The several large camps of the Chuzhou Army stationed inside and outside Liyang City began stirring like water droplets falling into boiling oil before noon.

The camps bristled with forests of blades and spears, banners flapping fiercely.

Seeing Wang Wenqian rush back from Yangxian with his forehead wrapped in white cloth, bloodstains still seeping through, Zhao Zhen asked with concern: “Lord Wang, what happened to you?”

“The horse ran too fast and the carriage overturned on a stone. Fortunately, no serious harm was done.” When Yin Peng learned of the unusual movements of the Chishan Army, he and Wang Wenqian were in Yangxian and rushed to Liyang without stopping, suffering considerable hardship along the way.

The last time Wang Wenqian rode a fast horse, the flesh of his thighs had been chafed raw and bloody, taking nearly a month to heal. This time Yin Peng had specifically arranged for a carriage hoping to make Wang Wenqian slightly more comfortable, but unexpectedly Wang Wenqian kept urging the driver to go faster throughout the journey. The carriage wheel hit a stone and overturned, though fortunately only his forehead was cut and there were no major injuries.

Wang Wenqian had no time for such trivial matters and asked Zhao Zhen: “What news has come back from the Langxi direction?”

“The main force of the Chishan Army’s First Division—six thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry—is assembled at Nantang Stockade with no unusual activity. However, the Third Division’s nine thousand infantry, along with Han Qian’s personal guard battalion and over two hundred cavalry, all advanced to the walls of Langxi City before noon. Yesterday afternoon, for some unknown reason, Gu Zhilong suddenly led his elite household guard away from Langxi and returned to Xuancheng,” Zhao Zhen rapidly relayed to Wang Wenqian the intelligence reports that had been compiled at his location. “At this moment, at Honglin Pier south of Langxi City—that is, at the post road pass between Magu Mountain and Shifo Mountain connecting Xuancheng and Langxi—as well as at Baima Gully ten li north of Honglin Pier, our scouts have discovered over a thousand Chishan Army officers and soldiers active there…”

“Although we don’t know why Gu Zhilong suddenly led his elite personal guard away from Langxi, Han Qian must intend to assault Langxi City in order to establish his foothold in Guangde and Langxi!” Seeing that the camp had already prepared for a full army mobilization, Wang Wenqian said to Zhao Zhen: “General Zhao, no matter what, you must lead your troops to break through the Chishan Army’s blockade along the Nantang Stockade line. We absolutely cannot allow Han Qian to capture Langxi City! Otherwise, the situation on the southern front will completely collapse!”

Zhao Zhen knew what tremendous pressure the southern front would face if Langxi City fell into the hands of the Chishan Army, but thinking of another possibility, he asked hesitantly: “Lord Wang has sent people to see Gu Zhilong in Langxi several times, only to be refused outside the city walls. Could Gu Zhilong have secretly submitted to Yueyang long ago and set up some trap with Han Qian waiting for us to step into it?”

Gu Zhilong’s inexplicable departure from Langxi City with his elite personal guard, combined with Han Qian’s unexpected decision to gnaw on the hard bone of Langxi—how could Zhao Zhen not worry that this might be a trap set by Han Qian and Gu Zhilong to lure them in?

According to Zhao Zhen’s thinking, they should wait until the Chishan Army and Xuanzhou Army had fought each other bloody at Langxi City, and after confirming there was no deception involved, then consider deploying troops.

“Gu Zhilong has been holding out for the highest bidder all this time—he has absolutely no reason to suddenly conspire with the Chishan Army to deceive us out of seven or eight thousand troops at this point,” Wang Wenqian said decisively. “By the time you and I lead our forces out of Liyang and reach Nantang Stockade, it will be nearly dusk. By then the forward scouts will have sent back definite news about whether Han Qian is truly attacking Langxi City or feinting! We absolutely cannot sit and wait in Liyang, wasting half a day—then no one will know which direction the situation will evolve!”

Zhao Zhen thought about it and agreed. If he really waited in Liyang City for definite news before leading troops out, it would delay them at least half a day. For the Chishan Army, having an extra half day might make it possible to capture Langxi City now that Gu Zhilong and his elite household troops had been transferred away.

At that point, attacking the Chishan Army with Langxi City to defend would be far more difficult.

After the Jinling Incident, Gu Zhilong had devoted himself to managing Langxi City as the northern gateway of his Xuanzhou territory, with extremely abundant stockpiles of grain and military equipment. Once the Chishan Army captured Langxi City, plus being able to harvest autumn grain from within Guangde and Langxi territories in another month, they would very likely be able to endure through the Chishan Army’s most difficult period.

Thinking about how formidable the Chishan Army with thirty thousand troops would be after weathering the most difficult times, Zhao Zhen’s heart turned cold in waves.

That would directly mean all their strategic plans since crossing the river would fail completely, and they might even be forced to retreat back north of the Yangtze River.

Zhao Zhen dared not delay any further. He immediately transmitted orders for all camp commanders to break camp and depart at once, advancing south along the official road to reinforce Langxi—they absolutely could not allow Han Qian’s schemes to succeed.

Wang Wenqian changed to another carriage and accompanied the army.

“How could Gu Zhilong possibly make such a fatal error?” Though Yin Peng also trusted Wang Wenqian’s judgment, he was utterly baffled as to why Gu Zhilong had suddenly taken his elite household guard away from Langxi and what exactly had happened in Xuancheng.

Whether or not Gu Zhilong’s household guard was in Langxi City made a world of difference in defensive capability.

Yin Peng truly doubted whether Langxi City without Gu Zhilong’s household guard could withstand the Chishan Army’s assault any better than Shangjia Fort.

“How should I know?” Wang Wenqian spread his hands, anxiously gazing at the distant mountain ridges to the south.

Fortunately, this question did not trouble Wang Wenqian, Zhao Zhen, and Yin Peng for long. A messenger sent by Gu Zhilong to request aid fought his way through the Chishan Army’s blockade and came before Wang Wenqian, presenting Gu Zhilong’s letter requesting assistance.

“This fellow is truly ruthless!”

Reading Gu Zhilong’s explanation in the letter, Wang Wenqian, Zhao Zhen, and Yin Peng all gasped. Though utterly perplexed as to why Gu Zhilong would so easily leave Langxi City, they had never imagined that Han Qian had actually used his grandfather, second uncle, and others as bait to lure this tiger Gu Zhilong away from the mountain.

“The Chishan Army stationed at Nantang Stockade has completely left the stockade and formed battle lines. What should we do?” At this moment, the vanguard commander sent someone galloping back to report.

“Kill our way through!” Zhao Zhen said without hesitation.

Since the garrison at Nantang Stockade had completely left the stockade and formed battle arrays, they had no way to go around and could only rout this Chishan Army unit defending Nantang Stockade to open a passage for reinforcing Langxi City and joining with the Xuanzhou troops.

It was truly hateful—the Chuzhou Army had lost over two thousand elite cavalry and nearly three thousand sturdy warhorses to Han Qian on the southern front. Otherwise, they could have assembled three or four thousand elite cavalry and bypassed the Nantang Stockade garrison’s interception at much greater speed, directly charging toward Langxi City.

Of course, no matter what, this battle had to be fought and won.

Since the Jinling Incident, the Chuzhou Army had repeatedly sent people to contact Gu Zhilong, but Gu Zhilong had consistently remained ambiguous, holding out for the highest bidder.

If they could win this battle, not only would they thwart Han Qian’s schemes and severely damage the Chishan Army, they would also win Gu Zhilong’s allegiance. The situation for the Chuzhou Army since crossing the river would take another great leap forward after this battle.

Reinforcements from Jintan, Danyang, and Yangxian would take one to one and a half days to reach the battlefield, but even if the Huzhou troops remained inactive, the Chishan Army forces on the eastern front would take at least a day and a half or even longer to reach the battlefield.

On the battlefield west of Jieling Mountain, the Chishan Army had only six thousand five or six hundred men. Even if the First Division was elite, there were limits to how elite they could be—after all, they had only about a thousand veteran soldiers, and the other troops had only experienced one or two bloody battles, with half still fighting with broken long bamboo poles and crude rattan shields.

Behind Zhao Zhen stood eight thousand Chuzhou Army elite troops.

As long as they didn’t dither back and forth like at the Battle of Shangjia Fort, ultimately allowing Han Qian to seize the advantage, Zhao Zhen believed that if he dared to risk everything in this fight, the odds of victory could not possibly be low.

At this moment Zhao Zhen was like he’d been injected with stimulants. He told Wang Wenqian to remain in the rear to supervise the battle while he led the central army’s four thousand troops to join with the vanguard division, personally beating the war drums to launch an attack on the Nantang Stockade garrison.

……

……

The battle on the southern side of Honglin Pier erupted first.

Honglin Pier was originally quite an important market town located between Langxi and Xuancheng, a necessary passage for merchants traveling between Xuanzhou-Shezhou and Huzhou-Hangzhou. Since Honglin Pier produced paper and stone inkstones that were quite famous and sold in places like Huzhou, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Runzhou, local commerce was extremely prosperous and wealthy. However, the surrounding mountain ridges harbored bandits, so the wealthy households contributed money and men, maintaining a trained force of three hundred militia year-round for defense against bandits.

When Zhao Wuji led four hundred cavalry to the southern side of Honglin Pier at dawn, the town’s three hundred-plus militia were startled but, unable to grasp the situation, huddled inside the town without daring to deploy. The militia even connected several large household compounds in the town, using obstacles to block nearby alleyways, forming a small fortress.

By noon, over three hundred cavalry came charging from the valley path at the southwest foot of Shifo Mountain, attacking the defensive line Zhao Wuji and his men had hastily established at the pass. Seeing an opportunity, the three hundred-plus Honglin Pier militia emerged from the town to attack from behind.

“Everyone mount up, advance north to break the Honglin militia. Han Donghu, no crossbows allowed, but remember we only have one incense stick’s time to defeat the Honglin Pier militia!” Zhao Wuji took the composite bow from his back and held it horizontally before him, shouting loudly.

Zhao Wuji completely disregarded the Xuanzhou troops clearing obstacles at the pass to the south, ordering the four hundred cavalry who had rested for half a day and recovered some strength to all mount up for battle. Led by Han Donghu, they charged toward the Honglin Pier militia attacking from behind.

They had no conditions for defensive warfare. The deer antlers, chevaux de frise, and other obstacles they’d constructed during the half day and placed in the pass couldn’t block for long—currently only three hundred-plus Xuanzhou cavalry had arrived from the south, but as long as Gu Zhilong was unwilling to give up such an important bargaining chip as Langxi, more and more Xuanzhou troops would soon come charging from the south. They could easily advance while clearing these obstacles behind raised shields.

If they formed defensive arrays at this time, besides defending against enemy troops breaking through from the front, they would also have to resist attacks launched by the Honglin Pier militia from the north—being caught between two forces would be even worse.

Once a stalemate formed, in the short term they would only have about a thousand infantry reinforcing from the north, while Gu Zhilong could transfer seven or eight thousand troops from Xuancheng—could they hold out that long, until the Third Division’s main force captured Langxi City?

They had to use the most devastating methods to exploit the slight time difference and defeat the Honglin Pier militia and Xuanzhou troops attacking from north and south separately. Only then, when defending the pass afterward, might things become slightly easier.

The Honglin Pier militia saw that the Chishan Army entering the southern pass at dawn numbered few, and now a large force of Xuanzhou troops was coming from the south. They launched their attack from the north—first because the Xuanzhou cavalry commanders had sent scouts climbing over the ridges requesting their cooperation in the attack, and second because they thought they could reap great benefits. How could they have imagined that the Chishan Army cavalry at the southern pass would completely ignore the Xuanzhou cavalry coming north through the gorge from the south, instead surging toward them like raging waves…