nucmednet Chapter 81 Insider Part 1
Chapter 81 Insider Part 1
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After listening to Zhang Keda's words, Sun Yuanhua looked at the Liao soldiers without saying a word. Wang Zheng considered for a moment and said, "There are still quite a few Liao soldiers in the city. If we let these soldiers outside the city starve to death or be killed by the rebels, it may damage their morale. In my opinion, most of these Liao soldiers are still good. Even if there are one or two spies among them, let General Zhang carefully identify them."
Sun Yuanhua's brows relaxed, and he nodded with a smile, saying, "Liangfu is right."
Zhang Ke panicked and said, "General Sun..."
Sun Yuanhua waved his hand to interrupt him, saying in an irrefutable tone, "General Zhang, there's no need to say more. Both defending and attacking a city require breaking the enemy's morale. If we don't let the defecting soldiers into the city, all my soldiers will be demoralized. Let them in and let Zhang Tao make a good judgment."
The surrounding soldiers all looked at Zhang Keda, who lowered his head and remained silent, not responding to Sun Yuanhua's order. Seeing this, Sun Yuanhua angrily said to Zhang Keda, "General Zhang, are you going to disobey orders?"
It was unwise to defy the governor's orders. No matter how unwilling he was, Zhang Keda had no choice. After a long silence, he finally said to the soldiers around him, "Open the gate and let them in. Search them one by one to see if they have any secret letters or weapons. The rest of you shall be taken to our barracks."
Zhang Tao coldly replied, "General Zhang, I am only responsible for guarding my own troops. There is no need for you to trouble yourself."
Zhang Keda stared at Zhang Tao for a long time. He now felt disgusted with this lieutenant general who had caused him to suffer a defeat in the camp. He cursed under his breath, turned around and left, wanting to avoid seeing him again.
Liu Ye and his two companions mingled among the fleeing soldiers, heads bowed, as Zhang Tao identified them at the city gate.
To blend in smoothly, the three of them changed into the clothes of a defeated soldier. To conceal their gender, Bai Lian and her apprentice deliberately smeared mud on their faces to avoid arousing suspicion by showing their fair skin. Bai Lian didn't care, but Ling Xi'er, who was naturally clean, felt very uncomfortable and just wanted to get into the city as soon as possible so she could wash her face clean.
As the commander of the standard battalion, Zhang Tao couldn't possibly recognize all his soldiers. He only recognized the captain, glanced at the others symbolically, and then let them all into the city, instructing his men, "Take them to our standard battalion's garrison." After the battle with the rebels, he was practically a commander without troops, unable to even lift his head in the city. Gathering these defeated soldiers would at least make up for his lack of manpower; even a small mosquito is still a piece of meat.
Liu Ye couldn't help but sigh inwardly at how easily they had infiltrated the city. No wonder the rebels and the Liaodong troops inside the city colluded to open the city gates. Sun Yuanhua and his elite troops were so undisciplined; it would be strange if Dengzhou hadn't fallen.
As night fell, both inside and outside Dengzhou City quieted down. Neither side bothered the other in the cold winter night. Dengzhou City was already under martial law, and the whole city was pitch black, with only the lanterns of the night patrolmen moving through the streets.
The barracks in the northeast corner of the city were the garrison of Zhang Tao's troops. The defeated soldiers who entered the city during the day were kept here. Two large lanterns on the gate emitted a dim yellow light, and several soldiers stood guard at the gate with their hands clasped together, almost huddled in a ball.
Seven or eight dark figures emerged from the camp. The guard was about to stop them when one of them called out the guard's name. The guard immediately shut his mouth. The man leaned over and whispered something to him. The guard then opened the side door to let the men out and they disappeared into a small alley across the street.
Among these shadowy figures were Bai Lian and her two disciples. The one who had subdued the gatekeeper and led the way was the same captain who had shouted for the city gate to be opened during the day. He was the liaison for this operation to connect the city's garrison, and he was very familiar with the city's terrain and knew Geng Zhongming's residence.
In the alley, Liu Ye gestured for everyone to stop and whispered to the captain in charge, "Sir, I have a new idea. You go find General Geng and give him the messages from Generals Kong and Li. The three of us will go find Governor Sun Yuanhua's residence. If we're lucky, we can assassinate him. Once the city is in chaos, it will be much easier for you to break down the city gates..."
This was the idea Liu Ye had come up with along the way: under the pretext of assassinating Sun Yuanhua, he would distract the routed soldiers and rebels, then use Bai Lian's light-footed skills to infiltrate the governor's office, find a way to notify Sun Yuanhua, and strike first to kill Geng Zhongming and the others. This would dramatically reverse the situation; the rebels, having lost their inside man, would be forced to launch a full-scale attack when their cunning plan failed. Since the rebels had been fighting for Laizhou for over half a year without success, they would be even less able to conquer Dengzhou, which had stronger defenses and more powerful artillery. History would be rewritten in his hands!
He originally thought that the commander and the other rebels would definitely fall for the trick and that his plan would be implemented smoothly, but he didn't expect to run into a snag.
Before setting out, the captain had been instructed by Li Jiucheng that the White Lotus Sect "demons" could be used, but not trusted too much. Apart from persuading Geng Zhongming, they should not be allowed to do anything alone, lest complications arise. Therefore, upon hearing Liu Ye's "suggestion," the captain shook his head and rejected it: "The governor's yamen is heavily guarded. Three or five people going in to assassinate General Sun would be like moths to a flame. It's more important to find General Geng as soon as possible, lest things get complicated."
Although the captain's tone was polite, it was very firm. As he spoke, he secretly placed his hand on the hilt of his knife.
Liu Ye was taken aback by the flat refusal, and a thought of killing them to silence them began to creep into his mind. If he killed these people, he could go straight to Sun Yuanhua.
However, upon closer inspection, the opposing group was standing loosely, seemingly casually, but in reality, they subtly formed a semi-encirclement of the three of them. Leaving aside whether Bai Lian could single-handedly kill five or six rebels while Ling Xi'er was injured in the shoulder, even if she succeeded, the fighting would alert the city's garrison, causing trouble. She might even be mistaken for an accomplice of the rebels by the garrison.
He took a deep breath and forced a smile: "The general's consideration is very thoughtful. Let's go find General Geng according to the original plan!"
The general nodded and released his grip on the knife handle.
The group arrived outside Geng Zhongming's residence. From a distance, they could see several torches lit at the entrance, guarded by soldiers. Just as the captain was about to approach and make some connections, Liu Ye stopped him: "Sir, the situation in the city is dire. Who knows whose men are guarding this gate? It's best to be careful."
After speaking, she nodded to Bai Lian, who understood. With a light step, Bai Lian leaped up, grabbed the top of the wall, and with a little effort, stepped onto the top. Then she took out a long silk ribbon and let it hang down. Ling Xi'er grabbed the ribbon, and Bai Lian pulled her up to the top of the wall. Then, following the same pattern, she pulled Liu Ye up as well.
The captain was dumbfounded. They climbed such a high wall so easily; these sorcerers were indeed skilled. Seeing that they didn't intend to pull him up, he looked around and, seeing no one nearby, led the rest of his men to hide in a corner and wait quietly.