Chapter 337: The Battle General Rises
Chapter 337: The Battle General Rises
September 25, 2017
Lu HaiKong was busy making war preparations, but he himself wasn't overly tense.
News from Dingxiang County indicated that the battle was inevitable. The events at the Dingxiang City Gate were tightly sealed, and in recent days, several aristocratic families from Dingxiang had visited the mountain stronghold to establish friendly relations.
However, Lu HaiKong was surprised that there was hardly any news from Zhang He.
The Phantom Guard only knew that Zhang He and Li Ke had left Dingxiang, apparently returning to the Zhang Family to handle family matters.
In Lu HaiKong believed that with Zhang He's capabilities, he should be able to manage the situation.
During this time, Lu HaiKong paid more attention to the training of Gao Shun's Siege Legion and the progress of the trebuchet being developed by the Carpenter Camp.
The training of Gao Shun's Siege Legion was showing results. At least, Gao Shun had gained a certain level of command over the legion, and they were no longer training in the drill field but had begun to practice in the territory dungeon.
Currently, their training mostly involved medium and small mountain strongholds, which felt like swatting mosquitoes with a large spear. It was better than being battered and bruised by large strongholds from the start.
Speaking of the territory dungeon, Lu HaiKong had overlooked its value. Fortunately, the upgrade was random, so even if he had forgotten about this building, it would still upgrade the Assembly Hall.
Moreover, the territory dungeon was already sufficient for their needs, and Lu HaiKong still had a System Building Upgrade Order in his possession. With a snap of his fingers, the building could be upgraded.
Lu HaiKong kept the upgrade order, not because he was reluctant to use it, but because he felt it could play an unexpected role, an intuition he trusted.
Gao Shun's Siege Legion training in the territory dungeon was gradually falling into place, and the results were encouraging.
Gao Shun's skill in training and leading troops secured his position, and the Siege Legion's progress pleased Lu HaiKong.
On the other side, the Carpenter Camp had also completed the trebuchet.
The finished trebuchet was enormous, standing about five meters tall. It resembled the ones in movies and shows, and after testing it, Lu HaiKong found it powerful but inaccurate, making it difficult to hit precise targets. However, in siege warfare, this trebuchet could still be quite useful.
Initially, Lu HaiKong planned to place the trebuchet on the fortification as a deterrent weapon as soon as it was ready. But before he could act on this idea, news from Zhang He arrived, and it wasn't good news from Zhang Yang.
"Things have changed, the battle has begun. Take care!"
...
Bingzhou, Zhang Family.
"What a butcher, He Jin!"
Zhang Yi angrily flipped the cutting board in front of him, almost spitting out his anger.
He didn't think the Dingxiang incident was that serious, although the conflict between the young Zhang Yang and Zhang He was concerning.
The aristocratic families in Dingxiang had sealed the news, and the situation was mostly under control. Zhang He had even assured him that he would bring five million gold in benefits to the family within three months.
Despite some loss of face, the overall direction was positive.
Zhang Yi was about to put this matter behind him and wait for the money in a few months. But then, an imperial decree arrived, berating him for the Dingxiang incident and ordering him to eliminate Lu HaiKong's mountain bandits within a month.
Zhang Yi was stunned by the speed of the imperial response. How did the indulgent emperor get such timely information? He had just resolved the issue, and the decree arrived, taking him by surprise.
Zhang Yi wasn't a fool; he immediately recognized He Jin's involvement.
"To act so brazenly and disregard my Zhang Family, they clearly intend to pull me down and elevate that boy from Wuyuan. Hmph!"
Despite Zhang Yi's words, he was at a disadvantage.
He Jin had struck at his weakness, and with the Emperor's backing, Zhang Yi's position as Bingzhou Governor might be in jeopardy if he couldn't defeat Lu HaiKong.
A faithful reproduction from the original book!
In this situation, Zhang Yi had no options. After summoning Zhang He for a scolding, he began preparations to eliminate Lu HaiKong's mountain stronghold.
The matter escalated from the initial confrontation between Zhang Yang and Lu HaiKong to a struggle between He Jin and Zhang Yi. Lu HaiKong's initially decent response now seemed insignificant in the grand scheme of their conflict.
At this point in the struggle, both sides viewed Lu HaiKong as a minor character, a tragic figure caught in the crossfire of two powerful forces.
As the Bingzhou Governor, Zhang Yi could mobilize an impressive force. Under such overwhelming authority, he doubted Lu HaiKong's ability to resist.
Among Bingzhou's military might, the most elite force wasn't the county or prefecture troops but a separate army. This army was composed of the bravest and most skilled soldiers from the border regions of various counties and prefectures.
They didn't think this army was necessary to deal with a mountain stronghold, but if they wanted to use Bingzhou's strength against Lu HaiKong, even the county and prefecture troops would be sufficient.
However, to swiftly defeat Lu HaiKong, they deployed this elite army, gathering troops from Yunzhong, Dingxiang, and Yanmen Prefectures in Qiangyin County within eight days, amassing an impressive force.
The sheer size of this army left Qiangyin and Dingxiang in despair. Everyone believed their patron saint was doomed.
Chapter end
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