Liang Lecheng was in despair. He was merely a rebel general, clad only in a lamellar armor. Yet, the imperial troops facing him were all equipped with such armor.
Was his rank as a general worthless, or was the imperial court outrageously extravagant?
Although lamellar armor was much tougher and offered better protection than leather armor, it wasn't entirely impenetrable.
Liang Lecheng channeled the qi and blood within him to empower his saber, cleaving viciously at an approaching imperial soldier. The man, along with his lamellar armor, was instantly split in two.
"Hoo... this consumes too much stamina. My qi and blood are severely depleted! It seems my martial luck ends here!"
Liang Lecheng looked around in despair. His allies were dwindling, and the enemy forces were growing. Escape was hopeless; he was trapped like a turtle in a jar.
On the city walls of Qiancheng Commandery, Li Mengdie watched the distant flames with her subordinates. Cai Guangyao scoffed, "Your Highness, you see? Wasn't this general right? How could Chu Chen, with all his fame, be so incompetent? How could he not know basic night raid prevention? Now, he's needlessly lost fifteen hundred men."
Fan Ju stood beside Li Mengdie, shivering all over.
"It's nothing. It was merely a probing attack. Whether it succeeded or failed is inconsequential."
Li Mengdie glanced at Fan Ju with disdain, but not with much blame. She could afford to lose a mere fifteen hundred men.
"It seems it has failed. Everyone, go back and rest. Tomorrow afternoon is the crucial moment."
With that, Li Mengdie turned and departed.
The next morning, the imperial army set up their cooking pots and ate breakfast. After breakfast, they began felling trees to construct siege equipment. The vanguard pushed the front line to within eight li of Qiancheng County, while the main force was stationed twelve li away.
The entire morning passed uneventfully. Both sides were engaged in tense preparations for attack and defense.
Everyone knew this was the calm before the storm.
In the afternoon, after lunch, five siege towers, each thirty feet high, had been erected outside the city. Numerous siege ladders and ladder carts were also laid out around them.
"The imperial army's progress is astonishingly fast! They built five siege towers in just one morning?"
Cai Guangyao stared at the scene in disbelief, impressed by the imperial army's manufacturing capabilities.
"With such manufacturing speed, these siege implements alone are enough to assault the city. I wonder if the imperial army will attack?"
Fan Ju murmured to himself.
Li Mengdie frowned, observing the scene. A hint of madness flashed in her eyes. "My lords, the enemy is openly building siege equipment outside the city. Does anyone dare to sortie and intercept them?"
"...Your Highness, since Chu Chen dares to display this so openly, he is likely prepared!"
Fan Ju remained silent for a moment, then advised, having learned his lesson, "I naturally know that Chu Chen is prepared, but so what?"
Li Mengdie's lips curved into a slight smile. "Even if Chu Chen is as cunning as a demon, he certainly wouldn't expect me to dare a surprise attack on him!"
With that, she looked at her subordinate generals.
The generals exchanged glances. Lin Caizhe stepped forward, cupped his hands, and bowed, "Your Highness, this general is confident in his Body Tempering realm cultivation and is willing to venture out and try!"
"Good! I shall order you to lead three thousand elite troops. Depart from the side gate, take a detour, and be sure to destroy all the siege equipment outside the city."
"I will have someone on the front draw the enemy's attention for you!"
Li Mengdie nodded with satisfaction and smiled.
Lin Caizhe accepted the order and departed. Li Mengdie said to Cai Guangyao, "Go, order three thousand men to be assembled. Launch a frontal assault to cover Lin Caizhe."
"Yes! This general will arrange it immediately." Cai Guangyao promptly obeyed, as it wasn't he who had to charge out.
Soon, An Xian, who was supervising the construction of the siege equipment, heard movement from the city walls. He quickly ordered the vanguard to assemble and form ranks.
At this point, An Xian's vanguard was no longer just seven thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry. Chu Chen had transferred twenty thousand men from the rear to him. Together with the left and right armies, they formed a force of approximately seventy thousand, completely encircling Qiancheng County on three sides.
Chu Chen's own main force was left with only a little over five thousand men.
Cai Guangyao casually ordered a general not aligned with him to lead three thousand weak and sick soldiers to charge out. Unsurprisingly, An Xian easily repelled them, even finding it amusing.
"General, these rebels are indeed no match for us!"
The adjutant beside him said with a chuckle. His name was An Yong, a distant cousin of An Le, who had been brought along on this campaign.
"Do not be careless. Although this engagement was not fierce, we cannot underestimate the rebels. Wang Neng was able to gather tens of thousands of troops to rebel; their core fighting strength must be considerable. If you hold such an opinion, you will surely suffer later."
An Xian remained vigilant, even lecturing his cousin.
"Heh heh~ Understood, General." An Yong was unconcerned.
Just then, chaos suddenly erupted from the flank.
"What is happening?" An Xian reprimanded with displeasure.
"Reporting to the Vanguard General, rebel forces have infiltrated from the flank and are currently launching a surprise attack on the siege equipment in the manufacturing camp!"
"What! Are the artisans unharmed?" An Xian was greatly alarmed. His first reaction was not concern for the siege equipment, but for the artisans.
The Shuangyue Kingdom was currently short of artisans. Every qualified artisan was a precious asset, capable of generating immense wealth for the Shuangyue Kingdom. This was not something that could be lost.
"Reporting to the Vanguard General, the artisans are unharmed. After all, that was merely a display area; the actual manufacturing site is not there."
The messenger replied with a strange expression.
"That's good then!"
An Xian almost forgot that this was a deliberate display for the rebels in the city. The artisans were not there at all. He had been overly worried.
"In that case, An Yong, quickly lead your troops and annihilate these rebels who dare to launch a surprise attack!"
"Yes!"
An Yong received the order and immediately directed several thousand troops from the surrounding area to reinforce the flank.
When they arrived, laughter echoed from within the camp. "The imperial army is nothing more than this. Without these machines, how will you attack the city!"
An Yong heard this and looked closely. He saw that not only were the five siege towers in the manufacturing camp ablaze, but the tools and machines used to build them were also set on fire.
He couldn't help but rage, "Damn rebel army, I will kill you!"
"Charge! Capture these rebels!"
A large number of soldiers rushed forward. Lin Caizhe's troops, having already fought a battle and now facing a numerically superior force, could not withstand An Yong's assault.
They retreated steadily, were surrounded, and then completely annihilated.
"A pity for a fine man. He chose death rather than surrender. But why did he join the rebels instead of serving the imperial court?"
An Yong shook his head, looking regretfully at Lin Caizhe's corpse on the ground.
"General, I have fulfilled my mission! The rebels who launched the surprise attack on the manufacturing camp have all been wiped out!"
"Hmm, it seems we cannot launch an attack this afternoon. That's fine."
An Xian looked at the walls of Qiancheng County and smiled.
He suspected that the trapped King Liu and his forces would never have imagined that the three armies surrounding them had no intention of attacking, but merely of preventing them from leaving.