Chapter 107: The Banquet's Sudden Change (Part 2)

  Yu Yunwen had actually designed a linked plan: first, send a messenger to inform Tian Shizhong that Yue Yun wanted to come to Xiangyang to visit the old brothers of the vanguard.

  The meaning of "take a look" is much more, it may be that Yue Fei sent Yue Yun to inspect the military situation, or it may be that Yue Yun came to stroll around casually. While Tian Shizhong was unclear about Yue Yun's intentions, he had a guilty conscience and naturally thought that Yue Yun might be unfavorable to him (although he did guess correctly), so he dispatched the 7,000 front-line soldiers who were not yet under his control to the four garrison cities surrounding Xiangyang. Then he replaced all the garrison troops inside Xiangyang City with his own elite troops.

  Such a large-scale mobilization of troops was naturally detected by the scouts sent out by Yue Yun.

  Yue Yun then sent Guan Ling to lead the elite troops of Bei Wei's army to remove Tian Shiming's sentry and scouts in the wild, cutting off his ears, eyes, and hearing.

  At the same time, he led Yu Yunwen to the four Wei cities, falsely claiming that Tian Shiming had betrayed the Song Dynasty and surrendered to the Jin State, intentionally not sending grain to the front line, hoping to make the Song army lose.

  Yue Yun was originally from the front army and had served as the commander of the front army camp. The soldiers were already resentful and suspicious of Tian Zhong's sudden arrest of Tang Huai a few days ago, and the detention of Tang Huai's subordinates. After hearing Yue Yun's explanation, they all expressed their willingness to follow his command and go to Xiangyang to put down the rebellion. As a result, Yue Yun's deployable forces suddenly increased by 7,000 elite soldiers.

  With this batch of manpower, Yue Yun's confidence greatly increased. He then had the soldiers from the vanguard hide in a forest ten miles east of Xiangyang City. Then he himself used the excuse of rewarding his troops to sneak into the city and ordered Guan Ling to pretend to bring five more chests into the city as rewards, while controlling the city gate and letting the main army enter.

  Yue Yun then lured Tian Shiming to open the box, and the soldiers hiding in the box subdued Tian Shiming. This made his subordinates dare not come forward, and quietly waited at the Cishi Mansion for the arrival of the main army.

  Under such internal and external coordination, the soldiers in the city were like a dragon without a head. Coupled with the fact that their combat effectiveness was originally inferior to that of the Beiwei army, they naturally collapsed at one blow.

  Tang Huai listened to Yue Yun's introduction, shook his head and sighed: "This is indeed the case of the Yangtze River pushing forward with the waves behind it. We old folks can't help but admit defeat. Whether it's a fierce battle or strategic planning, we feel inferior to your generation..."

  He felt a wave of emotion, but then saw that Tian Shi was still sitting in the hall with his eyes half-closed, resting, and there were two soldiers standing beside him with knives held to his neck. Suddenly, he became furious.

  This not only made him suffer humiliation in front of several younger generations, but also delayed the Marshal's grain transportation plan for so many days, which really made him furious.

  He immediately swung his robe and rushed up, grabbed the front of Tian Shizhong's clothes, lifted him up with one hand, and scolded: "Tian Shizhong, you damned man, how dare you detain the military rations of my Yue Family Army! Have you eaten leopard gall?"

  Tang Huaiyue was furious, and with a loud slap, he slapped Tian Shizhong twice on the ears, causing Tian to spit out a mouthful of blood and two teeth.

  He stared at Tang Huai, his eyes almost spitting fire. In his opinion, being defeated by Yue Yun was a matter of course, this person was young, but whether it was bravery or strategy, they were both above himself. But Tang Huai was his own subordinate who had been defeated, relying on Yue Yun to be rescued, yet he dared to attack him heavily.

  Tang Huai looked at his defiant face, and with a burst of anger, he threw him to the ground, cursing: "You unyielding thief, are you still not convinced? Do you want us to have another great battle of three hundred rounds?"

  Tian Shizhong wiped the blood from his mouth, but a cold glint suddenly flashed in his eyes. He suddenly reached into his boot with his right hand and swiftly jumped up, pouncing on Tang Huai's front. Then, he pulled out a dagger and pressed it against Tang Huai's neck, panting heavily as he shouted: "Do you still want to take his life?"

  This sudden change left everyone unprepared. Although there were many people around, no one expected that Tian Shizhong still had a hidden dagger in his boots, and even less expected that he would suddenly counterattack in such a desperate situation.

  At this time, more than a dozen shiny steel knives around him were aimed at Tian Shizhong's back. With just a slight push forward, they could cut Tian Shizhong into pieces. However, everyone was hesitant to make a move, fearing that they might hurt Tang Huai in the process.

  Niu Tong saw Tang Huai being restrained, and in his heart he was both angry and anxious. He loudly cursed: "Tian Shizhong you this dog thief, dare to hurt a single hair of my Uncle Tang, I will absolutely chop you into ten thousand pieces!"

  Tian Shizhong spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground and gripped his dagger tightly, saying: "I'm barefoot now, not afraid of those wearing shoes. Do you believe that if you threaten me again, I'll slaughter this scoundrel right now?"

  The cow was afraid of the mouse's device, although it still looked resentful, but didn't dare speak again.

  Yue Yun then busily stretched out his hand to signal the people around him to temporarily retreat, in order to avoid provoking Tian Shi Zhong and causing him to jump into action.

  He said in a low voice: "Tian Shizhong, let go of Tang Jiang, I promise not to hurt you!"

  "You guarantee?" Tian Shizhong burst out laughing as if he had heard something ridiculous, "Yue Yun, you said it was to reward us when you entered the city, but in the end, it's to seize the city!"

  "Not bad! I'm here to take the city! Who told you to withhold our army's rations? And you even captured Uncle Tang and his men who came to urge for supplies. If we hadn't met General Niu on the way, your treacherous plot might have succeeded!" Yuen Yun said with a face as cold as iron.

  "Hmph! Not distributing the grain wasn't my idea, it was Lord Qin's order. I'm just following his orders, if you have any questions, go ask Lord Qin yourself!" Tian Shizhong coldly snorted.

  Just as they were exchanging verbal blows, there was a commotion outside the hall, and it seemed that another group of people had entered from outside the courtyard.

  Yue Yun then let Guan Ling and Niu Tong watch Tian Shizhong in the hall, and went out to take a look. It turned out that Yu Yunwen had brought a group of civil officials over.

  Yu Yunwen bowed to Yue Yun and smiled, saying: "Young Master, fortunately, we have not disgraced your orders. We have successfully taken over the granary safely. The grain can be transported out at any time!"

  Having said that, he pointed to a group of officials behind him and said: "These are several bigwigs in Xiangyang City, namely Prefect Liu Xi and Judge Peng Yuan..."

  Yue Yun heard this and could only smile awkwardly, bowing his head in a gesture of respect before saying: "Everyone please take a rest for now, I'll deal with this matter first."

  Those officials hurriedly returned the courtesy, and they all praised Young Master Yue for his quick reaction, saying that he had swiftly put down Tian Shizhong's rebellion with his cleverness and bravery, truly a tiger among the military leaders, with both wisdom and courage...

  Yue Yun smiled and hastily pulled Yu Yunwen to one side, quietly telling him about the sudden change in the hall.

  Yu Yunwen's face also showed a difficult expression. He thought for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Let's ask first and see what Tian Shizhong wants. If it's not too outrageous, we can agree to it first and then think of a way to rescue General Tang."

  Yue Yun nodded and walked back into the hall, only to see Tang Huai scolding Tian Shizhong severely.

  He was caught off guard again and captured, his heart filled with extraordinary anger. But Tian Shizhong just smiled coldly and stopped arguing with him, however the dagger in his hand remained inches from Tang Huai's neck.

  Yue Yun slightly frowned and said to Tian Shizhong, "Tian Shizhong, what exactly do you want now? Speak up and let's hear it. This standoff is unlikely to benefit anyone."

  Tian Shizhong sneered, his face revealing a ferocious expression. He shouted loudly: "Release all of my men, and then give me 300 horses so that I can leave Xiangyang with them."

  Yue Yun thought for a moment and said: "This is a request that I can agree to, but are you going to let General Tang off just like this?"

  "Hahaha!" Tian Shizhong burst out laughing after hearing this, and it took him a moment to stop. He then revealed a menacing glint in his eyes and said: "Yue Yun, do you really think I'm a three-year-old kid? If I let go of Tang Huai, you'll bring people to kill me, and at that time, I won't even have the strength to resist."

  "What do you want then?" Yue Yun asked with a stern face.

  "Yue Yun! I want you to be a hostage, accompany me out of the city, and after I leave the city for ten miles, I'll let you return!" Tian Shizhong said coldly.

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