Chapter 69: Road of Carnage (Part 2)

  Those forbidden troops only felt a flash in front of their eyes, a sharp pain came, and soon lost consciousness. Blood splattered out, Yang Zai Xing's expression remained unchanged, continuing to charge towards the next escaping enemy. The silver gun lightly pointed, blood slid down from the tip of the gun, dripping onto the ground. The enemy troops around Yang made way for a vacuum area, no one dared to provoke this killing god. Yang Zai Xing gave an icy smile, wherever there were more people, he charged towards that direction. With a large spear opening and closing, all nearby enemies became souls under his gun.

  Yang Zai Xing took the lead, leaving the Changsheng Army far behind. More than a dozen of Yue Wang's men were shocked and furious in their hearts. This "Cheng Yaojin" who suddenly appeared halfway was extremely fierce, with no one able to withstand him for even a single move. Every move of his took someone's life. The eyes of more than a dozen people intersected, forming a circular formation, attacking from both sides. Yang Zai Xing had already discovered the abnormality on this side, but he just smiled coldly and casually sprinted two steps forward, catching up to an escaping mountain bandit. The bandit's pupils shrank as he swung his knife at Yang Zai Xing. Yang Zai Xing's body swayed slightly, easily avoiding the bandit's powerful slash. Suddenly, Yang Zai Xing's silver spear stabbed forward, and the bandit in front of him was instantly pierced through. Fresh blood flowed slowly from the wound.

  Yang Zai Xing's gun barrel seemed to be one of the few made from rare minerals, and it didn't even have a single drop of blood on it, instead it shone brighter. Yang Zai Xing indifferently pulled out his steel gun, the mountain bandits were constantly fleeing, the big fire had already burned away their morale, let alone they were forced to come here, now all they could do was escape with their lives.

  More than a dozen of the Yue king's men had split into two groups, approaching from both sides to surround Yang Zai Xing. Suddenly, everyone's weapons were swung towards Yang Zai Xing's body, and it was clear that the Yue king's men had bloodthirsty intentions in their eyes, eager to chop Yang Zai Xing into a thousand pieces immediately. Without lifting his head, Yang Zai Xing swung his spear from under his armpit, crouched down, stretched out his palm, and spun the spear in his hand before stabilizing it on his back. The dozen or so men's weapons quickly fell onto the spear, producing a metallic clashing sound.

  Yang Zai Xing suddenly stood up, his palm changing in strength, the long spear spinning in his hand like a dragon playing with water. In an instant, it broke through the waves, and these waves were the necks of over ten people. Fresh blood gushed out from a seam, some wounds were cut very deep, almost beheading them, causing instant death. Those who had shallower wounds had blood flowing out from a fine seam on their necks. Some tried to press down on their wounded necks, but it was useless. The pressure only made the blood flow faster. The remaining survivors, coughing up blood, groaned in agony as the blood flowed down from their necks, dyeing the ground red. Soon they too died from lack of breath.

  One of them was lucky and wasn't injured by Yang Zai's gunfire. It turned out that this person had been a step slower when he came forward to surround Yang Zai earlier, and now seeing his companions all killed, he was so frightened that he trembled all over and fell to the ground. Yang Zai walked towards him with his long gun, the only survivor among more than ten people under Yue Wang's command. Zhao Can coldly smiled, looking at the man sitting on the ground as if he were an ant.

  That man suddenly turned over and fled to a distant place. Yang Zai-xing watched the fleeing soldier with a playful expression, picked up a broken blade from the ground and threw it at the soldier. With a "ting" sound, the broken blade was inserted into the back of the fleeing soldier. The soldier's whole body trembled slightly due to pain, his legs softened and he knelt down, then his eyes turned black and he fell forward, with fresh blood flowing out through his armor.

  Yang Zai Xing glanced at the fleeing mountain bandits and flew towards them, followed by the soldiers of the Changsheng Army who were also shocked. Along the way, the bodies of the mountain bandits could be seen everywhere. Yang Zai Xing was indeed powerful, single-handedly killing his way out of a bloody path. Although the mountain bandits had already lost their courage and retreated, their desperate counterattack was more ferocious than usual enemy forces in battle. In the army, the strong were always respected, and Yang Zai Xing's training of his soldiers was extremely harsh, with many complaints from the soldiers about this parachuted leader of the cavalry unit. However, after this battle, it is believed that opposition to Yang Zai Xing will largely disappear.

  Zhao Kan looked at the defeated mountain bandits and sneered in his heart, thinking that he had set an ambush here but was instead driven back by a big fire. Zhao Kan looked at Zhang Yue standing beside him and praised: "General Zhang is indeed as wise as dust, using the fire attack to defeat the enemy army, you should be the first to take credit."

  Zhang Yue was the young scholar who had previously refused a marriage arranged by his family and joined the army. He was skilled in both literary and martial arts, and had achieved great merit while defending Yanmen Pass, repeatedly defeating the Jin army through clever tactics, earning the trust of Zhao Yun. This time, when rescuing Taiyuan City, Zhao Yun personally appointed him to follow the army, and Zhang Yue did not decline, but went willingly.

  Zhang Yue said, "This is all thanks to Your Highness's early judgment that there were ambushes on both sides of the mountain cliff. General Yang's bravery surpasses the three armies, and only then did we have this victory. The first achievement belongs to Your Highness, the great achievement belongs to General Yang, and I am just following the trend and giving suggestions."

  Zhao Song smiled and said: "General Zhang doesn't have to be modest. I dare ask, what should our army do next?"

  Zhang Yue said: "Based on my observation, it would be better to send soldiers to surround and ambush at the foot of the mountain first. With a pincer movement, we can achieve greater results. I have observed that most of the people who set up ambushes for our army are mountain bandits, but they rarely attack government troops. There must be someone behind the scenes directing them. In the long run, if I were the one directing from behind the scenes, I would definitely set up more ambushes in other places and suddenly attack after both sides have clashed, which would certainly yield even greater results."

  Zhao Kan couldn't help but feel a sense of awe, this Zhang Yue was indeed born to lead troops. From very minor details, he could infer the entire situation with great accuracy. Such an enemy is the most terrifying, because no matter how hard you struggle, they will defeat you with the most rational methods. However, Zhao Kan still couldn't quite see through Zhang Yue's true nature and needed to observe him for a while longer. If he harbored evil intentions, not even Sun Wu could save him.

  Zhang Yue did not know what was on Zhao Yan's mind, and slowly said: "I still hope that Your Highness will quickly dispatch someone to investigate the enemy's hiding place within a hundred miles, so that our army can make early preparations."

  "General Zhang, I'll give you 5,000 soldiers. Set up an ambush at the foot of the mountain where Yan Fei will descend, and annihilate all enemies on the mountain." Zhao Yi ordered.

  "Yes sir." Zhang Yue led his troops away after receiving the order.

  Yang Zai Xing, who was charging forward on the mountain, encountered trouble. The mountain bandits, who were fleeing in a hurry, found that the road down the mountain was not only rugged but also very narrow. As they crowded together, many people fell off the cliff, which instead stirred up their desire to survive and their ferocity. Knowing it would be death, they refused to let the other side get away easily. Summoning their courage, they charged towards Yang Zai Xing with reckless abandon. The pressure on Yang Zai Xing grew greater and greater. Although he was continuously harvesting the lives of the mountain bandits, more and more were rushing up, causing him great frustration. Occasionally, arrows and hidden projectiles flew in, making Yang Zai Xing both angry and annoyed. With a single horizontal sweep, Yang Zai Xing killed three people close to him, but could only retreat while fighting, forced to fall back down the mountain.

  At this time, the Gongsheng Army rushed up from behind, and a rain of arrows fell, with thousands of arrows firing at the same time. Many mountain bandits fell to the ground in a pool of blood. If Yang Zaixing had slowly covered them, the bandits' will to resist might have been much smaller. Fortunately, the combat power of both sides was clearly not on the same level at this time, and the bandits had long since lost their morale. The complete annihilation of the mountain bandits was only a matter of time. If it were two armies with equal strength, the outcome would be uncertain.

  When hunting, if you are chasing some large animals and surround them to attack, the beast's combat power will immediately soar by 30%. This is a desire for survival, which will trigger the determination to fight to the death in their hearts. Therefore, hunters often let the prey be constantly injured and bleeding, and then follow and drive them away, until the prey dies of unnatural causes.

  The same desperate beast is also a big taboo for the military, so Sun Tzu's Art of War says that when attacking a city, you should surround it with three sides and leave one side open to defeat the enemy. If not, the defenders will be stirred up to fight to the death, and it will cost a heavy price to take the city. The city of Taiyuan is a good example. The Jin army surrounded the city of Taiyuan, cutting off all access, and the defenders were determined to fight to the end. If the Jin army had understood the strategy of surrounding on three sides and leaving one side open, some of the defenders would have retreated from the gap left behind, weakening the defending forces and their will to resist. They could also have set up an ambush nearby, and if the Jin army had done so, perhaps the city of Taiyuan would have fallen long ago.

  Chen Manke gazed at the defeated soldiers, being slaughtered by Yang Zaixing's men, his heart aching. Most of these people were poor civilians who had been forced to become bandits due to the imperial court's oppression. Now, his heart was icy cold, and he allowed his guards to drag him down the mountain. Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, thousands of soldiers suddenly emerged from both sides of the road, with Zhang Yue riding at the front. Looking at the demoralized bandits, he said indifferently, "Those who surrender will be spared."

  Chen Manke looked at Zhang Yue riding on horseback and trembled with voice: "Are you Xiao Yu's son?"

  Zhang Yue's heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice, and he carefully looked at the source of the sound. When he saw Chen Manke's face flushed with excitement, he immediately jumped off his horse and ran to Chen Manke's front, excitedly saying: "Uncle Chen, it has been more than three years since we last parted."

  Chen Manke also excitedly smiled and said: "Little Yuexi is becoming more mature." Suddenly, Chen Manke thought of the current situation and grabbed Zhang Yue's sleeve, urging him: "Quickly stop the imperial army behind, hurry up!!"

  At this time, Yang Zaixing led the Changsheng Army to kill not far away. Zhang Yue was shocked and immediately called on the soldiers behind him to charge towards Yang Zaixing's soldiers. The 5,000 troops led by Zhang Yue protected the mountain bandits behind them. Yang Zaixing stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "What do you think you're doing? Don't you quickly get out of my way?"

  Zhang Yue clasped his fists and said: "General Yang, they are also ordinary civilians who were forced to flee to the mountains. They have already surrendered, I hope General Yang will spare their lives."

  Yang Zai Xing said in a low voice: "Your Highness's order is to annihilate all enemies on the mountain, Zhang Yue I respect you as a man, don't ruin your future."

  Zhang Yue angrily said: "This General Yang does not need to worry about it."

  Yang Zai Xing said coldly: "If you can defeat me, I will spare these people's lives."

  Zhang Yue took over the long gun and said: "Please instruct General Yang."

  The two men stared at each other, waiting for the other to reveal a weakness, and the battle would erupt in an instant.