Chapter 881: The Beginning of the Sweeping Advance

"Yes... you are right, I must live; only by living is there hope for revenge." Ashuer slowly lowered his hand holding the horse whip, the deep-seated hatred in his eyes almost erupting.

They had not failed completely.

On the contrary, the power intended to annihilate Yan Wang was gathering toward Dongtu.

And this power was the entire Western Lands world.

The Western Lands world had a massive population and astonishing Steam Industry.

The only pity was that they were too far from Dongtu.

However, this did not matter; they, the Beidi, were willing to serve as the vanguard for the Westerners.

As long as the Westerners were willing to give them muskets, give them Artillery, and all support, they were willing to fight Yan Wang to the end.

Between the Beidi and Great Song, only one could live in this world.

It was either you die, or I perish.

Of course, in Dongtu, it was not only they, the Beidi, fighting alone.

Watanabe of Dongying was still continuing his resistance.

As long as the Westerners arrived, they could save him and let him return to the camp resisting Yan Wang.

Besides this, there were other Dongtu nations that had submitted to the Westerners, such as Jiaozhi, such as Piaoman, and so on.

And among them, a force that both they and the Westerners valued was Tianzhu.

This was a nation with a population comparable to Great Song.

The current British Empress was also the Empress of Tianzhu.

Therefore, Yan Wang's future enemies would not just be the Westerners.

Once such a massive force was gathered, it was impossible for Yan Wang to win.

It was precisely because he firmly believed this that he reined in his impulses.

He wanted to see Yan Wang destroyed with his own eyes.

"That's right." Aersiji patted Ashuer on the shoulder. "Cheer up, we still have many battles to fight; even if we can drag Yan Wang down for one more day, or kill one more of Yan Wang's soldiers, there will eventually come a day when we wear him out."

Ashuer nodded heavily.

He immediately gave the order to continue toward Songyang City.

Riding forward, he looked toward the North Territory.

Tiemuta's death was a supreme humiliation for the Beidi.

He dared not imagine what kind of fury this news would incite when it reached the Grassland.

After all, this was equivalent to the Crown Prince of Great Song being executed by the enemy.

Back then, just because of the Third Prince's affair, the Emperor of Great Song, Zhao Heng, had mobilized the nation's entire army for a Northern Expedition.

He believed that his elder brother, Mule Hongzhen, would also surely take crazy revenge on Yan Wang.

This hatred would also spread across the Grassland like a Flame.

The Beidi would be united as never before, determined to make Yan Wang pay a painful price.

"Tiemuta, you will not have died in vain; your death will awaken the wolf soul in the heart of every Beidi person. When Yan Wang is eventually overthrown, I will personally cut off his head and send it to your burial place," Ashuer muttered.

As he was reciting this, a Cavalryman suddenly hurried over and said loudly, "Great King, the army of Nanping has suddenly turned and headed south."

"What!" Ashuer was startled.

Dou Wei said angrily, "This Fan Xinglun is truly unreliable."

"Do not worry about them; Nanping relies on the Frankish, and in the end, they are not of the same path as us," Aersiji said.

They could not send troops to intercept them.

Otherwise, before even fighting Yan Wang, they would have fallen into internal strife.

It was better to let them leave on their own.

Furthermore, the Beidi, Southern Liang, and they, the Ross, were the ones on the same side, and they were also the ones the Ross nation needed to win over.

At present, they were merely cooperating with the British and the Frankish.

Once Yan Wang was destroyed, perhaps they would be enemies again.

By then, the Beidi and Southern Liang would be mortal enemies with Nanping and Wu.

With Aersiji saying this, the two men said no more.

The great army continued to advance toward Songyang.

Because Yiyang was close to Songyang City, they arrived in just two days.

At this time, they received news that Yan Wang's troops were only one day's journey away from them.

Entering Songyang Pass, they immediately ordered the soldiers to dig Trenches, preparing to fight them at Songyang Pass.

Meng County.

This place was less than a hundred li from Songyang Pass.

The Prince's Personal Army was currently resting here.

Under a century-old willow tree in front of Nanmen, Zhao Xu and Chang Wei were sitting below, discussing the upcoming war over a map.

"The Four Courts informants in Yiyang just sent intelligence; the current Yiyang is empty of troops. Ashuer and the Ross took away all the soldiers, and most of Southern Liang's troops also went to Songyang Pass. Now, Yiyang only has one hundred thousand troops stationed there," Zhao Xu said.

This intelligence was sent an hour ago and was still fresh.

"This is a good opportunity to take Yiyang," Chang Wei chuckled twice.

Zhao Xu nodded. "Great minds think alike, but we must continue toward Songyang Pass to pin down the majority of their forces. Let's leave this Yiyang to Ma Han."

"This kid gets the easy end of the deal again," Chang Wei said, feeling somewhat reluctant.

This time, heading south to Yizhou, the first bit of glory had been taken by Ma Han.

Next, this second spotlight should also be given to him.

Zhao Xu heard this and smiled, "This Prince must distribute favors evenly; Ma Han and Yang Zhen still complain every day that the Prince's Personal Army is my own son, while they were picked up from the streets."

"Hahaha..." Chang Wei could not help but laugh out loud upon hearing this, "Fine, fine, let it be given to him, to save them from wagging their tongues."

After settling this matter, Zhao Xu sent men to Miancheng.

He ordered Ma Han to leave two or three thousand men to garrison Miancheng, while the remaining troops could travel by night and hide by day to launch a surprise attack on Yiyang.

Afterwards, they rested for a while and continued toward Songyang Pass.

One day later, they arrived beneath Songyang Pass.

At this moment, the trench fortifications at Songyang Pass seemed to be only half-finished, clearly done in a hurry.

He observed for a while using a Telescope.

Zhao Xu ordered the main army to set up camp outside Songyang Pass.

It was the same as it had been at Miancheng.

They once again used War Chariots to encircle the camp in a ring, pitched tents within the circle, and buried Landmines in the surrounding area, leaving only a few passable paths.

"Do not be stingy with the Cannonballs; blow them to pieces," Zhao Xu said to Chang Wei in the evening when the camp was properly set up.

In his view, as long as Songyang Pass was taken, the war in Yizhou would basically be over.

Therefore, they could pour all their Cannonballs onto Songyang Pass.

After all, for the remaining parts of Yizhou, aside from Yiyang which would require some effort, the other cities were basically like empty cities to Ma Han's Qin Army.

As long as Yiyang was taken, the Qin Army could then sweep across the entirety of Yizhou and approach Yunzhou.

And the remaining Bazhou and Yunzhou were nothing more than two lame stray dogs that could not stir up any trouble, at most requiring a bit of extra effort.

"Yes, Your Highness," Chang Wei replied.

The Qin Army's Artillerymen had all come with them.

The Hidden Soldier Caves could not hide these things.

At present, they had three hundred and thirty-six Howitzers and two hundred and seventy-two Rifled Cannons.

It was enough to blast Songyang Pass into a ruin.

They rested for one night.

The next day, the Artillerymen launched a bombardment on Songyang Pass.

Given the large number of troops belonging to Ashuer and Southern Liang at Songyang Pass.

This bombardment would last for more than just three days.