“No one is born a killer. Everyone has a reason to do something. Everyone has moments of self-reflection in the dead of night.” Ji Su repeated Liu Guang’s words from that day almost verbatim, then roared, “Just for this, you want me and my five hundred clansmen to die here?”
"I should indeed have let you and your five hundred clansmen die here," Feng Jiutian thought to himself, but a bitter smile appeared on his face. At the last moment, he had changed his mind and sent the Xuanji Chariot, originally intended as a last resort to deal with Liu Guang, to provide support. But explaining these things now was pointless.
"I don't understand, I really don't understand." Ji Su's face grew paler and paler, as if all her strength had been exhausted. She murmured, "To achieve your goals, you're even willing to send your own people to their deaths. How are you any different from the likes of Liu Guang?"
Feng Jiutian sighed deeply, "You're wrong. This matter has nothing to do with anyone else; it was all my planning. The reason I chose to act now was to take advantage of Commander Li's absence, but I didn't expect that even though he was thousands of miles away, he still discovered my plan. If Mr. Lei hadn't arrived in time, I wouldn't have changed my mind."
"Why is there no shame on your face?" Ji Su stared at the old man, her voice low but her words sharp. "You send your own people to sacrifice themselves, using them as pawns in your game. Aren't you ashamed?"
"You're tired, go and rest first." Feng Jiutian avoided answering.
"I can go and rest, but those Peace Army soldiers who were baited with me, those of my people, most of them have gone to rest forever. Now, I want you to tell me, do you feel any shame?"
"Enough." Lei Hun finally interrupted coldly, his face even paler than Ji Su, who had lost too much blood. He hissed, "What's the point of discussing this now?"
Ji Su glared at the two men resentfully and said, "When Li Jun arrives, I will return to the Qionglu Grassland. I will never want to be with you ordinary people again!" With that, she turned and rode back to Huichang City without looking back.
"While using any means necessary to achieve great things is unavoidable," Lei Hun said softly, watching her retreating figure, "there must be a limit. If the generals all feel that their lord is someone who can sacrifice everything to achieve his goals, they will likely become disillusioned and desert him."
Feng Jiutian looked at him, and Lei Hun slowly left as well. After he had been gone for a while, a mocking smile flickered across Feng Jiutian's lips: "I know, that's why I'll carry out these ruthless acts."
The Chen soldiers, who had retreated ten li, regrouped when they saw that the Heping Army was not pursuing them. Liu Guang ordered them to set up camp on the spot. His men, after counting their soldiers, reported in great alarm: "Thirty thousand men are missing, and their fate is likely grim. Twenty-one of our generals are also missing; they have probably all perished at the hands of that Rong woman."
"How is Han Chong's injury?" Liu Guang asked. Han Chong, a trusted general of Liu Guang, led the charge in his place and ended up in the blast zone. Although he was not hit by the blast, he was injured by the falling rocks. Fortunately, he was rescued by his soldiers.
"General Han will probably need to rest for ten days before he can ride a horse again."
"I understand. That Rong woman didn't kill so many of my generals; it was mainly the explosions." Speaking of the explosions, Liu Guang felt a pang of pain. His elite vanguard, which he relied on, was reduced to dust in a series of explosions. The vast majority of the 30,000 whose whereabouts were unknown perished in these attacks. As for the later charge of the iron chariots, he immediately withdrew his troops upon seeing the situation turning against him, thus avoiding significant losses. Those iron chariots seemed powerful, but their numbers were limited, and they required the support of infantry and cavalry to be truly effective. If they appeared suddenly in a decisive battle, they could be a formidable surprise force, but now that they had been exposed, he would surely find a way to counter them. It seemed that Li Jun's trump cards had been completely revealed.
"My lord, I have a plan to deal with those iron chariots." Seeing that he seemed lost in thought, Pang Zhen assumed he was troubled by the iron chariots and offered his advice: "I have examined those iron chariots closely. They move entirely on iron wheels. All we need to do is dig some trenches two feet deep and three feet wide in the battlefield. Once the chariots move, they will get stuck in the trenches and be unable to get out. At that time, the enemy soldiers inside the chariots will be like overturned turtles, unable to move, and will be at my mercy."
"This plan is excellent, but I don't think the enemy will use these iron carts so easily again," Liu Zheng said with considerable worry. "Whether they use them or not depends on the enemy. Moreover, in this battle, the decision-making power on the battlefield is not entirely in our hands, especially in open field battles, where our army cannot prepare trenches every time."
"What does it matter? I think that iron chariot moves at a speed comparable to a person running. As long as we can hold it off for a while, our army can dig trenches along its inevitable path."
"Actually, this vehicle isn't difficult to deal with," Liu Guang waved his hand, saying, "What puzzles me is Feng Jiutian. He clearly intended for that Rong woman to die at the hands of our army, so why did he expose this decisive weapon to rescue her? There must be some ulterior motive behind this."
Pang Zhen and Liu Zheng exchanged a shocked look. Pang Zhen said, "Did Feng Jiutian intend for that Rong woman to die in our army?"
“Indeed, others may not see it, but I see it clearly.” Liu Guang smiled faintly. “Although the generals of the rebel army have all been taken to the Su Kingdom by Li Jun, I reckon Feng Jiutian is not yet ready to send the Rong woman to the battlefield to risk her life. For the rebel army, that Rong woman is actually the key to maintaining their relationship with the Rong people. Sending her to the battlefield means that the rebel army is confident that even if she dies in battle, they can still get the Rong people to cooperate with them, perhaps even more closely than they are now.”
Pang Zhen nodded and sighed, "I understand, I understand. If that Rong woman dies at the hands of our army, how could the Rong not launch a full-scale invasion? At that time, our army will have no choice but to face the ferocious Rong cavalry. Moreover, having broken into our Chen Kingdom's heartland from the Qionglu Grassland, they only need to break through Baoshan City to enter Efeng Ridge and cut off our army's retreat."
"It seems the rebel army is indeed short-handed," Liu Zheng added. "Otherwise, they could have easily sent another army to borrow a route from the Qionglu Grassland to the Rong people and seize Baoshan City."
"I anticipated this long ago, stationing a large force to guard Baoshan as a precaution," Liu Guang said. "For the rebel army, an overextended battle line is their fatal weakness. Therefore, I ordered Huo Kuang to attack the southern part of Su, forcing Li Jun to be unable to penetrate our territory from there, while also diverting troops to Fenglin Ferry to block our army. Feng Jiutian's scheme against the Rong women was originally a brilliant plan, but if the Rong people, whose entire population is armed, truly fight against us with all their might, then I will have no choice but to extend my battle line."
"No wonder our lord repeatedly ordered the capture of that Rong woman alive," Liu Zheng laughed. "I thought our lord just wanted to taste this barbarian woman, but it turns out he had this deeper plan."
"Women are as numerous as the stars in the sky. If I wanted them, what kind wouldn't I have?" Liu Guang snorted, stood up, walked to the tent entrance, and frowned as he looked out. Dark clouds covered the area outside, indicating that there would be snow in the next few days. If they couldn't capture Huichang City soon, the entire army would have to camp in the open.
"Tonight we will march on Huichang City," he suddenly said, his eyes narrowing to slits. "Our army has suffered a minor setback, and the enemy will surely think that I will devise a plan to counter the iron chariots before launching another attack. If our army attacks the city at night, the enemy's defenses will not be as tight."
"This... why doesn't my lord wait for the spies' report before making a decision?"
"If we wait for the spies to report, we'll miss our chance. Order the entire army to immediately prepare food. After everyone has eaten their fill, take a short rest, and we'll move out under cover of darkness tonight."
Just as the entire army finished their meal, the spy sent to gather intelligence reported back that the Peace Army had retreated into Huichang City after forcing back the Chen troops. The spy also brought news that caught Liu Guang's eye.
"A mage named Lei Hun suddenly appeared, supposedly carrying a message from Li Jun, though I haven't been able to find out what that message was. Also, after Ji Su returned to his army, he threatened Feng Jiutian with a knife."
"Oh?" Liu Guang raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, his eyes, which had been slightly narrowed, widened for a moment before narrowing back down. He waved for the spies to leave.
"I see!" Pang Zhen exclaimed, and Liu Zheng also suddenly understood, saying, "No wonder Feng Jiutian stopped halfway through."
"It seems that young Li Jun has truly fallen for this Rong woman," Pang Zhen said slowly after stroking his chin for a moment. "What do you think, Brother Liu?"
"Just like Brother Pang," Liu Zheng chuckled, turning to Liu Guang, "General, we absolutely cannot let that Rong woman escape again tonight. I never expected this little Rong woman to be such a rare commodity, hahahaha..."
"Hmm, we must be careful with this. That barbarian woman is ferocious; capturing her alive won't be easy." Liu Guang's pupils narrowed sharply, and after a moment, he said, "I will personally take action and capture this Rong woman. If we capture her, I won't have to worry about Li Jun acting out of passion, nor will I have to worry about the Rong chieftain Hulei disobeying me."
That night, the north wind howled incessantly from the Qionglu Grassland, and the city of Huichang, weary from a day's work, was sparsely lit. Although the Chen army was encamped dozens of miles outside the city, to the common people, the war seemed to have ended the moment Feng Jiutian destroyed Chen's elite forces with explosives. The Peace Army was already exhausted, let alone the defeated Chen soldiers.
The sentries on Huichang City, however, dared not slacken their guard. Li Jun, accustomed to ambushes, was naturally wary of any such attacks. Thus, the Heping Army sentries were dutiful and vigilant on the city walls. But the weather was gloomy; the full moon, which should have hung in the clear sky, had long since disappeared, and dark clouds pressed down on the walls of Huichang.
"It looks like it's going to snow tonight," a sentry said, rubbing his hands together.
"Hmm, it looks like it's going to snow. The snowfall isn't late this year; in previous years, it wouldn't snow until the end of the year. This year it's more than ten days earlier," the officer replied, glancing at the sky. Unlike other troops in Shenzhou, guard duty in the Peace Army is not only the responsibility of ordinary soldiers, but also requires officers to take turns on regular shifts. It is precisely because of this that the Peace Army soldiers can maintain a high level of vigilance no matter how bad the weather.
"Damn old Liu Guang, why did he have to attack right before the New Year?" the soldier cursed angrily. The north wind made his ears feel like they were going to fall off. He covered his ears with both hands, but his hands felt like they were being cut by knives in the night wind.
"What's that sound?" The officer suddenly crouched down, grabbed the soldier, and peered over the battlements. It was pitch black outside the city, and they couldn't see anything. The two listened for a while and heard the crackling of the wind breaking dry branches. Apart from that, there was only the mournful cry of night birds in the cold.
“Be careful, I feel something is wrong.” After a moment, the officer raised a torch and threw it off the city wall. A dim light shone down below the wall, but there was nothing in the area illuminated by the light.
"What's going on over there?" someone asked from another sentry post in the distance.
"It's alright, just throw a torch down and see if anyone's there." The officer responded and stood up from the battlement. Just then, the sound of a crossbow bolt piercing the air came like a fierce wind. A long crossbow bolt fired from the crossbow passed through his chest, causing the officer to stagger back more than ten steps before falling backward to the ground.
“Warning…warning!” the officer struggled to speak. He felt no pain in his chest, but his whole body grew colder and colder until he could no longer move. However, he opened and closed his lips a few times and glanced sideways at the terrified soldiers.
"Clang clang clang clang clang clang!" The alarm gong and the war drum sounded almost simultaneously. Under the cover of night and wind, the Chen soldiers under Huichang City were heard shouting battle cries. Rockets and burning crossbows were shot onto the city walls. Almost everything on the city walls that was made of wood was set ablaze, and the entire city walls became a sea of fire.
"Why didn't the city's sentries give any warning?" the sentries on the city wall shouted angrily, suppressed by the Chen soldiers' barrage of arrows. But they quickly realized that the sentries sent out to patrol were probably already lying cold on the ground. The entire western part of the city was filled with shouts, but the Chen soldiers remained hidden in the darkness. Instead, the firelight on the city wall illuminated their targets. Whenever a Peace Army soldier peeked out from behind the battlements, he was met with a dense rain of arrows.
Immediately following was the volley of trebuchets. Huge stones tumbled across the city walls, destroying the weaker defensive fortifications of the Peace Army. Changcheng, located at the border between Yuzhou and the Chen Kingdom, already had many defensive measures, and its walls had been heightened and thickened in the past two years. However, under the overwhelming long-range attack of the Chen Kingdom's troops, the Peace Army soldiers had no time to hide, let alone activate those defensive measures. Meanwhile, the Peace Army squads that rushed to provide support were also met with arrows and stones falling from the sky while still on their way, and were unable to rush to the city walls for the time being.
"I was careless!" Feng Jiutian, who had just gotten up, stomped his feet and roared angrily. He had been betting everything on how to defeat Ji Su on the battlefield, but he hadn't expected that the Chen soldiers, after their minor setback, would not have lost their strength. Before he could recover from his victory, Liu Guang launched a thunderous counterattack.