It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Luger held the knife and said to Lid:

"The battlefield is like... I don't know how to describe it, it's like a life-or-death arena. I'm not a talented person, and the Lord of the City should know this better than me. But as I hacked my way through the battlefield and killed everyone I saw, I found that I gradually gained a lot of experience in using a knife, and my level gradually improved. This time I will also rush to the front. If I die, Lord of the City, please bury my knife outside this city."

Luger's realm has indeed improved significantly compared to before, but his talent is too poor. Even with the protection of the military formation on the battlefield, he is still at risk of death. Lid agreed to his request, but also told him not to forget the purpose of practicing swordsmanship. He still has a grudge to avenge and should not die on the battlefield.

Li De also met the three main generals of Shao Yu Camp, Ming Qian, Xing Yan and Mi Tuan. The three young men stood very straight and were obviously a little nervous. But as Li De asked a few questions, they began to analyze the current situation with Li De with great interest, just like top students answering questions from their teacher.

Lid encouraged them with a few words, and then went to meet his own commander, Fang Shisan, who was in charge of the city in Xincheng.

She was still sitting in the wheelchair. On the table in front of her were various draft papers with countless deployment maps drawn on them. Many places were crossed out and many places were circled with red pen. Fang Shisan's fair face was covered with a layer of fine beads of sweat. From time to time, she gently rubbed her swollen right wrist with her left hand. The maid Tira was standing behind her, helping her read the intelligence from the front line:

"Lord Shuang sent a new intelligence today. Lord Yunyang's army has passed Molian City and is now stationed near Xiyuan City, about three days away from here. Lord Yunyang is very cautious and sent a large number of scouts to investigate the situation in advance. Lord Shuang said that it is difficult for the Anbu organization to completely eliminate the scouts alone, and killing 60 to 70 percent is the limit. As for logistics, Lord Yunyang has completely used his confidants, so it is difficult for our people to infiltrate. The possibility of success of methods such as cutting off food and grass is very small..."

Fang Shisan put the pen aside, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and said:

"Yunyang has about 30,000 troops capable of fighting, and at least 10,000 of them are there to defend Lingyun City and guard against those Yunyang princes. Although 20,000 are a large number, they may not be our opponents. The ones who are really difficult to deal with are the Yunyang Guards and those guest officials. They have the ability to change the situation. The most important thing is... their combat power is difficult to estimate. If people with high personal combat power are organized into a team, the upper limit is too high."

Tira sighed, found a towel and wanted to wipe the sweat off Fang Shisan's face, when he suddenly saw Lid standing at the door.

Tira was just about to say hello to him, but Reed made a hushing gesture to her, then took the towel from her hand and tiptoed to Fang Shisan's side.

15. Unmobilized Power

At first, Fang Shisan was completely unaware that there was a new person beside her, and she was still concentrating on deducing the next battle situation. Lid stood beside her, carefully wiping the sweat off her forehead. When Fang Shisan stopped writing to think, Lid found the right time to massage Fang Shisan's wrist.

At this time, Li De's advantage of being surrounded by beauties in Lingyun City was reflected. Although Fang Shisan was no longer as skinny as before after coming to Yuxi City, his wrists were still much thinner than those of ordinary girls, and he might press the bones if he was not careful. But Li De was also served by countless pairs of girls' delicate hands in the past, so this level of massage was a piece of cake for him, and soon the redness and swelling on Fang Shisan's wrists disappeared a lot.

When Fang Shisan seemed to have figured out some key links and breathed a sigh of relief, he discovered that the person who was massaging his shoulders was not the maid Ti La.

The reason is very simple, that is, the level of shoulder kneading has improved a lot, and it can be seen that he is an expert in this field. Among the people Fang Shisan knows, not many have the time to study these things.

"When did the city lord arrive?"

Fang Shisan closed his eyes, smiled faintly and turned around to ask.

Lid touched the tip of his nose with some regret and replied:

"I thought I could let you guess who I was, but I didn't expect you to find out so quickly. I came here right after meeting with the people from Shao Yuying. I saw that you were thinking seriously, so I didn't disturb you."

Fang Shisan returned his attention to the scattered papers in front of him. His slender fingers stroked the last few sketches and said:

"Yes. I just fixed a few newly discovered loopholes in the city defense formation. Although I don't think many people on the other side can see it, it's still better to be careful. I have almost arranged other things, so I just need to hurry up and see if there are any problems that I haven't noticed."

Lid massaged her shoulders and asked:

"Do you think it's a pity that I didn't allow the giants who just joined Yuxi City to join the war?"

Fang Shisan shook his head and replied:

"We shouldn't have let them come. Many of our people died at the hands of the demons. Although I couldn't see them, I could hear their screams and roughly imagine what kind of hell it was. I don't want to hear it again... The city lord said that people in the world should have basic human rights, and I think our opponents should be the same. After all, I don't feel comfortable letting aliens massacre our own compatriots."

Lid smiled and said:

"Yes... and there is actually a more realistic reason. Those low-level giants are all above the ninth level. Although Taisis, a high-level giant, is suppressed by the national defense formation, he is still at the tenth level. Such a force is eye-catching enough just in Yuxi City. If it shines on the battlefield, I'm afraid our days will be difficult."

Fang Shisan nodded.

She had heard people say in the military camp that many people in Yuxi City seemed to have advised He Yue that if the big guys brought by the city lord could be deployed on the battlefield, they would be a very terrifying force. Not to mention killing Yunyang's army completely, it should still be possible to disperse or repel them.

There are many people who think this way. After all, the victory or defeat of Yuxi City is closely related to the interests of countless people. They naturally hope that Yuxi City will put all the weight it can on the table and try its best to win the war.

He Yue rejected all these suggestions despite the tremendous pressure.

She said that the relationship between Yunyang and Yuxi City was a father-son relationship. If Yunyang had not gone too far, Yuxi City would not even be willing to point its weapons at its own people. Although the two sides had to fight because of the willfulness of Lord Yunyang, there was no reason in the world to ask outsiders to help in the fight between relatives.

He Yue announced to the public that although Yuxi City supported the unity, prosperity and peaceful coexistence among the various races, and did leave many members of other races in the territory, Yuxi City promised that it would never take the lead in using the power of the various races in war.

No matter what the outside world thinks, or what the people of Yuxi City think, Li De and He Yue agree on this matter. So even if this matter is officially finalized, the people below can only carry it out obediently.

"But this also means that if we go to war with alien races in the future, they can be useful. For example, the next time we fight the demons, we will have helpers."

Fang Shisan gathered his hair and said to Lid.

Reed carefully arranged her hair at the back and replied:

"That's right. So I talked to Taisis. During the war with Yunyang, she will help us keep an eye on the movements of the demons. If the demons attack, she will help guard Yuxi City. Although we have reached a cooperative relationship with Shetong, the relationship is not solid, and we still need to be on guard. I have already transferred the soldiers who were originally guarding Yuxi City and handed them over to you to arrange."

Yuxi City is located in a place where four wars are fought. The east, south, west and north are not our own people. The north and south have been stable for a while, but the demons in the west must be guarded at all times. When going to war with Yunyang this time, Fang Shisan left a lot of soldiers to guard Yuxi City, but according to Lid, this job is now taken over by Taishis and the giants, and the troops that were transferred can be re-invested in the frontal battlefield against Yunyang.

This was indeed good news for Fang Shisan. Without any worries at the rear, she could focus on dealing with the front battlefield.

"In addition, I have brought a special guard with me this time to protect your safety. There are many guest officials in Yunyang. When I was in Lingyun City, I saw those at the seventh, eighth and ninth levels. I have also seen those in the middle of the ninth level and even higher. Xiluo and Alaiya are both at the eighth level of perfection, so they may not be able to protect you from the guest officials under my father."

Fang Shisan smiled and said:

"I originally thought that I would be fine if I stayed in the army. But it would be better if someone was there to protect me. Who is this special guard?"

Reed ruffled her hair.

In fact, this guard was the city lord, but this matter could not be told to Fang Shisan. The last time Fang Shisan was almost assassinated by Xi Luo, Lid had enough psychological trauma. This time he was in conflict with Yunyang, and he felt uneasy about sending anyone to protect Fang Shisan, so he simply came in person under the pretext of comforting the army.

However, there must be guards on the scene, otherwise Fang Shisan would not be confident in letting the city lord go to the front line personally.

"Uncle Cheng, the minister of the elves, will come over. He won't go to the battlefield, but if anyone intends to harm you, he will take action. In addition, the magician Merlin who came to our Yuxi City before will also send a clone over. With them around, there shouldn't be any problems, but you should try not to be alone during this period. You need someone to accompany you when you eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom, just in case."

Lid held Fang Shisan's hand and said with a smile:

"So you should stay with me for the time being. Don't worry, if there are any sneak attacks, I will help you block them."

16. Tiger Roars in the West Wind

Yunyang Territory·Xiyuan City.

Someone reported to Lord Yunyang that the prince, who was traveling with the army, secretly ordered someone to buy wine and got drunk in the military camp. Lord Yunyang waved his hand and asked the man to leave; then he sat at the table, sighed heavily, and slapped the wooden table beside him.

The table couldn't stand the tossing and turning, and one of its four legs collapsed on the spot, toppling to the side. The precious teacup on top fell to the ground, and the emerald green tea spilled all over the floor. Lord Yunyang frowned, and for no reason he was annoyed. He kicked the table out of the door, and cursed with veins on his face:

“That rebellious son——!!”

I don't know who he is scolding.

The breath that was blocked in his chest slowly dissipated, and Lord Yunyang sat back in his chair with an expressionless face, and asked someone to come in to clean up the mess and replace it with a new table. Seeing that the Lord was in a bad mood, the maids who came in were trembling as if they were walking on thin ice, fearing that Lord Yunyang would vent his anger on them, and left quickly after cleaning up.

Lord Yunyang picked up the newly served tea, took a sip, and placed it on the table.

He never thought that one day, he, who was of noble status and gradually aged, would have to go to the battlefield. Last year, he also came with his army, but he just hoped to take the prince back from Li De. He didn't expect Li De to have the courage to stand in front of him alone with a sword. In the end, Lord Yunyang swallowed his anger and left silently.

In his eyes, Lide was never a serious threat, and Yuxi City was just a small fight between a group of children who hadn't even grown up yet. He wanted to use Lide as a good whetstone, but unfortunately the knives he wanted to sharpen were too fragile. The crown prince Liyi, the third son Li Neng, and the fifth son Li Ze all fell into his hands one after another. For the first time, the Lord of Yunyang felt a deep disappointment.

He couldn't understand why Lid didn't die at the hands of Zhaochen Territory and the demons.

He also couldn't understand why the eldest son Li Yi, whom he had high hopes for, couldn't even defeat such an opponent.

He never regretted using Lide as a sacrifice, and even now the Lord of Yunyang does not think he did anything wrong. In his eyes, as the head of the family, he should have the power of life and death over all his children. Lide's food, clothing and daily expenses are all in the Lord's Mansion, so his life should be his own. If Lide had been killed by Liyi, perhaps Liyi would have grown into a great lord and led the Yunyang Territory to a new height.

So how did Reed survive?

When did I allow him to survive?

He should take full responsibility for the chaos in Yunyang today.

Lord Yunyang felt his blood boiling, but this time he did not destroy another good table. He clenched his fists, but eventually loosened them slowly. The situation could not be lost. He could slowly release his anger after taking over Yuxi City. What he needed now was to be sober enough.

Frankly speaking, Yuxi City was nothing in his eyes. But Lide's instigation of other Yunyang princes to compete for the position of the crown prince really disgusted him. The intrigue of power is pervasive. Even though the Yunyang lord has been staying in the lord's mansion and has not gone out for a long time, he has only heard some noises persuading him to change the crown prince. It is conceivable what kind of commotion outside is going on. If it continues like this, the Yunyang territory will be in chaos.

Although Lord Yunyang has entered middle age and his youthful vigor has mostly disappeared, he is still unambiguous at this critical moment. Back then, he put his weight on the royal family and the previous generation of white-robed ministers and participated in the crusade against the Lord of Cangzhou. This move was the right one, and Yunyang stayed in a near-medium position for many years. Now it is time to make a decision again, and Lord Yunyang will not hesitate at this time.

Lord Yunyang called out to the messenger and asked them to inform the generals accompanying him to gather with him later. Several famous guests and the leaders of the Yunyang Guard were also invited. After the messenger left, Lord Yunyang drank the last sip of tea in the cup and rubbed his frowning brows.

In addition to the troops guarding the border, Yunyang currently has about 60,000 to 70,000 troops available. But the family knows their own business, and the Yunyang lord knows very well how many empty salaries there are. The last time the Yunyang army was deployed on a large scale was to help the royal family suppress the uprising of the Cangzhou lord. At that time, the Yunyang army was still very powerful, but more than ten or twenty years later, the idle army has gradually become corrupt. Among the 60,000 to 70,000 establishment, only about 30,000 can actually fight.

Even with these 30,000 people, it is impossible to mobilize them all at once.

The Lord of Yunyang must arrange for his trusted generals to be stationed in Lingyun City to prevent the emergence of internal traitors in the rear when the front line is tight. In order to protect his trusted generals from being assassinated, the Yunyang Guards and guest officials must leave some of them to guard there. In addition, the transportation of food and grass needs to be supervised by the army, so the actual number of troops deployed to the battlefield is only about 20,000.

Fortunately, these only 20,000 remaining people are the elite that Lord Yunyang is proud of.

Many of them had fought on the battlefield with Lord Yunyang in the past. They had fought side by side with him in their twenties, and now they were only in their forties, in their prime. They carried the last pride of Yunyang. Many of the others were trained step by step by veterans and new recruits, and they were all very reliable brothers.

Lord Yunyang made quite luxurious equipment for them, which is something that the soldiers of Yuxi City definitely do not have.

When fighting Li Yi, Yuxi City was still ahead in equipment, but it is estimated that it will not be able to gain any advantage when it comes to Lord Yunyang. It is not that Yuxi City cannot make good weapons and armor, but there are not enough forgers. It is absolutely impossible to arm an army of thousands of people by relying on Liushi alone. Fortunately, the first batch of apprentices of Liushi will be able to graduate this year, and then the weapons and equipment of the Yuxi City army will have an overall leap-forward development.

In addition to the advantage in numbers and weapons and equipment, many senior generals from Yunyang also came this time.

The Ferrog who accompanied Li Yi last time was actually not bad, he was a steady veteran. It was a pity that he was too old and was dragged to death by Fang Shisan in the trap. But this time, the number of talented people around Lord Yunyang was definitely enough. Although many of them relied on connections to get to the top, there were indeed some guys with real talent.

If the Yunyang Guards and the powerful guest officials were included, then the Yunyang Lord should have completely crushed the enemy in this battle of hard power. But even so, the Yunyang Lord did not slack off at all. He knew that if he won this battle, no one would praise his wisdom; on the contrary, if he lost or ended up in a tie, his reputation would be ruined.

He closed his eyes, trying not to think about the useless prince and his sons who had their own ulterior motives, and focused all his energy on the battle in front of him.

This time, he must win.

17. Dark Clash

Lord Yunyang's journey westward can be described as smooth.

Although he passed by several of his sons' fiefs on the way, those unfilial sons who had previously shouted for a change of heir immediately became timid after seeing him. Everyone was indeed loud on weekdays, but who would dare to confront the elite troops of Lord Yunyang? Wouldn't that be like asking for death? So he pushed the blame and said, "Dad, I was wrong. It was all taught to me by that little bastard Lid. I am guilty. I will reflect on myself. I shouldn't have listened to his slander. Don't bother with me. Take whatever you need. This is your territory."

The trend of capitulationism spread rapidly, which was also expected by Yuxi City.

If there was a Yunyang prince who had the guts to confront his father like Lide, Yunyang might not be having such a hard time now. But it doesn't matter, the Yunyang lord can't station troops to guard all the fiefs of his descendants. The Yunyang princes also understand that when the father comes, I will obey him, and when the father leaves, I will continue to shout.

Lord Yunyang was too lazy to care anymore.

Lide's repeated defeats of Prince Yunyang did give his group of naughty children hope of rising up. As long as Lide was not killed, this hope or greed would never be eradicated. Therefore, the Lord of Yunyang only wanted to get Lide's head as soon as possible, and after a simple supply from the fiefs of his other sons, he continued to march towards Yuxi City.

He did not march in a hurry, and would not give Yuxicheng the opportunity to take its time and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

At the same time, he was also very clear that the troops behind him were a deterrent in themselves. There was no need to seek a quick battle. Every time he advanced towards Yuxi City, the senior officials of Yuxi City would have to worry for a night. Although Yuxi City had the advantage of defending the city this time, the initiative of the war was in his hands.

He has the final say on when the fight starts.

The Lord of Yunyang slowly deployed his Anbu forces and cooperated with the Yunyang Guards to clean up the spies in the city to prevent the leakage of key military information. The movement of the army was difficult to conceal, so he didn't mind Yuxi City knowing where he was now, but whether he wanted to continue to move forward today, whether he wanted to rest in the city for a few days, whether he wanted to split up his troops, whether he had any further decisions... these were all things that could not be spread out.

When he was a certain distance away from Yuxi City, he successfully cleared out the Yuxi City undercover agents in the marginal cities.

But as we got closer to Yuxi City, the situation gradually changed.

The Yunyang Guard plus the Yunyang Anbu organization, this seemingly invincible combination not only made it difficult to dig out the Anbu members of Yuxi City, but also nine out of ten scouts sent by the Yunyang Lord himself to investigate the military situation did not return. It was as if the area near Yuxi City was a dead place, and everyone who had gone there was left there forever, which made the Yunyang Lord feel quite irritated.

This was equivalent to Yuxicheng dragging both sides into the same situation. Yuxicheng couldn't tell when he would attack, and he couldn't guess what those people in Yuxicheng were doing now. Although it wasn't a big deal, it was like a small dark cloud that obscured the bright and clear sky.

Another piece of bad news is that Yunyang Prince Li Yi has not yet shown the responsibility that a prince should have.

The original intention of the Yunyang Lord to bring him out was to let him grow up quickly and learn more from him. But Li Yi didn't seem to understand what he meant. The Yunyang prince felt from the bottom of his heart that his father had never considered his face. Although Li Yi lost the battle last year, he still stayed in Black Steel City to fight against Li De. As long as he replenished his troops, he could continue to attack Yuxi City.

Li Yi originally thought that his father would give him more troops and let him seek revenge on Li De. He had been lying in bed and fantasizing many times, imagining how he would tie up that disobedient brother, dig out his eyes, cut off his tongue, strip the women around him one by one, and let countless people humiliate him in front of him, in order to avenge his previous shame.

Unexpectedly, this time, Lord Yunyang did not give him any soldiers and only asked him to go to the battlefield with the army.

This meant that Lord Yunyang no longer believed he could win. This also meant that he would never be able to defeat Yuxi City on the battlefield himself. Even if he had the opportunity to vent his hatred in the future, others would only describe him as a loser who depended on his father for food. He would have to live with this label forever.

Therefore, Li Yi was not satisfied with this expedition at all, and his way of protest was to drink and play with women in the military tent.

You don't care about my face, right?

Okay, then I’ll make it difficult for you, as a father, to save face!

Lord Yunyang was very troubled by this matter, but he couldn't say anything. This expedition was originally to protect Li Yi's status. Could he drag Li Yi out and beat him in public, or expel him from the camp?

The Lord of Yunyang could only acquiesce to his outrageous behavior and try not to let too many people know about the prince's current state. Li Yi could drink and bring women into the military tent, but he must not wander around in such a manner, so the Lord of Yunyang firmly issued him a house arrest order, strictly restricting him from leaving the military tent.

During this period, Li Yi's close subordinates brought him a lot of fun, and countless good girls in Yunyang Territory fell into his hands.

Some of them looked young, but they had been captured in the military camp. Some of them were pleasing or pleasing to the eye and stayed with Li Yi. Some of them were plain or stubborn, and were thrown to the soldiers to vent their desires after playing. Sometimes Li Yi had some bad tastes, and would torture the girls beyond recognition and return them to their original families, saying that the girl had made her own contribution to the war and was willing to dedicate herself to the soldiers to boost morale, and that she would be given special compensation after the war.

The army marched westward from Lingyun City, and the people wherever they passed dared not speak out.

Countless families were destroyed and countless people were displaced. The invincible army rumbled past, leaving behind a mess that no one could clean up.

Countless pairs of eyes were silently watching the war situation. Unseen by Lord Yunyang, dissatisfaction and anger were growing wantonly on this land with a long history.

In the military tent, Li Yi was drunk, holding the bottle and reveling, saying that his father just liked to cause trouble for himself, and that if he was given 10,000 elite Yunyang soldiers, he would be so good at fighting that Li De would not know where to go.

The people below nodded in agreement.

Li Yi took a sip of wine, poked an aide's face with the bottle, and asked him what fun he had recently.

The aide quickly said that he had found a new woman who was gentle and sensible, and he would take this opportunity to present her to the Crown Prince.

Li Yi smiled happily and asked his staff to bring the person over quickly.