Xu Jie was still a step too late. Looking at the tightly closed gates of Celestial Water Town and the unfamiliar military banner raised on the city wall, he couldn't help but frown deeply.

As the art of war says, with ten, surround him; with five, attack him; if double, divide him; if equal, engage him; if fewer, elude him; if outmatched, avoid him.

As an old general, Xu Jie naturally understood this principle. Currently, he had just over five thousand men under his command. With this amount, if it were a battle on the plains, he was confident he wouldn't lose to any force under ten thousand, but for a siege, this number was far from enough, especially without knowing how many were in the opposing force.

Historically, there have been very few successful forced sieges when a city has a certain garrison defending it.

A siege is generally reliant on internal assistance, first allowing a well-equipped small team to infiltrate the city and create chaos during the siege — for example, setting fire to the granary, attacking the courtyard of key figures, or finding a way to seize control of the city gates to let one's troops in.

The reason the Celestial Master Army managed to capture Fengxian was because they had already bribed the major families within Fengxian City, gaining internal support.

The last method is to lure the enemy out of the city and engage them in the field.

The first two methods were not suitable for Xu Jie at present.

The last method was worth a try.

And drawing the enemy out of the city was no more than taunting or provoking them.

Xu Jie tried all these tactics, but the people inside the city were like turtles retracting into their shells, not even peeping out.

Thus, the only option left for Xu Jie was to wait.

Wait for other Yu State Army troops to come for support; this was their land, and they had the time and resources to wait.

After deciding on his strategy, Xu Jie ordered his men to withdraw three miles and set up camp, without letting their guard down, and established several outposts.

To prevent the Celestial Master Thieves from escaping from the back of the city, Xu Jie also dispatched scouts to keep an eye on them.

He actually hoped the Celestial Master Thieves would escape from the back of the city because once they left the city, they would be like lambs to the slaughter before his cavalry.

Xu Jie wasn't an arrogant person, but looking at the current situation, Celestial Water Town was just like a ready-made meal.

The Celestial Master Thieves inside the city could only defend.

He even devised a subsequent plan.

When General Qin and the others arrived, they wouldn't rush to breach the city but would besiege it without destroying it, spreading the news to attack reinforcements.

As time slowly passed, the night in Yu State was hot and tranquil.

The weapons of the warriors on duty reflected a cold gleam under the moonlight, and besides the occasional sound of the alarm drum and the clanking of armor, there were no other noises in the camp.

The camp of over five thousand people was like a beast lurking in the darkness.

...

Under the night sky, in Celestial Water Town.

Chen Mo tapped the armor on Xia Zhining with his blade and advised, "Don't space out tonight. If you do, I won't be able to look after you."

The bright moonlight shone on Xia Zhining's stunning face. She pursed her lips, then glanced at the young man's stern face and spoke her first words of concern for Chen Mo: "You... take care. If we get out safely, I'll... I'll yield to you."

Hearing this, Chen Mo was stunned, then embraced Xia Zhining and gave her a hard kiss, laughing, "Just for those words, I must survive."

After separating from Xia Zhining, Chen Mo found Liu Ze and said, "Take good care of your lady."

...

The night was deep, and Chen Mo, Sun Meng, Su Wu, and more than ten others quietly left the city under the cover of darkness. Leading their masked steeds, they stealthily approached the Yu State Army's camp.

However, there was still a long distance, and Chen Mo and the others dared not get too close.

Seeing the camp brightly lit, Chen Mo and the others frowned.

Five hundred paces from the camp, there were a few outposts set up, with additional outposts every hundred paces thereafter. The surrounding trees had been completely cut down, opening the view with no dark spots, and official soldiers patrolled back and forth with extremely strict vigilance; approaching the camp would inevitably be discovered.

Chen Mo's assassination plan fell through, then he pulled a small notebook and some charcoal pencils from his pocket, documenting the other side's camping style.

This was all experience so that in future wilderness campings, he could replicate it — no one is born an adept general, but grows through accumulating experience bit by bit.

Chen Mo looked up at the sky, where a cloud had masked the crescent moon.

At the same time, in Celestial Water Town.

"It's time."

Xia Zhining counted a quarter of an hour had passed, leading over a hundred people noisily out of the rear city gate. Each person held two or three torches, maintaining a distance of about ten feet between them. Under the cover of darkness, it looked as if thousands had exited the city.

The Yu State Army scouts watching from behind saw this scene, left two to continue watching, and one rode a fast horse back to the camp to report.

However, shortly after one of the scouts left, Xia Zhining's group, who initially exited through the rear gate, suddenly turned back.

The two scouts were shocked.

"Not good, something's up; you stay here and keep watching, I'll go back to report."

"Understood."

...

Outside the camp, Chen Mo and the others saw a rider hurriedly rush into the camp.

They knew Xia Zhining had begun action.

Before long, whistles sounded in the camp, and the Profound Leopard Cavalry began an emergency assembly.

However, the outposts outside the camp remained completely still, continuing to scan their surroundings vigilantly.

"Remember, once the cavalry comes out, seize the opportunity, immediately light and throw your fire bomb pottery jars while shouting 'Duke Lei assists me,' and then quickly retreat towards Celestial Water Town." Chen Mo instructed once more.

"Yes." Sun Meng and the others clutched the hemp ropes tied around the jars, their eyes fixed on the camp.

Chen Mo took down the strong bow from his back, nocked an arrow, waiting for the person with the red number "245" on his forehead to appear.

As a strong army, from assembly to deployment, not even half an hour had passed.

Soon, the sound of hooves rang out, and hundreds of cavalry galloped out of the camp.

Chen Mo dared not blink, his eyes quickly sweeping over them.

Upon entering the targeting range of the Cloud-Chasing Arrows, seeing none with a "245" red number on their foreheads, Chen Mo could only sigh, then swiftly targeted a person with "107+8" on their forehead, releasing his fingers.

"Whoosh!"

"Pfft..."

In just a blink of an eye, a captain of the Profound Leopard Cavalry was shot off his horse, and the cavalrymen behind couldn't dodge in time, trampling over the corpse, squeezing out intestines.

In their moment of shock, suddenly from the southwest, a dozen loud shouts were heard:

"Duke Lei assists me!"

Then they saw a dozen black objects being thrown towards them.

Some drew their blades to slash.

Some spurred their horses to dodge.

But quickly they regretted it, as those pottery jars suddenly exploded above their heads, in front of them, and all around.

"Boom..."

Like the thunder that resounded in a stormy weather, deafening, the iron fragments, splinters, and the bursting shards of pottery from inside, like deadly hidden weapons, accompanied by thick black smoke, scattered all around.

"Pfft..."

"Neigh..."

In the stunned eyes of everyone, dozens met their end, blood and flesh mingling, with people and horses thrown into disarray.

Many soldiers were injured by the "hidden weapons," rolling on the ground.

The sound was so loud that hundreds of warhorses were directly startled, running uncontrollably in all directions, some even turning back toward the camp, colliding with each other, creating chaos at the scene.

The soldiers at the sentry post all showed a horrified expression, their eyes full of fear of the unknown.

But soon, those Profound Leopard Cavalry not affected and who reacted quickly, determined the direction of the disturbance and rode towards it.

Meanwhile, in Celestial Water Town.

Han Wu, Xia Zhining, and others had already led the troops of the Two Guards, waiting behind the city gates. Hearing the loud explosion, one by one, they showed excitement, and Han Wu shouted: "Open the gates!"

The city gates opened wide.

Nearly two thousand troops charged towards the direction of the explosion.

"Dong dong dong..." The drums of advance sounded, immediately followed by a deafening shout to kill.

"Charge." As an ordinary man, Han Wu astonishingly led the charge.

The sound of battle cries spread with the evening breeze, causing a commotion among the pursuing Profound Leopard Cavalry.

Upon hearing the sound, Chen Mo immediately turned his horse, shouting loudly: "Follow me to charge back!"

"Charge, the day of breaking the enemy is now."

"..."

In the camp, Xu Jie's unit, which was organizing the troops, was instantly thrown into chaos. Xu Jie had his own method of leading his troops. Learning that the Celestial Master's rebel army had escaped from behind the city, Xu Jie didn't think twice before ordering the Profound Leopard Cavalry to pursue, while he brought the remaining infantry to assist from the rear. But he never expected that as soon as the cavalry left the barracks, they would fall into an ambush.

If he had known that the other side had infiltrated with only a dozen people, just to avoid making too much noise, avoiding detection, he would be astonished at their daring.

"Form ranks, prepare for battle." As the main general of the army, Xu Jie was not so easily flustered and quickly gave orders.

...

"Whoosh!"

A feathered arrow flew out, shooting down a Profound Leopard cavalryman who turned to flee, killing him with one strike.

Chen Mo set aside his riding bow, drew out the Tang Blade from his waist, accelerated forward, and from several yards away, performed a sweeping stroke, cutting down several enemy riders from their horses.

Behind him, nearly two thousand soldiers from the Two Guards, led by Han Wu and Xia Zhining, closely followed.

Outside the camp, just after the startled warhorses were controlled, hearing the overwhelming shout to kill, they had not recovered from the previous shock.

The next moment, Chen Mo, Sun Meng, and others charged straight into the Profound Leopard Cavalry's ranks, a cavalryman still thinking of engaging with Chen Mo, but just as he raised his blade, an invisible Sword Qi descended upon his head, splitting him in two.

Blood splattered, various organs scattered all over.

Chen Mo seemed to have entered a state of unmatched prowess, within a five-yard range, any enemy that came close died.

In the camp, crossbowmen holding Divine Arm Crossbows dared not shoot because the Profound Leopard Cavalry was right outside, and the risk of friendly fire was high.

And just during this moment of hesitation, Han Wu, Xia Zhining, leading two thousand soldiers, joined the battlefield as well.

Seeing one Profound Leopard soldier after another being cut down from their horses, Xu Jie's heart bled, but seeing that the Celestial Master Thieves were about to break into the camp, to reduce losses.

Xu Jie closed his eyes, waved his hand: "Release arrows."

Upon hearing the command from above, the crossbowmen hesitated no more and pulled the triggers.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

In an instant, dozens of soldiers from the Two Guards were shot down.

"Follow me to lead the charge inward."

Seeing this, Chen Mo's face changed dramatically, followed by a loud roar, leading the Personal Guard Team, charging towards the camp.

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