Invincible Iron Army 54, Fame Spreads Far and Wide Book Flag

  Wang An and Jiang Cai were engaged in a heated discussion when Du Lin arrived at Wang An's location. After exchanging pleasantries, they got straight to the point. Du Lin said to Wang An: "Brother, I've come today to ask you to go to East City and take charge of defending the city walls there." Wang An replied: "Why? My current defensive position is South City, and if I leave here, what if South City falls? I'll have to bear the responsibility!" Du Lin said: "I've already spoken with the Jiedushi (Military Governor), and Jiang Cai will be in charge here. It's unlikely anything will go wrong." Wang An didn't understand Du Lin's thinking but had no choice but to carry out the Military Governor's orders, so he instructed his soldiers to strengthen their defenses at South City.

  Wang An arrived in the East City, and Du Lin told the soldiers: "Brothers, Wang An has been invited to the East City by me, and he is fully responsible for commanding the defense of the entire East City. Everyone, including me, will listen to Wang An's arrangements." The soldiers cheered, and they sincerely supported Wang An as their commander. They thought: "Look at the South City recently, it's really too glorious, always winning battles. The people almost regard the soldiers there as gods, and they praise Wang An's soldiers to the sky. Although the people's families are not rich, they always give their best food to the soldiers of the South City. Wang An's soldiers don't need to spend money when eating at any location in the city, just say 'I am a soldier of Wang An', and the boss will waive the bill, and even add dishes for fear that the soldiers won't eat well or be full. If Wang An's soldiers are not satisfied with their dinner, then this boss will no longer be able to do business here, because he will be drowned by the spitting stars of the surrounding people. The city is proud of Wang An's soldiers, and the most excessive thing is that even the prostitutes in the brothel are willing to receive Wang An's soldiers for free."

  King An's army soldiers were respected wherever they went. The rascals in King An's army, who used to be ordinary people, would show respect on the surface but secretly scold them all the time. However, now they have gained genuine respect from the people, a respect that comes from the heart and is sincere. The rascals in King An's army immediately turned over a new leaf, feeling that being a hero and a good person was such a wonderful thing.

  The eastern city raised Wang An's command flag, and Wang An observed the troops inside the city with Du Lin. Wang An now had a spirited appearance, looking at the troops outside the city, thinking to himself that it was great, from now on he would no longer be lonely, having a sense of dominance felt good.

  Dulin was also delighted in his heart, thinking that with Wang An, they might make some achievements tonight. Even if Wang An got the credit, they could still share some of the merit, which was better than having nothing at all. Every time they went out, Wang An's soldiers were treated as honored guests, while they were like rats crossing the street. The civilians would ask questions, saying that the amateur soldiers from the south city were very professional in fighting against the Xiongnu, but their own professional soldiers were very amateurish. They would ask what was the point of spending so much money to support them, and it was truly embarrassing.

  At this time, something that made Dulin extremely surprised happened. The Xiongnu began to withdraw. The Chanyu of the Xiongnu immediately ordered his soldiers to withdraw from here and go to besiege the Western City. The outside of the Eastern City became empty and deserted. The Chanyu was so angry that he cried without tears, thinking: "Wang An, you demon, why didn't you go to harm the Righteous King, but came to me instead? I can't provoke you, but I can hide from you." The Chanyu arrived at the Western City, thinking that he could sleep well tonight. However, Qian Xuegui, the defender of the city, couldn't fall asleep. He didn't understand why the number of Xiongnu troops outside the city had suddenly increased by more than double.

  Early in the morning, Wang An looked at the outside of the eastern city wall with a lonely expression and said: "It's really hard to find an opponent." Du Lin secretly scolded him in his heart, saying: "Wang An, if you're really feeling lonely, you can lead the soldiers out of the city to fight against the enemy army." Wang An shook his head and said: "No way, war is about playing to your strengths and avoiding your weaknesses. The Xiongnu want to fight us, but we won't engage them in battle. We will only fight a war that benefits us and harms the Xiongnu. For example, if the Xiongnu are good at long-range attacks, we'll engage them in close combat; if they're good at field battles, we'll let them attack our city. This is the way to win." Du Lin listened to Wang An's words as if he had been enlightened, and immediately said: "Listening to your words is like reading ten years' worth of books. Your method is indeed a good way to deal with the Xiongnu. Why didn't we think of this before?"

  Wang An was still scolding Du Lin when Qian Xuegui, the defensive envoy of the Western City, came to visit Wang An. As soon as he saw Wang An, Qian Xuegui immediately showed a smile and said: "Brother Wang, I really miss you now, it's been a long time since we last met." Wang An said: "Don't be polite, you're a night owl who only comes when there's something to gain. What do you want?" Qian Xuegui said: "Brother Wang, you're really misunderstanding me, I'm just thinking of inviting you to our place as a guest." Du Lin said: "You're being overly flattering without any reason, what's your real intention?" Qian Xuegui said: "I don't have any ulterior motives, it's true that I want to invite Brother Wang to our place as a guest. Besides, there's a small personal reason - the Huns are scared of him and ran away from the Northern City. You don't know, but Brother Wang is really famous now." Wang An said: "I'm not that scary." Du Lin said: "Brother Wang, you don't know this, but your reputation is already well-known everywhere. The common people have made you their door god and put up your portrait on the doors to scare away evil spirits. Some people have even made a statue of you to be used in temples to increase their fame. They're just waiting for you to die so they can take out the statue and receive offerings from others." Wang An felt a wave of depression.

  Wang An said: "If the Xiongnu are not afraid of me and do not go to Beicheng, then all your plans will be in vain." Qian Xuegui said: "That's even better, I can follow Brother Wang on a night raid, and that way I can also get some credit." Du Lin opposed, saying: "I need Wang An here too." Qian Xuegui said: "There are no more Xiongnu here, why do you still need Wang An?" Then he turned to Wang An and said: "Brother Wang, just take pity on me."

  The Western City raised the commander's flag of Wang An, Qian Xuegui instructed his soldiers to listen to Wang An's dispatch, and the soldiers in the Western City were overjoyed when they knew that the general who came to command them was Wang An, thinking that this time they could follow Wang An to make merits together.

  The Khan saw Wang An's flag and was so angry that he had no tears to cry. He thought, "Do I have a feud with Wang An? As soon as I arrived at the Western City, you followed me here. Why don't you go find the Righteous King?" The Khan turned his eyes and immediately ordered, "Abandon this place immediately, soldiers follow me to meet with the Righteous King." The Khan rushed to the Northern City to join forces with the Righteous King's army. The Righteous King asked, "Why has the Khan come to my place?" The Khan said, "I haven't seen the Righteous King for a long time, so I came here to meet with you." The Righteous King secretly scolded in his heart, "This is nonsense! We met just a few days ago and said it had been a long time. Clearly, he was scared by Wang An and ran to my place."

  Xicheng's Qian Xuegui slept well tonight, but Beicheng's Wang Xueli and the soldiers were sleepless. So many Xiongnu troops gathered under Beicheng, what was their purpose? The soldiers of Beicheng spent the whole night in insomnia.

  On the second day, early in the morning, Wang Xueli ran to the west city and said to Qian Xuegui: "What did you bring Wang An here for?" Qian Xuegui replied: "Wang An arrived here and scared away all the Huns. I had a good sleep." Wang Xueli anxiously said: "You slept well, but I didn't sleep at all." Qian Xuegui said: "No one stopped you from sleeping either." Wang Xueli said: "It's easy for you to say that, but outside there are hundreds of thousands of troops. You can sleep, but this is a disaster in the making. Tonight, no matter what, I must have Wang An come to my place to sleep." Qian Xuegui refused, saying: "No way." Wang Xueli insisted: "It's not possible, but it has to be done. Tonight, Wang An will go to my place to sleep." A voice suddenly spoke up: "Everyone rushed to look and saw that it was Dulin." Qian Xuegui asked: "Dulin, what are you doing here? Are there any Hun soldiers in your area?" Dulin replied: "There weren't before, but now there are. The Hun soldiers know Wang An has arrived in the west city, so their troops have returned."

  "Wang An, come with me to Dong City," said Du Lin.

  "King An, come with me to Beicheng," said Wang Xueli.

  "Wang An, you have to stay in Xicheng," said Qian Xuegui.

  "What are you arguing about, you're all dignified defenders, it's so undignified to quarrel like this." Liu Jiao walked in and said, "Regional Commander" Du Lin, Wang Xueli, Qian Xuegui bowed together.

  Liu Jiao said: "Tonight, Wang An won't go to the North City, West City, East City or South City", Wang An was surprised and said: "Jiedushi (Military Governor), then where will I sleep?", Liu Jiao said: "You can sleep in the Jiedushi's mansion tonight". Du Lin, Wang Xueli, Qian Xuegui were shocked. Wang An said: "This is not good, it's too fast, I'm a bit overwhelmed, I'm a very loyal and honest person who knows etiquette and follows the law", Du Lin, Wang Xueli, Qian Xuegui secretly ridiculed him in their hearts, thinking that he was taking advantage of the situation and being arrogant. You're loyal and honest, please don't tarnish this good word.

  Liu Jiao said with a smile: "What's wrong, the Jiedushi's mansion is big, leaving you one more person won't make a difference", Wang An immediately said: "Jiedushi, can many people sleep here?", Liu Jiao said: "Of course". Wang Xueli, Qian Xuegui, and Wang An burst out laughing. Liu Jiao suddenly felt something was wrong, stomped her foot and said with a smile: "Wang An".

  On the way back, Wang An asked: "Why did you leave me to sleep in the mansion of the Jiedushi?" Liu Jiao said: "You staying there would cause a dispute among the defensive envoys, which is not conducive to unity." Wang An said: "Please tell the truth." Liu Jiao said: "I've been having nightmares lately, dreaming that little ghosts keep catching me. I heard you're very good at warding off evil spirits, and even ghosts are afraid when they hear your name, so I left you to sleep in the mansion."

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