As long as the city's defenders reacted in time, they could completely shut the gates again.
Sure enough, before long, the sound of assembly horns came from within the city. Clearly, the defenders had begun organizing a counterattack.
Watching the defenders draw closer, Lin Taichu finally relaxed. He turned to the soldiers and said, "Let's withdraw first. We'll talk once the main force arrives!"
The soldiers immediately understood. After pretending to resist for a few moments, they retreated through the gap in the gates. They even deliberately pulled down the siege ladders, buying the defenders time to close the gates again.
By the time they had returned to their own camp, King Bai Ze's main force had arrived. Seeing that the gates had been shut again, King Bai Ze's face turned livid. Pointing at Lin Taichu, he cursed, "Didn't you say the gates were open? What happened?!"
Seeing King Bai Ze's dark expression, Lin Taichu deliberately put on a flustered look. "Great King, the gates really were open just now, but the defenders' counterattack was too fierce. We had too few men and simply couldn't hold them."
"Those able-bodied men charged forward like madmen. We were squeezed so badly that we couldn't even keep our footing, so we had no choice but to withdraw first."
King Bai Ze stared at him, his gaze as sharp as a blade. "The men I sent clearly saw you retreat through the gap in the gates. You even pulled away the siege ladders. How do you explain that?"
Lin Taichu lowered his head, making his voice even quieter. "The situation was urgent. If we had left the siege ladders there, what if the defenders had chased us out along them? We were only thinking of safety."
"Besides, those able-bodied men dared to risk their