Chapter 338 Forced Landing! (Thanks to book friends Yunzhong128, 09963 for the reward!)
White Tiger Mountain

"Brother, the brothers have already reached Sandakou!" Jiang Yuan, who was strong and sturdy, walked to Jiang Chong and said happily:

Jiang Chong was delighted upon hearing the news. He waved his hand and said proudly:
"Very good! Let the brothers work harder and capture the three mountains in Sandakou Town. This old man will be finished!"

"Brothers who can defeat Sandaokou will be rewarded with five taels of silver each! Anyone who captures Zhen Sanshan alive will be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver!"

As soon as Jiang Chong said this, the bandits around him were immediately cheered up. As the saying goes, people die for money and birds die for food. Under the temptation of Jiang Chong's huge profits, these desperate men who had already tied their heads to their belts had greedy green lights in their eyes and shouted:

"Charge! Kill Zhen Sanshan!"

"The boss is so powerful!"

"The boss is so generous! I want this one thousand taels of silver!"

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Feeling the high morale of his men, Jiang Chong nodded with satisfaction. During this time he was hiding in Yanjiang County, he dreamed of breaking into Baihu Mountain and capturing Zhen Sanshan alive, but reason told him that this was unrealistic. The only thing he could do was to wait for Zhen Sanshan's revenge in fear and trepidation.

But just seven days ago, his fate was changed by a man named Ye Mingsheng!
After being found by Ye Mingsheng's envoy, although Jiang Chong found it hard to believe that the Fengzhou Army could accomplish such a great event with their limited equipment, under the envoy's emotional appeal and explanation of the pros and cons, Jiang Chong decided to seize the last chance. According to Ye Mingsheng's plan, he secretly led his troops to the vicinity of Baihu Mountain, waiting for the opportunity to launch a sneak attack...

Although it is still somewhat unbelievable that the Fengzhou army of only more than 10,000 people could defeat Lu Zhan'ao and Sun Dahai's nearly 40,000 bandits in one battle, the fact is right in front of him and he can't help but believe it!

Jiang Chong, who initially only wanted to prevent Zhen Sanshan from being killed so as to prevent him from taking revenge on him, was surprised and had some inappropriate thoughts in his heart after learning the news that Lu Zhan'ao and others were defeated.

Although Lu Zhan'ao was defeated, his army was not completely wiped out after all. It would take some time for the Fengzhou Army to deal with him. If he could capture the money and food accumulated by the old man in Baihu Mountain for decades before the Fengzhou Army dealt with Lu Zhan'ao, all the wealth and money would be his!
With this wealth, he can recruit soldiers and horses. Although he cannot defeat the Fengzhou Army in a frontal field battle, with the natural barrier of Baihu Mountain, Jiang Chong can definitely compete with the Fengzhou Army!

When he thought of this bright prospect, Jiang Chong was so happy that he urged his men to launch wave after wave of fierce attacks on Sandakou.

Although Jiang Chongxin had already flown into the main peak of Baihu Mountain at this time, the reality was contrary to his wishes. Although the bandits guarding the main peak were few in number, they were all elite, loyal to Zhen Sanshan, and had a very strong will to fight.

In addition, they had the advantage of geographical location, and their defense was impregnable. Although Jiang Chong's men had been attacking for more than two hours, they still returned without success...
Just when Jiang Chong was dissatisfied with the progress of the attack and was about to lead the attack himself, his brother-in-law Jia Hetong came over anxiously and said:

"Brother, it's bad! Lu Zhan'ao and his men are heading towards Baihu Mountain!"

Jiang Chong frowned and said with dissatisfaction:
"He Tong, what the hell are you talking about in your sleep in broad daylight?"

"Lu Zhan'ao was badly defeated by the Fengzhou Army and trapped in Shenmenling. How could the Fengzhou Army give up the opportunity to beat him up and let him come to rescue Baihu Mountain?"

Seeing that Jiang Chong didn't believe what he said, Jia Hetong became very anxious and even said with a hint of tears:

"Brother, I really didn't lie to you! I saw with my own eyes that Lu Zhan'ao was leading his men towards us. They will be here in half an hour at most!"

Although his heart was full of doubts and puzzlement, seeing his brother-in-law was so sure, Jiang Chong was also a little skeptical, and had a bad premonition in his heart...
"Brother, this is an urgent matter, please make a decision quickly. Otherwise, once Lu Zhan'ao's reinforcements arrive, we will be in trouble!" Seeing that Jiang Chong had not finished speaking, the extremely anxious Jia Hetong could not help but urge him:

Amid Jia Hetong's urging, Jiang Chong asked in a deep voice with a serious expression:
"How many people did Lu Zhan'ao bring back? Is Sun Dahai with them?"

"I only saw Lu Zhan'ao's flag, but not Sun Dahai's. According to the scouts' report, they have about 4,000 people, but less than 5,000!" Jia Hetong thought for a moment and said with certainty:
Hearing what Jia Hetong said, Jiang Chong's gloomy expression eased a little. Although it was beyond his expectation that Lu Zhan'ao could break through the encirclement of the Fengzhou army and return to Baihu Mountain, if there were only 4,000 people, he would not be without a way to deal with it...

After weighing the pros and cons, Jiang Chong immediately ordered:
"Let the brothers of the cavalry gather together. I want a thousand men to follow me to stop Lu Zhan'ao! Tell Jiang Yuan that we must capture the main peak before dark!"

Because the battle of Baihu Mountain was an offensive, the cavalry could not play any role, so although Jiang Chong was very helpless, he had to let his precious Gada dismount and fight. Although this was a bit of a waste of talent, it also ensured that there were sufficient troops to attack the main peak.
Although the situation of Jiang Chong, which was originally in a good situation, has taken a sharp turn for the worse now that Lu Zhan'ao has returned, it has not yet reached the point where Jiang Chong is at the end of his rope. Although the terrain around Baihu Mountain is not particularly flat, it is enough for Jiang Chong to exert the power of his cavalry.

Therefore, Jiang Chong believed that he could lead a thousand cavalry to stop Lu Zhan'ao. By then, as long as Jiang Yuan gave some help and captured the main peak of Baihu Mountain, he, Jiang Chong, would still be the winner with the last laugh...
The resolute Jiang Chong acted as soon as he said it, without any hesitation. After a thousand cavalrymen were assembled, he led them to fight against Lu Zhan'ao.

Jiang Chong had a good idea. In the next five hours, he relied on the high mobility of the cavalry in his hands to harass and restrain Lu Zhan'ao's troops who came back to support him, and successfully delayed Lu Zhan'ao's troops. Unfortunately, it was not known whether Jiang Chong overestimated the ability of his brother Jiang Yuan, or underestimated the resistance will of people like Sanshan in the main peak.

In short, the result was that Jiang Yuan launched several fierce attacks, suffered thousands of casualties, but still could not get beyond the line, and the three passes were still firmly in the hands of the enemy.

At night, in the camp.

Looking at Jiang Yuan kneeling on the ground and crying bitterly, although Jiang Chong was filled with anger, he could not bring himself to kill his brother who was from the same mother and had been with him for decades. He could only sigh and helplessly fell on the chair...
After two days of fierce fighting, nearly two thousand of the five thousand troops who followed him to attack Baihu Mountain have been killed. There are still more than a thousand people guarding the three mountains in the main peak, and there are four thousand people of Lu Zhan'ao outside the mountain. He now has no chance to completely capture Baihu Mountain.

Not only that, things have come to this point, what he should consider now is how to retreat safely!

Just when Jiang Chong was feeling extremely heavy-hearted, Lu Zhan'ao sent someone to find him and told Jiang Chong about Ye Mingsheng's plan, hoping that Jiang Chong would stop. As long as Jiang Chong withdrew his troops now, Lu Zhan'ao swore to heaven that he would never make things difficult for him.

After listening to the other party's story, Jiang Chong finally understood why Lu Zhan'ao was able to come back so unexpectedly...
Under the gaze of the envoy, Jiang Chong thought for a while and then sighed. Just when the envoy was happy and thought that Jiang Chong had finally agreed to withdraw his troops, Jiang Chong waved his hand and ordered his men:
"Catch him and chop him up!"

The messenger died before he could understand what was happening. His head was chopped off by Jiang Chong's men. "Brother, why did you do this?" Seeing that Jiang Chong had killed the messenger directly, Jia Hetong asked in confusion:

In his eyes, since Ye Mingsheng was plotting against them, why should they be used as a gun by Ye Mingsheng? At worst, they could retreat back to Yanjiang County and watch Ye Mingsheng and Zhen Sanshan fight.

Jiang Chong smiled bitterly and shook his head and said:

"We don't have our own lives in our own hands now. If we leave now, we will offend the Fengzhou Army. The Fengzhou Army has killed Zhen Sanshan, and they will also deal with us. Zhen Sanshan resisted the Fengzhou Army, and in the end he will retaliate against me!"

"So once we withdraw our troops, we will be in trouble both inside and outside..."

After hearing this, Jia Hetong suddenly realized and said admiringly: "Brother, you are really thoughtful!"

"But if we don't retreat now, what should we do now?"

Jiang Chong instructed:

"Among our brothers, you are the most eloquent. Take this head to find Ye Mingsheng and tell him that I, Jiang Chong, am willing to hand over Baihu Mountain to him. I only ask that he can let us live!"

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One day later, in Qilipu, in the Fengzhou military camp.

After listening to Jia Hetong's story, Ye Mingsheng looked at the head for a while, then turned to look at Jia Hetong who was standing beside him with a respectful expression and said with a smile:

"Master Jiang is too modest. I have agreed with him to join forces to deal with Zhen Sanshan. We should see it through to the end. As long as we defeat Zhen Sanshan, I am willing to share Zhen Sanshan's wealth with Master Jiang."

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Jia Hetong, who was sent here, suddenly felt depressed. After Jiang Chong explained everything to him, he didn't understand that this young man with a smile that made people feel happy was
In fact, he is a hypocritical smiling tiger who eats people more than bones. Now he agrees to share the property of Zhen Sanshan with you, but I am afraid that he will swallow you up with your skin and bones...

So Jia Hetong carefully considered his words, bowed to Ye Mingsheng and politely refused:
"The Fengzhou army under your command is really powerful. As long as the army reaches Baihu Mountain, it will surely win the battle. We brothers are just a motley crowd. When the time comes, we will only be a hindrance and delay your work!"

Seeing Jia Hetong being so humble, Ye Mingsheng smiled and shook his head. He was too lazy to act anymore and said calmly:

"My 2,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry vanguard troops have already arrived at the Shenmenling area. Another 10,000 troops will arrive at Baihu Mountain one after another. Without my order, no one can leave Baihu Mountain now!"

When Ye Mingsheng said this, Jia Hetong's face suddenly turned pale and he reluctantly said;
"Master Ye, what do you mean? We brothers have always been respectful to you and have never been negligent..."

Ye Mingsheng sat on the chair and said with a smile:

"I know exactly what Master Jiang is thinking, but I really admire Master Jiang's talent!"

"You are not doing it right now. You are living in the open air and are in fear. Although I am not talented, I am willing to take the title of seventh-rank commander. What do you think, Mr. Jiang?"

Ye Mingsheng said it so bluntly that Jia Hetong did not understand what Ye Mingsheng meant. He smiled bitterly and bowed his hands, saying:
"Sir, we brothers are used to living a carefree life, and I'm afraid we can't stand the constraints of the official army..."

Seeing that the other party was so ungrateful, Ye Mingsheng's face gradually turned cold and he said in a cold voice:
"You are wrong. This vast world is the king's territory, and all the people are his subjects. Although you may be happy and carefree as kings, it is not the right way after all! When the world is united, how can we allow you to continue to bully the people and bring disaster to the village and get away with it?"

"And if I heard correctly, Jiang Da Dang once accepted Xing Dalin's offer of amnesty, and he is also a seventh-rank commander. Why does he think that my temple is too small to accommodate such a big Buddha?"

Before Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, Jia Hetong was already sweating profusely and didn't know what to say.

Seeing Jia Hetong's cowardly look, Ye Mingsheng knew that he couldn't make the decision, so he said:

"Go back and tell Jiang Chong that I have given him the way! Now it depends on whether he will take the Yangguan Road or insist on going his own way across the Dumen Bridge!"

"Although Ye is dedicated to doing good and does not want to commit more crimes, if someone is stubborn and refuses to change his ways, I am willing to follow the example of my predecessors and show my compassion with thunderbolts!"

"That's all I have to say. Take care of yourself!"

After he finished speaking, Ye Mingsheng waved his sleeves, and the personal soldiers around him escorted the distraught Jia Hetong out.

When Jia Hetong returned to Jiang Chong, he found that Jiang Chong could not withstand the double-sided attack from Zhen Sanshan and Lu Zhan'ao and was forced to withdraw from Baihu Mountain. Baihu Mountain was once again under the control of Zhen Sanshan.

After losing the bargaining chips with Ye Mingsheng, Jiang Chong was still unwilling to give in. However, under the strong attack of Fengzhou Army, he knew that he would die if he resisted, so he lost the courage to resist. After hesitating for a long time, he was finally forced to accept Ye Mingsheng's conditions, surrender to Fengzhou Army and bow down to Ye Mingsheng...

(End of this chapter)