Chapter 451: Zuo's Army's Night Attack, Li Zicheng Sells Out His Teammates
"Zhang Xianzhong?"
"Gao Yingxiang? Luo Rucai?"
Zuo Liangyu stood on the gate tower of the huge Xiangyang South City and sneered disdainfully, "These bandits are nothing but a mob."
He is so confident, so he has the reason to do so.
Since Zuo Liangyu was appointed as the general of Nanzhen by the court a few months ago, his luck has begun to flourish. He even had an amazing adventure in Lumen Mountain not far south of Xiangyang City.
With the help of what he gained from the fortuitous encounter, and the benefit from his own divine weapon being unsealed after it recognized its master, Zuo Liangyu successfully broke through to the early stage of level six, which is incomparable to the past.
The Lumen Mountain Secret Realm is a large spiritual land that contains enough training resources for millions of warriors and soldiers, adding infinite confidence to Zuo Liangyu's rise.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty court's control over the local areas was rapidly weakening, which led to Zuo Liangyu's irrepressible ambition.
He even recruited a reserve army of one million people and hid them in the secret realm of Lumen Mountain for secret training.
This is the confidence he has in his plan to control Huguang.
In order to realize his own ambitions, Zuo Liangyu tried his best to suppress the rebel forces roaming around the Huguang region. This was also an inevitable operation.
"Father."
Zuo Menggeng swept away his previous gentle and refined image and said in high spirits, "Wang Yuncheng and Li Cheng sent an urgent report from Fancheng yesterday, saying that they are ready to march out at any time and join us in attacking the bandit army outside the city!"
"As long as we defeat this bandit alliance in one battle, there will no longer be any forces in this vast Huguang region that can pose a threat to our Zuo family army."
"Then if we manage it well for a few years, we may be able to build the Huguang region into the base of our Zuo Family Army."
Under Zuo Liangyu's careful teaching, Zuo Menggeng has truly grown up, which is also something that Zuo Liangyu feels very gratified about.
Nothing could make him happier than the fact that the Zuo family had a successor.
Recently, as the Zuo Family Army has become increasingly powerful and has begun to obey orders rather than decrees from the Southern Ming court, the support from those aristocratic families for the Zuo Family Army has greatly decreased, and they have become increasingly insignificant.
However, Zuo Liangyu believed it was worth it because it ensured the independence of Zuo's army.
Their Zuo family army has already gained complete momentum and overcome the initial difficulties. It seems unimportant whether they have the support of those aristocratic families in the future.
"Be a dog?"
"Whoever wants to be the boss can be the boss."
Whenever Zuo Liangyu thought of his past self, who was timid and submissive in front of those aristocratic families and didn't even dare to say a word, he would be filled with anger.
Now that the Zuo family army has grown strong, of course they have to turn against each other and vent their anger.
"Yes, Meng Geng."
Zuo Liangyu's eyes flashed coldly, and he said to Zuo Menggeng, "After our army defeats the three bandits outside the city tonight, we must pursue them in one fell swoop and drive these guys out of the two lakes area."
"Let these guys go and harm the barbarians in the south."
"We cannot copy the development and growth model of Li Dingguo's Fuxing Army, but we can learn from some of its advantages and speed up the development of our army in the future."
"These aristocratic families in the south are deeply rooted. Our Zuo Family Army cannot afford to offend them for the time being, but we can eliminate most of the small and medium-sized families."
"Only by seizing their money, materials, fields and forests as food can we enable the Zuo family army to truly achieve self-reliance and not be strangled by outsiders."
To be honest, Zuo Liangyu was very envious of Li Dingguo.
Unfortunately, he does not have the same strong strength and execution ability as the Fusion Army, and cannot go against the aristocratic families in the world.
Fortunately, after several years of vigorous development, some truly talented generals have emerged in the Zuo Family Army who are able to help Zuo Liangyu share the pressure and firmly control the increasingly large Zuo Family Army.
Among them, Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan, Hui Dengxiang, Wang Yuncheng, Li Cheng and others are the best.
Zuo Liangyu, who has regarded the Huguang Plain as his base, has put a lot of thought into today's battle, and the harvest season is finally approaching.
Even the million reserve troops hidden in Lumen Mountain near Nancheng, under the leadership of Hui Dengxiang, had quietly moved to 300 miles behind the enemy army.
We are just waiting for Zuo Liangyu's order tonight to defeat the three bandit armies surrounding Xiangyang City in one battle.
“Chirp!”…
Three green lights flashed from the sky and then fell in front of Zuo Liangyu on the city gate tower.
These are three large green-feathered peacocks, three level five peak spirit birds that Zuo Liangyu obtained in the secret realm of Lumen Mountain.
Under the magical effect of his natal artifact, the Precious Lotus Lantern, these three spirit birds have become Zuo Liangyu's natal spirit birds and are also one of Zuo Liangyu's greatest reliances.
Under the high-altitude reconnaissance of these three natal spirit birds, the three rebel armies outside the city seemed transparent, with no secrets at all.
"Cui'er, you came at the right time. I have an important task for you tonight..."
After communicating with the three natal spirit birds through telepathy for a while, Zuo Liangyu already had an idea in mind. He then reached out and touched their big heads one by one, and explained carefully.
As the three green-haired peacocks received the order and left separately, disappearing into the sky, they waited for the night to fall, and their own night attack plan was launched as scheduled.
……
"Father is handsome!"
Ai Nengqi, who had already reached the peak of level 5, came to the central army tent with a somewhat uneasy look, found his adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong, and said, "I don't know why, but I feel vaguely uneasy, as if something big is about to happen."
“This feeling is somewhat similar to the battle in Yangcheng before Wang Jiayin’s demise.”
As a peerless genius, he has his own unique qualities and is superior to others in terms of his six senses.
"Is it?"
"After you said that, I also felt something was wrong."
Zhang Xianzhong frowned and said, "But Zuo Liangyu is only the general of a town. Although he has many soldiers under his command, this shouldn't be the case."
"The forces gathered here by our three armies have reached two million, and there are more than one million warriors among them. It is impossible that we cannot defeat a mere Zuo Liangyu."
He thought about it over and over again, but couldn't find any help to relieve his anxiety.
This was not his fault. It was really because Zuo Liangyu had never revealed his true strength to the world.
Outsiders had no idea that among the four new armies formed by the Southern Ming court, Zuo Liangyu's strength far exceeded that of the other three armies.
In addition, this guy could endure what ordinary people could not endure, his methods were ruthless, and he secretly expanded the army quietly, which led to the misjudgment of rebel leaders such as Zhang Xianzhong, Gao Yingxiang, and Luo Rucai.
Since their march south to Huguang, these three rebel armies have gone through untold hardships to develop their respective rebel armies to their current size, and are now full of confidence.
"Pass the order down, have the soldiers stay in their armor at night, sleep in their clothes, and be ready for battle at all times."
Having learned a profound lesson from the Battle of Yangcheng, Zhang Xianzhong did not dare to take it lightly. He asked Ai Nengqi to secretly issue orders to the entire army to remain highly vigilant.
Just after the hour of Xu, five legions of three hundred thousand men quietly appeared around the three rebel camps outside the city of Xiangyang.
"The Great Formation of Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies, start!"
"Baolian Lantern, rising!"
In the southern camp of Xiangyang City, Zuo Liangyu personally led an army of 500,000 soldiers to form a military killing formation. With his mind fully open, he instantly connected with the soldiers' qi and activated this super-large military formation.
"Chirp..."
A five-colored peacock beast took shape in an instant. At the same time, the rising bloody aura concealed the figures of the soldiers, causing the figure of the five-colored peacock beast to increase to more than eight hundred feet in size!
The innate divine artifact, the Precious Lotus Lantern, which was activated by the killing array's magical power, turned into a giant lotus-shaped lamp three hundred feet in size, illuminating the entire Xiangyang city inside and out as if it were daytime!
"kill!"……
A light like a small sun lit up, which was the signal for Zuo's army to launch a general attack from both inside and outside.
Led by the 500,000-strong army led by Zuo Liangyu himself, the five armies of the Zuo family stationed outside the three rebel camps activated the military killing formation that had been prepared long ago, activated the killing formation's magical power, and launched a surprise attack on the three rebel camps together!
All I saw was the snow-white Precious Lotus Lantern, emitting dazzling five-colored divine light and spreading five-colored divine fire, which instantly ignited the rebel camp outside the city of Xiangyang!
Wherever it passed, it was like a blazing fire burning the sky, instantly throwing the rebel camp that had been attacked into chaos!
"Liang Yi Si Xiang Formation!"
In Gao Yingxiang's camp, which was targeted by Zuo Liangyu's army as the main attack direction, there were about 200,000 rebel soldiers who were promptly organized by Gao Yingxiang and formed a military killing formation to collide head-on with the incoming enemy formation. Without any surprise, they were knocked hundreds of feet away by the sweeping Precious Lotus Lantern!
"The River Map and the Luoshu appear!"
At this critical moment, Li Zicheng did not bother to hide his innate magical weapon that he had never shown to anyone, and led his own 300,000 troops, together with generals such as Li Guo, Liu Zongmin, and Hao Yaoqi, to activate the military killing formation. At the same time, he summoned his own set of innate magical weapons for the first time, which became three hundred feet in size, and confronted the Precious Lotus Lantern that was attacking again head-on!
However, since the number of soldiers who formed the army in a hurry was less than that of Zuo Liangyu's side, and even Li Zicheng's own cultivation was only at the peak of level five, he naturally could not stop the 500,000 troops led by Zuo Liangyu, who had a cultivation level of early level six.
"Oh!"
Following Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, who was blown away by Zuo Liangyu, realized that the situation was hopeless and the strength gap between the enemy and himself was too great. He took advantage of the situation to control the killing array and transformed into a divine beast. While retreating violently in the air, he fled for his life towards Xuancheng in the south!
"damn it!"
"That's Li Zicheng! He actually has his own divine weapon! And it's a set of innate divine weapons!"
Zuo Liangyu was furious, but he didn't dare to pursue him any further, so he cursed loudly in anger.
As the commander-in-chief of the Zuo family army, he naturally had to take this battle as the most important thing and lead his soldiers to defeat the three rebel armies.
If we pursue Li Zicheng relentlessly now, this night attack will inevitably add countless variables, and may even cause the five legions under his command to lose their backbone, allowing the enemy to turn defeat into victory.
Although he was very envious of the set of innate magical weapons that Li Zicheng had revealed, he had to temporarily give up chasing the other party.
"Gao Yingxiang, die!"
Zuo Liangyu was furious and manipulated the military killing formation to activate his own divine weapon, the Precious Lotus Lantern, which erupted into a sky full of flames that tightly enveloped Gao Yingxiang's army that was surrounding him.
"Do not……"
Gao Yingxiang did not have his own innate magical weapon, and the number of troops under his command was more than half that of Zuo Liangyu's side. His own cultivation was only at the peak level of level five. Naturally, he could not withstand Zuo Liangyu's all-out killing move, and was attacked by the opponent's innate magical weapon, and the general's formation was blown up on the spot!
"Li Zicheng, you..."
Gao Yingxiang looked at the direction where Li Zicheng's army disappeared with a face full of resentment. He only had time to curse half a word before he was surrounded by the five-colored divine fire emitted by the Precious Lotus Lantern. Together with the hundreds of thousands of rebel soldiers who lost the protection of the military formation, he was turned into ashes!
If Li Zicheng had not fled the battlefield and used his innate magical weapon to lead his soldiers to fight back with all their might, he would have been able to deal with Zuo Liangyu's army.
Once Gao Yingxiang's soldiers had caught their breath, they could join forces with the army led by Li Zicheng to fight against Zuo Liangyu.
Not to mention defeating the opponent, it is still possible to escape unscathed.
However, Li Zicheng, this guy, probably had plans to establish himself long ago. Taking advantage of the critical moment when Zuo Liangyu's army was attacking with all their might, he abandoned Gao Yingxiang and left without hesitation.
Seeing how skillfully he operated, it was obvious that he had planned it in advance, and he easily killed the rebel leader Gao Yingxiang.
But this is also quite normal.
Li Zicheng was forced into a desperate situation and revealed that he had a set of innate magical weapons. If he continued to stay in Gao Yingxiang's army, not only would his situation be very dangerous, but it would also be difficult for him to face Gao Yingxiang as before.
How precious is a set of innate divine artifacts?
No matter how generous Gao Yingxiang is, he still has some thoughts in his mind.
In fact, the moment Li Zicheng decided to expose his set of innate artifacts, he was destined to part ways with Gao Yingxiang.
Now that Gao Yingxiang was killed by Zuo Liangyu's full-force attack, it undoubtedly helped him solve his biggest worry: the issue of righteousness.
The war between the enemy and us had just started, and the defeat of Gao Yingxiang's army soon became the fuse for the defeat of the three-army alliance.
"let's go!"
The first person to choose to cut off his own tail to survive was Zhang Xianzhong.
After seeing the invincible power of the innate magic lamp activated by Zuo Liangyu, how could he still have the slightest desire to fight?
He immediately took a dozen of his talented generals with him, and 300,000 soldiers who formed a military killing formation in time. He used all his strength to activate the killing formation's magical power to transform into the mythical beast Suzaku, which turned into a red stream of light and fled towards De'an Prefecture!
As for the remaining hundreds of thousands of soldiers, they can only hope for the best.
The five legions arranged by Zuo Liangyu on the periphery have begun to encircle him. If he doesn't leave now, he will really be unable to leave.
Ultimately, this was because the number of troops gathered by Zuo Liangyu was too large, which exceeded the endurance limit of their three rebel armies.
Neither Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, nor Luo Rucai had expected that Zuo Liangyu was hiding so deeply.
If he doesn't take action, it's fine. But if he does, the attack will kill. Moreover, he used the extremely despicable strategy of a night attack, the main purpose of which was to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and surprise them.
As for Luo Rucai's army on the other side of Xiangyang City, they were much more cunning.
When the war just started, Luo Rucai ordered his soldiers to disperse and flee. Groups of tens of thousands of rebels ran all over the mountains and plains, fleeing in all directions, greatly increasing the difficulty of Zuo's army's pursuit.
This night attack lasted less than half an hour, and outside the huge city of Xiangyang, all the rebel soldiers had disappeared.
They were either killed or had fled without a trace.
This situation made the soldiers of the Zuo family army, who had just won a great victory, feel at a loss as to what to say.
But no matter what, the victory of Zuo's army in this battle laid the foundation for the future dominance of the Huguang region, and achieved Zuo Liangyu's goal.
(End of this chapter)
