Traveling the Heavens in Thunderbolt

Chapter 1099: One Battle Shocks the World
Three days before Zhao Yang's army arrived, Xu Fengnian led a thousand Snow Dragon Riders and hid in the valley near Xionghai Pass, waiting for the opportunity.

The time came when Zhao Yang led his entire army to attack Xionghai Pass but failed. They were hungry and tired, and their morale was low. When they returned, the army formation was not as strict as it had been in the previous few days.

In addition, the soldiers were lazy in making fire and cooking.

Xu Fengnian immediately realized that the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived, and immediately led Ning Emei, Yuan Meng, Lu Kang, Li Hanlin and other fierce generals of Beiliang to break into Zhaoyang’s army and head straight for Zhaoyang’s tent.

Everything happened just as Xu Fengnian had expected, with the Zhaoyang army's siege for days and a fierce battle for the whole morning.

Faced with the sudden attack from Beiliang's most elite Snow Dragon Cavalry, there was no time to organize an effective defense.

Xu Fengnian led the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry and easily attacked near Zhao Yang's tent.

Even if Zhao Yang and Gao Shizhi led their elite guards to resist, they were unable to stop the charge of the Beiliang Snow Dragon Cavalry led by Xu Fengnian.

However, the elite Gyeonggi West Army, which was highly expected, was unable to get through due to the obstruction of the rebel army.

Seeing Xu Fengnian was about to attack the front of the tent, Zhao Yang and Gao Shizhi realized that nothing could be done. They could only leave some of their personal soldiers to fight to stop him, while the two of them led a force of less than a hundred people to retreat.

As long as they can escape Xu Fengnian's pursuit and reorganize their defense, there is still a chance to turn defeat into victory.

After all, Xu Fengnian only led a thousand cavalrymen, and even the most elite troops could not defeat a hundred alone.

Once he has caught his breath, stabilized his position and joined up with the Western Army, he can calmly dispatch a large force to encircle and kill Xu Fengnian.

After seeing Zhao Yang and others retreating and the general's tent was empty, Xu Fengnian immediately ordered his cavalry to open the Beiliang flag that had been prepared long ago.

When the soldiers who originally belonged to Hezhou saw the Northern Liang flag flying in the central army tent, they recalled the fear of being defeated by the Northern Liang army before and began to disperse first.

Xu Fengnian took the opportunity to order his soldiers to shout that the commander Zhao Yang and the deputy commander Gao Shizhi were dead.

As a result, the soldiers of Jizhou also collapsed along with the soldiers of Hezhou.

The army was in chaos, with countless casualties.

The elite Western Army was also dispersed by the huge chaotic army, failed to exert any advantages, and joined the defeated army.

Xu Fengnian led his troops in pursuit for more than thirty miles and beheaded more than five thousand people.

At Gaoshuipo in Jizhou, they surrounded the retreating army commander Zhao Yang and deputy commander Gao Shizhi.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Zhao Yang committed suicide facing Tai'an City, and Gao Shizhi was captured.

One of the two commanders was killed and the other was captured, the 120,000-strong army fled, and the Liang army captured 50,000 people.

Xu Fengnian dismissed the prisoners that day and allowed them to return home.

In the Battle of Xionghai Pass, Xu Fengnian defeated Li Yang's army of 120,000 with only 1,000 elite Beiliang cavalry.

For a moment, the whole world was shaken.

After meeting up with Xu Longxiang's Liangzhou Left Cavalry, Xu Fengnian escorted Gao Shizhi into Jizhou.

Jizhou was already depleted of troops due to the departure of Zhao Yang and Gao Shizhi, and the garrison commander received news of the defeat at the front from the soldiers who had been released.

After seeing that Gao Shizhi was indeed captured in front of the Northern Liang army.

Not daring to resist anymore, he led his soldiers out of the city to surrender.

With the surrender of the Jizhou garrison commander, the last barrier to the north of Liyang collapsed, and the Northern Liang army could drive directly to the city of Tai'an.

At this time, people in Tai'an City also received the news that Zhao Yang was defeated and Jizhou surrendered.

Tai'an City is the place where it is most difficult to keep secrets.

The news that the King of Beiliang was about to march towards Tai'an City spread to every corner of the city in less than a day.

Most of the common people in Tai'an City spared no effort to curse the young prince for his treason, believing that once the troops from all over Liyang arrived to support the king, the King of Beiliang would end up dead and his clan would be destroyed.

Unlike the common people in the market, the civil and military officials of the Liyang Dynasty, who were usually high-spirited and domineering towards Beiliang, were unusually silent at the morning court.

Zhao Zhuan asked for a solution, but no one in the court answered. In the end, it was the chief minister Qi Yanglong who came up with a solution.

The Northern Liang cavalry is invincible in field battles, and the only way to stand a chance is to gather troops near the capital and defend the city.

At the same time, Gu Jiantang can be ordered to lead a part of the elite troops from the two Liao states to the south to quell the rebellion.

In addition, the people's support is still with the court, and Liyang must also conduct large-scale military training in preparation for future rebellions.

According to Qi Yanglong's suggestion, Zhao Zhuan issued an edict to transfer elite troops stationed in various places around the capital to the capital.

At the same time, he ordered Gu Jiantang to lead 100,000 elite troops south to quell the rebellion.

No one could have expected that the peaceful and prosperous era of just twenty years would be overturned in one day.

It’s all because of the Beiliang Xu family.

Twenty years ago, Xu Xiao did not choose to divide the country by river. Since then, Liyang has been unified and the world has been stable.

Twenty years later, Xu Fengnian refused the imperial edict and marched across the Central Plains. No one in the vast Liyang could control him.

The fate of Li Yang's country was really as rumored. Without the butcher of the Xu family to help kill people, Li Yang might not be able to keep his official hat.

All the ministers in the court felt extremely humiliated by this result.

For example, Wen Shouren, the head of the Twelve Grand Secretaries, Yan Jiexi, a royal relative, and Jin Lanting, the Minister of Rites.

However, they did not have much time to feel humiliated because the Beiliang Cavalry had already arrived.

Just after Li Yang issued an order to gather the garrisons in the capital and bring them to the capital.

After much difficulty in gathering an army of 50,000 men, they were halfway to Tai'an City when they did not expect the Northern Liang Army to arrive so quickly.

Xu Fengnian led the Beiliang cavalry to intercept and defeat them in one battle.

The Eastern Army, which was known as the most elite army in Liyang, was completely wiped out in this battle.

With the loss of external aid, there were less than 20,000 defenders in Liyang City.

As countless people in Tai'an City were filled with fear, 30,000 cavalrymen from Beiliang arrived at the city.

In the sunlight, the black armor of Beiliang shines brightly.

The Northern Liang cavalry deployed their troops in a strict battle formation, full of murderous intent, like man-eating wild beasts, which made the soldiers in Tai'an City tremble with fear.

Surrounded by the Great Snow Dragon Riders, Xu Fengnian arrived at the city of Tai'an again.

At this moment, he was wearing the black and gold python robe that was sewn by the Beiliang Jinlu Weaving Bureau, riding on the steed Shifachi, looking at the towering Tai'an city walls and the sparse soldiers on the walls, and sneered: "Li Yang, nothing more than that."

Xu Yanbing, who was guarding nearby, curled his lips when he heard this.

In the deep winter of the second year of Xiangfu, soldiers from Northern Liang surrounded the city of Tai'an in Liyang.

"Bring bows." Xu Fengnian did not order an attack on the city, but ordered his personal guards to fetch bows.

The personal guards stepped forward with bows in hand. Xu Fengnian pulled the bow to the full pull and the arrow shot as fast as a meteor, cutting off the large flag on the top of Tai'an City.

While the captain was still in shock, Xu Fengnian's voice came from the city.

The sound was so loud that it could be heard throughout the city.

"Today's events are all to avenge Li Yang's humiliation of my former king of Beiliang. You all go back and tell Zhao Zhuan that according to Li Yang's order, no one is allowed to enter Beiliang."

After saying this, without waiting for the soldiers on the city to react, Xu Fengnian led the Beiliang cavalry away.

Everyone thought that Tai'an City would fall today, and many ministers had secretly written letters of surrender. No one expected that this war would end in such an anticlimactic way.

Xu Fengnian didn't care what the people in the city thought and led the cavalry south.

(End of this chapter)