knife

Chapter 337: Soldier versus Soldier, versus General

(The more debts I have, the less I worry; the more lice I have, the less they itch—I'll keep accumulating debt! But the good news is my back injury is much better today; I think I'll be almost healed by tomorrow!)

The large army and villagers that marched from Mianzhu to Chengdu were only led by Wuhou and Fang Xiaomao, and included some that had been reorganized.

The true elite troops had already left quietly after capturing Mianzhu.

At that time, Mianzhu was in complete chaos, and no one noticed that fewer soldiers were returning each day than those who went out.

Destroying the main force of the enemy troops that are returning to reinforce is the best way to cut off any hope the enemy has of returning to Chengdu.

The fact that Li Dachui claimed to stay in Mianzhu for ten days instead of making a sudden move was naturally the result of careful consideration.

We must give Li Huimin hope, otherwise he will not return to provide assistance.

But the best timeframe is ten days, which would prevent him from returning with his entire army and force him to take only the elite troops.

When Li Huimin returned to Chengdu to reinforce the city according to this plan, countless surprises awaited him on his journey home.

The tactic of besieging a point and attacking reinforcements was all too familiar to Li Dachui.

With the cooperation of the Black Ice Guard spies, after constantly exhausting and harassing the enemy, they won the battle in one fell swoop.

This elite force, composed of private soldiers from various ethnic groups in Sichuan, including the Prince's Mansion and the Tang family, was exhausted and demoralized, and was almost wiped out in a single battle. Furthermore, Prince Li Huimin was captured alive by Li Dachui.

Having finished this task, Li Dachui could now return to Chengdu with peace of mind.

As for Tang Xiaofeng on the other side of Jianmen Pass, Li Dachui doesn't need to worry about him.

Wu De is keeping an eye on things over there!
Moreover, once I capture Chengdu, the garrison at Jianmen Pass will be within my grasp.

The troops came to the city.

Zhang Songlin turned his head to look at Li Dachui under the big flag.

The other party said they would arrive in Chengdu in early October, and now they have actually arrived.

Moreover, he even took the time to go and wipe out all of Li Huimin's elite troops.

When Zhang Songlin saw Li Dachui leading Li Huimin to the city walls, his last bit of worry vanished.

The capture of Li Huimin also prompted some forces that were still observing to immediately stand on their side, with those who had money contributing money, those who had manpower contributing manpower, and those who had grain contributing grain.

After all, those who came to Chengdu with Li Dachui were not just soldiers, but also countless villagers with headscarves and carrying hoes, pitchforks, and clubs. Their daily expenses were considerable. Although these people were easy to feed—a bowl of porridge could make them happy—there were simply too many of them.

The number of truly combat-ready troops now exceeds ten thousand.

This included the inspection team brought by Li Dachui, the bandit groups of Wu Hou and Huang Biao, and the thousands of local forces mobilized by Zhang Songlin.

Don't underestimate the villagers. In Li Dachui's eyes, there are only people who can't organize and leaders who don't know how to make the best use of their people. Among these countless villagers are a considerable number of carpenters, stonemasons, bamboo weavers, and blacksmiths. If you organize these people and give them a little explanation, they can make decent siege weapons.

Once the first siege ladder was built, and after pointing out the problems, areas for improvement, and areas for reinforcement based on the actual product, the second ladder, when it was completed, truly possessed the capability for actual combat.

Never underestimate these seemingly unsophisticated rural craftsmen. Their intelligence is in no way inferior to that of the master craftsmen in the capital. They may not understand the blueprints at first, but once someone guides them to build their first machine, the blueprints will no longer hold much of a secret for them.

As a result, the counterweight catapult was soon manufactured.

The craftsmen were put to good use. The villagers, who only had physical strength, could cut down trees, move stones, and dig mud. Li Dachui never left his tent, yet he arranged everything in an orderly manner.

No one is idle.

No one felt neglected.

Everyone was working with great enthusiasm, just waiting for the day the city would fall.

Nobody thought it would be that difficult.

Especially those who witnessed firsthand how Li Dachui breached the city walls in Mianzhu.

Preparations for the siege are finally complete.

This time, Li Dachui didn't think he could succeed in one strike, after all, this was Chengdu, not a small town like Mianzhu.

Even though he was a master of innate cultivation, a few ninth-rank Xuan Yuan cultivators in the city could stand against him if they joined forces, along with a sufficient army.

Therefore, breaking through the city requires collective wisdom and effort.

The reason for taking a few days to build enough siege equipment was this.

Everything is ready now, just waiting for the final blow.

With the thunderous sound of drums, the enemy, who had been silent for several days, finally prepared to attack the city. Prince Ji, Li Shen, dragged his obese body and climbed the city wall with some difficulty.

Behind him, the palace guards followed in single file, carrying dozens of boxes and lining them up in a row on the city wall.

The box lid was opened, and everyone on the city wall began to breathe rapidly.

Those were boxes of silver ingots, neatly stacked.

"Kill a thief, and you'll be rewarded with one tael of silver!"

"Kill a captain, and you'll be rewarded with ten taels of silver!"

"Kill a lieutenant general and be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver!"

"Kill a general, and you'll be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"

"Pay on the spot, no delays!" With the guards' enthusiastic shouts, the eyes of the city-guarding soldiers finally lit up.

Money moves people's hearts.

Since ancient times, people have died for wealth, and birds have died for food.

Encouraged by the officers, the soldiers on the city walls gradually became more and more spirited.

The slogan "Defend our homeland and drive out the outsiders" is still somewhat misleading.

However, the morale that these actions had painstakingly built up was completely wiped out as the enemy gradually approached the city.

Because at the very front of the attackers' ranks, a row of people, bound hand and foot, were staggering along.

That's Prince Ji's heir, Li Huimin!
On either side of Li Huimin were all the generals who had accompanied the Crown Prince to Jianmen Pass.

Now, however, nine out of ten of them are tied up below.

Li Shen exclaimed in surprise.

Feng Bao, who was about to order the catapults and crossbows and other long-range weapons to begin the attack, also helplessly lowered his hands.

Li Huimin's capture means that external support has been cut off.

Their last hope was gone.

Despair began to spread across the city walls.

The attackers started shouting to persuade them to surrender; it was Zhang Songlin.

This person is familiar to the people of Chengdu.

Feng Bao looked at Li Shen.

Li Shen was completely bewildered.

It wasn't that he couldn't bear to part with his son.

He has quite a few sons.

He was desperate simply because Li Huimin had lost tens of thousands of his troops.

This was once his lifeline.

A gust of wind rustled, and an old man with white hair appeared on the city wall.

When Li Shen, Feng Bao, and the others saw the old man, they were like drowning people grasping at a straw; the two of them grabbed the old man's sleeve at the same time.

"Master Tang, what should we do now?"

Tang Yin took a breath, forcibly suppressing the boiling internal energy within his body, and tried his best to calm himself down. He calmly said to Li Shen, "Gather the elite troops in the city and follow me out of the city to fight!"

"Lord Tang, there are less than five thousand elite troops in the city. If we defend the city, we can hold out. But if we go out to fight, can we win?" Li Shen asked in a trembling voice.

"Do you think you can hold out?" Tang Yin sneered. "Only by facing death can we survive. I will be the vanguard, charging straight into the enemy's main camp. If we can kill the ringleaders, the rest will be nothing to us."

"Execute the ringleaders?" Li Shen realized. Yes, to catch the thief, first catch the king. Tang Gong is a master of innate skill and will be the vanguard of the army. He will surely be unstoppable. As long as the leaders are killed, what use will the rest of these peasants be? "Feng Bao, quick, gather all the elites and go with Tang Gong on the expedition. You go too."

"Your Highness, I've come to your side..."

"I am in the city, and I have my own guards!" Li Shen showed great courage at this moment. Feng Bao was the only remaining ninth-rank expert by his side.

Tang Yin's sudden appearance had a significant effect on boosting morale in the city, since Tang Yin was like a god to everyone in Shu.

No matter what difficulties arise, they can generally be resolved as long as this person appears.

Only Feng Bao vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

As Feng Bao rode alongside Tang Yin slowly toward the city gate, he turned and glanced at him, then glanced at him again.

"No need to look anymore, I'm about to die!" Tang Yin said in a low voice. "This battle is my last battle, and it's also the last thing I'll do for Shu. I'll go and kill that innate master on the other side. Even if I can't kill him, I'll try my best to make him lose his fighting ability and have to withdraw from this battle. The rest is up to you."

"you……"

"In order to get rid of Hong Zhan, I have no choice but to take this desperate gamble!" Tang Yin smiled bitterly: "Actually, there is not much to regret. Even if I don't die today, I am already old, there is no hope of advancing, and my body is bound to decline. Rather than die old and frail like an ordinary person, I would rather die on the battlefield."

"The people of Shu will remember Lord Tang!" Feng Bao said, his eyes filled with tears.

The city gates swung open, and Tang Yin, laughing loudly, leaped out on his horse. Behind him, Feng Bao raised his spear high and shouted as he charged forward, followed closely by thousands of the city's remaining elite troops.

The fact that the enemy actually came out of the city to fight was quite unexpected for Li Dachui, but when he saw Tang Yin leading the charge, he understood the enemy's intentions.

"That useless Hong Zhan actually let Tang Yin escape!" Li Dachui snorted and looked around at his generals: "The enemy is coming for me, so let's fight them head-on, soldier to soldier, general to general. That's good. If we wipe out these people, Chengdu will have no resistance. We can take it easily and lose fewer people. If they really attack the city, the losses will be much greater!"

"Yes, sir!" The cat on the left and right, Huang Biao, Wu Hou and others all loudly accepted the order.

"Leave Tang Yin to me. The guy behind him is a ninth-grade Xuan Yuan. Little Cat, you deal with him. Although your cultivation level is a bit lower, your combat experience is probably far superior to his. Although it's a bit dangerous, this is your chance to advance!" Li Dachui instructed.

"Yes, young master!" Fang Xiaomao drew his Tiger Wing Blade, seemingly sensing the impending battle. The Tiger Wing Blade emitted a series of clear sounds, and in response, Li Dachui's Minghong Blade at his waist kept striking its scabbard, eager to fight.

"Attack!" Li Dachui spurred his warhorse, and it shot off like an arrow.

(End of this chapter)