"Pang Wu is the military supervisor? It seems my inaction has indeed aroused suspicion!" Peng Yuancheng frowned. The news came to his army along with Pang Wu himself. He was originally in Yuyang City trying to appease the people. The residents who had moved from Dagu City had left their homes and needed time to be appeased. Although he could temporarily ensure that Li Jun would not attack, it seemed that this excellent opportunity was about to be wasted by simply watching.
But since Pang Wu was the military supervisor, Peng Yuancheng had no choice but to come and see him.
“Mr. Pang, you must be tired from your journey. If you had sent someone first, I would have gone to the city gate to greet you.”
"General Peng has worked hard, blocking Li Jun's path here while also ensuring the safety of my Zhu family." Pang Wu's first words were barbed.
Before the two had finished their pleasantries, a spy hurried in, stood at the door, and gestured towards Peng Yuancheng, as if he had something to say. Pang Wu, with his sharp eyes, said with a forced smile, "General Peng, if you have something to say, please go ahead."
Peng Yuancheng realized that the spy was one he had sent to Leiming City, and knew that something new had happened there. It was not appropriate to tell Pang Wu about it, but now that Pang Wu and Zhu Wenhai were deeply wary of him, and he was not yet ready to take his place, he might as well make a show of it to dispel their suspicions.
"It's alright, let's talk here," he said calmly to the spy.
"Li Jun rushed off to Kuanglan City!"
This news was expected by Peng Yuancheng but unexpected by Pang Wu. After occupying Dagu City and forcing the four forces to submit, Li Jun ordered the four allied forces to attack Zhu Family's Yuping City, while he himself stationed troops in Leiming City, ready to seize the opportunity to attack. He also ordered Xiao Lin to lead nearly 10,000 elite troops to garrison both sides of Dagu City for support. It seemed as if he had dispersed his forces, but in reality, he was forcing Zhu Family soldiers to shuttle back and forth between Yuyang and Yuping. Not only Peng Yuancheng saw this, but Zhu Wenhai and Pang Wu also understood his plan. Just as his plan was being implemented, he himself ran back to Kuanglan City, which must be suspicious.
Peng Yuancheng naturally understood what was going on. After the fall of Leiming City, Sun Yu gathered the remnants of the Flying Tigers and joined the Tong family. However, the Tong family soon suffered a devastating blow, so they came to Peng Yuancheng's Dagu City. When Peng Yuancheng left Dagu City, he ordered him to go overseas to find Japanese pirates. It seems that he really found these elusive bandits in the vast ocean. This time, luck seemed to be on his side.
“Since Li Jun is not in Leiming City, General Peng, you can finally help Yu Ping!” Pang Wu looked at Peng Yuancheng with a half-smile, as if he could see through his thoughts.
Section 2
Peng Yuancheng sighed inwardly.
Originally, Li Jun was preoccupied with the south, presenting a perfect opportunity for him to seize Yujiang City, control Zhu Wenhai (the puppet), and ultimately absorb all of Zhu's forces. However, with the military supervisor Pang Wu present, any unusual movement from Li Jun would inevitably be reported to Zhu Wenhai. If Pang Wu were controlled, Zhu Wenhai, even without his reports, would certainly become suspicious. Although Li Jun currently commanded 25,000 troops, only the less than 10,000 soldiers from Dagu City truly remained loyal. While the people of Yuyang City placed their hopes in him, they were not truly devoted. A hasty uprising would likely be difficult to achieve in the short term.
What worries him even more is that although Li Jun left because of what happened in Kuanglan City, no one can guarantee that this is not a scheme by Li Jun. Will he leave on the surface but secretly return? He must be very clear about his plans. If so, he will be attacked from both sides.
“No.” He said slowly, “Although Yuping City has fewer troops, the four allied forces may not be able to attack it with all their might, so it is not a problem to hold on. However, if Yuyang City is lost, our defenses will be wide open, and we will lose the natural barrier of Yujiang.”
“With Li Jun gone, the Peace Army will not come out to attack Yuyang City!” Pang Wu said decisively. “General Peng, you only need to leave 15,000 men, and I can defend this city for you. What do you think, General Peng?”
Peng Yuancheng stared at him and said, "Doesn't Supervisor Pang know that Li Jun is most skilled in cunning? The spy's words can only be taken as a reference. What if I lead the army to Yuping, and Li Jun suddenly turns back to Leiming City, and attacks with the combined forces of Leiming City and Dagu City?"
Pang Wu was speechless for a moment. He had an unspeakable fear of Li Jun, but he was unwilling to let Peng Yuancheng gain the upper hand. So he said, "So General Peng, with 25,000 troops, you sit in the heavily fortified city and just wait for Li Jun to attack?"
Peng Yuancheng laughed and said, "In Supervisor Pang's opinion, I should go out of the city to find Li Jun for a decisive battle, shouldn't I?"
Pang Wu nodded and said, "With General Peng's wisdom and his army of nearly ten thousand more than Li Jun's, how can he cower in the city?"
Peng Yuancheng remained silent for a while. Zhu Wenhai had sent this incompetent Pang Wu as the military supervisor. It seemed that he had chosen the right person. If it were someone else, he could have reasoned with him about the bigger picture, but this man was completely inflexible and more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything. He should find an opportunity to send him back.
“As the lord of Yuyang City, I bear the responsibility for the city and cannot easily go to war,” Peng Yuancheng said slowly. “But what Supervisor Pang said makes sense. In that case, I will let Supervisor Pang lead 20,000 troops to attack Dagu City, while I will leave only 5,000 men to defend the city and contain Li Jun. What do you think?”
Pang Wu's face immediately turned red. He knew that Peng Yuancheng was actually mocking him, but he didn't have the courage to lead troops to face the Peace Army. He suppressed his anger and said, "If that's the case, then General Peng can handle it as he sees fit. I will report General Peng's actions to Governor Zhu truthfully."
Seeing him bring up Zhu Wenhai, Peng Yuancheng felt even more disdain, and the conversation between the two ended unhappily.
Several days later, another spy reported that Li Jun had secretly returned from Kuanglan City, but upon returning to the army, he still lied and claimed to be in Kuanglan City. Along with this news came the news that the Peace Army of Leiming City and Dagu City had begun advancing towards the Zhu family's territory. The Peace Army of Leiming City, flying Meng Yuan's banner, headed straight for Yuyang, while the Peace Army of Dagu City concealed its movements and passed through the territory of the four families to reinforce the four-family allied forces that were attacking Yuping.
Although reluctant to meet Pang Wu, Peng Yuancheng still needed to discuss such crucial information and countermeasures with him; it was far from time to eliminate them. Therefore, suppressing his disgust, Peng Yuancheng invited Pang Wu.
"Li Jun did indeed secretly return to Leiming City." This news was enough to make Pang Wu turn pale with fright. It proved that Peng Yuancheng's judgment was correct. Li Jun's return to Kuanglan City was a ruse to deceive the enemy. The purpose was to make Peng Yuancheng ignore the Peace Army in Leiming City and go to support Yu Ping. Pang Wu naturally did not know that Peng Yuancheng was colluding with the Japanese pirates with Sun Yu. When he heard that the Peace Army was attacking from two directions, Pang Wu was so shocked that he could hardly breathe.
"What should we do? What should we do?" he murmured, then suddenly smiled obsequiously at Peng Yuancheng and said, "Lord Peng defeated Li Jun in Dagu City and is well aware of Li Jun's schemes. He must have a plan to protect the Governor's foundation."
Peng Yuancheng was used to his poor performance. "Why should Supervisor Pang worry? Li Jun's tricks are nothing but child's play."
"Please enlighten me, Lord Peng."
"Li Jun hurriedly returned from Kuanglan City, but then lied that he was in Kuanglan City. There must be a trick involved. Xiao Lin's army from Dagu City went through the territory of four families to attack Yuping. It was a long and arduous journey, and it would take ten days for them to go. Meanwhile, Leiming City and Heping Army attacked Yuyang under Meng Yuan's banner. There must be something fishy going on."
Peng Yuancheng's ambiguous words almost confused Pang Wu, who said, "Lord Peng's meaning is..."
“Li Jun is cunning and treacherous. How could his thoughts be so easily seen through!” Peng Yuancheng sneered. “He knows he can’t fool me by lying that he’s not in the army, yet he still lies. Why? Because he’s telling the truth! He’s definitely not in the Leiming City army; he must be heading to Dagu City in person. The Dagu City army may seem to be on a long and arduous journey, but if they can keep us tied down in Yuyang, then what does it matter if it takes longer to capture Yuping City?”
"Therefore, Li Junding personally led a large army to bypass the four forces and attack Yuping. If I am not mistaken, Meng Yuan's army, which came to attack Yuyang, was just bluffing to contain me and prevent me from sending troops to rescue Yuping!"
Upon hearing that Li Jun was not present, Pang Wu immediately perked up and said, "General Peng is indeed a man of exceptional wisdom. How could Li Jun's few schemes possibly stump General Peng? You must already have a countermeasure."
"That's right, I'll play along. He doesn't want me to reinforce Yuping City, so I won't." Peng Yuancheng chuckled inwardly. It seemed he could easily make Pang Wu believe him with a simple excuse. Reinforcing Yuping was merely passively following Li Jun's lead; even if they won, it would only benefit the Zhu family and wouldn't help his ambitions. To get what he needed, he had to act in his own best interests.
“If we don’t send reinforcements to Yu Ping, Yu Ping will be in grave danger!” Pang Wu said.
"It's alright. By the time Li Jun arrives in Yuping, his Leiming City and Dagu City will already be in my hands. With his return route cut off, the Heping Army will surely be defeated without a fight, and the four allied forces will immediately fall into disarray and turn to our army!" Peng Yuancheng could not let go of Leiming City. As long as he could capture Leiming City and then take back Dagu City while it was still in the air, plus Yuyang City which was already under his control, with these three cities, half of his ambition to dominate Yuzhou would be realized.
"General Peng intends to go on an expedition?" Pang Wu was tantalized by the scenery he described, and a look of eager anticipation appeared on his face.
“Yes, I’m not entirely sure yet. I need to observe the movements of the Thunder City army. If they’re not in a hurry to attack the city and are just making a show of force from afar, then my guess is correct. Otherwise, Supervisor Pang should immediately lead his troops to Yuping City to reinforce it.”
Peng Yuancheng's plan seemed to have no loopholes, and the things he predicted happened one by one. The Peace Army, which was flying Meng Yuan's banner, indeed stopped far away from Yu Yang. However, the soldiers' unbridled behavior made Peng Yuancheng hesitant to send troops out easily.
"You're saying they didn't even send out any sentries, and that they spend their days either drinking or bathing in the water?" he asked the spy in surprise.
"Indeed, the villain disguised himself as a commoner and approached their camp three times, only to be stopped when he entered the camp."
How many soldiers are in the camp?
"The camp has countless soldiers and troops. Although the defenses are not very strict, I dare not go too deep. I only count more than two thousand tents."
The spy's words made Peng Yuancheng suspicious again. As he pondered, the room was silent. Everyone knew that this was a critical moment, and no one dared to make a sound to disturb his thoughts.
What exactly does Li Jun mean? If it's just a bluff, he should make it more convincing. If he's really going to attack, why is he so exhausted? That person's behavior at the foot of Dagu City seems different from now. Could it be that he has already exhausted his skills? Or is it because his absence from the Peace Army has led to the Peace Army's lax discipline?
The best course of action now is to remain unchanged in the face of all changes, strengthen the defense of Yuyang, and keep the city closed. No matter how the Peace Army behaves, Peng Yuancheng believes that he is implementing a plan to lure the enemy. If so, as long as they do not fall for the plan, Li Jun will be helpless.
Peng Yuancheng's idea wasn't wrong. In Dagu City, Li Jun desperately tried to lure him out of the city for a decisive battle, but he refused to leave, forcing Li Jun to retreat. This time, he was determined to stick to the same plan: as long as he didn't leave the city, even if Li Jun attacked with 60,000 troops, he was confident he could hold out. However, for both him and Li Jun, time was on Li Jun's side. If Li Jun's plan was allowed to succeed, then Yuzhou would inevitably fall completely into Li Jun's hands sooner or later.