Taking the City in One Stroke

A general approached Zhou Wanwan and said:

"Your Majesty, the morale of our army has been low recently. Many of us have experienced the siege of Yanmen Pass before."

I'm afraid that if Yanmen Pass is besieged this time, we might not be able to hold out!

Zhou Wanwan glanced at the general indifferently and said, "That's not your concern. What you need to consider now is how to improve your own combat effectiveness, understand?"

The general nodded and said, "I understand. Ever since our Ren and Du meridians were opened, we feel that our strength has increased considerably."

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "Keep trying, go on!"

After the general left, Zhou Wanwan said, "I'd be quite happy if we were surrounded by the Great Qi army."

Zhao Muyuan looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "What's there to be happy about? If we're trapped here, we'll be in trouble."

Zhou Wanwan shook her head and said:

"How could it be troublesome? Our people can come and go as they please."

Besides, there are many villages and plenty of grain in Yanmen Pass now, so there's absolutely nothing to worry about.

Furthermore, most of those who have recently come to Yanmen Pass are powerful and influential people. Being trapped here, they must have to spend money, right?

No money? No problem! We can write you an IOU!

We've made a profit no matter how you look at it.

Shen Chaoge, who was standing next to him, said:

"I'm just worried that we won't have enough food by then."

After all, there are hundreds of thousands of people at Yanmen Pass now, and they consume too much food every day.

And that doesn't even include our main force.

Zhou Wanwan thought for a moment and said, "Our main force should all withdraw, retreat north, and concentrate here."

Shen Chaoge frowned and said, "You mean we don't need them to defend us?"

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said:

"Yes, that's right. They don't need to defend. You should lead them to train well and improve their combat effectiveness in preparation for any eventuality."

What we need to do now is to wear down those 300,000 Great Qi troops.

"Keep wearing them down until they're exhausted, then we'll lead our main force to surround the Great Qi army."

Shen Chaoge immediately knew what Zhou Wanwan was planning to do.

He cupped his hands and said, "This humble general obeys."

He set off with hundreds of thousands of troops in a grand procession.

They had barely set off when Yanmen Pass was surrounded by the Great Qi army.

This time, the commander of the Great Qi army General Qin. General Qin looked at General Who Proclaims Might and said:

"You bastard, how dare you collude with the enemy and betray your country."

His Majesty was right after all; and all of you deserve to die.

The Emperor has said that your entire family, spanning nine generations, will be exterminated.

General Who Proclaims Might stood on the city wall, looking down at General Qin and said:

"General Qin, we are not under the same emperor. As for my entire family, go ahead and exterminate them! Go ahead and exterminate them! I'm not afraid of you!"

"I've disliked you for a long time. We're both generals, so why are your men treated better than mine?"

General Qin roared, "General Who Proclaims Might, I'll give you one more chance. If you surrender with your men, I can persuade the Emperor to spare your life."

General Who Proclaims Might looked at him and said:

"General Qin, don't dream about it. I will never surrender."

Besides, how could you possibly be in charge of the Emperor? You're kidding me!

General Qin retorted angrily, "Am I being too kind to you? Let me put it bluntly: if you don't surrender, I'll slaughter your entire city."

General Who Proclaims Might smiled faintly and said, "I'm so scared! Come on then, if you dare!"

General Qin was furious. "Fine, surround Yanmen Pass and starve them out. Let's see how long they can hold out."

It's the same old, tired cliché.

A besieged city, huh?

As soon as General Qin issued the order, they began the siege of the city.

After a while, the soldiers who had besieged the city ran back and said, "General, this... this Yanmen Pass is really too big. It might not be easy to surround it."

General Qin frowned and said, "Nonsense! How big is Yanmen Pass? Do you think I don't know? We surrounded Yanmen Pass with just tens of thousands of men back then."

He rode his horse around Yanmen Pass, growing increasingly alarmed with each turn. "This Yanmen Pass is enormous! How long have we been wandering around?"

"The time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

"You haven't even finished walking around in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn? When did Yanmen Pass get so big?"

And the walls around Yanmen Pass are so high! They must be over 10 meters high!

"Ten meters or so is bad enough, but this wall is also so thick, it's outrageous." Qin Yuan was increasingly astonished as he turned around.

Someone said:

"I heard that Yanmen Pass has been expanded a lot recently, and even the two small towns next to it have been annexed. I also heard that there is a lot of construction going on inside."

"Now that we have our own estate, what use would it be if we surrounded Yanmen Pass?"

Qin Yuan snorted coldly and said:

"The more this happens, the more people we have to support, and the more food and supplies we have to consume."

Just think about it, how many people live in such a big city? How much does it cost to eat every day?

"But... but we only have a little over 300,000 elite troops right now. If we really disperse them all, I'm afraid we won't have enough manpower!"

Qin Yuan sneered:

"This time it's not just 300,000 elite troops; I've also requested 200,000 more from His Majesty."

These 200,000 elite troops were transferred from other places and are extremely powerful in combat.

The general beside him laughed and said, "Does the small Yanmen Pass really need 500,000 elite troops?"

"Of course not, I think we should just send 500,000 elite troops to attack the city and take it in one fell swoop."

I think so too.

Qin Yuan sneered, "What General Who Proclaims Might? I'll chop his head off and hang it on the city wall, then we'll see if he dares to be arrogant again."

By evening, another 200,000 elite troops had arrived.

Qin Yuan was overjoyed and said, "Now we are strong enough, with 500,000 elite troops. We can attack the city in one fell swoop."

They moved extremely fast and soon their army was at the city gates.

Qin Yuan roared:

"Listen up, you on the city walls! You are surrounded. If you want any chance of survival, open the gates and surrender."

Otherwise, if we breach your city, you're doomed.

Zhou Wanwan stood on the city wall, looking down at the dark mass of people below.

Xie Cheng'en nearby, said, "I think we should surrender! 500,000 elite troops? How can we possibly be a match for them?"

Old Master Xie rubbed his hands together, saying, "You little bastard, you want to surrender? Then go ahead! Have you ever seen anyone more cowardly than you?"

Xie Cheng'en shrank his neck and said:

Grandpa, I was wrong, please forgive me!

I'm simply not cut out for leading troops in battle. I want to leave. Princess Jianing has already run away, so why can't I?"

Xie Cheng'en is indeed quite spineless; the first thing he did upon hearing that something had happened was to run away.

Unfortunately, Old Master Xie caught him.

He was immediately tied up.

Old Master Xie snorted coldly and said:

"Useless trash, you might as well hang yourself on the city wall and get shot to death."

Then they can say you sacrificed yourself for the country, and your name will be remembered for generations. It will be a good thing the Xie Family didn't raise you in vain.