If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

Cangzhou had already been abandoned by Yuwen Shuo and Zhao Chongyuan's loyalist army after the Battle of Qingyun Mountain.

The defending troops were few and far between, and the people had been repeatedly ravaged by the war and were already suffering unspeakably.

Su Mingyue's army encountered almost no resistance along the way, and the counties and prefectures they passed surrendered without resistance. In less than ten days, they had taken over the entire territory of Cangzhou.

After recapturing Cangzhou, Su Mingyue led his troops to join forces with Niu Bocheng and Gao Pengda's troops at the border between Cangzhou and Yunzhou.

The three armies joined forces, with a total strength of over 500,000. Their camps stretched for dozens of miles, banners blotted out the sun, and spears and halberds were like a forest.

Inside the central command tent, Su Mingyue unfolded a map of Yunzhou. Yunzhou was Zhao Chongyuan's stronghold, which had been under his control for decades, and its city walls were no less fortified than those of Shun Ning City.

But Zhao Chongyuan is now a trapped beast.

Liangzhou in the north was blocked by Gao Pengda, Anzhou in the east was blocked by Niu Bocheng, and Cangzhou in the south was personally recovered by Su Mingyue.

The only way out was the Dayan Dynasty to the west, but Zhao Chongyuan had been fighting the Dayan Dynasty for many years, and his hatred for it was no less than that for Su Mingyue.

Moreover, nearly half of the border has already been taken over by Fan Jianjun, who was sent by Su Mingyue, and the remaining half is being gradually eroded.

Yunzhou is surrounded by enemies on all sides, and there is no hope of reinforcements.

"Order Fan Jianjun to take over the entire border of Yunzhou as soon as possible, and not to let Zhao Chongyuan's soldiers leave the country."

Su Mingyue's vermilion brush swept across the map, her voice clear, cold, and decisive.

"Gao Pengda, after you lead your troops to assist Fan Jianjun in taking over the border, immediately return to reinforce and besiege Anyang City."

"Niu Bocheng, you will lead your troops to take full control of all counties and prefectures in Yunzhou, accept the surrender of rebels, and stabilize the situation."

She straightened up and made a heavy dot on the location of Anyang City with her vermilion brush, the vermilion spreading into a small, glaring red patch on the map.

"I will personally lead my elite troops to take Anyang."

The generals clasped their hands in obeisance and accepted the order, and the sound of their armor clashing filled the air.

Su Mingyue did not give Zhao Chongyuan any time to prepare.

On the very night the order was given, she selected 100,000 of the most elite veterans from the North, who, with gags in their mouths and horses with their hooves wrapped, set off lightly under the cover of night.

The entire unit consisted of two horses per person, with each soldier carrying only three days' worth of dry rations and personal weapons.

While the camps of the 500,000-strong army were still brightly lit and filled with the smoke of cooking fires, Su Mingyue's 100,000-strong vanguard had already silently plunged into the heart of Yunzhou like a dagger wrapped in black cloth.

The defenses in the heart of Yunzhou were far weaker than Su Mingyue had anticipated.

Zhao Chongyuan withdrew most of his troops back to the area around Anyang City, leaving the surrounding counties almost undefended.

Su Mingyue's cavalry passed through one empty pass after another in the night. Some passes were not even guarded, with only barricades and deer antlers casting lonely shadows in the moonlight.

She sneered inwardly. Zhao Chongyuan had spent his whole life scheming against others, but in the end, he had only managed to make himself all alone.

Anyang City is the capital of Yunzhou and the place where the Zhao family has built their business for generations.

Zhao Chongyuan gathered 200,000 troops from the entire Yunzhou region and stationed them in Anyang City.

The four gates were tightly closed, and soldiers patrolling the city walls day and night carried torches, their flames reflecting on the surface of the moat, swaying slightly in the night breeze.

He believed that Anyang City was impregnable, and even if Su Mingyue's 500,000-strong army were to attack, he could hold out for at least three months.

But Su Mingyue had no intention of giving him three months.

The army arrived at the city of Anyang late at night.

The city walls of Anyang stood majestically in the night, with torches blazing atop them. Patrolling soldiers carried torches as they moved back and forth, the firelight reflecting on the moat and shattering into countless golden scales.

The city is high and the moat is deep; a direct assault would inevitably come at a heavy price.

Instead of ordering the army to set up camp, Su Mingyue had the army hide in a dense forest ten miles outside the city.

One hundred thousand elite troops hid in the woods in complete silence. Their warhorses were gagged, and the soldiers were silent. Not even a single torch was allowed to be lit.

She ordered her soldiers to change into the uniforms of the Yunzhou garrison. These uniforms were selected from the surrendered troops of Cangzhou, and were in the Yunzhou army's standard style inside and out.

They wore grayish-brown uniforms, black leggings, and square iron helmets unique to Yunzhou.

The only difference was that everyone wore a red scarf around their neck to distinguish friend from foe in the darkness.

Su Mingyue herself did not change her clothes.

She was still wearing that black armor, sitting on horseback, with her silver spear held horizontally in front of the saddle.

Behind him, three thousand soldiers, now dressed in Yunzhou military uniforms, had already lined up in formation, and the entire column made not a sound.

A captain stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting: "General, we are ready."

Su Mingyue's gaze passed over the woods and landed on the hazy outline of Anyang City in the distance, her voice as cold as iron.

"Set off."

Three thousand soldiers silently emerged from the dense forest, making their way towards the south gate of Anyang City. Leading them was a veteran that Su Mingyue had brought from the northern border.

They were all valiant soldiers who had fought alongside her on the battlefield for many years.

They walked with their heads down, their steps unsteady, and their weapons deliberately dragged on the ground, making a messy sound. At first glance, they looked exactly like defeated soldiers who had just retreated from the battlefield.

The south gate was knocked open.

"Open the door! Open the door! Open the door now!"

A captain with a Yunzhou accent shouted at the top of his lungs towards the city wall, his voice hoarse and trembling with tears.

"We are from the Third Battalion of the Youyuan City Garrison! General Zhao ordered us to defend Youyuan City, but the Youzhou army has breached it. Our brothers fought their way out, please open the city gates and let us in!"

The soldiers on the city wall held torches and peered down.

The firelight illuminated the disheveled appearance of the "defeated soldiers" below the city.

The gray-brown Yunzhou military uniforms were tattered, some of the helmets were askew, and some had blood-stained strips of cloth wrapped around their arms, supporting each other in twos and threes.

Their Yunzhou accent was impeccably authentic, and their military uniforms were also the standard Yunzhou army uniforms; even their waist badges were clearly visible in the firelight.

The commander on the city wall hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What is your battalion's number? What is your captain's surname?"

The man below the city wall answered without hesitation.

When Su Mingyue captured the surrendered soldiers again, she extracted the unit numbers, names of the commanders, and camp locations from them.

They memorized it perfectly in Anyang City.

The commander on the city wall verified the information and, seeing that the "defeated soldiers" below numbered only about a thousand, figured they wouldn't cause any trouble even if they were let in. He then waved his hand dismissively.

"Open the city gates."

The heavy city gate was slowly lifted by the winch, and the drawbridge was lowered with a roar.

The guards at the south gate had barely opened the city gate a crack when the leader of the "desperate soldiers" squeezed in.

He kept cursing and complaining as he squeezed his way in, and the guards were about to help him up when the guards reached out to help him.

He suddenly stood up straight.

No longer the exhausted, defeated soldier who seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment, his back was straight as a javelin, and his eyes suddenly turned cold and sharp.

At the same time, a dagger slid out of the sleeve and precisely pierced the throat of the gatekeeper.

"Seize the gate!" With a loud shout, the Red Turban Army pounced on the guards inside the city gate like tigers released from their cages.

Before the commander on the city wall could react to what was happening, he heard a short but fierce battle cry coming from inside the city gate.

Immediately afterwards, the torches at the city gate flickered violently in the night, and the group of "desperate soldiers" had firmly taken control of the city gate.

The city gates were captured.

The suspension bridge couldn't be taken down in time.