Chapter 11: The Use of Spies

  Thank you for the reward from Xīngkōng Ní kě! Thank you!

  Everyone in the Broken Army Camp had a happy smile on their face, if everything went smoothly, they would occupy New City today. Three thousand cavalry occupying a large city, what a great achievement it is, I believe that at that time, everyone in the Broken Army Camp will be rewarded by the Emperor.

  Chen Kefu gave a nod to Li Benlei and several other Yujing school lieutenants, and everyone nodded in agreement. The main gate of Xincheng had already been opened, so they should be more spirited and not make a final mistake.

  In the pitch-black night, only the sound of crackling flames from the torches made a slight noise. Gao Qi led the three troops of broken army under Luo Lin's guidance, riding horses with loud hooves, crossing the suspension bridge and entering the city through the gate. Chen Kefu, in order to avoid being recognized by the enemy, did not dare to wear his wind-proof imperial armor, but instead wore a suit of Goguryeo general's armor. Throughout the whole process, his heart was in his throat, fully alert and vigilant, fearing that any mistake would lead to unexpected consequences.

  Fortunately, it was probably due to the night that all 600 people had passed through the city gate, and the opposing gate soldiers did not discover that the Sui army had entered the city. Luo Lin held a dagger and lightly pushed Gao Qi's back, and Gao Qi immediately shouted loudly, "You, say you, all come over, today we fell into the Sui dog's ambush, the other side is not three thousand people at all, but 30,000 people. I, the king, managed to bring everyone out with great difficulty, it must be that there are traitors in the city who betrayed the country. Now the city gate is taken over by us, and everyone must gather together. The city gate will be taken over by my men until the traitor is found."

  Gao Qi was indeed a prince, and soon he followed Chen Kefu's intention to withdraw all the city guards and replaced them with Sui soldiers. The general in charge of guarding the south gate of Goguryeo stood beside Gao Qi's horse with a look of grievance, still explaining, "Your Highness, our loyalty is sincere, we will never be traitors, you must believe us."

  "I trust you, but this is just in case. The king has entrusted me with the new city and I must guard it well. Now that we have suffered a loss of 10,000 men due to that traitor, we can no longer be careless. I am now ordering you to immediately notify all the high-ranking military officers in the city to come here, I have important matters to inform everyone, and tell them not to disturb the soldiers, lest it stir up unrest among the troops."

  That city defender was also the commander of a hundred soldiers, and at this time, he heard that the king trusted him so much, and he was excited to pat his chest and say, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely do what you have entrusted me with." After finishing speaking, he didn't feel any sense of grievance from being relieved of his duty to defend the south gate, but instead felt a sense of being honored, and shouted loudly as he led his hundred-man team to notify the king's military order to each army camp in the city.

  When the group of people walked far away, Chen Kefu also let out a long sigh of relief. At this time, if they were recognized, these 600 or so people would have to fight a big battle with the 9,000 Goguryeo soldiers guarding the south gate in order to hold it. In such a narrow area around the city gate, even if they were equipped with the most elite cavalry, they wouldn't be much different from those infantrymen. Six hundred against nine thousand, the odds of winning were too low.

  "Since you are so aware of the situation, I will present it to His Majesty in detail tomorrow and ensure your future wealth and prosperity." Chen Kefu, who was also in a good mood, couldn't help but smile at Gao Qi.

  "Rolin, you must lead the troops to guard the south gate, and arrange a few teams of soldiers to surround the house on the city wall. Once the enemy's commander-in-chief arrives, we will first take them in, and then we can capture all the commanders at once. Without their commanders, it will be much easier for us to deal with the remaining soldiers."

  Chen Kefu pointed to a large house in front of him and arranged, "If we can take down Xincheng without bloodshed, that would be the best." These three thousand cavalrymen were his capital in this chaotic world. If one died, he would lose one. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to lose any of them.

  In less than half a watch, the commander of the banner arrived with a large group of generals. It seems that he had already revealed to those generals the disheveled appearance of Gao Qi's return, and each general looked anxious. If it were not three thousand Sui soldiers who came but thirty thousand Sui soldiers, and our own army of eleven thousand was defeated again, then with nine thousand people against thirty thousand would be a very daunting task. At this time, everyone was eager to know what the situation was like next.

  A commander-in-chief, nine commanders each leading a thousand soldiers, ninety captains commanding hundreds of men, some strategists, and civil officials from the new city. Adding to that, there were nearly three hundred guards. At first glance, many soldiers in the broken camp thought they had been discovered and changed color. However, Chen Kefu was only slightly panicked before calming down, waiting for those people to ride their horses far away before finally letting out a sigh of relief. Although there were many people, judging from the armor on each person's body, they should all be military officers. If they had really been discovered, it would not have been these officers who came, but rather thousands of Goguryeo troops.

  A servant of Gao Qi rushed to the front of a group of military officers who had hurried over and shouted, "The king is waiting for everyone in the main hall of the house. All commanders-in-chief are asked to enter, and the king has ordered that civil officials also be allowed in. All guards please go to another house to rest temporarily. Today, the king has important matters to discuss with all the dignitaries, and it may take a long time."

  After hearing the officer's words, the Goguryeo generals did not suspect anything and dismounted their horses one after another, hurrying towards the house. However, when they entered the house, they found that there was no one inside. Everyone stood in the hall with some surprise, momentarily unable to understand what was happening.

  Before they could figure out what was going on, the surroundings suddenly transmitted a rapid and urgent footsteps, as military officers, they immediately recognized that this was a large team moving, and it was just around the house.

  With a loud creak, the door was opened, and what entered their line of sight was a group of soldiers. Before they could react, Gao Qi appeared at the door and shouted, "Today, the king led the army out of the city to fight against the Sui army, but it turned out that the enemy was not three thousand people, but thirty thousand! I had eleven thousand brothers who went out, but less than a thousand came back. There must be traitors in the hall today who colluded with the Sui. Now, I demand everyone put down their arms and wait for me to interrogate each of you one by one. We will find out who the traitor is and avenge my eleven thousand brothers who died unjustly today." Gao Qi's face was still pale as he scanned the crowd of generals with his eyes, giving off the feeling of a commander searching for traitors among his subordinates.

  Chen Kefu gave a signal with his eyes to Luo Lin, and the soldiers from the broken army barracks rushed into the hall, tying up each general with ropes. Although some generals were not very cooperative, most of them really thought that Gao Qi was searching for traitors, and at first, no one resisted. The few who did resist were quickly knocked down by the soldiers from the broken army barracks.

  "Whoever dares to resist must be a traitor, kill them without pardon!" Under Gao Qi's furious roar, and the bloody heads that had fallen, all the generals also fell silent, one by one being tied up by Luo Lin's men. Everyone thought to themselves, "Anyway, I'm not the traitor, as long as the prince investigates clearly, he will let me go." No one knew that the traitor in Gao Qi's mouth was actually himself.

  Lu Lin not only tied people up, but also stuffed their mouths and locked them up separately. After all the generals were taken away, Li Chenxin finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Xincheng had become a done deal.

  "General Li Benlei, I order you to quickly lead three battalions of troops to take over the east, west and north city gates. You must capture the three city gates as soon as possible, I am waiting here for your good news."

  "Sir, I'll take away three troops. What will you do?" There were only three troops in total, including Marlowe's personal guard and the team that intercepted them in the woods. The remaining ones were more than a hundred people under Gao Qi. If he took away all three troops, Chen Kefu would be left with hardly anyone by his side.

  "Don't worry, Mao Yi and the others will definitely arrive soon. We've already sent someone to inform them. Besides, I have over 200 people by my side, and there's also a prince with me. Go quickly! This time, we not only need to take down New City, but also devour all of its nearly 10,000 troops."

  Li Benlei was still standing in the new city, feeling a bit dizzy. He had not expected Chen Kefu to lead their 3,000 troops out and actually take down the new city so easily. This made him think of their previous two campaigns against Liao, where hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians died, yet they didn't even manage to capture one city in the end. Thinking about this, he couldn't help but feel full of confidence in this young general.

  "That general should be extra careful, in case something happens, send someone to inform me immediately." After finishing speaking, he quickly mounted his horse and with a wave of his hand, led the dozens of surrendered generals who were beside Gao Qi, and divided them into three groups to head towards the east, west, and north city gates.

  The new book ranking has risen again, now it's 11th place, everyone keep working hard, let's bring out all the votes and explode upwards again!