Tong Sheng nodded slowly, turning his gaze to the southwest, where Tong Chang's reinforcements should be arriving. He said, "That's right. On one hand, A-Chang must come to rescue Yin Hu City, and on the other hand, he cannot hand over Lei Ming City. He can only divide his forces in two. According to his personality, he will definitely instruct his deputy to stay and guard Lei Ming City, while he himself will return to rescue it. If that's the case, Li Jun will kill A-Chang on the way with ulterior motives, and A-Chang will be in danger."
After listening to Tong Sheng's analysis, Tong Rong felt both joy and worry. He was joyful because if Tong Chang suffered a major defeat, the Tong family's military power would inevitably fall into his hands; he was worried because this major defeat would destroy the little strength the Tong family had managed to recover. In this complex state of mind, he asked, "Then we should quickly send someone to warn Commander Chang!"
Tong Sheng shook his head and said, "Judging by the time, Achang has already turned back. The most advantageous terrain to ambush Aji is Hukou Gorge, which is a day and a night away. The main force of the Peace Army retreated under cover of darkness the night before last. The men we sent to warn us may catch up with them on the way."
Upon hearing this, Tong Rong's heart stirred, and he devised a plan. He said, "The bandits are going to ambush Commander Chang. With Commander Chang's abilities, he will not be easily defeated. If we send an elite force to follow the bandits and then launch a surprise attack from behind, the bandits will be attacked from both sides and will surely suffer a great defeat!"
"Exactly! I'm willing to lead this elite force into battle!" Tong Yan exclaimed. "I've been wanting to find that savage from that day and settle things once and for all!"
“No, I will lead this army,” Tong Rong objected. “In this battle, to reverse our unfavorable situation, brute force alone is not enough to succeed.”
After much deliberation, Tong Sheng realized that this was the only option left. If they didn't rescue Tong Chang, his entire army would be wiped out. However, sending troops to rescue him offered a much better chance of turning the tide. Therefore, he looked intently at Tong Rong and said, "Rong, you will lead seven thousand elite troops to rush to Achang's rescue. Tong Yan will be your deputy. With your wisdom and courage, I hope the two of you can avert this crisis for the Tong family."
Tong Rong was overjoyed and straightened his chest, replying, "Yes!" Tong Sheng looked at him carefully again and said, "After this battle, I will let Achang rest at home for a while. You will temporarily take over as commander. You must do your best."
Knowing that Tong Sheng had seen through his intentions, Tong Rong felt somewhat ashamed. However, when he thought about how he could defeat the Peace Army, which Tong Chang had been unable to defeat, and save Tong Chang's life, the position of commander-in-chief of the Tong family was indeed rightfully his. His shame turned into excitement.
The soldiers stationed at Silver Tiger City by the Tong family were all highly trained elites. Moments later, they were fully equipped and ready to depart. Tong Rong gave a brief address to the soldiers on horseback before leading the way out of Silver Tiger City through the west gate. Tong Sheng stood atop the city wall and looked down. Thousands of his men and troops surged forth from the towering city gates, heading towards the impending battlefield, a scene of carnage and bloodshed. Seeing this magnificent sight, Tong Sheng felt a chill run through him. How many of these men would return alive to Silver Tiger City? How many more orphans and widows would be added to Silver Tiger City's ranks?
The thought terrified him. He shook his head, trying to shake it off, and explained to himself, "They have been my family's retainers for generations. It is only natural that they would die fighting for me."
Section 2
When Tong Sheng received Ge Shun's plea for help, he was indeed faced with a dilemma.
"That Li Jun brat, he's really gone too far!" He cursed Li Jun inwardly. He had been slow to react in several moves, constantly at Li Jun's mercy. Even his proud attempt to force Li Jun to reveal his plans for Thunder City had become a shackle for Li Jun to use to control the Tong family's strength. In his last letter to his brother, he had warned him to be wary of Li Jun, but his caution had unexpectedly come true, which made him extremely uneasy.
"How many troops does Li Jun have besieging my home?" He asked this question for the third time, because it was crucial for him. If he couldn't figure out Li Jun's troop strength, he would have difficulty guessing Li Jun's true intentions and making a decision.
“There are at least eight thousand men. Although there are more than ten thousand garrison troops in the city, after receiving your warning, the governor dared not be careless and ordered them to hold their ground and await reinforcements. It is the spring planting season. If you cannot return to the city in time to provide relief, the enemy’s prolonged siege will definitely delay the farming season.” Ge Shun explained the situation in Yinhu City again.
"Will the enemy besiege the city from all sides or attack only one side?"
"The rebel troops are concentrated under the east city wall, seemingly intending to attack the east city wall directly."
"I see." Tong Sheng felt a little relieved. The reason why the enemy only attacked the east gate was, to some extent, because they were afraid that he would suddenly appear from the west and attack them from both sides. Even so, Li Jun was really cunning. If the crisis in Silver Tiger City could not be resolved as soon as possible, and he came up with some ingenious plan to take over Silver Tiger City, the Tong family's lifeline would fall into enemy hands. Such a consequence could not be allowed to happen under any circumstances.
"Tong Pei, you will take charge of Leiming City on my behalf. No matter how Zhu the boy and Peng Yuancheng challenge us, we must hold firm and let them fight it out." Tong Chang instructed his deputy marshal in this way, and then said to Ge Shun, "Mr. Ge, lead 10,000 men with me to return to reinforce immediately. I want to annihilate Li Jun and the Peace Army outside Yinhu City."
"Why don't you launch a surprise attack on Kuanglan City, Commander? That's how we forced Li Jun to return last time. We can try it again this time," suggested Deputy Commander Tong Pei.
“A plan can only be used once, and times have changed. Back then, Li Jun occupied Leiming City, and it was good that we acquired it, but this time Li Jun has targeted Yinhu City. Many of our soldiers are from Yinhu City. If they learn that their homeland has fallen, their morale will immediately collapse. Therefore, I absolutely cannot risk exchanging Yinhu City for that Kuanglan City, which is less than half-built.” Tong Chang rejected his suggestion and added, “There’s no time to lose, let’s set off immediately!”
Setting off with an army of ten thousand was no easy task, but Tong Chang's objective was to rush back to Yinhu City for reinforcements. He could carry as little food and supplies as possible, and under the cover of night, the entire army quietly left the city. Although the Zhu family and the allied forces' spies discovered that half of Tong Chang's troops had left, they dared not be careless under these circumstances. On the contrary, they believed that Tong Chang had intentionally left half of his army behind for maneuver, and they all tightened their guard.
A spy had already rushed to deliver the news to Li Jun. Li Jun smiled slightly upon hearing it, knowing that things were indeed developing as he had expected. Now all he had to do was to notify Xiao Lin and Song Yun, who were currently launching a feint attack on Silver Tiger City, at the right time, so that they could proceed according to plan.
Tong Chang led his army on a forced march for four days. Along the way, they constantly encountered refugees fleeing from Yinhu City. They told Tong Chang about the "atrocities" committed by the Peace Army outside the city, including burning, killing, and looting. Tong Chang became even more anxious. If the Peace Army were in a stalemate with Yinhu City, they would have no time to plunder the surrounding villages and towns. The fact that the Peace Army was committing atrocities in the surrounding villages and towns, and that Yinhu City had not sent any troops to stop them, only proved that Yinhu City had been defeated and was powerless to fight back.
Tong Chang never imagined that the reason for this situation wasn't due to the Peace Army's siege, but rather the letter he sent to Tong Sheng. In that letter, he repeatedly warned Tong Sheng to be wary of Li Jun. Tong Sheng, who trusted Li Jun implicitly, dared not send troops out of the city to fight the Peace Army, instead waiting for reinforcements. In a sense, his letter made Li Jun's plan much easier to execute. Li Jun originally intended to fight one or two more fierce battles outside Yinhu City to frighten Tong Sheng into not venturing out, so he specifically transferred a brave general like Song Yun there. In reality, aside from clashing with Tong Yan once, Song Yun remained largely inactive.
To attribute all of this to Li Jun's scheme would be rash. It can only be said that, for now, luck is on Li Jun's side. Perhaps in the next instant, Li Jun will lose this luck and pay the price for it.
Li Jun was quite wise in this regard. Due to his rashness, he spat out the Thunder City that was about to be in his mouth. At that moment, in addition to feeling the loss of an important person, he also felt an extremely heavy pain in his heart.
Therefore, when he saw Tong Chang's army marching into Tiger Mouth Gorge, Li Jun remained calm. Only after half of the enemy army had passed through the treacherous gorge did he reach out and beckon, and the guards behind him raised the purple dragon flag that represented him high and waved it twice.
In an instant, shouts of battle, the sound of rolling stones, and the neighing of warhorses filled the air. Countless arrows and rolling logs and boulders rushed down from the right cliff, and the earth-shattering shouts made the few trees in the crevices of the rocks tremble. As if in response to this sudden attack, a gale swept through the canyon, snapping the still trembling trees at waist height, just like warriors smashed in two in the valley!
The sudden attack threw the Tong family army, which was rushing forward at all costs, into chaos in an instant. The instinct for survival caused the soldiers to drop their weapons and banners and collapse. However, the rain of arrows and stones from the right was so dense that they fell like crops being cut down by a farmer, falling in swathes into pools of blood. The earth greedily sucked up the crimson liquid, and after a while, the wind was filled with the smell of blood.
"Besiege the city and attack the reinforcements!" In the shortest amount of time, Tong Chang knew who was attacking and realized he had fallen into a trap. His eyes turned bloodshot, like the surrounding mountains stained with blood. His men screamed in agony amidst arrows and rocks, their once vibrant bodies turning into mincemeat in an instant. The terrified warhorses, abandoning their masters, ran wildly through the narrow valley, further spreading the chaos.
"Lie down! Lie down!" Tong Chang roared as he struggled to control his mount. If things got chaotic, it would give the enemy an opportunity for a second wave of attacks. On the contrary, if they could use the rocks in the valley to avoid a sneak attack, they could conserve their strength for the melee later. After all, such a dense barrage of falling rocks and arrows could not last.
Urged on by the officers waving their whips, the soldiers' panic was finally brought under control. They used various methods to avoid the rain of arrows. The soldiers who had already crossed the canyon quickly circled around to the back of the mountain, while the rocks rolling down the right cliff had become noticeably thinner. Tong Chang, protected by a group of shield bearers, looked towards the right mountain, but he saw nothing. At this moment, the rain of arrows stopped, and the valley echoed with the groans of wounded soldiers, the restless roars of warhorses, and the heavy breathing of everyone in tension.
"What's going on?" Tong Chang asked himself. The other party did not rush down the mountain as he expected. What kind of trick was that mercenary kid plotting?
The groans of the wounded soldier grew louder in the tense silence. A rustling sound came from beside him. Tong Chang glanced over and saw a soldier crawling on the ground, injured by a rolling stone. His left arm was broken, half of the white-tinged-with-red arm bone protruding from where his powerful hand had once been. His feet, flattened by the stones, dragged lightly behind him. He struggled to crawl, crying, "Mama, Mama..."
A ray of sunlight shone through a gap in the dark clouds overhead, illuminating the desolate Tiger's Mouth Gorge. Tong Chang withdrew his gaze from the soldier; even he felt a surge of despair and fear.
Despair and fear! So that's how it is! He suddenly understood Li Jun's intention in not attacking immediately, to let the post-battle devastation crush their morale and weaken them in spirit before the battle even began.
"How could I fall for your treacherous schemes again and again!" Tong Chang thought to himself, and then laughed loudly. His laughter echoed through the valley, silencing the groans and cries of the wounded soldiers.
"That coward Li Jun dared not attack because he saw that our army was not disrupted by his sneak attack! His sneak attack only caused a few hundred casualties. All troops, listen to my command, charge up the mountain and capture Li Jun alive!"
The soldiers were skeptical of his words, but Tong Chang's words somewhat eased their fear and tension. Urged by Tong Chang, they all climbed up the cliff, but during the ascent, not a single arrow or stone fell.
Tong Chang knew perfectly well that Li Jun, seeing that the sneak attack had failed to cause the collapse and retreat of Tong's army, must have already withdrawn from the mountaintop to avoid unnecessary losses. Thus, it seemed that Li Jun's plan to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements had been thwarted.
But deep down, he felt something was amiss. Would Li Jun really let them go so easily?
Suddenly, shouts of battle arose from all sides. The Peace Army, which had been lying in ambush outside the mountain, surrounded Tiger Mouth Gorge and the cliff on the right. Tong Chang stood on the mountain on the east side and looked around. He saw countless Peace Army soldiers waving flags and shouting below the mountain. He didn't know where they had been hiding.
It seems that Li Jun has tricked them again. After the sneak attack, he immediately withdrew his troops from the mountain. After exhausting his energy to occupy the empty mountains on both sides, he gathered his troops at the foot of the cliff, forming an encirclement of the Tong family's army.
The Tong family's army was clearly bewildered by Li Jun's completely unconventional tactics. Tong Chang once again used laughter to boost morale: "There's nothing to be afraid of. Li Jun's move is utterly foolish. To encircle our army, he would need at least four times our strength. Where would Li Jun get 40,000 men? Now our army is on high ground, and Li Jun is abandoning this advantageous terrain to try to surround us. As long as our army charges downhill, how can he stop us?"
The Peace Army shouted fiercely from the foot of the mountain, but remained stationary. Some soldiers were even busy setting up fences and fortifications. Tong Chang shouted, "How about it? If the enemy doesn't dare to attack the mountain, then our army will charge down!"
The Tong family soldiers realized they had a geographical advantage and shouted, seemingly eager to charge down and fight the Peace Army to the death to avenge their earlier setback. Tong pointed his whip down the mountain and ordered, "Charge! Kill Li Jun! Kill him or leave him alive!"
The Tong family army charged down the hillside like a spring torrent. However, the Peace Army did not counter-charge them. Instead, they were met with a hail of arrows from the Peace Army. The fastest cavalrymen were the first to be hit. This torrent of warriors was blocked by the rocks of arrows and had to flow back in the direction they came from.
"Shield bearers as the vanguard, archers as the rearguard, charge again!" After encountering fierce resistance from the enemy in the first round, Tong Chang ordered the formation to charge. Unfortunately, the campaign was rushed. If there were armored infantry, with their bodies covered in heavy armor and holding large shields, arranged in several rows, followed closely by archers composed of soldiers, who would use their bows and arrows to cover the armored infantry's attack, then there would be a greater chance of breaking through the enemy's formation.