The Plan to Cut Off Water, Ambush in the Deep Mountains

Noticing the suspicion in Meng Tian's gaze.

Meng Wu also took a close look at Zhao Cheng, unable to help but feel speechless.

This kid seemed to have grown taller again, looking even more heroic and martial.

Wasn't he just a farmer before? How did he possess such an extraordinary aura?

Strange!

While Meng Wu was suspicious, he said, "You don't really look like a woodcutter, but saying you're a hunter would fit."

"Zhao Cheng, are you familiar with hunting?"

Zhao Cheng grinned, revealing a row of neat, white teeth. "Very familiar."

"In previous years, farming wasn't enough to fill my stomach, so I relied entirely on going up the mountain to hunt and catch wild game to supplement my diet. I'm very familiar with it."

Meng Wu nodded in satisfaction. "Very good!"

Zhao Cheng was already impatient. "General, when shall I disguise myself and infiltrate?"

Entering the city alone, surrounded by enemy troops—as long as the opportunity was right, he could kill as he pleased and create chaos to his heart's content.

With his current level of Qi Body Refining, even if he were discovered by the enemy, he had nothing to fear.

Meng Wu shook his head. "No rush, the time is not yet right."

"Even if you infiltrated now and opened the city gates, the main army would find it difficult to coordinate with you to take the city."

"We must first build a dam to divert the flow and use the pressure of the main army to break their morale. Only when the enemy is anxious and panicked will you be able to strike while they are vulnerable."

Zhao Cheng realized this was true; if such a wide, turbulent river wasn't blocked, the main army couldn't even cross, let alone lay siege to the city.

"Understood, I await the General's orders!"

Meng Wu nodded, waved his command flag, and ordered the main army to advance.

The Qin Army, like a black torrent, surged forward, looming over the city like dark clouds pressing down on the walls.

The entire garrison of Ye County immediately fell into a panic.

"The Qin Army is here!!"

"Quick, light the signal fires!"

"Raise the bridge!!"

"Close the gates, close them quickly!"

On the city walls, the defenders moved with frantic tension.

Smoke billowed from the beacon towers, and the bridge over the moat was hoisted up by the defenders.

In a short amount of time, the entire city of Ye County had become an airtight iron turtle.

Even with Zhao Cheng's divine prowess, unless he could fly, the only way to attack the city was to swim across the incredibly turbulent river.

During that process, he would be constantly pelted with arrows and stones from the enemy defenders.

Even the massive Crossbow Mechanism at the four corners of the city walls would constantly strike at him.

As for ordinary soldiers wearing armor, the moment they fell into the river, they would sink immediately and drown within moments.

Seeing this, Meng Wu was not in a hurry. He grandly set up his formation, deployed the siege equipment, and had his countless troops glare covetously at Ye City.

The sheer pressure of this alone was enough to make countless Han Army soldiers feel dry-mouthed and weak-kneed.

The next moment, soldiers raised the banners of the Mountain Pass garrison and hung the half-dead Han Ming in front of the formation as a display of intimidation.

"That is... General Han Ming? He was actually captured alive?"

"Even the General was captured; it seems the Mountain Pass was a crushing defeat. I fear the ten thousand elite defenders have been completely wiped out."

"Just how large is this army? I can't even see the end of it!"

"What are we to do?"

As morale wavered, the Han Army commander Han Jiang strode onto the city wall and roared, "Have you all fed your courage to the dogs!?"

"The Qin Army has only just arrived, and your legs are already turning to jelly?"

"Open your dog eyes and look below—look at our moat, look at our city walls!"

"Even if the Qin Army grew wings, they couldn't fly over!"

"Curse them for me! Curse the Qin Army with all your might!"

"Whoever curses the best gets an extra bowl of rice tonight!"

Many in the Han Army looked down at the moat; that wide, turbulent river gave them a great deal of confidence.

Thus, following the first person who began to shout, the curses of the Han defenders merged into one. Over ten thousand voices cried out at once, hoarse and desperate, and their momentum grew stronger.

"Your mother's slave!!"

"You pig-and-dog-like things, daring to attack our Ye County! We'll slaughter your entire families!"

"If you've got the guts, come over here!"

"..."

After cursing for a while, the Han Army realized the massive Qin Army was nothing special.

They were completely helpless even after being insulted.

Some of the younger Qin soldiers were even flushed red with rage, trembling all over.

The morale of the Han Army gradually recovered, becoming more relaxed and eventually breaking into unbridled laughter.

They grew increasingly unbridled, pouring out all manner of foul language.

However, this sense of ease did not last long.

As Meng Wu waved his command flag, a large contingent of the Qin Army left their positions, right before their very eyes, and headed toward the upper reaches of the river to build a dam and divert the water.

Such actions caused the cursing from the Han Army to instantly weaken, and panic set in once more.

"General, what do we do? They are going to build a dam and divert the water. If we let them continue, it won't be long before the moat dries up!"

The Han Army watched in extreme anxiety, and the garrison commander, Han Jiang, also furrowed his brows tightly.

The enemy's movements were swift and their direction precise; it was clear that before arriving, they had already scouted the narrow sections of the upper reaches, moving much faster than he had anticipated.

Moreover, the force sent to build the dam numbered nearly ten thousand.

At this rate, he feared that within a few days, the water level of the moat would drop rapidly, making even drawing water a difficult task.

Yet, they dared not leave the city to hinder the enemy's dam construction, and could only watch helplessly as they went to build it.

Han Jiang felt a surge of agitation.

That afternoon, the Qin Army locked onto the narrow section of the river and began constructing the dam.

By midnight the next day, the dam was completed, and the water level of the moat outside Ye County began to drop continuously.

By noon on the fourth day, the water level of the moat had dropped by more than half, and in some places, the riverbed had even begun to show.

Blisters visibly erupted on the corners of Han Jiang's mouth, and the Han soldiers on the city walls were all burning with anxiety.

Even drawing water had become difficult for them now, forcing them to send men to dig more wells throughout the city to ensure a water supply.

However, as the water level of the moat continued to drop, the water in the wells also became increasingly scarce, requiring deeper excavations and making the task of drawing water ever more arduous.

Han Jiang knew things could not continue like this, or the garrison would eventually die of thirst.

Thus, that night, he dispatched three thousand troops to quietly slip out from the West Gate, intending to secretly destroy the dam built by the Qin Army.

But no sooner had these three thousand troops left the city than Zhao Cheng led three thousand Light Cavalry to strike from both flanks.

Ying Nian and He Ping circled in from the left and right to slaughter them.

The Han Army immediately fell into chaos, attempting to retreat and break through.

Zhao Cheng, having led one thousand Light Cavalry, used the Flying Cavalry to cut off the rear of the three thousand enemy troops, and while they were in disarray, charged straight into their formation!

He spurred his horse forward, like a blade, plunging right into the fray.

The long sword in his hand swept out, felling a row with every stroke!

Boundless Primordial Qi surged within his body, erupting with supreme divine strength.

Those Han soldiers were like paper before him, easily sliced in two.

Severed bodies piled up beneath his horse's hooves as the Flying Cavalry charged forward, carving out a path of blood!

After a single charge, the Han Army was terrified to the core; seeing Zhao Cheng from afar, they scrambled to dodge to the sides, none daring to cross blades with him!

With their morale shattered, Zhao Cheng cut straight through the formation.

The one thousand Light Cavalry behind him fought with such exhilaration that they were unstoppable, crushing everything in their path!

It had become a completely one-sided slaughter.

Zhao Cheng, drenched in blood, turned his horse around and cut back into the formation once more.

In mere moments, he had pierced through the formation again.

After seven charges in and out, he had slaughtered all three thousand of the enemy troops.

"Tsk, such a small number; it's not enough to satisfy the kill."

Zhao Cheng sheathed his sword, feeling unfulfilled, while behind him lay a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

He checked his system; his lifespan had now increased to two thousand five hundred years.

This battle had only yielded seven hundred years of lifespan, which was truly too little.

He began to look forward to infiltrating the city.

Zhao Cheng turned his horse to stand before the formation and ordered, "Sever their heads and hang all the corpses outside the East Gate! Let the enemy see the consequences of leaving the city!"

The three thousand Light Cavalry immediately accepted the order and departed.

The gazes they turned toward Zhao Cheng were now filled with reverence.

For many years, when had they ever fought such a comfortable battle?

With Zhao Cheng as the vanguard, the enemy formation was no sturdier than paper.

They only needed to follow behind Zhao Cheng, and it was a one-sided slaughter; they wiped out three thousand men without losing a single soldier, and without the slightest effort.

After such a great victory, every one of the three thousand Light Cavalry had earned significant military merit, so they were naturally grinning from ear to ear, wishing the defenders would send another ten thousand men out for them to kill.

Unfortunately, the enemy was not stupid, and no one came out of the city again.

Early the next morning, the corpses of the three thousand Han Army soldiers were hung before the East Gate.

Seeing this, the Han Army soldiers turned pale, their morale plummeting to the lowest point.

Han Jiang was so anxious that his mouth was covered in blisters, his heart burning with impatience.

The moat had already revealed its riverbed; not only was there no water outside the city, but even the wells within the city were becoming increasingly difficult to draw from.

The deeper they dug the wells, the more the defenders suffered, their lips cracked and parched, wailing in misery from thirst.

The commoners were in a state of panic, terrified and uneasy, begging to go up the mountain to search for water and supplies.

Left with no choice, Han Jiang had to open the Wolf Tooth Gorge pass to the north, which had only been sealed a short time ago, and no longer forbade the commoners from going up the mountain.

At the same time, many soldiers disguised themselves as woodcutters to go up the mountain to gather supplies and fetch water from the streams.

At this point, the trap was set.

"The time has come. Zhao Cheng, take a unit of elite scouts and infiltrate Kunyang Mountain on the north side of Ye County, then wait for an opportunity to enter the city."

"You have never acted as a spy, but Feng Quan and Feng Ruo are both experts in this field. Let them accompany you; if there is any intelligence that needs to be sent out, they can help you transmit it."

"Leave some scouts on North Mountain to provide support. If the mission becomes impossible, retreat immediately from North Mountain."

"This general obeys."

Zhao Cheng was overjoyed. He returned to the camp immediately, selected Feng Quan and Feng Ruo, and with their assistance, chose a unit of top-tier scouts.

For a desperate mission, quality is more important than quantity; the more people there are, the easier it is for the enemy to detect something amiss.

Even within this unit, not everyone was meant to enter the city; the majority were to remain outside to provide support and relay intelligence.

Inside the tent, Zhao Cheng took off his armor and began to disguise himself.

He put on tattered, coarse hemp clothing and smeared charcoal ash on his face, making himself look disheveled and unkempt, which obscured his heroic features and made him look much more ragged and slovenly.

He carried a hunting knife in his hand, an outfit identical to what he had worn when he went hunting in the mountains before.

Even Feng Quan, upon looking at him, felt that he was just a hunter from the mountains, albeit much more robust than an ordinary one.

"My lord, with this disguise, let alone the Han Army, even I almost didn't recognize you."

Zhao Cheng laughed, "I was a hunter to begin with."

"In a moment, we will go into Kunyang Mountain, hunt a few wild rabbits or wolves; it will serve as proof when we enter the city, and we can also supplement our rations."

Feng Quan grinned and said, "That couldn't be better."

Feng Quan and Feng Ruo disguised themselves as woodcutters and followed Zhao Cheng, slipping into Kunyang Mountain together.

Once they entered the forest, they moved with the speed of lightning.

Before long, Zhao Cheng led his men deep into the mountains on the north side of Ye County.

Not long after stepping into the North Mountain region of Ye County, arrows suddenly rained down from the forest, shooting directly at Zhao Cheng's unit.