Chen Mo originally intended to hold Zhuima City, but these Celestial Master Army soldiers have really disappointed him. The number of those executed by the supervision team for desertion exceeds those killed by the enemy.

Moreover, their morale has plunged to the lowest point. If he continues to defend, he might as well lose himself here.

The saying goes, "Better them than me." The Celestial Master Army at the back gate have already been abandoned by Chen Mo.

As for the ones specially selected at the front gate, Chen Mo thought they still had potential for training.

The night was quiet, and taking advantage of people's sleep, Chen Mo, along with the remaining Three Guards, made their way to the front gate.

Because Chen Mo hadn't mentioned to anyone about leaving in advance.

Therefore, when Sun Meng saw Chen Mo and his group approaching, he was quite surprised and thought something major had happened.

However, Chen Mo said, "Wake everyone up immediately and make a quick retreat."

The Celestial Master Army's inadequacy means that if Chen Mo were to hold the city, only fewer than three thousand could truly defend it. Under the overwhelming defeat of the main force, to continue would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Those resting were quickly awakened. According to Chen Mo's orders, they didn't cause much noise, with only two rows of torches lit, and they quietly left Zhuima City.

There was a distance between the front gate and the back gate, so even if people at the front gate left, those at the back wouldn't detect it.

"If you don't have armor and weapons, quickly strip them from these corpses and put them on, and take the weapons as well."

Outside the front gate, the scene was desolate with dead Celestial Master Army soldiers everywhere.

Under Chen Mo's command, Celestial Master Army soldiers who had discarded their armor during their escape hurriedly stripped the armor from the corpses.

"Right, don't forget to take the rations they carried with them." With a reminder from Xia Zhining, Chen Mo remembered that each Celestial Master Army soldier carried a few days' worth of rations, and he promptly gave the order again.

Chen Mo only gave them a quarter of an hour.

As soon as the quarter-hour was up, whether or not they had put on armor, they were not to linger in Zhuima City and had to leave immediately.

Winter was approaching. On a night in November, the darkness was particularly intense and cold. On the mountain road, many armored soldiers raised their torches, connecting them like a fire dragon.

Among them, many in the Celestial Master Army had night blindness, so the marching speed was exceptionally slow.

Even after a couple of hours, Chen Mo estimated they hadn't even covered ten miles.

Calculating this way, they might not cover thirty miles by daybreak.

Chen Mo led the cavalry ahead, witnessing the Celestial Master Army soldiers, who seemed like homeless dogs, and even the morale of the Three Guards was rather low. He couldn't help but sigh heavily in his heart.

After reading so many novels, where transmigrators dominate in all directions, he ended up just retreating.

"This won't do. Once daylight comes and the enemy learns we've left, they'll surely catch up. Our marching speed is too slow; we'll eventually be caught. We still have several days to reach Celestial Water Town."

Chen Mo looked at Xia Zhining and then swept his gaze over Sun Meng, Shao Jinneng, Han Wu, and a few others, asking if they had any ideas.

After some thought, Xia Zhining suddenly said, "There's a tactic in the military books called 'Suspended Sheep Drumming', which can use false bravado to create an illusion for the enemy."

Chen Mo asked Xia Zhining to elaborate.

Suspended Sheep Drumming involves tying the hind legs of a goat and suspending it in a tree, with a drum placed under its front hooves. When the goat is hungry and kicks with its front hooves, the drum sounds.

This way, upon hearing the sound, the enemy would think there's an ambush and dare not advance, causing confusion and buying time for their own army's march.

Chen Mo thought it feasible and ordered people to carry out the plan accordingly.

He also set up a few Command Flags nearby.

As for the goats, they were part of the army's livestock, still available in Chen Mo's logistics.

After who knows how long, the day began to break. The army arrived at a stream, and everyone felt as though their lungs were on fire, unable to move further, with cries of exhaustion echoing around.

Some simply gave up, lying on the ground, gasping, shouting they wouldn't go on, live or die.

And indeed, at this point, Chen Mo couldn't blame them anymore.

They had truly reached the limits of the human body. They had fought all day yesterday with barely any food or rest, and then marched all night. The entire army was practically made up of ordinary people; how could they endure such strain?

Chen Mo ordered the entire army to rest for two quarters of an hour, urging them to eat, and ordered the accompanying clerks to count the army's numbers.

...

Half an hour earlier.

Zhuima City.

In Yu State, the mountains were naturally foggy, and with winter approaching, the entire inside and outside of Zhuima City was almost shrouded in mist, with very low visibility.

The fire basins set up every few steps along the city walls, after burning all night without being replenished, had long since been extinguished.

A Celestial Master Army soldier, hugging a long spear, leaned drowsily against the battlement. Exhausted from the previous day, he was in a deep sleep. The war drum stood beside him, supposed to be beaten by a dedicated Divine Brave Guard soldier.

But now, the person responsible for beating the drum was long gone.

A gust of Qingfeng blew, brushing the face of the sleeping Celestial Master Army soldier. He awoke with a start from the pressure in his bladder, groggily opening his eyes, suddenly catching a faint noise mixed in with the breezing Qingfeng.

Perhaps still steeped in drowsiness, he just wanted to relieve himself and go back to sleep, so he didn't think much of it, nor did he notice the absence of others around. He stood up, untied his waistband, and relieved himself over the wall.

At that moment, a strong wind swept away the mist outside the city, revealing a vast expanse previously thought empty—suddenly filled with a large group of men and horses, appearing as if emerged from the depths like Shadow Soldiers.

The soldier was so frightened during his stream he couldn't even retie his pants.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of something piercing the air whistled past his ear. His pupils dilated abruptly, and then he collapsed with a thud, a feathered arrow embedded in his head.

Even so, none of the other Celestial Master Army soldiers nearby were awakened.

Not until the cloud ladders were set up on the city wall, and the Yu State Army soldiers climbed up the wall to their faces, did someone finally wake up and shout: "Enemy attack."

It was then discovered that the soldiers guarding the city wall seemed to be missing half.

"Boom boom boom..."

A deep battle drum resounded outside the city as the Yu State Army commenced a full-scale attack.

Upon hearing the drumbeats, the Celestial Master Army soldiers below the city finally woke up in a daze and hastily grabbed the weapons next to them.

Thus, everyone realized something was amiss.

Where did the people go?

Where are Chen Mo and his subordinates?

But the Yu State Army wouldn't give them time to think as the siege vehicle was already battering the city gate.

Without a general to command them, the Celestial Master Army instantly fell into chaos.

"Glory to the Song Army!"

"Glory to the Song Army!"

"Glory to the Song Army!"

The next moment, a mighty cheer like a mountain cry and a sea roar came from outside the city, crashing against Zhuima City's walls.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the city gate was breached.

The Celestial Master Army fled towards the front city of Zhuima City.

When they arrived, they found the front city gate wide open, with not a single person in sight.

At this moment, everyone realized they had been abandoned.

That afternoon.

Liang Song looked at the goat brought to him by Shi Meng and the war drums held by the personal soldiers beside him, his face gloomily terrifying.

He had spent most of the afternoon being fooled by the Suspended Sheep Drumming trick and the command flags around, and it wasn't until after two rounds of Chariot Crossbow were fired with no response that he realized he had been deceived.

As a member of the Liang Family, he felt greatly humiliated.

He wanted to order the Profound Leopard Cavalry to continue pursuing, but reason made him dismiss this idea.

Knowing that after such a long time, the opponent must have run far.

And from the captives, he knew that the rebel army had left people in Celestial Water Town.

For the sake of the entire army, he ordered the whole army to rest and wait for reinforcements from Shiling County before proceeding.

...

November 14th.

Chen Mo, leading six thousand men and horses (Two thousand and a little from the Three Guards, over three thousand Celestial Master Army soldiers, and four hundred and ten Black Cavalry), arrived at Celestial Water Town.

Chen Mo was one of the four deputy generals, and after the deaths of Lu Yonggang, Song Niu, Huang Da, and Li Gan, he undoubtedly became the highest-ranking officer of the five-army coalition.

Lu Yonggang had initially left five thousand men and horses at Celestial Water Town to guard the logistical materials and prevent the enemy from cutting off their rear.

And these five thousand men and horses were drawn from the four armies.

After Lu Yonggang and the others died, they became like rootless duckweed, and Chen Mo seamlessly took over Celestial Water Town and these five thousand men and horses.

In no time, Chen Mo's forces swelled dramatically.

And these five thousand men were elite forces drawn by Lu Yougang to guard the rear lines, and having not participated in the battle of Zhuima City, nor witnessed such a brutal scene, their morale was still usable.

Of course, before that, Chen Mo needed to report what happened in Yu State and ask the higher-ups what to do next.

If they wanted to continue attacking Yu State, then more reinforcements must be sent over.

Additionally, in the letter he reported, he hinted at the idea of recruiting this remnant army.

After finishing the war report, Chen Mo handed it to Xia Zhining to see if she could polish it a bit.

At this time, Han Wu and Sun Meng excitedly walked over, Han Wu unable to conceal the excitement on his face said: "County Magistrate, we're rich."

...

When Chen Mo saw the logistical warehouse of the four armies, he could hardly conceal his excitement.

According to Fang Quancai, who was left behind in Celestial Water Town and also a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist, the warehouse contained a total of three hundred thirteen thousand stones of grain, along with numerous livestock for transporting grain such as oxen, sheep, donkeys, and inferior horses.

Apart from grain, there was also one siege vehicle, several catapults, several long spears for bed crossbows, over ten chariot crossbows, bundles of feathered arrows wrapped together, and boxes of copper coins in strings.

However, there were no weapons or armor.

Indeed, with armor not even enough for everyone, where would spares come from?

The reason there was so much was largely due to it being Lu Yonggang's fortune.

As most Celestial Master Army didn't have a base of operations, they would camp wherever they fought, naturally bringing along their belongings.

Chen Mo quickly ordered the clerk to tally and register everything.

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