Chapter 52: Entering Yangzhou

Liu Zheng was stunned for a moment.

Shen Xing, standing to the side, suppressed a laugh: "Young Master, it seems this Luo Xiongchao has already taken Yangzhou and wants to ambush us!"

Liu Zheng was also caught between laughter and tears.

Before arriving here, they were still thinking about how to provoke Luo Xiongchao to make them charge out of the city. They never expected him to take the initiative to invite Liu Zheng into the city!

This was truly effortless!

"Young Master Liu, enter boldly; the others shall stay outside the city!"

Of course, Luo Xiongchao was not stupid; Liu Zheng was currently bringing troops with him.

"Fine!"

Liu Zheng smiled slightly and secretly gave Qin Zhangfeng a look.

The latter understood immediately. This time, they brought four thousand Yinzhou Prefecture Soldiers, among whom one thousand were Cavalry, capable of charging! Although the opponent had five thousand troops, in a place as narrow as the city gate, a force of five thousand held no advantage at all. With these one thousand, it was enough to break open the city gate! They only needed to hold out for a moment, and the three thousand Long Spear Divine Crossbow Soldiers behind would follow into the city.

Therefore, as long as they dared to open the city gate, the next step would be the moment the dagger was revealed.

Clang, clatter.

The city gate opened, and soon, hundreds of Scattered Soldiers ran out from within, standing on the left and right, holding weapons, looking murderous. Hundreds of pairs of eyes stared in unison at Liu Zheng, wanting to exert some pressure on him through sheer momentum.

Liu Zheng kept a smile on his face, showing no fear at all, and rode his horse forward slowly.

Just as he was a hundred paces from the city gate, Qin Zhangfeng suddenly let out a fierce shout: "Kill!"

The Yinzhou Cavalry, who had long been prepared, galloped like the wind, shouting in unison. Qin Zhangfeng charged at the very front, his momentum like clouds.

Luo Xiongchao's expression changed drastically: "You brat of the Liu Family, how dare you play me for a fool!"

"Close the gate, close the gate!"

Although five thousand against four thousand meant the enemy had the advantage in strength, having the defensive advantage of the city would surely reduce battle losses. However, it was already too late; this was only a distance of a few hundred paces, and the Liangzhou War Horses arrived in an instant! Qin Zhangfeng shouted, his Long Spear the first to strike at the Scattered Soldiers standing on the left and right. With one charge, dozens of men fell in a pool of blood.

The Scattered Soldiers in the city were already scrambling in a panic, trying to close the city gate.

Yet how could the Cavalry give them the chance? They arrived in a swarm, immediately scattering the group of Scattered Soldiers who wanted to block them!

"Charge!"

Seeing that the city gate was already under Qin Zhangfeng's control, the three thousand Long Spear Divine Crossbow Soldiers behind were already running to follow him.

Seeing that Liu Zheng was actually attacking the city, Luo Xiongchao was overcome with rage and shouted: "How dare you challenge me?"

"Charge out and kill them for me!"

The Scattered Soldiers had long been prepared; they were truly five thousand Cavalry with extremely strong charging capabilities. However, this was inside the city after all, and the space was not that vast. Even so, their combat power could not be underestimated.

"Kill!"

Three thousand of Luo Xiongchao's Cavalry came rushing over with a fierce shout, intending to engage in a head-on battle with Qin Zhangfeng's Yinzhou Cavalry. Who would have thought that Qin Zhangfeng would smile coldly, jump off his horse, and look at Luo Xiongchao on the city wall with a sneer: "Bitter-Faced Yama, do you dare to fight me?"

Luo Xiongchao cursed loudly and picked up his two giant hammers.

By this time, the Scattered Soldiers' Cavalry had already charged over, but the Yinzhou Cavalry had long since scattered, and what greeted them was precisely the Long Spear Divine Crossbow formation that Liu Zheng had carefully prepared for the Cavalry!

"Hahaha!"

"Infantry?"

"Infantry dares to fight Cavalry?"

The crowd couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The Liangzhou Cavalry dominated the world and had never looked down upon Infantry. To deal with such weak Infantry, one just had to charge!

Luo Xiongchao also sneered mockingly: "The little brat of the Liu Family is just here to grandstand!"

At this moment.

Inside Yangzhou City.

Above several pavilions with wide views.

Those Powerful Clan masters were still gathered together.

"They're here, they're here, Young Master Liu is here!"

"He really came? He truly has great courage!"

"Master Cheng, can that Young Master Liu really defeat this Luo Xiongchao?"

Some were excited, some were skeptical.

Master Cheng was actually feeling uneasy in his heart as well. Luo Xiongchao's martial prowess was astonishing, as everyone had seen with their own eyes. Could that Young Master Liu really contend with him?

He coughed dryly: "Everyone, rest assured, Young Master Liu sent word long ago that he has the confidence to deal with a million Cavalry!"

The crowd exclaimed in unison.

Not even afraid of a million Cavalry?

At this moment, they were all staring intently at the city gate.

When they saw that group of Infantry under Liu Zheng, everyone's expression changed.

"This..."

"Master Cheng, are you trying to get us killed?"

"How can this Infantry block the Cavalry?"

Master Cheng also had a dark expression, staring blankly at everything in the distance.

Young Master Liu, are you here to joke around?

……

In a corner of the city.

When Jiang Xuan saw this formation of Liu Zheng's, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "The fall of Yangzhou does not lie with Lu Zhengyi!"

"It lies with this Young Master of the Liu Family!"

He watched with burning eyes at the Long Spears that were a full two people tall, and a sense of powerlessness suddenly welled up in his heart. The reason he had not fled Yangzhou was to see exactly what kind of person this Young Master of the Liu Family was!

If it were possible, he would be willing to serve under his banner!

However, at this moment, the frustration surging in his heart was indescribable.

With such great talent, does he need one's own service?

"Kill!"

"Trample them flat for me!"

"Hahaha, a bunch of actors!"

What these excited Scattered Soldiers did not expect was that the ensuing charge would be the greatest nightmare of their lives.

During the first charge, the opponent's Fan-Shaped Long Spear Formation dispersed more than half of this cavalry unit's impact! And what made them even more devastated was that before they had even truly charged through, they suffered significant losses under the attacks of those Crossbowmen. By the time they actually reached the front of the Yinzhou Army, those long spears, long enough to make one despair, had already thrust forward!

Precise!

Powerful!

"Ah!"

Dozens of the Scattered Soldiers, who had no protection whatsoever, were pierced through by the long spears on the spot. Once the cavalry in the front died, it inevitably affected the impact force of those behind; this was the purpose of the fan-shaped formation, which would disperse the opponent's combined force to the greatest extent.

And for the second charge, the Yinzhou Army side changed into a Diamond Formation!

The Diamond Formation concentrated all pressure at the tip of the formation, yet liberated the combat power on both sides. With this, the losses of the Scattered Soldiers' cavalry increased once again!

And looking at the Yinzhou Army afterward, they were still advancing steadily!

Luo Xiongchao was stunned on the spot, and in a fit of rage, he shouted: "Charge, keep charging for me!"

His invincible Liangzhou Iron Cavalry was actually being countered?

Yet just as his voice fell, Qin Zhangfeng had already charged toward him to attack. Qin Zhangfeng used a sword on foot and a spear on horseback. Just like that Captain Yuan, this spear thrust carried a sky-high murderous aura.

Luo Xiongchao sneered, thinking to himself that he had just killed someone like this today, and now someone else was throwing their life away!

The giant hammer smashed down violently, but who would have thought that Qin Zhangfeng had long anticipated he would use this move; he smiled faintly, flicked his wrist, and that silvery-white long spear actually dodged the giant hammer like a spirit snake, the spear tip instantly reaching Luo Xiongchao's face.

"Damn it!"

Luo Xiongchao was terrified, but his reaction was quite fast, and he tilted his head to dodge it.

Who knew that by dodging like this, he realized he had fallen for the opponent's trap!

This was a Returning Horse Spear!

All of Qin Zhangfeng's strength was actually hidden in this Returning Horse Spear move.

Rip!

With this, a piece of Luo Xiongchao's facial skin was actually torn off by Qin Zhangfeng.

"Roar!"

Luo Xiongchao was so pained that his fury soared to the heavens, and he yelled: "You're courting death!"

The two giant hammers hummed, and disregarding the severe wound on his face, he smashed them violently toward Qin Zhangfeng; he was indeed worthy of being the Bitter-Faced Yama, as this barrage of blows made even Qin Zhangfeng struggle to cope, forcing him to retreat step by step.

Meanwhile, the Scattered Soldiers' cavalry had been completely thrown into chaos.

What made them despair was:

No matter from which direction they charged—southeast, northwest—they could not shake the opponent's formation! Even after this round of charging, the Scattered Soldiers had already suffered heavy losses, yet the Yinzhou Army had only suffered dozens of casualties!

"This..."

"What kind of unit is this?"

The Powerful Clans on the pavilion were already dumbfounded at this moment.

Jiang Xuan, in the corner, also watched with his jaw dropped.

Who could have imagined that the Liangzhou Iron Cavalry, which the entire Liangzhou took pride in, would be so vulnerable?

"Charge!"

Although Qin Zhangfeng was not there, there was still someone in command; seeing that the Scattered Soldiers had been completely scattered and had lost their will to fight, a Battalion Commander roared.

The Spear and Divine Crossbow Formation changed formation again!

This time, it was a Cone Formation!

A true charging formation!

The battle formation was like a cone, and the cavalry was completely scattered.

Then, combined with those one thousand cavalry, they would completely dominate the battlefield!

At this time, Qin Zhangfeng also fought with increasing courage.

Because he knew that although this Luo Xiongchao had immense strength, he was a notorious slave to wine and lust; under the influence of wine and lust, no matter how good his stamina was, he could not withstand such overexertion.

Sure enough, after the two giant hammers had been swung a dozen times, Luo Xiongchao was already panting, his angry eyes widened as large as copper bells.

"Come again!"

Luo Xiongchao naturally did not believe that he, the Bitter-Faced Yama whose name was famous throughout Liangzhou, would not be a match for this pretty boy.

Qin Zhangfeng snorted coldly, knowing that he could take down Luo Xiongchao now, so he no longer held back; his War Horse galloped again, and Qin Zhangfeng let out a fierce shout, his long spear trembling slightly in the air, actually whipping up a gust of wind, the momentum even more violent than before.

Luo Xiongchao wore an expression of disbelief.

Why was this fellow still so fierce after so many rounds of combat?

Bang!

However, he had no chance to think about it anymore.

The long spear struck him dead.

The giant hammers fell to the ground.

Those Scattered Soldiers had long since lost their will to fight; seeing that Luo Xiongchao had actually been killed in a duel, their morale collapsed, and they fled in panic. This gave the Yinzhou Army another opportunity to reap them.

Not only the Yinzhou Army, but the Powerful Clan private soldiers, the Garrison that had been beaten back earlier, and even the commoners had arrived at this time.

Beating a dog that has fallen into the water—who wouldn't know how to do that?

Very quickly, the Yinzhou Army completely took control of Yangzhou City.

Poor Luo Xiongchao, he didn't even have time to touch the treasury silver in the County Marquis Mansion a few times before he breathed his last.

"Young Master Liu!"

"Young Master Liu, our great benefactor!"

"Today, Yangzhou is peaceful, all thanks to the Young Master, a Heavenly God descended to earth!"

The Powerful Clans and the common people, upon seeing this young master who had once helped Yangzhou resist the mountain bandits, all had moist eyes and shouted his name aloud.

Liu Zheng took the opportunity to pick up the "Suppression of Bandits Order" and shouted loudly: "I, acting under the orders of Liangzhou Prefecture, have come to assist Yangzhou in repelling the bandits. Fortunately, I have not failed my mission; Yangzhou is now stable, and you may all return to your livelihoods in peace!"

The whole city cheered, filled with joy and excitement.

If this is not a savior, then what is?

"Welcome the Young Master into Yangzhou!"

"Yangzhou should be protected by the Young Master!"

The Powerful Clans, leading their own household servants and private soldiers, also roared until they were hoarse.

Liu Zheng smiled slightly and, welcomed by the crowds lining the streets, rode his horse to the County Marquis Mansion. The County Marquis Mansion was already in a state of utter chaos and devastation. Flames soared into the sky; Liu Zheng stared wide-eyed at the thick smoke nearby, and the next moment, with hot tears in his eyes, he threw himself down at the entrance of the County Marquis Mansion.

"Lord Lu, Liu Zheng has arrived too late!"

Hearing this, the common people wiped away their tears one after another.

Such a benevolent and righteous lord is destined for great things!

【Author's Note】

Thank you all for your support; it is not easy to persist with a niche historical book. I hope the brothers who support me can leave more comments in the review section to discuss the plot and character names. Barring any surprises, this book will be around three million words. To the brothers and sisters who support me, after finishing each day's chapters, please click the "urge for updates" button so I can have a sense of how things are going. Thank you, thank you!