Chapter 444: Chapter 227: Slaying the Inborn Again_3
Translator: 549690339
After such a wild charge through the night, the vanguard cavalry of the main army chased up to a group of Zhou soldiers about seventy miles away.
There’s nothing more to say.
Bai Mengyang personally led the charge and broke a military force of more than a thousand men in the first encounter.
Then, after learning the location of other Zhou soldiers from the captives, he continued to lead the troops forward.
Over thirty miles, they chased and broke five groups of Zhou soldiers, crushing and capturing more than five thousand men.
Finally, in the northernmost Changlin County of Jingmen Prefecture, they caught up with Zhang Chanyi who was temporarily stationed there, gathering local soldiers.
A great battle ensued between the two sides, Zhang Chanyi was still defeated, severely injured and fled by Bai Mengyang. At last, clinging to a shred of life, he managed to escape with thousands of remnants.
However, his tens of thousands of troops were left behind in Changlin County. Those not scattered in defeat were either killed or captured.
At this time, after a two hundred mile chase, although Bai Mengyang was still vigorous, his soldiers, after a day and a night of hard chase, were immensely exhausted.
Therefore, even though he was reluctant, Bai Mengyang had to stop the chase. He sent men to search for scattered Zhou people and settled in Changlin County to rest and wait for the main force of Yan Wanqiu.
In this relentless chase, he defeated and captured nearly 20,000 Zhou people, and even won two counties on the way; the gain was already immense.
Those Zhou people who escaped wouldn’t be able to cause much trouble, even if there were tens of thousands of them left.
“Besides, I still have contingencies up my sleeve.”
Bai Mengyang looked towards the north, which was the direction of Xiangyang City. He gazed at the scorching noon sun and murmured to himself, “The messenger should have reached the King of Changsha a few days ago. Now, let’s see what surprises this startling junior can bring me.”
Standing on the wall of Changlin County, the Marquis Wuan had expectation and worry in his heart.
Two hundred miles south of Xiangyang City, was Shiliang Mountain.
Lu Yuan stood in the mountain forest, watching more than a hundred Zhou soldiers in disarray escaping from the official road below, he said, “This should be the third batch of Zhou people, shouldn’t it?”
The officer beside him replied, “Yes, Your Majesty, this is the third batch.”
Lu Yuan nodded, “With so many Zhou deserters escaping from the direction of Danyang, it seems that Zhou forces have been defeated in the battlefield of Danyang. The Wuan Marquis was not lying when he sent a message to me earlier to keep an eye on this place.”
The officer said, “The Zhou people should have been defeated. However, there have been only about a hundred deserters in each of the three waves. We don’t know whether we can expect any big fish while waiting here.”
“It would be a waste if we let these small fish slip by before catching any big fish.”
After hearing this, Lu Yuan laughed and said, “No problem. I have already set up three ambushes on the water and land routes a hundred miles behind Shiliang Mountain.”
“Those Zhou soldiers who pass here will face several ambushes along the way. They won’t be able to escape.”
“Our main force is here to ambush the big fish. We can’t reveal our position now.”
A few days ago, Lu Yuan received a letter from Bai Mengyang saying that the coalition would launch a fierce attack in the near future to break Dangyang City in one fell swoop.
He was to set up defenses here to intercept Zhou deserters.
After receiving the letter, Lu Yuan immediately ordered Yang Jing to remain outside Xiangyang City with the troops, continuing to besiege the city.
He personally led ten thousand combat troops southward to Shiliang Mountain to set up an ambush.
After waiting for four to five days, Zhou deserters finally appeared.
However, the previous groups had only been around a hundred deserters. They were too few, certainly not worth him personally leading the main force of five thousand near Shiliang Mountain to make a move.
These deserters will be taken care of by the people lying in ambush behind.
What Lu Yuan was really eyeing was the main force of the Zhou.
‘If we don’t take this great opportunity and capture tens of thousands of Zhou soldiers, then it would be a wasted journey.’
With these thoughts in his mind, he soon saw a large amount of dust rising in the distance, and a long dragon-like shape appeared on the official road in front, heading towards them.
“Order to be relayed, the big fish has arrived, prepare for it!”
Seeing this, Lu Yuan abruptly rose to his feet and immediately gave the command.
In an instant, the nearby mountains on both sides were lined with over five thousand ambush soldiers, readying their bows and arrows, lifting their boulders and logs, ready to act at any moment.
In the midst of the large army, Zhang Chanyi sat on a flatbed horse cart, his face as white as a sheet.
Two days ago, he had battled once again with Bai Mengyang.
Already heavily injured, he was naturally no match for the Wuan Marquis in their hand-to-hand combat. He lasted but a moment before he coughed up blood and escaped.
This round of injury made his body’s wounds increasingly severe.
At present, several meridians in his body have broken, and his right arm has been shattered, rendering it unusable.
His true pneuma is blocked due to the obstructed meridians, with only about one or two-tenths of it accessible.
Under these all these injuries, the former Pillar State Grand General, Inborn Grandmaster, it can be said that he has not even a tenth of his original strength left, making him weak to the extreme and in unimaginable misery.
But even in such a weakened state, Zhang Chanyi had no choice but to rally his remaining energy and, after fleeing Changlin County, managed to pull together some local garrison troops in a few counties in the southern part of Xiangyang Prefecture.
In the end, along with the remnants of the troops that had managed to escape with him, he was able to organize nearly ten thousand soldiers.
Now, Zhang Chanyi is leading these hard-fought retainers intending to retreat back to Xiangyang City, to help hold this major southern city.
“Ah, after this battle, our army has lost over a hundred thousand soldiers, including a Pillar State Grand General. The nation’s setback is so severe that it will take at least a decade to recover its vitality.”
Sitting in the cart, Zhang Chanyi coughs while using his remaining left hand to cover his mouth, hiding the traces of blood, while worrying about national affairs.
However, just at that moment, a loud explosion rang out all around him.
Between the mountains on both sides came the simultaneous sounds of golden drums, with wood and stones tumbling around, and arrows flying.
Cries of attack echoed from the mountain.
The Zhou soldiers passing through the valley below the mountain found themselves suddenly beset by the attack. They were already demoralized and frightened, and the sudden ambush caused them to flee in every direction.
“Stand your ground, no one is to flee, everyone must stay and fight against the enemy!”
Upon seeing this, Zhang Chanyi’s eyes nearly burst, he leaped into the air, suspended himself there surrounded by a brilliant white light, and roared in fury towards the heavens.
Then, before he could even gather his soldiers to fend off the sudden attack.
A red glow came flying from the distance, flames burning brightly, simultaneously a thunderous noise filled the Grand General’s senses.
Where the red and white glows collided, the sky was filled with a mesh of flames and white light, accompanied by the sounds of thunder, even yellow dust could be seen looming, all these spectacles disappeared after a few breaths.
Then there was Lu Yuan, hovering in mid-air, holding in his hands a somewhat broken corpse, looking at the Zhou soldiers below, he loudly proclaimed: “Your commander is dead, put down your weapons, those who surrender will not be killed!”
“Put down your weapons, those who surrender will not be killed!”
Upon witnessing this, the morale of all the soldiers under his command increased tremendously, and they joined in the declaration loudly.
The Zhou soldiers, seeing even Zhang Chanyi was dead, no longer had the slightest will to resist, they all dropped their weapons and kneeled, begging for mercy.
On the twenty-second day of the twelfth month of the seventh year of Hongdao, King of Changsha Lu Yuan set up an ambush at Shiliang Mountain, cutting down Zhang Chanyi, the former Pillar State Grand General of Zhou. He proceeded to surrender over seven thousand Zhou soldiers, achieving yet another major victory.
As of now, following Gui Lianyun’s example, another Inborn Grandmaster of Zhou had met his end at his hands.
Twenty-fifth of the same month.
After Zhang Chanyi broke through Dangyang, Li Yanjing, who was ordered to proceed to Jingling Prefecture in the southwestern part of Xiangyang Prefecture to gather local soldiers, managed to lead more than twenty thousand soldiers he had gathered along the way, to retreat back to Xiangyang City.
On the twenty-seventh day, Bai Mengyang led a massive army of seventy thousand men, meeting with Lu Yuan beneath the walls of Xiangyang City.