weaving

Chapter 1438 The Scales Have Tilt

“Of course we’ll attack Zhuxian Town,” Zhang Guodong said decisively.

Yang Shijie asked excitedly, "Shall we fight now?"

"Okay. Let's fight now."

"Great, that's great!" Yang Shijie turned to leave, shouting, "I'm going to gather the men."

“Oh, second brother-in-law, there’s no need to be in such a hurry.”

After stopping Yang Shijie, Zhang Guodong turned to Chen Zheng and said, "General Chen, in order to ensure the speed and concealment of our march, most of the supplies of my Qinglong Battalion have been left at the Liuzhuang camp. The attack on Zhuxian Town will depend entirely on the power of our Baihu Battalion's artillery."

Chen Zheng waved his hand and said, "Of course, the soldiers have been itching to get going for a while. Let them have their fun. I'll give the order to the chariot battalion brothers to speed things up right away."

After instructing his personal guards to relay the order, he said to Zhang Guodong, "Zhuxian Town is a crucial supply point for the rebels. If we take it, I reckon the rebels will find it difficult to hold out in Kaifeng."

"When the time comes, I'll have the gunners bombard them mercilessly, blasting all the cannons out of the depot at once, which will ease our transportation burden."

“Alright.” Zhang Guodong agreed wholeheartedly, then asked, “I saw many starving people coming out of Xiangong Temple. Are they insisting on bringing them out so as not to stay in the camp there, thus delaying our assembly and attack?”

"Sigh. They're all starving civilians captured on the battlefield. When they saw our army leaving the camp, they cried and begged to leave with us. I guess they're afraid the rebels will come back to retaliate against them," Chen Zheng replied.

"In that case, I think we should temporarily settle them here in Jinzhai and not take them to the front line in Zhuxian Town, lest something unexpected happen!"

"Okay, let's do it according to Guodong's wishes."

"Oh. There's one more thing." Zhang Guodong suddenly remembered something.

"Anything else?"

"Just now, the rebel general Liu Zongmin sent troops to attack, trying to retake the pass that was occupied by our army. We have defeated them all and even turned one of the rebel generals to join the imperial court."

"Return to the imperial court?" Chen Zheng asked with suspicion, "What do you mean by that?"

"Ha ha……"

Zhang Guodong explained to him: "This man is named Yang Yanchang. He was originally a general under Liu Guoneng, known as 'Chuang Tatian'. He served as the deputy commander-in-chief of Ye County. After Ye County was captured by the rebels, Yang Yanchang was deceived by them and led his men to join the rebel army."

This time, we were ordered by Liu Zongmin to attack. Fortunately, Liu Jinhai was there to plan things. He personally went into Yang Yanchang's camp and showed him a letter written by Liu Guoneng's wife and eldest son. He also told him the truth about the tragic deaths of Liu Guoneng and his youngest son.

Only then did I persuade Yang Yanchang to set things right and come under my command.

"Oh. So, Yang Yanchang still has loyalty and righteousness in his heart."

“Indeed, this man truly possesses loyalty and righteousness.” Zhang Guodong said, leaning closer to Chen Zheng’s ear and whispering, “Even ‘Master Hai’ speaks highly of him.”

"Hmm." Chen Zheng nodded and asked, "Where is Yang Yanchang now?"

“He’ll wait outside the camp. I’ll summon him to pay his respects to General Chen.” Zhang Guodong said, and then ordered someone to summon Yang Yanchang.

Taking advantage of Yang Yanchang's absence, he brought up another matter...

It turned out that Zhang Guodong had just received a report that another group of government troops had been discovered north of Xiangong Temple. Although he had not been able to make contact with them, he guessed that they were very likely Lao Wei's men.

"Old Wei's men?" Chen Zheng asked, his eyes gleaming. "You mean Old Wei's Tengshe Camp has also come here?" "I'm not sure yet, but it's pretty much a done deal."

"Hmm. According to what you said, the commander-in-chief is facing the rebel army of tens of thousands of men and is unable to spare troops to Xiangong Temple. Therefore, the government troops to the north must be the Tengshe Camp of Zhice."

"No rush, as long as it's government troops, I estimate that a definite message will be sent back before midnight."

"Alright, let's move the wagon camp to Jin Kui Li's place first. Half of the infantry will go there to garrison it, in case Gao Yigong sneaks into our wagon camp. As for the cavalry, they will stay here at Jinzhai to set up defenses for the time being, and then go to Jin Kui Li tomorrow morning."

"Okay, it's settled then."

…………

August 2nd, early morning.

The sun had barely risen above the horizon when Jinzhai was already bustling with activity.

The officers and soldiers, dressed in their best armor, marched in formation, one group after another heading southeast.

Meanwhile, in Jinzhai, many more starving people appeared, their clothes tattered and thin. They hunched over, gazing at the departing army with eyes full of reluctance.

Tears even welled up in the eyes of some starving people and the elderly and weak in the village, wetting their cheeks and clothes. They hoped in their hearts: "If only these good soldiers could stay forever!"

At this moment, Chen Zheng, Zhang Guodong, and others were on a high ground outside the village entrance, watching the marching procession with great excitement.

"Guodong, Liu the blacksmith's men are all around Sunjialou. They're obviously heading back to reinforce Zhuxian Town. Can you hold them off with only two commanders left?"

Zhang Guodong looked at Chen Zheng and said meaningfully, "The key to this battle is not Sunjialou, but Zhuxian Town. As long as you can capture Zhuxian Town, a crucial supply point for the rebel army, the outcome of the battle in Kaifeng will be decided."

As for me, you don't need to worry. Although I might not be able to defeat Liu the Blacksmith, I believe I can hold him off for a day or two."

Chen Zheng was filled with respect. He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "In that case, I will go ahead and go to Jin Kui Li to oversee the attack on Zhu Xian Town. As for Jinzhai, I will leave it to Guo Dong to take care of it."

"Chen Zheng, take care!"

"Guodong, take care!"

…………

Zhang Guodong and Chen Zheng were unaware that Xu Jinyong, the deputy general of Weiyuan Camp, was leading elite cavalry from Shanxi and Datong on their way, while Wei Zhice's elite Tengshe Camp had already approached the vicinity of Sunjialou.

According to the strategy agreed upon by Chen Zheng and Zhang Guodong, Zhang Guodong would lead two thousand-man headquarters to set up defenses along the route from Jinzhai to Jinkui Li to prevent Liu Zongmin's bandit army from returning to Zhuxian Town; Chen Zheng would then command the Qinglong, Baihu, and militia forces, totaling more than 10,000 troops, to launch a full-scale attack on Zhuxian Town.

This move, though somewhat risky, is the only option now that things have come to this.

It can be said that once the great battle begins, it will be a fight to the death. Zhang Guodong's military orders were to take advantage of the chaos to rescue Chen Zheng's White Tiger Battalion, and then join forces to attack Zhuxian Town, so that the enemy army could not attend to both front and rear.

As for Wei Zhice's Tengshe Battalion, its main mission was to contain Liu Zongmin in the north.

Originally, no one expected the battle to go so smoothly. They actually managed to cut down the rebel leader's banner, forcing him to retreat, which in turn led to Liu Zongmin dividing his forces. This completely tied down the rebel leader on the battlefield, preventing him from sending troops to rescue Zhuxian Town.

It can be said that the balance of the entire battlefield has begun to tilt in Zhang Cheng's favor!