When attacking cities, they would attack those that were easy to attack. They would not drag it out. They would go around it with the goal of defeating the enemy's main fighting force. The cities that were difficult to attack would be left for the people that would arrive later to continue to threaten them.
Meng Shanming's goal was to carry out Nanzhou's strategy. They were fighting against time and taking over territory first. The cities that were difficult to attack would be left for the Nanzhou people that would arrive later to take them.
To put it bluntly, they were relying on Nanzhou's strong army to bully Dingzhou's lack of soldiers.
Meng Shanming adjusted his strategy. Nanzhou's defending troops immediately suffered greatly.
The carriage rushed along the road. Meng Shanming did not fix the center of command. The center of command for the army's attack was on this moving carriage.
Sitting in the carriage, Meng Shanming had not slept the entire night. Although his face was tired, he stared at the map the entire time, receiving military intelligence from all sides and giving out all kinds of orders.
Luo Daan had been by his side the entire time and had heard and seen everything.
With the arrival of Ying Yang and Wu Lie Graud's people, the power of Meng Shanming's personal command was immediately demonstrated. It could be said to be shining in all directions.
Meng Shanming used a group of people to suppress the enemy's already assembled main force. He assisted Ying Yang and Wu Lie Graud in running around to stop the enemy's small groups of people from gathering. He did not allow the enemy to form an absolute advantage with the main force at the head. He was also buying time for the people that came later on.
The small groups of people that the enemy had gathered in all directions could not withstand a single blow from Ying Yang and Wu Lie Graud. The forces gathered in all directions were defeated and scattered, leaving the enemy's main force alone.
After their goal had been achieved, their side had already gathered a portion of their strength on the front battlefield. Ying Yang and Wu Lie Graud immediately returned to the front battlefield and gathered their forces to attack the enemy's main force.
Nanzhou's 30,000 people faced off against Dingzhou's 50,000. After all, the defending side still had a slight advantage.
Banners fluttered, war drums rumbled, and the sounds of killing shook the sky. Cavalry from both sides faced cavalry and took the lead in a frontal charge.
Putting aside the fact that the Dingzhou cavalry was far inferior in numbers to Ying Yang and Wu Lie Graud, in terms of battle power, they were not a match for the world-shaking Ying Yang and Wu Lie Graud.
Amidst the chaos, the formation of riders gathered in Dingzhou collapsed in a frontal charge and were drowned out by the Nanzhou people charging in from behind.
Ying Yang and Wu Lie Graud, who had defeated the cavalry at the front, were the first to charge into the enemy's fifty thousand strong army. They were incomparably brave and fierce. They brutally cut the enemy into small pieces, and the troops behind them took advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack.
In one spurt of energy, they attacked forcefully. The Dingzhou army of 50,000 was defeated. Corpses littered the ground. The remaining soldiers cut off their retreat, and most of them fled in panic.
The defeated army fled into a mountain valley. Suddenly they saw grass and trees tumbling down like rain. At the end of the valley, rocks rolled down like thunder, blocking their way.
On both sides of the mountain, thousands of archers emerged, igniting fire arrows and shooting them into the valley. For a moment, flames rose, and tens of thousands of wounded soldiers let out miserable wails that sounded like ghosts wailing and wolves howling in the valley.
They wanted to retreat to the exit, but their path was blocked by their pursuers. Wave after wave of arrows rained down on them, and the people who were begging for mercy fell to the ground in droves.
Tens of thousands of soldiers had nowhere to go and nowhere to go. They were trapped in a sea of fire. The defeated cultivators who had followed the army into battle also carried their commander and fled in panic while being chased by the cultivators of the Great Zen Mountain!
They couldn't run fast while carrying a person, so the fleeing cultivators had no choice but to abandon the enemy's commander and flee.
In the desperate situation, the enemy's commander wanted to protect his family in the capital. He pulled out his sword and committed suicide, but the sword in his hand was shot down, and he was captured alive!
Under the setting sun, in the lingering smoke, at the top of the valley, two cultivators worked together to carry a wheelchair up. Luo Daan, who carried two spears, followed them up the mountain.
Meng Shan Ming, who was sitting in the wheelchair, smelled the smell of burnt corpses and looked at the tragic scene in the valley. He was expressionless. No one knew what he was thinking as he bathed in the light of the setting sun.
Tens of thousands of wounded soldiers begged for mercy and surrendered in the desperate situation, but he didn't accept it. Instead, he gave the military order to kill without mercy!
It wasn't that he was heartless, but the current situation didn't allow him to spend energy on these wounded soldiers. He didn't have enough time, and he didn't have enough speed. He didn't have enough manpower to look after these tens of thousands of wounded soldiers. Once they counterattacked … he wouldn't allow such an accident to happen on the battlefield!
Luo Daan wanted to vomit at the tragic scene in front of him.
Even the two cultivators from the Great Zen Mountain who were carrying the wheelchair felt a chill in their hearts. They peeked at Meng Shan Ming from time to time and found that this person was much more ruthless than them. He killed tens of thousands of people!
In Rongyang County City, the captured enemy commander was escorted outside the city gate. The Southern Prefecture troops that had gathered outside the city shouted that if they didn't open the city and surrender, they would kill all the officials in the city. If they opened the city now, they would let bygones be bygones!
For this decisive battle, almost all the soldiers in the city were used up. There were no soldiers left to defend the city. Knowing that they couldn't defend the city anymore, the defending cultivators fled. The city gate of Rongyang County City opened wide, and the Southern Prefecture Army quickly entered to take over and rest!
While the army was resting, Meng Shan Ming didn't rest. He continued to command the troops in other places to maintain the offensive.
This was the first county city that the Southern Prefecture troops had taken after entering Dingzhou!
The chief of Rongyang County had no choice. He had already been demoted, and his entire family was under the butcher's knife. He had no choice but to order all the county cities under Rongyang County's rule to open the city gates and surrender!
This was the first day of the battle, and also the first day of the battle. Dingzhou and Southern Prefecture had gathered a large number of troops for a direct confrontation, and it ended with Dingzhou's crushing defeat!
This was a battle that happened outside Rongyang County City. Dingzhou's fifty thousand troops faced the Southern Prefecture's thirty thousand troops and suffered a crushing defeat. They were almost completely annihilated. Only around two thousand people scattered in all directions.
When the news spread, it was difficult to estimate the effect on the Southern Prefecture troops. The troops of the court were not a match for the Southern Prefecture troops. Fifty thousand troops faced thirty thousand troops, and they were almost completely annihilated?
Especially when they learned of the tens of thousands of defeated troops that surrendered and were slaughtered, they were all moved!
Some of the cities that were previously hard to attack opened their gates and surrendered in the face of the threat of the Southern Prefecture troops.
The Dingzhou troops that were about to clash with the Southern Prefecture army were all terrified, and their will to resist weakened!
After the Southern Prefecture army learned that they had defeated the enemy with few against many and had annihilated them with few losses, their morale rose greatly!
This was the effect that Meng Shanming needed in this battle. The first victory in a major battle was to boost the morale of the exhausted troops and destroy the enemy's morale!
Another goal was to frighten the enemy into not tangling with them in small groups and force them to pull back and gather their forces. This would allow them to quickly pick up territory.
Only a few people in Nanzhou knew the highest strategic goal on this side. It was not to determine the final victor with the Dingzhou troops. The hidden true goal was to quickly take over as much territory as possible!
This goal could not be exposed to the outside world, otherwise, Dingzhou would certainly think of a way to delay things.
…
The news of the defeat reached the Dingzhou army tent. Inside the newly built tent, Xue Xiao, dressed in battle armor, held the battle report. His hands trembled as he muttered to himself, "How could they lose so badly? Was it Meng Shanming who personally commanded them? Who could stop him?"
Wan Qingyan and Gai Huan's expressions were ugly. It was only the first day of the battle. Not even a day had passed, yet they had lost a county!
Gai Huan suddenly said, "Brother Xue, immediately send another letter to the court and request for reinforcements from the nearby prefectures!"
The victory report reached the Nanzhou Provincial Governor's manor. In the Hall of Heroic Martial, Shang Chaozong and Lan Ruoting looked at each other and laughed loudly as they held the report. The other generals were also overjoyed.
"Fast, they took down a county so quickly. It is indeed fast! Uncle Meng personally taking action is indeed extraordinary. "Shang Chaozong was very carefree.
A general chuckled and said, "Prince, when Commander Meng led the Yan army to shake the world, even the various countries trembled in fear. What does Xue Xiao count for? If Xue Xiao knew that his opponent was Commander Meng, he would certainly be scared out of his wits!"
"Ha ha!" Everyone laughed heartily again.
In another courtyard of the Provincial Governor's manor, Huang Tong quickly entered and found Huang Lie to report the victory.
After hearing this, Huang Lie was also very surprised. He said in shock, "They took down a county in such a short amount of time? With such a large territory, wouldn't it be difficult for the army to cover the entire county in such a short amount of time? "
Huang Tong smiled and said, "To be more precise, including the other counties that have surrendered, it is not just the territory of one county. Supposedly, the scattered areas add up to half a county's territory. Sect Leader, I have to admit that this Meng Shanming is indeed very powerful on the battlefield. He truly lives up to his reputation as a famed general. Once he set out, he was invincible! "
Huang Lie could not smile and sighed softly. "This time, we have been dragged into the water. It would be difficult for the outside world not to think that we are in cahoots with Niu Youdao."
They had originally thought that once the two sides met, they would be at a stalemate for a while until the three large sects intervened. Who would have thought that Dingzhou would not be able to withstand a single blow? This time, it was difficult for them to get off the tiger. They had already fought to such an extent. If Great Zen Mountain pulled back their people now and caused Nanzhou to lose, they would not be able to explain themselves to Nanzhou.
The smile on Huang Tong's face froze. He was silent.
…
"You want me to release him?"
In the Thatched Mountain Manor, Niu Youdao, who was sitting in the pavilion, looked at the news from the court that Shang Chaozong had sent over and laughed coldly.
Shang Chaozong did not have him release him. Instead, he had sent the news to him for him to decide.
The letter was slapped onto the stone table. Niu Youdao: "Write back to the Prince and have the Prince agree to the court!"
To the side, Guan Fangyi said in surprise, "You hung him on the city walls. The court is simply losing face. Right now, they are using the interrogation as an excuse to take him away. When the time comes, the outcome of the interrogation will not be up to us."
Niu Youdao: "After all, Nanzhou is still Yan's Nanzhou in name. Everything has to be done according to the rules. We can't have the Prince publicly defy the edict, can we? Agreeing is one thing, but when to carry it out is another matter. You beat me up and you want me to easily release him? Is there such a good thing? Notify the people in the city. Kill a bunch of the people hanging on the city walls! As for the reason, announce it widely. Say that those people are framing the court and that the court sent them to launch a sneak attack! "
Guan Fangyi shook her head and sighed. This was clearly a slap to the court's face. Not only did they not release the people after receiving the edict, but they also killed people. How could the court endure this?
At this time, Yuan Gang came with a letter and placed it in front of Niu Youdao. "News from Dingzhou!"
"Oh!" Niu Youdao picked it up with interest and read it. Guan Fangyi also quickly walked behind him and put an arm on his shoulder. She bent over and read it with him, clicking her tongue.
"Haha!" After reading it, Niu Youdao laughed happily and shook his head in praise. "As expected of Meng Shanming. Beautifully fought. The progress of the battle far exceeds my expectations!"
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