everyone knows, they are Duan Er's direct subordinates. Regardless of their loyalty to Duan Er, they are all labeled as such.

Duan San Niang killed the King of Chu, and Duan Er and Duan Wu were involved. They were inexplicably labeled as remnants of the traitors!

Whether or not they seek revenge is another matter; their biggest problem right now is how to survive...

Zuo Mou, the most shrewd among them, came up with a feasible plan after much deliberation:
"Generals, the Shannan Army is right next to Nanfeng Prefecture. The punitive expeditionary force could attack the Shannan Army at any time!"
"That's fine, but the Qi army is in Longzhong Mountain, and they could attack the Shannan army at any time!"
"We are attacked from both sides and are in imminent danger!"

Weng Fei said in a muffled voice, "Commander, we are all rough men, just tell us your plan!"

Zuo Mou then went straight to the point: "Generals, rather than waiting to die, we might as well surrender to the Qi army!"

Que Zhu and Weng Fei had no objections, so they made the decision on the spot.

Cai Fu and his team had a late-night discussion, devising a plan that combined both soft and hard tactics, as well as a two-pronged approach...

Before he had even fully woken up, the messenger from the Shannan army arrived:

"We surrender!"

Cai Fu: (_)
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(End of this chapter)