The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 288 Reinforcements Arrive at the Critical Moment

Despite all that talk, when it came time to arrange the lineup, Tu Chengyu was still placed in the very center.

Just as they were almost ready, the enemy blocking their way made a move. Several people stepped out of the ranks and walked towards Tu Chengyu.

At the same time, the people chasing them were getting closer and closer, and Tu Chengyu could already hear their voices.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu realized that there was no time to delay any longer and immediately ordered an attack.

But before he could speak, one of the people walking towards him suddenly shouted:
"But was it Prince Su in person?"

Tu Chengyu recognized the voice, but couldn't quite place where he had heard it before.

Unable to figure it out, Tu Chengyu did not answer.

Just as he was pondering, the man spoke again:

"Your Highness, this is your humble servant, Zhang Jin."

Upon hearing the name, Tu Chengyu instantly remembered it.

This man was the second son of the former chief secretary of the Prince An's mansion. On the day of the mutiny in the capital, he risked his life to bring a letter from Chief Secretary Zhang to the Prince An's mansion.

This allowed Prince An to make calm arrangements and gain the upper hand during the mutiny.

From this perspective, Zhang Jin has made contributions to the current royal family.

So after Prince An registered his name, Zhang Jin was properly arranged.

Since that first meeting, Tu Chengyu has never seen this person again.

Unexpectedly, when they met again, this person became the obstacle in his way.

That was what Tu Chengyu initially thought, but then he realized something.

Given the Zhang family's relationship with the royal family, they are the least likely to rebel.

So, Tu Chengyu shouted hopefully:
"Zhang Jin, it is indeed I, the King. What are you doing here?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's voice, Zhang Jin finally confirmed Tu Chengyu's identity.

So he ignored everything and ran over by himself.

His action immediately put Tu Chengyu at ease.

Zhang Jin walked over in a few steps, and after clearly seeing Tu Chengyu's face, he said:

"Your Highness, what brings you here?"

Tu Chengyu said, "I originally planned to enter the mountains via the main road to the east, but there were people lying in ambush in the forest there, so I turned around and came here. What are you doing here?"

Zhang Jin replied, "Your Highness, His Majesty has sent me with men to guard this road and block the rebel army from entering the mountains."

"Rebels?" Tu Chengyu asked in surprise, "How could there be rebels?"

Disaster victims rebelling is a completely different matter from rebels.

Zhang Jin wanted to explain something to Tu Chengyu, but upon hearing the approaching enemies, he said:
"Your Highness, I will explain this matter to you in detail after we have defeated the enemy. For now, please retreat to the rear of the formation and wait."

Tu Chengyu knew this wasn't the time to talk about these things, so he nodded and then summoned Lao Yao and the others to hide behind the formation at the foot of the mountain.

Once they had taken cover, their pursuers came into view.

These pursuers, all on horseback, were even dressed in the robes of the Beijing garrison soldiers.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu understood why Zhang Jin had called them rebels.

It seems that some of the soldiers from the Beijing garrison were involved in the disturbances caused by some of the disaster victims.

However, what Tu Chengyu couldn't understand was why the soldiers of the Beijing garrison would cause trouble again out of the blue.

As Tu Chengyu was thinking, the pursuers also saw the military formation at the foot of the mountain.

Upon seeing this, they did not stop, but charged straight towards the army formation.

It seemed they were going to charge straight into the enemy lines, just like Tu Chengyu had done earlier. Seeing the pursuers' actions, Zhang Jin remained calm. He waited until they had started charging before shouting to his soldiers:

"Front row, step back."

Upon hearing the order, the soldiers at the front of the line immediately ran around to the back, revealing the barricades hidden in the military formation.

Also leaked out were more than a dozen ballistae.

Upon seeing this thing, Tu Chengyu broke out in a cold sweat.

He couldn't help but think that what if the person guarding this place wasn't Zhang Jin, but the enemy?

Then our charge would probably be pierced through before we even got close.

As the soldiers made way, the pursuers naturally saw the ballistae behind them.

His feelings were exactly the same as Tu Chengyu's; he dared not charge into the crossbows at all.

But by then, they had already started charging and couldn't stop for a while.

Another point is that Zhang Jin didn't give the pursuers a chance to react at all.

As soon as the soldiers in the front row made way, he immediately ordered them to shoot arrows.

More than a dozen ballistae fired at the same time, and seven or eight soldiers on the other side immediately fell.

Tu Chengyu thought that after firing one arrow, the crossbow would need a long time to prepare before firing the second arrow.

But to his surprise, the soldiers guarding the ballistae quickly loaded their long arrows and immediately fired the first wave.

After two waves of ballistae fired, the pursuing troops suffered more than a dozen casualties.

These people had some impact on the seventy or eighty pursuers, but not enough to cause them serious damage.

The biggest impact on them was that, in order to avoid the ballistae, the pursuers' formation became scattered and disorganized.

In this way, by the time they reach the front lines, the impact will not be as great.

Zhang Jin's soldiers, using the barricades as a barrier, managed to completely halt the pursuers' charge.

Cavalry originally had an advantage over infantry, but they lost that advantage when they were stopped and unable to move.

Upon seeing this, the general leading the pursuing troops quickly ordered his men to break away and prepare to reorganize the charge.

Just then, one of the guards who had been standing by Tu Chengyu's side whispered to him:
“Your Highness, the enemy is currently in a state of disarray. If cavalry were to flank them from the side, they would surely be able to completely disrupt their plans. Then, in coordination with Lord Zhang’s men, we can annihilate the entire enemy force.”

The guard who said this was named Gan Ze. He was not originally one of Tu Chengyu's men, but was sent by the emperor to protect Tu Chengyu this time.

From his words, it is clear that this man must have been a cavalryman before.

Tu Chengyu looked at him and then said:

"You mean, let us rush out and disrupt their formation?"

Currently, Tu Chengyu's cavalry consists only of the thirty guards who came with him.

Gan Ze nodded and said:

"That's exactly what I'm thinking. Your Highness has entrusted them to me. Taking advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold, rushing in now will be very effective."

Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and asked, "How confident are you?"

"If we strike now, I am 90% confident that we can completely disrupt their formation."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu immediately said:
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's strike now!"

As he spoke, he was the first to act, turning around to mount his horse.

Judging from this, he wants to join Gan Ze and the others to charge out and fight the enemy.

Gan Ze's expression changed immediately upon seeing this.

(End of this chapter)