"The enemy is truly in retreat, let's give chase!" The surrounding soldiers were eager to try and pleaded with Li Jun.
"Only a small portion of the enemy forces retreated. Liu Guang is merely trying to lure me in. Commander Lu was most adept at this tactic; compared to him, Liu Guang is far inferior!" Li Jun thought coldly. He waved his hand: "Sound the retreat! Return to our main camp!"
Hearing the signal to retreat, the pursuing Peace Army reluctantly withdrew. Liu Guang raised an eyebrow. Why didn't Li Jun take advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack? A sharp glint flashed in his eyes again, and he ordered, "Armored soldiers, spread out! Spear throwers, hurl your spears at the retreating enemy!"
Five hundred spear throwers broke through the enemy lines, each with a man behind them holding dozens of spears. Each volley consisted of five hundred spears hurled with incredible precision. These spear throwers were originally a unit from the Western Guang'e Continent, whom Liu Guang had seen in military circles. He had selected the strongest men from among the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Chen Kingdom to form this small force, but their lethality was no less than that of a large contingent of archers.
"Ah!" Li Jun couldn't help but be startled. If dozens of javelins were to attack him simultaneously, he wasn't sure if he could dodge them. Javelins were heavier than ordinary spears, and with the astonishing strength of these five hundred soldiers, a single javelin could even pierce through three Peace Army soldiers. Seeing the heavy losses suffered by his own troops who had retreated on orders, Li Jun turned his gaze to the mysterious chariot.
"If it were up to the armor of the Xuanji Chariot, these spear throwers would be useless," he thought to himself. "But Liu Guang is risking his life to lure the Xuanji Chariot out; how can I fall for his trick?"
"Hmph, he's just hiding in his shell after all." Liu Guang watched as Li Jun allowed his spearmen to wreak havoc outside the range of the Xuanji chariots, refusing to send out the chariots themselves, and he felt troubled. "If I put more pressure on him and he runs out of options, he'll have no choice but to send out the Xuanji chariots," he thought to himself.
"These guys are yours to handle!" Li Jun suddenly smiled and said to a foreigner behind him.
“No problem, we’ve been itching to try!” The barbarian took a large bow from his back and gently plucked the string. “How could they possibly compare to our barbarian archers! The character for ‘barbarian’ itself means ‘one who holds a bow,’ doesn’t it?”
Liu Guang's eyes were almost slits, yet his gaze shone with a light so bright it seemed to blaze. In this situation, if Li Jun still didn't urge the Xuanji Chariot forward, what should he do?
"They've come after all!" Liu Guang clapped his hands as the Yi longbowmen revealed their arrows, gleaming with a dark silver metallic sheen, under the cover of the Qiang armored infantry. He himself possessed javelin throwers and other special troops; how could Li Jun not also select elite warriors to form his own special force? Wasting one's own elite troops on this kind of mutual attrition was hardly the act of a wise general.
When the first spear thrower fell to the ground after being accurately shot by the barbarians' longbows, the rest of the spear throwers had already retreated behind the Great Wall made of shields.
"There's nothing I can do..." Liu Guang gave a bitter smile. It seemed Li Jun had seen through his plan. He knew Liu Guang had set a trap to lure him in. And Li Jun had indeed attacked, but Liu Guang could only watch as Li Jun repeatedly touched the bait, refusing to swallow it. In fact, the bait Liu Guang had used had become Li Jun's bait...
"My lord," I said, "though the enemy's formation appears solid, their flanks are not as well-defended as their front. Their siege engines are only positioned at the front. Why don't you send light cavalry to flank Li Jun's left flank, disrupt their formation, and then launch a frontal assault? Under no circumstances should we allow Li Jun to establish a camp before our own!"
"Hmm, alright, we can give it a try." Liu Guang pondered for a while, adopted Liu Zheng's plan, and ordered a cavalry unit to attack from the flank, but at the same time, the frontal advance did not lessen.
"Enemy light cavalry have launched a surprise attack on our formation from the flank!" A general rushed in, panting, to report. Li Jun turned his head to look around and saw that a group of enemy cavalry was charging towards our formation like an arrow from the left.
"Attack them head-on, flank them! We cannot afford to lose!" Li Jun gave the order, and immediately a squad of Peace Army soldiers charged forward. The Chen cavalry charged into the Peace Army soldiers' ranks, but failed to break through their formation.
The battle lasted for half a day, with both sides exchanging blows in a well-organized but orderly fashion. No matter how Liu Guang tried to entice him, Li Jun refused to advance another step. No matter how Li Jun provoked him, Liu Guang ultimately refused to commit his full strength to the attack. The battle seemed destined to remain at a stalemate.
"It's alright. Li Jun will attack sooner or later. The reason he came out of Pingyi City was because he received news of the defeat at Fenglin Ferry." Looking at the already erected fence, Pang Zhen said, "It's only a matter of time. My lord, there's no need to worry."
"Kill!" Just as everyone was deep in thought, shouts of killing suddenly arose from all sides. Immediately afterwards, the scouts sent by Liu Guang came to report that villagers from all directions were charging over with weapons, each claiming that they would use Liu Guang's first kill for Li Jun's wedding.
"As expected, they did use them. But the regular army doesn't dare to attack. Is Li Jun going to send these rabble to their deaths?" Liu Guang smiled contemptuously, but then quickly suppressed his smile.
“Building another camp in front of my camp, mobilizing the surrounding people but not letting them attack… What exactly does Li Jun mean?” When he learned that the people were only lining up and shouting in the distance from Liu Guang’s camp but refused to take a step forward, Liu Guang closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Logically speaking, Li Jun was young and should not be so calm, but he had not shown the slightest impatience in the face of the battle.
"Han Chong!" He turned to his deputy general, whose wounds had mostly healed, and said urgently, "Lead an army and return to Huichang City immediately! Beware of a surprise attack from the north!"
Pang Zhen and Liu Zheng exchanged a glance and gasped. It was astonishing that Li Jun, despite being outnumbered, still dared to divide his forces and cut off the enemy's retreat.
Han Chong responded and left. At that moment, Liu Guang felt a strong tremor in his heart. He turned his gaze northward with a sense of melancholy. If Huo Kuang were here, he would be able to rest easy.
"Report..." A scout galloped over, knelt on one knee, and said, "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, a secret letter from Lord Huo Kuang has arrived."
"What?" Liu Guangxin jumped to his feet. The urgent message about seizing Fenglin Ferry had arrived less than two days ago, and now another secret letter had been sent. Why was this?
He opened the letter, and Pang Zhen beside him glanced at it, but could only see densely packed, tiny characters. After a moment, Liu Guang's hands trembled slightly, and his eyes, which had been narrowed to slits, widened. He clasped his hands together, crumpled the letter into a ball, and tried to throw it away, but then stuffed it into his pocket.
"Cease the attack," Liu Guang commanded expressionlessly.
Pang Zhen and Liu Zheng exchanged a glance, both knowing that the letter contained no good news.
"Liu Zheng, do you dare to go on a mission to the enemy army?" After a moment, Liu Guang finally showed signs of fatigue and asked.
"What?" Liu Zheng was taken aback. The fact that the two sides had fought to this point meant that sending an envoy meant they wanted to negotiate peace.
“Go and talk to Li Jun. I promise him my rule over Yuzhou, and he will hand over all the territory he seized from Su. From then on, we will be allies.” Liu Guang’s eyes narrowed again, and he chuckled coldly. “This is naturally an exorbitant price, and he will have to negotiate down the drain. You can offer him Qinggui; that’s your bottom line.”
Just then, an urgent report came from outside the barracks: "Please inform Marshal Liu, there's an urgent message from Luoying!"
"One wave subsides, another rises..." A bitter smile appeared on Liu Guang's face. In front of Pang Zhen and Liu Zheng, who were used to his calm demeanor, this bitter smile was astonishing. This also meant that even someone as strong as Liu Guang had a situation that he could not handle.
The urgent letter from Luo Ying contained two matters. First, the Hong Kingdom, Chen's mortal enemy, had finally made its move. General Ma Jiyou, leading 50,000 troops, had invaded the border from the north and captured fifteen cities. Second, the Heng Kingdom in the south had collapsed. The new ruler of Heng, who had forced Liu Guang out of the kingdom, was killed by his generals. Prince Ling Qi of Huai Kingdom ascended the throne, establishing the era name "Tian Nu" (Heaven's Wrath). He had already amassed 300,000 troops on the former border between Heng and Chen, vowing to march north immediately to seek revenge on Liu Guang.
"How could this be..." This news left Pang Zhen and Liu Zheng exchanging bewildered glances. Liu Guang smiled slightly: "Nothing more than Li Jun's scheme. I used the strategy of surrounding him on all sides, and now he's using the same strategy against me. I thought he would choose Fenglin Ferry as the decisive battleground, but I never expected that he would choose the imperial court as the decisive battleground."
"Mr. Liu Zheng, you've come here to seek peace, haven't you?" Li Jun didn't make things difficult for Liu Zheng. Upon hearing that he had come, he immediately invited him in and asked with a smile.
"I have not come to seek peace, but to seek command." Liu Zheng cupped his hands, about to speak, but Li Jun waved his hand and laughed loudly: "Sir, there's no need for further words. As for war, please go back and tell them I'm waiting. As for peace, please also go back and have Commander Liu accept my terms!"
"Commander seems to have misjudged the situation. Our troops, numbering over a million, have now entered Yuzhou by more than a hundred li, while your forces number only tens of thousands of exhausted soldiers. Our troops are using the full strength of the nation to attack you, while you are surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides. Now it is my turn to propose terms, and you should accept them."
“Mr. Liu, I’ll be frank.” Li Jun placed his hands on the table, leaning slightly forward—a seemingly unintentional movement that only amplified his imposing presence. “Although I’ve never met Commander Liu in person, we’ve known each other for a long time, and I know a little about his character. If it weren’t for the unavoidable need to talk, would he have tolerated me?”
Liu Zheng fell silent. Li Jun's words hit the nail on the head. If he hadn't been forced to, why would Liu Guang have sent him to negotiate?
“My conditions are simple,” he finally spoke, but remained stubborn. “Commander Li must have received word that Fenglin Ferry is now in our hands. I request that Commander Li hand over the occupied territory of Su State to Marshal Liu, and our army will cede Huichang City.”
"If that's the case, please go back and tell Commander Liu that I intend to use Luoyang and Yingzhou as the boundary, with the area east of them belonging to my Li Jun. Ask Commander Liu if he agrees."
Although Li Jun's words were almost shameless, Liu Zheng had to admit that they were more effective than presenting any facts or reasoning. He swallowed hard; this Li Jun was not someone who could be persuaded by ordinary debate; only honesty could convince him.
“To be honest,” he stared at Li Jun, “the details that Commander Liu gave me are that you occupy Qinggui, while Danyuan and Mengze prefectures will belong to us.”
"Hahahaha, who defeated those 100,000-strong Su Kingdom garrison in those two prefectures?" Li Jun laughed loudly. "If I'm not mistaken, Commander Liu should now be tasting the bitter fruit of being surrounded by enemies on all sides. Please tell Commander Liu that each side guarding its own territory is the only way to negotiate peace. If things drag on any longer and something unexpected happens, I will use Evil Wind Ridge as the boundary!"
Under Li Jun's pressure, Liu Zheng had no choice but to report back to Liu Guang. Liu Guang remained silent for a moment, then sighed softly, "Go back and tell him I've agreed. Our army will retreat immediately. Let him pursue the surprise attacking force that attacked Huichang, lest he make a mistake."
The peace treaty was signed that day and night, although both sides knew that the demarcation was only temporary. The next morning, news came that the messengers who were chasing Wei Zhan and his men were still a step too late. With the help of the people of Huichang, Wei Zhan had already entered the city of Huichang, but Han Chong also arrived just in time. The two sides each occupied half of the city. Upon hearing the news of the peace agreement, they stopped their troops and waited for definite news.
Liu Guang, who arrived full of pride but left dejected, sighed deeply as he watched the purple dragon flag slowly rise atop the city walls of Huichang. He looked around and said, "Today we fail to return victorious; Li Jun will surely become a future threat. Although you all are resourceful, none of you are a match for Li Jun. Huo Kuang is younger than all of us, and I had intended to entrust him with great responsibilities, but Heaven is against me, Heaven is against me..."