Chapter 480 Seizing the Zhang River

Seeing that the King of Chu was about to enter Shunde City, more and more of the imperial soldiers also stopped resisting.

They hadn't won many battles to begin with, and this time they were sent by the emperor to provide support. The King of Chu's soldiers all carried a fierce aura, and the commander-in-chief knew they were no match for them after only half the battle.

Seeing more and more deserters being chased around by the King of Chu's soldiers, the general gritted his teeth and led a group of guards in an attempt to break out of Li Mingde's encirclement.

Li Mingde had already seen that his commander was about to flee. His eyes darkened, and he led a cavalry unit to charge directly at the enemy. After the two fought for a while, Li Mingxiu and Lin Changning came to their aid from behind.

Lin Changning brandished his longsword and rode Mo Yun swiftly past the commander's side. The sharp blade sliced ​​a large gash in the enemy general's waist.

Blood instantly stained the enemy's armor. Qi Rong followed up with another slash, aiming directly at the enemy general's shoulder. The general narrowly dodged Qi Rong's attack, but before he could even swing his sword in retaliation, Li Mingxiu attacked from the side.

Lin Changning launched another surprise attack, simultaneously plunging two knives into the enemy general's chest.

Lin Changning drew his sword and used the back of the blade to cut the man off his horse. Wei Shaogang, who was standing next to him, rushed over and saw that his subordinate had once again captured the enemy's commander.

He quickly dismounted, picked up a knife from the ground, and cut off the enemy general's head.

"The commander is dead! Surrender now!"

Wei Shao picked up the enemy general's head and rode his horse around the imperial soldiers at high speed, so that they could see the enemy general's head in his hands.

Lin Changning and Li Mingxiu exchanged a smile, watching as more and more imperial soldiers lost their courage to resist, and more and more imperial soldiers put down their weapons and squatted on the ground.

Li Mingde quickly ordered his troops to regroup and detain the surrendered soldiers. One group after another was swiftly captured by Li Mingde's men, while the King of Chu was still outside the city gates, seemingly talking to the people.

Wu Tongzhi gestured for the Prince of Chu to enter the city, but the Prince of Chu shook his head slightly. The court had already sent troops to Shunde Prefecture, and it was likely not far from sending troops to other prefectures as well.

The key now is to seize the Zhanghe Ferry crossing as soon as possible. Time is of the essence, and the sooner they can take the Zhanghe Ferry crossing and enter Weihui, the greater their chances of victory will be.

The longer the situation dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would become for them. After watching his four sons defeat the imperial reinforcements, the King of Chu smiled and a hint of pride flashed in his eyes.

The children were all fierce tigers in the army, natural-born leaders. After much thought, the King of Chu decided it would be best to send Mingxiu or Arong to the Zhang River.

Changning should also go. This child is born with superhuman strength and is a natural-born general. It would be a waste to leave him here. Moreover, this child has many clever ideas in his mind. Letting Changning lead the men to launch a surprise attack on Zhanghe might have unexpected results.

As the King of Chu pondered this, he looked at the people surrounding him. After exchanging a few words with the villagers, he mounted his horse again and prepared to enter the city. Just then, he saw four people approaching and smiled at them.

“Arong, now that Shunde has surrendered, you and Mingxiu Changning should take 3,000 cavalry and set off now to Zhanghekou to scout out the imperial army’s strength. Changning’s guess was right. The imperial army has already set up an ambush at Zhanghekou. If you can take the ferry, that would be best. If you can’t, send someone back to inform me.”

Lin Changning and Qi Rong clasped their fists together, looking at Wu Tongzhi behind the Prince of Chu with a knowing glint in their eyes. They guessed that this Tongzhi had just privately informed their father of the court's next plan.

That's why they were in such a hurry to send them to capture Zhanghekou, and even sent their brother-in-law along. The imperial court must have stationed a considerable number of troops there.

Lin Changning and Qi Rong responded and turned to Li Mingxiu to reorganize the troops. The 3,000 cavalry only needed to carry five or six days' worth of rations before they could rush towards the mouth of the Zhang River.

After quickly reorganizing their troops, the three men rode into Shunde City and then sped out through another city gate, heading straight for Handan.

After traveling for a whole day, the group finally arrived in Handan before dawn. Li Mingxiu, clutching his backside, immediately dismounted and grimaced as he spoke to the two men.

"Let's rest for two hours before we go on. My butt is about to be shaken to pieces."

Lin Changning's back was also a little sore. These days, he had been riding on horseback all night, and his thighs were starting to rub calluses. Hearing this, he immediately dismounted and looked at the people behind him, all of whom looked exhausted.

He said to Qi Rong, "Second Brother, let's rest for a while. We just finished a battle and now we have to rush again. It's going to be too long, and everyone's body can't take it."

Qi Rong nodded: "Alright, let's rest here for two hours, and then head towards the Zhang River!"

After saying this, Wen Zhi, who was behind Qi Rong, wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly arranged for the others to set up camp for the three people.

The three men went into the tent and rested for a while. Unbeknownst to them, two teams of scouts outside Handan City had already discovered their whereabouts.

The soldier leading the group didn't dare disturb Lin Changning and his men, and quietly led them away, rushing towards Handan.

Two hours later, everyone had recovered well. Lin Changning mounted his horse and nodded slightly to the two people behind him who had also mounted.

The group headed towards the Zhang River again, this time mainly to find out how many people the imperial court had ambushed at the mouth of the Zhang River. The sooner they could reduce the information gap, the greater their chances of winning.

Is this really true?

General Li frowned as he looked at the scout who had returned with the news, and asked incredulously.

The soldier's face was full of solemnity: "Reporting to the general, we did indeed see them. The rebel army camped outside Handan City were all cavalry, numbering about 3,000!"

General Li frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly laughed: "Good, I understand. We were just waiting for someone, and this person has delivered himself to our doorstep."

General Li waved to a soldier beside him: "Go, call Commander Wang over here!"

The soldier accepted the order and quickly left. General Li looked at the sand table, a sinister glint in his eyes, and muttered, "I was just worried about not having any merits, and they've just delivered themselves to my doorstep!"

As General Li spoke, he turned to look at Commander Wang, who had just entered: "You've arrived?"

Commander Wang clasped his hands in a fist salute to General Li and asked, "What are your orders, General?"

General Li pointed to a ditch on the sand table and said, "There is a troop of rebel cavalry stationed outside Handan City, numbering about 3,000. I want you to lead your troops to set up an ambush and wipe out this cavalry."

Looking at the terrain, Commander Wang frowned and said, "Although this terrain is not favorable for cavalry, three thousand cavalrymen should be accompanied by at least five thousand men. Commander, we only have twelve thousand soldiers in total. Wouldn't that be a bit reckless?"