Chapter 51: Taishi Ci VS Sun Ce

  The next day, Zhang Yan challenged at the North Gate. Li Chong led three hundred elite cavalrymen, along with Taishi Ci and Jiang Qin, to ride out of the city and meet the enemy.

  Zhang Yan saw Li Chong's small army and coldly laughed: "Wang Dang, you've actually been defeated by this mob?"

  Wang's face turned red and he muttered: "I was just a little careless at the time, so...so..."

  "Haha......" Sun Qing, who was beside Zhang Yan, burst out laughing and said: "Wang Dang (just a small role, not worth mentioning), you can only bully ordinary people, if you really want to fight, let's see what I can do."

  As he spoke, Sun Qing spurred his horse forward and shouted loudly: "Sun Qing is here, who will fight me?"

  Under Zhang Yan, Sun Qian and Wang Dang's status was equivalent. Compared to each other, Sun Qian's martial arts were slightly better than Wang Dang's, so he always thought that his status should be above Wang Dang's. This time, coming to attack Guangwu, Sun Qian thought that his opportunity had arrived. Since Wang Dang suffered heavy casualties in the previous battle against Guangwu, as long as he performed a bit better, wouldn't he immediately surpass Wang Dang?

  Zhang Yan watched the two men's open and secret struggles with a cold eye, as subordinates competing with each other, this was what he wanted to see, as long as they didn't fight too fiercely.

  Seeing Sun Qian come to call him out, Li Chong was delighted and laughed loudly, thinking to himself: "Sun Qian, you're looking for death!"

  In terms of the number of soldiers, Li Chong was far inferior, but in terms of the quality of martial arts generals, Li Huan was hundreds of times stronger than Zhang Yan.

  Jiang Qin, who had just arrived and had not achieved any merit, saw someone calling for an array and immediately said: "My lord, let me go into battle. Jiang Qin will certainly present the enemy general's head."

  Li Chong hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "Let Taishi Ci go to battle instead, Gong Yi has just arrived as a guest, it's not too late for him to fight next time."

  Li Chong's words were pleasant to hear, but in fact he was somewhat skeptical of Jiang Qin's martial arts skills. He believed that Jiang Qin did not have the confidence to kill Sun Qing, which would be a crucial first battle and greatly affect the morale of both sides. Li Chong had no choice but to proceed with caution.

  When Li Zhongjian ordered Taishi Ci to go into battle, Jiang Qin also didn't insist. He too wanted to see how the martial arts of this so-called "Number One Martial General of Guangwu" Taishi Ci were. If they weren't as good as his own, hehe... then Taishi Ci would have to be careful about his position.

  Taishi Ci brandished his steel spear on horseback and charged straight at Sun Qian, shouting: "I am Taishi Ci! Enemy general, you will die!"

  "Haha......" Sun Qing saw Taishi Ci rushing over, and sneered in his heart. This Taishi Ci wasn't three-headed and six-armed either. Wang Dang was indeed a waste, unable to even handle a young whippersnapper like him.

  Taishi Ci rushed up to Sun Qian's horse and raised his hand for a spear thrust.

  "Hiss......" Tai Shi Ci's spear brought a sharp piercing sound through the air, and in an instant it arrived at Sun Qing's chest.

  "Good grief!" Sun Qing's heart skipped a beat as she hastily used the knife handle to push outward.

  Just as the two blades clashed, Taishi Ci's spearhead suddenly disappeared from Sun Qian's eyes.

  Sun Qing's heart sank, knowing he had blocked the attack in vain. Tai Shi Ci would immediately launch a second strike. Under duress, Sun Qing's large knife fiercely slashed out an arc, chopping towards Tai Shi Ci's waist.

  This is a typical two-loss fight, in this regard, Sun Qiang is much more courageous than Wang Dang.

  Tai Shi Ci let out a cold cry, the steel spear in his hand transformed into a black shadow, and with a flick of his wrist, it returned to his waist. With a "ding" sound, he knocked open Sun Qing's steel knife.

  Sun lightly groaned, and a small hole appeared on his chest armor, with fresh blood flowing out of the small hole.

  Sun Qing was struck by a single move and fled in all directions at the Ghost Gate Pass, instantly rising with the thought of escaping. How could Taishi Ci let Sun Qing escape? He shouted loudly, his steel spear transforming into countless rays of light, covering him from head to toe.

  Sun Jian let out a loud shout and frantically waved the large knife in his hand, hoping to block Taishi Ci's gun momentum.

  But Sun Qian's martial arts were far inferior to Taishi Ci, and he was unable to withstand Taishi Ci's full-strength attack. In an instant, he was stabbed multiple times, and blood flowed from his body like a fountain.

  Zhang Yan saw that Sun Qian's situation was critical and was about to go forward to rescue him, but it was too late. Just then, Taishi Ci let out a loud shout, and the large knife in Sun Qian's hand suddenly flew into the air. Immediately following, Taishi Ci struck Sun Qian's helmet with his spear shaft. Taishi Ci's long spear was made entirely of refined iron, and when it struck Sun Qian's helmet, it instantly crushed Sun Qian's skull, causing him to die on the spot.

  Seeing Sun Qian's death, Zhang Yan immediately reined in his warhorse and glared at Taishi Ci with a fierce expression.

  He is not a reckless person, from the few moves just now, he has already seen that Taishi Ci's martial arts are definitely above his own, without Sun Qian's help, he naturally does not want to take risks.

  Jiang Qin took a glance at Taishi Ci, and sighed inwardly. A famous general is never an empty title; Taishi Ci's martial arts skills were indeed extraordinary, far surpassing his own. But he wondered how skilled Taishi Ci was in military strategy and tactics?

  Zhang Yan returned to the front of the formation and shouted fiercely: "Attack the city for me."

  "Boom... boom..." The sound of war drums echoed across the battlefield, Li Chong returned to the top of the city wall without hesitation. He had no interest in fighting a guerrilla war with Zhang Yan. Tai Shi Ci was quite petty and even took Sun Qing's warhorse away as he left. Zhang Yan was furious and cursed loudly: "Tai Shi Ci, you shameless scoundrel..."

  Standing on the city wall, Li Chong watched as Zhang Yan commanded his army to come and attack the city. Zhang Yan put his main force at the north gate, where more than 4,000 soldiers were gathered.

  The army of forty or fifty thousand men moved as one, their momentum was terrifying, the defending soldiers on the city wall couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts, and the knives and guns in their hands were shaking slightly.

  Li Chong saw that his troops were somewhat timid, and with a turn of his eyes, he laughed loudly: "Zhang Yan is an ignorant child who does not know the art of war. This battle will be won without a doubt."

  Chen Lin was a civil official and had always stood on the city wall, very clear about the performance of these soldiers. He knew that Li Chong's words were meant to boost morale, so he hastily asked: "What do you mean by this, my lord?"

  Li Chong looked at Chen Lin with a nod of approval and laughed loudly, "The Art of War says, 'If you have ten times the strength of your enemy, surround him; if five times, attack him.' Zhang Yan's army is less than 10,000, yet he dares to besiege me. This battle will undoubtedly end in defeat for him."

  Chen Lin took a glance at Zhang Yan's army and thought to herself: "Master, you really can talk nonsense. The military books don't explain it that way."

  But Chen Lin could only open his eyes and talk nonsense, seeing him stroking his long beard, laughing: "Not bad, Zhang Yan's little kid must not have read Sun Tzu's Art of War, actually using such tactics, definitely doomed to fail."

  Tai Shi and Jiang Qin exchanged a glance, admiring Li Chong and Chen Lin's reversal of black and white to the extreme, but their faces were not thick enough to laugh along with them, so they could only follow up with a burst of laughter.

  But the nearby soldiers did not know that Li Chong and Chen Lin were talking nonsense, they only heard that Zhang Yan had not read Sun Tzu's Art of War, which was definitely a defeat. It is worth noting that at that time people worshipped Sun Wu very much, thinking that Sun Tzu's Art of War was a must-read book for military generals, even more important than the current English level 4 exam.

  In their eyes, a military general who has not studied Sun Tzu's Art of War is trash.

  Seeing these soldiers gain some confidence, Li Chong continued: "Moreover, Zhang Yan also miscalculated the most important point..."