288: Chapter 204: Reactions from All Sides (Please Subscribe)_5 288: Chapter 204: Reactions from All Sides (Please Subscribe)_5 However, the entire formation was in chaos, with men and horses from dozens of local tyrants gathered together, commands conflicting and creating complete disarray.
Li Shenshan and Wei Yang were both skilled in leading troops, but they could only just manage to maintain order, letting everyone line up and march forward.
Fortunately, it wasn’t the season for spring plowing; otherwise, countless crops would have been trampled along the way.
There was no point in hoping for combat effectiveness from the overall formation.
Li Shenshan judged that if there were six hundred border soldiers and a capable leader, they needed only one charge to rout them.
As for this formation, it might as well not exist; they could only rely on individual combat capabilities to entangle and counter the opponents.
However, Chu Xisheng had another clever strategy; he placed the Dan Family’s six hundred men at the very front of the army formation.
His own seven hundred men and Zuo Qingyun’s four hundred red robes were in charge of supervising from the rear.
The “Dan Character Altar Master” Dan Chiling felt an urge to curse his mother; this bastard was clearly using the Dan Family’s people as cannon fodder.
But when he saw the several thousand people gathered around Chu Xisheng and the blade that Chu Xisheng was gripping, he could only pinch his nose and accept the situation.
He hadn’t turned against him before, and now he couldn’t afford to turn even more.
Concerned with the life and death of his own clan soldiers, Dan Chiling had to bring out some of his skills, while also becoming fully alert and preparing for battle.
He also rallied several clans close to the Dan Family to form a regiment of a thousand men, which somewhat impressively swept forward at the front.
However, Chu Xisheng’s troops were indeed lackluster, but those bandits from White Cloud Village and Jiudao Dock were even more of a ragtag bunch.
The two sides were still five miles apart when these West Mountain bandits started fleeing towards West Mountain, carrying the looted gold and silver.
Carrying too much gold and silver, they had to drop some of it, scattering various valuables along the way, which caused the local tyrants’ house soldiers to scramble for them.
Chu Xisheng did not hurry to pursue, continuing to advance at a calm pace.
As for those who scrambled for the valuables, he could not be bothered to deal with them, focusing only on keeping his own troops in line.
As long as his seven hundred gang members, Zuo Qingyun’s four hundred in red robes, and the six hundred from the Dan Family stayed orderly, they had the capacity to handle any situation.
It wasn’t until they reached near First Line Gorge and had pushed all the West Mountain bandits into the mountains that Chu Xisheng ordered the entire army to halt.
He left the Dan Family’s six hundred men behind to guard the exit of the gorge, preventing the West Mountain bandits from escaping to the east.
He himself led the remaining troops directly towards the Sheen Family estate.
— The Sheen Family was the main instigator in the tax resistance and also the largest landlord in West Mountain Town; Chu Xisheng had no reason to spare them.
Just as he had told Wen Tiance before, this tax levy treated everyone the same.
This time, he had to completely dismantle the Sheen Family’s influence in West Mountain!
And just as Chu Xisheng was gathering his forces to return, turning towards the south,
At a nearby mountain peak, the Dock Master of Jiudao Dock, Xia Qingtian with the Jinghong Blade, was watching him from afar, his expression one of surprise: “What a Chu Xisheng!
Indeed, a young hero.”
Next to him was Baiyun Village Chief Meng Yunshan, who was also frowning deeply: “After such a great victory, this young man can still remain calm and composed.
Our two factions will have trouble in the days ahead!”
At that moment, right below them in the forest, hid as many as six hundred ambush troops.
But Chu Xisheng’s main forces remained unshaken not only by temptation but also did not pursue into the gorge.
Naturally, their ambush plan was out of the question.
Both realized that the good days for White Cloud Village and Jiudao Dock were coming to an end.
They now faced a powerful and fiercely vicious opponent.