In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

"Escape...we must escape back to Chengdu..."

Zhang Wu had only one thought left in his mind.

He yanked the reins sharply, preparing to turn the horse around and flee for his life.

However, a blood-dripping broadsword had already silently been placed against his neck.

Pei Zhao, mounted on his horse, looked down at the arrogant and resolute captain.

"Commander Zhang, now that you're here, don't be in such a hurry to leave," Pei Zhao said in a voice as cold as ice.

Zhang Wu's body stiffened as he felt the biting cold from his neck. His once arrogant and domineering face finally revealed an undisguised fear.

"No...don't kill me...I'm Xianyu Jieshuai's man...If you kill me, Jieshuai will definitely not let you go!" Zhang Wu begged for mercy in a trembling voice.

"A general?" Pei Zhao scoffed. "Let's see if he survives this winter."

Pei Zhao turned the back of his knife and slammed it heavily onto the back of Zhang Wu's head.

Zhang Wu's eyes rolled back, and he fell off his horse, unconscious.

"Tie him up! Take him back to the county office to await the magistrate's judgment!"

Pei Zhao waved his hand, and two fierce soldiers stepped forward and tied Zhang Wu up.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone outside Yaozhou City.

This lopsided battle ended in a truly shocking way.

On the city wall, Yang Xuan quietly watched the salt protection army cleaning up the battlefield below, his face showing little elation after the victory.

He knew that although the annihilation of Zhang Wu's vanguard proved the formidable fighting power of the Yaozhou New Army, it was just an appetizer.

Xianyu Zhongtong still had a full 30,000 Jiannan main force troops in his hands.

Once that fat man learns that the vanguard has been wiped out, he will surely fly into a rage and launch a full-scale attack at all costs.

Yaozhou City was ultimately too small to withstand a prolonged siege by an army of 30,000.

"My lord," Li Guangbi walked to Yang Xuan's side, still reeking of blood, "this battle was a great victory. The enemy's vanguard was almost completely annihilated, with over two thousand heads taken, eight hundred captured, and countless weapons and armor seized. Our army suffered only a little over one hundred dead and several dozen seriously wounded."

This casualty ratio was a remarkable feat, even among the most elite border troops of the Tang Dynasty, and would be recorded in history.

"General Li's command was decisive and deserves the greatest credit." Yang Xuan nodded slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on the north. "But the real battle is yet to come."

Li Guangbi followed Yang Xuan's gaze and said in a deep voice, "Is my lord worried about Xianyu Zhongtong's main force?"

"It's not that we're worried, it's that we're racing against time."

Yang Xuan withdrew his gaze, his deep eyes flashing with a light that was difficult for ordinary people to understand.

"Judging by the days, news from the north should have reached Chengdu by now. Once that news arrives, Xianyu Zhongtong's 30,000-strong army will be in complete disarray."

Li Guangbi felt a chill run down his spine as he recalled Yang Xuan's earlier prediction that An Lushan would inevitably rebel.

Could it be that……

Just then, Lei Laohu ran up the city wall, panting, clutching a bamboo tube with three red feathers tightly in his hand.

"My lord! An urgent message from Tingfeng Pavilion! The sky in the north... has truly collapsed!"

Yang Xuan took the bamboo tube, but did not open it immediately. Instead, he turned to look at Li Guangbi, his tone revealing a sense of confidence in controlling the overall situation.

"General Li, let's prepare to break camp. Yaozhou is too small; we can't maneuver much there. We should head to Chengdu Prefecture to meet with that Xianyu military governor."

......

The great victory outside Yaozhou City spread like wildfire throughout the southern part of Jiannan Circuit.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, in Chengdu Prefecture, the seat of Jiannan Circuit.

The banks of the bustling Jinjiang River are still filled with painted boats and bustling merchants.

The high-ranking officials and nobles of Chengdu Prefecture were still arguing heatedly over a few bushels of spices from the Western Regions and a few bolts of Shu brocade.

In their view, it was a trivial matter for Xianyu Jiedushi to send 3,500 elite troops to quell a rebellion in a county under Yaozhou. It was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

However, inside the White Tiger Hall of the Jiedushi's residence, there was a deathly silence that seemed to freeze people to death.

Xianyu Zhongtong sat on the tiger-skin chair that symbolized the highest power in Jiannan Road. His fat face, which was always adorned with a friendly and prosperous smile, was now deathly pale.

Those slender eyes were bloodshot with terror and disbelief.

On his desk lay two battle reports stained with mud and blood.

The first document was a suicide note that Zhang Wu's deputy had risked his life to deliver:

"The vanguard has been completely annihilated! Commander Zhang has been captured alive by the enemy! The Yaozhou rebels not only possess terrifyingly powerful repeating crossbows, but also a heavily armored cavalry equipped with strange horse tack. Our three thousand infantrymen were pierced through in a single blow, utterly powerless to retaliate..."

The second battle report was more like the final straw that broke the camel's back. It was sent back by carrier pigeon from scouts planted by the Jiannan army on the outskirts of Yaozhou:

"The Yaozhou camp has been breached! Li Guangbi personally led the salt protection troops and surrendered soldiers from the Zhechong Prefecture, raising the banner of 'Purge the Emperor's inner circle and eliminate powerful ministers,' and is advancing northward along the official road. Their advance is aimed directly at... Chengdu Prefecture!"

"He's gone mad... Yang Xuan has truly gone mad!"

Xianyu Zhongtong's lips trembled as he muttered to himself, his obese body shaking uncontrollably in the chair.

He couldn't understand how a down-on-his-luck county magistrate who had been demoted to the remote borderlands and couldn't even get enough to eat a few months ago could raise a terrifying army capable of annihilating his three thousand elite troops in such a short time.

Repeating crossbows? Heavy cavalry?

These are powerful weapons that even the imperial court's elite border troops struggle to equip on a large scale. Where did Yang Xuan get them?

What made him even more uneasy was that Yang Xuan not only didn't know when to stop, but instead took the initiative and marched towards Chengdu!

This is no longer just about having military power; it's about completely breaking off relations and forcibly seizing military control of Jiannan Road!

"General!" The chief advisor scrambled into the White Tiger Hall, his voice as mournful as an owl's, "The generals in the camp outside the city are all requesting an audience! News of Zhang Wu's complete annihilation has spread, and morale is in turmoil!"

Xianyu Zhongtong shuddered suddenly, as if a drowning man had grasped at a straw.

He slammed his fist on the table and roared hoarsely, "What's the panic! I still have a full 30,000 troops! Even if Yang Xuan has heavy cavalry, that's only a little over a thousand. 30,000 against 1,000, I can overwhelm him with my own lives and crush him beneath the walls of Chengdu!"

"Relay my orders!" Xianyu Zhongtong's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like a madman. "Gather 30,000 main force troops! I will personally lead the expedition! Immediately seal off the four gates of Chengdu Prefecture and forcibly requisition all grain and fodder from the city. Tell the soldiers that whoever beheads Yang Xuan will be rewarded with 10,000 gold pieces and be ennobled as a marquis with 10,000 households!"

He had to fight this battle. If he didn't suppress Yang Xuan's arrogance, not only would his position as military governor be over, but he would also face certain death if Chang'an investigated.

Half an hour later, at the Great Parade Ground outside Chengdu City.

The main force of the 30,000-strong Jiannan Army has been assembled.

Although the news of Zhang Wu's defeat caused some unrest in the army, the massive force still exuded a suffocatingly murderous aura under the crazy stimulation of Xianyu Zhongtong's "generous rewards".

Xianyu Zhongtong changed into a dazzling suit of bright armor and, surrounded by more than a dozen personal guards, rode a tall horse slowly to the front of the command platform.

He drew his sword, ready to deliver a passionate mobilization speech, using money and blood to ignite the soldiers' bloodlust.

Just then.

"Report—!!!"

A roar, more mournful and desperate than ever before, echoed from the official road outside the training ground.

Everyone's eyes instinctively turned to look in the direction of the sound.

A lone horseman galloped along the official road like a burning flame.

The rider on horseback was covered in blood, with three red-feathered urgent delivery flags sticking out of his back, representing the highest level of military urgency.

That was the "800-li urgent dispatch" that was only used when the Tang Dynasty was facing the danger of collapse!

The horse galloped to the edge of the training ground, let out a mournful whinny, foamed at the mouth, its forelegs buckled, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The knight on horseback rolled several times on the ground, ignoring his injuries, and scrambled towards the command platform.

"Get out of the way! This is an urgent message! Anyone who obstructs will be executed!"

The knight's hoarse roar caused the Jiannan Army soldiers along the way to instinctively make way for him.

Xianyu Zhongtong's fat face twitched violently, and an ominous premonition a hundred times stronger than Zhang Wu's defeat instantly gripped his heart.

The knight rushed to the foot of the reviewing stand, fell to his knees with a thud, raised a bamboo tube sealed with yellow lacquer high in his hands, and with the last of his strength, let out a mournful cry that was utterly desolate:

"Urgent report from the Northern Frontier—!"

"On the Jiazi day of the eleventh month of the fourteenth year of the Tianbao era, An Lushan, the military governor of Fanyang, raised an army of 150,000 under the pretext of 'attacking the Right Chancellor Yang Guozhong'! He captured dozens of cities in Hebei and his army marched straight towards Luoyang!"

"An Lushan... has rebelled!"

These words were like a bolt from the blue, exploding in the air above the drill ground outside Chengdu!

The 30,000-strong army fell into a deathly silence in an instant.

Everyone stared wide-eyed and gaped, as if they had forgotten to breathe.

An Lushan rebelled?

The emperor's adopted son, the most powerful border general in the Tang Dynasty who commanded the armies of three towns and wielded immense influence, actually rebelled?!

Moreover, his banner of rebellion was actually "punishing Yang Guozhong"!

Xianyu Zhongtong felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, a buzzing in his ears, and his body trembled violently as if it were a leaf.

The sword in his hand clattered to the ground on the reviewing stand.

It’s over.

It's all over.

Xianyu Zhongtong's success today is due to his close ties with Yang Guozhong, acting as the representative of the Xiang faction's interests in Jiannan Road.

Now, An Lushan rebelled under the pretext of killing Yang Guozhong, and 150,000 fierce border troops marched south.

Yang Guozhong in Chang'an is definitely doomed!

As for Xianyu Zhongtong, as Yang Guozhong's most loyal lackey, once Yang Guozhong falls from power, he will definitely become the first target to be dealt with by An Lushan, or even by those political enemies in the court who would kick someone when they are down!

"General! General, what's wrong?!"

Seeing that Xianyu Zhongtong was about to collapse, the deputy general quickly stepped forward to help him up.

"Retreat...retreat..."

Xianyu Zhongtong's face was ashen, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single complete sentence.