Chapter 483: Vicious! (Thanks to the book friend Liu Jia Dadi for the reward!)
Seeing the Fengwu Army retreating like a tide, the Yan Army soldiers, who had experienced more than an hour of fierce fighting on the walls of Yijing and were already exhausted, suddenly cheered for victory. However, senior Yan Army generals like Zhang Hongxiang seemed a little out of tune with this joyful atmosphere. They all looked solemn and frowned...
As high-ranking generals, they could naturally see that this time the Fengwu Army's attack on Yijing was not just an attack to test the strength of Yijing's city defense. The Fengwu Army under the city had at least 50,000 infantry troops that could be used to attack the city, but this time the Fengwu Army only deployed 10,000 people to attack the city.

But even so, the Fengwu Army was still able to attack the city wall and killed so many soldiers defending the city. This was not good news for the Yan Army defending the city!
After the first siege failed, the Fengwu Army launched two more sieges, one hour later and three hours later respectively. However, unlike the first full-scale siege, the next two sieges were only targeted at specific city gates.

After nightfall, Yuan Song, Lin Huaiwu and Guo Zhiping gathered together in the Fengwu Army's central camp to discuss.

Lin Huaiwu spoke first:
"According to my observation, there are about 2,000 defenders at Yiyang Gate, 1,500 at Xiyi Gate, and 2,500 at Wende Gate. The quality of the Yan army varies greatly, and many of them are obviously new recruits. I think the defenders are insufficient, so they have started to recruit young and strong men from the city!"

Listening to Lin Huaiwu's story, Guo Zhiping nodded in agreement and said:
"The situation is similar on my side. There are more than 2,000 Yan troops at Chongyang Gate. In addition to the uneven combat qualities of their personnel, their rolling stones and wooden beams, if I am not mistaken, were all removed from houses. It can be seen that Yijing's combat readiness is not very good..."

Listening to Lin Huaiwu and Guo Zhiping's situation, Yuan Song also introduced his own situation and said:

"There are nearly 3,000 soldiers guarding Wu'an Gate, about 1,000 soldiers guarding Dongyi Gate, and about 2,000 soldiers guarding Guangwen Gate."

After understanding the guard situation of each city gate, Lin Huaiwu was the first to start talking:

"I have 6,000 defenders on my side, General Guo has 2,000, and General Yuan has almost 6,000 as well. Together, that's 14,000. I estimate that including the young and strong men who have been recruited, the reserve troops in Yijing City will not exceed 10,000 at most!"

"I think our next step should be to select a direction to focus on attacking from these seven gates, and then put pressure on the defenders!"

Yuan Song thought for a moment and added:

“We are the attackers and have the initiative. We can choose the direction of attack, while the defenders in Yijing can only passively take the beating. So we should combine the real and the fake and feint attacks on two or three city gates to attract the enemy's attention and force them to mobilize troops and reinforcements. Then we divide our forces to suddenly attack other city gates, fully mobilize the guards of Yijing and make them run for their lives…”

Lin Huaiwu and Guo Zhiping had no objection to Yuan Song's tactic of combining the real and the fake. After the general policy was determined, the three began to discuss the details. After careful discussion, the three decided to use Dongyi Gate, Xiyi Gate and Chongyang Gate as the targets of feint attack, and Wuan Gate and Guangwen Gate as the targets of surprise attack.

After confirming this, Lin Huaiwu and Guo Zhiping wanted to go back and have a good rest to prepare for the siege tomorrow. However, before they said goodbye and left, Yuan Song looked at Guo Zhiping and said in a deep voice:
"I'm still a little worried about Zhao Yong in Zhuo County!"

Listening to Yuan Song's words, Guo Zhiping raised his eyebrows and asked:

"General Yuan, do you think Zhao Yong will send troops to rescue Yi Jing?"

"Yes!"

Under Guo Zhiping's gaze, Yuan Song said in a deep voice:
"We all know what Yi Jing means to Zhao Fuqu and the entire Zhao family. Although there is a deep rift between Zhao Yong and Zhao Jianan, they are all members of the Zhao family after all. If the Zhao family falls, it will be a disaster for Zhao Yong, and he will not be able to escape unscathed. So I believe he will come..."

Lin Huaiwu, who was standing by, immediately asked:

"Hasn't General Guo already sent a battalion to Guangzong County? A battalion of 3,000 people is guarding the city. I believe they can still stop Zhao Yong for a few days in advance!"

Facing Lin Huaiwu's question, Yuan Song shook his head and pointed at the sand table in front of him and said:
"Guangzong County has a flat terrain, and there is no strategic location to defend within a hundred miles. If we march quickly from Zhuo County to Yijing, we can reach there within five days. So if I were Zhao Yong, I would not care about the defenders of Guangzong County. I would only need to order the troops to bring enough dry food. If the defenders of Guangzong County dare to come out of the city to harass us, I will just destroy them!

"Also, they don't have to worry about logistics. For example, our troops in Guangzong County will harass their food supply. When they reach the vicinity of Yijing, they can get food locally in nearby towns and villages."

"Landlords of all sizes around Yijing have cellars and granaries where they store food. If you can find a few of them, you can survive for a while!"

“So once Zhao Yong decides to support Yi Jing, it will be difficult to stop him with only the 3,000 defenders in Guangzong County…”

After hearing Yuan Song's analysis and realizing the danger to Lin Huaiwu, Guo Zhiping's expression also became serious. After thinking for a while, Lin Huaiwu continued:
"It will take at least a week for you to arrive in Yijing with your troops. If we withdraw more men from here to go to Guangzong County, it will definitely affect our current siege!"

Yuan Song looked at Guo Zhiping after hearing this. After their eyes met for a few seconds, Guo Zhiping said in a deep voice:
"General Yuan, before we set out on the expedition, my Lord gave you the command of the front line, so just give the order if you have any ideas!"

After getting this answer from Guo Zhiping, Yuan Song felt relieved. Even though Ye Mingsheng gave him the command of the front line, after all, he, Lin Huaiwu and Guo Zhiping were all on the same level. So Yuan Song didn't want to take out the command power and suppress it, making the relationship between them too stiff.

So generally speaking he would discuss things with everyone. Of course, as a veteran on the battlefield, Yuan Song would not hesitate if he thought it was necessary.

Now Guo Zhiping's statement will undoubtedly reduce some trouble. Seeing this, Yuan Song said unceremoniously:
"General Guo, I need your cavalry to reduce the harassment around Yijing. At least make sure there are 5,000 cavalry in Guangzong County ready to respond at any time. Once Zhao Yong leads his troops north, General Guo, your Second Division will be responsible for intercepting them in Guangzong County! They must not be allowed to get close to Yijing!"

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Yuyang.

Shen Gang, who was having dinner and drinking with Gu Shouting in the restaurant, suddenly looked dizzy and had no strength at all. As a man of rich experience in the martial arts world, he immediately looked at the food on the table. He knew he was poisoned!

After taking a look at the food, Shen Gang looked at Gu Shouting who was standing beside him. Gu Shouting looked normal under his gaze and showed no signs of abnormality. Shen Gang knew what was going on and looked at Gu Shouting with resentment and asked:
"Why?" Hearing Shen Gang's question, Gu Shouting knew that the drug had taken effect, so he no longer concealed his feelings and said calmly:
“People go to high places, water flows to low places, and good birds choose trees to rest in!”

Shen Gang heard this and said sarcastically:

"What a wise bird that chooses the right tree to inhabit, but Gu Shouting, why don't you look in the mirror? Can the Fengwu Army tolerate a slave like you?"

The words "three-surnamed slave" immediately hit Gu Shouting's pain, causing his face to darken. Seeing this, Shen Gang's mockery became even more wanton. He looked at Gu Shouting and said word by word:

“Mr. Gu, you didn’t expect that I would capsize and fall on you! But don’t get too complacent, I’m waiting for you down there! Hahahaha·············hahaha!”

Gu Shouting narrowed his eyes without any hesitation, pulled out a short knife from his waist and stabbed it straight into Shen Gang's chest. Shen Gang, who was stabbed in the vitals, soon died, but the expression he showed when he looked at Gu Shouting was still full of mockery.

After killing Shen Gang, Gu Shouting coughed lightly, and immediately his two trusted subordinates came in. Seeing the two men appear, Gu Shouting ordered in a deep voice:
"Burn him to ashes!"

Since you are waiting for me down there, I will turn you into ashes without a burial place!

"Yes, Master!"

The two men did not dare to neglect and bowed and replied:
After handling the matters here, Gu Shouting returned to the Gu family. When he got home, his long-time attendant A Da walked up to him and whispered:

"Master, there are a total of 17 people from the Supervision Department in Yuyang, and they have all been dealt with!"

Hearing this, a satisfied smile appeared on Gu Shouting's face. Today he would make a break with his past life and embrace his brand new future...
"The master told you to go see him when you come back!" Ah Da continued:
Gu Shouting was a little surprised to hear that his father was looking for him, but he nodded and said:

"You did a good job, go to the accounting office to collect your reward!"

"Thank you, Master!" Ah Da said in surprise:

After saying goodbye to Ada, Gu Shouting came to the room where his father was. At this time, the head of the Gu family, Gu Zhongshi, who had served as the deputy envoy of Liaoyang, was sitting on the armchair reading a book. Seeing this, Gu Shouting stood aside honestly without disturbing him.

After a while, Gu Zhongshi noticed the appearance of Gu Shouting, and immediately put down the book in his hand, looked at Gu Shouting and said:
"Have you dealt with everything?"

"Yeah!" Gu Shouting nodded in response.

Seeing this, Gu Zhongshi's eyes became a little complicated when he looked at his son. Gu Shouting was not his only son, but he was the smartest one among his sons. He had always been the pride of him and the entire Gu family since he was a child. Gu Zhongshi had put a lot of effort in cultivating him, but seeing such a vicious Gu Shouting who would do anything to achieve his goals...
Gu Zhongshi, who has done things all his life just to seek peace of mind, can't help but ask himself, is the person in front of him still the son he was proud of?
Although Gu Zhongshi did not speak, he felt the meaning in his father's eyes, and Gu Shouting laughed and said self-deprecatingly:
"Father, do you know what I learned in prison?"

Without waiting for his father's reply, Gu Shouting answered very seriously:
"He who is narrow-minded is not a gentleman, and he who is not vicious is not a man!"

"Nowadays, it is a chaotic world where rituals and music have collapsed. If you want to survive and live better than others, then you need to be more ruthless than others and use more vicious means!"

Listening to his son's frank words, Gu Zhongshi shook his head and said:

"Even if you kill Shen Gang and the others, your name should have been reported to the Supervisory Department headquarters long ago. Isn't it all in vain in the end?"

Gu Shouting smiled and said:

"I believe my name must have appeared on Chen Jingyu's desk and even Shangguan Hongyuan's table, but what does it matter..."

"I have studied Ye Mingsheng carefully. He is a man with a strong purpose and is very particular about evidence. In order to protect myself over the years, I have been very careful for fear of making a mistake that would bring disaster to myself and my family. I have never written anything to the Supervisory Office. Now the Supervisory Office in Yuyang has been completely destroyed. There is no evidence. How can they prove that I have ever interacted with them?"

"Ye Mingsheng and the Fengwu Army are now like a dormant dragon in the abyss, waiting for the first chance of wind and cloud to transform into a real dragon and soar above the sky!"

"And what they lack most now is talent. In order to get talent, Ye Mingsheng is also very modest. He can accept people like Ma Runshan and Wang Xuecheng, who hold high positions in the Fengwu Army. So even if my crime is exposed one day, I believe that the value I have created for Ye Mingsheng will make Ye Mingsheng choose to tolerate my problems!"

Although he did not agree with his son's idea, seeing that Gu Shouting had made up his mind, Gu Zhongshi did not dwell on this issue any further and changed the subject:
“I have discussed secretly with the elders of the family. Although Ye Mingsheng’s Fengwu Army has the upper hand now, Zhao Fuqu has decades of experience in Youyan after all. It is still unknown who will win or lose between the two sides. So before they decide the winner, our Gu family should wait and see. If Ye Mingsheng is really as powerful as you said, and can capture Yijing and defeat Zhao Fuqu, then it will not be too late for our Gu family to get closer to him…”

After these words were spoken, although Gu Shouting was mentally prepared for this result after discussing with the group of mature and prudent family elders who dared not take any risks, he still couldn't help but show disappointment when the answer was really revealed!
(End of this chapter)