Li Jun instinctively returned the salute, his mind suddenly drifting back ten years to when Xiao Lin taught him the mercenary salute. He shook off these fleeting thoughts, inwardly scolding himself for always reminiscing lately, and said, "Welcome, Commander Xiao, to Kuanglan City to assist me."
At this moment, both of them had a thousand words to say, but they didn't know where to begin. In terms of friendship and the length of time they had known each other, Xiao Lin's relationship with Li Jun was even longer than that between Lei Hun and Mo Rong and Li Jun. In a sense, Xiao Lin was Li Jun's savior and mentor. However, due to their defeat in battle, they had parted ways, and their meeting this time was not the same as before.
At this moment, Jia Tong also disembarked, and everyone returned to the Peace Army camp. Li Jun invited everyone to sit down. Jia Tong said, "This time, in addition to completing the trade as planned, I think the Peace Army's military strength is weak and may need more troops to support it. Therefore, I took the liberty of inviting five mercenary groups, totaling 1,200 mercenary warriors, to Commander Li."
It turned out that Jia Tong had earned more profits from the connecting voyages than he had optimistically imagined. With so much money, he naturally feared being robbed, so he decided to hire mercenaries to protect his ever-expanding fleet. This would ensure his own safety, and he could use the pretext of supporting the Peace Army to get them to share the cost of the hires. Therefore, he hired five small mercenary groups along the way, including Xiao Lin's Raging Waves Group. Li Jun didn't understand his little scheme, but Jiang Tang saw right through it. At this moment, Jiang Tang didn't want to argue with Jia Tong; he still needed to utilize Jia Tong's business acumen to earn even more money for the Peace Army.
Li Jun greeted each of the mercenary commanders, feeling a surge of joy. Although these commanders weren't particularly skilled, and their soldiers were mostly mediocre, having Xiao Lin, a general he knew and trusted, would be a tremendous help. Now was precisely the time when he desperately needed manpower.
"Gentlemen, now that we are in Kuanglan City, please lend me your assistance." After briefly introducing the situation in Kuanglan City and Yuzhou, Li Jun stood up and said, "I intend to make Kuanglan City a home for all of us soldiers who roam the world and make a living on the edge. To achieve this goal, we must rely on your help. What do you all think?"
The mercenary leaders found it hard to refuse Li Jun's request for cooperation. This was not only because Li Jun offered an attractive reward, but also because of his appealing attitude.
Xiao Lin wanted to lend Li Jun a hand and was determined to strike while the iron was hot. He said, "Having shared the journey with you all, I have come to know you all a little. To be frank, our small mercenary group has no strategic value and can only be used as pawns on the battlefield. But if we can band together and cooperate, we will surely be able to carve out our own territory in this chaotic world. I think Commander Li's suggestion is excellent and there is no need to hesitate."
Seeing someone take the lead, the other commanders followed suit. As mercenaries, their fate was to fight for money wherever they went. Whether they fought for Li Jun, Zhang Jun, Chen Jun, or Zhao Jun, it didn't matter to them.
Thus, a new force was added to Kuanglan City. Li Jun did not attempt to divide or absorb these mercenary groups; he believed their existence would be more beneficial for the Peace Army in recruiting wandering warriors from various regions. Furthermore, the unimpeded sea routes made him realize that he could replenish his urgently needed troops entirely through maritime transport. Previously, mercenaries coming to Kuanglan City would be preemptively recruited by the Hua and Tong families if they passed through their territory. Now, he could hire soldiers from other countries, mobilizing his military force to conquer Yuzhou in the shortest possible time.
Thinking of this, Li Jun cheered up. After sending the other mercenary leaders to settle in, he kept Xiao Lin behind.
“That’s right, you’ve far surpassed me now.” Xiao Lin sighed, a sense of the passage of time welling up within him. “What’s most remarkable is that you’re still the same as when you were just a lowly soldier.”
Li Jun knew he was referring to the decorations inside his tent. He could have easily built himself a mansion in Kuanglan City, as Mo Rong had suggested, but he believed that as a general, he had to share weal and woe with his subordinates, and besides, he was not yet at the point of comfort and enjoyment.
"Back then, you repeatedly warned me that as soldiers, the one with the most desires will die the fastest," Li Jun replied to Xiao Lin with a slight smile. He didn't mention that Lu Xiang later said something that he would never forget: "If civil officials are not greedy for wealth and profit, and military generals are not afraid of death, then the world will be at peace." Since one is determined to sweep away all obstacles, how can one pursue enjoyment at the very beginning?
“You’ve grown a lot since the breakup. I’d heard of the Peace Army six months ago, but I didn’t know you were its commander. I thought it was just someone with the same name. It was only when I talked to Jia on the ship that I realized it might be you. How did you become the commander of the Peace Army over the past few years?”
"I'd also like to know how Commander Xiao has managed these past few years." After briefly recounting his experiences, Li Jun asked, "How is Luger?"
Upon hearing Li Jun mention the Qiang man who had once saved the two of them, Xiao Lin's face darkened, and he said, "He died in battle in Hong Kingdom last year."
After a pause, seeing that Li Jun was stunned upon hearing the news, Xiao Lin said with great emotion, "You have changed a lot. It's a pity that I couldn't meet you before you passed away, that Marshal Lu could change you so much."
Li Jun smiled bitterly: "Actually, nothing has changed. I'm still the same kid who's not suited for peaceful life. With you all here, it's a good opportunity to fight the Tong and Zhu families and vent our anger over losing Thunder City."
Xiao Lin's eyes widened, a strange expression appearing in them. He said, "What, you plan to attack the enemy with only a few thousand troops?"
“Indeed, as time goes on, it will be extremely disadvantageous for Kuanglan City.” Li Jun sighed, stroking the hilt of his flying chain short sword, and thoughtfully expressed his recent concerns: “If Kuanglan City controls the surrounding Silver Tiger City and Thunder City, it will become an excellent place to establish a foundation. These three cities are mutually supportive, with more than ten thousand soldiers in each city. Even if the enemy attacks with ten times our army, it will be difficult to conquer them. But if Kuanglan City does not have the support of Silver Tiger City and Thunder City, it will just be an isolated city. It can protect itself with its troops, but it will be much more difficult to achieve greater development.”
"Moreover, the Tong family and the Zhu family are currently locked in a fierce battle for control of Thunder City. When both sides realize they cannot eliminate the other, they will inevitably sit down for negotiations. At that time, Raging Waves City will be surrounded by the Tong family's forces, its situation extremely precarious. Opening another passage will then be difficult. It can be said that now is the best opportunity for me to weaken both the Tong and Zhu families in one fell swoop." After pausing to give Xiao Lin time to think, Li Jun continued, "Commander Xiao naturally knows the importance of timing for an army commander. If we don't act now, it will be too late to regret it later."
“I understand.” Xiao Lin analyzed Li Jun’s words repeatedly and had to admit that he was right. So he smiled and said, “Don’t forget, you’re in charge now. I will definitely do my best to help you.”
Li Jun suddenly stood up and said, "That's excellent. We should act without delay. We need to do this before the Tong and Zhu families know you've arrived! Someone, bring the map."
The guards took out a map and spread it on the small table in front of the two men. Xiao Lin asked in surprise, "Isn't there a map here?"
Seeing that he was pointing to a map hanging on the tent, Li Jun laughed and said, "That map is just a simplified one. I have a better one now."
It turned out that the soldier had brought a map from the books and maps that Sima Hui had taken with him when he withdrew from Leiming City. The entire landscape of Yuzhou, including its mountains, rivers, post roads, and paths, was clearly marked on this map, making it far more accurate than the maps Li Jun and his men had used before. Although the map was drawn a long time ago and some places had changed slightly, it was still considered the best map of Yuzhou in terms of terrain and topography.
“There’s a small path here,” Li Jun said, pointing to a spot on the seashore in the map. “From here, we can use small boats to send the soldiers down to the cliffs, then have skilled climbers scale the shore and use ropes to pull the other soldiers up. It’s only a day’s journey from here to Silver Tiger City. And along the way, the Tong family will be almost completely unprepared. They would never expect anyone to attack from such a treacherous sea. Silver Tiger City will be my first target!”
Xiao Lin's eyes lit up, and he said, "That's right. Attacking from here would catch them off guard, but if the Silver Tiger City garrison is strong enough, the attackers would just be throwing their lives away. Do you know how many soldiers are in Silver Tiger City?"
“The main force of Silver Tiger City has been dispatched to Thunder City, leaving only over ten thousand defenders. With our current strength, a direct assault would be impossible, and even if we did, we would suffer heavy losses. Moreover, if the attack drags on, Tong Chang in Thunder City will inevitably return to reinforce it. At that point, we will be caught in a pincer movement, and our entire army could be wiped out.” Li Jun pointed to the road from Thunder City to Silver Tiger City and said, “Therefore, the attack on Silver Tiger City is merely a feint. Our next objective is to ambush and kill any enemy reinforcements that return on the way.”
“Tong Chang and Zhu Wenhai are currently engaged in a major battle in Leiming City. If we lure him into retreating to rescue the city, Leiming City will fall into the hands of the Zhu family, which doesn’t fit your plan,” Xiao Lin pointed out a question.
“I can keep Tong Chang busy with his own problems, and I can also add another force to Leiming City besides the Tong and Zhu families,” Li Jun said with a cold laugh. “Human hearts are greedy. As long as we lure them with benefits, the other small forces in Yuzhou will unite and join the war to seize Leiming City. In this way, a three-way balance of power will be formed in Leiming City, and none of the three sides will be able to extricate themselves easily. At that time, I can deal with them one by one without being impatient.”
"Isn't time tight?" Xiao Lin frowned, his gaze following Li Jun's finger as it moved across the map, looking at the five smaller forces situated between the three major powers. "Moreover, these five smaller forces also have intense conflicts among themselves. Getting them to unite will probably be quite difficult."
Li Jun was well-prepared for this: "Please rest assured, Commander Xiao, I was prepared. Before you arrived, I had people persuade these five forces. There's no need for much persuasion; just explain to them that whether the Tong family or the Zhu family seizes the silver mine in Leiming City, it means they have an absolute advantage to sweep through Yuzhou. These smaller forces are forced to unite temporarily due to the pressure of survival. All we need is their temporary unity!"
Li Jun's explanation gave Xiao Lin some insight, but he still had several questions. Moreover, based on his combat experience, he knew very well that if any one of these questions arose, it would mean a reversal of the battle situation. Therefore, he continued to ask: "With the strength of the Peace Army, are you absolutely confident that you can annihilate the Tong family's reinforcements in one fell swoop?"
"Upon learning of the attack on Yinhu City, Tong Chang has only two options. The best option is to attack my Kuanglan City, forcing me to return to its defense. If he chooses this option, our army will simply return empty-handed," Li Jun explained in detail. "However, Tong Chang is extremely wary of my military tactics and fears that our army might also capture Yinhu City. If that happens, we will gain a well-established and populous city, while he will only have an unfinished city. This would be a huge loss for him, and I suspect he will never use this strategy. Therefore, his only option is to return to its defense. But he is reluctant to abandon Leiming City and will inevitably make peace with the Zhu family, maintaining the status quo to allow him to return with his remaining strength. However, both sides understand that such a ceasefire agreement is unreliable, and Tong Chang will definitely leave half of his troops for defense. Thus, the army he returns to defend will only number around ten thousand. With a clever plan, annihilating these ten thousand troops will not be difficult for the Peace Army."
“I still have some questions,” Xiao Lin stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then said, “Your goal is Silver Tiger City. Even if you wipe out Tong Chang’s reinforcements, what can you do to Silver Tiger City? With no outside support, they will be even more determined to defend the besieged city. It will cost them even more to take it down.”
"Hahahaha..." At this moment, Li Jun's smile was exceptionally bright. He pointed to the designated encirclement point and said, "I have other arrangements for this. In short, after this battle, the Tong family will definitely be wiped out of Yuzhou."
Xiao Lin could no longer find any flaws in the plan, but he understood that war is ever-changing. What seemed like a good plan at the moment might not actually lead to the outcome of the war as Li Jun had planned.
Section 3
In Yuzhou during spring, once the rain starts, it often falls incessantly. Thunder City is shrouded in gloom, the shadow of war looming over everything. Even in the endless drizzle, the flames in the hands of the God of War, symbolizing unease and bloodshed, can still be felt.
Tong Chang's mood was as gloomy as the weather. The past six months had been unprecedentedly unlucky for the Tong family army he led: their first attack on Leiming City was thwarted by a Rong invasion at the last moment; after finally repelling the Rong, the Heping Army seized Tonghai, Yuzhou's only port city; and after tricking Li Jun into relinquishing Leiming City, they were now forced into a struggle with the Zhu family for control of the city. Although his elder brother, Tong Sheng, trusted him greatly, he had subtly hinted in his last urgent letter that if he couldn't seize the silver mines in Leiming City, those in the family who opposed him would not let him off the hook, and Tong Sheng, under pressure, could no longer protect him…
But Tong Chang's strong sense of foreboding didn't stop there. He felt increasingly uneasy about Li Jun's forced abandonment of Leiming City. He had initially thought forcing Li Jun to leave Leiming City was the best strategy, but now it seemed Li Jun had turned his clever plan into a scheme to his advantage, using Leiming City as bait to trap the elites of both the Zhu and Tong families in this bottomless pit. If this was indeed the case, then Li Jun must have another plan in store, and it was very likely he was lurking nearby, ready to strike again at any moment.
"Reporting to the Commander, a spy reports that an unidentified force of 15,000 men has appeared west of Leiming City and is heading towards it." The advisor entered from outside. Unlike Li Jun, who preferred to stay in tents, Tong Chang was extremely particular about his food and lodging for every campaign. Therefore, he stayed in the courtyard of a large household in Leiming City, since the original owner had long since fled to avoid the war. In fact, although Leiming City was said to have 300,000 households, nine out of ten were now empty.
"Investigate further, and find out who it is."
Tong Chang frowned, becoming highly wary of the newly appeared troops. Li Jun's Peace Army was impossible; they had less than 10,000 troops. Meanwhile, the Tong and Zhu families' armies were constantly being deployed to Leiming City, with each side gathering more than 30,000 soldiers. How could Yuzhou have such a large force besides them?
Soon after, the spy reported again: "This force is a coalition of five factions, commanded by Peng Wancheng, the lord of Dagu City, and is approaching the west gate!"
Tong Chang was taken aback. Yu Prefecture originally had eight powerful factions: three major and five minor ones. Besides the three major factions, the Hua family, which had been pacified by Li Jun, there were the Peng family centered in Dagu City, the Luo family centered in Huaide City, the Zhang family centered in Changyi City, the Sun family centered in Pingyi City, and the Jiang family centered in Huichang City. These five factions each controlled a city. Although they didn't have the strength of the three major factions to mobilize 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, they still possessed their own 20,000-strong retinue. In particular, Peng Wancheng, the head of the Peng family, had built his fortune entirely through the fighting of his 600 troops. His military strategy and combat skills were first-rate. The three major factions were somewhat wary of him, thus only hindering his development from behind rather than confronting him directly. Now, he had actually united the forces of five families and was advancing on Leiming City; what were his intentions?
"They've actually joined forces!" What Tong Chang couldn't understand was that the five factions had abandoned their own conflicts and formed an alliance. His advisor asked, "Should we send men to guard the west gate and prevent them from entering the city?"
Tong Chang sneered, "No need. If we step in to stop them, we will only be creating a powerful enemy for ourselves. After these seven or eight days of attrition, our army should not be at odds with both the Zhu family and the allied forces at the same time. Moreover, that kid Zhu Wenhai will probably send someone to intercept them. We might as well watch them fight each other first."