Chapter 6: Deception

  Lei Meng saw everyone's excitement and poured cold water, saying: "Hmph, if it were you, would you not guard your own retreat? That side is probably also heavily guarded."

  Everyone's bright eyes dimmed again. Luoyang Tian couldn't bear it and said, "Lei Meng, just say how you're going to fight once and for all."

  "Hmm, actually I didn't have any ideas just now, I was just throwing out some possibilities. After ruling them out, it's easier to make a choice." Lei Meng hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Now that things are clearer, I think we should take 2,000 elite soldiers and cross the river with me to destroy the bridge. We need to be prepared to not return. General Luo can lead the army to secretly bring more rations and hide in the White Mountain forest. If possible, they can sneak behind the Huan Tian army and lay an ambush. Qin Hao can lead some weak and old soldiers to pretend to flee in a panic when the Huan Tian army is still 10-20 kilometers away. They can use branches and other things to stir up dust, making it seem like our main force is retreating. These soldiers will run all the way to Wujijiang, circling around the city, exhausted and weak. The city of Wujijiang will think that Huan Tian has defeated us. He Zhengshan will definitely engage with the Huan Tian army. With limited rations, after several days of stalemate, they will surely call for grain supplies. At that time, we can intercept their grain and send it to Huanyue..."

  Everyone fell into deep thought, and Mr. Wen's face lit up with joy, saying: "I think this plan is feasible!"

  Qin Hao's face turned black as he said, "I don't want to escape to Wujigang."

  Tong Da Shuai nodded in satisfaction: "Hehe, Tong certain said that Lei Ming has a way, right!" He continued to say: "General Luo, you quickly divide the troops and go collect things. Qin Hao, pick out the old and weak soldiers, gather them all together, and execute the withdrawal task! Don't let them know the details." Seeing Qin Hao's gloomy face, Tong Da Shuai smiled and said: "As for you, just follow me."

  Tong Dashuai asked again: "Yang Tian, how are you? What's your next move?"

  Yang Tian pretended to think for a moment, then said: "The soldiers under my command are not very elite, so I'll follow General Luo to White Mountain. However, I will send someone familiar with the Heavenly Gate to guide Lei Ming."

  Lei Meng said at this time: "General Tong, please mobilize all the boats nearby and use them to cross the river!" General Tong nodded in understanding. Then Lei Meng said to Yang Tian: "Yang Tian, since you are going to White Mountain secretly, I will give you a difficult task." Seeing Yang Tian's interest, he said: "That is to get rid of the messengers who go back and forth between Huan Tian and Huan Yue!"

  "Hmm, it's a bit challenging, but I think there shouldn't be any problem!" Yang Tian thought for a moment and said affirmatively.

  After an hour, Lei Ming led two thousand soldiers, Lin Chong as his deputy, and they crossed the river to the opposite bank. Two hours later, Tong Da Shuai, Luo Yang Tian, Yang Tian and others led their troops away, leaving only five thousand old and weak soldiers on the west bank of the river. Another two hours passed, the sun was no longer high, and the Huan Tian army was still three or four kilometers away from the west bank of the river. The Jin Yuan army's old and weak soldiers wrapped up some food, dragged tree branches, and fled to the White River in a panic. The Huan Tian army saw the dust rising into the sky from afar and knew that the Jin Yuan army was retreating to the White River, so they shouted "Huan Tian lives forever! Long live!"

  The distant White Mountain surprisingly echoed "Long live..."

  The Haotian army entered the city and searched it thoroughly, only to find that a few hundred soldiers of the Jin Dynasty had escaped to the other side of the river. The number of soldiers was too small to pose any threat to the Haotian army, so the Haotian commander planned to capture Wujijun first and then slowly clean up these scattered soldiers; or drag them on for a while and assimilate them into the local population, after all, people from both countries were of the same kind and spoke the same language.

  Everything is developing in the direction of Operation Thunderclap.

  This time, the commander of the army is Feng Feifan. His reputation is more prominent than Wu Yue's, otherwise he wouldn't have been sent to the front lines after Wu Yue's defeat. Feng Feifan is over 40 years old, 1.76 meters tall, slender, with a pale face and a mustache, sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, a jade nose and a square mouth, making him a very charming man. His talent in military affairs lies in commanding troops rather than fighting on the front lines, so his army is well-organized, but no one knows if he has any martial arts skills, only that he wears a long sword at his waist and has many skilled fighters around him. This time, hearing that Haotian has a powerful expert, after defeating Wu Yue, he sent over Wan Nianfeng, who is said to be the most formidable, along with other experts to form a 20-man strike team. Wan Nianfeng practices Iron Shirt, making him immune to knives and guns, and serves as the vanguard, while others follow behind him, allowing them to move freely among the enemy army, disrupting their formations and killing their generals.

  Feng Fei Fan led his army all the way to sweep through, without seeing a single Jin Yuan soldier. Therefore, he had no doubt that the Jin Yuan soldiers would flee at the sight of him. He arrived in Hexi and stationed there, waiting for tomorrow to divide his troops into two routes to advance forward.

  That night nothing happened in Hexi City.

  The west of the river is rarely opened, and it is connected to a dense and tall forest. After Leiming's 2,000 soldiers crossed the river, they walked forward in the forest for four or five kilometers before changing direction and rushing towards Huanyue City. Along the way, when encountering villages, they would detour, and if they really couldn't avoid them, Leiming would lead a few good hands from the army to go in first and knock out the people inside before passing through - the villagers of Huatian found that the bandits only knocked themselves unconscious but didn't rob anything, all feeling unbelievable.

  At night, the 2,000 Jin soldiers camped in the mountains and wilderness. The next day at noon, they approached within three kilometers of Huanyue City, encountering several scouts along the way, all of whom were knocked down and tied up by Lei Ming. After interrogation, it was learned that there were still 10,000 soldiers in Huanyue City, with 3,000 guarding both sides of the bridge and 7,000 defending the city. Lei Ming ordered his troops to rest well and attack Huanyue at night; if all else failed, they would have to cut off the bridge.

  Yang Tian led Zhang Shan's 2,000 troops and marched twenty kilometers in the direction of White Mountain before changing course to head due north, advancing straight into the mountains. It was unclear whether Feng Feifan had confidence in his army of 150,000 or was well aware of the number of troops that Jin Yuan had brought with him, but surprisingly, he did not scatter scouts to reconnoiter, and Yang Tian's 2,000 troops advanced unimpeded into the rear of the Huotian Army. Tong Dashuai and Luo Jiangjun's 25,000 troops also rushed into the mountains, taking a detour. - Only they didn't have much food and couldn't hide for many days.

  The next morning, Feng Feifan divided his troops into 50,000 and rushed to Baishan. He led a large army of 100,000 to rush to Baihe, with cavalry messengers transmitting messages in between. At noon, he led the rear to rush to Baihe and found that the Jin Yuan army had left. He thought that the Jin Yuan army occupying the three cities did not have many troops, and they were also afraid of being surrounded by a large army, so they retreated to Wujiluo; if it were him, he would not divide his troops to fight against the enemy's main force either. An hour later, the messenger from Baishan came to report that the Jin Yuan army in Baicheng had retreated. When Feng Feifan heard this news, it further confirmed his speculation - besides, he had received internal information from Jin Yuan earlier that there were only over 30,000 troops in the three cities of Baihe, Baishan, and Hexi, and the commander and generals were not on good terms...

  At dusk, the 50,000 troops of Mount Bai arrived as scheduled. The three cities were smoothly recovered, and the entire army was overjoyed: it seems that the great army is indeed different when it comes out, and with General Feng in command, it's really different...

  "Long live Emperor Wu of Han! Long live Crown Prince Jin!"

  At sunset, Feng Feifan and Wan Nianfeng stood on the city wall, looking at the large army stationed outside the city and the endless fields outside the city. He sighed and said: "Hehe, I didn't expect Jin Yuan to flee in fright, someone's plan to kill with a borrowed knife has failed."

  "That's General Shuai's reputation being too great, it scared them off." Wan Nianfeng gave a not-too-big-or-small flattery.

  "Heh heh, it's fine if we don't fight here. Let's go to Wujijun and fight there instead. That way, the grain outside the city will be preserved too." Feng Feifan stroked his beard with a gentle smile.

  That night, Feng Feifan led his army to rest at the White River.

  The next morning, Feng Feifan assembled his troops and left 10,000 soldiers to guard the White River, leading 140,000 soldiers to rush towards Wujijiang. Feng Feifan was cautious and didn't arrive at the outskirts of Wujijiang City until after three o'clock in the afternoon.

  Arriving outside Wujicheng, they saw that the defenses were strict and had a defensive posture - originally, cities were used for defense. Feng Feifan ordered his troops to camp outside the city.

  On the city wall of Wujicheng, He Zhengshan and Lu Fei, Qiu Sheng three people faced the sunset to observe the Huan Tianjun. He Zhengshan had a worried look on his face, asking Lu Fei: "Mr. Lu, how many do you think are in the Huan Tianjun? Why did only these 5,000 old and weak soldiers escape back from the vanguard, and there is no news of Tong Wen Zheng and Luo Yang Tian's life or death?"

  Lu Fei nodded his hands and said lightly: "Judging from the military formation of Huatian and the momentum of the rising dust, I'm afraid there are 140,000 to 150,000 troops in Huatian's army. As for Tong Wen Zheng and Luoyang Tian, it is possible that they saw the arrival of Huatian's great army and fled in disarray, leaving behind only these weak soldiers who could not run far and retreated back to Wujijiang."

  "It's possible! Otherwise, there wouldn't be any news at all!" He Zhengshan said in a stern voice, then furrowed his brow and asked: "Do you know who led the troops this time under Hua Tian?"

  Lu Fei glanced at the army formation of Huang Tian, listened for a moment, and found that there was no chaotic noise in the camp 500 meters away. He said: "Lu certain observes that the Huang Tian army is strict and quiet, and the camp is in order. Except for Feng Feifan and Wu Yue near Huangyue City, there are no other generals with this ability. And Wu Yue has died, so the commander of this large army is likely to be Feng Feifan! Be careful, General!"

  He Zhengshan gazed at the vast army under the sunset and said in a low voice, "Qiu Sheng, do you have confidence to sneak into the enemy's camp?" He knew that Qiu Sheng had gone to scout out the Hexi City the night before last and returned injured. Fortunately, it was only some superficial wounds, which would not affect his actions much.

  "Hmm..." Chu Sheng hesitated, his right hand tightened slightly and found that he still had strength, and the wound on his chest was only a scratch - if he had retreated a bit slower that night, he might have been disembowelled.

  He glanced at Lu Fei's wink and nodded, "It should be fine to go up for a walk, but there are also masters in the Huatian military camp, I'm afraid we can't kill any generals."

  He sighed and said, "It's better to investigate the situation." Then he muttered to himself, "I don't know how long we can hold out against each other. I also need to plan a retreat carefully, or else I'll be trapped here."

  "Liu Qi!" He Zhengshan shouted loudly.

  "Yes!" came a reply from beneath the city wall.

  "Several messengers were dispatched to inform the Emperor that our army and the Huangtian Army are in a standoff at Wujijiao, requesting additional rations!"

  "Yes!"

  Lu Fei and Qiu Sheng exchanged a look, it seemed like something was going to happen tonight.

  ……

  It was night, and there were many clouds in the sky, sometimes dark and covering the ground, sometimes bright and filling the fields. At a certain moment, a thick hemp rope fell from the wall of Wujicheng, and then someone slid down along the rope. Then, this person hid and slipped to the outside of the Hwangtian military camp, scanning around without being discovered, and then slipped into the Hwangtian camp again, disappearing from sight. Not long after, he sneaked to the outside of the commander's tent!

  "Who's there!" Wan Nianfeng sprang to his feet, shouting loudly, and grabbed the long spear standing beside him, making a gesture as if he was about to thrust it towards the source of the sound.

  Feng Feifan stroked his mustache and smiled, looking calm and composed.

  "Hehe ~, Nian Feng brother is still so vigilant." The person outside the account lifted the curtain and entered, it turned out to be a man in black clothes, holding a long sword, Qiu Sheng.

  Wan Niangfeng put down the long spear in his hand, sat down and said: "It's you again, you stinky old mouse!" He paused for a moment, then said with a smile, "However, it's not that I didn't discover you?"

  Qiu Sheng did not care about Wan Nianfeng and faced Feng Feifan, who was sitting in the main seat, saying: "General, Qiu Sheng has come to report on military affairs."

  "Tell me, how many of Jin Yuan's vanguard troops retreated back to Wujijun?" Feng Feifan asked with a smile.

  Qiu Sheng looked at Feng Feifan with a respectful gaze: "Under the wise command of Generalissimo, Jin Yuan's vanguard was defeated and scattered, with only 5,000 old and weak soldiers fleeing back..."

  "What! Five thousand elderly and weak!" Feng Feifan exclaimed in shock.

  "Hasn't Generalissimo attacked Jin Yuan? Hasn't Tong Wen Zheng surrendered?" Qiu Sheng asked in surprise.

  "Damn it!" Feng Feifan cursed loudly, slamming his hand on the table in front of him with a "bang", and then asked: "Are these 5,000 old and weak people not led by anyone?"

  "It seems like there isn't..." Qiu Sheng replied weakly.

  "Bang!" Another loud slap on the table, Qiu Sheng was startled and jumped up. Then he heard Feng Feifan scolding: "Lu Fei you idiot! Are you eating shit or something?! You're telling me this important information now?!"

  "Those five thousand old and weak people only arrived at Wujijun half an hour earlier than the general..." Qiu Sheng argued in a low voice.

  Feng Feifan glared at him with a fierce gaze, and Qiu Sheng didn't dare make a sound.

  Feng Feifan, accompanied by Wan Nianfeng and Qiu Sheng's silent gaze, pondered for a minute or two before saying: "However, having fled with 30,000 troops won't have much of an impact. We can take down the Black Chicken tomorrow morning. Go ahead, you bring Nianfeng over and clear out the leaders of Jin Yuan."

  "Yes!" Chu Sheng and Wan Nianfeng were just about to set off.

  "Slow!" Feng Feifan stretched out his left hand to stop the two of them, and asked Qiu Sheng: "Who beat you up? Where is that person?"

  "Hmm, this person was in the Jin Yuan Xianfeng Army, and they were just two little kids." This answer touched a sore spot.

  "Those two again, have they returned to Wujijiang?" Feng Feifan asked again, still worried about the assassination.

  "There isn't." Qiu Sheng said definitely.

  Feng Feifan fell silent, then shouted: "Pass Feng Muxi over!"

  "Yes!" The guard outside the account went to pass on the order.

  ……

  Before long, Feng Muxi ran into the commander's tent. It turned out to be a fat man, and all his military uniforms were extra-large sizes.

  Feng Feifan asked: "Mu Xi! Is there any news from the rear today?"

  "Feng Muxi shouted: 'Report to the general, the west of the river and the White Mountain have reported normal conditions, with no appearance of the Jin army!'"

  "What about Huáng Yuè?" Feng Feifan asked again.

  "Hmm... it seems like there's nothing over there." Feng Mu Xi suddenly realized that he had missed the situation with Huáng Yuè, who hadn't sent any reports. Ah, there was a problem! Feng Mu Xi opened his mouth wide but didn't dare to shout out loud.

  "Pffft!" The table in front of Feng Feifan shattered into splinters with just one slap from him - it turned out that Feng Feifan was also a master, a deeply hidden master.

  Qiu Sheng and three others were so frightened that they didn't dare make a sound or move an inch.

  "Qiu Sheng! Take Wan Nianfeng to Uji to kill a way, must kill most of the officers, otherwise, the army is in danger!" Feng Feifan shouted orders.

  "Yes!" Chu Sheng and Wan Nianfeng responded in unison, the two of them knew that Feng Feifan was skilled in martial arts, but had never seen him reveal it before, now that he has, it can be seen how great his anger is. The two turned around and quickly ran out of the commander's tent, disappearing into the black night in an instant.