[Amidst Xue Hansong's shock, anger, and fear.]
[One by one, Flight-type Spirit Masters carrying Xue Hansong's edicts and decrees rushed to Zhenhu Pass, as well as Lima Pass, Weinan Pass, Iron Gate Pass, and other major passes in the south.]
[On the other side.]
[Several days later, outside Zhenhu Pass.]
[The main force led by Tang Chuan finally arrived at Zhenhu Pass, setting up camp about two li from the city wall.]
[Looking at Zhenhu Pass before him, which was wedged in a vital traffic route, with high walls and deep moats, towering and imposing, easy to defend but difficult to attack, Tang Chuan's eyes were very calm; he did not rush to order an attack.]
[Instead, he had the soldiers rest for a day while sending scouts to closely monitor the movements within the pass.]
[The next morning.]
[Tang Chuan ordered a probing attack to be launched.]
[First, it was the test firing of the cannons.]
[Thirty cast-iron cannons were pushed to the front of the formation, their dark muzzles aimed at the towering city wall of Zhenhu Pass.]
[Following the commander's order, deafening roars rang out one after another, and iron balls the size of human heads whistled out, slamming heavily against the city wall.]
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
[Gravel splashed, and smoke and dust filled the air.]
[However, when the smoke and dust dissipated, Zhenhu Pass had not suffered much damage.]
[As one of the top five important passes of the Heaven Dou Empire.]
[Zhenhu Pass was indeed stronger than imagined, with hundred-meter-high walls, dozens of meters of thickness, and the strength of high-quality granite.]
[Even after thirty cannons bombarded it for nearly half an hour, they only left some depressions and cracks of varying depths on the city wall, far from collapsing it.]
["As expected of a top-tier pass on the continent!"]
[Looking at the Zhenhu Pass before him, Tang Chuan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he muttered to himself, but he did not show any disappointment.]
[However, the defending commander on Zhenhu Pass, upon seeing the thirty giant cannons spitting fire, was so scared that his legs went weak.]
[What kind of weapon is this?]
[The power is just too strong!!]
[Although the city wall was not collapsed, that earth-shattering momentum had completely destroyed the defending commander's courage.]
[Because the defending commander knew clearly.]
[Although Zhenhu Pass was very sturdy, even if those thirty weapons capable of firing iron balls fired a volley, there was no sign of the Zhenhu Pass wall being destroyed.]
[But if it doesn't work in one day, what about five days, ten days, or half a month?]
[If there is no support!]
[Zhenhu Pass will still fall sooner or later!]
[Moreover, the commander of this Heaven Dou Empire force is that Blue Silver King Tang Chuan, and he hasn't even made a move yet!]
Black World, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
"This Tang Chuan seems to have a plan!"
When seeing in the comparison video that Tang Chuan only ordered the cannons to fire in unison, while he himself did not make a move.
Ning Fengzhi couldn't help but immediately feel that something was wrong. He gently rubbed the jade in his hand with his right hand, a flash of doubt appearing in his eyes on that gentle and refined face, and he spoke.
"In the previous comparison video, that Tang Chuan used his Seventh Spirit Ability: Blue Silver Emperor Avatar, plus his Ninth Spirit Ability: Infinite Growth, which could allow the Blue Silver Emperor to entwine into a Blue Silver Wood Dragon hundreds or even thousands of meters long."
"As long as he let the Blue Silver Wood Dragon emerge from the ground, it would be fully sufficient to destroy the city wall of this Zhenhu Pass."
"But Tang Chuan only ordered the cannons to fire in unison, and he himself did not make a move."
"This is not in line with common sense!"
"Unless... he has other plans!"
But even though he prided himself on being the smartest person on the Douluo Continent.
Ning Fengzhi still couldn't figure out what Tang Chuan's plan was.
He could only guess that it should have something to do with the troops that were split off on the road earlier.
Blue Tyrant Academy.
Discovering that in the comparison video, after Tang Chuan brought his troops to Zhenhu Pass, he actually did not make a move personally, but only let dozens of cannons fire in unison.
This made Tang San and Yu Xiaogang also pause for a moment, feeling a trace of unease and wrongness.
But with the wisdom of Tang San and Yu Xiaogang, they couldn't guess what Tang Chuan was going to do next.
They could only convince themselves that Tang Chuan was probably just launching a probing attack at the beginning.
Next, he should be about to make a move personally.
The comparison video continued to play.
[After witnessing the power of the cannons.]
[This made the defending commander anxious. On one hand, he urged the soldiers to reinforce the city defenses; on the other, he urgently requested aid from the royal city and surrounding passes.]
[The letter repeatedly emphasized: "Tang Chuan's army has strange and ferocious new weapons that can shoot iron balls, with power comparable to the Spirit Ability of a Spirit King, and the ten-thousand-year level. Zhenhu Pass is in imminent danger, please send reinforcements immediately!"]
[And under Xue Hansong's orders.]
[The garrisons of southern passes like Lima Pass, Weinan Pass, and Iron Gate Pass did not dare to be negligent. Leaving a small number of troops behind, the main forces hurriedly assembled and galloped along the main road towards Zhenhu Pass.]
[But on the few roads that were the only way to Zhenhu Pass, there were people who had been waiting for a long time.]
[Among them, in a dangerous area called 'Luoying Gorge'.]
[The cliffs on both sides were steep, and only a narrow main road wound through the middle.]
[When the two reinforcement armies from Lima Pass and Weinan Pass, totaling more than eighteen thousand people, entered Luoying Gorge in a mighty force.]
[On the cliffs on both sides, the sound of cannons suddenly rang out, shaking the sky!]
[Led by Dugu Bo, an ambush force composed of elite Spirit Masters from the Qingdi Sect and garrison troops occupied the high ground, waiting for the enemy to arrive exhausted.]
[Dozens of cannons poured firepower from the top of the mountain, and shells landed in the dense marching formation, blowing people over and horses off their feet, with flesh and blood flying everywhere.]
[Immediately afterwards, countless shrapnel grenades were thrown down like raindrops, exploding one after another in the crowd, with sharp fragments reaping lives.]
[And those officers and Spirit Masters who tried to organize a counterattack were precisely picked off one by one by flintlock musket wielders.]
[Finally, it was Dugu Bo and the elite Spirit Masters of the Qingdi Sect who were responsible for clearing the battlefield.]
[This ambush battle lasted less than half an hour before it was declared over.]
[Out of more than eighteen thousand Balak reinforcements, casualties exceeded sixteen thousand.]
[The remaining two thousand or so either surrendered or scattered and fled into the mountains.]
[Dugu Bo did not pursue the routed soldiers but quickly cleared the battlefield, stripped hundreds of relatively intact Balak military uniforms from the corpses, and then disappeared into the mountains with the ambush force.]
[On the other side, the ambush force led by Shui Wuhen and the remaining Spirit Douluo of the Qingdi Sect, composed of elite Spirit Masters from the Qingdi Sect and garrison troops, also used the same method to annihilate the reinforcements of the Balak Kingdom.]
[At the same time.]
[Tang Chuan, in front of Zhenhu Pass, after "attacking fiercely" for two consecutive days.]
[Suddenly, he ordered the entire army to withdraw and rest, deliberately making the retreating troops appear exhausted and low in morale.]
[He even left a few damaged cannons and scattered supplies in front of the pass, creating the illusion of "failing to attack for a long time, supplies exhausted, and being forced to retreat."]
[The defending general of Zhenhu Pass stood on the tower, watching the Heaven Dou army slowly retreat. He felt a sense of relief, but also vaguely felt that something was wrong.]
[But just at this moment, a routed army suddenly appeared below the pass, about five or six hundred people, wearing the uniforms of the Balak army, their flags crooked, covered in blood, running towards the pass in a sorry state, shouting.]
["Open the gate! Open the gate quickly! We are the garrison of Lima Pass!"]
["We were ambushed by the Heaven Dou army at Luoying Gorge! Open the gate quickly and let us in!"]
[The defending general took a closer look, and he recognized the leader; it was indeed a deputy general from Lima Pass, with whom he often interacted, so it couldn't be fake.]
[Looking at those soldiers again, each of them was wounded and terrified, obviously having experienced a fierce battle.]
[The doubts in the defending general's heart dissipated by more than half, and he hurriedly ordered the city gate to be opened to let them into the pass.]
[But the moment that "routed army" poured into the gate, the leading deputy general suddenly took out a shrapnel grenade from his bosom, pulled the pin, and threw it fiercely into the crowd of defenders inside the gate tunnel!]
[Boom!]
[The explosion roared inside the gate tunnel, and the defenders were blown apart.]
[At the same time, those five or six hundred "routed soldiers" pulled out flintlock muskets and short knives from under their robes in unison and launched a fierce attack on the defenders on both sides of the gate.]
[Further away, the main force of the Heaven Dou army, which had already "retreated," turned around upon hearing the explosion and rushed towards Zhenhu Pass at the fastest speed!]
[Not long after.]
[Zhenhu Pass, fallen!]
"This is impossible!!!"
Black World, Blue Tyrant Academy.
Originally thinking that Tang Chuan leading his troops straight to Zhenhu Pass was arrogance and ignorance of military strategy.
But just after making a mocking statement, he didn't expect to be slapped in the face.
When seeing in the comparison video that Tang Chuan actually used such a method to not only annihilate the reinforcements from other southern passes of the Balak Kingdom who came to support Zhenhu Pass.
But also used the method of disguising as Balak Kingdom troops to trick Zhenhu Pass into opening its gates and conquering it.
This made Tang San's face turn green. On the spot, his eyes turned red, he breathed like a cow, and he roared full of anger and inability to accept it.
"This Tang Chuan, he can't even do the most basic thing of hiding his tracks to lead troops for a surprise attack!"
"How could he possibly ambush the reinforcements coming from other passes of the Balak Kingdom, and use the method of disguising his identity to trick the city gates of Zhenhu Pass open and conquer it!"
"This is impossible!"
"It must be that someone else instructed this Tang Chuan, and that's why he would do this!"
"How could he have high cultivation talent, be strong in strength, know how to develop Spirit Abilities, be able to make money, and also know military strategy!"
"In this World, it is impossible to have such a person!!"
While Tang San had a breakdown and roared in anger.
Yu Xiaogang also had an ugly expression, feeling as if his face had been slapped loudly, his complexion a mix of blue and red.
Originally, he had just feigned a sigh to speak up for Tang Chuan, but in reality, he was being sarcastic.
His purpose was to elevate his own military strategy ability.
But he didn't expect that there would be such a reversal later, getting slapped in the face.
But to admit that he was inferior to Tang Chuan in any aspect, that was impossible.
Therefore, Yu Xiaogang still frowned, feigning thought, and said in a low voice.
"This plan is truly excellent!"
"To actually take down Zhenhu Pass through such a method, and effectively annihilate the military forces of other southern passes of the Balak Kingdom!"
"But such a plan shouldn't be something that Tang Chuan could have thought of."
"Since the beginning of the comparison video until now, this Tang Chuan hasn't read a single military book, nor has he consulted any generals like Marshal Ge Long of the Heaven Dou Empire."
"I think it must be that Xue Ke dispatched a strategist from Marshal Ge Long to help Tang Chuan plan and plot."
(End of Chapter)
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