Chapter 561

"I want to hear General Chen Wuji's thoughts on this!"

"Lu Ping'an smoothly passed this ball to Chen Wuji, and casually complained about his subordinates: 'I may have tens of thousands of troops, but none of them are usable; they're just a bunch of wine sacks and rice bags!'"

"How to attack Hongde City, I have discussed with my subordinates for no less than ten days; that bunch of idiots keep saying nothing but useless words, absurd talk and fallacious theories, and to this day we still haven't settled on a definite tactic."

"Chen Wuji let out a soft hiss: 'Lu Jinglve entrusts me with such a heavy responsibility, making me feel some panic. Strategist, don't talk about being from a general's family; those are the glorious deeds of the Chen family ancestors, which have nothing to do with us. I rely on luck and guesswork in battle.'"

"\"General, why be so modest! \" Lu Ping'an said with a gentle smile."

"\"What's with the modesty? I never like doing this. \" Chen Wuji actually doesn't want to waste brain cells; he had planned to keep Lu Ping'an here and seriously think of a tactic to attack Hongde City—this is unnecessary extra work."

"What puzzles Chen Wuji now is, why hasn't this guy taken action yet?"

"Could it be that he failed to find a group of young maidens as assassins, so he plans to give up entirely?"

"Don't!"

"One cannot so lightly give up; we must get it done."

"At this moment, Chen Wuji suddenly regrets having so early exposed Lu Ping'an's plan, letting those women go; he just had a stray thought, acting too hastily."

"\"General Chen Wuji, just discuss it briefly! \" Lu Ping'an urged."

"Chen Wuji glanced at the entrance of the Daying camp."

There, his Personal Guard and Lu Ping'an's Personal Guard each stood to one side, standing like pillars, with no other movement at all.

"Well then, I'll make a fool of myself, just casting a brick to attract jade." Chen Wuji resigned, having no choice but to reluctantly rack his brains: "Hongde City is a pure garrison town; though small, its defenses ought not to be weak, right?"

"Not weak at all!" Lu Ping'an said, "Before Yang Yu took over, San Guan Jun was practically a mess—troops were scattered rabble, generals were useless good-for-nothings."

"But since Yang Yu assumed the post of Strategist, everything has undergone a drastic change—troops suddenly became capable of fighting, and several brave generals skilled in warfare emerged. The garrison commander of Hongde City is none other than Tang Yu, one of Yang Yu's brave generals, a mad martial arts enthusiast who loves to charge alone on horseback."

"Although he holds the rank of Negotiation Colonel, his strength is in no way inferior to that of any frontier brave general!"

The position of general is an opening the Court has made right here with Chen Wuji.

Besides this, there will absolutely be no general anywhere locally; the highest military rank is the Negotiation Colonel.

That is Zhesheng Fu.

Only the frontier armies and the Capital Region Imperial Guard can have such a military post as a certain general.

Therefore, many people like to take a strong Zhesheng Fu and compare it with the frontier armies.

Hongde City is one of San Guan Jun's Zhesheng Fu.

However, this Zhesheng Fu is obviously larger than those elsewhere, and it also has a dedicated garrison town for stationing troops, which is comparatively rare elsewhere.

"Yang Yu didn't send a general skilled at charging to the front against the Qiang People, but placed him in Hongde City—this arrangement is somewhat interesting; I wonder what scheme this Strategist Yang Jinglve is plotting." Chen Wuji muttered, "Often such reverse arrangements must have a deeper meaning."

Could it be that Yang Yu is making this preparation for an alliance with him?

Before the troop deployment, Chen Wuji had sent someone to deliver a letter to Yang Yu, informing him that Wenkou Town was this battlefield. However, Yang Yu has yet to reply, and Chen Wuji cannot figure out what arrangement he has made over there.

Lu Ping'an snorted and said, "General Chen Wuji, do you still doubt the truth of what I said? Indeed there's no need to doubt—Yang Yu has colluded with the Qiang People, so naturally there's no need to place a general skilled at assaulting the front lines against them."

Perhaps with such an arrangement, you and I are actually his next front line. With Tang Yu garrisoning troops in Hongde City, while training troops he also gathers intelligence on us—I think my speculation may not be wrong.

Chen Wuji glanced over and said, "It's possible!"

Damn it, stop jabbering—when exactly are we going to act?

If you don't act soon, we Laborers won't be able to bear it.

Arguing with this guy here is just so-so, kinda useful stuff; might as well just sleep.

Chen Wuji felt resentful; a person who carries out beheading operations, yet drags his feet like this—how could he succeed?

"How many Bīngmǎ does Strategist Lu Jinglve bring?" Chen Wuji asked.

"Just over ten thousand!"

"How many over?"

"Thirteen thousand people!"

Chen Wuji asked again, "How many infantry and cavalry respectively? And how many archers?"

"Two thousand cavalry, the rest infantry, and five thousand archers." Lu Ping'an remained silent a moment, then truthfully reported his troop strength to Chen Wuji.

After summing up the numbers for a while, Chen Wuji said, "With such troop strength, we must launch a strong assault!"

"A strong assault?" Lu Ping'an showed some surprise.

"Although Hongde City is a small town, it's still a city—if we don't launch a strong assault, what else can we do? Only a strong assault!" Chen Wuji said.

"Tang Yu likes to charge alone on horseback, so he's probably hot-tempered; besides the strong assault, perhaps we can lure him out of the city. After our cavalry set up an ambush, if Tang Yu takes the bait, our cavalry will join forces to encircle and kill him from both sides—we can win this battle, and the cavalry's left and right wings crossing to charge simultaneously could catch Tang Yu off guard."

Lu Ping'an pondered seriously for a moment and asked, "Is there no other plan?"

"Just casting a brick to attract jade, anyway since this battle is left to me to fight, this is the only tactic I can think of." Chen Wuji said in a laid‑back, careless manner.

Lu Ping'an also seemed to have given up, with no intention to act again; instead he seriously contemplated the tactic Chen Wuji had just mentioned, repeatedly weighing the chances of success.

"Strategist Lu Jinglve, I've always wanted to ask you something, but I don't know how to bring it up!" Chen Wuji rose, lifted his wine cup, and walked over to Lu Ping'an's side, "Come, let me first offer you a cup."

Lu Ping'an saw Chen Wuji approaching, instinctively felt a bit tense, and reflexively stepped back a little.

At the same time, the Personal Guard standing at the doorway instantly placed his hand on the knife hilt, warily staring at Chen Wuji, as if ready to rush in at any moment.

Chen Wuyi's reaction was no slower than theirs; he likewise instantly assumed a posture ready to attack.

Clearly they were discussing an alliance, but because of Chen Wuji's single movement, the situation instantly turned tense, swords drawn and bows strung.

Chen Wuji turned his head and glanced.

Lu Ping'an's expression stiffened; he put on a stern face and shouted, "What are you doing? Put the knives down—General Chen Wuji wants to get close to me, what are you all nervous about? If I feared Chen Wuji would be detrimental to me, would I have come here at midnight? You bunch of clueless idiots!"

Lu Ping'an's Personal Guard slowly lowered his hand, but his wary demeanor showed no relaxation.

Chen Wuyi, seeing this, also made the same movement.