Chapter 997: Zhougong Mountain
Jia Mountain, in an unnamed valley.
Zuo Liangyu, listening to the shouts of battle around him, felt a wave of despair.
He hadn't expected that he, such a fierce and powerful man with his elite troops and numerous generals, would actually be defeated by a mere rebel force.
What kind of rebel force was this formidable? They actually knew how to strategize, and their tactics were incredibly cunning. Feigned retreats, luring the enemy deep, laying ambushes, encircling forces—the entire plan unfolded with seamless precision.
Their utilization of Jia Mountain's terrain was simply textbook-perfect.
How could these be mere rebels?
They were more organized than government troops.
The moment Zuo Liangyu entered the mountains, he was relentlessly pinned down and harassed. After several days of this relentless struggle, he still hadn't managed to escape.
At every valley entrance, every ravine mouth, his men desperately searched for a way to break through, but found none. The rebels had ambushed every possible escape route.
All around them, shouts of battle echoed from every direction, and one voice boomed repeatedly through the valley: “Zuo Liangyu, come out and face your death!”
“Zuo Liangyu, you kill innocents to claim merit, harm the common people, betray your comrades, hoard troops for your own power, and disobey imperial orders... A man like you is more of a bandit than I am! Why don’t you just die already?”
“Zuo Liangyu, stop hiding! Come out and let your grandpa chop off your dog’s head!”
Listening to these voices, Zuo Liangyu let out a long sigh. “I can’t escape,” he murmured. “So be it. This place, today, will be my grave.”
With a swift flourish, he drew the treasured sword from his waist and held it to his throat.
Just as he prepared to press down with force...
Suddenly, the rebels’ shouting ceased.
Zuo Liangyu was greatly astonished. His sword, no longer pressing into his neck, froze mid-air.
An eerie silence persisted for a long moment.
Then, from the mountaintop, a chorus of men’s voices boomed in unison: “Zuo Liangyu, where are you? Commander Zu Kuan is here to save you!”
Zuo Liangyu was overjoyed. “Zu Kuan! It’s Zu Kuan’s voice!”
The soldiers in Zuo Liangyu’s army quickly shouted in unison: “General Zu, we are here!”
After a short while, Zu Kuan’s men made their way into the valley.
Zuo Liangyu was ecstatic. “General Zu, how did you get in? Didn’t the rebels stop you?”
Zu Kuan replied, “The moment I arrived, the rebels withdrew.”
Zuo Liangyu was utterly puzzled. “Why? They were so ferocious when fighting me, but the moment you appeared, they left? Didn’t they even fight you?”
“Why ask me?” Zu Kuan retorted. “Who am I supposed to ask? Never mind that, as long as you’re safe. Let’s move, quickly, we need to reinforce Luzhou.”—
Outside Luzhou City...
Luzhou was no small city; it was a renowned city with a thousand years of history.
Zhang Liao once instilled fear at Xiaoyao Ford here!
Yet now, it lay at the very heart of conflict.
Seventy-two rebel factions, numbering hundreds of thousands, their camps stretching for ten li, encircled Luzhou City.
The vast rebel army deployed over ten large cannons, randomly bombarding Luzhou City.
Inside the city, soldiers and civilians trembled, grimly holding on, awaiting the arrival of imperial reinforcements.
Chuǎng Wang Gao Yingxiang sat regally in his main camp, watching his artillerymen intermittently shell the city walls.
These artillerymen weren’t common vagrants; they were soldiers who had defected from various garrisons. However, their cannon skills were still abysmal, with a long interval needed to reload after each shot.
Even so, Gao Yingxiang felt immensely pleased.
How weak the rebel armies used to be! He recalled how, in his youth, when he followed his elder brother Wang Jiayin to attack Hequ County in Shanxi, the Shanxi Regional Commander had simply deployed two cannons and scattered them completely.
But now, times had changed. He commanded over ten large cannons, and even had his own artillery battalion.
Gazing at his army of hundreds of thousands, complete with arquebusiers, artillerymen, and all sorts of strange siege weapons, Gao Yingxiang felt a surge of pride and complacency, as if the world was already his for the taking.
“Report!”
A messenger rushed over, announcing, “Cao Wenzhao’s Guanning Iron Cavalry is drawing closer to us.”
Chuǎng Wang frowned. He disliked hearing those two names.
But the Dashing General, standing behind him, spoke up. “Which route are they taking?”
The messenger reported, “They are coming from the west and will soon reach Zhougong Mountain.”
The Dashing General mused, “Zhougong Mountain, you say? I recall sending two of our brothers to hold that position.”
“Yes, sir,” the messenger confirmed. “You left Commanders Meng Hu and Du Hu to guard Zhougong Mountain.”
The Dashing General smiled. “Then there’s no problem. Meng Hu and Du Hu have two large cannons at their disposal, and they hold the high ground on Zhougong Mountain. Cao Wenzhao’s Guanning Iron Cavalry, formidable as they are, may not be able to take Zhougong Mountain.”
In the past, rebels would wet their pants at the mere mention of the Guanning Iron Cavalry.
Back when Wang Jiayin declared himself king in Hequ County, it was Cao Wenzhao, leading the Guanning Iron Cavalry, who breached the city walls.
But times had changed. Now, when rebels heard the Guanning Iron Cavalry was coming, they no longer needed to fear.
The Dashing General commanded, “Intensify the siege! Meng Hu and Du Hu will hold off Cao Wenzhao.”—
Zhougong Mountain.
Cao Wenzhao had set out ahead of Gao Jie and Bai Yuan, and had arrived near Luzhou earlier. However, Zhougong Mountain, looming ahead, had forced him to halt.
The rebels on the mountain had no intention of concealing themselves. They brazenly raised their banners on the mountaintop, displaying two large characters for “Tiger.”
When Cao Wenzhao’s army reached the western foothills, the rebels neither fled nor hid. Instead, they sent hundreds of taunters to the peak, who collectively hurled insults down at the foot of the mountain: “Cao Wenzhao! How did you like being showered with arrows last time? Have you recovered from your wounds, only to come seeking death again?”
Cao Wenzhao mused aloud, “Last time, the arrows were clearly fired by the Dashing General’s forces, not yours.”
Cao Bianjiao, his nephew, said, “Uncle, is that really the point? They’re taunting us, trying to provoke us.”
“Oh?” Cao Wenzhao responded, a touch of genuine surprise in his voice. “Is that so? They don’t even know who shot me, and that’s supposed to anger someone?”
Cao Bianjiao was speechless.
The rebels on the mountain screamed themselves hoarse, but failed to infuriate Cao Wenzhao. They hadn’t expected him to completely miss the point.
“We need to get to Luzhou, so this mountain must be taken,” Cao Wenzhao declared after consulting his map. “If we ignore these rebels on the mountain and proceed directly to Luzhou, we risk being attacked from behind by them while engaging the rebels there.”
Cao Bianjiao nodded. “Uncle, you hold the line; I’ll lead the assault on the mountain.”
Cao Bianjiao was a fierce general in his own right. He rallied his contingent of troops and prepared to charge up the mountain.
But then, the rebels on the mountaintop guffawed loudly, and wheeled out two large cannons. From the slopes, a large number of arquebusiers emerged, wielding all sorts of chaotic firearms, including bird-guns and Three-Eyed Arquebuses, while a large group of rebels prepared repeating crossbows in ambush...
Cao Bianjiao froze.
“Come on, come and get us!” the rebels jeered, laughing boisterously. “Before, you were the ones bombarding us with cannons. But things are different now! Go on, if you dare, come and get us!”
Cao Wenzhao frowned. “These rebels,” he muttered, “they’re getting harder and harder to deal with...”
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