His shouts from the city wall did not reach Qi Guang's ears below. Qi Guang was reorganizing his troops, and under the impact of the fire ox formation, there were less than three hundred men still standing by his side. Just as he was wondering what to do, the mercenaries in front of him were split in two by a black bolt of lightning, and Li Jun appeared before him on a black horse.
"The Fire Ox Formation is formidable!" Qi Guang smiled wryly, raising his spear. It seemed an inevitable life-or-death battle with Li Jun was about to begin.
"It's indeed more formidable than I expected. Had I known this, I wouldn't have used this plan." A muffled voice came from beneath Li Jun's terrifying dark red mask. Immediately following was a loud roar: "Take this!"
The soldiers quickly made way, feeling as if their helmets were about to be blown off by the intense killing intent emanating from Li Jun. Li Jun did not lower the purple dragon banner in his hand, but instead brandished his halberd with one hand, the crescent blade of which slashed straight at Qi Guang's neck.
Qi Guang was both disheartened and furious. He was disheartened because he hadn't realized that the fire ox formation was actually Li Jun's scheme, and furious because Li Jun looked down on him and fought him with one hand. He parried Li Jun's halberd with his spear, but the powerful force from Li Jun's halberd made him sway on his horse.
"What power!" he roared, twisting his hands and unleashing more than ten consecutive thrusts with his spear, each strike aimed at Li Jun's head, throat, chest, and abdomen. The spear emitted a sharp force that stirred the surrounding air, forming arrow-like gusts of energy that struck Li Jun directly.
Amidst the dense, forest-like shadow of spears, Li Jun swung his halberd, using his arm as a pivot, unleashing a burst of energy that neutralized the opponent's attack. In the brief moment of their encounter, each launched an attack and defended against the other's, their moves changing with incredible speed. The surrounding soldiers couldn't even discern who was attacking and who was defending.
The two horses shifted positions, back to back. Qi Guang swung his spear shaft at Li Jun's back, but Li Jun released his left hand, and the Purple Dragon Banner fell from his grasp. Li Jun then used his free hand to grab Qi Guang's spear shaft and pulled hard, yanking Qi Guang's entire body off the horse.
Immediately afterwards, Li Jun grabbed the Purple Dragon Flag that was falling from the sky. He released the spear and pulled hard. This process was completed in just a moment, and the Purple Dragon Flag had only fallen halfway from the sky.
Qi Guang, who had fallen to the ground, still wanted to fight, but Li Jun's halberd was already piercing his throat. Li Jun slightly touched it, breaking through a layer of skin, and blood flowed down. With Qi Guang's strength, he shouldn't have been so easily subdued by Li Jun, but he hadn't anticipated Li Jun's left hand holding the flag, and thus, he was defeated in a short time.
"Listen up, people on the city walls! Trade this city for Qi Guang's life!" Li Jun shouted loudly to the city walls.
"No, no, we absolutely won't!" Hua Gong cried out in vain, but Sun Yu grabbed him without any mercy.
“You’re forcing us to do things that are against the ethics of mercenaries,” Sun Yu replied coldly from upstairs. “Even if they die in battle, mercenaries cannot betray their employers. Li Jun, you are a mercenary too, don’t make things difficult for us.”
"I just wanted to find an excuse to release Qi Guang." Li Jun laughed loudly. "At this moment, Thunder City is already in my hands. Since you are unwilling, then..." He slowly thrust his halberd forward a little more. Qi Guang wanted to retreat, but was intimidated by his sharp gaze and dared not retreat.
"Think about it again, how about it?" Li Jun asked Sun Yu again.
Sun Yu was deep in thought. He looked down at Qi Guang, whose face was pale and haggard, and then at the trembling Hua Gong in his hands, unsure of what to do.
Qi Guang suddenly broke free from Li Jun's gaze and roared, "Ignore him, avenge me!" He lunged forward, and Li Jun's halberd pierced his throat. He hung on the halberd for a moment before finally dying and falling to the ground.
"Commander!" Sun Yu shouted, then turned and fled. At this moment, the Peace Army also began to enter the city.
Although the Peace Army's attack on Thunder City took seven or eight days, the casualties were minimal. After entering Thunder City, they encountered no street fighting and fell into Li Jun's hands. The mercenaries had no employer and had to retreat from the city to observe. Meanwhile, the Hua family's troops immediately surrendered to Hua Xuan.
Amidst the chaos of battle, Song Yun, who was fighting for the first time, found his target—Mo Yunlong. Seeing that Qi Guang was still no match for Li Jun despite his powerful and unstoppable moves, Mo Yunlong was terrified and was already secretly preparing to slip away, but Song Yun blocked his way.
"Get out of my way, or die!" Mo Yunlong only feared Li Jun and didn't take the infantry general blocking his way seriously. Taking advantage of the momentum of his horse, he slashed with his sword. Although he couldn't unleash his inner energy like Qi Guang, the momentum of this slash was still quite astonishing.
Song Yun gripped his greatsword with both hands, not taking the blow head-on, but instead thrusting it at Mo Yunlong's warhorse. The horse, moving at incredible speed, continued galloping even after the sword pierced it, resulting in a deep, visibly painful cut. Mo Yunlong saw his blade about to strike Song Yun, but Song Yun dodged it with an almost impossible maneuver. Mo Yunlong swung his sword again, but before he could even unleash its power, a sharp pain shot through his leg, causing him to scream. The enemy's sword had not only severed his horse but also his leg. The horse, now dead, collapsed, pinning Mo Yunlong down. With his leg crippled, Mo Yunlong saw Song Yun raise his sword with both hands and tried to parry, but with a clang, the sword shattered in two. Before he could even cry for mercy, Song Yun had severed his head.
"Hua Gong is dead. Let the remaining followers go and escape!" the messenger shouted. Li Jun was standing on the city wall, Hua Gong's corpse impaled on the tip of his halberd. This hastened the collapse of Leiming City. But Li Jun also knew that if they were to be completely wiped out and the enemy was forced to fight like cornered beasts, the Peace Army would also suffer heavy casualties.
"In war, as long as you seize the enemy's fatal weakness and strike with all your might, the enemy will automatically retreat without needing to inflict further casualties." When Lu Xiang was passing on his military strategies, he once said, "The key is to find the enemy's most fatal weakness."
For the Peace Army, cleaning up the battlefield was more troublesome than achieving victory. Aside from the nearly ten thousand prisoners and surrendered soldiers, the fires caused by the hundreds of fire oxen that had rushed into the city alone would keep them busy for quite some time. To prevent looting during the chaos, Li Jun ordered the guards to secure important locations such as the silver mines and the garrison, before heading to the General's Mansion to discuss issuing proclamations to reassure the people with Yu Sheng. For the two men, returning to this familiar place brought a bittersweet feeling.
While Zhao Xian was discussing with Yu Sheng, a fast horse galloped into Leiming City. Zhao Xian, who was riding the horse, went straight to the governor's mansion and rushed in without waiting for the sentry to announce his arrival, shouting, "Something bad has happened!"
Li Jun was taken aback and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Upon learning that we had captured Thunder City, both the Zhu and Tong families are heading towards it, intending to seize it from us. Moreover, the Tong family has split its forces into two groups, with one group attacking Raging Waves City!"
This news shocked Li Jun. Although the garrison of Kuanglan City numbered four thousand, firstly, the city walls had not yet been built; secondly, most of these garrison troops were newly joined Tiger Wing Battalion soldiers, whose combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of the Peace Army; and thirdly, most of the main generals were concentrated in Leiming City, with only Hua Xuan, Zhou Jie, and Mo Rong, who was in charge of building the city, remaining to guard it. If Kuanglan City were to fall, the Peace Army would inevitably suffer a severe blow!
"Do you know how many enemy troops are attacking Kuanglan?" Li Jun asked.
"There are probably 15,000 people. The Tong family's operation this time is extremely secretive, and the exact number still needs to be investigated!" Zhao Xian was already ashen-faced. Although he was in charge of intelligence work for the Peace Army, his courage had not increased much since then.
Li Jun and Yu Sheng exchanged a glance. In that instant, Li Jun realized that he had made a mistake. Although he had captured Thunder City through a scheme, it was likely to be taken by someone else. With the Peace Army's current strength, they could only defend one of Thunder City and Raging Waves City. Although Thunder City was large, populous, and had silver mines, it was probably less important than Raging Waves City.
"What should we do?" Everyone looked at Li Jun in a questioning gaze.
Chapter Four: Turbulent Times
Section 1
At this moment, Li Jun's frustration was something no outsider could know.
One wrong step could lead to total defeat. Although he had considered the possibility of being betrayed by the Zhu and Tong families when requesting reinforcements, he also realized that without their support, Hua Gong and Qi Guang would undoubtedly be unafraid of the Peace Army's mere few thousand men and would engage them in a decisive battle in the open. The Peace Army's limited forces couldn't afford to waste them in a war of attrition. Moreover, even if they won in the open battle, Hua Gong and Qi Guang would retreat and hold their ground. With only a few thousand troops, it was impossible to defeat them in a frontal assault. Even if Hua Gong and Qi Guang didn't engage in open battle outside the city, without other forces to tie them down, they could potentially engage the Peace Army while simultaneously launching a surprise attack on Kuanglan City. If that happened, the Peace Army would suffer a devastating defeat.
Therefore, he requested reinforcements from the Tong and Zhu families, hoping they wouldn't discover the weaknesses in his deployment. However, it seemed Tong Chang's ability to maintain his position as the Tong family's commander-in-chief and even repeatedly defeat Rong invasions was no fluke. He had sent troops to Leiming City to feign strength and appease him, while secretly harboring elite forces, waiting to reap the benefits after his battle with Hua Gong. This man was someone he would have to be extremely wary of in the future. Lu Xiang had once said that one should not rely on luck in warfare, a point he hadn't taken seriously enough, hence this miscalculation.
"Which is more important to the Peace Army, Thunder City or Raging Waves City?" he suddenly asked.
"Naturally, it's Kuanglan City. Although we haven't occupied it for long, the people there are loyal to us, and all our supplies and provisions are there. Losing Leiming City won't harm our army's strength, but losing Kuanglan City would mean that our initial construction efforts would be wasted, and it would also shake the morale of the army and the people, dealing a huge blow to our forces," Sima Hui calmly analyzed.
“Exactly. Thunder City has been captured, but it still belongs to the Hua family. Raging Waves City is nominally the Hua family's, but everyone knows it actually belongs to the Peace Army,” Yu Sheng added.
Song Yun, who rarely spoke at military meetings, showed anxiety on his face and said, "Chen Ying is in Kuanglan City. Kuanglan City is the most important. Leiming City is ours anyway. We can take it back in a few days."
Li Jun's spirits lifted upon hearing this, and he laughed heartily, "Indeed, everyone thinks so. Then let's not delay. Mr. Yu, immediately ride a fast horse to the Tong family's camp and send them an urgent message, saying that the Zhu family's army is approaching the city and our army is unable to resist. Please send them to our aid immediately. Our army is willing to exchange Leiming City for Kuanglan City. Mr. Sima, quickly lead your men to move all the important supplies in Leiming City, especially the silver treasury. Song Yun, lead your men to sabotage the silver mine, so that it cannot resume production for a month. Su Xiang, order the entire army to prepare for a forced march!"
"A brilliant plan!" Sima Hui also perked up. Although the situation was extremely unfavorable for the Peace Army, Li Jun remained calm and composed. Not only did he not panic, but he also devised a plan for two tigers to fight over a piece of meat. Now, Leiming City was the best piece of meat. The Tong family and the Zhu family would fight tooth and nail for this piece of meat, completely unaware that the Peace Army had already taken the meat from the bone.
Everything proceeded according to Li Jun's plan. Yu Sheng hurriedly headed to the Tong family's camp, where he encountered Tong Chang on the way. Pretending not to know that the Tong family had divided their forces to attack Kuanglan City, he said to Tong Chang, "Something terrible has happened, Marshal Tong. I have come to ask your army for help on the orders of Commander Li. The Zhu family has broken their promise and intends to harm Leiming City!"
Tong Chang was taken aback. Kuanglan City was still an insignificant port city to them. Although it was developing rapidly, it was far less attractive than Leiming City, which possessed silver mines, in the short term. If the Zhu family seized Leiming City, their economic strength would increase significantly, easily giving them an advantage over the Tong family. Therefore, he asked, "Commander Li, how are you preparing for the attack?"
Yu Sheng said, "Commander Li is currently arranging the city's defenses. When I came down, he said that since borrowing Kuanglan City from the Tong family, he has been looking for something suitable as a token of gratitude. Now that Leiming City has been captured, he is willing to use it as a token of gratitude in exchange for Kuanglan City."
"I see." Tong Chang smiled coldly, his tiger-like eyes flashing with a fierce light beneath his thick eyebrows, staring straight at Yu Sheng: "I understand. Please rest assured, sir, our army will rush to the rescue. Please ask him to hold the line."
After Yu Sheng left, the advisor asked, "Will Li Jun really hand over Thunder City to us?"
"He had no choice but to give it to us. He's a smart man; he knows he can't withstand both our army and the Zhu family at the same time, so he had to spit out Leiming City, which was already in his grasp. If he had to give Leiming City to one family, it would be better to give it to us, which would also make me owe him a favor." Tong Chang laughed heartily.