At the Eighth month, The Imperial Advisor of Wu Country, Wu Wudao, led an army of 100,000 troops to invade the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, destroying everything he came across.
Within 10 days, he was able to take control of two counties, as he pushed the boundaries closer and closer to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City, signalling his intention to destroy the Prefecture. As the word spread, the entire country was in shock.
Cangshan City.
The city was built around the mountainous areas, and its geographical location was of extreme importance, as it was right at the edge of the Prefecture City. Following a plain would lead one straight to the Prefecture City, and was therefore intensely fought over by both sides.
Fang Yuan led his army of 20,000 troops across the wilderness and into Cangshan City, ready to face the 100,000-men strong army form the Wu Country.
"Listen up! The Wu Country's Armed Forces are invincible, and since our Imperial Advisor is generous, he has granted all of you one night's time to surrender. If you don't comply, you will die without a doubt!"
Suddenly from below, they were calvaries and a voice convincing them to surrender. "... Don't say words that you are not prepared to!"
"Hmph!"
Zhang Qingfeng was infuriated. He took a bow, pulled it all the way back and released an arrow.
"Whoosh!"
A deafening sound came from the release of the bow, and the arrow shot into the sky, quick as lightning. It pierced through the soldier on a horseback and pinned him to the ground, as the fletching quivered.
"Good!"
The soldiers on the city walls exclaimed, and as they saw more calvaries approaching, they kept the corpse, all the while in silence.
The difference between both sides was too huge that even Zhang Qingfeng did not have much confidence in his own army.
"Let's go down to the conference, then have a good night's rest before preparing for the big battle tomorrow!"
Fang Yuan wore plain clothes, quietly observed the scene and gestured.
"Yes, Sir!"
A group of men walked down the stairs and arrived at the main hall. Unable to hold himself back, Xiang Zilong enquired. "Prefecture Master... The opposing force has a strong army and calvaries, and are five times the size of ours. Furthermore, they have the Flying Dragon General leading them, as well as the Wu Country's Imperial Advisor and three other spiritual knights, how can we match up with them?"
"Don't worry!"
Yu Xinlou walked out, a little dazed and shook his head. "Our Master had made some preparations beforehand!"
This confused everyone, especially Xiang Zilong, who looked at Fang Yuan.
"Please say the truth! The Wu Country's Armed Forces are strong, much stronger than our army. If we clash head-on, we will surely lose!"
Fang Yuan nodded his head and explained the truth. "And this is why I need everyone to defend for three days, and after three days, the situation will change!"
"Three days?"
Xiang Zilong looked at Niu Dingtian in disbelief, as both of them shook their heads.
That night, a black figure flew out of Cangshan City and landed in the Wu Country's military camp.
"Three days?"
Xuan Sheng took the bamboo tube from the spiritual pigeon before letting it go. He then instructed a daoist disciple by his side to read it out for him, and his was shocked as he scanned the surroundings.
Even though both his eyeballs were not there anymore, he could still strike fear in those that made eye contact with him.
"A change in situation after three days? Impossible!"
It was Flying Dragon General.
He was middle-aged and had white sideburns. His sharp eyebrows and glaring gaze gave him a gentlemanly feel; he was surely a handsome young lad in his younger days.
As he stared at the map, he shook his head. "Unless he can fly his troops, there is no other way of a change in the situation within three days!"
"Regardless if he was just bluffing us, or if he was really confident, we don't really need to care about him!"
Wu Wudao smiled. "Even if that Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master had gathered his troops in Cangshan City, we can still go head-on and take them down!"
"That's right, a good strategy would be to use plots and deploy more troops to take down their small army!"
Flying Dragon General nodded his head in agreement. "Regardless of what plan he has, I can just break all of them by brute force!"
"Since both of you think this way, then we shall invade them tomorrow!"
Elder Daoist Xuan Sheng said, "Even if we cannot take down the city, at night time, I can still order for our spy to take them down from the inside!"
Even though he did not mention who the spy was, the rest still nodded in agreement.
Afterall, to them, the new Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master did not know what he was doing. Anyone under him could be a spy, and it seemed that it was just fate for the Secluded Mountain Prefecture to fall.
As time flew by, it was the second day.
"Orders from the general! Invade!"
100,00 men formed up and lined up in a continuous never-ending line.
Accompanying the order form the general, the other soldiers of the Wu Country repeatedly chanted, "Invade! Invade! Invade!!!"
At the sound of the horn, ladders, arrow towers and invasion vehicles were pushed in front of the formation. The archers took up their spot, looking serious and full of will to fight.
Seeing this scene, the soldiers on the city walls shuddered in fear.
Even though the soldiers of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces had martial arts, they were still in fear. After all, the usual martial arts duel and fighting were different from war altogether.
"Throw the rocks! Throe!"
In the Wu Country Armed Forces formation, more than 10 carts were wheeled into position, and on the command of the Lieutenant, large rocks were continually hurled towards the city walls.
"Rumble!"
"Rumble!"
Rocks ranging from 13 pounds to 130 pounds were directed at the city walls, breaking a large hole in it and making a large rumbling sound.
The rumbling was continuous, and there were even cracks forming at some places.
After a wave of rock-hurling, the rock carts seemed to become defective after much usage and were wheeled away to be serviced. Many ant-liked soldiers pushed the ladders and arrow towers and braved the arrows from the city, advancing towards the city gates.
"Prepare the arrows, shoot!"
On the city walls, Zhang Qingfeng roared and ordered as a rain of arrows flew downwards.
Many soldiers were shot down, but they did not back away. Instead, they approached the city walls and as their arrow towers covered them, they began the ascend the ladder upwards.
"Prepare the Golden Liquid! Pour!"
"Where are the rocks? Fire away!"
On the city walls, bots of boiling hot Golden Liquid were poured down the walls relentlessly. Accompanying it were the giant rocks being rolled down, smashing many soldiers and burning many too. In a short while, the bottom of the city walls had a thick layer of blood. The entire scene was extremely gory.
"Leader Niu, Leader Xiang!"
Fang Yuan remained composed as he continuously deployed troops, and called for both Wu Zongs.
"The enemy is ferocious, so be wary of their Beheading Strategy!"
"Thank you for your concern, Prefecture Master, we will be cautious!"
Niu Dingtian and Xiang Zilong bowed, and Xiang Zilong added, "If we still had our experienced soldiers, they would not have the guts to attack us head-on!"
What is the Beheading Strategy?
It was that they might send their elemental force martial artist who would have only one objective: to take out Fang Yuan, or that they would use their soldiers to surround the opposing Lieutenant in order to win the battle without fighting.
Fang Yuan used this strategy before by taking out Lu Renjia, returning peace to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. It was the easy way.
However, the situation now was different.
His 20,000 strong army was all in the city. Even if the enemy's spiritual knight or Wu Zong made it through the gates, they would be captured by the three of them. Without regard for the soldiers' lives, they could surely exhaust any spiritual knight or Wu Zong to death.
Therefore, to both sides, this was not a fair trade.
Furthermore, it was no secret that Fang Yuan possessed a spiritual bird.
Even if the enemy was stupid, they would not be stupid to the extent of entering and sacrificing themselves.
After a day of gruesome battle, there was a mountain of corpse below the city gates.
"Retreat!"
Under the scorching sun and the bloody mess around, the Wu Country's army retreated out of the massacre site.
"Reporting, Prefecture Master!"
Zhang Qingfeng had many wounds, and his armour was dyed blood-red. "The Wu Country's attack today was ferocious. About a thousand of our men died, and 800 of them were severely injured! Their army's casualty rate would surely be folds of ours!"
As he reported, his eyebrows twitched.
The opposing army was crazy, too crazy than he expected.
If it was like that daily, it would only take 10 days for the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces to crumble.
"Since today has passed, it means that we have two days left. Everyone is dismissed, and rest well for the battle tomorrow!"
Fang Yuan casually waved his hands.
"Yes, Sir!"
It was nighttime. Pitch-black and there was no wind.
A secret room within the city was brightly lit.
A few Lieutenants of the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces were gathered, looking solemn. "We cannot continue this war!"
"It only took one day for our casualty rate to be 10 percent, so how can this be sustainable?"
A bearded well-built man slammed his fist on the table. "That person is Wu Zong and also a spiritual knight, and has a spiritual bird as well. If the situation becomes worse, he can leave, but we would be stuck here awaiting death!"
"That's right!"
The other Lieutenants were deep in discussion, expression their dissatisfaction.
This was partly due to Fang Yuan's inexperience in handling a large army and he was, therefore, unable to appease the army.
In reality, if not for his gifts and martial arts, there might be a rebellion and the army would break free of his control. As of now, there were only holding it in.
"Lieutenant Xiang, what is your plan for gathering us here?"
A few other Lieutenants scolded a few more times, but all shifted their attention to the person in the middle.
"That's right!"
A lieutenant among them all laughed. "Everyone are brothers, so I shall speak the truth. There is no doubt that the Secluded Mountain Prefecture would lose. If we want to survive, or even live a comfortable life, the best plan is to switch loyalties!"
As he spoke, not one of them questioned him, which revealed that most of them had in one way or another thought about it.
"Based on our abilities, to betray would be extremely difficult!"
Lieutenant Qiuran sighed. "Zhang Qingfeng is extremely loyal to that person and is still a martial artist who harnesses elemental force. He even patrols the city gates personally..."
"What if you included us?!"
Suddenly, a shadow appeared, entering the room.
"Mmm?"
The Lieutenant who was discussing the secret was in shock and almost pulled out his knife. As he saw the person's face, he relaxed and looked happy. "Leader!"
"What a coincidence, it's my duty to patrol today. It would be easy to betray and give the city up!"
The leader sighed. "I am doing this not for myself, but to avoid the impending war on the Secluded Mountain Prefecture!"
"Leader, you are right!"
The Lieutenants were all overjoyed. "Under the leadership of leader, what is there to be afraid of?"
A few rash individuals blurted out. "This appointment of Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master should have been yours. Fang Yuna is just an outsider, what rights does he have to claim this appointment?"
"Very well, let's not waste time. Let's..."
This person was deep in thought and suddenly he frowned. "Who's there?"
"Chirp! Chirp!"
A high pitched chirping travelled from outside, and a figure appeared, followed by a voice. "Niu Dingtian, have you seen for yourself and heard it for yourself?"