“We can’t… We can’t withstand this…”

The dull sound of arrows piercing into flesh, the anguished wails on the battlefield, the buzz of arrows whizzing through the air… The cacophony of noises converged into a symphony of death… The soldier with a bloodied head held himself up and finished saying these words with tears in his eyes. Then, a cold arrow shot through his chest.

“Crush them all! Smash them down! You must not let these rebels climb up the city wall!”

The Red Lotus leader shrunk back. His face was filled with fear. He shouted with all his might as he pushed others to the front.

“You have to withstand this! Whoever dares to retreat will be killed!”

The best way to deal with enemies climbing ladders was to smash their heads or hands with heavy objects or sharp devices. The defending side did not even need to kill anyone on the spot. They just needed to get them off the ladder. Falling from that height would be enough to kill the enemy.

However, Yang Si was very devious.

He asked the soldiers to cover themselves with a thick shield and pretend to climb the ladders. They didn’t need to climb too high. Halfway up the wall was enough to tempt the Red Lotus men up on the city wall to show themselves. When they attacked the soldiers climbing up the ladders with stones or other sharp devices, the bowmen below the city wall specifically targeted the Red Lotus soldiers and shot at them.

The battle drums were thunderous. Their intense sounds resonated through the heavens, causing the blood in their hearts to roil and surge through their chests.

Jiang Pengji rode on a Little White’s back. Her red garments and silver armor looked particularly eye-catching in the sunlight.

She frowned and said, “Jing Rong, although your lord has some extra money lying around, I don’t have the wealth of a nation… Can you be more thrifty?”

They did not have an endless supply of arrows. In her opinion, every wave of arrows that were shot represented wasted money.

It was fine if the siege went off without a hitch, but if they could not capture the city, for the time being, those arrows could not be recovered.

Even if some arrows could be recovered during the clean up of the battlefield, there would be some losses due to wear and tear. For each battle, 10% to 20% of the arrows were damaged. This waste was so expensive that it felt like a physical ache.

Yang Si laughed. “Wait until the morale of their army has completely collapsed, then this city wall can be easily broken through!”

Jiang Pengji rolled her eyes secretly. She squeezed Little White’s belly and cried, “Go!”

Little White screamed and galloped towards the battlefield as fast as lightning.

Just when Yang Si was about to raise his hand to stop, Little White had already carried her away on its back with all swiftness, leaving behind only the dust and sand it had kicked up.

As the horse galloped, Jiang Pengji retrieved the bow and arrows slung across the horse’s back.

More than two stones of strength were required to fully draw this bow and arrow.

She nocked the arrow and drew the bow, aiming at the flag fluttering against the wind up above the city.

A streak of silver burst through the air. The arrow carried with it an indomitable momentum. As it shot through the flagpole with a harsh crack, the large flag suddenly fell.

She was dealing a fatal blow to their spirits. Why dawdle so much?

Either they needed to take off the head of the enemy general with an overwhelming number of soldiers or cut off their flags. Both were ways to completely humiliate their enemy and crush their morale.

Yang Si saw the falling flag of the Red Lotus Group and laughed involuntarily. He adjusted his plan and focused on attacking the city with all his strength.

The Red Lotus members on the city wall had lost all will to do battle. After paying a price, Jiang Pengji’s soldiers carried a thick shield over their heads and climbed up the city wall. The two sides were locked in a chaotic battle. It was like a scene from Asura’s Hell, confusing and bloody, causing one to lose all reason.

The gates opened wide during the chaos.

Jiang Pengji held a spear and urged her horse to go into the city.

The fight went on from early morning to noon. It seemed as if the white clouds in the sky were stained with a trace of scarlet.

If someone surrendered, his hands would be bound. If someone insisted on resisting to the end, he would be killed on the spot.

In less than half a month, the situation in Chengde County had changed dramatically.

At this point, Jinmen County, Fenghu County, and Red Lotus County had all been incorporated into Jiang Pengji’s territory.

“Only Qiuyu County is left.”

After the battle, Yang Si sent people to clean up the battlefield and settle the wounded soldiers, the dead, and the prisoners of war.

When she finally had time to catch her breath, Jiang Pengji washed her face and took off the heavy armor. She then sat down in the main hall to relax and drink tea.

Yang Si was so busy that he was flying from one thing to another. The clothes that he wore had been put on two days prior. There had been no time to freshen up.

“Yeah, we still have to deal with Qiuyu County… Why not calm down and wait for a few more days? We’ll wait for the Red Lotus Group to start fighting amongst themselves. Pretty soon, they’ll wear each other down.”

Jiang Pengji pinched her brow. “I want to wait, but the imperial order for all troops to go to the Emperor cannot.”

Yang Si was helpless too. If not for the imperial order, their plan would have been to wait until spring before attacking Chengde County.

However, they had been forced to go to war a few days before the Lunar New Year. It was one thing for the soldiers to be unable to spend the festive season with their families, but now some soldiers had even sacrificed their lives.

Jiang Pengji continued, “We’ll annex the Red Lotus Group sooner or later. Watching them wear themselves down in an internal war is tantamount to wasting our strength.”

Yang Si was speechless.

The meaning of his lord’s words was this: Since the Red Lotus Group would be his sooner or later, the more of their resources that were wasted, the greater the losses he would have on his hands when he annexed them… However, the Red Lotus Group had not yet been completely defeated. Was it right for his lord to be so concerned about the Group?

“Take a break and command the troops to go to Qiuyu County!”

“Yes!”

Jiang Pengji, Qiguan Rang, and others intentionally sealed off any news. As a result, the Red Lotus Group received the news relatively late.

And just how late did the news arrive?

She had already taken down Fenghu County. Meanwhile, the Red Lotus Group in Qiuyu County was still confronting each other and squabbling.

To stall for time, An Cui racked his brain to raise some suggestions for the Deputy Chief of the Group.

Compared to the shrewd manipulations of their top military counselors, An Cui was rather candid.

But compared to those brainless boors in Red Lotus, An Cui felt that his IQ could crush everyone present.

With his help, the Deputy Chief captured Qiuyu County after getting the city gate open via deception.

After capturing Qiuyu County, he was about to assign some troops to go to Red Lotus County. However, the army was blocked at the gate.

The people who blocked and surrounded them were not outsiders, but the military strategists of the Red Lotus Group.

The scholar personally led the soldiers to surround Qiuyu County. He rained down curses while demanding the Deputy Chief to return their Chief.

The two sides confronted each other and were locked in a stalemate.

An Cui had once again seized an opportunity to sow discord and upset the balance between the two sides, causing them to be on the verge of war.

As for him?

For the sake of his life, An Cui had his bags packed already. He brought a few fellow brothers with him and they fled.

The Deputy Chief and the scholar fought and killed until only murder was left in their eyes. Why would they even notice An Cui?

When they found that An Cui had escaped and was missing, the news that Red Lotus County and Fenghu County had been conquered in succession also arrived.

“What!? We’ve lost Red Lotus County? When did this happen?”

The Deputy Chief stood up in shook. He stood so quickly that he felt a wave of dizziness, almost fainting from his anger.

The soldier who relayed the message was deathly pale. He stammered as he spoke.

Hearing this, the Deputy Chief’s eyes rolled back in his head and his huge body fell to the ground.

Everyone panicked, at a loss of what to do. Some fanned him, hoping to wake him up. They repeated their actions for a long while before he finally woke up.

“How… How is this possible?”

The Deputy Chief felt as if he had fallen into an ice hole. Even his bones were cold.

If the information was correct, Red Lotus County had fallen on the same day he’d arrived in Qiuyu County.

The guards of Red Lotus County were not weak. How had that thief, Liu Xi, conquered the city so quietly?

Moreover, it had been a few days since it was captured. Why had the news only arrived now?

At the same time, the scholar also received news that they had lost Fenghu County.