Chapter Thirty-Five: The War Begins

  (Please collect and comfort my hard work, don't really make me run naked haha)

  As soon as the alarm bell on the city wall rang out, all the people in the courtyard immediately panicked. Lü Shi's heart also sank, what was to come had finally arrived, and a fierce battle was inevitable.

  "Calm down, everyone! Don't panic. These are just the local landlords and militiamen from nearby villages, not government troops coming to attack us. We have the high walls of our fortress to rely on, and the five hundred brave brothers from Wobu Mountain as our main force. We have absolute confidence in annihilating any enemy that dares to invade. Don't run wildly, everything will be carried out according to Zhao Da Hai's command."

  Lü Shì shouted this out, and everyone immediately felt like they had a backbone, their emotions slowly recovering.

  "General Guotianxing, please dispatch your troops to fully defend the city walls." Guotianxing immediately bowed to Lü Shiyong and said: "As you command, sir. We will go now." He then called out to his subordinates in the square and rushed towards the city walls with large strides.

  Lü Shi Chao nodded to Zhao Da Hai and said, "Brother Zhao, you're in charge here. Arrange the inside and outside guards, take care of the village militiamen and the Zhuang Ding, comfort the villagers, sort out supplies, cook meals and boil water."

  "Don't worry, brother, I've got this place covered." Zhao Dahai replied loudly.

  "Everything here is left to you, brother, I'll go to the city now and help Tianxing brothers fight against the enemy."

  Zhao Dahi was shocked to hear that, Lü Shi, a scholar, how could he be in charge of the battlefield. At that moment, he pulled him over and said, "Although I'm just a nominal hundred-household leader, I have a good physique and bravery, but I don't understand military command at all. In terms of commanding and dispatching troops, I'm not as good as you." He opened his mouth to speak, then stomped his foot and grasped Lü Shi's hand firmly, saying: "Brother, be careful."

  Lv Shizhan smiled and said, "When it comes to fighting, I'm not necessarily inferior to you. I may not be able to kill enemies, but I can still protect myself with ease. Brother, rest assured." After speaking, he didn't say much and hurriedly ran towards the city wall.

  On the city wall, the city wall had already calmed down under the dispatch of Guo Tianxing. When Guo Tianxing saw Lü Shijie arrive, he hurriedly made way for a section next to him. After Lü Shijie stood firm, he pointed outside the city and said: "Sir, just now only a dozen or so cavalrymen appeared, then they saw that we had already occupied the fortress, and they turned back on their horses. I think in the next moment, a large army should have arrived."

  Lü Shid nodded, having already heard Zhao Dahai mention that the Chen family was strong and powerful. It seemed that this time, a fierce battle was inevitable.

  But the walls of Zhangjiabao are high and large, not inferior to the county town, only the scale is much smaller. There are 500 people on this side who should come to defend, but one-sided defense can't win. After thinking for a while, "Master, now we're just defending here, it's not a solution, I don't know when the reinforcements from the mountain stronghold will arrive?"

  He looked up at the sky, then calculated and said: "Sixty miles round trip, now I send a messenger to the mountain stronghold, it should have just arrived, and after reorganizing the troops and guns, it will take some time, and rushing here again will take two more hours."

  "That means we won't arrive until evening?" Liu Shu furrowed his brow and said.

  "This is already fast." Overcast Skies was very proud of it.

  The road is rugged and bitter, just thirty miles takes four hours, not to mention the two hours it takes to tidy up the horses and guns, this is too slow.

  It's hopeless to expect them to join the defense, but suddenly a bright idea flashed in his mind. Why not have an inside and outside cooperation? So he quickly pulled over Tianxing Dao: "Master, I have a way to break the enemy, need Master's arrangement."

  Guo Tianxing's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hastily asked: "Sir, what method do you have? Quickly speak, I, Guo Tianxing, will listen to your plan and follow it."

  Lü Shi didn't hesitate, and immediately said: "Please ask the master to quickly find someone who can speak, and immediately send out a welcoming team to meet the reinforcements, tell them that along the way, they should dispatch scouts far away to seal off any news, and the main army shouldn't make too much noise, but rather hide their appearance. Then when approaching the battlefield, find a place to hide, and wait until nightfall. When we raise fire signals on the city wall, light many torches and shout loudly, we'll launch a surprise attack from both inside and outside and wipe out Chen's militia."

  Guo Tianxing heard this and slapped his thigh, repeatedly praising Mr. Lv's wonderful plan. He didn't delay either, and hastily called over a clever and capable little leader, who followed Lv's instructions to the letter. The little leader didn't dare to be slow, and immediately rode off towards Zhangjiabao, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.

  With this trump card, Lü Shifang felt at ease and asked, "How are the defensive equipment on the city wall prepared? Are they still sufficient?"

  "Sir, look at this fortress, it's really a bottomless pit, with all sorts of traps and mechanisms, most of which are official military equipment. If it weren't for your plan, we'd be four thousand bandits charging together, but we still wouldn't be able to crack this nut. But now, this is great, it's saved us the trouble, hahaha!" He burst out laughing with joy.

  Lü Shixin said, "Isn't this still thanks to the blessings of those Wei soldiers?"

  Following the heavenly stars along the city wall to inspect, and then arranged the manpower tasks for each section of the city wall. When everything was ready, everyone stood solemnly on the city head waiting for the impending battle. For a time, the city head was quiet, and everyone's eyes were cast in the direction of the dozens of war horses galloping back, with an atmosphere of killing intent in the air.

  There is a rumbling sound of footsteps slowly coming from the sky and the earth, growing louder and louder. At first, a large red flag appears on the horizon, with a black character "Chen" unfolding in the autumn wind.

  "Here it comes..." Lü Shi and Guo Tianxing let out a sigh of relief together, waiting for the unpredictable danger to arrive was even more suffocating, but seeing the danger clearly actually made people feel at ease.

  Under the blood-red banner that symbolized the Chen family's power, row upon row of cavalrymen slowly emerged, followed by row upon row of stern-faced guards with gleaming knives and guns. The warhorses were majestic and solemn, and on horseback or on foot, each face was twisted in a ferocious scowl, all hinting that this impending battle would be a fight to the death.

  Indeed, this time Chen's family came to support with a determination to fight to the death.

  When Chen's family saw the wolf smoke rising from Zhangjia Village, the patriarch of the Chen family suddenly changed color.

  The Zhang family has always been powerful and influential in this area, and even the local authorities dare not provoke them easily. Moreover, their fortress is high and strong, so it's surprising that they suddenly lit up the beacon fire, indicating that something serious has happened. Hurriedly, he personally climbed up the watchtower to take a closer look.

  Nowadays, although the landlords and local tyrants in each village have a mutual aid agreement to guard against each other, everyone who sends out personnel and resources also wants to get something in return. Although it's not necessarily face-to-face, there are still some past dealings behind the scenes. Therefore, each village can solve its own problems itself, and will not light the beacon fire unless absolutely necessary. It seems that today, Old Chen's family really has encountered big trouble.

  Hurriedly descending from the watchtower, Chen Yuanwai ordered a servant to immediately summon the masters of each household to discuss in the ancestral hall, while also having someone ring the bronze gong to gather the clan's younger generation, preparing to dispatch troops for reinforcement as soon as they reached an agreement.

  Before long, the copper gong on Tongluo Mountain rang out, and immediately the whole village was in an uproar. Every Chen family member knew that as soon as they heard the gong ringing, it meant that manpower was needed to fight somewhere, so everyone picked up their weapons and rushed to gather in the square in front of the ancestral hall.

  The top priority for a big family to survive is unity, with guns pointing in the same direction outward. Whatever concerns the survival of this family, those who have money contribute financially and those who have strength contribute physically. It cannot be slackened. If it is slackened and not contributed, don't mention that the family rules are strict, even if the family collapses, there will be no good fruit to eat for oneself.

  Upon hearing the summons, the master of the house hastily entered the ancestral hall to see the elderly clan elder, inquired about the reason, and received his assignment.

  Chen Yuanwai saw that everyone had arrived and was about to receive orders, feeling very satisfied. Without waiting for everyone to sit down, he began to speak: "Just now, you all saw that the Zhang family lit the beacon fire to ask for help, which means that a large group of thieves has come to attack. I won't say more idle talk. This time, we must put out our utmost spirit to rescue the Zhang family. As long as we resolve this crisis for the Zhang family, they will look at our family's strength with new eyes and pay more attention to our affairs in the future. Then, we can do whatever we want on this land. Alright, let's not say more idle talk. This time, let's have the eldest son of the Long House take the lead, and each house gather all the brave young men who can wield knives and guns, and immediately go to the Zhang family to provide reinforcements."

  "The clan leader's grandfather can rest assured, thinking that it's just a few trivial thieves. What's a big deal for the Zhang family is just a small matter for our Chen family? Look at my grandson leading his men to show their faces in front of Old Man Zhang." The young and vigorous clan leader's grandson stepped forward with confidence.

  In recent years, the Chen family's external martial arts competitions have all been led by this rising star, the eldest grandson of the main house, and he has not disappointed anyone. He is already a leader among the rising stars. So this time is no exception, and it is still the eldest grandson who leads the team to battle.

  Chen Yuanwai was very satisfied with his grandson's confidence, but still stroked his beard and nodded with a smile, reminding him: "My grandson must not underestimate the enemy, since the wolf smoke signal has been sent, it must be that the thieves at home are powerful, otherwise they wouldn't have come to seek help in such a way. It's better to be cautious."

  "Grandfather's teachings are that the grandson must be careful." The eldest grandson hastily retracted his arrogant and self-satisfied attitude, although his tone was respectful, but he couldn't hide the arrogance in his eyes.

  "Alright, nothing else, go tell Zhang's family relatives, after we've killed the bandits, you must invite us to drink and eat meat, haha!"

  "Grandson, take note of this, I'm leaving." The eldest grandson in the main house, Shi Li, took his leave.

  They saw hundreds of Chen family members standing in front of their houses, each one stationed at the entrance. After a few words, they turned over and mounted their horses, shouting as they led the cavalry to rush towards Zhangjia Village in the east. Those without horses were naturally led by others on foot. The entire team was well-organized and clearly structured. These were all elite soldiers who had been trained through hundreds of years of inter-clan battles, and their strength should not be underestimated.

  Chen Jialang's grandson led a team of over 80 horses to slowly run out for about three miles when the scout returned with news that almost made him fall off his horse.

  The Zhang family's fortress has been breached, and on top of the high fort wall is a large flagpole.

  What's going on? The fort is broken? That Zhang family compound will also not be able to hold out for much longer, and that good-for-nothing nephew of the Zhangs will definitely come to no good end. Although I dote on that useless cousin of mine, I also know his character, if he falls into the hands of those rascals, it won't be anything else, those refugees will tear him apart.

  "Hurry up, speed up, we must rescue Zhang's nephew before the Zhang family mansion is breached!" Chen Jiaolong was really anxious, his aunt had only this one precious child, and it was absolutely impossible to lose him.

  The Chen family's sons and younger brothers responded with a loud shout, nearly a hundred cavalrymen galloped wildly, rushing to kill the Zhang family fortress. However, they didn't know that cavalry couldn't directly attack the city, but this was already beyond consideration. The remaining infantry also quickened their pace.

  Chang Sun galloped his horse wildly, shouting angrily: "You scoundrel, see how the Chen family will kill you until your blood flows like a river and your corpse is scattered all over the field." At the same time, he was also slightly pleased in his heart. Taking revenge was one aspect, but if they could annihilate these bandits in one battle, reporting it to the county would surely bring him an official position and title.