Chapter 431 There is no way to retreat, fight to the death!
The palace capital, Ryugyong.

In the east camp of the city, in Wang Kangxin’s tent, Wang Kangxin and Shen Jianzhong sat opposite each other. No one spoke. Both of them had extremely serious expressions. The atmosphere suddenly fell into a deathly silence...

Time passed second by second, and Wang Kangxin finally couldn't help but look at Shen Jianzhong and said:
"Sato Kaga, aren't you willing to help me this time?"

Under Wang Kangxin's gaze, Shen Jianzhong shook his head and said bitterly:
"It's not that he doesn't want to help, but things are a little out of his control now!"

"Kobayakawa Takahide took refuge with Ye Mingsheng. With Ye Mingsheng's help, she has returned to the palace. Sato Kaga initially thought that the situation was under control and wanted to play the long game and catch a bigger fish. He wanted to wipe out the remaining forces of Kobayakawa Takahide in the Black Dragon Society, so he did not deal with it immediately."

“But no one expected that he would go so far. When he wanted to close the net, he found that Kobayakawa Takahide had already united a lot of people. Even Sato Kaga himself was almost killed by Kobayakawa Takahide…”

Hearing what Shen Jianzhong said, Wang Kangxin's expression became even more gloomy and he said in a deep voice:

"Do you know who is colluding with Kobayakawa Takahide?"

After saying this and looking at the fierce look in Wang Kangxin's eyes, Shen Jianzhong knew exactly what he wanted to do, and said helplessly:
"I don't know where Kobayakawa Takahide got a list of the Black Dragon Society's hidden agents in the imperial court, so now many people have been caught by her. Moreover, the Fengwu Army is gaining momentum, so in order to avoid being liquidated by the Fengwu Army, they all sided with her!"

"We know some of these people, but there are others we don't know. I don't recommend you to take action now. There are already undercurrents in your new army in Gongdu. If you start killing people now, it is very likely that you will directly detonate the powder keg!"

"Yuan Song's First Division is already very close to Ruishan County, and not far from Liujing. If you can't quickly eliminate them, once Yuan Song gets the news and leads his troops to Liujing City, everything will be completely over!"

After hearing Shen Jianzhong's analysis, Wang Kangxin nodded slightly, knowing that his idea was a little ill-considered. He was really in a dilemma now. The people in Gongdu were alienated from him. It was God's blessing that it had not erupted yet. If the Fengwu Army was really allowed to reach Liujing City, there would definitely be a lot of people who wanted to surrender the city...
It is simply impossible to retreat to the south and give Liujing to Ye Mingsheng. Many of his new soldiers in Gongdu are from the northern and central parts of Gongdu. How many people can follow him if he runs to the south?
Now he has fallen into the trap carefully set by Ye Mingsheng and is in a desperate situation where he is almost dead. If he wants to survive, he can only fight his way out of the sea of ​​blood and corpses!
Thinking of this, Wang Kangxin couldn't help but show a hint of cruelty in his eyes, and said to Shen Jianzhong resolutely:

"Since I can neither defend nor retreat, I might as well fight Ye Mingsheng!"

"I really don't believe it. My 50,000-man army can't defeat Ye Mingsheng's division!"

Shen Jianzhong said with some concern:
“Yuan Song’s First Division is a bait carefully arranged by Ye Mingsheng. Now, although Guo Zhiping and his 30,000 men seem to be planning to capture Wanfeng Prefecture, as long as we send troops to Ruishan County and want to swallow up Yuan Song’s First Division, they will definitely abandon Wanfeng Prefecture and rush to support Yuan Song and gather their main forces to kill us…”

Wang Kangxin sighed and said:

"I know that Yuan Song is a bait. But there is no other way now. If Yuan Song's First Division shows up at the gates of Liujing, I'm done for!"

"But as long as I can wipe out Yuan Song's First Division before Guo Zhiping and his men arrive, I can boost morale and appease those damned Gongdu people, letting them know how powerful I am and stop them from surrendering to Ye Mingsheng!"

Hearing what Wang Kangxin said, Shen Jianzhong thought about it and nodded. This was the only last resort left.

The reason why the people of Gongdu want to surrender to Ye Mingsheng is largely because the Fengwu Army is now too powerful and the Gongdu army is defeated on all fronts. If Wang Kangxin can achieve a great victory at this time, the situation may take a big turn for the better!
Ye Mingsheng was too arrogant this time. In order to lure Wang Kangxin into the trap, he let Yuan Song advance alone. As long as he could destroy Yuan Song’s First Division before their reinforcements arrived, the current situation might change drastically. Not only would he be able to change the current desperate situation, but he could even make Ye Mingsheng pay the price for his arrogance and arrogance...
Realizing this, Shen Jianzhong became alert and quickly searched the map. After a cup of tea, his eyes were focused on a place called Xiaozhengling on the map.

Pointing to the coordinates of Xiaozhengling on the map, Shen Jianzhong said to Wang Kangxin very seriously:

"If you want to take the shortest route from Wanfeng Prefecture to Ruishan County, you must take Xiaozhengling! If you don't take Xiaozhengling, it will take at least three more days. So if Guo Zhiping wants to quickly support Yuan Song's First Division, he will definitely take Xiaozhengling!"

"Based on the speed of the Fengwu Army, it will take about five days to get from Wanfeng Prefecture to Ruishan County. If you, General Wang, can select a good general, lead a group of elite soldiers, and deploy Xiaozhengling in advance to block Guo Zhiping's troops, then you can get more time!"

Before Shen Jianzhong finished speaking, Wang Kangxin's eyes were already focused on Xiaozhengling. After listening to Shen Jianzhong's words, Wang Kangxin was already moved. He knew very well that Yuan Song's First Division was the trump card of Ye Mingsheng's Fengwu Army. His Gongdu New Army was definitely no match for it in a one-on-one fight. However, Yuan Song had at most 20,000 men under his command, while he had 50,000 men...

Twenty thousand cannot beat twenty thousand, but Wang Kangxin is quite confident that fifty thousand can beat twenty thousand, so the only thing left is a matter of time!

It takes five days to travel from Wanfeng Prefecture to Ruishan County. If Guo Zhiping can be stopped at Xiaozhengling for another five days, he will have ten days to swallow up Yuan Song!

Ten days is neither long nor short. If things go well, it will be enough for him to make a comeback and use the head of Ye Mingsheng's number one general to vent his anger, thus collecting the interest from Ye Mingsheng's conspiracy against him!

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. Wang Kangxin made up his mind, nodded heavily and said:

"Then let's do it! Liujing is left to you, Lord Shen!"

Although the two of them didn't get along well on weekdays, when facing Ye Mingsheng's threat, Shen Jianzhong knew very well that he and Wang Kangxin were brothers in the same trench. If Wang Kangxin died, he wouldn't live long either. So in the face of Wang Kangxin's entrustment, Shen Jianzhong also promised very seriously:
"General Wang, you can go without any worries! As long as I, Shen Jianzhong, am alive, Liujing will not be in chaos!"

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Twenty miles southwest of the palace capital Ruishan County, a Fengwu army of about 3,000 soldiers is advancing towards Ruishan County!
"Sir, I think Cheng Dabiao's injury is very serious this time. I heard that the higher-ups are going to send him back to Fengzhou to serve in the reserve..." The personal soldier Chen Gongquan came up to Ye Dong and said in a low voice;

Ye Dong paid no attention to the gossip of his personal soldier and glanced at the woods on both sides of the road. Although he had sent scouts to patrol here, Ye Dong was still a little worried. After all, this was a good place to set up an ambush.

At this time, because the commander-in-chief Cheng Dabiao's old injury relapsed and he was unable to manage the affairs, Ye Dong, the deputy commander, temporarily took over the position of commander and assumed the task of being the vanguard of Yuan Song's first division.

Seeing Ye Dong didn't say anything, Chen Gongquan continued:
"It's a great thing that Cheng Dabiao was injured. Originally, this commander position would not have been his. If the commander-in-chief was not still angry, with your merits, you would have been more than qualified to be a commander!"

"Last time when it came to rewarding people for their merits, the Governor-General suppressed you for a while. I think the Governor-General won't be so petty this time..."

"Snapped!"

Before Chen Gongquan could finish his words, Ye Dong whipped him hard in the face with a horsewhip, with such force that Chen Gongquan almost fell off his horse!

"General, you have been so kind to me. Without your cultivation, my bones would probably be buried in that mass grave. Let alone letting me be a deputy commander, even if you let me be a soldier, I will still devote myself to you until my death!"

"You bastard, you dare to make up stories about the commander-in-chief in front of me. You really don't know how to live or die. If you do that again, I will pull out your tongue! I will kill you!"

Holding the horse whip, Ye Dong cursed at Chen Gongquan viciously:
Although the scars on his face were extremely painful, Chen Gongquan, who was scolded, did not dare to say anything and could only nod and say:

"I know I was wrong and I won't do it again. Thank you for sparing my life!"

As he was the vanguard of the army and had a heavy burden on his shoulders, Ye Dong did not continue to waste time and energy on Chen Gongquan, and shifted his attention back to the bushes on both sides of the road...

As time passed, Ye Dong and his troops were getting closer and closer to Ruishan County. They could even vaguely see the city wall of Ruishan County. Looking at this familiar scene, Ye Dong couldn't help but feel many emotions in his heart!

The last time he came to Ruishan County, he was just an ordinary soldier of Ye Mingsheng. All he wanted was to follow Ye Mingsheng and work hard, obey the old lady's orders to protect the young master's safety, and then strive to get a position in the army. It would be best if he could be a sergeant like Chen Yannian who was in charge of hundreds of people and bring honor to his family.
Then, after making some money and returning to his hometown in Liaoyang, he would build three big tiled houses and marry a beautiful new wife. If possible, like Wang Laocai in the village, he would marry a concubine. The two of them would live a happy life together. Finally, they would have a few fat boys to carry on the family line. With a wife, children and a warm bed, his life would be complete.

At that time, he had no idea that a few years later, he would not only realize all his original wishes, but also go a step further and become the commander of thousands of people!

What he didn't expect was that the young master who used to scheme for connections had suddenly soared to become the overlord of Liaoyang Governor-General...

Although his status and position have increased countless times compared to before, Ye Dong still hasn't forgotten his roots. He knows very well who gave him all that he has now!

Just when Ye Dong was feeling overwhelmed with emotion, the sound of hurried footsteps beside him brought him back to reality.

"What happened?"

Seeing the scouts who were sent out riding their horses hurriedly rushing towards him, Ye Dong immediately realized that something was happening and asked immediately;
The scout spoke before he could catch his breath:
"Reporting to the Lord, we just encountered several palace scouts on the small hill ahead. They are very different from the palace soldiers we encountered before. They are very powerful. Two of our brothers died. It took a lot of effort to kill them!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Dong asked with concern:
"Did you catch the tongue?"

The scout introduced:

"We originally caught one, but he was seriously injured and has died..."

Listening to the scout's words, Ye Dong couldn't help but frown slightly, and looked at the scout in front of him. The scouts undertake the most dangerous tasks of an army and often face life and death tests. Many times, not many people died in the war, but a new batch of scouts were replaced. Therefore, in this environment where there is today but no tomorrow, the scouts are very united and believe in tooth for tooth and eye for eye!

Two brothers died this time, and out of venting their anger they would not let the other party survive!
Feeling Ye Dong's gaze, the scout quickly continued:
"Although he is dead, before he died, he confessed that he was a member of the Gongdu New Army. The Gongdu New Army has sent an advance team of 5,000 people, who are heading towards Ruishan County and will arrive soon!"

Ye Dong's expression suddenly became serious after hearing this. Although the Fengwu Army's combat plan was kept absolutely confidential, for middle-level generals like them, they could still get a glimpse of it and know a thing or two!

Therefore, Ye Dong knew that the combat goal of their First Division was to lure the new troops of Gongdu out of the fortified city. And if the intelligence gathered by the scouts in front of him was correct, the combat goal of their First Division might have been achieved!
Glancing at the scout with a warning look, Ye Dong said in a deep voice:
"I don't care what method you use, you'd better find me a few living people. I want to interrogate them personally..."

(End of this chapter)