Chapter 22: Five Hundred Thousand Troops, Annihilated Overnight!
This cavalry was none other than the Xuan Bird Battalion, personally forged by Zhang Yang!
Comprising five thousand riders, it was the most elite unit of the Xuan Bird Battalion!
Their arrival took everyone by surprise.
Although Gongsun Bai had fifty thousand troops in his main camp,
it was already deep into the night, and the soldiers never expected a night raid. Most were either fast asleep or had already stripped off their armour and stowed away their weapons.
By the time they realised the enemy had arrived, it was far too late.
The most absurd part was that before Zhang Yang charged into the camp, they didn’t even know who their attackers were!
Leading the charge alone, Zhang Yang broke through the temporary gate of Gongsun Bai’s camp with a single strike.Then, like a fierce tiger pouncing on a flock of sheep, the five thousand riders of the Xuan Bird Battalion charged indiscriminately into the camp.
As they slaughtered the Jing Kingdom soldiers caught unawares, they shouted loudly,
“The Chief Minister, Grand General, Grand Marshal of the Shang Kingdom is here! Why do you still refuse to surrender?”
Their howls echoed throughout the camp.
Hearing Zhang Yang’s name—a name well known even in the chaos—only heightened the disorder.
Everyone knew that the Chief Minister, Grand Marshal of the Shang Kingdom was the greatest martial artist alive, a one-man army capable of facing a thousand foes.
In a head-on clash, the outcome was uncertain.
But right now, with Zhang Yang leading the charge, the ordinary soldiers of the Jing Kingdom had no chance to even mount a defence.
In less than ten minutes, Zhang Yang led the Xuan Bird Battalion all the way to the central command tent of the Jing forces.But Gongsun Bai and his son had already slipped away quietly upon receiving the news, leaving only the empty central command tent fluttering in the cold wind.
Though Zhang Yang felt a twinge of regret, he did not care.
With a single sweep of his spear, he cut down the commander’s flag hanging from the central tent.
As the banner fell, the already demoralised soldiers of the Jing Kingdom fell into complete disarray.
Their camp was in chaos!
Some Jing soldiers scrambled onto horses and fled into the darkness.
Others simply laid down their weapons and surrendered.
Within less than half an hour, the battle was over.
“Ha, that was exhilarating, absolutely exhilarating,” Heitu said, covered in blood, laughing heartily beside Zhang Yang.
Heitu exclaimed, "No matter how cunning the Gongsun Clan is, like foxes, they never expected the Chief Minister to be prepared well in advance."
Zhang Yang’s lips curved slightly as his gaze grew deep, fixed on the night sky.
Indeed.
Prepared long ago.
But when did this battle actually begin to be planned?
Probably about two years ago.
Two years ago, tensions in the Jing Kingdom were rising, and the Gongsun Clan had reached a point of utter hostility with the other noble clans.
However!
Even united, the other clans were no match for the Gongsun Clan, who controlled the military command over the entire country and commanded fifty thousand elite cavalry.
What’s more, the Gongsun Clan was not without allies either.
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Two years ago, after assessing the situation in the Jing Kingdom, Zhang Yang sent several disciples there.
One of them was called Fu Ze!
This name was not well known in the Jing Kingdom.
But he had another identity.
He was the master craftsman overseeing the production of the Bed Crossbow!
The craftsman who had gifted the Bed Crossbow to Gongsun Zhi!
He was also Gongsun Zhi’s strategist!
Since obtaining the Bed Crossbow, Gongsun Bai’s ambition had grown rapidly.
He was certain this was the divine weapon capable of defeating the Shang Kingdom and leaving that number one man in the world with no grave to rest in.
With this divine weapon, everything he desired could be accelerated!
Following this, on Fu Ze's advice, Gongsun Zhi proactively presented to Gongsun Bai five strategies to destroy the Shang Kingdom!
Firstly: Declare war on the Shang Kingdom under the pretext of avenging Marquis Jing.
Any nobles unwilling to send troops would be accused of treason and colluding with the Shang Kingdom, eliminating opposition.
Secondly: Secretly build an army of Bed Crossbows.
Thirdly: Form an alliance with the northern states, using their troops to pressure the enemy.
Fourthly: If the southern campaign against the Shang Kingdom succeeded, take the opportunity to eliminate the restless King Xian and all factions aligned with him.
Fifthly: Use the glory of victory to carry out a comprehensive purge within the country!
From then on, the House of Gongsun would become the de facto rulers of the Jing Kingdom!
This strategy perfectly struck a chord with Gongsun Bai, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.
Over the next two years, Gongsun Bai remained quietly plotting.
However!
He was unaware that the true initiator of this plan was Zhang Yang!
All for today!
This campaign saw the Shang Kingdom, along with its allied states, mobilise nearly half a million troops, an immense and unstoppable force.
What does half a million soldiers mean? A vast sea of men, stretching across ten or more miles.
In this era, no one could accurately count the exact number of troops in every camp within such a massive army.
This was the opportunity Zhang Yang had been waiting for.
A chance to deceive the enemy under their very noses!
When the two armies arrived on opposite banks of the Shang River, Heitu and his five thousand elite cavalry had already crossed from afar, sneaking into the surrounding hills and countryside.
Through his insider intelligence, Zhang Yang confirmed the location of Gongsun Bai’s main camp, along with the troop deployments and other details.
From the very start, Zhang Yang had no intention of engaging in any noble warfare with Gongsun Bai!
There was only one thing he wanted:
Victory!
All rules, military courtesies—they were all nonsense.
A meticulously planned night raid unfolded without Gongsun Bai having the slightest warning.
The moment Zhang Yang broke through the Gongsun Clan’s camp, the outcome of the war had already been quietly decided.
On a battlefield with hundreds of thousands of troops, Zhang Yang’s strength was certainly formidable, but he could not dominate the entire battlefield.
However!
In the night raid, his combat power was enough to rule the battlefield!
Gongsun Bai was defeated.
His defeat was utterly catastrophic.
Out of a force of fifty thousand, over thirty thousand surrendered.
Only a little over ten thousand managed to escape.
Soon after Zhang Yang’s night raid on Gongsun Bai’s main camp, the Jing Kingdom nobles Yuan Clan and Feng Clan—who had already made agreements with Zhang Yang—turned to attack Gongsun Clan’s allies in succession.
That very night, the entire Jing Kingdom army of one hundred thousand was annihilated.
Well, that’s not quite accurate.
There were still the Yuan and Feng Clans who had defected to Zhang Yang.
Though their troops were not numerous, they still numbered over ten thousand.
After striking the Gongsun Clan’s allies, they took advantage of the situation to absorb those troops, swelling their forces to more than thirty thousand between the two clans.
The chaos of that night brought consequences beyond measure.
When the various feudal lords learned of the turmoil within the Jing Kingdom—that Gongsun Bai’s main camp had been seized by Zhang Yang leading the Xuan Bird Battalion—and that of the two hundred thousand allied troops sent in aid, a staggering one hundred and fifty thousand had fled that very night, the news spread like wildfire.
As for the remaining fifty thousand, it wasn’t that they lacked the will to flee; they simply knew escape was impossible.
The Jing Kingdom was finished.
The Shang Kingdom’s rise as the supreme power of the realm was now an inevitability.
Flee?
Could those who managed to escape the battlefield somehow leave Heng State with their families, clansfolk, and fellow countrymen?
What a joke.
There was no point in running. Unless they could get out of Heng State itself, they would never escape the wrath of the Shang Kingdom.
The next day, dawn was just breaking.
The remaining tens of thousands of Young Masters and rulers from the feudal states headed to the Gongsun Clan’s main camp to apologise to Zhang Yang.
The war was over.
It ended in a way no one had ever imagined.
In just one night, the Jing Kingdom’s five hundred thousand-strong army either surrendered or fled—there was not a single soldier left.
When the Shang Kingdom’s various allies heard the news of the war’s conclusion, they were utterly stunned, unable to process it for a long time.
“You’re telling me we went to sleep, and the war was over?”
“Yes, and we won.”
“The Jing Kingdom’s five hundred thousand troops, not a single one left standing?”
“Is this… even possible?”
They didn’t know whether it was possible or not.
But when Zhang Yang arrived at the camp leading the prisoners and the northern lords coming to apologise, the cheers that greeted him shook the very air.
Lady of Shang wept tears of joy.
She had never imagined victory would come so suddenly, so utterly... unbelievable.
Under the scorching sun, spears stood like a forest.
Clad in blood-stained armour, Zhang Yang slowly approached Lady of Shang.
Looking at her tear-streaked, joyful face, he spoke gently, “Congratulations, my lady. We have won this battle.”
Lady of Shang turned her head slightly, wiping away the tears from her eyes.
She looked at Zhang Yang once more, her gaze full of tenderness, unable any longer to contain her excitement. “Chief Minister, you have worked hard.”
A thousand unspoken words were contained in that look.
Zhang Yang smiled and said, “For you, for Great Shang, it is all part of my duty.”Having said that, Zhang Yang took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing slightly as he said, “My lady, it’s time to head to the Eastern Capital.”
The Eastern Capital, the capital city of Heng State, was less than three hundred miles from here!
Zhang Yang had not forgotten his other enemy:
the current Son of Heaven of Heng State, Emperor Huan!
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