Chapter 84 The Fly Tactics: A Close Call!
"ha……"
This time, Yuan Xiao was so badly beaten that he couldn't even scream anymore, and his previous arrogance had completely vanished.
Having lived a life of luxury and privilege, she had never suffered such hardship before. The pain she endured today was probably more than all she had suffered in her entire life.
All the soldiers' eyes were focused on Yuan Xiao.
Because of Yuan Xiao's one action, their comrades, their close companions, their sisters who had shared life and death, died in the enemy's ambush...
Countless eyes were fixed on Yuan Xiao, who was being beaten. The entire military camp was silent, with only the cracking of the whip breaking the silence.
Seeing that Yuan Xiao had been knocked unconscious, the supervising officer Zhang Hanwu rushed forward to stop him.
"Your Highness, please calm down! We can't fight anymore... If we keep fighting, someone will really die."
Only then did the remaining soldiers, as if just waking up, begin to offer their advice.
However, during this process, not a single person among all the people present remembered Yuan Xiao, who was still hanging in the tree, leaving her hanging high up like a dead fish.
It wasn't until long after Yuan Yan had dropped the whip and left that someone finally put Yuan Xiao down and threw him back into the rear camp.
After returning, the system asked Yuan Yan.
[Host, tell me the truth...did you whip Yuan Xiao just now to appease the troops?]
"That's part of the reason, but not entirely."
“Yuan Xiao has done all sorts of bad things, and she is universally hated. I’ve wanted to beat her up for a long time.”
“This matter isn’t resolved yet. We can’t kill the Empress Dowager for the time being, but we can at least beat her half to death,” Yuan Yan said.
Just as Yuan Yan was communicating with the system in his mind, a soldier from Youzhou beside him looked hesitant, as if he had something to say.
"What do you want?" Yuan Yan noticed and asked.
"Your Highness, you struck the Third Princess. If His Majesty finds out, will he punish you...?"
The soldiers hesitated on the road.
"Yes, Your Highness, if that doesn't work, let's just say we all did it together!" The other soldiers chimed in.
Yuan Yan was surprised that the soldiers would say this, and felt a slight warmth in his heart.
"Soldiers, there is no need to worry. It was the Third Princess who made a grave mistake first. Even if His Majesty blames me, I have my reasons."
"It is I who owe an apology to all the soldiers of Youzhou. You soldiers have risked your lives to fight for the country, but my third sister has disregarded their lives and acted recklessly. This is truly the fault of the imperial family."
Before Yuan Yan could finish speaking, the soldiers present started chattering away.
"Your Highness need not blame yourself, we all know. This was done by the Third Princess, it has nothing to do with His Highness Prince Qin."
"With a sister like the Third Princess, Your Highness must be in a difficult position. We women of Youzhou are known for our strong sense of right and wrong. Your Highness's return to aid Youzhou and his punishment of the Third Princess to avenge the fallen soldiers makes you our benefactor. We are grateful beyond measure, how could we possibly criticize Your Highness..."
Looking into those sincere eyes, Yuan Yan didn't say anything this time.
Upon returning to the main tent, she picked up her pen and wrote a memorial, reporting to the Empress Dowager in detail what Yuan Xiao had done.
"What is the current situation of the enemy?"
"Your Highness, the enemy commander is Jin Yuelun, and his generals include Duan Xuchao and Wu Ziyuan. Duan Xuchao is the one who led the troops to break through Jicheng that day. He is fierce and brave, and we must be careful if we encounter him on the battlefield."
Yuan Shi then relayed all the battlefield intelligence to him.
...
At the same time, the enemy also received news that the King of Qin had returned to reinforce Youzhou.
"King Qin... was this the man who killed General Kuang?" Jin Yuelun asked.
“Indeed, this Qin King of the Phoenix Kingdom is different from the previous Third Princess. She single-handedly defeated tens of thousands of our army, personally took to the battlefield, and successively killed Yuchi Qi and General Kuang. She is no ordinary person,” Duan Xuchao said solemnly.
"Heh, General Duan, why are you boosting others' morale while diminishing your own? This King Qin has only fought a few battles, and you're already so intimidated by just one defeat of our army?"
Shi Zongji mocked her, saying that she had always been at odds with Duan Xuchao because of some old grievances, and that's why she publicly contradicted her.
Duan Xuchao frowned and stopped arguing with Shi Zongji.
After listening to the two men, Jin Yuelun clearly favored Shi Zongji. He ordered the army to prepare, and Shi Zongji led his troops to attack. Taking advantage of Yuan Yan's recent arrival, they planned to catch her off guard.
...
While Yuan Yan was still discussing the battle situation with his generals, a soldier suddenly came to report.
"Your Highness, the Wu army is attacking!"
Who is leading the opposing forces?
"It is the enemy general Shi Zongji," a soldier reported.
Yuan Yan led his men to the top of the city wall and looked out.
Shi Zongji's side has already begun ordering his men to challenge them.
"Who is willing to fight for me?" Yuan Yan asked.
"Your Highness! I will go and kill this villain, and present him to Your Highness!"
Before anyone else could react, Ah Man volunteered and stepped forward, loudly accepting the challenge.
Yuan Yan saw A Man's determination to make a name for herself and nodded in agreement.
She also wanted to see how strong this enemy general was.
Aman rode a black horse and led his troops out of the city gate like a whirlwind.
"Who goes there? State your name!" Shi Zongji shouted, staring at the towering, black woman opposite him.
“I am Zhang Aman, Your Highness’s deputy general,” Aman said.
What Zhang Aman? I've never even heard of her.
Shi Zongji looked down on Aman because the Phoenix Army had only sent an unknown junior officer.
"Hmph, is the Phoenix Army lacking in talent? Where is your King Qin? He sent such an unknown nobody to challenge me, Shi Zongji?"
"Don't underestimate me. Even without Your Highness sending anyone else, I alone can handle you!" Aman said, raising a large sword and slashing at Shi Zongji.
Shi Zongji took out his sword to block. But the moment the weapons clashed, Aman's seemingly ordinary slash carried a force as great as a mountain, pressing down on her arm so hard that she almost couldn't block it.
"How could this be?" Shi Zongji began to doubt himself.
Is it possible that she can't even defeat an unknown junior officer of the enemy army now?
After several rounds, Shi Zongji grew increasingly terrified. Faced with Aman's fierce attacks, she was unable to fully utilize her swordsmanship.
He gritted his teeth and relied on his warhorse to dodge attacks, barely managing to maintain his undefeated status.
Even so, when Aman swung his arm and brought his broadsword down, Shi Zongji tried to block with his sword, but he was still injured without being able to avoid it.
"Kill them!"
Seeing that Aman was gaining the upper hand, the shouts of the Phoenix Army grew louder and louder.
Aman fought with increasing ferocity, wielding a large sword with fierce power as he chased after Shi Zongji.
Shi Zongji was ultimately no match for Aman's immense strength and was defeated. Knowing he was no match for Aman and that continuing the fight would likely cost him his life, he feigned a sword strike and turned his horse to flee. Leading the remnants of his army, which had been driven back by the Phoenix Army, he escaped in disarray.
After Shi Zongji escaped back, he was immediately questioned by Jin Yuelun.
"Didn't you say the Phoenix Army was easy to deal with? How come they were defeated so quickly?"
Shi Zongji repeatedly complained, "This humble general also did not know... That enemy general claimed to be the deputy general of the Prince of Qin, but he was incredibly strong and extraordinary. This humble general was really unable to withstand his brute strength, please forgive me, Marshal."
Duan Xuchao chimed in, "I've never heard of such a person in the Phoenix Army before. It seems we need to be careful."
However, they soon discovered that the Phoenix Army's counterattack had only just begun.
After the Wu army retreated, Yuan Yan rewarded Aman and then summoned all the generals to the main tent to decide on the next tactics.
“Jicheng is well-defended and has ample food supplies, making it difficult to attack by force. If we want to retake Jicheng as quickly as possible, we will probably have to use some special methods,” Yuan Yan said.
"May I ask Your Highness, do you have any good plans?" General Chen insisted on participating in the meeting despite his injuries, and immediately asked upon hearing this.
Yuan Yan: "A good plan is not necessarily the case. I am not familiar with Ji City and do not know if there are any secret passages leading out of the city."
"I am from Jicheng, and I grew up here. I have never heard of any secret passages in the city," Zhang Yu shook his head.
There's no secret passage... It seems shortcuts aren't so easy to find after all. Yuan Yan thought to himself.
"Host, host, is not being able to find the secret passage a big problem? What should we do?" the system asked.
“It doesn’t matter if there’s no secret passage; there are other methods, though they involve more risks,” Yuan Yan told the system.
She raised her voice slightly: "In that case, I have another plan, and I ask all the generals to cooperate fully."
“Your Highness, please speak,” Liang Yijiong said.
...
For the next few days, the Wuzhou army began to suffer.
Yuan Yan's generals took turns attacking, launching a continuous harassment campaign against the Wu army.
General Yuan Yan had divided his soldiers into several teams beforehand. Each team was led by Xue Lang, Che Ju, Yu Liu, A Man, and others.
These troops did nothing else but engage in small-scale skirmishes and harass the enemy by beating drums and firing arrows around the city of Ji.
Furthermore, Yuan Yan arranged a schedule for them, allowing the various teams to take turns resting according to the time of day.
If the enemy showed any sign of coming out of the city to fight or unleashing a hail of arrows, these troops would turn tail and run, never lingering in battle.
After this happened several times, the enemy figured out their tactics, but they couldn't break through them due to insufficient arrow supplies, which made them very angry.
Yuan Yan's constant harassment made it impossible for them to fight back or completely ignore him; they were afraid that one of his feints would turn into a real attack.
The daily harassment kept the enemy on edge and exhausted.
"Damn it, wasn't the King of Qin supposed to be brave and fierce? How come he looks like a fly... Do these Phoenix Army soldiers dare to fight us head-on?" Jin Yuelun cursed.
"The Phoenix Army is trying to wear us down; their intentions are insidious," Wu Ziyuan echoed.
All the Wu generals were cursing the Huang army, but Duan Xuchao fell into deep thought.
"I feel like something's not right."
"It seems like the King of Qin hasn't appeared at all in all this time," she recalled, reminding the commander-in-chief to be wary of Yuan Yan.
Upon hearing this, Shi Zongji became even more furious: "This King of Qin is a coward! Does she think she can wear us down like this? That's wishful thinking!"
"It doesn't seem so. I believe the King of Qin's move is intended to lower our guard so that we can launch a surprise attack," Duan Xuchao said.
Her analysis was actually quite reasonable, but head coach Kim Yue-yeon didn't listen to it.
Left with no other option, Duan Xuchao could only instruct his subordinates to strengthen patrols, remain vigilant, and not let their guard down.
As Yuan Yan listened to the reports from below, he sensed that the enemy was becoming increasingly tired and complacent, so he immediately summoned Aman, Yuan Shi, and others.
“It’s about time,” she said.
System: [Host, are you really going to do this yourself? Isn't it a bit too dangerous?]
“If something happens to me, I still have you, right? We’ve accumulated enough achievement points to exchange for quite a few things. I’ve looked into them, and some of the items are life-saving in a crisis. So it’s actually safest for me to take people with me,” Yuan Yan said.
"That's true." The system was very confident in its achievement point items, and upon hearing this, it felt relieved.
In the dead of night, all was quiet.
The torches on the city wall were sparse, and the soldiers on guard duty were already showing signs of fatigue.
Yuan Yan, along with Xue Lang, A Man, and other personal guards, as well as Yuan Shi and some elite soldiers from the Ruijian Battalion, quietly approached the city walls.
After several days of reconnaissance, they found that the defenses at the eastern corner of the city wall were relatively sparse.
At Yuan Shi's signal, several soldiers swung the grappling hooks and threw them out forcefully, wedging them at the crenellations. After pulling hard to confirm they were in place, they lowered the rope ladder down from the city wall.
"Your Highness, everything is fine," the soldier reported in a low voice.
"Ascend the city."
Yuan Yan and his group silently climbed up the rope ladder one by one to the top of the city wall.
Just as Yuan Yan reached the top and was about to ascend the city wall...
A soldier on patrol was inspecting the area when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark shadow moving out of the corner of his eye. He turned around and looked in that direction.
What's that noise?
The soldiers noticed something was wrong and, while talking, stepped forward with their weapons.
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