A glint of light flashed in Guo Jiwang's eyes. "Lu Hongjian succeeded?"
Zhou Zhengqing nodded. "When Governor Lu saw me off out of the city, he sent someone to tell me that he had taken control of the city's defenses!"
"Do you know which deputy general he relied on to control the city's defenses?"
Guo Jiwang immediately pressed for an answer.
The only military force that Lu Hongjian could directly control was the servants in his own household and the constables in the police station. It was impossible for him to control the city's defenses with just these people.
However, it would be difficult to win over a single centurion guarding the city, so Guo Jiwang deduced that the other side had at least won over a deputy general.
In the defense of a prefecture, the chief officer is the Assistant General, followed by two Deputy Generals, and then the Centurion.
"I've already asked; it's Deputy General Xu Dengyun."
Zhou Zhengqing said.
"Very good!"
A smile finally appeared on Guo Jiwang's face. He looked at Wu Shuangren, "In this way, even in the worst-case scenario, we at least have a way out."
Wu Shuangren nodded, a smile on his face.
Xu Dengyun, the deputy general of Yi Province, was the elder in his family who sent the message to Xu Jing from the city.
If someone else had control of Yi Prefecture City, they might not have agreed to let Wu Shuangren lead his men directly into the city.
Even if Lu Hongjian and Guo Jiwang known each other, Lu would never easily agree to allow armed forces that he could not control to enter the city.
Now, Xu Dengyun is the one who truly controls the Yi Prefecture City, and with Xu Jing in Wu Shuangren's team, there's no need to worry about this issue.
Just as Guo Jiwang said, even in the worst-case scenario, they could at least retreat into Yi Prefecture City.
"And there's the letter you had Governor Lu write, sir."
Zhou Zhengqing took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Guo Jiwang.
Guo Jiwang took the letter, opened it, read it once, and then handed it to Wu Shuangren.
Wu Shuangren unfolded the letter and read it. It was written by Lu Hongjian himself, with neat and powerful handwriting.
After reading it, he bowed to Guo Jiwang and said, "Sir, your calculations are brilliant, each step intricately linked, truly admirable!"
Guo Jiwang and said, "Without these few thousand men, I would be nothing more than a theorist."
Wu Shuangren nodded. "Let's go, to the garrison!"
The group continued galloping along the official road.
More than an hour later, the group arrived Yi Prefecture City. Looking into the distance, they saw that the city gates were tightly closed, the drawbridge was not lowered, and soldiers were patrolling the city towers.
From this day forward, the Yi Prefecture City will be tightly closed!
Wu Shuangren and his men did not linger at the foot of the city. They continued along the main road, turned onto a side road, and headed straight for the garrison.
After traveling for nearly half an hour, a large stone wall appeared ahead, about ten feet high, with a wooden tower at intervals, and soldiers walking on the top of the towers.
Inside the stone wall is a drill ground with rows of barracks, and behind the barracks can be seen irrigation canals for farming.
This is the garrison of Yi Province, the place where the Yi Province army is stationed.
The soldiers on the tower saw more than a hundred cavalrymen rushing towards them from afar and sounded the alarm gongs early on.
The garrison was now on high alert, with the main gate tightly shut.
Wu Shuangren, leading a hundred personal guards, reined in their horses and lined up, stopping three hundred paces away from the gate of the garrison.
"We need to send someone in to deliver a message to that adjutant."
Guo Jiwang said.
Zhou Zhengqing rode forward and said to Wu Shuangren and Guo Jiwang, "Militia Commander Wu, sir, let me go."
Wu Shuangren looked at Guo Jiwang, Guo Jiwang nodded.
This task involves more than just delivering a message; it also requires personally persuading Fan Yu, which demands courage and eloquence.
Besides Guo Jiwang, the only person who could take on this responsibility around Wu Shuangren was Zhou Zhengqing.
Zhou Zhengqing took the letter from Wu Shuangren, spurred his horse, and galloped towards the gate of the garrison.
The people on the wall immediately drew their bows and nocked arrows, and someone shouted, "Stop! We'll fire if you go any further!"
Zhou Zhengqing reined in his horse and shouted, "I am here on the orders of Governor Lu of Yi Province to have important business with General Fan!"
There was silence on the wall for a moment, then after a long while, a man poked his head out and shouted, "Dismount and wait!"
Zhou Zhengqing dismounted and stood in place.
Before long, a hanging basket was lowered down the stone wall.
"You come in here!"
Zhou Zhengqing was not afraid upon hearing this. He stepped forward and stood in the basket, where he was slowly pulled up.
Throughout the entire process, Wu Shuangren and his hundred personal guards remained at a distance, waiting quietly.
A moment later, Zhou Zhengqing was led into a large hall.
Fan Yu, clad in iron armor, sat imposingly in the main seat. Several equally armored guards stood in the hall, their hands on their swords, staring coldly at Zhou Zhengqing.
Zhou Zhengqing remained unfazed, strode forward, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Greetings, General Fan."
Fan Yu said coldly, "Speak, what business does Governor Lu have with me?"
Zhou Zhengqing remained calm and took out the letter from his pocket. "This is a letter written by Lord Lu himself. Please take a look, General."
Song Qi stepped forward, took the document, and presented it to Fan Yu.
Fan Yu took out the letter and read it carefully.
The letter contained only a hundred or so words, yet each word weighed heavily on his heart:
"... The four gates of the city are now in our hands, and the soldiers and civilians within are willing to defend it to the death. However, since the general is leading troops outside, if Mount Liang and Mist Hidden Temple join forces to attack, we fear the enemy will seize the opportunity. Now, Wu Shuangren, the militia leader of Bo County, has arrived with three thousand elite soldiers to reinforce us, willing to join the general in attacking Mist Hidden Temple. Once the general leads his troops to wipe out the enemy, I will immediately open the gates to welcome him and defend this city together against the powerful enemy. If we win this battle, the general will be credited with the greatest merit. I hope the general will not make any mistakes!"
At the end of the letter was Lu Hongjian's personal seal.
Fan Yu's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty after reading the letter.
If he still controlled the city's defenses, he could advance or retreat at will, and would still have the initiative. But now the city's defenses have fallen into the hands of others, and he is alone outside, forced to choose sides.
You can either side with Mist Hidden Temple and Mount Liang, or side with Lu Hongjian.
One step to the left and you're a traitor; one step to the right and your fate is uncertain.
This is too difficult!
Outside the garrison, Wu Shuangren and the others had been waiting for a quarter of an hour.
"Do you think Fan Yu will choose Mist Hidden Temple?"
Wu Shuangren suddenly spoke up.
Guo Jiwang at the garrison ahead and said, "It seems that Fan Yu will probably wait until our main force arrives before making a real choice."
Wu Shuangren sneered, "He won't shed a tear until he sees the coffin."
Guo Jiwang said calmly, "He can't afford to lose this battle, so he'll only move when he sees a winning chance. Once our main force arrives, he'll have no choice."
First, send a letter to the governor, reminding him to take control of the city's defenses. Then, use the change of control of the city's defenses and Wu Shuangren's several thousand troops to force the Yi Province military commander to choose sides. This is what Wu Shuangren called "interlocking steps." Guo Jiwang had already devised this plan when he West River Market!
Wu Shuangren dismounted and ordered all his guards to dismount as well, and to feed their horses.
And so they waited from dawn till dusk before the dust finally rose at the end of the official road.
Xu Jing arrived with the main force!
Inside the garrison, a personal guard rushed in to report, "General, three or four thousand men have arrived outside. Their ranks are extremely orderly, and at least five or six hundred of them are wearing leather armor. They truly look like elite troops!"
Fan Yu's expression changed slightly.
"There really is one!"
Hearing is unreliable, seeing is believing.
Fan Yu had heard of Wu Shuangren from Bo County, and knew that Mist Hidden Temple had suffered several defeats at his hands. He had even previously laughed at the once-powerful Mist Hidden Temple for losing to a mere brat—how shameful!
Now that this young upstart has brought several thousand men to block the entrance of his garrison, he can no longer laugh.
Fan Yu then summoned Song Qi and asked him to go out and take another look.
A moment later, Song Qi returned with a solemn expression and nodded to Fan Yu: "General, I've examined them carefully, and the troops from outside are indeed elite!"
Fan Yu leaned back in the chair, his back hunched over.
Song Qi was an old comrade by his side, and he believed that the other party could not be wrong. The last bit of hope in his heart was thus shattered.
The Yi Province Guard had a full complement of 1,200 soldiers, but every commander in charge would draw salaries without actually serving and exploit the soldiers.
Fan Yu only had a little over 800 soldiers at his disposal, and half of them were currently in the city. With only 400-odd soldiers in the garrison, he had no confidence that he could hold off the several thousand elite troops outside.
Just as Guo Jiwang said, by the time Wu Shuangren's main force arrived, Fan Yu would have no choice!
Go and bring him back.
Fan Yu let out a heavy breath and gave the order.
Zhou Zhengqing was quickly brought back to the front of the hall.
Fan Yu looked up at him, his tone softening. "Go tell that Militia Commander Wu outside that I can lead troops to attack Mist Hidden Temple with him. But how to fight this battle needs to be discussed first."
Zhou Zhengqing immediately said, "General, Militia Commander Wu said that if you are willing to send troops, there is no need to mobilize all the soldiers in the garrison. You only need to bring all the trusted personal guards with you, and take out all the armor and crossbows from the garrison to accompany the army."
"Presumptuous!"
Fan Yu was furious upon hearing this, his face turning ashen.
Zhou Zhengqing trembled, but still gritted his teeth and stared at Fan Yu without backing down. "Militia Commander Wu made this suggestion for the sake of victory in this battle, and even more so for the sake of the general. I hope the general will calm down."
It's unknown how many people in this garrison have been secretly bribed by the Mist Hidden Temple. Rather than worrying about being stabbed in the back during a fight, it's better to only bring trustworthy people into battle.
Fan Yu naturally understood this principle, but it was truly embarrassing for him to have it so bluntly stated by an outsider!
Fan Yu remained silent for a long time before finally sighing, "Song Qi, go and take care of it."
"Yes."
Song Qi accepted the order and left.
About half an hour later, the gate of the garrison slowly opened.
A dozen or so guards led the way, pushing carts loaded with bundles of leather armor and several large boxes of crossbow bolts!
Following behind, Fan Yu rode out on horseback. He had changed into a full set of iron armor, the plates of which were jet black and shiny, and he wore a dark red cloak over them. Behind him were more than a hundred personal guards, all on horseback and dressed in lamellar armor.
This lamellar armor differs from infantry armor. It consists of two parts: a breastplate and a skirt armor. It is also made of iron plates strung together and weighs about 20 kilograms. It is a type of light armor, but its defensive capabilities are much stronger than leather armor!
Judging from these hundred-odd mounted and armored guards, Fan Yu, the military commander of Yi Province, is indeed quite capable; it was worth Wu Shuangren waiting for so long.
Fan Yu rode out of the garrison and witnessed firsthand the thousands of militiamen lined up neatly in the distance. He carefully observed their demeanor and bearing, and was secretly alarmed.
Song Qi wasn't mistaken; they were indeed elite troops!
He spurred his horse to Wu Shuangren, dismounted, and laughed, "I've long admired Militia Commander Wu's name; seeing you today, you truly are a young hero!"
He didn't put on airs like a general; on the contrary, he was very polite.
Wu Shuangren clasped his hands in a salute. "Greetings, General Fan. With your presence, we are certain of victory in this battle!"
Fan Yu took two steps forward and whispered, "I wonder if Militia Commander Wu knows the true strength of the Mist Hidden Temple?"
"Please advise, General."
"Rumors circulate that Mist Hidden Temple maintains a thousand warrior monks, but in reality, it's not a thousand; there are at least three thousand! These warrior monks practice and train fiercely at the manor at the foot of the mountain!"
Wu Shuangren remained calm upon hearing this and said, "General Fan, rest assured. I have fought the warrior monks of Mist Hidden Temple more than once, and each time I have won against overwhelming odds. This time, we have the advantage in numbers and with your assistance, General, how could we possibly lose?"
Seeing Wu Shuangren's composure and confidence, Fan Yu felt much more at ease.
Next, Wu Shuangren had the leather armor that Fan Yu had sent out distributed on the spot to the militiamen who had not yet put on their armor.
Fan Yu retrieved more than four hundred sets of leather armor from the garrison. Including the ones already in use, the number of armored militiamen in the militia training camp exceeded one thousand!
As for the powerful crossbows brought from the garrison, they were all in the hands of Fan Yu's personal guards and were not given to Wu Shuangren.