Chapter 860: The Severed Head

Night fell, and a full moon hung in the sky, dyeing Jiangxia in a silvery white.

The air was still permeated with the smell of gunpowder, but the sound of guns and cannons in Jiangxia had long since ceased, and the entire city had grown quiet.

Zhao Xu had washed up and was pondering over a map, thinking about how to take Changcheng.

At this moment, Chang Wei knocked and entered.

"Your Highness, good news. Ma Han and Lv Chang have successfully taken Jiameng Pass. Following orders, they are temporarily stationed at Jiameng Pass and have not ventured deep into Yizhou, continuing to await Your Highness's orders." Chang Wei handed a battle report to Zhao Xu.

"Hmm, very good. The battles on both fronts are proceeding very smoothly. In this way, in two or three months at the shortest, or half a year at the longest, the internal strife of the Great Song will be over," Zhao Xu said.

He judged that from the time the Western Lands received the news to the time they made judgments and deployments, it would take at least half a year.

This coincided with his plan.

By the time the Westerners arrived in Tianzhu, wanting to intervene in the Great Song's internal strife,

they would only be dumbfounded; there would be no place left in the entire Great Song for them to intervene.

Chang Wei narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward the North Territory, "Once the internal strife is quelled, we can deal with the external enemies."

The Great Song's mortal enemy, the Northern Di, had been recuperating, waiting to make a comeback.

This time, he would bury the Northern Di completely.

Besides the Northern Di, there were the Westerners who had intervened in the Great Song's internal strife this time.

If it weren't for them inciting the powerful clans and providing help to them,

this internal strife would not have dragged on until now.

It could be said that they were also the masterminds of this war, their hands stained with the blood of the people of the Great Song.

Otherwise, why would they need to slaughter their own kin?

This blood debt must be repaid.

Zhao Xu nodded; Chang Wei had been scolded by him and had finally become enlightened.

His gaze was finally no longer fixed solely on the powerful clans.

In fact, since moving south, he had essentially been fighting a proxy war with the Westerners.

The Westerners sold firearms behind the scenes to drain the silver of the powerful clans, and also consumed the military strength and financial resources of Jiangbei through internal strife.

What was most hateful was that this war had left the once-beautiful Jiangnan in tatters.

The powerful clans used a scorched-earth policy, forcing the common people to move west; who knew how many people died on the way, and after that, who knew how many more starved to death or died of illness.

Even if Jiangnan were pacified, the economy of Jiangnan would likely regress by ten years.

Moreover, during the westward migration, the powerful clans took the opportunity to plunder much of the people's property.

Although he had recovered some losses through the surprise attack on Changcheng, most of the wealth had been transported by the Liang Family to Ba City.

This was still secondary.

The most important thing was the loss of population; from north to south, this war had caused at least six million direct and indirect deaths.

The economy could recover in a short time, but the population could not grow back all at once.

This was also what pained him the most.

Therefore, he must settle this debt clearly with the Xitu Guo that participated in the Great Song's internal strife.

"This Prince will make them pay a heavy price. The losses they have caused to the Great Song,

this Prince will exact back a hundredfold, a thousandfold," Zhao Xu said.

Immediately, he looked toward Changcheng, "Once we take Changcheng, we can launch attacks on Bazhou, Yunzhou, and Yizhou. Rest for two days, and on the third day, set off for Changcheng. While resting, spread the news that Shacheng has fallen and the Wu army has been annihilated."

Whether it was Jiangzhou or Xiangzhou, both were on the periphery.

Right now, Bazhou, Yunzhou, and Yizhou were the core areas where the powerful clans were entrenched.

Only by taking these three prefectures could the Great Song's internal strife be considered ended.

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

The next day, a unit of Cavalry set out from Jiangxia toward Changcheng.

In three days' time, they arrived at Changcheng.

"Your Highness is mighty! The six-hundred-thousand-strong Wu army was wiped out in an instant." Seeing the Cavalry, Bai Shang inquired about the battle in Jiangxia and could not help but feel a surge of excitement.

Seeing the lead cavalryman holding a box in his hand, he asked, "What is this?"

"The head of Liang Tong," the cavalryman said. "General Chang ordered us to hand it to the General and throw it into Changcheng."

Bai Shang smiled lightly and said, "If Xie An knew the news that Shacheng had fallen and Liang Tong's army had been destroyed, I wonder what his expression would be?"

Thinking of this, he took Liang Tong's head.

That night, he ordered a unit of soldiers to sneak under the city wall in the dark.

They threw Liang Tong's head up.

The powerful clan soldiers who were patrolling saw a dark object thrown up and were nearly scared to death, thinking it was the explosive firearms of the Yan King Army.

Seeing that there was no movement for a long time, some of them finally gathered the courage to go over.

"Isn't this the Zhenguo Great General, Liang Tong?" A commander recognized it, was shocked, and immediately sent the head to Xie An.

At this time, Xie An was preparing to sleep; seeing Liang Tong's head, his sleepiness vanished in an instant.

"General, there is a note tied to the head." The commander handed the note to Xie An.

Taking the note, Xie An saw a line written on it: Shacheng has been taken by my Prince's Personal Army, and Liang Tong and the six-hundred-thousand-strong Wu army are buried in Jiangxia. I advise you to come out and surrender, and you may be spared death.

"This..." Xie An was as if struck by lightning.

He and the commanders in the city had been able to hold out until now because they held onto the hope that Liang Tong could lead an army to rescue them.

But now, Liang Tong and the six hundred thousand troops under his command had been completely annihilated, and Liang Tong was dead too.

He knew very well that the six hundred thousand troops under Liang Tong were more battle-hardened than the six hundred thousand under his own command.

After all, they belonged to Wu and were also equipped with Flintlock manufactured by Wu.

Moreover, many of the new recruits in his army were still using bows, arrows, and Long Blades.

Furthermore, Shacheng has also fallen, which means Changcheng is now an isolated island.

Outside this isolated island, everything is territory controlled by Yan Wang.

"General, what should we do now? I fear this matter will spread throughout the army," a commander said urgently.

Xie An's mind went blank, and he said, "You all go out; let me think."

The commanders looked at one another, sighed, and exited the room.

Arriving on the street, the commanders dispersed.

In the darkness, one commander slipped into a small alley halfway along his path.

After observing in front of a courtyard for a while, he finally pushed the door open and entered.

"As long as I burn the provisions, will it ensure I have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of my life?" Walking straight to the main hall, the commander looked at the young man in the hall and asked.

"Of course. Liang Tong is already dead. In just three to five days, His Highness Yan Wang will personally lead a great army to arrive at Changcheng. When that time comes, it will be your chance to perform. If you miss this opportunity, everything will be too late," the young man said.

The commander nodded, "I will get it done."

Having said that, he walked out of the courtyard.

The young man watched the commander leave and frowned.

He was the leader of the Four Courts in Changcheng.

During this period, he had been constantly winning over commanders.

He had even incited Xie An's eldest son, Xie Bi.

It was just that Xie Bi was too stupid and had actually revealed this matter in front of his own father.

As a result, he was placed under house arrest by his father, and the Four Courts member who had been in contact with him was killed.

After this incident, he ordered the other members to lie low and reduce their activities.

He had not expected that this commander would take the initiative to come to his door today.

He understood that this was all because Yan Wang had won a series of victories.

If this commander could truly burn the already scarce provisions in Changcheng this time.

Changcheng would fall without an attack.

Another five days passed, and Changcheng remained calm.

Yet beneath the calm, a violent storm was brewing.

That day, Xie An thought for the whole night, but still issued an order to the commanders to defend to the death.

His wives, concubines, and elderly mother were all in Ba City; if he surrendered, Liang Kai would certainly slaughter them.

And at this moment, Zhao Xu and Commander Chang Wei arrived at Changcheng with a great army.

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