"Isn't this a bit rash?" Among all the generals in the Peace Army, Zhou Jie was relatively older, and unconsciously played the role of seeking stability.
"Don't make our brothers risk their lives for my sake," Schona said sullenly.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. They’re just a bunch of rabble.” Meng Yuan absolutely agreed with Li Jun’s plan.
"There's no time to lose. I've already told Yu Sheng that I'm going to wipe out the Blazing Fire Gang. To resolve this before the news leaks out, let's take action now!" Li Jun made the decision without explanation; the explanation could wait until after the battle.
Shortly after returning from the unpleasant banquet in Huafeng, Xiao Lang received news that his men had gotten into a fight with the Peace Army in the street.
"What? You ten or so people got into a fight with four or five people?" he roared at his somewhat timid subordinates. "Did you win?"
His men knew he was concerned about his reputation, so they naturally dared not say that they had been chased and beaten by them. However, they could not lie about the fight in the street, so they could only say, "The fight lasted for a while, then the little commander of the Peace Army came, and the fight stopped."
"Oh." A murderous glint flashed in Xiao Lang's eyes. Li Jun's threat to him at the banquet echoed in his ears again. He coldly snorted and said, "So what did that child say?"
"He apologized to us and said he would come to apologize to the commander tomorrow," the soldier replied, chest puffed out.
"Haha, I knew he was a spineless coward. If Lu Wudi had such a scoundrel among his men, he'd be furious." Xiao Lang laughed and tossed the matter aside. The deputy general next to him wanted to say something, but seeing Xiao Lang's expression, he didn't dare to utter a word.
"It's alright, Li Jun will come to apologize tomorrow, and I can remind the commander then." He thought to himself.
But just two hours later, he realized he was wrong. The Peace Army's camp and the Blazing Fire Legion's camp were both near the city wall, less than a thousand feet apart. When the sounds of battle came from outside, the invincible army, as fierce as wolves and tigers, had already stormed into the Blazing Fire Legion's camp, turning it into a sea of fire.
Meng Yuan took the lead, his broadsword flashing like lightning across the summer night sky. He was incredibly strong, and his sword was heavy. He slashed through the Fire Legion soldiers who hadn't had time to mount their horses, cutting them down like melons. He carved a bloody path to the main camp. In the midst of the chaos, many Fire Legion soldiers were cleaved in two before they even knew what was happening.
Following closely behind was Li Jun, his face completely obscured by a dark red dragon-head mask, concealing his slightly childlike features. Yet, everyone could sense his dangerous aura. The halberd in his hand seemed to warn any enemy who dared approach: "Come, come and face death." His halberd technique was the Dingtian Halberd Technique, personally taught by Lu Xiang. Even amidst a vast army, he could kill as many enemies as possible with minimal force. Thrusting, slashing, chopping, smashing, sweeping—this halberd was no longer just a halberd, but a summons from the Grim Reaper.
The screams and chaos made Xiao Lang and his lieutenants rush out of their tents. They watched helplessly as their men fell in rows amidst the blood rain unleashed by Meng Yuan, Li Jun, and the Heping Army. Xiao Lang's first thought was not to find weapons to resist.
"The sentries deserve to die!" he roared angrily. As mercenaries, they should be more vigilant than ordinary troops, but having been stationed in Thunder City for so long, the Blazing Fire Legion had almost forgotten the dangers of field battles, and the troops' alertness had become lax. In addition, Li Jun and his men had launched a sneak attack, which made it even more difficult for the Blazing Fire Legion to react immediately.
When Meng Yuan reached Xiao Lang, Xiao Lang had already mounted his horse and was brandishing his spear, charging straight at Meng Yuan. The two weapons clashed together, producing a piercing roar. Only then did Xiao Lang realize that his opponent was not only resourceful but also possessed a first-rate general. However, this head-on attack, with the murderous aura emanating from the opponent's blade, had already caused considerable damage to his internal organs.
"Go!" As the two horses clashed, Meng Yuan suddenly reached out and grabbed Xiao Lang's belt, lifting him up. Xiao Lang swung his spear at Meng Yuan, but Meng Yuan stretched out his arm and threw him down, where he landed heavily on the ground.
The chaotic situation alerted other mercenary groups. Except for the soldiers who had not yet returned to their posts, everyone came out fully armed to see what was happening. They were dazzled to see the Peace Army rushing into the Fire Legion's camp like a torrent, setting fires and killing everywhere. The Fire Legion was almost powerless to fight back and was completely overwhelmed by their much smaller numbers.
"They stormed into the Blazing Fire Regiment's camp from four directions." Qi Guang, the commander of the Flying Tiger Regiment, was a little pale. Such surprise attacks were exactly what mercenaries were good at, but Qi Guang looked at his men and knew he couldn't do what the Peace Army did so cleanly and efficiently.
“We’re getting old,” his deputy, Sun Yu, who was a bit older than him, said with a wry smile.
“It’s not that we’re old, it’s just that this Peace Army is too terrifying. They understand the tactics and skills of mercenaries, and they also have the strategic qualities of a regular army. If they wanted to, they could really leave us starving,” Qi Guang sighed.
"The outcome is already decided. The Blazing Fire Regiment is in deep trouble this time. However, they do have a numerical advantage, and the Peace Army's losses will not be small either," Sun Yu said.
"I'm afraid not." Qi Guang pointed to the Blazing Fire Gang's camp. "Judging from Li Jun's current actions, the battle will be over soon. As long as they cut off Xiao Lang's head, the Blazing Fire Gang will have no choice but to surrender."
"Xiao Lang can't be that incompetent, can he? The reputation of the Blazing Fire Gang in Thunder City wasn't easily earned."
"That's something neither you nor I know. Let's wait and see how it ends," Qi Guang said with a hint of schadenfreude. After all, he wasn't exactly friendly towards the Fire Legion, the largest mercenary group in Thunder City.
Almost sharing his thoughts, the other mercenary groups watched the spectacle from the sidelines. Some even considered that if they lent a hand to the Blazing Fire Gang, the Peace Army would be in an extremely awkward position. However, no mercenary unit was willing to commit their strength to this battle. The terrifying lethality displayed by Li Jun's Peace Army in the battle made no one want to be their enemy.
In the chaos, Xiao Lang desperately dodged. He had already lost his spear and replaced it with a more convenient waist knife on the ground, but Meng Yuan's throw had almost shattered his courage. He hadn't expected to be so vulnerable in Meng Yuan's hands. All he could think about now was getting as far away from Meng Yuan as possible.
"Where do you think you're going!" Meng Yuan slashed down a soldier from the Blazing Fire Regiment who tried to stop him, and then slashed at Xiao Lang. Xiao Lang dared not parry and rolled and crawled on the ground, hiding in the crowd of people fighting. But before he could get up, a heavy foot stepped on his back.
He turned his head to look and saw Shuna's thick face, but Shuna was no longer the gentle Qiang man at the banquet, but a berserk war god. Several soldiers from the Blazing Fire Legion tried desperately to rescue Xiao Lang, and their weapons struck Shuna's earth magic shield. Although they tore through Shuna's armor and flesh, they could not cause him fatal injuries.
Feeling no pain at all, Shuna forcefully pinned Xiao Lang down. Normally, with Xiao Lang's fighting prowess, three or four Shunas wouldn't be a match for him. But now, having been killed by Meng Yuan's blade and pinned down by Shuna's immense weight, he couldn't twist his body no matter how much he struggled. Before he could even think of a solution, Shuna's broadsword flashed, severing his head. He had ultimately died at the hands of the Qiang people he despised—a truly ironic end.
"Xiao Lang is dead! Lay down your weapons and we will not pursue you!" When the soldiers of the Blazing Fire Regiment heard this shout and saw Xiao Lang's head hanging on a long pole, their will to fight completely collapsed. Someone took the lead, and weapons clattered and fell to the ground. The few who still resisted were also killed one by one by the Peace Army.
Li Jun had pushed the dragon head mask back up, revealing his face. He surveyed the battlefield and then shouted, "The Blazing Fire Gang ceases to exist from this day forward. Those who wish to join my Peace Army are warmly welcomed. Those who wish to leave can pack their things and go in a little while. There are many mercenary groups around here. As long as you are willing, you will have plenty of things to do."
The cleanup of the battlefield filled Jiang Tang, the newly promoted treasurer of the Peace Army, with both excitement and heartache. When he saw the 31,000 gold coins handed over by Xiao Lang's treasurer, his eyes practically turned gold. But when he heard Li Jun say that each prisoner would be given two gold coins to let them go, he immediately objected: "No way, this isn't a good deal. It takes 15,000 gold coins. Why give them so much money?"
Seeing that the others were also puzzled, Li Jun smiled and said, "This money should have belonged to them in the first place, but Xiao Lang has hoarded it. Although they are prisoners now, their numbers are still several times greater than ours. If we don't get rid of them soon and cause a mutiny, we will suffer a greater loss."
"If that's the case, we should have killed more at the beginning to save me some expenses." Jiang Tang was still muttering, but everyone laughed. In the battle just now, although it was only a short time, the Peace Army had already killed more than 800 Fire Legion soldiers, and there were even more wounded. The Peace Army itself suffered more than 100 casualties. If the battle continued, it would indeed wipe out all of the Peace Army's limited forces.
"You should be satisfied. On the first day of business, you received two batches of money, one batch of 1,500 and the other of 16,000. The profit is quite large," Su Xiang joked.
“That’s true. We’ll do two more deals tomorrow.” Jiang Tang’s eyes lit up again, staring at Li Jun almost hungryly, as if such a massacre should happen twice a day to be considered normal.
When everything was over, night fell. The vast majority of the Fire Legion's soldiers chose to leave, as it was unlikely they would immediately join the Peace Army. However, the addition of a few hundred soldiers brought the Peace Army's numbers above pre-war levels.
"I'll have to pay more salaries again. First of all, let me make it clear that new recruits won't receive this month's salary, otherwise my business will suffer huge losses." Jiang Tang instructed the few soldiers newly assigned to him to add the names of these more than three hundred people to the roster.
Upon returning to the Peace Army's camp, Li Jun learned that the leaders of several small mercenary groups and Yu Sheng had been waiting for a long time.
"Commander Li, from now on, in Thunder City, we are willing to form an alliance with you." These small mercenary group leaders had probably already discussed it and readily proposed this alliance.
"Hmm." Li Jun sneered inwardly. These people were opportunists. Seeing the might of the Peace Army, they couldn't wait to ask for an alliance. Although he was somewhat disdainful, the Peace Army hadn't yet reached the point of making enemies of everyone. Having an ally, even if it was just a nominal one, was better than fighting alone.
"Originally, I was ordered by Chief Steward Hua to persuade Commander Li to cancel the plan to attack the Blazing Fire Legion," Yu Sheng said with a mixture of frustration and excitement after the other mercenary leaders left. "Now it seems there's no need for that. Commander Li acted swiftly and decisively, and I greatly admire him."
"This is not my achievement alone, but the result of the efforts of all the soldiers of my Peace Army." One of the important lessons Li Jun learned from Lu Xiang's subordinates was to share credit with his own men.
As he was seeing Yu Sheng off, Yu Sheng suddenly turned back and said, "Having seen what Commander Li did today, I hope to serve under Commander Li if I have the opportunity."
In the torchlight of the dark night, Li Jun saw the bright, eager light shining in his eyes, smiled slightly, and said nothing more.
For others, the day passed by just like that, but for Li Jun, its impact was far-reaching. On one hand, he used deception and intimidation to find himself a brilliant financial manager; on the other hand, through cunning ambushes and daring adventures, he turned the once-powerful Fire Legion in Thunder City into a sacrifice for the Peace Army's rise.
Chapter Eight: The City of Wind, Rain, and Thunder
Section 1