Chapter 464

Ge Shangdu's change of ownership meant that in the four prefectures of Sinan, there were almost twenty chieftains of various sizes. There was no longer a power that was independent of the Crouching Bull Ridge.

Even if the other chieftains did not fully attach themselves to the Crouching Bull Ridge like the Zhan clan and the Shiqian Yang clan, or if they did not fully cooperate with the Crouching Bull Ridge like the Jigerons and the Tongren Yu clan, at the very least, none of them dared to refuse the absolute rule of the Crouching Bull Ridge over them.

Yu Junting watched over Ge Shangdu and slaughtered until there was a storm of blood. The Tong family had over three hundred years of history in the area. Just how great was their clan's influence? Yu Junting slaughtered without holding back at all. A moment of mercy could lead to endless trouble. This was Yu Xiaoyao's philosophy of life.

Meanwhile, Tian Miaowen and Li Dazhuang, who were currently patrolling the area, used the deterrence created by this matter to tighten their control over the various powers that were only outwardly obedient but inwardly opposed. Ye Xiaotian placed himself in the Southern Sichuan Road and cooperated with them in suppressing the rebels, but he set his efforts aside and successfully planted a flying pawn in Ge Shangdu.

What was the situation on his side now?

Yang Chaodong left the pine ridge, Yang Weidong left the fishing ferry, and Yang Zhu left the Luogu pool. The three armies arrived aggressively. When Yang Zhu arrived at Luogu City, she was stopped by Liu Dadao's deputy.

Yang Yinglong's Luogu City was truly majestic. The army of the imperial court, which was skilled at sieging cities, had spent a great deal of effort to take the city back then. Fifty Crouching Tiger Cannons had been placed in front of the city gates and fired for an entire day. How was Yang Zhu supposed to take the city now that she was leading a group of soldiers?

Yang Zhu launched a probing attack and was defeated, leaving behind a pile of corpses. They immediately set up camp and prepared their defences. They ordered people to cut down trees and build siege weapons. The trees had only just been dragged out of the mountains to the main camp. Before they could even cut down all the branches, Yang Chaodong had already left the pine ridge and launched a surprise attack on Liu Dadao's camp.

Before they set off, the three armies agreed on a rendezvous time. The location was Liu Dadao's camp. As for communication, there were no instant communication tools at that time. it would be even worse if they stopped at every step and waited to communicate with the other side. As a result, the three commanders each had the right to decide how they should act.

Whether Yang Chaodong wanted to meet up with Yang Zhu first or head to Liu Dadao's camp alone, he had to pass through Luoyan Gorge, which was also the place where Liu Dadao's other deputy general had set up an ambush. However, as the Young Lord of Bozhou and the future successor of the Yang Clan, Yang Chaodong's military capabilities were quite outstanding.

He had sent out a total of eight mounted scouts, both in the open and in the dark. Liu Dadao's deputy had also sent out scouts to counterattack, but the result of the contest was that Yang Chaodong had still discovered the ambush before he stepped into the ambush. The ambush had been forced into a head-on confrontation.

The imperial court did not have as many soldiers and horses as Yang Chaodong did. Moreover, they were slightly inferior when it came to fighting in the mountains. Seeing that they were no match for Yang Chaodong, the deputy general followed his original plan and quickly retreated to Luogu. Yang Chaodong knew that the ambush meant Liu Dadao knew of their attack plan. But he still had to force himself to go to Liu Dadao's camp. He even sped up.

This was all because of the backward communication technology at that time. He could stop here, but he could not inform Yang Weidong and Yang Zhu in time. The two of them had ten thousand soldiers. If they arrived at Liu Dadao's camp without knowing what was going on and were ambushed, what would he do?

His father's business was his business. Twenty thousand soldiers was not a small number to Bozhou. Yang Chaodong could not bear to squander it! So Yang Chaodong made up his mind. He rushed to Liu Dadao's camp and met up with Yang Weidong and Yang Zhu. Although the three armies could not launch a surprise attack, they could still fight. After all, they had thirty thousand people, while Liu Dadao's main force was only thirty thousand. If they fell into a disadvantage, they could escape to the nearest pass that still belonged to them.

But Yang Chaodong did not think that a straightforward and heroic man like Liu Dadao would have such a wretched deputy general. The deputy general who had escaped into Luogu reorganized himself and then snuck out again, leading his troops in pursuit. If he stopped fighting, the deputy general would lead his men and escape. If he started to move, the deputy general would appear like a haunting ghost. Yang Chaodong was so angry that he could not do anything to the other.

With such a delay, Yang Chaodong's marching speed was greatly affected. When he finally arrived at the gathering point, Liu Dadao was cleaning up the battlefield.

Yang Weidong arrived before him and ran head-on into Liu Dadao's iron plate. Liu Dadao had about the same number of troops as Yang Weidong, but the quality of the Ming army that he led was an iron army that had participated in the peace of Borneo and the war against Japan. How could Yang Weidong be his match?

After three battles in a row, Yang Weidong suffered a crushing defeat. His escape route to Loushan Pass was also blocked by Liu Dadao. He could only flee in panic. He did not expect that his escape route was also planned by Liu Dadao. Yang Weidong ran head-on into the col that Ye Xiaotian had set up.

Ye Xiaotian had left a backup plan here beforehand and had turned this valley into an excellent defensive position. At this time, it actually came in handy. Yang Weidong's remaining troops were easily annihilated by him, and Yang Weidong himself was also shot to death by arrows.

Liu Dadao set up many dummies in the camp to confuse the rebel army at Loushan Pass. He led the main force out, called Ye Xiaotian, and together, they aggressively faced Yang Chaodong. Yang Chaodong was defeated in one battle and fled in panic into the dense forest in the mountains. Only his body was spared, and all his troops were annihilated.

After destroying Yang Chaodong's troops, Liu Ye's army majestically charged into Luogu. Outside Luogu, Yang Zhu had just finished building the siege tools. Dozens of siege vehicles lined up in a row and were attacking the city with great fanfare. The city gate suddenly opened, and the defenders took the initiative to attack.

Yang Zhu was overjoyed and immediately led his army forward to fight. But he did not expect that the army of the imperial court inside the city gate was endless, like a flood that had burst a dam. Liu Dadao had been fighting a mobile battle. At this time, all his troops and horses had moved here. There were more than 35,000 people. Against Yang Zhu's army of 10,000, Yang Zhu's army was completely annihilated in one big battle.

At this time, under Liu Dadao's strict orders, the other routes of troops and horses suffered heavy casualties, but they also achieved victory after victory. On the Wu River road, Ye Mengxiong personally went to the front line to command. On the 12th, they captured Wu River Pass. On the Side Bridge road, they captured Tiandu and the 300 Luo Zhu Tun.

However, Yang Yinglong was not discouraged. Taking advantage of the Guizhou Ming army crossing the river, he suddenly launched a counterattack and defeated Tong Yuanzhen's troops. Under Tong Yuanzhen's command, General Yang Xian, Garrison Commander Chen Yunlong, Ruan Shiqi, Bai Mingkui, and Commander Yang Xuzhi all died in battle.

Yang Yinglong was very pleased with his surprise counterattack. He wanted to go all out and kill the Ming army on the Side Bridge road in one go. Yang Chaodong ran back in a sorry state and cried to him about his defeat. When Yang Yinglong heard that his 30,000-strong army had fallen into Liu Dadao's hands, he felt his vision darken and almost passed out from the pain.

For the imperial court, 30,000-strong army could be summoned again with a wave of their hand. But how could Bozhou have so many available soldiers? Yang Yinglong wanted nothing more than to chop this bastard of a son of his with a knife. He could only rush back to Hailong Tun and mobilize his troops to prepare for the decisive battle at Loushan Pass.

Yang Yinglong had once been friends with Liu Dadao and knew of Liu Dadao's abilities. But he believed that even if Liu Dadao had really transformed into the Martial Saint Guan Yunchang, he would not be able to take Loushan Pass!