Chapter 66: To Scheme Is to Be Schemed Against (Seeking Collection)

  It's three o'clock in the morning now, and there is still one more watch tonight.

  At noon, Gan Ning led his eight hundred strong men and appeared in the southwest of Chao Yang City.

  Gan Ning halted his horse and gazed afar, but saw that the flags on the city wall of Chao Yang were disordered and not a single soldier was seen patrolling the walls.

  The west gate of the city was also wide open, with people coming and going, and several lazy soldiers standing at the gate, Ganning could even see the ugly appearance of the gatekeepers yawning.

  All signs indicate that this is a city with lax defenses.

  "People say that Yan Liang is a god of war, but the defense of this city is so lax. I think he's just all reputation and no substance..."

  Gan Ning was disdainful in his heart, and a look of scorn gradually appeared on his heroic face.

  After a moment's observation, Gan Ning raised his twin pikes and shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me into the city!"

  As soon as the words fell, Gan Ning rode out like a flowing fire, and the eight hundred strong men behind him followed closely, shouting and killing.

  Eight hundred men all wore brocade robes, rushing out like this, as if a raging fire swept across the sky and earth, with an extremely majestic momentum.

  In an instant, Gan Ning had ridden his horse to the forefront and killed his way to the edge of the moat.

  The city gate is right in front of us. As long as we charge across the suspension bridge and seize the city gate, his 800 cavalrymen can rush into Chaoyang City and plunder at will.

  Gan Ning was confident and bold, urging his horse on with a loud shout, wanting to rush across the suspension bridge.

  Just then, a loud cannon shot was heard from the city wall, and suddenly countless flags were raised, and numerous soldiers appeared in unison.

  Immediately afterwards, the suspension bridge was quickly lifted up and the city gate was closed instantly. What was originally a seemingly defenseless castle almost entered a state of full alert in the blink of an eye.

  Gan Ning was shocked and hastily reined in his horse, stopping at the moat.

  The troops who were killed from behind, couldn't stop their footsteps, and many people were squeezed into the moat, the eight hundred men and horses were soon crowded together in a mess.

  When Gan Ning raised his head again, he was shocked to see that on the city wall, hundreds of bows and crossbows were pointing at him. Those fully armed soldiers looked down at them like tigers and wolves.

  "Could it be that Yan Liang had been prepared for this all along?"

  Gan Ning had this thought flash through his mind, and a look of surprise appeared between his eyebrows.

  At this time, Wen Pin appeared on the city wall, with a big knife pointing at the bottom of the city, and shouted: "You thief Gan Ning, you have already fallen into my general Yan's trap. Why don't you quickly dismount and surrender? Otherwise, I will make you die without a place to be buried."

  Wen Ping's contemptuous words instantly enraged Gan Ning.

  His face was ferocious, wielding a pair of halberds, shouting: "Where is Yan Liang? Dare to come down from the city and fight to the death with Laozi."

  Gan Ning let out a loud shout, and those eight hundred unruly Brocade Guards also shouted in unison.

  Wen Ping sneered and shouted loudly: "Want to exchange blows with General Yan of our family? Humph, first ensure your own safety before talking!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Pin swung his big knife forward with a loud whoosh.

  At the order, the bowmen who had already bent their bows and set arrows immediately loosened their fingers, hundreds of sharp arrows whizzed down, shooting towards the enemy like raindrops.

  Gan Ning swiftly wielded his twin pike, deflecting the incoming arrows.

  His martial arts were extraordinary, and a few arrows couldn't do anything to him. However, the soldiers beside him were all hit by arrows, and only heard the sound of mournful howls rising and falling. In an instant, 50 or 60 people fell down after being shot.

  Seeing his subordinates falling one after another, Gan Ning was furious but he knew that if they continued to hold on like this, the whole army would be annihilated.

  Helpless, Gan Ning had no choice but to shout retreat and turn his horse around to flee.

  They came with great fanfare and left in a flurry, several hundred brocade-clad bandits fleeing the city of Chao Yang in disarray under a hail of arrows.

  Wen Ping on the city wall saw that the enemy was being forced back and immediately led 3,000 infantry and cavalry out of the city to pursue them relentlessly.

  After a round of arrow rain baptism, Gan Ning's 800 troops lost more than half, and the morale sank to the bottom. Seeing Yan Liang's army chasing behind him several times, he had no heart to fight and could only run wildly in the direction of Wanjia Gorge.

  At dusk, Gan Ning and his defeated troops finally saw the shadow of Ganjia Village.

  The dust behind has not yet dispersed, Wen Pin is still pursuing relentlessly.

  However, at this time Gan Ning's heart had calmed down a lot. As long as he could safely enter the valley, he believed that with the solid wall of the valley, let alone Wen Ping's few thousand soldiers, even if Yan Liang led his entire army to come, they would not be able to break through.

  "Yan Liang, you've killed so many of my brothers, I'll settle this score with you sooner or later!"

  Gan Ning gritted his teeth in anger and hatred, but he did not dare to stay for long, calling on the defeated soldiers to retreat into the valley as soon as possible.

  One hundred steps, fifty steps, thirty steps——

  The wall is right in front of you.

  "Hurry up and open the gate, bring all the bows and crossbows onto the wall, prepare to meet the enemy."

  Gan Ning shouted loudly, but what was strange was that there wasn't a single movement from within the wall.

  In an instant, Gan Ning's defeated army had arrived at the front gate.

  The thieves in embroidered clothes were flustered and noisy, shouting at their companions inside to quickly open the door and let them in.

  Gan Ning raised his head and gazed up at the empty walls, but in his heart a sense of foreboding gradually welled up.

  "Could it be——"

  Just as I was in a state of utter bewilderment, the sound of killing cries rose like thunder, and on the originally empty walls, countless fully armed enemies suddenly appeared.

  On that high-flying big flag, a huge "Yan" character was embroidered.

  "Yan Liang! How did he end up here?"

  Gan Ning was shocked beyond measure, his originally ferocious expression instantly replaced by astonishment.

  At this time, Yan Liang finally appeared on the city wall, looking down at the city below, and coldly said: "Gan Xingba, I have been waiting for you here for a long time."

  Before in XinYe, Yan Liang expected that Gan Ning would launch a surprise attack on ChaoYang, so he devised a plan to use the situation to his advantage.

  When Wen Pin led his infantry to defend the city, Yan Liang had already led a group of elite cavalry to take a shortcut and launch a surprise attack on Ganjiaxi.

  Gan Ning took most of the troops from the fort to attack Chao Yang, leaving behind only over a hundred old and weak soldiers. These people were no match for Yan Liang's seasoned soldiers who had fought in numerous battles.

  Yan Liang easily broke through the Gan family's stronghold without much effort, and then sat down to drink tea, waiting for Gan Ning to return in defeat.

  As he had expected, Gan Ning was defeated by Wen Ping and hastily retreated back to his lair, but never could have imagined that his old haunt had already been occupied by Yan Liang.

  Gan Ning, enraged outside the wall, charged at Yan Liang and roared: "Yan Liang, how dare you take my stronghold!"

  "People say Gan Ning has a violent temper, and indeed it's not just an empty reputation..."

  Yan Liang sighed inwardly, but his mouth was cold and said: "You seized the grain and grass that I should have had for no reason, and you still want to attack my Chao Yang City. Now I am just teaching you a lesson, what's wrong with that."

  Yan Liang's words are like a hidden sharp spear, seemingly plain but extremely sharp.

  Gan Ning's face was filled with anger, but for a moment he didn't know how to respond.

  His furious expression flickered with astonishment, as if he dared not believe that Yan Liang had seen through his intentions and that his military prowess had reached such a terrifying level.

  At this time, a large dust storm rose behind him, and Wen Pin's 3,000 infantry arrived.

  Gan Ning and his several hundred remaining troops were trapped in front of the precipice, with no place to hide and unable to advance or retreat.

  Yan Liang saw Wen Ping's army approaching from atop the wall and ordered the gate opened, leading his troops out.

  Gan Ning also said that Yan Liang planned to take advantage of the situation and kill him, and the two would attack him together. He hastily ordered his troops to retreat and form a battle array. Just as they had retreated several dozen paces, Wen Ping's large army had already surrounded them from behind.

  In desperate straits.

  At this point, Gan Ning thought that he had to stake his life and engage in a fierce battle, but what was strange was that Yan Liang did not make a move.

  Yan Liang would never want Gan Ning's life. He ambushed the wall with a clever plan, just to show off his exceptional skills to Gan Ning.

  He was very clear that a talented general like Gan Ning would definitely be arrogant and look down on incompetent masters.

  To subdue this kind of person, one must overpower them with strength and make them surrender.

  Four thousand cavalrymen surrounded Gan Ning and his several hundred remaining troops on all sides.

  A pair of bloodshot eyes stared fiercely at the bandits surrounded, as if eager to pounce and tear their prey into shreds.

  No orders were given, yet no one took it upon themselves to act.

  Gan Ning formed a circular array, frowning and gazing around at the numerous enemies, but he also did not dare to launch a rash attack. His heart grew increasingly suspicious, unsure of what intention Yan Liang had in surrounding him without attacking.

  In the midst of hesitation and heavy siege, a path was cleared, and Yan Liang rode his horse slowly into it.

  Gan Ning's body trembled slightly, and even someone as proud as him was intimidated by the aura emanating from Yan Liang for a moment.

  Yan Liang dragged his large sword forward, looked up at the frightened enemy crowd and said loudly: "Gan Xingba, if you don't surrender, dare to come forward and fight with me."