It could be said that since meeting this madman Feng, every word he uttered had surprised Li Jun and Meng Yuan. Yuzhou wasn't a country; it was a region situated at the crossroads of the Qiang, Rong, Yi, and commoner territories. Because of this, the vast Yuzhou had never formed a unified nation, and before the millennium-long war, it had been a battleground for various cities and factions. While its geographical location and natural environment were relatively favorable, ruling this place was far more difficult than ruling a country a hundred times larger. For any shrewd ruler, this place was a double-edged sword—uninteresting yet difficult to abandon. Therefore, apart from the neighboring Chen Kingdom exercising nominal suzerainty, no one was interested in this chaotic region. Moreover, the journey from Lingjiang to Yuzhou involved passing through four kingdoms—Lan, Su, Hong, and Chen—a distance of nearly ten thousand li. For Feng Feng to demand they seize this place was undeniably unreasonable.
Seeing Li Jun and Meng Yuan fall silent, Feng Fengzi revealed a disgusting smile: "If you can't even meet this small request, what good will it do me to follow you? Be someone's prisoner of war or get killed?"
Meng Yuan's anger surged. This wasn't a request; it was blatant harassment! This madwoman Feng knew perfectly well that Lu Xiang was incapable of rebellion, so she made him a request to usurp the throne. And knowing that Li Jun lacked the strength, she made them the most difficult request ever!
Fortunately, at that moment, a spy rushed into the small inn, bowed to the two men, and said, "Commander, Lingjiang City has fallen into our hands!"
It turned out that Zhou Jie's rumors in Lingjiang City quickly reached the ears of the garrison. The garrison was skeptical, thinking it was just a rumor spread by a few bandits trying to cause trouble nearby, fearing the garrison's suppression. Sure enough, soon after, news arrived from a neighboring town that a band of Qiang bandits, numbering a thousand, were harassing the city – thanks to Su Xiang's bluff. The thousand-strong bandit group didn't concern the Lingjiang garrison; instead, it became their best opportunity to gain merit. So, the Lingjiang garrison almost entirely mobilized, heading straight for the neighboring town. Half a day after they left, Zhou Jie opened the city gates, letting the large force that had been lying in ambush rush in. Suddenly, countless people entered Lingjiang City, and everyone thought the bandit-suppression force had been defeated, causing chaos in the city. As Li Jun had predicted, the garrison that fled the city desperately tried to inflate the number of mercenaries to cover up their poor performance. By the time the main force of the Lingjiang garrison returned empty-handed, the number of mercenaries they heard about had reached ten thousand, making them hesitant to launch a counterattack. Almost without bloodshed, this new mercenary group captured a sizable city.
"I see." After listening to the spy's account, Feng Fengzi's face showed a look of surprise and uncertainty. He slowly said, "It seems that the conditions I gave you were a bit too easy."
"Too easy!" Meng Yuan almost vomited on Feng Fengzi's head. "Taking that useless, troublesome place is easy? Then why don't you try taking it yourself?"
“Everyone in this world has their own strengths,” Feng Fengzi said eloquently. “Some people are good at fighting, like you, so you should do your job well; some people are good at management, like me, so I will do my job well. I will give you two years. If you can take Yuzhou, I will take over the management of this place for you.”
His boastful words didn't cause much of a stir among Meng Yuan and Li Jun. In this short meeting, they had already grown accustomed to the madman's insane pronouncements. Li Jun nodded and said, "Alright, let's make a deal. If I can't even conquer a mere Yu Prefecture within two years, then I'm simply not qualified to make a name for myself in this Divine Continent!"
And so, the event, which was originally envisioned to be a grand affair that would require at least seven or eight attempts to persuade a renowned scholar to come out of seclusion and assist him, came to nothing.
After replenishing their supplies in Lingjiang City, Li Jun abandoned the city and fled under cover of night. When the panicked citizens of Lingjiang discovered that these fierce men had vanished overnight, they bid farewell to the new mercenaries who had already fled with a burst of firecrackers. Of course, the garrison returning to Lingjiang would not forget to recount in their reports of merit how they had defeated more than ten thousand bandits and recaptured the city.
"Target: Yuzhou!" Li Jun shouted to his soldiers, "Let's go!"
The soldiers raised their weapons and followed. Li Jun did not use the method of dispersing and disguising himself as civilians, but instead advanced with his entire army, risking being discovered and annihilated by the various countries along the route. Su Xiang, puzzled by this, said, "Dispersing and disguising ourselves as civilians means we won't encounter any dangers along the way, so wouldn't it be easier to enter Yuzhou?"
Li Jun said, “I have two purposes for doing this. First, our army is actually still a rabble, and if it is scattered, it will be difficult to regroup. Second, although we have received formal training in the Invincible Army, this level of training is still insufficient compared to the dangers we will face in the future. I want to use the battles and marches on the road as special training for our army!”
Using combat as a training method is common military knowledge, but few generals can truly do it. However, Li Jun did just that. Along the way, they appeared and disappeared, attacking any weakly defended cities without hesitation, especially small and medium-sized bandit groups with weak equipment and combat strength. These groups often colluded with local garrisons, and Li Jun's new mercenary group wiped them out wherever they went.
These battles also exposed a major dark side of Li Jun: his ruthlessness. Li Jun ordered the "massacre" of any garrison soldiers or bandits who resisted or committed numerous atrocities. On one occasion, he buried nearly a thousand enemies alive. In Li Jun's words, "If they are not grateful for being released, they will become enemies sooner or later. It is better to end it now."
This ruthlessness, in a sense, also deterred the unstable elements within the new mercenary group. When they recalled Li Jun's merciless treatment of the enemy, their complaints and angry remarks lessened, and they became more disciplined in their training during the march. Therefore, although their numbers were small and they suffered losses in battle, after six months of marching, Li Jun's new mercenary group became one of the most experienced and powerful fighting forces in the entire Divine Continent, far surpassing the force that had wandered from Tu City. Soon, the name "Peace Army" spread throughout the Divine Continent. Li Jun gave this new mercenary group a rustic name, but for the ordinary people, Rong, Yi, Qiang, and Yue people who had endured a thousand years of war, this name held an inexplicable sense of familiarity. After all, wherever this army went, they would distribute all the grain and treasures looted from the government and the wealthy to the local poor.
It was precisely because of this that during their long journey of thousands of miles, the "Peace Army" sowed seeds everywhere they went, making their comeback much easier. Moreover, poor people from all over the country signed up to join the Invincible Army. Li Jun carefully selected them, and when they reached the border between the Su and Hong Kingdoms, the number of soldiers had increased slightly from the initial 1,024 to 1,500.
However, Li Jun also faced his own difficulties. First, he was poorly informed, and many losses stemmed from his inability to accurately obtain information about the surrounding areas. To avoid the large armies of other states along the way, they traversed desolate mountains and wilderness, making intelligence gathering even more difficult. Second, his finances were strained. Although he had captured many cities, the vast majority of the spoils were distributed to the poor, some were lost in skirmishes and retreats, and the remainder was used to pay soldiers' salaries and rations, leaving almost nothing. Therefore, a few copper coins seemed insignificant to Li Jun, a man of such battlefield prowess.
That day, they were walking along the mountains on the border between Hong and Su, unaware that Li Jun's hometown was nearby. Although Li Jun's memories of his hometown were vague, the memory of the village head Li Tan shielding him with his body made him fall into deep thought.
"Reporting to the commander, two people request an audience!"
A spy rushed over from the front, bringing the news. Li Jun was quite puzzled. They had done many good deeds along the way, but their actions of ambushing and killing enemies had earned them the "reputation" of "Dragon-Headed Demon King," and they rarely received requests for an audience.
"Let them come over," Li Jun said in a deep voice.
The two men were brought over. From a distance, Li Jun saw a short, stout man and a man of medium build, and they looked familiar. When they came closer, Li Jun felt even more that they were familiar.
The two men bowed respectfully, secretly raising their heads to look at Li Jun. Suddenly, with a "poof," the short, fat man let out an incredibly foul-smelling fart, reminding Li Jun of what happened three years ago.
"It's you guys!" A warm smile appeared on Li Jun's face. It was wonderful to see people he could call "old acquaintances." The short, fat man chuckled foolishly, "Boss... is that you, old man?"
"Idiot!" The other person, who had been beaten to it by the fat man, kicked him and said, "Who else could it be but Boss Li? I told you long ago, the only person in this world named Li Jun who is so powerful could only be our Boss Li!"
“Zhao Xian, Wang Erlei…” Retrieving these two names from the depths of his memory, Li Jun smiled again. He had met these two people in Linzhou three years ago, and he never expected that they would come looking for him again after three years.
"What, are you bullies trying to drive you out of Linzhou again?" Li Jun asked deliberately. "Are you planning to ambush my mercenary group again?"
"No." Zhao Xian looked embarrassed as memories of three years ago flashed through his mind, but he quickly added, "Boss really remembers us. We've come here because we have something important to tell you."
Li Jun dismounted, ordered the entire army to rest on the spot for a while, then casually sat down on the ground and asked, "What important matter is it?"
"According to our information, within a hundred miles ahead, there must be a combined force of 100,000 troops from the Soviet Union and the Hong Kingdom preparing to ambush our leader."
Li Jun was taken aback. They hadn't been sightseeing along the way; they had shed blood and sweat as they marched. They had encountered the enemy quite a few times, but the number had never exceeded ten thousand. If there were more than three thousand enemies, they would immediately retreat. But if they were ambushed by one hundred thousand, even the most outstanding commander would be helpless.
“How do you know?” he asked.
"To be honest, after you left, we brothers obtained the wealth that Yuan Shihai had acquired. We were used to living in poverty, and we felt uneasy thinking about our brothers who were also homeless. So we spent money to organize them and form a huge information network. By collecting and selling all kinds of information, we can barely make ends meet. Our brothers are active in a third of Su Kingdom and a large part of Hong Kingdom," Zhao Xian said with considerable pride.
Li Jun knew that he was exaggerating a bit, but the chubby Wang Erlei was more honest. Seeing Wang Erlei nodding while chewing on snacks, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Do you still consider me your boss?" he said coldly.
In that instant, Zhao Xian and Wang Erlei seemed to see the young but murderous Li Jun from three years ago again. The cold, mocking feeling made them shudder and stammer, "Of...of course."
"Then, how about we make your intelligence network a secret organization for my Peace Army?"
Zhao Xian and Wang Erlei exchanged a glance, breathed a sigh of relief, and their faces lit up with joy. Zhao Xian said, "That's exactly why we came here."
Wang Erlei also said, "I've wanted to follow the boss for a long time. It's much better than hiding in an alley."
"With the boss's leadership, we will definitely be invincible." Zhao Xian started patting Li Jun on the back again. Li Jun smiled slightly, never expecting that the little seed he planted back then would come in so handy now.
“Now, we need to deal with the interception of these 100,000 people first…” he said slowly.
Chapter Seven: The Dragon Crossing the River
Section 1
The drizzling night rain soaked the rolling mountains, obscuring their outlines. Although the clouds completely covered the sky, they couldn't block out the light. The faint light illuminated the city walls of the pass, revealing the three characters "Xiling Pass".
"Damn weather."
A sentry grumbled as he looked up at the sky; it seemed he would have to stand guard in the rain for half the night.
"Not bad, at least it's not too cold." Another sentry muttered, "Six months ago in Wuyin City, it was snowing heavily on one side and we had to stand guard at night. The brother who stood guard with me almost had his nose frozen off."
"Was it when Lu...Xiang was executed?" The first sentry lowered his voice, abstracting the "Lu Shuai" he was about to say into his real name.