Hearing this, the leaders looked at each other and hesitated.
Guo Haishen frowned and said, “Second Brother, if we do this, won’t we become fools? We risked our lives, but Tan Peng will take advantage of us. This is basically sending a gift to others for no reason.”
Zhou Jing shook his head and explained,
“Now that we’re being pincered from three sides, although we have tens of thousands of troops, we’re still weaker than all of them combined. If we can make one side change sides, the situation will be much easier.
If we don’t provide enough benefits, how can Tan Peng agree? It’s precisely because we want him to take advantage of the situation and feel that he can fight equally with the winners after he grows stronger and has the ability to protect himself that he will temporarily join forces with us.
Moreover, if Tan Peng really doesn’t submit to the Imperial Court, even if I don’t mention this condition, he might have the intention to take advantage of Wan Chunyang. Let’s stabilize him first. When we get a result, he might come out to pluck the peaches, but it’s also a good thing to be able to deal with the enemy…”
The three groups would definitely be on guard against his tactic of defeating Fan Zong. They would not easily give him a chance to kill and seize the flag alone.
After all, he was only one person and could not split himself up. Although he still had a chance of winning against the three armies, the losses would definitely not be small.
He could rely on his martial strength to be unparalleled on the battlefield, but he did not have to fight alone strategically. If the conditions allowed, he did not mind forming some alliances and breaking them apart to reduce the pressure on the battlefield as much as possible.
“In addition, if we win head-on, we can obtain a large number of surrendered soldiers and armor. We can also nurture our combat abilities through battle. It’s hard to say who will benefit more.” Zhou Jing added to the leaders.
Everyone nodded slightly.
Du Ying pondered for a moment and said, “Well, this way, the envoy needs to be a smart person who can speak nicely to persuade Tan Peng.”
Hearing this, Li Chun’s figure flashed through Zhou Jing’s mind.
Unfortunately, this person was on Red Cloud Mountain and not his leader. Otherwise, it would be very suitable for this guy to be the envoy.
He glanced at everyone and quickly chose a leader who submitted recently to him as an envoy.
This person’s name was Zhu He. His martial arts were shallow, but he could barely be considered eloquent. He was usually in charge of welcoming and bringing people here.
“It’s settled then. Brother Zhu He will be the envoy to meet Tan Peng and bring some elite soldiers as guards.”
Zhou Jing decided and said in a deep voice,
“Even if this Tan Peng agrees, he’s most likely plotting something behind the scenes. We can’t believe him completely. We have to remain wary.”
“Of course.”
Everyone chorused.
After the group finished discussing their strategy to face the enemy, under Zhou Jing’s orders, they led their troops and followed the army.
…
In the 12th year of Xinghe, at the end of March, Wan Chunyang, Tan Peng, and the Huyang Army attacked Chen Feng.
Chen Feng’s navy was split amongst the various waterways, along the banks and facing the waters, tightly guarding the entire area.
In April, Chen Feng’s troops faced Wan Chunyang’s army. The two sides fought several times on the water, each with injuries. Wan Chunyang was no match and temporarily retreated.
During this period, Chen Feng led the charge and repeatedly acted as the vanguard to break through the enemy formation. Wan Chunyang returned empty-handed because of this.
On the other side, Guo Haishen and the others led another army to guard the Danhu River and set up a stronghold to defend the place.
The officials ignored the rise and fall of the river and attacked quickly. They fought for a few days, but they did not expect to fall into a trap. Guo Haishen’s troops had long ordered people to tamper with the river path upstream. Many of the officers and soldiers’ ships were trapped deep in the mud and beached, so they could only abandon some of the warships and escape.
However, this plan blocked the river path, making it difficult for Guo Haishen to chase after them. He only won a small battle and did not severely injure the Huyang army.
In the north, Tan Peng had attacked many important lake areas under Chen Feng’s command. They had fought several times, winning and losing. He was temporarily blocked outside the main war zone and entangled non-stop with the armies there, but did not advance on them.
In May, the officials gathered their troops and turned to Hongzhou, advancing downstream from the waterway. Wan Chunyang turned to the waterway and went upstream to try and pincer Chen Feng from both sides, but his moves were seen through by Du Ying.
Chen Feng’s troops had transferred the people and livestock of the stronghold in advance. A portion of the navy had restrained Wan Chunyang upstream while secretly sending hundreds of people down the river on broken warships.
Downstream, Guo Haishen led his troops and pretended to be defeated, retreating step by step. The officials advanced by land and water, encircling and suppressing the strongholds along the lake one by one. However, they were all empty. When they saw the broken warships drifting over from upstream, they assumed that Chen Feng’s navy had been defeated, so they advanced straight up, intending to cut off their retreat.
However, when they arrived at the mouth of the Yangping River, the sound of drums suddenly sounded. Chen Feng’s troops attacked, and the officials abandoned their armor and fled in all directions. Thousands of soldiers surrendered for that battle.
On the other side, Wan Chunyang had been attacking anxiously for many days, but he had never succeeded. He had no choice but to advance and meet up with the defeated officials. He temporarily retreated to a few important passes and guarded them. The vanguard of his troops intimidated their surrounding Chen Feng’s territories, but they did not dare to advance rashly. He hurriedly sent a letter urging Tan Peng to support him.
At the beginning of June, something unexpected happened. Tan Peng changed sides and turned around to attack Wan Chunyang’s territory, poking the other party in his butt.
When Wan Chunyang received the news, his army’s morale fell into chaos.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chen Feng advanced on a large scale, and the situation changed.
In mid-June, Chen Feng, Wan Chunyang, and the official army started a full-fledged battle of tens of thousands of people on the lake. The warships collided, and the sailors fought, dyeing the lake red.
Chen Feng continuously displayed his prowess by churning and flipping in the water, killing countless enemies. His eyes were stained with blood, and in the end, he established his victory. He led the army to defeat Wan Chunyang and the officials, capturing more than 10,000 enemies.
The remaining enemy troops were severely injured and were hunted down. They were devoured step by step. Some died, some fled, and some surrendered. There was no way to reverse the situation anymore.
During this period, there was an incident. Dozens of masked martial artists were fantasizing and tried to take the opportunity to sneak into Chen Feng’s stronghold to save the people from the various sects who were still imprisoned.
However, before they could sneak in, they were exposed. They were hung and whipped for a day and night before being thrown into the cell to write secret manuals with the various sects.
On the 20th of June, Wan Chunyang and many leaders had no choice but to surrender and be captured.
Their grand expedition against Chen Feng ended in a huge defeat.
The Wandering River Flood Dragon King, Wan Chunyang, had lost everything. A large number of troops had been captured by Chen Feng, and the territory under his command had been snatched away by Tan Peng. He had even been cut off by Chen Feng as a sacrifice flag and directly removed from Huyang.
The soldiers mobilized by the Huyang Prefecture were almost completely wiped out, and most of them became surrendered soldiers in Chen Feng’s hands.
On the other side, Tan Peng had taken over Wan Chunyang’s faction, but he was not satisfied with the current situation. Instead, he immediately sent troops to attack Chen Feng.
At this juncture, Chen Feng’s navy was already quite tired from the continuous battle. Moreover, they had yet to turn the surrendered soldiers into combat strength. It was the best opportunity to attack.
Tan Peng had this idea long ago. He pretended to join forces with Chen Feng, but in fact, he was just waiting to be an oriole. He took this opportunity to deal with the last competitor and become the final winner of Huyang.
However, under Chen Feng’s inhuman bravery, Tan Peng could not attack for a long time. This battle lasted until August, and both sides suffered losses. There was no victory or defeat.
Tan Peng knew that his opportunity had been lost, and his plan had failed. After weighing the pros and cons, he temporarily withdrew his troops. He brought his own troops and rushed through all the passes, guarding them tightly with the intention of demarcating the borders.
Chen Feng’s army was tired from the long battle and tacitly agreed to this situation. They temporarily withdrew their troops and rested.
The chaos in Huyang lasted from March to August. After fighting for nearly half a year, in the end, Wan Chunyang and the state armies were fully divided up. Only two tyrants were left in the Green Forest in Huyang.
Although both sides had given up, they were sharpening their blades in private. They were holding back, preparing to completely finish off their opponent and monopolize Huyang.
The remnants of the Huyang State Army were severely injured and could no longer interfere.
However, the Imperial Court did not give up on Tan Peng. They still had the intention to recruit him.
Currently, there were only two bandits left in Huyang, and only Tan Peng could deal with Chen Feng. If the court could recruit Tan Peng and use this person to kill Chen Feng, not only would he be able to get rid of the greatest threat, but the problem of the bandits in Huyang could also be eliminated. This place would then be stable.
With such a “win-win” idea, the Imperial Court endured the unhappiness last time and sent an envoy to visit Tan Peng again.