Thief Emperor

Chapter 504: Li the Thief Breaks into the City
Although Li Yun is still unclear about the exact number of troops in Wuchang at present, he can be sure that all the troops of the Wuchang Army cannot be in Wuchang.

He has garrisoned troops in all six states under his jurisdiction.

This is because the six states of General Lu Jie were located at the junction of Shannan East Road, Huainan Road, and Jiangnan West Road.

Li Yun was not sure about the current situation in Shannan East Road, but he was very familiar with the western part of Huainan Road which "bordered" Lu Yunzhang.

That was the place occupied by his old friend Ping Lujun.

Being neighbors with the Pinglu Army, it is naturally impossible to be completely unprepared. Otherwise, General Zhou, who suffered a little loss at the hands of Li Yun, would not care whether he was the Inspector of Eyue or the Jiedushi of Wuchang Army.

If you calculate it this way, it would be good if half of the Wuchang Army’s troops could be in Ezhou.

Even if he had 10,000 people in Ezhou, the soldiers in Ezhou city must be the majority. The garrison here in Wuchang is at most 5,000 people, which is not much different from the soldiers led by Li Yun and others.

Moreover, Wuchang is just a county town, and its city walls are much smaller than those of a big city like Yangzhou. Although it has geographical advantages, it is not a particularly big advantage.

If Su Sheng had followed his original plan, he would have rushed straight into Wuchang City, because he looked down upon the combat effectiveness of the Wuchang Army and believed that they were far inferior to the Pinglu Army.

However, Li Yun still used a little trick. After Zhou Bi's report, no matter whether Lu Yunzhang was willing to talk to Li Yun or not, he subconsciously felt that even if the two sides wanted to fight, they would meet and talk before fighting.

Otherwise, Li Yun would not have sent someone over to say that he wanted to meet him.

In this way, even if Li Yun had led his troops to within dozens of miles of Wuchang City, he would not pay special attention to defense, and would not even think that Li Yun would launch a direct attack.

This can be considered a kind of psychological manipulation, but it is not a particularly powerful method.

After all, when facing an opponent of Lu Yunzhang's level, Li Yun no longer needs to use too many tricks.

The group continued to approach Wuchang City. When they were about twenty miles away from Wuchang City, Li Yun ordered everyone to stop advancing and rest on the spot and wait for orders.

He sat on the ground with Su Sheng. After drinking a sip of water from the water bag, he said, "Brother, even if we win this battle, we can only take Wuchang County, which is not a big achievement. But for the entire Jiangdong, it is still very important. At this time, we need a battle to establish our prestige."

"It has to be fought cleanly and beautifully."

Su Sheng heard this and said seriously, "Don't worry, Lord Fu, I will definitely fight this battle well."

He looked at Wuchang County not far away and said slowly, "I won't bring any new soldiers with me in the first round of troops."

Li Yun also looked towards Wuchang County and said with a smile, "I don't need me to charge into the battle line in this battle, right?"

Su Sheng also smiled and said, "In Jiangdong, is there any battle that needs you to charge into battle?"

"As long as the Lord is not itching to do anything, just watch from the side."

Speaking of itching to fight, Li Yun had indeed not fought with anyone for a long time. The last time he did so was during the Chinese New Year when he saw Pei Zhuang in the military camp outside the city of Jinling and had a fight with him.

In that fight, since they had agreed beforehand that it would be a limited exchange, it was not easy to be too aggressive, and it was Li Yun's first defeat since his debut.

After that, he was stuck with paperwork for several months and never had the chance to fight anyone.

It is foreseeable that such opportunities will become less and less in the future.

After listening to Su Sheng's words, Li Yun looked down at his palms and laughed at himself: "My hands are almost like the hands that hold pens."

"That's a good thing."

Su Sheng smiled and said, "To be honest, I have traveled a lot over the years. Among my father's old subordinates, I have seen a few brave generals like Erlang. They are brave, but none of them can hold a pen."

"Erlang can lift it, which is a skill that no one else has."

He praised: "I can't even envy you enough."

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "Brother, you are praising me again. The courage of a general does not lie in his fists. The general was invincible in his time. I have read his manuscripts. He also has a good handwriting and a good literary talent."

Speaking of his father, Su Sheng's sadness has subsided a lot. He was silent for a while and sighed, "Although my father is also educated, he definitely doesn't have the ability to govern like Erlang."

The two chatted for a while. It was already afternoon. Li Yun looked around and said, "Let's set up camp."

Su Sheng exclaimed, "Ah!" and asked, "Aren't we going to attack the city soon?"

"Looking at the weather, even if Zhou Bi comes out, it will probably be evening. We are only 20 miles away from Wuchang City. There must be countless eyes watching us. If we set up camp now, they will think that we will not attack the city again today."

"Zhou Bi will be back soon."

Mr. Li looked towards Wuchang and said slowly, "We can catch them by surprise."

Su Sheng grinned when he heard this: "Okay, I'll do it right away."

He stood up, looked around, called a few subordinates, and ordered in a deep voice: "Set up camp, set up camp!"

The order spread quickly, and 5,000 Qiantang troops set up camp outside the city of Wuchang.

…………

In the evening, Zhou Bi, dressed in green clothes, rode out of Wuchang City on a horse. He identified the direction and soon saw the military camp not far away. After running all the way back to the military camp, he soon met Li Yun.

At this moment, Li Yun was already eating with Su Sheng in the tent. After entering the tent, Zhou Bi immediately bowed his head and clasped his fists: "Greetings, Lord Fu, and General!"

Seeing Zhou Bi, Su Sheng stood up, clasped his fists and said to Li Yun with a smile: "Master, I'm going to work." Li Yun said "hmm" and smiled: "I'm here, waiting for good news from my brother."

Su Sheng nodded and left. When he passed by Zhou Bi, he patted Zhou Bi on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Good boy, you have courage."

After saying that, he strode away.

Zhou Bi looked at Su Sheng's back as he left, feeling somewhat confused.

After Su Sheng left, he turned to look at Li Yun. Since there was no third person in the tent at this time, he asked in a low voice, "Second brother, where is General Su going?"

"To attack Wuchang."

Li Yun pressed his hands, motioning Zhou Bi to sit opposite him. At this moment, there was no food or wine in the tent, only a plate of dried meat torn into strips.

Li Yun handed two pieces of dried meat to Zhou Bi and asked, "Have you seen Lu Yunzhang?"

"seen."

Zhou Bi nodded quickly and said, "That man looks very young, not at all like he is in his forties."

"The Lu family is also a big family."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I have been living a life of luxury since I was a child, so I will not look old."

Regardless of the era, the appearance gap between the upper class and the lower class is always quite large.

Although there were few skin care products in this era, the lives of the lower classes were even harder. Some who did not have enough food looked like they were forty years old in their twenties.

In comparison, Lu Yunzhang's appearance is actually just slightly younger, but the people Zhou Bi usually comes into contact with are all of relatively lower class.

Zhou Bi sat opposite Li Yun and told him about the situation in Wuchang City. After he finished speaking, he said, "The man surnamed Lu asked me to tell my second brother that he and my second brother are both appointed officials of the court and should not fight each other. He said that as long as my second brother leads the troops back, he will bring a list of gifts and visit my second brother in Nanjing some other day."

Hearing this, Li Yun sneered, then looked at Zhou Bi and said with a smile: "Are you afraid of going to the enemy camp this time?"

"Not afraid."

Zhou Bi shook his head and smiled, "I didn't have much experience before, and I didn't understand anything, but after all, I have followed my second brother for several years, and I can still see the current situation."

"With my second brother behind me, I shouldn't be the one afraid of him now, but he should be afraid of me."

Li Yun nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "You are getting better and better, kid."

"It's good to be able to think about things in your mind. If you think about them more, you will be able to take on greater responsibilities in the future."

Mr. Li said with a smile: "This way, I can also give an explanation to my uncle."

Zhou Bi took a big bite of the dried meat, chewed it for a few times, and then said, "If I were still in Cangshan, I would be no different from before. I am smarter now because..."

He looked at Li Yun.

"It's because my second brother is willing to take me with him."

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and did not answer. Instead, he asked, "The fighting will start in an hour at most. Guess what the battle will be like tonight?"

“Wuchang’s city walls are low.”

Zhou Bi said confidently: "We can't stop General Su and his men. If the Wuchang army insists on defending, it will turn into street fighting in the city in two hours at most."

"The Wuchang Army, apart from suppressing the rebellion in the six states and suppressing bandits and riots, I have never heard of them fighting any wars."

Zhou Bi looked at Li Yun cautiously and said, "I think General Su will win before dawn."

Li Yun looked at him and smiled: "If it really goes that smoothly, then it won't be me who goes to talk to Mr. Lu, but Mr. Lu who comes to talk to me."

Zhou Bi nodded and said, "Of course, my second brother is much more powerful than that guy surnamed Lu."

…………

Five thousand Qiantang troops marched towards Wuchang City in the cover of night.

Because the defenders of Wuchang had no prior preparation, they could only fight in a hurry.

Fortunately, there were many defenders in Wuchang, and the strength of the two sides was almost the same. The battle for the city wall was deadlocked for a long time.

At midnight, Peng Xian, a captain under Su Sheng, led his troops to attack the Wuchang city wall. Peng, holding a big knife, cut down two Wuchang soldiers with one blow, and then shouted: "Wuchang is broken, Wuchang is broken!"

Soon, the city gate was breached.

The mighty Qiantang Army stormed into the city of Wuchang.

Lu Yunzhang, the military governor of Wuchang, personally commanded the troops on the battlefield and was so angry that he started cursing. Even though he was a son of a wealthy and powerful family, he couldn't help but greet Li Yun's family.

"Thief Li, thief Li!"

(End of this chapter)