Chapter 362 (1/2)

The whole of Shouchun suddenly became busy as all the armies began to move. The Black Flag Army, the Formation Breaker and the Wolf Cavalry had gathered in the city. It could be said that about eighty percent of their fighting strength had gathered.

“What is going on? Is the Xiliang Cavalry attacking?” Liu Mang asked after he donned his armor and came out to the walls.

“Milord!” Cheng Yu and Huang Xu cupped their fist the moment they saw Liu Mang arrive. The Xiliang Cavalry had appeared suddenly. Fortunately, it was already night and the gates were already closed. Otherwise, the consequences would have been horrible.

Although it was dark, the Xiliang Cavalry were carrying torches. Based on the number of torches, there were several thousand of them. “What is Hao Shao doing? Why did he not inform us of this? What about the other scouts? Why was there no message from Yang Hong before this?” Liu Mang was angry not only at Yang Hong but also at Hao Shao. There should definitely be signs of the Xiliang Cavalry’s movements but the Xiliang Cavalry managed to reach their gates without warning. This showed their failures to do their duty especially since the Xiliang Cavalry need to go through Guangzhou to reach Yangzhou.

However, Liu Mang had accused them wrongly. After Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu had been chased away, Yang Hong was only had information coming from Sun Ce and Liu Biao. Information from Nanyang had decreased. He then went to Lujiang to invite Yuan Fang. How could he have received this information? It was even worse for Hao Shao. He had noticed the Xiliang Cavalry pa.s.sing through Guangzhou. He had also dispatched messengers. Unfortunately, all the horses left behind in Guangzhou were worn out horses and could not compete against the Xiliang Cavalry. In the end, the Xiliang Cavalry are the ones that managed to reach Shouchun first.

“Good. Since he dares to come here, I want the Xiliang Cavalry to stay in Shouchun!” Liu Mang’s words were cold. With the Wolf Cavalry, the Urban Army, the Black Flag Army and the Formation Breaker, they would be able to surround the Xiliang Cavalry.

Cheng Yu and Huang Xu did not dare to interrupt Liu Mang’s words when they heard his anger. They could only tell him the situation below. “Milord. The Xiliang Cavalry is not attacking!” Cheng Yu and Huang Xu also thought that this was weird. Not only did they stop below the walls, they also raised their torches when they arrived as if announcing their presence.

“They are not attacking?” Liu Mang frowned. What does the Xiliang Cavalry want? Liu Mang looked at them believing that they were preparing to set up camp and attack the next day as the sky was already dark. Liu Mang would not give them the chance to see the next sunrise. “Cheng Yu. Pa.s.s down my orders. Have the Black Flag Army and the Formation Breaker move out from the other two gates and go behind the Xiliang Cavalry to ambush them. They are to wait for my orders before attacking them from three sides!” Liu Mang was already prepared to get rid of the Xiliang Cavalry. He needed to dispatch people to buy provisions the next day and it was not something that could be delayed.

“Yes! This general receives the order!” Cheng Yu and Huang Xu half knelt and cupped their fist. They then gathered a group people with torches before moving out. At that time, the Xiliang Cavalry started to move again.

As the enemy started to move again, Liu Mang also needed to react. “Prepare the ballista!” The soldiers on the walls started to install the ballista again. The ballista was truly great at defending the walls. That was why after Guangzhou, Liu Mang took ten ballista and left the rest with Hao Shao, believing that the man would be able to show off his talent.

This ballista could shoot effectively up to seven hundred paces away. If it is within five hundred paces, they could even shoot through s.h.i.+elds. This was also just its first round of fire.

“Wait!” Liu Mang frowned as he looked at the Xiliang Cavalry below him. The ones that moved forward were only a few people. If they truly wanted to attack, they would have attacked with all their soldiers. There was no need for the ballista. Besides that, Liu Mang could see the appearance of the people holding the torch. There were only two warriors amongst these dozen soldiers. One of them was a scholar and there was even a child. The rest wore armor but they were merely guards. Even if they were to attack, they would not use a scholar and a child. In other words, they were here to speak.

“Let them come forward!” Hearing Liu Mang’s words, the ballista was kept back. The people below then approached the moat with relief.

“Is the person up there the His Majesty the Sage King Liu Mang?” The scholarly person asked. “We are Nanyang’s General Yang Wu’s subordinates, the Xiliang Cavalry.

“I am that King of Shu!” Liu Mang replied. Although he was given the t.i.tle of Sage King by the Emperor and was also called Sage King by others, he could not call himself that and could only say that he was the King of Shu. “Is Zhang Xiu unable to accept defeat so much that he send you guys here to die?”

Zhang Xiu’s Xiliang Cavalry had been severely harmed twice by the Lu Bu’s Army. The first was the Guangzhou ambush and the second was when Lu Bu ambushed them. Based on how much Zhang Xiu loved his pride, he would definitely come back for revenge.

“We don’t dare!” The scholar below quickly replied.

“You don’t dare? Then why are you here? Why are there soldiers at my city?” Liu Mang questioned coldly. There was n.o.body who liked to have enemies visiting them.

“Your Majesty. We came here today not to fight. We came here to request Your Majesty to seek justice for our General Yang Wu.”

“Seek justice for you all?” Liu Mang was confused. What was going on with Zhang Xiu? They were enemies but now Zhang Xiu is acting as though he was Liu Mang’s subordinate. Even though Liu Mang has the t.i.tle of King, not everyone would acknowledge it.