In this realistic war game, only I understand the course of the battle.

"General."

Qu Neng's voice drowned out Li Jinglong's final words.

"The fact that the enemy is deliberately creating a diversion proves one thing: their forces are insufficient."

If we have enough troops, we can just push forward directly; there's no need to send out feints for cover.

The main force of the Yan army is still blocked north of the Twelve Linked Cities; those who come are nothing but small fry. I request that the General allocate one thousand cavalry to me; I am willing to go out of the city to meet the enemy.

Li Jinglong clutched the warrant in his blue robe and read it twice, then glanced at the dust and smoke outside the city. He then shook his head.

"You cannot leave the city."

What if the smoke and dust outside the city are real? What if a large force of Yan cavalry has really reached the city walls?

Opening the city gates is giving them an opportunity.

Li Jinglong folded the order paper again and tucked it back into his sleeve.

"General Qu is commendable for his loyalty and bravery."

However, it is not advisable to act rashly at this time.

Order: close all four gates tightly, strengthen defenses, and no one is allowed to leave the city.

Qu Neng clenched and unclenched his fist in his sleeve, slowly cupped his hands in greeting, and turned to walk down the city wall.

After he was out of Li Jinglong's sight, he whispered something to the guard beside him.

"Go and assemble the guards. Don't use the pretext of going out to meet the enemy; just say it's to strengthen the city's defenses and patrols."

The servants responded and left.

Qu Neng stood in the shadow of the city wall, looking up at the smoke column in the direction of the Twelve Linked Cities.

He'd fought half his life and could tell it was fake.

But what weighed heavily on his mind wasn't whether it was real or fake, but what the person who created these fake smoke pillars really wanted.

On the northern blockade line of Chenjiaying, the first person to discover the injury on his back was a spearman named Huang Laowu.

He was pointing his spear at the direction of Zhu Neng's main force to the north when he suddenly heard screams behind him. Turning around, he saw smoke rising from the tents of the rear camp, and several auxiliary soldiers were running towards them desperately.

Then he saw a group of people rushing out from the rear camp, their short-handled axes and waist knives gleaming coldly in the afternoon sun.

Before he could even shout, a flying axe came from the crowd and hit him squarely in the face.

Huang Laowu fell backward, his spear slipping from his hand and rolling into the mud.

Shen Du cut the easternmost rope on the blockade line with a single stroke, pushing the barricade to the side.

"The rear of Chenjia Camp has been breached!" he roared towards the north. "General Zhu Neng, the time has come!"

On the blockade line north of Chenjiaying, the sound of the first barricade being pushed down was as crisp as bones breaking.

Before Shen Du could pull his sword out of the second spearman's armor, Zhu Neng's main force from the north had already pressed forward.

The infantry of Yanshan Left Guard poured out from the south gate of Baojia Camp, like a flood bursting its banks and pouring into the gap that had just been torn open on the north side of Chenjia Camp's defense line.

Zhu Neng himself rode on that chestnut horse, the copper ring on the back of his ghost-head saber clanging as he charged, the tip of the blade pointing towards the gate of Chenjiaying.

"Breakthrough Battalion, advance!" Zhu Neng's roar pierced through the booming cannons. "Take Chen Family Camp for me!"

Shen Du did not look back at the charge from the north.

His mission wasn't at Chenjiaying. Amidst the smoke and fire of the rear camp at Chenjiaying, he drew his knife and roared at the remaining men of Team C, "Don't stop! Keep going south!"

Forty-two men passed through the rear camp of Chenjiaying, trampling over piles of grain and empty quivers, and emerged from the auxiliary gate in the southeast corner of the village.

The moment Shen Du stepped out of the gate, he glanced to the west. In the open space between Chenjiaying and Zhongying, the four piles of fireworks he had set off were still burning. The thick smoke was pressed into a slanted gray dragon by the afternoon south wind, rolling along the ground in a southeast direction.

The three cavalrymen of the Doyan Three Guards were still galloping back and forth in the south, and the dust kicked up by their hooves had turned the open area into a pot of yellow soup.

That's enough. The feint has bought enough time.

"Zhao Laoliu!" Shen Du shouted as he ran, "How many gunpowder packs are left?"

"Two!" Old Zhao Liu shouted, panting heavily as he ran with the wooden crate. "Only two left!"

"Keep both of them! Don't touch them!"

The south wall of the central camp was already faintly visible about two hundred paces ahead.

It was a rammed earth camp that was taller and thicker than Baojia Camp. Behind the crenellations above the south gate, you could see the helmets of the guards swaying.

However, the number of troops was small. The Qingshan soldiers had pushed all the main force of the central camp to the north to block Chen Heng, and the garrison at the south gate was at most two centurions.

Shen Du had already seen this clearly from the Baojiaying watchtower, which is why he dared to risk the lives of forty-two people in this direction.

But what he didn't expect was that a group of people were hiding behind the sheep and horse wall outside the south gate of the central camp.

When the arrows suddenly shot out from the firing holes of the sheep and horse wall, Shen Du was less than fifty paces away from the base of the wall.

The first volley of arrows grazed his shoulder armor and embedded themselves in the mud behind him. The second volley struck the thigh of a spearman on the far right of Team C. The man groaned and fell to one knee, his spear slipping from his hand and rolling into the mud.

"There are ambushes behind the wall!" Gu Zhang roared, raising his banner.

Shen Du did not stop. A burning sensation surged through the soles of his feet. The passive effect of being a soldier crossing the river was accumulating with every step he took towards the enemy. His agility was already much higher than when he rushed out of Baojia Camp.

The sound of arrows flying past his ear became very slow.

Shen Du ran in an arc through the rain of arrows, circled around to the western end of the sheep and horse wall, stepped onto the mound of earth at the base of the wall to propel himself up, and slashed down with his sword from above the wall.

Six crossbowmen were hiding behind the wall.

Shen Du's knife felled the first one, and when he landed, his shoulder knocked the second one over. The third knife pierced the third one's abdomen from below.

The remaining three archers threw down their crossbows, drew their swords, and rushed over, only to be caught one by one by Zheng Biao and Zhao Laoliu, who had followed closely behind and scaled the wall.

The last one tried to run, but Shen Du caught up from behind and slashed him on the back of the neck with a knife. He collapsed into the mud and didn't move.

"Clear the wall! Eliminate all the crossbowmen!" Shen Du wiped the blood from his face, pointing his blade at the south gate of the central camp. "Zhao Laoliu, the gunpowder pack!"

The south gate of Zhongying is a heavy wooden door covered with iron sheets, with iron hoops added to the hinges, and its structure is almost identical to that of the west gate of Baojiaying.

Shen Du rushed to the door, squatted down, and ran his fingers along the rammed earth wall at the base of the door hinge.

There were no cracks. Artillery hadn't fired here, and there weren't any ready-made holes in the wall like at Baojiaying to stuff with gunpowder.

"Master Li! There's no seam!" Old Zhao Liu checked it too, his voice trembling with anxiety, "The gunpowder pack won't go in!"

Shen Du stood up and took two steps back, his gaze sweeping from the hinge to the door panel, and then from the door panel to the lintel.

The lintel of the south gate is made of wood, with the two ends of the crossbeam resting on the rammed earth wall, and the upper part of the door hinge supporting it in the middle.

The gap between the lintel and the rammed earth wall was filled with hemp fibers and mortar for fire prevention and reinforcement.

"Give me the gunpowder pack." Shen Du stretched out his hand.

Zhao Laoliu took out the last gunpowder packet from the wooden box and handed it over.

Shen Du took the gunpowder pack in his hand and weighed it—it weighed about three pounds, made of black powder, wrapped tightly in oil paper, and the fuse was only two feet long.

He checked the fuse again to make sure it wasn't damp, then stuffed the gunpowder pack into his pocket and looked up at the lintel.

"Build a human ladder. Two people, help me up."