"We can't wait for them to be ready before we act; we must strike first." The confidant proudly proposed a plan. "The reason Qi Guang and Mo Yunlong dare to disregard the commander-in-chief is simply because they think Thunder City can't do without them. As long as we break the siege of Thunder City and demonstrate your military talent, commander-in-chief, they will certainly not dare to act rashly." The confidant naturally wouldn't tell Hua Gong that this plan was given to him by another expert.
"Oh? How to break the siege of Thunder City?" Hua Gong was very interested in this plan that could eliminate two of his most pressing threats in one fell swoop. At this moment, when he felt that he had almost no power to rely on within the city, he would be extremely grateful if someone could come up with a plan to break the siege.
"General Manager Hua naturally knows that we have prepared hundreds of oxcarts in the city to facilitate the transport of silver ore." The confidant leaned closer and said slyly, "If we tie torches to the tails of the oxen and send them charging into the enemy lines, how can human strength fight against them? The mere Peace Army will be annihilated in an instant, and General Manager Hua will surely become famous in the history of war for using the fire oxen formation to break the siege."
Hua Gong was overjoyed and said, "That's right, that's right, I've had this idea for a long time. You can prepare for this. Haha, I want them to know that to me, Hua Gong, Li Jun is nothing."
Two days later, the confidant was indeed efficient. He quickly gathered hundreds of cattle hauling ore in the city. Fearing that the number would not be enough, he also collected cattle from the people's homes, totaling more than seven hundred. Ostensibly, this was to reward the soldiers guarding the city and prepare to slaughter the cattle, but in reality, it was to prepare for the fire ox formation.
Once everything was ready, Hua Gong sent someone to invite Qi Guang and Mo Yunlong, the mercenary commanders, over.
Qi Guang and Mo Yunlong were both taken aback by Hua Gong's sudden invitation, as the two had been handling military affairs in the same tent every day. Since their last private conversation with Mo Yunlong, both of them knew that Hua Gong's suspicions had grown stronger, and he often made excuses to avoid them. Now, however, he had taken the initiative to invite them, which must have a hidden purpose.
“If we don’t go, his suspicions will only grow stronger,” Mo Yunlong said. “If we do go, who knows what this ambitious but incompetent fellow will do.”
“How about this, I’ll lead two hundred men to wait outside the governor’s mansion. If anything goes wrong, I’ll rush in, what do you think?” Sun Yu suggested.
"There's no need for that now. He's still counting on us to withdraw his troops. I doubt he'd dare harm us. However, after this siege is lifted, we'll probably have to consider whether to eliminate him or find another place to go," Qi Guang said coldly, a murderous intent rising in his heart towards Hua Gong.
Qi Guang and Mo Yunlong arrived at the General's Mansion, where Hua Gong personally greeted them at the gate. After inviting them to sit down, Hua Gong smiled and said, "The reason I invited you two here is to discuss how to break Li Jun's siege. Li Jun has the fewest troops in this siege, but they are the most important. If we can defeat Li Jun, the Tong and Zhu families will naturally withdraw their troops."
Qi Guang and Mo Yunlong exchanged a glance. Mo Yunlong said, "However, Li Jun is cunning. If we go out of the city to fight him, it is hard to guarantee that the battle will not go well. At that time, the Zhu family and the Tong family will take advantage of the situation and invade. What should our army do then?"
"Haha, what can three besieging armies do to my Thunder City?" Hua Gong laughed wildly. Qi Guang and Mo Yunlong were completely baffled by his sudden confidence.
Qi Guang asked, "Does Chief Steward Hua perhaps have a plan to defeat the enemy?"
"Indeed, the reason I invited you two here is to discuss how, after defeating the enemy, we must press our advantage and not let Li Jun and Hua Xuan escape." Hua Gong said through gritted teeth, finding it unbearable to see the disbelief on Qi Guang and Mo Yunlong's faces.
"What? The Fire Ox Formation?" Upon hearing Hua Gong's plan, Qi Guang and Mo Yunlong exclaimed in surprise. After staring at each other for a long time, Mo Yunlong slapped his forehead and said, "Why didn't I think of this method?"
Seeing that his plan had stunned the two men, Hua Gong seized the opportunity and said, "The fire ox formation is bound to defeat the enemy. I have a total of 700 oxen in the city. I have already ordered people to gather them. It is enough to crush Li Jun's mere few thousand soldiers into dust. Please arrange yourselves behind the oxen. After the fire ox formation breaks through, follow them to wipe out the remaining enemy."
Still feeling uneasy, Qi Guang said, "This plan is good, but we need to discuss it more carefully."
"There's no time to lose. If we continue discussing this, someone might leak the news." Hua Gong glanced at him coldly and then said, "Could it be that Commander Qi is afraid of Li Jun, or that Commander Qi is unwilling to break the siege of Thunder City sooner?"
Qi Guang was furious. He thought to himself, "As soon as the city siege is broken, I will find a way to get rid of you. If Li Jun can use Tonghai City as a base, why can't my Flying Tigers use Leiming City as a base?"
Mo Yunlong tugged at him and said, "I think Chief Steward Hua's plan is excellent. Our army will surely win this battle. Commander Qi doesn't need to be so cautious. No matter how cunning Li Jun is, he can't let all seven hundred of these rampaging fire oxen die, can he?"
Barely suppressing his anger, Qi Guang said, "That's right, there's no time to lose, we can make our move tonight."
Hua Gong shook his head and said, "I've made all the preparations. Niu has also sent men to the North Gate. We can start now. I can't wait to see the Peace Army wiped out!"
Qi Guang sneered. After the Peace Army was wiped out, who would be next to be wiped out?
Section 3
On the morning of the eleventh day of the third month in the twelfth year of Chongde in the Chen Kingdom, at the hour of Si (9-11 AM), seven hundred oxen, with sulfur and saltpeter or rags soaked in grease tied to their tails, were driven out of the north gate of Thunder City. Following them were warriors from the city's two largest mercenary groups, the Flying Tiger Group and the Cold Moon Group.
To increase the destructive power of the cattle, Hua Gong ordered daggers or short swords to be firmly tied to their horns. The cattle seemed to have a bad feeling about their strange equipment, looking around and mooing.
The Peace Army's camp was about a mile from the city. Qi Guang knew that time was of the essence. With so many cattle appearing outside the city, Li Jun would soon know that the defenders were going to use the fire ox formation. It was necessary to get the cattle to start attacking in the time it took for the sentries to report to Li Jun and for Li Jun to react.
In an instant, the tails of all seven hundred cattle were ablaze. Their mooing echoed throughout the land. Driven mad by the flames on their tails, the cattle charged wildly towards the Peace Army's camp. For a moment, the flames on their tails and the ash kicked up by their frantic running blotted out the sun. The earth trembled as the herd ran, accompanied by deafening roars, as if thunder had struck from beneath the ground.
Following closely behind the cattle herd, the Flying Tiger Regiment and the Cold Moon Regiment formed a skirmish formation and charged forward. Their shouts were drowned out by the noise of the cattle herd, but the charge of nearly 10,000 men was still incredibly powerful.
"Actually, with just these 10,000 men, we might be able to defeat the Peace Army in open battle." As he spurred his horse forward, Qi Guang thought to himself that he was probably intimidated by Li Jun's unpredictable military tactics, which was why he was being so cautious. However, if it weren't for the Zhu and Tong families' armies watching him like hawks, he would definitely have chosen to fight the Peace Army in open battle.
Suddenly realizing that he was in the middle of a charge, Qi Guang smiled bitterly to himself. He didn't know why, but whenever he thought about his opponent, Li Jun, he would easily lose focus, which was not a good sign.
But something surprising happened suddenly: the first herd of fire oxen charged into the Peace Army's camp. The wooden fences surrounding the camp couldn't withstand the charge, and many fences caught fire and started burning as well. Logically, the Peace Army's camp should have been in complete chaos.
However, there was no sign of chaos in the Peace Army's camp. Why was that? Qi Guang wondered if the camp he had attacked with his fire oxen was just an empty one. If so, where had the Peace Army gone?
Just then, an explosion-like sound suddenly erupted from the Peace Army camp, drowning out even the bellowing of the cattle. The first row of cattle stepped into the prepared pit. The thin layer of soil on the surface of the pit could not withstand the trampling of the cattle and collapsed, plunging the first cattle into the deep ditch. The spears planted in the ditch pierced them one by one, but the cattle were extremely resilient and did not die immediately, instead letting out heavy, miserable cries.
Of course, the earth-shattering roar wasn't from the pit collapsing, but rather from the Peace Army, who had been prepared beforehand, igniting the gunpowder the Dongyue people used for blasting rocks and clearing mountains. The following oxen, seeing their companions suddenly swallowed by the earth, followed by a terrifying roar and the cries of pain from their comrades, were stunned, even forgetting the fire on their tails.
Li Jun's design was not yet complete when more than a dozen "monsters" suddenly rushed out of the tent. Accompanied by the piercing sound of gongs, these long and wide monsters, baring their fangs and claws, charged towards the cattle across the large pit. The cattle were already terrified and naturally did not know that Li Jun had ordered his men to sew such things out of animal hides and have more than a dozen soldiers wear them. Just as all other animals, when frightened, would turn back and flee to their burrows, the cattle also turned back and charged towards Thunder City.
The more than 10,000 mercenaries following the herd suddenly found themselves in a completely different position, no longer chasing the cattle, but being chased by them. Even the strongest Qiang people dared not face the terrified charging bulls, and all the mercenaries could do was run as fast as they could.
The Peace Army, which had been lying in ambush in the camp, rushed out and followed closely behind the herd of cattle. A few of them managed to escape the sharp blades on the cattle's horns and the cattle's iron hooves, but before they could recover from their shock, they were killed by the Peace Army squads. A few of them managed to fight back, but they were no match for the Peace Army, which had gained a local advantage. In a short while, the skirmish formation of more than 10,000 mercenaries turned into a collapsing torrent. In the middle of the screaming and crying fleeing crowd, the fire ox carved out a bloody path, and following closely behind was Li Jun, who held a purple dragon flag in one hand and a long halberd in the other, wearing a dragon-head helmet and a dark red mask that covered his face.
Seeing the herd of cattle stampeding, Qi Guang knew there was no way to stop it. All he could do was try to minimize the losses of his troops. These mercenaries had come to him, so he had to consider their needs. Therefore, he gave the signal to disperse and flee.
Even without his signal, the mercenaries were already fleeing. The cattle herd drove the mercenaries back to the gates of Thunder City. Hua Gong, standing atop the city wall, had hoped to see flames engulfing the Peace Army camp and hear cries of agony from within, but what he saw and heard shattered his heart!
Hundreds of bulls, their horns adorned with gleaming blades, their eyes glowing red, and their tails ablaze, charged madly into the mercenary ranks. Countless streams of blood and screams followed, and a crimson path, composed of blood, minced flesh, and mutilated or trampled limbs, rapidly stretched from the Peace Army camp toward the Thunder City Gate, and this path continued to expand.
"Close the gate! Fire arrows!" Hua Gong shouted. If the cattle herd rushed into the city, the Peace Army following behind would also attack, and then everything would be over.
However, no one paid him any attention. He forgot that the guards of this gate were mercenaries from the Flying Tigers. If they closed the city gate, they would have to watch helplessly as their comrades were blocked outside the city and slaughtered by this herd of mad bulls. Behind the bulls, there was an even more terrifying Peace Army. They simply could not do such a thing.
"Close the door! Close the door! Don't let them in!" Hua Gong almost wailed, grabbing Sun Yu beside him and choking him. Sun Yu grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away. Amid the cries, Hua Gong heard the deputy commander of the Flying Tigers say in a sorrowful voice, "You're finished, we're all finished."
"It's over?" Hua Gong gasped, forgetting the pain in his hands. He looked around and saw that the morale of the Thunder City defenders, both on and below the city walls, had collapsed. Many had thrown down their weapons and fled. This one-sided slaughter was unbearable, even for seasoned mercenaries. Being killed on the battlefield might at least allow one's soul to be taken by the God of War, but to die under the horns or hooves of a bull was a humiliation even in death.
"No, no! Quick, protect me and help me break through! We can start over!"
Hua Gong roared and grabbed Sun Yu's hand as if it were a lifeline.
Sun Yu ignored him, focusing instead on the area below the city. There, Li Jun rode his horse sideways, charging straight into the Flying Tiger Regiment, which was regrouping. Sun Yu spotted the target of Li Jun's charge at a glance, and his face lit up with delight.
"Commander, run!" he shouted.