Chapter 829: Advancing Together

"General, Ashuer's army has been discovered ahead; Zhongling Pass has fallen." While Xiao Cheng was still immersed in despair and unable to pull himself out, a cavalryman hurried over.

"Zhongling Pass has also fallen!" Xiao Cheng was startled.

Because Zhongling Pass faced the Prince's Personal Army of Yan Wang, Ashuer and Aersiji had been dispatched to defend it.

He, meanwhile, was defending against the slightly weaker Qin Army.

This Jian Pass is to the north, and Zhongling Pass is to the southeast; the distance between the two passes can be covered by infantry in just two days.

Because he and his personal guards fled on horseback, they arrived at Zhongling Pass in just one day.

Originally, he had intended to go to Zhongling Pass to inform Ashuer that Jian Pass had fallen.

He had not expected that Ashuer would also be defeated; how could he not be shocked?

However, while shocked, he also felt a sense of relief.

If even Ashuer was defeated, then no one could blame him for being defeated as well.

It was not that they were unable to fight, but that the Yan King Army was too strong.

Thinking of this, he said, "Catch up with Ashuer's army and head to Jiameng Pass together."

Having said that, he urged his warhorse forward and headed south.

Half an hour later, he caught up with Ashuer.

Seeing Xiao Cheng, Ashuer sighed, but they said nothing.

The two led the remnants of their defeated troops to continue their journey.

Three days later, they arrived at Jiameng Pass.

They gathered their troops once more to prepare for another battle.

Yancheng.

The battle reports from Chang Wei and Ma Han had also arrived one after another in the hands of Zhao Xu.

The two had captured their respective passes just one day apart, which greatly pleased him.

With Jian Pass and Zhongling Pass in hand, Jiangbei was safe and secure, and there was no need to worry about being harassed.

This battle,

meant he controlled all the gateways to Jiangbei.

From now on, it would only be him taking the initiative to attack, not others; Jiangbei could develop in peace.

As for whether to press the advantage, he felt it was also necessary.

Since ancient times, the region of Yizhou has had many passes due to its many mountains and treacherous terrain.

The outer passes are Jian Pass and Zhongling Pass.

These two passes were built at the mountain passes; breaking through them allowed one to enter the mountain roads leading to Yizhou.

Jiameng Pass, on the other hand, is at the end of the mountain roads and is an important pass for stepping into the plains.

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Ma Chao once fought a great battle against Zhang Fei there.

This Ma Chao had come south from Hanzhong, preparing to enter Yizhou from Jiameng Pass.

By capturing Jiameng Pass, he could overlook the entire Yizhou plain.

However, Chang Wei mentioned in his letter that Ashuer had burned the grain and fodder when he retreated.

This point also reminded him.

After capturing Jiameng Pass, he would face the problem of grain and fodder.

After all, Chang Wei had been fighting with Jingzhou at his back during this time, so there was no need to worry about grain and fodder at all.

But heading to Jiameng Pass and going deep into Yizhou required considering this issue.

At that time, he feared it would be unavoidable to use laborers to transport grain.

But doing so would inevitably exhaust the people and drain the treasury.

Therefore, he began to hesitate about whether to prioritize taking the grain-producing region of Yizhou.

Conquering Yizhou would certainly cause the powerful clans to collapse faster.

But the cost incurred would also be very high.

Because compared to Yizhou, Jiangnan is easier to transport grain through by water, and the cost of war is much lower.

Furthermore, there is another point: if the fleet is to head south to Luzon or even Malacca, it needs to establish supply points along the southern coast.

This is also a pressing matter at present.

"Why not advance on both fronts?" Zhao Xu suddenly thought of something and could not help but smile.

The Qin-series rifles had fully proven their immense power in this war.

They fought the powerful clans' armies like adults bullying children.

Since the advantage was his, why not adopt a bolder strategy and end the war in Jiangnan as soon as possible?

Thinking of this, he sent orders to Chang Wei and Ma Han respectively.

He had Chang Wei transfer 30,000 men to Ma Han, allowing Ma Han to assemble 80,000 men.

The remaining Prince's Personal Army would be deployed to Jinling to capture other cities in Jiangnan.

As for the problem of grain and fodder, if it really came to it, he would just have to conscript laborers for transport.

Otherwise, if the war in Jiangnan dragged on, the manpower and material resources consumed would be even greater.

Having made up his mind, Zhao Xu's gaze became resolute.

This period of time was enough for the Westerners to spread the news of his rise in Dongtu to their respective countries.

The Western world would soon react.

He did not want the powerful clans to receive further support from the Western world.

Otherwise, if a massive amount of manpower and material resources are poured into a civil war, the ones who will ultimately laugh are the Westerners.

……

Britain.

Just as Zhao Xu had predicted, with the arrival of a Steamship from Tianzhu, a huge Bolan was stirred up in London, the capital of Britain.

The next day, a huge black headline appeared prominently on the London Daily: The yellow devils from the East have destroyed the great Tianzhu fleet, war is coming!

Newsboys waved the Newspaper in their hands, constantly shouting this sensational headline through the streets and alleys.

The streets of London were flowing with carriages and horses, and people attracted by the voices of the newsboys kept paying money to buy copies of the Newspaper.

The newspapers that the newsboys usually could not finish selling in a day were bought clean in just one morning.

Standing on the street corners, the people of London could not wait to understand everything that had happened in Dongtu.

Reading that their fleet had been destroyed and that Tianzhu was facing a threat, someone shouted: "It is time to use guns and cannons to teach these Dongtu natives a lesson; blood debts can only be repaid with blood debts!"