Chapter 59: How Could It Not Be Hard?

The wind stirred in the mountains, casting shifting shadows, yet it did nothing to deter Wei Kegu's resolve to storm the fortress, seize the camp, and capture Li Chong.

In the core area of the camp, Li Chong's main tent, a long wall of rammed earth and stone had been built around it, with wooden palisades erected on the outer perimeter.

The camp wall was low, only a little over two meters high. Li Shuang climbed onto the wall; not far away on the battlefield, Wei Kegu was already very close.

This Wei Kegu was indeed the bravest general under Han Baling, his figure resembling a wild ox.

Among Li Shuang's forces, in terms of physique, only Gao Ang could compare to him.

He led the charge personally, his spirit unmatched, like a sharp dagger, breaking through several fortifications Li Chong had set up.

The imperial guards of Luoyang had lost their courage at this moment, daring not to advance further, lacking even the bravery to face this elite force directly; they kept shirking on the sidelines, collapsing at the slightest touch, seemingly waiting for the commander's tent to be breached so they could flee.

The two hundred personal soldiers under Li Chong, his most trusted and loyal troops, and now the only force he could rely on, had all been placed in Li Shuang's hands.

Yet this force, compared to Wei Kegu's one thousand iron-armored soldiers, was far too small in number.

Li Shuang drew a feathered arrow from an arrow basket nearby.

The arrow's fletching was vivid, and the three-edged arrowhead looked deeply dark under the sunlight.

The military equipment used by Li Chong and his personal soldiers was undoubtedly of the finest quality; moreover, Li Chong himself was an expert, so others could not fool him.

Li Shuang took a deep breath, drew his bow and nocked the arrow, then released it in one fluid motion.

Among the mountain forests, the skill Li Shuang mastered best was archery.

The arrow shot forth at high speed!

At a distance of eighty paces, the arrow struck Wei Kegu's body.

This shot caused the previously unstoppable momentum of the army to stall.

The arrow pierced the armor; Wei Kegu felt the pain, but it utterly enraged him.

In his anger, he snapped the shaft of the long arrow in two, then quickly identified the person who had struck him.

He was easy to recognize!

At that moment, only one person stood on the camp wall ahead.

"Boy, who are you!"

His answer was another arrow!

However, this arrow was blocked by the iron-armored personal guards surrounding Wei Kegu, who held up their shields.

Archery is hard to master; being able to hit a target accurately at eighty paces could already be called divine marksmanship.

At that moment, Wei Kegu dared not act as he had just now; instead, he ordered the surrounding personal guards to hold shields in front and advance slowly.

Outside the camp wall, the Luoyang imperial guards kept retreating, while Wei Kegu led his troops forward, closing the distance to only fifty paces.

The situation was clear: Wei Kegu looked down at the trembling formation beneath the camp wall and the soldiers constantly slipping away, his heart filled with contempt.

The young general on the camp wall stood alone, yet compared to this crowd of Luoyang imperial guards, the difference was still like heaven and earth.

"Boy, once I break the fortress and capture the old traitor Li Chong, how about you join my ranks?"

Wei Kegu shouted loudly, but received only a burst of laughter in return.

"Join a rat who hides behind a shield?"

Wei Kegu was brave and martial, but not stupid; at a distance of fifty paces, if he showed his head, the boy's arrow would surely fly at him.

"Boy, do not try to provoke me with words; I am not some greenhorn fresh to the battlefield."

"I think you are much the same!"

"What do you mean?"

"General, you lead your elite troops in a charge, yet you leave the Heba and Yuwen divisions behind; do you not fear they might turn against you?"

"I have besieged Wu Chuan for over half a year; the Wei army saw us in trouble and did nothing to save us, so the people of Wu Chuan have long since lost heart. Now I have sworn an oath with Heba, Yuwen, and the others to jointly attack the Tuoba clan; how could we have any thought of rebellion?"

Although Wei Kegu kept speaking, the movements of his forces never stopped.

The soldiers in the front line held shields, their hands reaching behind their backs to grab grappling hooks, waiting until they advanced far enough to climb the camp wall.

On the camp wall, Li Shuang seemed not to notice the small maneuvers of Wei Kegu's army and continued speaking:

"Is that so? Yet I see them looking as if they are about to leave."

Wei Kegu frowned; just then, a large group of mountain bandits and outlaws from the mountain rushed into the Wei army's main camp.

Most of them were in disheveled clothing, and the weapons they held were very old, some even rusted.

Looking at the scattered armor and weapons on the ground, they were like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, finding everything new and strange.

While charging and grabbing, the dense crowd surged forward, each person carrying weapons and armor that clearly did not belong to them.

"You think mere bandits like these can stop me?"

Though he said this, his body acted very honestly.

Wei Kegu's great army shifted from its original flat formation into a circular formation.

"Seeing you surrounded, why do the brothers you speak of not come to rescue you?"

Wei Kegu's heart also began to beat with doubt.

By all logic, the men of the Yuwen and Heba divisions, seeing the current situation, should have come to support long ago.

Joining forces to seize the Wei army's main camp and capture Li Chong was the proper course!

Heba Duba and Yuwen Gong were not the type of people so oblivious!

Unless something more important was tying them down.

"Boy, what have you done?"

"General, you have come from far away and marched so swiftly; surely your grain and supply provisions are very ample?"

Wei Kegu realized what was happening and then shouted loudly.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"How could mere mountain bandits and outlaws find my hidden grain depot?"

The mountain bandits and roaming thieves around them heard this and burst into laughter.

In that smile lay triumph, pride, and even more, a disdain born of your ignorance of our strength.

"Boy, do you think you can fool us about where the water is in these mountains, where the wild beasts hide, where troops can be concealed, and where grain can be stored?"

Just then, Li Shuang waved his hand.

The final two hundred elite personal troops, holding crossbows, mounted the camp walls and took up their positions.

The gleaming iron armor and brilliant sharp weapons delivered the final blow to Wei Kegu's great army.

Encouraged by this, the remaining Luoyang Imperial Guards, who had already scattered in disarray before the camp walls, steadied their footing.

"General, if it is truly as they say, we should retreat first!"

Wei Kegu still had the will to fight, but the armored soldiers under his command had already developed the desire to withdraw.

"Capture Li Chong, and we can have anything we want; why worry about lacking grain and fodder?"

"General, looking at this situation, even if we capture Li Chong, we will surely suffer heavy losses. So many roaming thieves and bandits surround us, like jackals; once we show weakness, they will surely pounce. Moreover, we do not know the situation in the rear; human hearts are ultimately unpredictable. It is better to be safe first."

A distance of twenty paces was the perfect killing range for the arm-drawn crossbow.

Even armor could not fully ensure safety.

The cold wind blew, dousing the hot blood.

Wei Kegu ultimately did not dare to take the gamble!

As Wei Kegu led his army away, the camp gate slowly opened, and Li Chong walked out with a smile on his face.

"Gentlemen warriors, your coming to aid us this time was truly hard work!"

Li Shuang, standing nearby, said:

"Not hard work, not hard work!"

Li Chong said with some reproach:

"How could it not be hard work?"

"They don't work for free!"

"..."

Li Chong looked at the dense crowd around him, and his face instantly turned pale.