Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2326 Zong Ze's End, Shaking Guandong

In the first month of the sixth year of the Yuanshi era, Yangxi Road.

At this time, Zong Ze's troops had been without food for many days.

They ate everything they could find, from tree bark to wild grass.

They even dismantled the iron plates from the leather armor, cut them into pieces, boiled them in water, and gnawed on them bit by bit.

Even Deng Qiang and Guo Ziyi, who had been surrounding him from the outside, were shocked by Zong Ze's tenacity.

However, with their food supplies completely cut off, Zong Ze and his men finally couldn't hold on any longer, and in the last half month, large numbers of deserters have appeared.

Even Zong Ze couldn't change this situation.

Even the most skilled cook can't cook without rice; no matter how great a general is, they're helpless without food!
Completely at his wit's end, Zong Ze did not wait for Deng Qiang and Guo Ziyi to launch their final offensive. He took the initiative to send his deputy general with the remaining troops to surrender, asking them to leave him a way out.

He himself faced northwest and committed suicide.

From then on, the last remaining resistance force in Yangxi Road was completely defeated.

After that, Deng Qiang and Guo Ziyi did not go to join Li Jing, but instead, under Li Jing's orders, headed east to cooperate with Yue Fei in attacking Jiang Chaoyu.

Since Jiang Chaoyu has recklessly declared war on the Han Dynasty,

So, if everything goes smoothly on all fronts, why not try to bring Yangdong Road under our control as well?

In March of the sixth year of the Yuanshi era, as winter was beginning to pass and the snow on the ground was showing signs of melting, the armies of Li Jing, Chang Yuchun, Xue Rengui, and Feng Yi, after a whole winter of rest and recuperation, began to rush towards the last two regions of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Guandong and Guanxi.

Zhao Kuangyin's army, which once numbered 600,000 at its peak, has now dwindled to a mere 250,000.

Zhao Kuangyin knew that the Guandong region, facing an attack from four directions by more than 400,000 Han troops, had no chance of being defended unless all his troops were brought in.

If all the troops were committed, and any problems arose, the Song Dynasty could be declared extinct.

After discussing with his advisors Chu Zhaoye, Zhao Pu, and others, he ultimately decided to focus the defense on the Guanzhong region, rather than the Guandong region.

The two routes, Guandong and Guanxi, got their names because Tianmen Pass separates them.

Compared to the Kanto region, where there was no chance of recovery once a problem arose, the Kansai region not only had the formidable Tenmon Pass as its support.

Moreover, the Kansai region was the stronghold that the Zhao family had built up over hundreds of years, and its foundation in all aspects was incomparable to that of the Kanto region.

However, the Guandong region should not be easily abandoned. Even if it is not intended to be the center of defense, it should be used as much as possible to weaken the Han army.

Therefore, although Zhao Kuangyin and his two trusted advisors, Chu Zhaoye and Zhao Pu, had decided to abandon Guandong Road after discussing the matter, they still outwardly appeared to be determined to resist.

Furthermore, the court mobilized the powerful families of Guandong and spread false information that the Great Wu was about to send a large force to aid them. This gave these families hope, making them willing to contribute manpower and resources to cooperate with the court in defending Guandong.

Of the twenty-five Song troops, Zhao Kuangyin only selected seventy thousand of the weaker fighting forces. He scattered them and mixed them with the men gathered by aristocratic families and the temporarily recruited able-bodied men. These men were then stationed to guard the cities along the Guandong Road. However, by scattering the seventy thousand regular troops and combining them with these hastily assembled aristocratic family soldiers and civilian laborers, using a mentorship system, these men could indeed quickly develop a certain level of fighting capability.

However, facing the Han army of more than 400,000 men attacking from four directions, although it could cause some trouble for the Han army, the actual impact was very limited.

Chang Yuchun, Feng Yi, Li Jing, and Xue Rengui were all masters of conquering cities and seizing strongholds.

On the eleventh day of the third month of the sixth year of the Yuanshi era, Li Jing led 20,000 cavalrymen, bypassing the two southern prefectures of Guandong Road, and launched a surprise attack on Zhao Yanhui, a general of the Song Dynasty.

Arcuonius killed Zhao Yanhui in battle and also killed Sima Qingrou, a strategist of the Song army.

Although Li Jing did not kill many enemy soldiers in this battle, he severed the connection between the two southern prefectures and the other prefectures.

If either of these two armies were to retreat, they would fall under the watchful eyes of Li Jing's troops, who could then send out troops to intercept them.

Therefore, the two southern prefectures are already in Xue Rengui's grasp as he is advancing steadily.

Xue Rengui lived up to expectations, conquering the two prefectures in less than a month.

Subsequently, all 212 aristocratic families in these two prefectures who supported the Zhao Song dynasty in organizing clan troops to resist were exterminated.

Following this, rumors circulated that he, in his capacity as the Grand General, declared that all the powerful families who had helped the Song dynasty resist would be exterminated without mercy.

However, those who promptly realize their mistakes and return to the right path, assisting the Han dynasty in suppressing the stubborn resistance forces supporting the Song dynasty, will be pardoned for all past transgressions.

When the news of the two southern counties spread, the entire Kanto region was shocked.

Two hundred and twelve aristocratic families—that number would probably wipe out all the aristocratic families in these two prefectures.

Upon hearing this news, all the other prominent families in the Kansai region felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them, and this cold water also served as a wake-up call for them.

The threat of death, with the entire family, young and old, being forced to travel together, completely enveloped them.

Upon receiving this message, some people were still hesitant to make a decision at first, as they were still being dangled in Zhao Kuangyin's false information and waiting for reinforcements from the Great Wu side.

As long as reinforcements from Da Wu arrive, they still have a chance.

After all, compared to the national policies of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty's policies were undoubtedly far less attractive to them.

However, as Feng Yi, with Bai Qi as his vanguard, swept through the two southern prefectures while Xue Rengui was pacifying them, he also broke through the two eastern prefectures in one fell swoop.

Feng Yi and Bai Qi made the same decision as Xue Rengui, completely slaughtering the hundreds of aristocratic families in the two prefectures who had organized clan armies to resist.

Neither Xue Rengui nor Bai Qi were ruthless. When it came to killing, even massacring, they wouldn't blink an eye.

However, at this time, the reinforcements from Da Wu had not yet arrived, and there was not even a message from them.

The remaining powerful families in the Guandong counties were in complete panic. They even realized that Zhao Kuangyin had deceived them because there was still no news of reinforcements from Da Wu. They began to hysterically curse Zhao Kuangyin.