Chapter 414: Strike Straight at Huanglong, All Under Heaven Tremble!

The dusk had already grown deep and dark!

Tai Cang erupted into a towering inferno, its light engulfing all three provinces.

Like a brilliant crimson aurora, it drew every eye.

……

Yuanchong City.

Zhou Tiancheng led two hundred thousand troops out of the city.

"What? How dare Zhou Tiancheng!"

"Why was such a critical matter not reported to me? Do you even respect my position in the Censorate?"

Tuoba Shuchao's face flushed with furious rage upon hearing the news.

The sword was already pressed against Zhou Yong's throat.

Recalling today, Zhou Tiancheng had specially invited him to drink; the banquet had been lively, cups clinking in merriment.

Halfway through the feast, Zhou Tiancheng suddenly excused himself, claiming his age and weak alcohol tolerance, and no one thought much of it.

During the banquet, Zhou Tiancheng had passionately declared: "Defending Yuanchong is our sacred duty."

His words still echoed in their ears.

In an instant!

Zhou Tiancheng had led He Sheng and others past the city gates, launching an assault on Tai Cang.

Tuoba Shuchao's hair seemed to stand on end with rage.

He longed to split Zhou Yong open right there.

But Zhou Yong remained calm, pushing aside Tuoba Shuchao's sword with his hand, and spoke softly:

"Your Highness, please remain composed."

"The Marshal's forces have been outside the city for two hours."

At that moment, a commotion erupted on the city wall.

Tuoba Shuchao's earlier drunken fury had already largely dissipated.

Two hundred thousand troops leaving the city—such a massive move had left his back icy with cold sweat.

He hurried up the steps and saw the wall crowded with men, all tense, staring toward the distance.

There!

Far off in the direction of Xuzhou, flames shot skyward, fanned by the wind, growing fiercer by the moment, staining half the horizon red.

"Tai Cang!" Tuoba Shuchao gasped in horror.

Zhou Yong followed close behind, a faint smile curling his lips:

"It seems the Marshal has succeeded!"

Tuoba Shuchao's eyes shimmered with disbelief.

The raging fire in Tai Cang—was it merely grain? No, it was the lifeline of the Yanbei Army!

Had Zhou Tiancheng truly succeeded in attacking Tai Cang?

He had burned the Yanbei Army's grain stores.

How could such a massive blaze be fake?

On the city wall.

Zhou Yong bowed deeply, speaking respectfully: "This matter is grave. Your Highness must decide—what should we do next?"

Tuoba Shuchao's mind was in utter chaos.

And given that he had only just learned of this, he had no authority to command this army.

The troops had long been consolidated under Zhou Tiancheng's control.

Zhou Yong's words were merely offering him a face-saving exit.

"If Tai Cang falls, Lu Chen will rush to rescue it."

Zhou Yong's voice rang out again: "Our elite forces are all deployed—this is the perfect moment to destroy the Yanbei Army."

Tuoba Shuchao did not know what decision to make.

Just then!

A cavalry unit galloped up beneath the city wall, shouting:

"Urgent military report!"

"Marshal Zhou has crushed the enemy at Tai Cang and burned the entire place to ashes!"

"He has also captured multiple cities in rapid succession—his advance is unstoppable!"

At these words, the city wall erupted in deafening cheers.

Tuoba Shuchao felt only roaring silence in his ears, drowned by the thunderous jubilation.

Gazing at Tai Cang, the flames surged higher and higher!

The city gates creaked open slowly, chains rattling.

Troops poured out like a tidal wave.

Horses did not pause—they had already surged beyond the walls, eager to break free from the stifling confinement of June.

When Tuoba Shuchao finally came to his senses!

Zhou Yong and the others were gone; only a few personal guards remained behind him.

The situation had slipped beyond his control.

Yuanchong City now held only fifty thousand troops; the rest had marched out.

"Could Lu Chen really be crushed so easily?"

Tuoba Shuchao's mind conjured the image of a figure from over twenty years ago—invincible, terrifying with every memory.

He turned, surveying the surroundings, and saw the soldiers' faces still etched with regret.

They had not been chosen to march, to earn glory—they were left behind.

Now, only tens of thousands of combat-ready troops remained in the city!

The city was empty!

A single Tai Cang had drawn every soldier out of the city.

"This is disastrous!"

Tuoba Shuchao's face turned ashen.

……

……

Zhou Tiancheng led two hundred thousand elite troops straight toward Tai Cang.

Along the way, they met no resistance; the army advanced with unstoppable momentum.

Only at their first engagement—Tai Cang—did they encounter fierce resistance.

Yet, thanks to precise intelligence,

he saw that the defending troops, though numerous, were disorganized and clearly lacked command and coordination.

As expected.

But!

Zhou Tiancheng had not yet begun the actual assault—once he did, there would be no turning back.

If two hundred thousand troops failed to take the city and retreated, Lu Chen's reinforcements would arrive—consequences unimaginable.

A riot would be minor; if trampling broke out, the army would collapse completely, fleeing in utter disarray.

Zhou Tiancheng waited in silence.

Then came new intelligence:

In the Beilu encampment, Lu Chen had appeared to lecture on military strategy; all senior officers had gathered to listen intently.

And today, Lu Chen's lecture was:

"In June, we will strike straight at Huanglong Mansion!"

Huanglong Mansion was the capital of Beifeng.

He Sheng, hearing this, laughed loudly from horseback, dripping with mockery.

Lu Chen's army had been trapped before Yuanchong for over six months, making no progress.

Now their grain stores were running low, the enemy at the gates—and still they dared to boast?

To claim they would strike Huanglong Mansion in June!

How absurd!

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tiancheng loosened his grip on the reins, his palms slick with sweat.

Lu Chen was in the Beilu encampment.

He no longer hesitated—he gave the order at once: launch a full assault.

Two hundred thousand troops surged toward Tai Cang's walls in two hours of fierce battle.

Finally!

Under the ferocious assault, the gates shattered, and the army poured into the city.

He Sheng rejoiced wildly, shouting in triumph.

Zhou Tiancheng, equally desperate, spurred his horse into the city.

Inside, chaos reigned—soldiers scattered in every direction.

Zhou Tiancheng led He Sheng and others straight toward Taicang's grain storage grounds.

There, long rectangular open granaries were arranged in orderly fashion, dotted with round silos.

Each stood several zhang tall.

Judging by their size, each silo could store fifty to sixty thousand jin of grain.

"General Zhou, look quick!"

He Sheng kicked open the granary's wooden gate, and a torrent of pure white rice poured out like a waterfall, scattering across the ground.

Zhou Tiancheng was overwhelmed with emotion; he cupped a handful of fine rice, his heart brimming with awe.

In those days, when he held the city, he had long run out of grain, forced to eat tree bark, boil his armor, and even consume "white meat."

But Yanbei's army was overflowing with wealth, their granaries brimming.

His heart churned with fury and exhilaration.

Fury that Yanbei's army had never suffered his agony.

Exhilaration that the city truly held forty thousand troops' worth of grain and supplies.

Gazing at the sea of granaries, Zhou Tiancheng felt an indescribable surge of pride.

He knew this battle was won.

What Tuoba Shu had failed to accomplish, he had achieved.

He had defeated Lu Chen with honorable, open warfare.

Around him, soldiers' faces lit up with joy as they pried open granaries to reveal mountains of piled rice.

"Report, General Zhou—these are all newly harvested rice from this year, of superior quality."

He Sheng, even more delighted, burst into loud laughter.

"Lu Chen? Just a mediocre fool from the north. No heroes rose in this age, so this upstart gained fame."

"He dares call himself the greatest strategist of the past four hundred years—utterly absurd!"

"And he claims the land must sink for three hundred years before such a man appears—how laughable!"

Zhou Tiancheng merely smiled after hearing this, then directly fed the rice in his hand into his mouth.

He chewed slowly.

"Puh!"

As he chewed, his face suddenly changed—he spat out every grain, eyes wide with horror.

"Disaster! The grain is soaked in oil!"

A nearby soldier cried out in panic:

"General Zhou! Beneath the granaries—it's all nitre and charcoal!"

Hearing this, Zhou Tiancheng's face turned ashen; he could no longer maintain his composure.

"It's dire—retreat at once!"

He shouted the order.

But I don't know when—

The city was already engulfed in roaring flames.

The firelight illuminated his aged, terrified face.

…

【On the sixth day of the eighth month, you delivered the "Essentials of Troop Training" at the Northern Ridge Camp; your audience consisted largely of young officers, vigorous and spirited.】

【As your passion rose, you used charcoal as ink and boldly wrote on a vertical wooden board:】

【"In June, we strike straight for Huanglong Mansion!"】

【The characters danced with the spirit of swords and iron horses.】

【Some officers slipped away quietly; those who stayed bowed with solemn respect, not daring to slacken.】

【You continued sketching a map of the northern commanderies on the board—each major city and stronghold emerged clearly under your brush, as if laid bare in the palm of your hand.】

【All were astounded, realizing His Majesty knew every inch of northern land, every city, as if it were etched in his mind.】

【When the map was complete, you wrote beneath it a sequence of dates and cities: "Attack Hezhou on the seventeenth of November, reach Chechi in December, take Jingzhou's Wuyang on the eighth of the first month…" The strokes were strong and forceful.】

【Those present exchanged glances, baffled by the plan on the board.】

【The cities listed were all critical northern strongholds—but to reach them, one must pass through the impregnable fortress of Yuanchong City.】

【Yuanchong City housed fifty thousand defenders; its fortifications were known to all as unbreakable.】

【How to breach this city became the greatest mystery in everyone's mind.】

【Though deeply puzzled, none dared ask.】

【Midway through the lecture!】

【Suddenly, flames erupted outside, staining the sky crimson.】

【In horror, they realized—the Taicang grain depot was ablaze.】

【The importance of Taicang was obvious; its loss would be catastrophic.】

【All faces turned anxious—but you remained calm.】

【You slowly wrote two final dates on the board: "April fourteenth next year—strike straight for Huanglong Mansion."】

【"October sixth—break Yuanchong City."】

【The crowd froze—October sixth was today!】

【Seeing your composure, though still tense, they felt a flicker of reassurance.】

【After writing, you turned and smiled: "That's all for today. Dismissed."】

【Those with keen minds quietly memorized the dates you had written.】

【You wiped your hands and stepped outside the tent.】

【Taicang burned fiercely, its glow lighting up an entire province.】

【Feng Haiping stepped forward: "Your Majesty, our scouts have confirmed Zhou Tiancheng entered the city."】

【You nodded, acknowledging you already knew.】

【"Another scout reported to Yuanchong City—Zhou Yong has led troops out."】

【Feng Haiping, beside you, trembled with excitement—everything today had unfolded exactly as the Yan Prince had foreseen, not a single deviation.】

【Each step was as precisely rehearsed as if the enemy army itself obeyed the Yan Prince's commands.】

【Feng Haiping stared at the line you had just written, wondering silently: Could June truly bring a strike at Huanglong Mansion?】

【Today was different—Lu Yu was not by your side; your hand itched, so you joined this battle yourself.】

【Now, the night was deep, stars blanketing the sky.】

【You stood tall outside the tent, arms folded, gazing at the distant stars, listening to reports delivered to you.】

【You nodded faintly—six months had passed; it was time to end this.】

【On the sixth day of the tenth month, as twenty thousand troops of Beifeng assaulted the city, Taicang was swallowed by fire.】

【Jia Fu led sixty thousand Yanbei troops to block the escape route outside Taicang, slaying ninety thousand, capturing forty thousand, and scattering countless others.】

【Meanwhile, Xie Ling commanded a hundred thousand Yanbei troops to ambush Beifeng's forces exiting the city at He Ridge, killing forty thousand in one battle.】

【Jia Fu drove the fleeing Beifeng troops to merge with reinforcements from Yuanchong City, triggering chaos—trampling and fratricide erupted, leaving countless dead and wounded.】

【Under cover of night, Yu Xu disguised himself as a fleeing northern soldier and successfully tricked the gates open.】

【By dawn, before Beifeng's army could react, Yuanchong City had fallen.】

【Zhou Tiancheng's hundred-thousand-strong army mutinied, exploded in panic, and fled en masse—only four thousand broken remnants remained, escorting Zhou Tiancheng in disgrace back to Yuanchong City.】

【"General Zhou has returned! Open the gates!"】

【He Sheng shouted repeatedly, but no one answered—the gates remained tightly shut.】

【A dread settled in Zhou Tiancheng's heart—the city outside was unnaturally silent.】

【Soon, a man emerged atop the city wall—pale-faced, beardless, clad in a python robe, strikingly noble.】

【Zhou Tiancheng recognized him at once—he was Yu Xu, one of the Twenty-Six Cloud Terrace Generals of the Lu family army.】

【Yu Xu smiled calmly: "General Zhou, please turn back."】

【"His Majesty sends word: we owe you great thanks, General Zhou, for trading ten thousand shi of Yuanchong's grain to give us Taicang."】

【Hearing this, Zhou Tiancheng's rage surged—he spat blood, then collapsed unconscious on his horse.】

【Zhou Yong arrived with only five thousand remaining troops to rescue him; Zhou Tiancheng and He Sheng barely escaped the battlefield, their lives spared.】

【On the day Yuanchong fell, Tuoba Shuyi, sensing the tide had turned, had already abandoned the city and fled.】

【In Yan City, Wu Long watched Taicang burn, realizing Beifeng's entire army had been drawn out—he flew into a rage, smashing his desk with one blow, and roared:】

【"Zhou Tiancheng—you brute!"】

【That night, he immediately led eighty thousand Qianyuan troops to retreat swiftly into Beifeng territory.】

【Tuoba Shuyi, upon hearing the news, refused food for three days, then sighed: "He who destroyed my Beifeng empire is Zhou Tiancheng!"】

【By month's end, Tuoba Shuyi assembled fifty thousand troops, stationing them near Yunshan, ready for battle.】

【The Qianyuan Empress, upon hearing this, danced with her sword through the night until dawn; the next day, she reinforced Beifeng with another fifty thousand troops.】

【Upon hearing this battle report, the states of Han and Chu erupted in celebration, their people galvanized.】

【The news of Yanbei's decisive victory at Yuanchong spread like wildfire across all five states.】

【In an instant, Lu Chen's name struck terror into the hearts of the world!】

【Yanbei troops began gathering battlefield supplies and grain, and inside Yuanchong City, they carved stone steles recording the campaign's triumphs.】

【On the twenty-fifth day of the same tenth month, Yanbei troops reorganized and marched north once more.】

(End of chapter)