No matter if the guess was wrong, upon arriving at Celestial Water Town, Chen Mo felt much more at ease. At least he had escaped this "cage," and whether to retreat or defend was entirely his decision now.

The army didn't set up camp; after entering the city, they arranged shifts and leaned against the city walls, or lay down in various corners, and fell asleep.

Chen Mo, on the other hand, gathered those soldiers who were former members of the Qingzhou Army to discuss military matters, knowing that some things require humility and proactive learning. Although these soldiers might not have high cultural knowledge, their experience was quite rich, having seen many strategies from officers over the years.

Everyone pooled their insights, combining various encounters and consulting the map, and in general, there were gains to be had.

Sometimes, a few words would solve a problem that had been troubling them for a long time.

As the saying goes, "Three ordinary minds compare with Zhuge Liang"; the wisdom of the crowd is always stronger than that of one person.

Through collective brainstorming, Chen Mo devised the course of action ahead.

There were still two options: retreat or defend.

Retreat was the best strategy.

After all, Yu State wasn't their territory, its people weren't loyal to them, supply difficulties loomed, and the risk factor was too high.

But in planning a retreat, one must consider whether the higher-ups would blame them. Currently, Chen Mo held ties with the Celestial Master Army, and without an order from Yang Minggui to pull back, retreating recklessly would be hard to excuse.

Now, with Yuan Youchun's contingent ambushed and defeated, Yang Minggui, including Chen Mo, had six grand generals under his command. No further news had arrived from the other contingents.

To defend, however, food would be a problem, requiring Yang Minggui to allocate supplies.

Additionally, Celestial Water Town was relatively barren, sparsely populated, making supply hard, and unsuitable for defense. They needed to find a city with ten thousand people.

In summary, it depended on the reply from Yang Minggui.

Regarding the news of Yuan Youchun's death, Chen Mo had already sent a message via carrier pigeon.

After completing these tasks, Chen Mo instructed the former Qingzhou Army soldiers to sleep quickly, to restore their energy, as they would need to switch shifts at noon.

Chen Mo himself leaned against the wall, holding his Tang Blade, and closed his eyes.

Xia Zhining sat to Chen Mo's right. She loved cleanliness and blew the ground clean before sitting down.

She looked at the long sword in her hand, her expression complex.

The military life over this month wasn't as fulfilling as she imagined.

Aside from inconvenient living conditions, there were the ubiquitous corpses, homeless refugees, children orphaned, and rivers flowing with blood that she witnessed.

Burning, killing, looting vicious beyond description.

These scenes made Xia Zhining realize that the hardships she thought she'd seen in human life were trifles compared to the horrors of war.

She finally understood why her father insisted she stay out of the military, beyond the lack of precedent for women leading troops. On the battlefield, women are, in many aspects, inferior to men.

Especially in an all-male camp, her presence drew peculiar and even burning stares, like hungry beasts ready to feast upon her.

She also realized she didn't crave enemy confrontation and leading troops into battle.

Rather, it was the bold and decisive feats described in books, the strategic thinking in commanding troops, the glory after victory, and the admiring and respectful gazes bestowed upon her.

After she killed, there were moments of blankness; the gruesome sight of blood spurting, the warm sensation as the blood splashed upon her face, far exceeded anything wielding a whip could achieve.

In her heart, this war claiming lives was already resented.

From loving war to hating war, it took Xia Zhining less than a month.

Her gaze turned to the boy beside her; during nearly a month's companionship, he seemed as if a stranger she newly knew.

Now the boy was markedly different from the one in Pingting County, as if there was a disconnect.

Or perhaps what she initially knew was only the tip of his iceberg.

Her thoughts wandered far away, gradually becoming heavy; her eyes slowly closed as she leaned against Chen Mo's shoulder and fell asleep.

Until she was awoken by a loud cry.

She felt like she'd slept a long time, yet seemed to have only napped for a moment.

"County Magistrate, scouts just reported sightings of enemy forces on Celestial Water Dao, numbering in thousands. Judging by their attire, they appear to be the court's directly controlled troops, possibly tied with the Yu State Army we previously encountered." Sun Meng informed them upon arrival with this shocking news.

Celestial Water Dao, the official road some miles outside Celestial Water Town.

"What hour is it now?"

"Just past Chen Shi."

Chen Mo frowned; it meant, less than an hour after arriving at Celestial Water Town, these forces had appeared.

"Seems your prediction was correct." Xia Zhining, now a bit more clear-headed, said.

"Wake the Two Guards, have the soldiers man the walls for defense." The entire army was still in a fatigued state, making an exit to battle unrealistic and overly risky.

"Understood."

Soon the city drums thundered, instantly waking the napping soldiers, as orders from above were rapidly conveyed layer by layer, leading to a swift advancement to the city walls for defense.

...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The synchronized footsteps echoed outside the city, a uniform sea of dark armor reflecting a chilling gleam under the sunlight.

A row of dark shields stood tall, and long spears with armor-piercing edges pointed obliquely towards the sky.

Behind them, the crossbowmen raised their Divine Arm Crossbows, aiming at the city walls.

Beyond the crossbowmen, dust rose in the air, horses neighed, numbering at least more than a thousand cavalry, with several thousand soldiers lying in ambush nearby.

Anyone clear-eyed would know this was an elite force.

"Damn, it's actually the Divine Arm Crossbow, they even have such lethal weapons. Could this be the Profound Leopard Cavalry of Yu State?" Sun Meng was stunned by the scene.

Although the Qingzhou Army is quite renowned, it's because it's close to the north, participating in many battles and being often discussed, thus its fame spread widely.

But in terms of well-equipped forces, the Profound Leopard Cavalry from the Yu State Army absolutely crushes the Qingzhou Army since it's more of a private army of the Liang Family than the Court's, and they have plenty of money.

The part of the Profound Leopard Cavalry that instills fear was not its cavalry but its possession of the Divine Arm Crossbow.

This crossbow is made with wood from the cudrania, its arms of sandalwood, iron-trigger group, and copper horse-head latch, with a hemp-string bowstring.

The bow measures three feet and two inches, with a string two feet and five inches long, and arrows with several-inch feathers, shooting over three hundred forty steps, to pierce half an arrow into elm wood, able to penetrate heavy armor.

Even Lower-Grade Martial Artists meet their doom under this crossbow.

However, the Divine Arm Crossbow is extremely expensive to produce, and its manufacturing method is a closely guarded secret, not something every army can afford to equip.

"Weren't they supposed to respond to the Loyalist Army and leave Yu State?" In Sun Meng's view, since the Prefect of Yuzhou responded to the Loyalist Army, the Profound Leopard Cavalry would follow the Prefect and leave, so why are they still in Yu State now?

The day they ambushed at Luqing Mountain, because the enemy did not have the Divine Arm Crossbow, they didn't recognize it was the Profound Leopard Cavalry.

"It seems to be even more serious than I expected. If I'm not mistaken, the news of the Prefect of Yuzhou responding to the Loyalist Army is false, intentionally luring the Celestial Master Army into a trap, to eliminate them once they dig deeper, a long-planned scheme indeed."

At this moment, Chen Mo felt that the other armies under Yang Minggui's command were likely in grave danger, and he no longer harbored thoughts of holding on. Even if Yang Minggui hadn't ordered a retreat, he would still leave.

With only two thousand troops at his disposal, and caught in a pre-planned encirclement, what could they fight with?

"County Magistrate, can you hit them?" Sun Meng, having seen Chen Mo's Divine Shooter skills, wanted Chen Mo to fire an arrow to boost morale first.

Chen Mo shook his head, estimating that the distance to Celestial Water Town was already over four hundred steps.

The Cloud-Chasing Arrow's target-locking range is only one hundred twenty steps.

Although at four hundred steps, Chen Mo could still shoot with his power, the precision would be lacking, let alone the capability to lock onto targets accurately.

And as Chen Mo spoke, the Yu State Army outside the city began to shout.

"Lay down your weapons, open the gates, those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

The cries of thousands of Yu State soldiers gathered into a tangible frenzy.

Chen Mo looked at the leading general on a mighty horse, unable to see his face clearly, but clearly seeing the red number "245" on his forehead, he felt temporarily relieved.

As long as the main general's strength didn't surpass his, Chen Mo wasn't afraid of them forcibly assaulting the city.

"Ignore them, Divine Brave Guard, maintain vigilance, Divine Martial Guard, take a rest, rotate shifts in two hours." Chen Mo ordered.

"Understood."

After this, Chen Mo instructed Han Wu to bring the fire bomb pottery jars up to the city wall.

This time, Chen Mo had brought a hundred fire bomb pottery jars, intending to use them at critical moments, having kept them hidden until now, and if they attacked the city, these could be used.

Chen Mo instructed Sun Meng and Han Wu: "Once they approach the city walls, throw down a few fire bomb pottery jars, remember to shout 'Duke Lei, aid me' after lighting them."

"Understood."

...

"Why shout 'Duke Lei, aid me', is it some kind of martial arts mantra?" Xia Zhining questioned, staring at the pottery jar behind the parapet.

"The secrets of Heaven must not be divulged." Chen Mo lightly tapped Xia Zhining's forehead with a smile and said, "Hurry and take a rest, tonight, we go out of the city to break the enemy!"

"Go out of the city to break the enemy?" The shock was such that Xia Zhining forgot to rub her forehead, because every child knows when facing an unbeatable foe, you hide at home.

Although Celestial Water Town isn't a critical town, guarding it with the city requires at least ten thousand men to take down; going out for battle seems unwise.

"I have a bad premonition. Since the false news about the Prefect of Yuzhou responding to the Loyalist Army exists, it means the military numbers in Yu State are sufficient. Think about it, if a rabbit... runs into a trap, would you let it go?" Chen Mo initially wanted to use a turtle metaphor but thought referring to himself as a turtle was inappropriate.

"No." Xia Zhining replied instinctively.

"Exactly." Chen Mo knocked his left fist against his right palm, "Wait until other Yu State troops gather and surround Celestial Water Town, then even the chance to break the enemy by coming out of the city will be gone. We're on their turf, they can await reinforcements, but we can't."

Upon hearing this, Xia Zhining shivered all over, realizing the gravity of the situation.

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