"There are two possibilities. One is to tie down our army, preventing it from retreating to Yuzhi. This would allow Li Jun's main force and the Tiger Wing Army in Leiming City to catch up and surround our army. The other is to race against our army and get to Yuyang City before us. Li Jun has Sima Hui among his advisors. He was originally the Second Prince's strategist and is also from Yuyang. He knows the city's strengths and weaknesses well and has kinship ties with the city's garrison. If he comes with the army to persuade them to surrender, or even just writes a letter, Yuyang City might turn against us!"
This was a fact everyone understood. With Li Jun now uniting the forces of Thunder City, Raging Waves City, and Silver Tiger City, his momentum to sweep through Yu Province was already established. It wasn't impossible that the garrison of Yuyang City would betray the Zhu family and defect to Li Jun. Moreover, the current garrison commander of Yuyang was a local, with intricate connections to the Sima family; it was hard to guarantee he wouldn't be persuaded by Sima Hui to surrender. Thinking of this, Zhu Wenhai felt quite frustrated. Although the current garrison commander of Yuyang had always been extremely loyal to him, he should have been replaced long ago.
"Moreover, even if our army successfully returns to Yuyang City, and Li Jun follows and attacks the city, we are not confident that we can defend it," Pang Wu added.
"What should we do?" Zhu Wenhai realized he was in an extremely dangerous situation and asked.
Huo Ze pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Since Li Jun came to Yuzhou, he has been invincible, except for his defeat at Dagu City. If we can get Peng Yuancheng from Dagu City to come to our aid, Li Jun will surely have to retreat to protect himself."
"Exactly!" Zhu Wenhai also remembered and said, "Our original purpose in coming to Leiming City was to relieve the siege of Dagu City. Now that we are in trouble, Peng Yuancheng has no choice but to help us!"
“I think it’s dangerous. Peng Yuan’s troops are few and far between. If the troops that come to my aid are too small, they won’t be able to accomplish anything. If too many troops come to my aid, I will have to worry about the safety of Dagu City. I’m afraid he won’t do his best to come to my aid.” Pang Wudao, who had always been at odds with Huo Zezhi, said this after seeing that Zhu Wenhai agreed with Huo Zezhi’s words.
Thus, Zhu Wenhai was gripped by fear once more. In truth, his 20,000 troops were still sufficient for a fight, but he knew that without the will to fight, the soldiers would also lack the morale. If he retreated recklessly, a thousand enemy cavalry would charge and slaughter him, causing his painstakingly assembled army to completely collapse, potentially triggering a chain reaction throughout the entire region. On the other hand, if he retreated slowly in formation, Li Jun's main force would likely head straight for Yuyang City, arriving before him. Whether forcing Yuyang to surrender or capturing it through cunning, this would cut off his retreat, and defeat would still await his entire army.
"How about this? Judging from the current situation in Yuzhou, the only commanders who can rival Li Jun are the Governor and Peng Yuancheng." To save face for Zhu Wenhai, Huo Ze brought him along, but everyone knew in their hearts that this was not the case. "The Governor is of noble birth; how can he personally face the arrows and stones? Why doesn't the Governor appoint Peng Yuancheng as the city lord of Yuyang? Firstly, this would bring one of Yuzhou's top generals under his command, and secondly, his strength could be used to resist the ferocious Li Jun!"
This idea was quite bold, but Pang Wu immediately retorted: "I think Peng Yuancheng is a man of great ambition and has the air of someone who can conquer mountains and rivers. Using him as a shield is likely to invite trouble into our home."
"No, no. With Peng Yuancheng as the lord of Yuyang City, the power to recruit and appoint soldiers and officials in Yuyang City is in the hands of the governor. The hearts of the people and the army are not with him. His life and death are in our hands. What is there to fear? We are just using his wisdom. What harm is there in giving him the empty title of lord?"
Before Pang Wu could refute again, Huo Ze continued, "Moreover, given the current situation, without Peng Yuancheng's help, who can be confident in defending Yuyang City?"
Recalling Li Jun's unconventional siege tactics, everyone felt overwhelmed and could only stare intently at Zhu Wenhai, waiting to see what choice he would make.
“Li Jun is a wolf, and Peng Yuancheng is a dog.” Zhu Wenhai had to make a decision. “Although dogs also want to eat meat, they are easier to deal with than wolves. We must use dogs to control wolves!” Although his analogy was inappropriate, it was indeed to the point. The decision to ask Peng Yuancheng for help was made. But now the most urgent thing was how to deal with Meng Yuan’s more than a thousand cavalrymen.
After much discussion, they finally decided to send the cavalry as the vanguard to reach Yuyang before the Peace Army, replace the Yuyang garrison commander, and then the main army would follow, proceeding cautiously to guard against any sneak attacks by the Peace Army.
Meng Yuan caught up and fought a battle with Zhu's army, resulting in casualties on both sides. However, seeing that the enemy was heavily guarded and there was no opportunity to take advantage of the situation, he had no choice but to let Zhu Wenhai retreat to Yuyang City. When he returned to see Li Jun, Li Jun laughed and said, "That's alright, I have something more important to tell you."
The Peace Army seemed determined to relentlessly pursue the Zhu family's retreating troops, pressing them step by step. This forced Zhu Wenhai to quickly send Huo Ze to Dagu City for reinforcements.
As for Peng Yuancheng, after forcing the Peace Army to retreat, he was still paying attention to the progress of the war between the Peace Army and the Zhu family. When he learned that the Zhu family had voluntarily withdrawn their troops upon hearing that the siege of Dagu City had been lifted, he showed a look of joy and said, "It seems that my time has come!"
The advisor was puzzled and asked, "Why does the city lord say that? The Zhu family's retreat proves that Zhu Wenhai dares not fight Li Jun. Li Jun will turn around and attack Dagu City again. This time Li Jun has come again, he must have a plan to attack the city. Why does the city lord say that the opportunity has come?"
Peng Yuancheng laughed and said, "Look, when Zhu Wenhai heard that Li Jun's army had been defeated, he panicked and his entire army retreated. This proves that he didn't dare to fight Li Jun at all. Li Jun is angry that he helped me, and in order to eliminate future troubles, he will definitely launch a full-scale attack on Yuyang City. Otherwise, his campaign this time will be in vain. Under the pressure from Li Jun, no one in the Zhu family dares to fight, so they have no choice but to ask me for help. This is naturally my opportunity!"
Sure enough, a few days later, Huo Ze arrived in Dagu City. After exchanging pleasantries, Huo Ze said, "I have come here for two reasons. First, to congratulate Lord Peng on his great victory over Li Jun, which made the Peace Army flee at the mere mention of Lord Peng's name. Second, I have a favor to ask of Lord Peng."
Peng Yuancheng smiled at his subordinates, indicating "How was it?" and said, "Our victory over Li Jun this time is largely thanks to Commander Zhu, who personally braved arrows and stones to attack Leiming City, giving Li Jun something to worry about. If the Commander has any orders, how could I dare disobey?"
Huo Ze was very satisfied with Peng Yuancheng's attitude and said, "The Governor-General has appointed General Peng as the Lord of Yuyang City. Please raise your troops and head to Yuyang immediately."
Upon hearing this, Peng Yuancheng's heart pounded. He had anticipated his opportunity, but he hadn't expected it to be like this. He immediately knelt before Huo Ze and said, "Thank you for your great kindness, Governor. I will repay you with my life."
Huo Ze had originally thought Peng Yuancheng would make some excuses, and he had prepared a whole bunch of reasons, but none of them were needed. Overjoyed, he immediately took his leave and went back to Zhu Wenhai to share the good news.
After he left, Peng Yuancheng's advisors asked in bewilderment, "Why did the city lord do that?"
Peng Yuancheng laughed coldly, "Dagu City has only 20,000 households. Why would I disagree with such a good deal: abandoning this tiny city for the large city of Yuyang with 100,000 households? If we want to compete with Li Jun in Yuzhou, Dagu City alone is powerless. Only by uniting the Zhu family's forces can we hope to defeat Li Jun. Now that this opportunity has been delivered to our doorstep, how can I give it up? Hahahaha, I will repay the Governor with my life. I will not lie and will give that brat Zhu Wenhai a death!"
The staff then realized that Peng Yuancheng had ostensibly gone to help Zhu Wenhai, but in reality he was plotting against Zhu Wenhai. The two sides appeared to be cooperating, but in fact they each had their own ulterior motives. However, in the chaotic world, if you don't scheme against others, you will be schemed against by others. In order to protect themselves, they had no choice but to do this.
As Li Jun had predicted, the situation developed as Peng Yuancheng's wisdom and Zhu Wenhai's military strength, which still posed a threat to him, combined. The alliance of his two strongest opponents was the result of the pressure he himself had put on them. Faced with this situation, what ingenious plan could he devise to single-handedly destroy the unfavorable situation he had created?
Chapter Nine: An Old Friend Visits
Section 1
Everything unfolded as Li Jun had planned. After Peng Yuancheng moved all the people of Dagu City to Yuyang, Li Jun quickly returned with his army and occupied the now deserted Dagu City.
When Peng Yuancheng left, he ordered Dagu City to be set on fire, leaving Li Jun with only scorched earth. However, Li Jun had already ordered Meng Yuan to arrive near Dagu City and enter the city as soon as the fire started. The soldiers who stayed behind to set the fire were all killed by Meng Yuan, and the fire was quickly extinguished.
When Li Jun entered the city and saw the rock cliff that Peng Yuancheng had carved through, he suddenly realized that the other party had survived the water crisis by means of this move. He admired Peng Yuancheng's wisdom and perseverance even more, and his desire to subdue this man became even stronger.
By taking control of Dagu City, Li Jun could be said to have removed a thorn in his side. Moreover, without the natural defenses of Dagu City and the strategic wisdom of Peng Yuancheng, the other five smaller forces were like naked beauties exposed before Li Jun.
"When should we attack them?" Meng Yuan kept urging, but Li Jun just smiled and shook his head: "What good would it do to attack them?"
Meng Yuan chuckled. Although he wasn't as versatile in military and political affairs as Lu Xiang and Li Jun, he wasn't a mindless strategist when it came to warfare. "Of course there are advantages. The reason you're unwilling to launch a direct attack on Yu Yang is precisely because although the Zhu family is on its last legs, it still possesses considerable power, and you're afraid of depleting your strength in such a brutal war, aren't you?"
Everyone listened intently to him. Meng Yuan pointed to the map of Yuzhou hanging on the wall and said, "If we can annex these four forces, not only will we be able to expand the area under my control, but our army can also form a three-sided encirclement of the Zhu family. You will personally lead an army from Leiming City, I will lead an army from Huichang City in the far west, and Commander Xiao will lead an army from Changyi City in the middle. The three armies will take turns attacking the Zhu family. When the Zhu family's army comes to meet us, we will retreat and defend. In this way, the Zhu family's army will always be on high alert, while our army will always have two units resting. In this way, they will be constantly on the move, and within two months, the entire Zhu family's army will surely collapse."
"Excellent plan!" Xiao Lin couldn't help but applaud. Since joining the Peace Army, Meng Yuan had impressed him with his bravery but lack of strategic acumen. Little did he know that this was because Meng Yuan was always with Lu Xiang and Li Jun, so he didn't have to worry about him. However, Meng Yuan's deduction of Li Jun's strategic plan did indeed surprise Li Jun.
“That’s right, exactly!” Li Jun nodded, but then smiled slightly: “But why should I fight these small forces?”
"I understand what you mean!" Xiao Lin smiled and turned to look at Li Jun with admiration. This was the boy he had pulled out from under the corpses, the boy he had personally taught the art of killing and fighting. Now, how many strange thoughts were hidden in his deep gaze? These strange thoughts, if they flashed by, would be schemes that would be unforgettable to the enemy.
"I thought that under Lu Xiang's influence, he would be able to get used to peaceful life, but it turns out that deep down he is still a person who likes war!" Xiao Lin sighed inwardly, but then he was frightened by a thought that arose in his mind.
Is Li Jun too concerned about Lu Xiang, too respectful of Lu Xiang, so much so that he has lived in the shadow of the giant ever since Lu Xiang's death? Is it that no matter what he does or says, his first thought is, what would Lu Xiang do if he were here?
If that's the case, then it's very dangerous... Within him, there's actually a conflict between his own personality and Lu Xiang's personality. Is Li Jun, who loves war and makes a living from it while being ambitious, fighting for control of Li Jun's body, while Lu Xiang, who hates war but possesses a genius for war, is vying for control of Li Jun? Or is it that the conflict between these two completely different personalities has caused Li Jun to lose all his personality traits?
Looking up at Li Jun again, Xiao Lin felt that there was a tall shadow behind Li Jun sitting there. Xiao Lin squinted to banish this thought from his imagination, then sighed deeply: "I hope you can step out of this shadow yourself, otherwise, you will forever be nothing more than someone else's shadow."
His sigh drew Li Jun's attention, but Li Jun could not hear his inner thoughts.
"The reason we don't directly attack these four minor forces is that we feel it's unnecessary," Li Jun began to explain his strategy, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
"If we intensify our attack on these four families, they will inevitably unite to protect themselves. This will drag on for a long time and cause us losses. Moreover, even if we take them down, I don't have enough troops to defend this place or enough people to manage it. It's better to let them manage it for me for now. As long as they see that we are not in a hurry to attack, these four families will definitely surrender in order to survive. I will order them to join forces to attack Zhu Wenhai. They will not dare to disobey. At that time, without losing a single soldier, they will obediently follow my orders."
In that instant, Xiao Lin suddenly felt that Li Jun was exuding an overwhelming aura that seemed to devour the heavens and the earth. The aura was so strong that even the shadow of Lu Xiang that had been looming over him seemed to have been dispelled. This aura, which came from ambition and talent, was Li Jun's true nature.
All the generals present were awestruck by his charisma. Even Ji Su, who had always been at odds with him, looked up at him as he spoke and pointed out the direction of the country with a dazzling light in his eyes. Li Jun then let out a long breath and said, "The key to this plan lies in Dagu City. Dagu is not important to Peng Yuancheng, but it is extremely important for the implementation of my strategy, Commander Xiao!"