93rd Infantry Division captures Klay State

  Liu Hui Niang's original plan was to use Laizhou as a barrier to block and consume the imperial army's strength, and since Laizhou had just been captured, there were hardly any defensive weapons available. With Laizhou temporarily holding back the imperial army's advance, she could focus on developing Dengzhou's defenses, mobilize the financial and material resources of Dengzhou and Laizhou, and turn Dengzhou into an iron fortress.

  This is a typical abandonment of pawns to save the chariot, but the brothers Luan and Wang Tianba didn't know they were just pawns, even Zhang Mingke, who was supposed to be aware of the situation, didn't realize that his army had already been abandoned by Liu Huina, and he continued to defend Laizhou City, waiting for reinforcements from Dengzhou.

  Little did they know, Chen Xi, Song Jiang and Liu Hui Niang were also waiting, but only for a letter of amnesty.

  Chen Liqing, Guihuabohe and other female generals led the Youlin Army to board the wooden kite, scattering from the air, suppressing the bandits on the city tower. Lu Da's Baicheng Army immediately swarmed up, using the mechanical beast to climb onto the city wall, occupying one corner. Li Kui led another army, pushing a huge siege car, rumbling towards the city gate.

  Gongsun Zan was also conserving his siege engines, saving them for the final battle at Dengzhou. The siege engines allocated to them were not sufficient. The siege carts led by Li Kui were a type of sled, which used pulleys to lift heavy logs weighing over ten tons and rammed them into the city gates.

  The city gate was made of elm wood with iron nails, wrapped in a thick layer of copper skin. It took dozens of crashes from the battering ram to finally break it open. Li Kui rushed forward and saw that behind the gate, the enemy army had filled it with huge rocks mixed with compacted earth, making it extremely solid. They couldn't dig through it for the time being, which made him furious, shouting: "This road is impassable, let's climb over the city wall!"

  On the city wall, a fierce battle was raging. Only one person stood guard on the city wall, fighting alone against Lu Da and Sun Li. This man wielded two massive pens, each weighing 80 kilograms and measuring 1.5 meters long. As he swung them, they moved in all directions, opening and closing with a loud crash. Even the heavy mechanical beasts that weighed several tons were lifted off the ground by his mighty pen strokes!

  In front of the pen holder, there was another red tassel spearhead, with four sharp claws. That person alone blocked two tiger generals, Lu Daxun and Li Tuo, and still had the strength to guard the city wall that was nearly 18 meters wide, making it impossible for water to leak through!

  Although the great general had only fifteen moves in his tactics, he could defeat ten times as many government troops, and they were blocked by him at the city wall, unable to get down from the city.

  Li Kui finally managed to carry the big board axe up, seeing that he was really fierce, swinging two axes and chopping indiscriminately.

  Na Yuen's fierce general fought three people in a row, but this was unbearable. After fighting more than ten rounds, the two big brushes swept and retreated, forcing Sun Li to retreat to the city below.

  Lu Da and Li Kui did not dare to chase him too hastily, and they truly admired his martial arts skills. "Good fellow," they said, "who are you?"

  "Wang Tianba of Nanshan Town, Yizhou, is a true immortal who subdued demons in the Buddhist family!"

  Zhang Daniu and his brother also climbed up the city wall, just as they were about to bind people with chains everywhere. After hearing this, they couldn't help but be shocked and uncertain, saying: "It turns out that it's the Buddhist Golden Vajra Fighting Formation, no wonder it's so fierce!"

  Wang Tianba heard this and looked at the two of them, just about to speak, when suddenly the two men violently raised their chains and tied him up tightly!

  Those two brothers launched a surprise attack, and Li Kui immediately picked up two large axes and went forward. Without saying a word, he raised his axe and chopped down. With two loud clangs, sparks flew everywhere, and Wang Tianba was hit by both of Li Kui's axes, yet he still stood firmly in place.

  Ruda saw this, swung the crescent shovel like a windmill, and smashed it towards Wang Tianba's forehead. Wang Tianba knew that his bravery was astonishing, and he was afraid of being hit and breaking his body, so he quickly ran away.

  Zhang brothers two people desperately pulled the chain, but couldn't pull him back. Li Kui lost his axe and also came forward to pull, still unable to pull him back. Sun Li also followed to pull the chain, four people were actually pulled down from the city wall by Wang Tianba with a loud crash.

  Ruda hastily dropped the crescent shovel and helped the four people pull, only then were they able to hold down Wang Tianba and drag him back onto the city wall. Several dozen government soldiers rushed forward, shouting, and used hemp ropes to tie up Wang Tianba, binding him layer upon layer, wrapping him into a ball, just like a giant rice dumpling. Only then was Wang Tianba unable to move, and he finally calmed down.

  "Awesome, truly awesome! No wonder he's a master of the Golden Fist Fighting Technique!"

  Ruda picked up the shovel again and said, "Compared to my strength, this person is even more powerful. Don't kill him for now, wait until we capture Lai State, and then slowly persuade him to surrender. If he's willing to surrender, our army will gain another tiger general!" He ordered the government troops to carry away the big rice dumpling, and the army occupied the city wall first, but it wasn't until deep night that torches were lit on the city tower. It turned out that Lu Junyi and Lin Chong had taken advantage of Ruda's victory in capturing the city to occupy the city tower first.

  After a night of fierce fighting, the enemy generals Yan Tingyu and Yan Tingfang were forced down from the city wall, preparing to deploy troops for street fighting. Wu Song ordered people to move the catapults, thunder cars, and stone-throwing machines to the top of the city wall overnight, and then ordered Lin Chong to lead the army in a feigned attack first. After the troops withdrew, he immediately ordered the catapults, thunder cars, and stone-throwing machines to fire at the places where the enemy was most resistant!

  Only to see arrows falling like rain, stones covering the sky and earth, houses collapsing, the rebel army died innumerable, after a wave of attack, Lu Junyi's army immediately swept over, strangling the remaining defeated soldiers.

  General Wan Tingyu and others were heavily injured, forced to shrink the front line, and encouraged the morale: "As long as we hold on until dawn, Commander Chen will lead the army to support us! Hold on until dawn, there is a way out!"

  The rebels fought to the death, with soldiers and horses hiding in every street and alley, and archers hidden in the walls, aiming at the generals. Lu Junyi attacked once, fell into an ambush, was shot by an arrow on his arm, looked up and saw Luan Tingyu and Luan Tingfang brothers rushing to kill, all the generals worked together, Yan Qing risked his life to save his master, and finally kept Lu Junyi out of the siege, retreated.

  Qin Wan'er rushed to treat Lu Junyi's wound. After pulling out the arrow and bandaging the wound, he said to Wu Song: "General, the streets of Laiyang City are narrow and there are many alleys, which is not conducive to our army's street fighting! For now, it's best to wait until dawn before attacking again. Moreover, all the troops have been fighting for a day and night, and they're all exhausted..."

  Wu Song had no choice but to temporarily suspend the attack and let the army rest. Fan Tingyu organized several counterattacks, all of which were repelled. He was secretly worried: "If Wu Kui uses the method of advancing step by step, what should we do?" Just as he was thinking about this, a strong north wind howled, the sky was gloomy and overcast, and after a while, a heavy snowfall started to fall gently.

  Snowflakes gathered together, falling down in a flurry, and before long, a layer had fallen on the ground.

  The snow fell until noon and had not stopped, but instead grew heavier. The north wind howled like a wolf's cry, mournful and piercing, blowing so hard that the soldiers were injured and could not hold their weapons.

  Yuan Tingfang saw the heavy snow and exclaimed with joy: "Heaven is helping me!" He then turned to Huang Xin, Xuan Zan, Lü Fang and Guo Sheng and said: "This snowfall is a blessing! Now we can hold on for several more days!"

  Huang Xing wiped off the snowflakes on his beard and shouted: "What a fart! Can't even hold a knife or gun, you bunch of kids!"

  Tianfang didn't think much of it, and laughed: "Don't be impatient, Yellow Head. Listen to me finish speaking. The snow is falling so thickly, we just need to hide in the snow, and from the outside, you can't see anything at all. In the snow, there's no cold wind, we can hold our weapons firmly, wait for the government troops to search, and then kill them off guard! We'll only pick out those leaders to kill, if we kill many of them, the bandit army will definitely be thrown into chaos!"

  Huang Xin suddenly realized and nodded: "It can be done."

  Xuan Zan thought for a moment and said, "It's best to have archers hiding in the snow piles on the roof, shooting down randomly. Even if he's an immortal, he can't dodge."

  Everyone applauded and went to lead their troops, while Fan Tingfang invited Zhang Mingke, Wang Gongren, and Li Cheng, three Taoist priests, saying: "The three of you have profound magical powers, also hiding in the snow, taking advantage of the chaos to kill the bandit leader! In the chaotic army, Lu Junyi was still hit by an arrow. Now under your magic, there are even more deaths and injuries."

  Zhang Mingke and the other two nodded in agreement and each hid themselves in ambush.

  But at noon, the various troops started a fire to cook their meals. After lunch, Lu Junyi, Lin Chong and Lu Da each led their armies to attack the inner city. Before they had gone far, they encountered an ambush. The soldiers suffered few casualties, but the military leaders were severely injured.

  Huo Yan Wenyi Deng Fei had just surrendered, and was eager to advance, but was shot dead by a hidden arrow. Li Kui was also hit by an arrow. Lu Junyi saw that the situation was not good, and hastily retreated his troops, only to see that the other two armies were also retreating. After checking the commanders, he found that Shi Qian was missing.

  Wu Song knew of this and couldn't help but look worried: "Is it that heaven also doesn't want to destroy Chen Huijian?"

  Shi Xi's wife said: "My husband Shi Xian is trapped in the city again, what should we do?"

  Wu Song comforted her: "Shi Qian often gets trapped in the city, but each time he comes out without a single injury, so you don't have to worry."

  Just then, Gongshu Yan led the skilled craftsmen of the mechanical camp forward and said: "The enemy is in the snowy ground, specializing in assassinating our general, and it's hard to defend against. Now we can use a water dragon car to break this trick." After speaking, he ordered people to push forward an elephant-trunked water dragon, with an elephant trunk in front and a big belly behind. Two soldiers worked hard to press the air valve up and down, and a large stream of water sprayed out over a hundred feet.

  "This water cannon works best with boiling water, pouring in the boiling water and spraying it further. Only a hundred or so vehicles are needed, within an hour, Lai State City can be drenched, boiling water splashing open snow, not only scalding enemy troops, but also cooling down afterwards is even more deadly, which soldier can still hold their weapons?"

  Wu Song said with pleasure, "We must have a great general to guard this water cart." Chen Liqing was replaced and ordered to lead 200 divine archers to fly in mid-air. If anyone approached the water cart, they would be shot dead on the spot. Gong Sunsheng ordered people to burn water immediately and pour it into the belly of the water dragon cart. After the preparations were completed, another hour passed.

  Soldiers pushed carts into the city, spewing out boiling water everywhere. The ice and snow melted, and the bandits hiding under the snow were scalded by the water and couldn't help but jump out, all of whom were shot to death by Chen Lijin and others.

  Another hour passed before the city of Laizhou was completely drenched, and with a blast of cold wind, the entire area turned into ice, including the thick layer of ice formed by the melting snow, which was over three inches thick.

  The defenders of Laizhou had ice pellets hanging from their bodies, shivering with fear, and could not even hold up their weapons. When they encountered the government army, they immediately surrendered. If they did not surrender, it would be certain death.

  Zhang Mingke sighed and said: "Lai State cannot be defended."

  A sly-looking little soldier next to him shouted: "Why doesn't the true man surrender?"

  Zhang Mingke hesitated for a moment, this little soldier was short in stature, but he had protected himself many times during the martial bandits' attack on the city. He said: "Chen Touling has been kind to me..." Just as he was speaking, Luan Tingyu and others led the remnants of their troops to arrive, saying: "Lai State cannot be defended, now take advantage of the chaos to break out of the siege, it's still possible to escape to Dengzhou. All of you great masters, we will escort you out of the city with our lives!"

  Zhang Mingke nodded along with the other two Taoist priests and said: "We will cast a spell in the formation, everyone can escape!"

  Zhang Mingke said to the little soldier beside him: "You follow me, in the chaos of war, I will protect you."

  That little soldier was grateful and thanked him repeatedly. Zhang Mingke smiled and said, "If it weren't for you protecting me, I would have been shot dead by the Wu thief's Youlin Army long ago. I distinguish between kindness and resentment, so of course I will guard your safety."

  Yuan Tingyu and Yuan Tingfang immediately led the troops to break through the siege, while Zhang Mingke, Wang Gongren, and Li Cheng immediately performed magic in the formation, forcing a thick fog to rise, shrouding Lai State, and killing their way towards the East City Gate. The army defending the East City Gate, led by Lu Da, was caught off guard and had its formation broken through by them.

  Tianyu and Tianfang were about to make a comeback, just as they were about to kill their way out of the city. Suddenly, a small soldier next to Zhang Mingke rose up and chopped off Wang Gongren's head with one knife. The back of the knife flipped over Zhang Mingke, then he grasped Wang Gongren's skull in one hand and held Zhang Mingke in the other, jumping high into the air like a large flea, shooting out dozens of meters high, bouncing and jumping away, shouting: "I am Shi Yiqian, a disciple of Guoshi!"

  Yuan Tingyu, Yuan Tingfang and others were stunned, and for a long time they didn't come back to their senses. The thick fog had disappeared, Zhang Mingke and Wang Gongren's support was gone, and it gradually faded away. Lu Da, Li Kui and others reacted, and hurriedly reorganized the troops to fight.

  Lu Tingyu and Lu Tingfang, among other generals, fled wildly along the road, leaving Lai Prefecture behind. They galloped away, with Lu Da and Li Kui not intercepting them, but instead focusing on slaughtering the remaining troops. After traveling over ten miles, Lu Tingfang took stock of his army and found that fewer than a thousand men had escaped from Lai Prefecture City alive, all of whom were wounded. Among the high-ranking generals, only Huang Xin, Xuan Zan, Xiao Rang, Pei Xuan, Jiang Jing, and Lü Fang remained.

  Xiao Rang, Pei Xuan and Jiang Jing were all civil officials, with little combat power. They couldn't help but sigh: "How can we go back and report to Chen the leader?"

  Tianyu hummed, saying: "Chen Xizhen said that we would guard Lai State, and if the bandits came to attack, he would definitely come to reinforce. Why haven't his reinforcements arrived yet? When I return, I will definitely ask him for an explanation!"

  Tian Fang sighed repeatedly, saying in a low voice: "This matter can't be explained clearly. I think we are just abandoned pawns. Those who were sent to our side, except for Yan Shu-De being Chen Xi's trusted aide, the others are either civil officials or military leaders with poor martial arts skills. Lu Fang and Guo Sheng may have impressive titles, but their abilities are actually lacking. In my opinion, Lai State has long been abandoned!"

  Although Yan Tingyu was unwilling to admit it in his heart, the fact is that Huang Xin, Deng Fei, Yan Shun, Yang Lin, Lü Fang and Guo Cheng's martial arts skills were not strong. Xuan Zan was a treacherous general, while Xiao Rang, Jiang Jing, Pei Xuan and Ou Peng simply didn't have much ability.

  As for the true person Zhang Mingke, he is the nephew of Zhang Shuye, a subordinate of the Wu Zei Department. The wonderful and bright Lord Wang Gongren has sparse talent, the Town Sea True Person Li Cheng is used to selling friends for fame, and is not a good person. The Demon-Subduing True Person Wang Tianba has a fiery temper and lacks connections.

  Even Luan Tingyu and his brother Luan Tingfang, who were also related to Wu Song's accountants, Hua Niang and Zhu Biao. From these suspicious points, Luan Tingyu had no choice but to admit that all these people were abandoned by Chen Xijun. The only one who was not abandoned was probably Yan Shude, the Pure Yang True Man. Unexpectedly, Yan Shude was the first to die on the battlefield, killed by Lin Chong with a single spear thrust.

  "Good brother, what should we do now?"

  "Only two roads, one is to go back and surrender to Wu Guoshi, as long as there's no great fault, the national teacher can still tolerate us, and we can still be reused. Two is to pretend that nothing is known, return to Dengzhou, and continue to work hard with Chen Xizhen."

  Tian Yu pondered for a long time, then said dejectedly: "Chen Xi truly has done us a great favor, this life is owed to him. Now that we've escaped from Lai State City, if we go back and surrender, our faces will be utterly lost..."

  Ruan Tingfang suddenly looked strange and said in a weird tone: "If you don't have to go back, can you surrender?"

  Ruan Tingyu was stunned, suddenly came to his senses, and furiously said: "Ruan Xiaoer, how dare you collude with the enemy? No wonder our army lost so quickly! First kill this traitor before anything else!"

  Ruan Tingfang hastily waved his hand and pointed forward: "It's not me who betrayed, but Guoshi is good at cutting off people's retreats. Brother, look ahead quickly!"

  Yuan Tingyu looked up and saw that the wolf smoke had risen in front of him, a large army was rushing forward, and the tiger general at the forefront was holding a large flag with a "Shi" character on it. In the middle of the formation, there was another large flag with the words "Gongsun".

  The great army shouted and called out: "The National Master ordered us to wait here for a long time!"

  "Can it be that they are actually the Nine Tattooed Dragons Shi Jin and the Entering Cloud Dragon Gong Sunsheng, those two traitors..."

  "Fortunately, it's these two traitors!" he said with a smile. He immediately led the crowd out and threw down their weapons, saying: "Hold on, Shi Dalang and Gong Sun Dalang! We surrender!"

  Yuan Tingyu saw that his own brothers had surrendered first, and he also stepped forward with a hard heart, saying: "Surrender!" Huang Xin, Xuan Zan, Xiao Rang, Pei Xuan, Jiang Jing, and Lü Fang looked at each other and could only follow suit in surrendering.

  Shi Jin did not participate in the Laizhou war, but set an ambush here to wait for the defeated army to come east, and just fight, who knew that before the swords were unsheathed, the enemy had surrendered, and he was choked with anger.

  Gongsun Sheng, however, was a defector and had some connections with Song Jiang's men. He didn't want to fight them in the first place. Upon hearing this, he let out a sigh of relief and immediately ordered his men to bind all the surrendered generals and send them to Laiyang City to report the good news.