Chapter 469- String of Plans
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
“General, that’s Wulong County.”
The vanguard general arrived beside Qu Yi and pointed at the city a distance away.
Qu Yi looked over, only to see a city standing tall. However, its city walls looked torn and tattered, like the aftermath of a huge war.
“That’s bad, are we a step too late?” Qu Yi frowned, “Go, let’s go take a look!”
As they proceeded forward, they could see the drawbridge of the city protection river broken and dangling on the shore. The city gate stood slightly ajared, and on the floor, there were dried up blood stains that had not been cleaned up.
“General, what should we do?”
The situation in front of him had greatly exceeded his expectations.
“Lets enter the city and take a look.”
“This….” the vanguard general thought for a moment, “General, to prevent a possible plot, let me bring some men to take a look first!”
“Okay!”
Qu Yi had been through hundreds of battles, so he was not a rash person at such times.
The vanguard general brought with him two hundred iron cavalry, preparing to cross the city protection river. At this very moment, the city gates suddenly opened and out came ten odd men on horses. Their leader was a civil servant.
When the vanguard officer saw these people, he pulled back on his horse.
The civil servant crossed the city protection river and rushed to the front of the army. Then, he dismounted, “Wulong County Minister Du Sijing greets general.”
Before the Lords situated north of Zhaoqing headed out for battle, they had all left a minister behind to handle matters. These ministers were all registered with Qu Yi.
Qu Yi recalled his name and believed that he was in fact the minister of Wulong County. He did not dismount from his horse. Instead, he pointed at the blood on the city gates and asked, “Mr. Du, what is this? You sent out the emergency signal, so where’s the enemy?”
“This matter is a long one; let’s speak in the city.”
“Okay, lead the way!”
After confirming Du Sijing’s identity, Qu Yi had basically lowered his guard. He definitely would not expect that Du Sijing was on Shanhai City’s side.
This entry into the city was one of no return. However, Qu Yi did not know that.
Since they had fifty thousand troops, they naturally could not all enter. Qu Yi led two hundred personal guards in, while the remaining soldiers set up camp outside of the city.
Du Sijing rode on a warhorse and followed beside Qu Yi. Seeing that Qu Yu was enjoying the sights and welcome of the commoners, he felt sad and empathy for the latter.
The plotting ability of the Lianzhou Lord were simply too terrifying; he considered even the smallest of details.
Be it the broken drawbridge, the blood stains on the city gates, or the welcoming commoners, all these matter were planned out.
The goal was to let Qu Yi completely lower his guard.
With such an interruption, it was already noon.
Du Sijing had arranged a feast in the Lord’s Manor to welcome Qu Yi.
At the same time, he also arranged men to send wine and dishes to the soldiers outside. After rushing all day, the fifty thousand cavalry were all famished. With such good food before them, they naturally felt delighted.
The military had their rules; the army camped outside the city could not accept the food of the people inside. If they wanted to eat, they could only consume the rations they brought and drink water.
As for drinking wine, that was prohibited.
However, Du Sijing’s welcome was just too warm. He said that this gesture was the good intentions of the people in the city. He did not want Qu Yi to reject them. If not, they would feel uneasy, and it was like Qu Yi was looking down on them.
Facing such words, Qu Yi could not say anything; he could only agree.
Since their general agreed, the fifty thousand soldiers naturally feasted. They took out all their exhaustion and hunger on the dishes and wine.
Qu Yi himself was the same. He drank wine and bit into a drumstick, looking exceedingly rough and unkempt.
“Speak. What exactly happened?”
Qu Yi was still responsible, and he had not forgotten his role.
“A day ago, a two thousand strong enemy army attacked Wulong County. My men and I tried our best, and we barely fended them off. We did not expect that the enemy general would say that they were only the vanguard forces, and that more troops would come tomorrow. I did not dare take him lightly. As such, I asked for help.”
Qu Yi nodded, “I see. What’s the background of the enemy?”
“As for their specific background, I do not know. They were wearing a black armor without any flags.”
“Black armor?” Qu Yi also had no idea, “No matter who it is, if he dares to come, he will not leave.”
“On behalf of all the people, I thank the general!”
When Du Sijing heard these words, he hurriedly stood up and bowed.
Qu Yi waved him off. He was an old brute and did not care about such customs.
Suddenly, a servant walked in.
“Sir, someone wants to meet you!”
“Let him wait. Can’t you see that I’m with the general?”
Du Sijing raged.
“But he said that it’s an emergency and needs to tell you face-to-face.”
“No!”
Du Sijing rejected.
Sigh, this time, Qu Yi spoke, “Mr. Du, just go.”
Qu Yi waved his hand impatiently, as he grabbed a drumstick and chomped down.
When Du Sijing saw this response, he got up and left. He did not return.
The feast was held in one of the courtyards in the east of the Lord’s Manor. The Guards that Qu Yi had brought along all stood guard in the courtyard.
Just as he left, hundreds of bowmen and crossbowmen suddenly appeared on the four walls of the courtyard. Each one grasped a god-arm crossbow, and they fired a round at the guards.
Instantly, cries of pain broke out.
“What happened?”
Qu Yi was also highly alert, and he immediately picked up his weapon and charged out. He did not even bother wiping the oil on the sides of his mouth. The sudden sneak attack had caused them heavy casualties and less than fifty of the men remained.
“It’s a trap!”
Qu Yi was stunned, and his face turned ashen white.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
“Charge out with me!”
Qu Yi knew that if they tried to fight here, only death awaited them. Their only path to survival was to charge out and gather with the troops outside.
Although the chance was slim, it was his only choice. He courageously charged out under the protection of his few remaining guards.
Just at this moment, the doors of the courtyard opened up and a bunch of armored soldiers charged in.
They were the personal Guards of Ouyang Shuo, the two hundred Divine Martial Guards.
Qu Yi’s personal Guards were not a match for the Divine Martial Guards.
The only tough opponent was Qu Yi himself, as he was a King Rank general.
His opponent was not anyone else but Ouyang Shuo.
“Who are you? Say your name, who dares to act so despicable?”
Qu Yi engaged with Ouyang Shuo.
Ouyang Shuo wielded the Tianmo Spear in his hand, as he matched Qu Yi without too much difficulty, “Listen up, I do not change my name or my surname; I am the Lianzhou Lord.”
“What?”
When Qu Yi heard these words, he was astonished and knew that he had no way out.
The name of the Lianzhou Lord was famous in the entire Lingnan Province. As a general, Qu Yi had naturally heard of him. For him to appear in Wulong County, the consequences were dire.
“Lord, I’m willing to surrender!”
At this crucial moment, Qu Yi was able to think smartly.
Ouyang Shuo laughed coldly, “Unfortunately, I do not accept your surrender!”
“You!”
Qu Yi felt infuriated and utterly humiliated.
“Since that’s the case, give me your life!”
Qu Yi was a man after all, so he decided to give it his all.
The two of them fought one another, creating a dazzling scene.
Unfortunately, the current Ouyang Shuo was not some weakling. Facing this King Rank general was nothing to him. After fifty rounds, Qu Yi died under his spear.
Ouyang Shuo did not think about recruiting him. First, he was arrogant in history and Ouyang Shuo did not favor him. Secondly, for him to surrender in such circumstances, his loyalty was questionable.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo would rather just kill him and obtain a general soul.
In less than half an hour, they took out the remaining guards.
Needless to say, this was all a trap. When Qu Yi received the emergency signal, the fates of his fifty thousand men and himself were already set.
Apart from surrounding Qu Yi, outside of the city, Lin Yi’s Guards Division had already engaged the enemy camp.
After traveling a long distance, these fifty thousand troops were enjoying a feast, so they were caught totally unprepared. Needless to say, the food they had sent contained extra ingredients that would made the eater weak.
Facing a trump card force like the Guards Division, the fifty thousand iron cavalry could only surrender.
After killing Qu Yi, Ouyang Shuo brought the personal Guards back to the meeting hall. In less than an hour, Lin Yi returned to report.
“Lord, of the fifty thousand cavalry, we killed twelve thousand. We captured and locked the rest in the city barracks, apart from a small number that escaped.”
Lin Yi’s efficiency was incredibly high.
“Not bad.” Ouyang Shuo nodded his head, pleased, “Follow the plan!”
“Understood!”
Lin Yi backed down to handle the future matters.
Just taking down the fifty thousand cavalry, Ouyang Shuo naturally would not feel pleased. His goal was to attack Tianshuang County and cut off the enemy’s grain supply.
Tianshuang County was a stronghold, and they even had an army defending it.
Although the Guards Division was strong, without siege weapons, it was a useless endeavour.
Hence, he could only plot.
Ouyang Shuo had designed a string of plans for this matter.
Taking down Qu Yi was only the first step. In just two hours, the Guards Division had taken off their Mingguang Armor and equipped themselves with Qu Yi’s army’s armor.
Apart from that, they swapped out their identity tokens, flags, and miscellaneous items.
Ouyang Shuo was trying to make use of information and time difference.
The news of the iron cavalry falling definitely would not spread so quickly. As such, the Guards Division would disguise themselves and attack Tianshuang County.