The city was very quiet at this time. Apart from some Jin soldiers patrolling the city walls and inside the city, it was difficult to see anyone else.
More and more soldiers entered the city through the tunnels, and soon several thousand people had entered.
The soldiers split into two groups and quietly headed to the two city gates, intending to open the gates first and then let the soldiers outside the city in, so that Merlin City would fall without a fight.
The two groups of men approached the city gate silently. By the time the Jin soldiers guarding the city noticed, it was too late. The soldiers rushed forward, cutting down the Jin soldiers as they opened the city gate and lowered the drawbridge.
The soldiers who had been waiting outside the city swarmed in and rushed into the city.
At this time, the Jin soldiers were still asleep. They never dreamed that the army of the Great Northern Dynasty had already stormed into the city.
Meilin was an important town in the south, with a normal population of over 100,000. However, after the Jin army entered the city, all the people in the city fled, and the people in the city were basically Jin soldiers.
After the soldiers entered the city, they killed anyone they saw, without making a single mistake. Those they killed were all heinous Jin soldiers.
Xiang Shangjin was still asleep when he was woken up and was shocked. He did not expect that the army of the Great Northern Dynasty had already entered the city. Did they fall from the sky?
Now is not the time to discuss this matter; escaping is the priority. Xiang Shangjin, fully armed, led his men into the military camp and engaged in a fierce battle with the troops who had entered the city.
Xiang Shangjin was indeed a fierce general. In the darkness, he fought his way out and led his less than a thousand defeated soldiers out of Merlin City, disappearing into the night.
After a night of fighting, the soldiers slaughtered all the Jin soldiers in the city, and took the rest prisoner.
The next day, Li Guang left about a hundred men in Meilin City to manage the city and receive the people returning to the city, while the rest of the men went back to Panzhou Lake.
Two days later, Li Guang led his troops back to the naval camp on Panzhou Lake, where Ding Tong came out to greet him.
When Li Guang left, he only took 10,000 soldiers with him. Now he has returned with 30,000 soldiers, which should mean that reinforcements from the ancient castle have arrived.
Seeing that Li Guang had captured many prisoners, defeated Xiang Shangjin, and recaptured Meilin, Ding Tong was very pleased.
"General Li's victorious return this time, defeating Xiang Shangjin, is tantamount to cutting off Someron's other arm. He won't be able to keep going for much longer."
"This time, by joining forces with the army of the ancient castle, we not only defeated Xiang Shangjin's 20,000-strong army, but also recaptured Meilin City."
"Unfortunately, Xiang Shangjin broke through and escaped. We didn't capture him. He won't be so lucky next time. We must capture him alive!" Li Guang said excitedly.
"Xiang Shangjin is the fiercest general of the Jin Kingdom, but so what? He is still no match for General Li."
“Ding Tidu, please don’t flatter me. Let me introduce you. This is Meng Liang, the chief of the Nanyi tribe in Nancha Ancient Castle,” Li Guang said.
Ding Tong walked up to Meng Liang and bowed.
"Greetings, Chief. You have had a long and arduous journey, leading your army thousands of miles to reinforce Panzhou and relieve its predicament. I, Ding, am deeply grateful."
"Admiral Ding, you flatter me. I, Meng Liang, am also a citizen of the Great Northern Dynasty. When foreign tribes invade, it is only right for the Southern Yi people to share the burden of the country. This time, I, Meng, have led troops here to annihilate the Jin soldiers."
"I will not return to the castle unless the Jin soldiers are driven away." Meng Liang finished speaking and then burst into laughter.
Everyone laughed along.
Then Ding Tong ordered the sailors to go down into the lake to catch fish and reward the soldiers.
This was the first time Li Guang had ever seen soldiers rewarded in this way.
Ding Tong told everyone that the biggest feature of Panzhou Lake was that it had many fish, and that it produced large fish. It was as easy for the soldiers to go down into the lake to catch fish as to lead sheep out of the sheepfold.
Those who live near mountains live off the mountains, and those who live near water live off the water. The biggest perk of being an online troll is having fish to eat.
At this moment, Ding Tong looked at Li Guang and said:
"General Li, while you led your troops to Merlin these past few days, we sailors stayed at home and won a victory. It's a good time to celebrate together."
"Is that so? Did the Jin soldiers launch a surprise attack on the water fortress and get a lesson from Admiral Ding?" Li Guang asked.
"That's right. On the second night after General Li's troops set out, two thousand Jin soldiers came to raid the camp. Their purpose in coming to the water fortress was mainly to rescue the captured Jin soldiers."
The Jin soldiers knew that the navy was no match for them in a land battle, so they recklessly stormed into the navy's camp.
What they didn't expect was that the sailors' camp, which seemed to be built on land by the lake, was actually built in the water. As soon as the Jin soldiers entered the camp, it was like a large ship that had left the shore.
Then the camp began to shake. The Jin soldiers realized they had been tricked and had no way to escape.
Since the Jin soldiers were unfamiliar with naval warfare, the moment the camp shook, they became disoriented and began to flee. However, as soon as they left the camp, they fell into the lake, where our navy was waiting for them underwater.
Whenever a Jin soldier fell into the water, the soldiers would first drown him until he was half-dead, then drag him ashore and tie him up.
Not a single one of the two thousand Jin soldiers escaped; they were all captured alive, and there wasn't even anyone left to send a message back.
The next day, the soldiers beheaded all the Jin soldiers to commemorate the fallen soldiers and civilians.
Originally, I intended to leave these Jin soldiers as bait to lure more Jin troops in, but then I thought, since the Jin soldiers know nothing about this place, it's better to execute them all. I won't waste a single grain of military ration on them."
"Congratulations to Admiral Ding on your great victory. As long as it is a naval battle, the sailors and soldiers can show their great power. We still need to think of some ways to lure the Jin troops to Panzhou Lake and annihilate them in one go."
"It seems the Jin army's days are numbered in Panzhou. After these few battles, Somailong has lost almost half of his troops, and he can no longer be so arrogant," Ding Tong said confidently.
The group laughed heartily and walked towards the main tent of the naval camp.
After they were seated, the group continued to discuss important matters, starting with the next phase of the battle.
Li Guang said, "Judging from the current situation, we have already eliminated two of the Jin troops stationed in the four places of Panzhou, Lingzhou, Shitai and Meilin."
Shitai is an ancient city, where there were only more than 10,000 Jin soldiers. It is unknown how badly they destroyed the ancient city.
In order to protect this ancient city, we cannot attack it by force. The best course of action is to trap the city and force the Jin soldiers inside to surrender.
We plan to send troops to Shitai tomorrow to assess the situation there before deciding how to eliminate the Jin soldiers.
Ding Tong nodded and said, "Then General Li will have to work hard. Somailon still has more than 30,000 troops in Panzhou City. Once the Jin troops in Shitai City are destroyed, Somailon will be doomed."
At that point, he will lose his will to fight and will surely resort to desperate measures. That will be the perfect opportunity for us to annihilate the Jin army.
“Admiral Ding is right. Someron is cunning and treacherous. Xiang Shangjin’s remnants should have fled back to Panzhou. During this time, he will definitely be keeping an eye on the water fortress. Admiral Ding, you must be on guard.”
"General Li, rest assured, I was just afraid they wouldn't come. If they do come to attack the naval camp, I will make sure they don't return."
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