"The first advantage is nothing to worry about. Although Thunder City has a large army, Hua Gong himself is cruel and incompetent, ambitious but incompetent. The commander will inevitably be Qi Guang of the Flying Tigers. Although he has been a mercenary for many years and is a veteran of warfare, I have a plan to deal with him. The second advantage is also not a problem. We don't need to launch a frontal assault on Thunder City. As long as we have the Hua clan in Thunder City act as our inside agents, we can easily enter. The third advantage of Thunder City forces us to fight a quick battle. This is the only place where we cannot turn our military advantage into a decisive one."
“Our forces are indeed too weak to fight alone. We might as well use a strategy to disperse the enemy,” Zhou Jie suggested.
"That's right. Mr. Yu can borrow troops from the Tong family in the name of Young Master Hua Xuan, while Mr. Sima can contact Zhu Wenhai in Yujiang City and ask him to raise troops to avenge his father and brother. In this way, the troops in Leiming City can be divided."
Su Xiang's suggestion was immediately refuted by Zhou Jie: "The Tong family may send troops, but Zhu Wenhai will never send troops. The one who killed his father and brother was Commander Li. He will not send troops to help us."
Li Jun smiled slightly, but he wasn't entirely sure about it, so he asked Sima Hui, "Mr. Sima knows the Zhu family best. Does Mr. Sima think the Zhu family will send troops?"
When Li Jun asked him, Sima Hui nodded firmly and said, "If I send him a letter, Zhu Wenhai is very likely to send troops. In fact, if his father and brother hadn't died in the Battle of Leiming City, he wouldn't have so easily become the governor of Yuzhou. Therefore, although he expresses deep hatred for the Peace Army, he secretly rejoices in Commander Li's actions." Sima Hui sighed deeply at this point. Li Jun had directly and indirectly killed two of his former masters, but now he had to devise a plan for Li Jun to deal with the son of one of his former masters. This was somewhat unacceptable, but in chaotic times, it was the only option. If he were still in the Zhu family, out of loyalty to his lord, he could never betray Zhu Wenhai. But now that he had joined the Peace Army, it would be disloyal of him not to advise Li Jun.
After he calmed down, he said, "Of course, Zhu Wenhai will not send troops out of gratitude to Commander Li for killing his father and brother. His purpose is simply to gain benefits from the military campaign. As long as we offer him benefits, I am not afraid that he will not help me."
"Give a dog a bone, and it'll follow you," Song Yun, who hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise, suddenly said, making everyone laugh. Sima Hui smiled and added, "However, I doubt the effectiveness of persuading the Zhu and Tong families to send troops."
Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him, he cleared his throat and said, "The Zhu family and the Tong family will never help me with their full strength. They will definitely send troops out as a token gesture, hoping that we and Leiming City will fight to the death. Therefore, we should not only not place high hopes on them, but also be careful of them."
"Exactly!" Li Jun laughed. "That's exactly what I want—for them to send troops as a show of force, to use them as a diversionary force to cover up our real actions!"
Section 2
Soon after, Hua Gong and Qi Guang received a report from a spy: Hua Xuan sent someone to plead with the Tong family of Yinhu City and the Zhu family of Yujiang City, saying that Hua Gong had murdered his elder brother and usurped the throne. In order to uphold the rightful heir, he urged the Tong and Zhu families to send troops to help.
"That damned coward! It's one thing to be utterly useless, but he dares to collude with outsiders to seize the throne!" Hua Gong cursed as he embraced Mei Ji, completely forgetting that he himself was the one who first colluded with outsiders to seize the throne. "What do the Zhu and Tong families have to say?"
"Both the Zhu and Tong families have agreed and are currently mobilizing their troops to march towards our city!"
The spy's report intensified Hua Gong's anger. "Weren't we satisfied with our crushing defeat last time? This time, I will surely defeat them again! Commander Qi, prepare for the attack! This time, we will take advantage of our victory and march into Silver Tiger City and Yujiang City!"
“Wait a minute,” Qi Guang said, much calmer than him. “Hua Xuan is in Li Jun’s hands. He will do whatever Li Jun wants him to do, and he can’t do anything Li Jun forbids him to do. Therefore, there must be a conspiracy by Li Jun behind this request for the Tong family and for the monks to send troops.”
Hearing him mention Li Jun's name sent a chill down Hua Gong's spine. Li Jun's performance in the Battle of Leiming City, and later the Peace Army's performance in capturing Tonghai and repelling the Tong family's counterattack, all made him feel terrified.
"This... what should Commander Qi's opinion be?"
"No matter how cunning Li Jun is, as long as we don't leave Leiming City, his mere few thousand troops are nothing to fear. On the contrary, if our army goes out to meet us, Li Jun will definitely launch a surprise attack on Leiming City. This is a tactic he excels at," Qi Guang said with a cold laugh.
"What about the Zhu family and the Tong family?"
"Li Jun invited them here only to divide our forces. The Zhu and Tong families know this perfectly well. They just want us and the Peace Army to suffer heavy losses together. As long as we don't fall for Li Jun's plan and hold our ground, Li Jun will definitely retreat. At that time, the Tong family will most likely launch a surprise attack on his Tonghai City. Tonghai, with its outer city walls not yet built, will definitely not be able to withstand a surprise attack from the Tong family. If I'm not mistaken, Li Jun's entire army will probably be wiped out this time, hahaha." Qi Guang laughed loudly, but there was no joy in his heart.
"Strange, Li Jun shouldn't be unable to understand this principle, so why would he launch such a rash attack?" he wondered to himself.
Hua Gong laughed heartily, but in his heart he thought, "They just don't dare to fight the Peace Army in the open, what are they bragging about?"
Li Jun had anticipated this outcome. The Zhu family's army, personally commanded by Zhu Wenhai, numbered 20,000 and halted fifty li south of Leiming City. Meanwhile, the Tong family's army, led by Tong Chang, numbered 15,000 and attacked Leiming City from the west, encamping fifty li away. Li Jun, meanwhile, led 3,000 Peace Army soldiers and encamped outside the north gate of Leiming City. All three attacking forces remained inactive, engaging in a strange sit-in war.
Considering Li Jun's exceptional skill in ambushes and his intention to seize Thunder City under the guise of Hua Xuan, Qi Guang decided to entrust the city's defense entirely to the mercenaries. He also removed the few remaining loyal retainers of the Hua family from key positions within the city's defenses, assigning the task to his Flying Tiger Regiment. While he did this out of caution, it provoked resentment among these retainers.
"This Thunder City belongs to the Hua family. If the Hua family members are unreliable, are these mercenaries who fight for money more reliable? Who knows if they might sell Thunder City for a few gold coins? Or are they planning to plant their people at key points and seize our Hua family's Thunder City?" Members of the Hua clan would often gossip in front of Hua Gong. At first, Hua Gong just laughed at these clansmen for worrying unnecessarily, but after they nagged him for a while, he couldn't help but call Qi Guang over to ask him about it.
"Commander Qi, when will we be able to lift the siege?" he asked indirectly.
"It will probably take a month. I've calculated that the enemy's food reserves are enough to last about a month."
"So the Flying Tigers are going to hold out for this long? That's too much work. My Hua family's troops can handle the defense of the city gates. Commander Qi, you can consider replacing the Flying Tigers with them so that the Flying Tigers' soldiers can get some rest."
Qi Guangxin was taken aback, but he immediately realized that Hua Gong had begun to suspect him. He was furious and said, "Who gave Chief Steward Hua this idea? Chief Steward Hua's troops are familiar with the city, so I deployed them to the city to appease the people and prevent unrest. As for the defense of the city gates, the Flying Tiger Regiment and the Cold Moon Regiment take turns guarding them, so it's not hard work."
"I see. Well, Commander Qi, go ahead and get busy. I trust you completely." After sending Qi Guang away, Hua Gong's suspicions about Qi Guang did not disappear. On the contrary, he began to feel that it was quite necessary to limit Qi Guang's influence in the city.
Qi Guang returned to his tent, a cold smile on his face. His deputy commander, Sun Yu, and Mo Yunlong of the Cold Moon Gang were both there. Sun Yu asked, "What does Chief Steward Hua want with you?"
"That kid, I don't know who he listened to, started to doubt us," Qi Guang said indignantly. "Doesn't he realize that if it weren't for us, would he have been able to snatch this position as steward? What a self-important brat!"
"To be honest, I find it strange that Li Jun hasn't made a move yet. The situation is unfavorable for him; he should be making a quick decision." Sun Yu didn't say much to Qi Guang about this and changed the subject to the battle situation.
“It’s really strange. The less this kid does, the more suspicious he becomes,” Qi Guang said, shaking his head. “The best approach is to remain unchanged in the face of all changes.”
“Perhaps Li Jun’s visit this time is merely a harassment to test whether we have any opportunity to exploit. Since there is no opportunity, he will soon retreat,” Mo Yunlong added.
They were discussing Li Jun's conspiracy here, but in fact, the changes in Thunder City were also being discussed in Li Jun's tent. Since the war began, intelligence from Thunder City had become increasingly scarce, and since the Flying Tiger Regiment replaced the Hua family's troops, it had almost completely ceased. Li Jun knew the time had come; it was time to act.
“I already had my spies bribe the Hua family’s troops. Once the Flying Tiger Regiment has complete control of the city’s defenses, they will go to Hua Gong to speak on my behalf,” Li Jun said coldly. In his heart, he thought of Lu Xiang. The divisive tactics he was using were actually the same scheme Lan Kingdom used to get rid of Lu Xiang. “Tomorrow I will go to the city walls myself and have a talk with Qi Guang.”
The next morning, the Flying Tigers soldiers guarding the north city were surprised to find Li Jun alone on horseback outside the city, still beyond the range of the archers. He shouted, "Go and report to Commander Qi that I want to see him."
Qi Guang was shocked to receive the report, knowing that Li Jun had finally begun to take action. He rushed to the city wall, but dared not open the gate to see Li Jun alone. So he asked loudly from the city wall, "Commander Li, what brings you here?"
"Nothing major, just wanted to say hello to Commander Qi and see how his preparations are going. I'm about to begin the siege," Li Jun laughed.
"I am ready," Qi Guang said defiantly before the army, "I am just waiting for Commander Li to attack."
"Very well then. When the city falls, Commander Qi and I will reunite and talk again. Commander Qi, I await your good news." Li Jun turned his horse and left. Qi Guang was taken aback and pondered the meaning of Li Jun's last words repeatedly before finally understanding.
"Oh no, we've fallen into their trap!" He shook his head with a wry smile. Li Jun's ambiguous words prompted him to respond accordingly, but to others, their conversation sounded less like a verbal sparring match and more like a plot to seize Thunder City.
But once the words were spoken, there was no going back. Their loud conversation couldn't be hidden, and if others insisted on having doubts, then so be it. Thinking of Hua Gong's suspicious gaze last time, Qi Guang couldn't help but smile bitterly. It seemed that the person he was risking his life for this time was that "other person" with a rather narrow mind.
Sure enough, when someone reported this to Hua Gong, he immediately became self-righteous: "Although the two were talking in broad daylight, the conversation was rather ambiguous. Could it be that Qi Guang and Li Jun did this on purpose to dispel the suspicions of others?"
It's not terrible for people to be a little foolish; what's terrible is when foolish people think they're clever. This question greatly increased Hua Gong's suspicion of Qi Guang. Secretly, he summoned Mo Yunlong and asked, "Commander Mo, do you have any further opinions on the city's defenses?"
Mo Yunlong had also contributed greatly to the battle between brothers in Hua Gong for the position of chief steward, but he was reprimanded by Hua Gong afterward for letting Hua Xuan go. Therefore, he was quite dissatisfied with him. When asked about it, he said, "Commander Qi's arrangements are impenetrable, and the city's defenses are extremely tight. As long as our army does not act rashly, we can launch a counterattack from the rear when the enemy runs out of food and retreats, and we will surely achieve a great victory."
His answer not only failed to dispel Hua Gong's suspicions, but on the contrary, it confirmed what an instigator had said to Hua Gong: Qi Guang had won over the hearts of the people in the city and had formed an alliance with some people in the city who were not loyal to Hua Gong. Therefore, Hua Gong also began to have doubts about Mo Yunlong.
The thought that the leaders of the two largest mercenary groups in the city were both suspicious individuals filled Hua Gong with trepidation. He dared not act rashly, and at this moment he still needed to rely on the strength of these two mercenary groups. Therefore, after pondering for several days, he summoned his trusted confidants for a secret consultation.