Chapter 72: Counterattack at the Yin Manor

  The county magistrate of Mayi had no choice but to discuss with his deputy how to handle the situation. The deputy was a rough man who usually only knew how to follow orders, and he was chosen by the county magistrate as his deputy to lead the army because of his loyalty. However, today the deputy actually said something very simple: Yang Ni is still far away, let's solve the problem in front of us first!

  The county magistrate of Mayi thought about it and decided to surrender to Li Chong first. If Li Chong lost, he could always surrender to Yang Ju again.

  It's just that the county magistrate of Mayi still felt a bit awkward, this big fanfare came to respond to the battle, one arrow wasn't shot and surrendered, it's a bit unspeakable.

  "What's to be done? Got it! The county magistrate of Mayi turned his eyes and came up with a plan, shouting loudly: "Let us surrender, but I have one condition, you must defeat my deputy general."

  Li Zhongwen was overjoyed when he heard this and hastily rushed to Zhou Tai saying: "Yu Ping, it's all up to you now."

  Zhou Tai licked his lips and said with a clenched fist: "Don't worry, milord. I will definitely bring back the enemy general's head."

  "No...!" Li was greatly shocked and hastily said: "Yu Ping, this time in battle, defeating the enemy general is enough, absolutely do not harm the enemy general's life."

  Li Chong reminded Zhou Tai's subordinates to show mercy, but he didn't know that the county magistrate of Mayi was also instructing his deputy generals to only allow defeat and not victory, just pretending to fight would be enough, they could stop after a few rounds. After thinking for a moment, he added a few more lines to the script.

  Zhou Tai and Ma Yi, the deputy general of Mai County, came to the center of the battlefield, calling each other by name, and pretended to fight together.

  Li Chong gazed at the scene before him, feeling a sense of temporal chaos. He saw Zhou Tai's eyes blazing with fury, his large knife raised high, as if he was about to cleave the enemy general in two. Meanwhile, the deputy commander of Mai County held a long spear, his brow furrowed in anger, looking as though he wanted to turn Zhou Tai into a hornet's nest.

  However, the next move of both sides made everyone's eyes drop to the ground. Zhou Tai's big knife chopped down, with a momentum like clear wind. No mistake, it was indeed like clear wind. Li Chong even suspected that this knife couldn't cut off a root of grass, and the fact proved that Li Chong's judgment was correct. The deputy general of Maiyi County held his long spear up, just like holding a grass stalk, with no difference at all.

  Swords and guns clashed, without a single sound being emitted. The two locked eyes for a moment before slowly engaging in battle.

  "They're all great actors!" Li Chong watched the two people's slow motion, and couldn't help but think: "Cut!"

  Both sides fought for about... don't know how many moves, the deputy general of Maiyi County fled on horseback, shouting: "Zhou Tai is fierce, our family is not an opponent... we'll fight again another day."

  Zhou Tai "returns triumphantly". Li Chong glanced at Zhou Tai with a slanted gaze, thinking to himself that Zhou Tai must also be a time-traveler or perhaps a graduate of the Barcelona Asia Film Academy.

  The county magistrate of Mayi announced his surrender to Li Chong, and allocated 500 soldiers to join forces with Li Chong to attack Yinguang. When Li Chong saw that these 500 men were nervous, he immediately stated that he would never use them as cannon fodder for the siege, and only then did they put their minds at ease. Li Chong then announced the generous treatment of his troops, and in an instant, these hungry soldiers' morale was greatly boosted, and they couldn't wait to rush into Yinguang to receive military rewards.

  With the newly recruited 500 soldiers, Li Chong turned back to Yin Guan, joined forces with Taishi Ci, and directly attacked the city of Yin Guan.

  What made Li Chong disappointed was that Yang Ugly did not come out of the city to fight, probably because the stored grain inside the city was abundant and he was not afraid of losing a year's worth of food. Of course, it is also possible that Yang Ugly was timid and dared not come out of the city to fight.

  Arriving at the city's outskirts, Li Zhong ordered his generals to set up camp and chop down trees to manufacture siege engines. After three days, Li Zhong finally made arrangements for the assault on the city.

  The South Gate was the main target of Li Chong's attack, while the other three sides were just feints to tie up the defenders' forces. However, if there was an opportunity, Li Chong would not mind turning a feint into a real attack.

  First to move were the two hundred archers with large shields, who advanced fifty paces before beginning to suppress the defenders on the city walls with arrows. Taishi Ci followed behind the archers with his elite cavalry, preventing Yang Yu from sending out a surprise attack, which was also why Li Tong dared to let the archers approach the city walls.

  The infantry then began to carry ladders close to the city wall, and with the sound of war drums, shouts of killing filled the battlefield.

  Arrows and stones rained down from the city walls, infantrymen held up their shields, erected cloud ladders, and climbed up desperately, with soldiers who were hit by arrows screaming and falling down from time to time.

  "Boom... boom..." The battering ram finally arrived at the city gate, and the huge log began to strike the city gate, emitting a dull sound.

  Cheng Yu leaned in and listened for a moment, then said to Li Chong: "My lord, the city gate has been sealed with bricks and stones inside the city. It's better to call off the attack!"

  Li nodded heavily and ordered the messenger to pass on the order immediately. After about an hour, Li Chong discovered that reinforcements began to appear on the city wall, and these reinforcements were wearing very clean clothes, which could be seen at a glance. Li Chong hastily called over several soldiers and instructed them to quickly check other city walls to see if there were fewer soldiers on them.

  After a while, the soldier returned to report that the number of troops on the other three city walls had indeed decreased.

  "Your Excellency," said Cheng Yu, clasping his fist in respect, "I have a plan to destroy the Black Wind Pavilion."

  "Want to hear it?" Li Chong asked.

  Cheng Yu pointed to the soldiers on the city wall and said, "Your Excellency, please look. Now our army's offensive is urgent, and Yin Guan definitely has no reserve troops. They are drawing troops from other city walls. The Art of War says, 'When empty, fill; when full, empty.' Now Your Excellency uses war horses to transfer infantry to attack the north gate. The defenders of Yin Guan will certainly not be able to return in time to defend it. In this way, our army can definitely occupy the north city wall.

  Li Zhong heard the words and remained silent, shaking his head slightly. Zhou Tai, however, was very much in agreement with Cheng Yu's words and chimed in, "My lord, what Lord Cheng said is indeed correct. Zhou Tai is willing to lead 500 soldiers to go forth; if we fail to take down the north city wall, Zhou Tai will come back to see you with his head held high."

  Li Zhong's eyebrows rose, and he shouted in a stern voice: "Zhou Tai, listen to orders!"

  "I shall obey your orders!" Zhou Tai hastily replied.

  Li Chong circled the battlefield for a week, then slowly said: "Zhou Tai, send out the order immediately. Today at noon, we must capture Yinguang, otherwise the whole army will be beheaded. You personally lead the troops to supervise the battle, and anyone who retreats one step will be beheaded on the spot!"

  "I will obey orders!" Zhou Tai was stunned for a moment before he took his leave.

  Cheng Yu found it somewhat strange. Normally, Li Chong was not a stubborn person who insisted on his own way, so why did he refuse to listen to his plan today? Cheng Yu thought carefully for a long time and couldn't find any flaws in his idea, so he finally couldn't help but ask.

  Li Chong closed his eyes, took a deep breath of the air filled with the smell of blood, and then said in a low voice: "Cheng Gong, it's not that I, Li Zihui, am stubborn and won't listen to others, but I want to train an elite army, one that can fight bloody battles, not just win easy victories. I want them to know that sometimes you can't rely on clever strategies, you have to fight with your life, and exchange blood for victory."

  "It's not that I, Li Ziyue, am boasting, but taking down the Yin Manor is as easy as turning over my hand. Yang Chou still doesn't know that Ma Yi has already fallen into my hands. The simplest plan would be to send Ma Yi's soldiers to pretend to surrender and secretly open the city gate. Alternatively, digging tunnels and building siege ladders are also viable methods to take down the Yin Manor, but I won't use them. My soldiers must be brave, capable of fighting, and willing to fight a bloody battle."

  Cheng Yu was shocked by the words, looked at Li Chong for a long time, and then slowly bowed down to say: "Master's profound strategy is far-sighted, Cheng Yu admires!"