The King-Protecting Army Encircled Xingyang, Luo Ziling Raised His Blade Against the Feudal Lords

"Great Peace Under All Under Heaven!"

North of the Great River, the Taiping Army, packed as densely as swarming ants, held sharp blades and shouted in unison, their imposing force fierce and oppressive.

After defeating Huangfu Song, the Taiping Army had not stopped advancing. They had now completely occupied the strategic stronghold of Xingyang and several formidable passes built around it.

There were not only arsenals here, but also vast granaries. It was an excellent place for a major battle.

Almost all the fortified cities east of Luoyang had fallen.

Luo Xiao stopped launching assaults on the remaining fortified cities at the risk of enormous casualties. Instead, he stationed his forces at Xingyang, drawing the King-Protecting Army from across the land and diverting attacks away from the Taiping Army in the other provinces and commanderies.

The most appropriate course for the powerful gentry across the land would have been to suppress the local Taiping armies separately, clearing them out of the provinces and commanderies surrounding Luoyang so that their own forces could unite.

But military affairs were merely a continuation of politics. When the capital faced an enormous threat, no military objective mattered anymore.

And Luo Xiao's most appropriate course would have been to disregard losses and attack Luoyang directly. But the right course for someone with only a few years left to live differed from that of someone who could live for several more decades.

Through Luo Xiao's training and the tempering of battle after battle, the Taiping Army was no longer the army it had been under Zhang Jue.

Even the harshest critic had to acknowledge that this was an elite army, and one rarely seen anywhere under heaven.

What kind of army could be called elite?

It came down to just two things: practiced combat skills and