Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2509 Wen Zhongxiong's army enters Pingcheng, and the black-clad warrior captures Wang Changluo alive.

Pingcheng.

With Yelü Abaoji's defeat, the city became an isolated fortress, with no possibility of further defense.

Moreover, with its main force completely defeated, the city lost its purpose of defense and was no longer worth continuing to defend.

Although Wang Changluo was distraught over the death of his friend, he still quickly made the decision to abandon the city and break out of the siege.

Even though Wang Changluo was resourceful, in this situation where he was surrounded by enemies, he was not really confident that he could deceive Wen Zhong and Yao Guangxiao and take as many troops out of the city as possible.

All he could do was give it his all.

However, his plan to deceive Wen Zhong and then lead his troops away from Pingcheng back to Shangjing Prefecture went unexpectedly smoothly.

Wen Zhong seemed completely oblivious to his scheme. After taking the bait he had deliberately thrown out, he headed straight for Pingcheng. It seemed that in his eyes there was only this city, this city that had been abandoned by Wang Changluo.

But precisely because of this, after crossing the Green Waters, as Wang Changluo led the remaining three thousand elite troops toward the capital, he felt increasingly uneasy.

Sure enough, they hadn't gone far when a group of soldiers blocked their way, and the leader was none other than Yao Guangxiao, one of the most famous strategists of the Han Dynasty.

Behind him, Wanyan Xie, who had been defeated by Wang Changluo, stood respectfully, seemingly having been waiting for Wang Changluo's arrival.

"Mr. Changluo, how have you been?" Yao Guangxiao's calm voice reached Wang Changluo's ears.

Wang Changluo took a deep breath, spurred his horse forward a few steps, looked at Yao Guangxiao, and then glanced at the Han army behind him, whose strength was clearly far superior to his own and who were well-rested. His bitter smile deepened.

“Mr. Yao… no, strategist Yao, you must have already seen through Changluo’s petty tricks.”

"It is only because I am foolish that I do not know how the strategist saw through my plan of escaping like a cicada shedding its shell, and why he has been waiting here for your arrival so long ago?"

This was Wang Changluo's biggest question and his greatest resentment.

He believed his plan was meticulous and the bait he had thrown out was realistic enough. Even though he knew that the chances of successfully breaking out in this situation were slim, he still felt a mix of emotions when the moment actually arrived.

This is perhaps a common flaw among intelligent people like them.

Upon hearing this, Yao Guangxiao gently shook his head, his prayer beads turning slowly in his hand, and said slowly, "Mr. Changluo is too kind and has overestimated things."

“This humble monk did not deliberately try to see through the general’s plan, nor did he bother to speculate whether the general would take the Green Water Ferry, the downstream shallows, or another route.”

Yao Guangxiao paused, looked calmly at Wang Changluo, and then continued, "Sir, your plans are ingenious and difficult to discern. If one were to see through them one by one, it would be exhausting and there is a risk of overlooking something."

"If that's the case, why bother to argue?"

Wang Changluo was taken aback, and an unbelievable thought vaguely rose in his mind. He seemed to have guessed Yao Guangxiao's answer.

Yao Guangxiao continued calmly, "Our Han Dynasty has a strong military force, sufficient to besiege the city and send troops to monitor key routes."

"This humble monk merely suggests to General Wen that there is no need to dwell on what exactly your intentions are. You only need to ask General Han to cooperate by sending an army to guard all possible routes from Pingcheng to Shangjing Prefecture, regardless of whether they are main roads or side roads."

"In this way, even if you have a thousand brilliant plans and ten thousand variations, you will eventually have to find your way home."

"As for our army, all we need to do is prepare a cup of tea at the end of each return route and wait for your arrival, sir." He raised his hand and pointed to the well-organized military formation behind him, waving his hand and saying, "Green Water Ferry is just one of the tea stalls. Even if you take another route, you will meet General Zhang, General Li, or some other colleague at this moment."

His words, spoken casually, even carrying a touch of Zen-like simplicity, struck Wang Changluo like a thunderbolt, leaving him feeling utterly cold.

But in the end, he could only give a helpless, bitter smile.

That's it!

It turns out there was no perfect foresight, nor any thrilling game of strategy!

The enemy, relying solely on its overwhelming numerical superiority, employed the most rudimentary yet invincible tactic: dividing its forces to guard all possible routes.

Like a wide, yet all-encompassing net, it covers all the fish that might try to escape, regardless of which mesh you slip through, because behind every mesh, there is a fisherman.

This tactic has no skill involved; it's purely a matter of overwhelming strength and resources.

It does not pursue intellectual superiority, but only the absolute certainty of the result. Faced with absolute power advantage, all ingenious schemes become futile struggles.

Wang Changluo looked up at the sky and let out a long, silent sigh.

All the planning, all the quick wit, all the luck—at this moment, they all seemed so ridiculous, so pale. He lost completely, not to a smarter mind, but to an irresistible force.

As a strategist, what I fear most is this kind of overwhelming force, a force that leaves you with no way to counter it.

Yao Guangxiao remained silent, coldly gazing in Wang Changluo's direction, awaiting his decision. He believed Wang Changluo understood that he was also waiting for his decision.

The soldiers behind Yao Guangxiao had already nocked their arrows and were waiting with him for his decision.

If the other party lays down their weapons and cooperates with them, then everything will be fine.

But if the other side resists to the end, a barrage of arrows will be unleashed in an instant.

Now that he's been cornered here, Wang Changluo has no chance of survival. From the moment he was blocked, countless Han soldiers began to converge upon him.

As Yelü Abaoji's right-hand man and one of the two prime ministers of the Eastern Yi, the other party had the authority to allow them to make such a grand display.

At this moment, Wang Changlu remained silent, his gaze slowly sweeping over the faces behind him, young or old, all equally filled with weariness and despair. He tightened and loosened his grip on the reins, then tightened again.

In the end, all the struggles turned into a long and heavy sigh.

He slowly drew the sword from his waist, the blade that once symbolized glory and command, reflecting a cold light in the morning light, and then he released his grip.

"Bang!"

The longsword fell to the ground with a crisp, resolute sound that echoed far across the silent riverbank.

And this represents his final decision.

Given the current situation, there's no need to let the three thousand people behind us continue to waste their lives in vain.