Chapter 200 The First Battle 1 (1/2)

Dengzhou.

Zhu Wen hadn't been in a good mood since he b.u.mped into Li Ye in the tea shed. They had fought hand to hand, but he'd lost and fled with his tail between his legs. Besides, Li Ye had killed Wuyazi.

But Zhu Wen did not go around all day looking miserable. No matter what, he had already met Prince An. Zhu Wen lost the fight to Prince An because there were too many experts around Prince An. It actually had little to do with his own strength. In addition, Zhu Wen had had a conversation with Prince An and now knew more about him. So Zhu Wen felt that the battle wasn't a total loss.

The most significant change brought by this battle was that Zhu Wen no longer rejected the Taoist sect of Zhongnan Mountain like he used to. If Zhu Wen had enough experts around him, he would not have been in danger and he wouldn't have fled in a hurry.

Zhu Wen was good at self-retrospection. And he had a clear a.s.sessment of the situation. He realized that he also needed some experts around him like Li Ye. No matter what, he didn't want to suffer this loss again. So when the Taoist sect of Zhongnan Mountain sent someone to Dengzhou again, Zhu Wen gave them a warm reception.

The highest ranking elder of Zhongnan Mountain, namely the master of Zhongnan Mountain and Wuyazi's senior, came. His cultivation had already reached the Spiritual Master Realm.

Zhu Wen was not surprised. Since Huang Chao captured Chang'an, the overall cultivation of the Taoist priests of Zhongnan Mountain had significantly improved. The master of Zhongnan Mountain had already achieved the Spiritual Master Realm. And the other two cultivators who used to get stuck at the Level 9 of Qi-refining had also reached the Spiritual Master Realm.

Indeed, in turbulent days, heroes would come forth in large numbers. When the Luck and Spiritual Qi scattered around the world, a lot of people would benefit from that.

This Taoist priest called himself Wujizi. This t.i.tle didn't surprise Zhu Wen at all.

Wujizi brought two competent a.s.sistants with him. Both were at Level 9 of Qi-refining. Thus the strength of the team of Zhu Wen's personal guards was significantly reinforced. He now had the confidence to face Li Ye in a fight. He even thought about killing Li Ye in Xuzhou. But he gave up after second thoughts.

After the lesson learned in the tea shed, all Zhu Wen thought about was regaining his dignity. A real man was not afraid of failure. In addition, one should take revenge as soon as one could. Zhu Wen had been waiting a long time.

But Zhu Wen was a general after all. He was not really interested in fighting with Li Ye face to face. So Zhu Wen pointed his spearhead at the pioneer officers who marched west and launched a military campaign against him.

Zhu Wen gathered 5,000 crack soldiers, asked for a hundred masters of Zhongnan Mountain from Wujizi, and inserted them among the elite cavalry formation. He wanted to teach Li Ye's pioneers an unforgettable lesson.

After ma.s.sing the elite cavalrymen at the drill ground, Zhu Wen told Zhu Zhen. ”We have just obtained Deng Zhou. We won the battle and obtained the city at the cost of a great number of soldiers. The city wall and moat haven't been rebuilt, but we are facing an attack from Prince An, so we are under great pressure. We must think of a way to give Prince An a severe blow, so that we can slow down their progress westward, gain some time for us to rebuild the city walls and moat. We want to make them lose their momentum, and boost our own morale.”

When Zhu Zhen was fighting at the Tea Shed, he did not confront Li Ye. When Li Ye and others chased after Zhu Wen, Wuyazi stopped them. It was a lucky escape for Zhu Zhen.

Zhu Zhen knew what Zhu Wen meant. He said, ”Don't worry, general. This time I will not let you down!”

Shangguan Qincheng would attack Zhu Wen with 3,000 cavalrymen. Zhu Wen had already known that. He planned to defeat the pioneer army of elite cavalrymen. That was why he made such an arrangement.

He said, ”Although Prince An's soldiers and horses are well trained and well supplied, they have not experienced any real battle in Pinglu. Without tempering themselves in the blood and fire of wars, they are naturally not our match because we have fought many times in real wars. I will a.s.sign you my personal guards, and you must defeat them. Remember, if you can defeat this army of cavalrymen, then we can still have our chance in Dengzhou. If you fail, Prince An's army of several hundred thousand soldiers will attack us soon. By then, we will have no alternative but to stay in the city and fight against them. So you cannot lose; you must win!”

Zhu Zhen stood upright and said, ”Don't worry, general. If I lose the battle, I will return to you without my head!”

Zhu Wen patted Zhu Zhen on the shoulder and spoke a few more words of encouragement.

Zhu Wen walked on to the general's platform. He looked around and his eyes settled on his 5,000 soldiers. Those soldiers were equipped with high-quality armors and were war veterans. He felt a great sense of confidence. As an experienced general, he certainly had faith in his soldiers. It was the same with all famous generals. If he did not trust his army, whom else can he trust?

Zhu Wen said with his head high, ”All of you have been following me and fighting for me for years. You are my hands and feet, and you are my sharpest swords! The Qi Empire has just been founded. His Majesty is fighting in the Central Plains and is making the Tang Army flee like mice. To further occupy the Central Plains, I came out and occupied Dengzhou! I trust you as much as His Majesty trusts me! There is going to be war between Li Ye and us. I expect you to show his inexperienced soldiers what experienced soldiers are like!”

After he spoke, Zhu Wen unsheathed his sword, held it high and shouted, ”Take Li Ye's life! Enhance Qi Empire's prestige! Occupy the hinterland of the Central Plains! We will win this war!”

”We will win!”

”We will win!”

”We will win!”

The 5,000 elite soldiers shouted in unison.

Zhu Wen was very satisfied with his soldiers' response. Their morale was high enough to win the battle. He returned his sword into the sheath and nodded at Zhu Zhen. Zhu Zhen cupped his fists towards Zhu Wen, then mounted his horse and led the army out of the camp.

After the 5,000 soldiers left, Zhu Wen remained standing motionless on the general's platform. Soon, Wujizi came and stood behind him. Smiling, he said, ”Your troops are really well picked. After I exited the pa.s.s, I used to visit Guanzhong. Even His Majesty's trusted army is not as good as yours.”

In the past, Zhu Wen would not have looked back and would only have given him a perfunctory reply. But this time, he turned around and saluted him. With a smile, he said, ”Thank you for the compliment, but my soldiers are, of course, inferior to His Majesty's.”

Wujizi still smiled, but he ended the conversation. Dust was blowing over the outer gate of the military camp. He looked at the gate and said, ”It's not difficult for your experienced soldiers to win against Li Ye's pioneers, but you have to prepare for the unexpected.”

”The unexpected?” Zhu Wen frowned.

Shangguan Qingcheng's 3,000 cavalrymen were making a big noise after they crossed Dengzhou's boundary and eliminated the Qi Empire's troops. After careful observation, Zhu Wen's scouts were sure that there were only 3,000 soldiers. It was impossible for them to obtain any other support. What could the unexpected be?

Zhu Wen asked, ”Do you mean Prince An inserted masters in his troops?”