Chapter 1033: Tong Pass
Chuǎng Wang quickly led his men to the edge of the Dabie Mountains to spy, and sure enough, Lu Xiangheng's Tianxiong Army, which had been tightly encircling them, had withdrawn.
Inside the temporary encampment built by the Ming forces, only Zuo Liangyu remained, still dragging his feet. Even General Zu Kuan and General Luo Dai, among others, had already pulled back.
“Only Zuo Liangyu is left!” Chuǎng Wang rejoiced. “Heaven truly favors us! We can finally emerge from the mountains. Zuo Liangyu is known for preying on the weak and avoiding strong opponents. We still have tens of thousands of men, so he won't seriously engage us. He'll just put on a show and then let us pass.”
Chuang Jiang nodded. “Indeed!”
The Eight Great Kings chuckled. “Heh, we’ve snatched life from the jaws of death now.”
Cao Cao sighed. “Whew! Let’s get out of here, fast. I’m utterly sick of these Dabie Mountains.”
With everyone in agreement, the next question was which direction they should head.
Chuang Jiang furrowed his brow, then said, “I’ve decided to remain in Henan. With Lu Xiangheng gone, the central plains will be sparsely garrisoned by Ming forces, military defenses neglected, and a severe drought is rampant in Henan. It will be easier for us to recruit new soldiers here.”
Several other leaders found his reasoning sound and decided to follow Chuang Jiang.
A few more leaders decided to follow the Eight Great Kings.
Just then, Chuǎng Wang, who had always been something of a mascot and rarely voiced an opinion, surprisingly spoke up. “I want to return to Shaanxi.”
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. “What?”
This was the first time their mascot leader had expressed such a clear opinion. Hadn't he always simply followed Chuang Jiang’s lead?
Everyone stared at Chuǎng Wang in astonishment. Even Chuang Jiang felt a touch of surprise. *Normally, the boss listened to me, always followed my lead. What’s gotten into the boss today?*
Chuǎng Wang declared, “This Battle of Lu Prefecture made me plummet from the heavens straight into the abyss. I thought it was truly over for me, but then the Manchus invaded the passes and came to my aid. I realized then that I am a man destined by Heaven. As long as I face misfortune, Heaven will come to my aid.”
Everyone gasped in stunned silence.
Chuǎng Wang continued, “I no longer want to hide or run. I will act openly and honorably. I’ve decided to return to Shaanxi, first attack Xi’an, establish Guanzhong as my base, and seize the realm.”
Everyone exclaimed, “You’re mad! Can we possibly take Xi’an?”
Chuǎng Wang retorted, “I am a man helped by Heaven! With the Manchus invading the passes, the main Ming forces have all gone to confront them. Xi’an’s defenses will naturally be depleted, so it might be as easy as turning one’s hand over to seize Xi’an. Once Xi’an is in my hands, I will, just like Big Brother Wang Jiayin did back then, declare myself king and establish a royal court and government offices.”
Everyone drew a sharp breath.
Chuang Jiang desperately wanted to tell him: *Wake up, quickly wake up! Don't speak in your sleep while you're wide awake.*
But the man was, after all, his elder brother. Chuang Jiang couldn't speak in a way that would cause his elder brother to lose face, so he could only stand there, his face stiff with awkwardness.
Chuǎng Wang asked, “Who will come with me?”
Everyone collectively took half a step backward.
A few retreated behind Chuang Jiang, others behind the Eight Great Kings. In short, not a single person stood with Chuǎng Wang.
Only Cao Cao remained in the center, still trying to salvage the situation. “Big Brother Chuǎng Wang,” he urged, “please don't be impulsive. It's true that you are destined by Heaven, but even Heaven's will sometimes plays tricks on mortals. Even if the main Ming forces have left, Xi’an still has towering walls and formidable defenses. Even a handful of garrison soldiers and local militia could hold us off. It's simply too difficult for us right now. Let's start with smaller prefectural cities first...”
Chuǎng Wang shook his head. “My mind is made up. Who will come with me?”
Everyone collectively took another half step backward.
Chuǎng Wang stopped trying to persuade them. “If you won't go, I will go by myself.”
He then led his own forces, the largest faction among the roving bandits—a full twenty thousand strong—and separated from the other bandit leaders.
Chuǎng Wang led his army westward out of the Dabie Mountains and plunged into the mountainous region of Yunyang.
The other bandit armies, under the leadership of Chuang Jiang, the Eight Great Kings, Cao Cao, and other leaders, exited the Dabie Mountains from several other directions.
The Eight Great Kings headed toward Sichuan.
Chuang Jiang, however, moved north out of the Dabie Mountains, preparing to travel to Kaifeng.
As soon as Chuang Jiang emerged from the Dabie Mountains, he discovered that Zuo Liangyu was still guarding the area.
He told himself, *Don't be afraid. Zuo Liangyu won't attack us...*
This time, however, he was wrong.
Although Zuo Liangyu was riddled with eccentricities, he wasn't entirely useless. He occasionally fought a tough battle or two. Moreover, Zuo Liangyu's troops mainly hailed from Zhongzhou, all local soldiers.
Local soldiers, after all, had their hometowns to defend!
With a collective roar, the Zhongzhou troops launched a swift, all-out assault against Chuang Jiang.
Chuang Jiang hastily responded to the attack. The two sides clashed from morning until afternoon, but Chuang Jiang couldn't hold his ground. He crossed the Tang River and fled to Tianjiaying. Zuo Liangyu was unexpectedly fierce this time, even crossing the river to attack, utterly routing Chuang Jiang and sending his forces scrambling.
Zuo Liangyu, having won a battle, was filled with pride and quickly reported his achievements to the imperial court.
Unexpectedly, at that very moment, Yang Shengwu submitted a memorial to the imperial court, impeaching Zuo Liangyu for avoiding battle against the bandit army. Emperor Zhu Youjian ordered Zuo Liangyu to make amends through meritorious service.
Zuo Liangyu was furious. “Damn it all!” he roared. “I rarely fight a serious battle, and the court doesn't just withhold rewards; they accuse me of avoiding battle? Is there any justice left? Any law? So this is how they want to play, eh? I'm not fighting anymore! Whoever wants to fight can go fight.”
And so, Zuo Liangyu gave up entirely.
Meanwhile...
Chuǎng Wang Gao Yingxiang, leading his main army of ten thousand men, headed west after leaving the Dabie Mountains. He soon entered the Pingding Mountains, and following the mountain trails for a while, he plunged into the Yunyang region.
The most formidable figure in the Yunyang region was, without a doubt, Luo Xi.
Gao Yingxiang had no desire to provoke Luo Xi, that toughest bone to chew. So, he crossed mountains and ridges, threaded through forests, and continued north through the mountains, marching toward Tong Pass.
Tong Pass.
To its north lay the Wei River and the Yellow River, to its south, the Qinling Mountains. It stood as the strategic choke point of the rivers and mountains, the eastern gateway to Guanzhong.
This place had been a military stronghold since ancient times.
The Ming court, of course, had stationed troops here.
However...
This place had long been brought into Li Daoxuan’s diorama box’s field of view. Several years prior, he had already begun to manage this area. Now, the Tong Pass garrison had all become devoted followers of the Heavenly Lord.
Although they were still officially Ming government troops, in reality, every soldier had undergone ideological training, learned the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention, and all had the Heavenly Lord’s image embroidered over their hearts.
The Tong Pass garrison was welcoming a guest today.
This guest was none other than Sun Chuanting.
It turned out that the veterans of the Yellow Pole Military Academy, due to the Manchu invasion, had all urgently returned to their posts, ready at any moment to launch an attack and meet the Manchus.
All that remained at the military academy were a large group of new recruits, along with Padi Tu and Zheng Gouzi, two veterans whose 'skill points' seemed to have been comically misallocated.
Sun Chuanting carefully considered the situation and decided to simply bring the new recruits out for a military exercise, to familiarize them with mountain warfare.
And so, he, Padi Tu, and Zheng Gouzi, along with hundreds of military academy recruits and two thousand newly recruited militia greenhorns, left Puzhou. They crossed the Yellow River at Fenglingdu and arrived at Tong Pass.
Comments