Lu Tu didn't recognize the soldiers guarding the city, but judging from their uniforms, they should be border troops from Wuchuan, which lessened Lu Tu's worries somewhat.
This at least shows that the Shence Army has not yet returned to occupy Wuchuan.
Upon arriving at the city gate, before Lü Tu could even speak, the garrison commander stepped forward, bowed to Lü Tu, and said, "Qiao Peng greets Commandant Lü!"
Lu Tu nodded: "What's the situation in the city now?"
Qiao Peng shook his head: "The city is in chaos. Ever since you left Wuchuan that day, Captain, the whole of Wuchuan has become leaderless. Border troops from all sides want to occupy the Commandant's Office. Just yesterday, Captain Qi Hong of Polu even claimed that he had become the Commandant of Wuchuan."
Before Lü Tu could react, Prince Duan flew into a rage: "Outrageous! How dare he bypass me and appoint himself as the Commandant of Wuchuan? Doesn't he know that this is a capital offense?"
At this moment, Qiao Peng and his group of soldiers noticed Prince Duan beside Lü Tu, and immediately knelt down in unison: "This humble servant greets Your Highness Prince Duan!"
Prince Duan snorted coldly: "How many of you are there?"
"We only have about 30 men at the East Gate, but we are willing to support Prince Duan and Commandant Lü!"
Prince Duan announced loudly, "I have petitioned the court to officially appoint Lü Tu as the Commandant of Wuchuan!" After saying this, he glanced at Lü Tu and let Lü Tu make the decision.
Lu Tu nodded and said, "That's right, Qiao Peng, listen to my command!"
"Your humble servant is here."
"You can simply spread the news that I have been promoted to the rank of Commandant of Wuchuan!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Then Lu Tu waved his hand and said, "Let's go, follow me to the Commandant's Mansion and see what kind of person this audacious Qi Hong really is!"
During his conversation with Qiao Peng, Lü Tu had already noticed the people secretly observing him on the street. These were obviously spies from various sources, and he couldn't hide it from them. Lü Tu wasn't too concerned, as the final contest would come down to sheer strength.
This time, Lu Tu brought all his elite troops, fully equipped with composite bows and explosives. No matter how many people came, Lu Tu was determined to win! Moreover, he was on the legal side, with Zhao Qingyao and Prince Duan backing him up. He couldn't imagine how he could possibly lose in Wuchuan.
As soon as Lü Tu and his 800 elite cavalry entered the city, sure enough, they hadn't gone more than two streets when they spotted a troop of Wuchuan border troops at the end of the street. The leader was a burly man with a bushy beard, holding a meteor hammer, and he looked imposing and menacing.
"Who goes there? How dare you trespass on Wuchuan Prefecture?" the burly man with a bushy beard shouted sternly.
Tuoba Yue, who was standing to the side, asked, "My lord, shall we fight or negotiate?"
Zhao Qingyao also looked over. Lu Tu's decision was very important and would directly affect the outcome.
Lu Tu waved his hand and said, "Go for it first, don't hold back, make an example of them!"
"Yes, sir! Brothers, follow me!"
Tuoba Yue charged forward at the forefront, while the last 300 cavalrymen drew their composite bows, slowed their pace, and began firing arrows in rapid succession.
Although no detonators were attached this time, the frequency of such intense attacks in the narrow passageway of the street was devastating.
As expected, the burly man with the bushy beard on the other side never expected that he would bring so many people and make such a big show of force. Yet, Lü Tu showed him no respect whatsoever, which was a clear indication that he looked down on him from the bottom of his heart.
But as soon as he waved his hand and shouted, "The Commandant has ordered that all traitors be killed without mercy!" he was met with a barrage of arrows. His warhorse and the border soldiers behind him were killed or wounded in a single encounter.
They had never seen such a fierce barrage of arrows before. In an instant, they were slaughtered, crying out in agony. Only a few died from the arrow rain; most were trampled to death by each other.
The cavalrymen who were last to use composite bows stopped firing after firing five rounds and stood guard around Lü Tu, Zhao Qingyao, and the others.
Tuoba Yue and Nie Yun also used the momentum of the cavalry charge to reach the bearded giant and cut off his arm holding the meteor hammer with a single stroke.
The burly man cried out in agony, "Stop killing me! I surrender!"
Tuoba Yue then chopped off the big man's other arm with a single stroke before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him backward.
Nie Yun shouted at the fleeing border soldiers, "I am Nie Yun, a colonel under the command of Wu Chuan Commandant Lü Tu. If you do not surrender, you will be killed without mercy!"
At Nie Yun's shout, all the fleeing border soldiers stopped. After all, in the chaos just now, most of them had fallen off their horses, and if they tried to run on foot now, they would only face certain death.
Nie Yun quickly brought his men to control the situation. Tuoba Yue brought over the burly man with the bushy beard and threw him in front of Lü Tu: "Speak! Whom are you with?"
The burly man with the bushy beard looked up at Lü Tu and trembled with fear: "Greetings, Lord Lü! I didn't recognize you just now!"
Lu Tu stared at him with a smile: "Then your eyesight is really bad. Tuoba Yue, dig him out for me!"
"Yes, sir!"
Tuoba Yue walked over with a cold face, and with a flick of his wrist, a dagger appeared. This sight immediately startled the big man, causing his lower body to feel wet and hot. Then, a foul stench filled the air, causing Zhao Qingyao to turn her head away in disgust and spit inwardly.
Lu Tu looked at him disdainfully: "With this kind of attitude, you still want to usurp someone else's place?"
The burly man burst into tears and knelt before Lü Tu: "Lord Lü, please understand! I am a captain under Qi Hong, and all of this was his idea!"
Lu Tu nodded: "How many troops do you have in the city in total?"
"8,000 people."
Lu Tu raised an eyebrow: "Then why did you only bring so few people? Qi Hong should know I'm here, right?"
"I know. He has already deployed heavy troops to guard the Commandant's Office. Lord Lü, you'd better not go there."
Lu Tu laughed and said, "Of course I won't go there. I want you to go to the Commandant's Office to convey a few words to me."
"Ah?" The burly man was stunned, and said in great pain, "My lord, you are wise. I have suffered such serious injuries that I am afraid I will have difficulty making it to the Commandant's Mansion. I have heard that your medical skills are extremely high. Could you please save me first?"
Lu Tu glared at him: "If you can't even do this much, then what's the point of your life?"
The burly man was so frightened that he dared not say anything more. Fortunately, two soldiers came over, tore two strips of cloth from the corpse on the ground, and used them to firmly hold the man's severed arm in place, which barely stopped the bleeding.
"Go back to the Commandant's Office and tell Qi Hong that the Second Princess and Prince Duan have arrived, and that he should come out and pay his respects! If he doesn't come out, I, Lü Tu, will go and meet him!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
