The chieftain of the Yang clan in Bozhou was no fool; he immediately realized that they had been tricked.
Previously, Zhu Yunwen had quickly reached the southwestern border because he walked on the cement road, which made the chieftains think that Zhu Yunwen and his party had not arrived at their destination.
From this point on, these chieftains had already lost their initial advantage.
Once you lose the initiative at one step, you lose the initiative at every subsequent step.
As a result, Zhu Yunwen's two armies quickly surrounded the southwest region from both sides.
Now, having been tricked several times by Zhu Yunwen, much time has been wasted, causing the chieftains and their troops in the southwest region to be constantly on the move.
Moreover, they all fled together, which gave Zhu Yunwen and the other two imperial troops an opportunity to completely surround the chieftain's troops from three sides.
Yang Yunfei was really panicked. Originally, he had planned to keep Zhu Yunwen's army outside the southwest region.
Now things have gotten much better. Not only did they fail to stop them, but they also surrounded them from three different directions simultaneously.
Yang Yunfei originally thought that the 200,000 chieftain soldiers had a great chance of winning against the 200,000 imperial soldiers.
But now things are different. They have surrounded his 200,000-strong army and are attacking him from all sides, putting him in a very passive position.
Once they appear passive, they fall into a disadvantageous position.
In addition, Yang Yunfei also thought that even if they entered the southwest region to fight, the chieftains could still gain certain advantages based on the unique terrain of the southwest region.
Now that advantage is gone, because the three armies have surrounded them, and no matter how complex the terrain is, they have nowhere to run.
If you're forced to fight in one place, you can't take advantage of the terrain at all.
Therefore, the current situation is extremely difficult for the chieftains, and their chances of winning are very slim. Crucially, if they lose this time, these chieftains will be truly finished.
Although the imperial court originally intended to weaken them and take back control of the southwest region from them.
But that way, the Tusi family could still retain some power, and at least locally, they would still have the means to maintain a wealthy lifestyle.
Now that they have rebelled, the consequences of failure are predictable.
At this point, some chieftains were already having second thoughts.
In particular, the Shui'an clan, to which Lady Shexiang belongs, never really wanted to get involved in the first place, and now they feel that getting involved in this mess will harm their own family.
Seeing that everyone was starting to panic, Chief Yang hurriedly spoke up:
"Are you all starting to panic now? The battle hasn't even started yet, and your morale is already so low. What kind of behavior is this? I must remind you, we still have a very high chance of winning this battle."
Therefore, we must fight, and we must win. Don't think that being surrounded is a bad situation. Although we are surrounded, aren't their forces also scattered?
We still have the opportunity to defeat them one by one. As long as we are fast enough, we can still seize the initiative and achieve a great victory.
Upon hearing this, Lady Shexiang couldn't help but scoff.
Chief Yang frowned and looked at Lady Shexiang, saying:
"You seem to disagree with what I'm saying, or do you have some other opinion?"
Lady Shexiang was not afraid of Chief Yang at all. She was also a very capable chieftain, so she stood up and looked at Chief Yang, saying:
"The outcome of this battle is still unknown, but you are taking the fate of so many chieftain families into a gamble."
If you win the bet, Chief Yang will become the most powerful and influential king in the southwest region. We chieftains will remain mere supporting characters in the end.
And if you lose the bet, we chieftains will also be with you and receive the punishment we deserve.
By any measure, it seems like we're risking our lives for you. And all you're doing here is telling us about this absurd, supposedly winnable opportunity?
Upon hearing Lady Shexiang's insightful and clear-headed words, some of the other chieftains secretly nodded in agreement.
Chief Yang's face was grim. He stared at Lady Shexiang and said:
"Even if what you say is true, do you have any way out now? Aren't you already being labeled as traitors? If you join me in this fight now, there is still a chance of winning."
If you refuse, then you've already lost, and the imperial court won't let you off the hook. Once you're on this ship, do you think you can get off unscathed?
These words made Lady Shexiang's face darken even more.
Chief Yang continued, "If you had been so clear-headed earlier and hadn't gotten involved in this matter with me, it would have been fine. But now it's too late, so some things are no longer up to you."
After saying that, Chief Yang waved his hand and said, "Listen to my command, the 200,000 troops will directly attack Zhu Yunwen's 100,000 troops."
Taking advantage of the fact that the 50,000 soldiers in each of the other two places may not be able to come to Zhu Yunwen's aid in the short term, let's fight a quick battle and win.
"Once we capture this grandson of the crown prince, we'll have leverage to negotiate with the court. That would mean we've won eighty percent of the battle."
The other chieftains were still somewhat reluctant, but it seemed they had no other choice at the moment.
The only option is to make all these troops obey Chief Yang's orders.
That afternoon, the 200,000 troops of the various chieftains launched a direct attack on Zhu Yunwen's army from the rear.
Zhu Yunwen's army also kept a close eye on the chieftains' soldiers. When they saw any movement from the chieftains' troops, Zhu Yunwen immediately sent a message to Lan Yu and Feng Sheng.
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