After marching for two li, Chen Anmi discovered another sign with even more offensive content, directly attacking his person.
He was so enraged that he flew into a fury.
After another two li, Chen Anmi saw a third sign, the content of which made him completely lose his temper.
"Ah~ How dare you insult my mother! I will surely kill you!"
Chen Anmi angrily dismounted, brandishing his sword and cutting down the sign.
One sign was not enough to vent his anger, so he swung his sword around, releasing the fury within him.
As a result, with a splash, he fell to the ground, startling the generals behind him into dismounting.
"General, General, what's wrong?"
"Ouch, who dug this pit here!"
A hapless general followed in Chen Anmi's footsteps, clutching his leg and cursing.
"These are pits? How insidious and disgusting!"
Ma Su helped Chen Anmi up and looked at the pit at his feet. His face turned red and white, clearly infuriated.
"Quick, see how the General is."
"Hurry and call the army doctor."
Soon, the army doctor examined Chen Anmi and said nervously, "General Zhengxi is suffering from anger overwhelming his system, and he fainted from the fall. There is no serious injury. I will prescribe some medicine and apply a poultice, and he will be fine in two days."
"Alright, you may go."
"Yes, I take my leave."
Ma Su carefully placed Chen Anmi on the ground and asked, "Old General, now that General Zhengxi is unconscious, and you are the most senior here, what do you think we should do?"
"Send people to check if there are any more pits ahead and fill them all."
"Then we will set up camp. Tomorrow, after the General wakes up, we will attack the city."
The old general frowned and gave his advice.
"Then it shall be so."
Inside Anxian County, Chu Chen sat beside Princess Xinyue, listening helplessly as Princess Xinyue excitedly recounted her misdeeds to the generals below.
This caused the generals to burst into laughter, greatly amused.
Since the invasion by the Chen Kingdom, the atmosphere had been oppressive and solemn. The failure of General Zhendong, who led thirty thousand troops to contain the enemy, resulting in his death and the loss of thirty thousand men, had cast an even darker shadow.
Now that the situation had reversed, everyone seized the opportunity to laugh heartily, using it to relieve their pent-up frustrations.
"Alright, everyone quiet down."
Chu Chen raised his hand to signal for silence.
Once the generals quieted down, he said, "After the series of strikes just now, the enemy's morale must have declined, but it's not enough. They cannot rest tonight."
"Zhongwu Zhonglang General Cao Hua, Zhao Meng, receive your orders!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"I order you two to take turns leading five hundred cavalry. Starting from midnight, every hour, bring gongs and drums and leave the city from the flank. Approach the enemy camp, beat your gongs, and shout that your grain and fodder in Pingye County have been burned, that your army is running low on supplies, and that you should surrender quickly."
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, your subordinate understands!"
Cao Hua and Zhao Meng looked excited.
The Defensive Commissioner was too cunning, devising a plan that would prevent the enemy from sleeping.
But they loved it.
At midnight, when everyone was fast asleep, more than half of the Chen Kingdom's soldiers outside the city, still in their armor, were in slumber.
The other half were awake, guarding against Chu Chen's night raid.
Suddenly, the sound of hooves echoed.
The soldiers guarding the camp gate quickly beat their gongs and drums, shouting, "Enemy attack, enemy attack."
Unexpectedly, as the approaching cavalry neared, they veered off to the side, carrying gongs and beating them incessantly.
"Damn it, can't we get any sleep!"
The sound of five hundred gongs was extremely piercing in the dead of night, making it impossible to sleep.
In his tent, Ma Su, who was guarding General Zhengxi, opened his eyes and urgently summoned the soldier outside the door.
"What's happening?"
"It seems like the enemy is launching a night raid."
"Night raid? Excellent! We'll make sure they have no return!"
Ma Su was not alarmed but overjoyed.
When they had set up camp, they had anticipated a night raid from the city and were prepared.
As long as they dared to come, they would all be left behind.
All the generals had gathered in the central military tent, waiting to unleash a slaughter and collect some interest.
Who would have thought that after a while, the sound of gongs would grow fainter and finally disappear?
"Report~ Reporting to General Ma, the enemy did not launch a night raid. They merely beat their gongs and drums, ran around the outside of the camp gate for a while, and then left."
"What? You scoundrel!"
Ma Su finally understood that they had been tricked.
Furious, he immediately wanted to gather his men and pursue them.
The old general quickly stopped him, saying, "Ma Su, this is a harassment tactic by the Yunyue Kingdom. They were never planning a night raid."
"Damn it."
Ma Su, held back by the old general, could not exert much force. Angrily, he sat back down.
The old general sighed and said, "In this state, it seems they won't launch a night raid, but they also won't let us sleep peacefully at night."
"How should we respond?"
"Divide the soldiers into three groups. Block their ears and take turns resting."
"Fine, let's do that. When dawn breaks, I'll make them pay."
Ma Su stomped away indignantly, leaving the old general to begin assigning tasks.
The next day, Chen Anmi woke up and learned about what had happened last night.
He struggled out of bed, summoned the generals, and assigned tasks in preparation for the attack.
An hour later, Chu Chen and his men stood on the city wall, looking refreshed, at the dispirited Chen Kingdom army below, whose formation was disorganized.
"Hahaha, the Defensive Commissioner's plan is so effective! These turtles probably didn't sleep a wink last night, did they?"
Gao Le looked down and burst into laughter.
"It's not that bad, just poor quality rest," Chu Chen said with a smile.
He then said sternly, "However, today is the first day, and it will undoubtedly be a tough battle. Everyone must be mentally prepared."
"Don't worry, Defensive Commissioner. No matter what, we won't be taken down by them in a single day," Gao Le replied seriously.
Soon, the bugle horn sounded from below the city. Following the drumbeats, several formations advanced a few steps.
Then, a large number of soldiers emerged, holding shields above their heads, and charged towards the moat.
"Archers, prepare!"
"Fire!"
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~"
At this moment, from the rear of the Chen Kingdom's formation, several tall arrow towers were slowly pushed forward. A large number of Chen Kingdom archers stood on them, firing at the city wall to suppress the defenders.
"What the hell, where did the Chen Kingdom get so many arrow towers overnight?"
Chu Chen was startled, a little confused.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that these arrow towers were not integrated but had clear signs of modular assembly.
"The enemy's craftsmen are talented indeed, mastering modular assembly!"
Chu Chen frowned, making up his mind that after winning this battle, all these craftsmen must be captured alive and brought back.
A fierce meat grinder battle erupted. Countless soldiers threw their lives into filling the moat, and the archers on both sides exchanged fire.
For the entire morning, the Chen Kingdom launched several attacks, filling the moat at the cost of twenty thousand men.