Chapter 883: Assassination Plan

Songyang Pass.

The shelling here has been continuous, and the trenches in front of the pass have become like honeycombs under the dense bombardment of cannonballs.

As for the outer walls of Songyang Pass, large swaths of blue bricks have peeled away, revealing the yellow mud inside.

The battlements have all been blasted to pieces, and slight collapses have appeared in many places.

At this moment, Zhao Xu and Chang Wei are playing chess amidst the sounds of explosions, their expressions focused.

Even though the number of troops at Songyang Pass is more than six times their own.

But under the range advantage of the Prince's Personal Army's howitzers and rifled cannons, the Southern Liang and Northern Di armies at Songyang Pass can only endure the beating.

Therefore, during this time, apart from the artillerymen being a bit weary, the other soldiers are quite idle.

"Your Highness, a battle report from General Ma." A cavalryman stops in front of the camp and comes to the two men.

Zhao Xu nods and takes the battle report.

After browsing through it, he says to Chang Wei: "The Qin Army's progress is very smooth; not only have they taken Yiyang, but they are currently pushing toward Yunzhou and Bazhou, advancing like a hot knife through butter."

"In that case, once Bazhou and Yunzhou, as well as the former Songyang Pass, are taken, the war in the country will be over." Chang Wei lets out a long breath.

The Great Song has been in chaos for three years.

These three years have been filled with smoke everywhere, and the number of commoners who died directly or indirectly in the flames of war is countless.

Jiangnan, this prosperous land, has also been battered into a state of devastation, suffering immense losses.

If it were not for them being equipped with Qin-style rifles, and Yan Wang personally leading the southern campaign.

It is unknown how much longer this civil strife would have continued.

And now, victory is finally in sight.

However, while victory is indeed a joyous occasion, the anger in his heart has not diminished in the slightest.

Originally, they could have easily dealt with the powerful clans.

But because of the successive interventions of Dongying, the Northern Di, and the Westerners, the war became complicated.

It also caused more suffering for the people of the Great Song.

Only by making these instigators pay the price they deserve,

can his fury be calmed, and can there be an explanation for the Great Song people who died in the war.

And an explanation for the soldiers who fought in blood.

"Indeed, but we must bring this war to a perfect conclusion." A cold glint flashes in Zhao Xu's eyes.

These days, he has been continuously shelling Songyang Pass, but he does not let the infantry launch a full-scale attack.

There is another reason for this.

This is to wait for the arrival of the Hot Air Balloon Troop.

Yiyang has fallen, and most of the cities in Yizhou have fallen into his hands.

The situation is lost, and the Liang Family, Dou Family, Fan Family, and others cannot fail to see it.

In such a situation where victory is impossible, they are very likely to choose to flee with a large amount of wealth, just like a certain bald-headed Chiang.

When the Liang Family and Xiao Family headed to Songyang Pass, they carried away a large amount of money from the national treasury; this is a sign.

He believes the Liang Family and Fan Family will be no exception.

Although these riches cannot be recovered for some time.

However, he will absolutely not let the powerful clans just leave so easily with large amounts of wealth, mingle with the Northern Di and Westerners, and live in luxury relying on the wealth they plundered.

Or continue to rely on this wealth to recruit troops and buy horses to deal with him.

Therefore, he gave an order to Xu Ke, telling him to execute the assassination plan against the powerful clans.

This plan will be executed by the Dark Division of the Four Courts.

For any intelligence agency, its function is naturally not just to collect intelligence; assassinating important enemy figures is also one of its tasks.

Precisely because of this, there are specially trained Dark Division members within the Four Courts.

To use contemporary terms, these people are equivalent to secret agents.

The Dark Division members of the Four Courts also possess many skills.

They can ride horses, use Qin-style rifles, operate hot air balloons, and also lay landmines.

Every time firearms are updated, they also carry out the replacement of their weapons accordingly.

Currently, Liang Kai and others in Bazhou are already under the surveillance of the Dark Division.

He had arranged this during the Battle of Changcheng.

As for the Dou Family and Xiao Family, the situation at Songyang Pass is somewhat special.

They are outside the pass, and the Dark Division needs to pass through Songyang Pass to set up assassination points on the other side.

In this way, it is necessary to make use of hot air balloons.

He estimates that in another five or six days, the Hot Air Balloon Troop will be able to arrive.

That is the time to launch the attack, so as not to alert the enemy and let Dou Wei and the others run away.

Thinking of this, he revealed his plan to Chang Wei.

"Your Highness's planning is still thorough; how could we let them run away so easily." Chang Wei is amused, "It would be best to slaughter Ashuer and those Westerners as well."

Zhao Xu nods lightly, "Naturally, they cannot be spared."

Six days later.

A group of people arrived at Songyang Pass; they are precisely the people from the Dark Division of the Four Courts.

Also arriving is Xu Ke, who will personally participate in this matter.

"Once Yizhou is completely occupied, the powerful clans like the Liang Family in Bazhou will likely flee; now you must order the Dark Division members in Bazhou to heighten their vigilance and must seize the opportunity to eliminate as many people as possible," Zhao Xu says.

This matter of assassination requires extreme caution.

Once an assassination operation is taken, it will inevitably be exposed, and the enemy will become vigilant thereafter.

Precisely because of this, the Dark Division in Bazhou has remained dormant, and they have not acted rashly before finding a suitable opportunity.

Otherwise, Liang Kai and the others would have died when he traveled south.

But it is different now; they will inevitably be exposed in the wild as they withdraw from Bazhou, which is the best opportunity for an assassination.

"Before I arrived, I already ordered men to head to Bazhou, please rest assured, Your Highness," Xu Ke said.

Zhao Xu nodded, "As for here, I will give you three days to make preparations; after three days, I will launch an attack on Songyang Pass."

Ashuer and the others remain at Songyang Pass putting up a desperate resistance only because the location of Songyang Pass is very important.

This is an important pass leading from Tibet to Yizhou.

If they hold this place, they can station troops here to threaten Yizhou.

This keeps the Southwest of Great Song in a state of constant turmoil.

Once this is lost, Songyang Pass will become an outpost for Yizhou of Great Song to attack Tibet.

The territory that Ashuer has conquered will no longer be secure.

And once they lose Tibet, the Northern Di will completely lose contact with Britain.

This is equivalent to cutting the Xitu Guo forces in the middle, dividing them into two.

Communication between the Northern Di, the Ross nation, and other Xitu Guo nations will become difficult, and they will only be able to fight alone.

"Three days is enough," Xu Ke said.

When he came, he had already analyzed the terrain around Songyang Pass.

He knew exactly where it was most suitable to carry out the assassination operation.

Right now, they only need to use the Hot Air Balloon to transport people behind Songyang Pass without anyone noticing.

They agreed on this matter.

That night, Xu Ke and the Dark Division members took six Hot Air Balloons and crossed Songyang Pass.

In order to avoid the firelight of the Hot Air Balloons being discovered.

They traveled along the mountain range of Songyang Pass for more than thirty li and also had the Hot Air Balloons fly very high.

In addition to carrying people, these Hot Air Balloons were also loaded with Landmine and Qin-series Rifle.

Different from the Landmine that explodes upon being stepped on, these Landmine are Pull-wire Landmine.

This type of Landmine is more suitable for assassination.

Three days later, they had finished the layout on the key roads behind Songyang Pass.

And at this time, Yan Wang indeed launched an attack on Songyang Pass.