Chapter 610: 693 Mount Xiao Jiu
Bianliang Central Army Camp of King Yan’s Army.
"Prince, a carrier pigeon has arrived from the city." Zhao Jiang’s personal guard hurriedly walked into the large tent, handing the pigeon to Zhao Jiang.
At this time, Zhao Jiang was discussing some details of tonight’s night raid with the generals.
Upon hearing the guard’s words, he quickly stood up, took the pigeon, extracted the message from its leg, and began to read it. His brows furrowed involuntarily: "Chen Mo knows we plan to launch a night raid tonight."
"What?!"
With these words, everyone in the large tent was taken aback.
Then, a thought suddenly surfaced in their minds: there’s a spy for Chen Mo among us.
After all, the decision to launch a night raid tonight was just made today. Only those in this tent knew about it, yet now Chen Mo knows. Isn’t it obvious the information was leaked by a spy?
Everyone began looking at each other, and their gazes shifted towards the two or three Jianghu experts. Since they joined King Yan, they hadn’t contributed much but always talked about righteousness.
Now that the information has been leaked, it seems highly likely they are responsible.
"What do you mean? Are you suspecting I’m a spy?" Seeing their looks, Li Ba, known for his innate divine power, frowned and shouted.
"We didn’t say anything, but you exposed yourself." The generals had long been displeased with Li Ba. Now, with the information leak, they had no doubt he was the spy.
"If I, Li Ba, am Prince Zhen Nan’s spy, may I be struck by thunder from the heavens. Since I’ve pledged my allegiance to the Prince, I, Li Ba, will not betray him to act like a treacherous person..." Li Ba swore a deadly oath and then looked at Zhao Jiang.
Zhao Jiang, naturally, also didn’t believe Li Ba. How could things be this coincidental? So he said, "I trust Hero Li, but for the greater good, I must ask Hero Li to rest well tonight."
Hearing this, Li Ba’s face changed. Zhao Jiang’s words clearly indicated he was not to participate in the night raid, implying he does not trust him.
Aside from Li Ba, Zhao Jiang also ordered the other two suspect Jianghu experts to rest and assigned a few to attend to them, in truth to monitor them.
Zhao Jiang trusted the message from the city.
These two were spies Zhao Jiang planted in Chen Mo’s army long ago. In previous incidents, Zhao Jiang never activated them. This time was the first.
Regarding whether these two would change allegiance, Zhao Jiang wasn’t worried because he held leverage over them, and since the letter indicated Chen Mo knew about tonight’s night raid, it further proved their loyalty.
"Prince, since Chen Mo knows about our planned night raid, he will surely have prepared. Should we cancel tonight’s operation?" a trusted general asked Zhao Jiang.
"No need, the night raid remains unchanged; just a minor adjustment or two is needed."
Zhao Jiang took out a complete map of the capital.
Marking positions of all four capital camps, Prince Zhen Nan’s Mansion, and other vital locations on the map.
Finally, he circled the north gate of the capital in red.
"According to our sources, the defense at the north gate is the weakest, and the defender general responsible for it is my inside man..."
Saying this, Zhao Jiang looked at a middle-aged man beside him, holding a long spear and having a tuft of a beard, "Fei Ran, once the attack begins, lead fifty thousand troops to the north gate and seize it at the fastest speed to gain the advantage for our army."
"Understood." Fei Ran got up and walked out of the tent with his spear.
...
After leisurely finishing his supper, Chen Mo, assisted by Wu Xin’er, donned the Celestial Spirit Heart Guard Armor.
Bianliang’s winter was bitterly cold, causing Wu Xin’er to tenderly layer him with cotton clothing underneath. After putting it on, Chen Mo looked himself over and laughed, "It’s warm, but I feel like I’ve put on weight."
Wu Xin’er covered her mouth, chuckled, and said, "Husband should be broader; it makes you appear more imposing."
Chen Mo was somewhat slender.
He laughed and said, "At my size, I already make you cry for mercy at night. How could you handle it if I were more robust?"
Wu Xin’er blushed red, luckily, there were no maids present. She endured the shyness and remarked, "With so many sisters in the inner courtyard, even if I can’t bear it, I can call upon the others to share the load."
Chen Mo laughed heartily, pinched Wu Xin’er’s cheek, and left the inner courtyard. There, Xiao Jiu, who had been waiting, immediately followed. Bowing her head with a hint of shyness, she said, "Master, climb on."
Xiao Jiu, about a three-meter long, was even bigger than the Snow Dragon Steed; it was the right time to use her as a mount. Hearing this, Chen Mo hesitated for a moment before leaping onto Xiao Jiu’s back.
In novels, protagonists ride horses, serpents, tigers, and dragons. Today, he rode a fox; it must be the first, right?
"Xiao Jiu, let’s go, this prince will lead you to conquer our enemies!"
...
Hour of the Pig (9-11 PM).
In winter, it turned dark quickly. At this moment, the outskirts of the city were pitch black, and the cold weather made the guards on the city walls shiver.
In the city, Chen Mo stood atop Xiao Jiu, holding the Nine Thunder Profound Celestial Spear. Beside him, Wu Lu was fully armored, with complete body armor covering him. His pauldron and shoulder guards were as fierce as a tiger swallowing the sun, his chest and back armor melding seamlessly with leg guards, a horned beast helmet covering his head, with helmet plating and neck guard concealing his face and neck, revealing only eyes gleaming with sharpness amid the murkiness.
Behind them, mounted on mighty steeds were three thousand Fire Qilin Army soldiers, fully armored and armed to the teeth with shields and swords.
These were the only three thousand cavalry left in the capital.
They were Chen Mo’s personal guard, the last elite of the Imperial Guard.
Behind the three thousand cavalry were one hundred thousand infantry wielding long spears.
"Lord Wu, is it really necessary to cover up so extensively?" Looking at Wu Lu’s attire, Chen Mo said with a hint of speechlessness.
"My wife is afraid I’ll get hurt, so she added inner armor beneath," Wu Lu said, his tone slightly grave. "Will the enemy really launch a night raid?"
Before Chen Mo could reply, the guards above shouted, "Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
Amidst the trembling ground, numerous shadowy figures surged from not far away, pushing large siege equipment, without any trace of firelight.
If one stood on the city walls, they’d barely catch sight of them.
Once they came closer, aided by the light from the torch on the walls, one observed the open space outside the city, where every inch that could accommodate people was filled with King Yan’s soldiers.
The sight drained the color from anyone witnessing it.
"So many people..."
...
"Charge!"
"Kill!"
...
As they approached, the war drums from the enemy’s side boomed, the sounds of battle cries shook the heavens.
"They’re really here." Wu Lu exclaimed at the sheer sound, inwardly noting Chen Mo’s intelligence was spot on.
"Cover the horse’s ears; after the five rounds of artillery fire, charge out of the city with me!" Chen Mo declared.
"Understood."
...
Moments later, standing on the city walls, Gao Zheng witnessed the enemy troops entering the attack range and shouted loudly, "Fire the cannons!"
