My vicious dog, my horse, I can do whatever I want with it

He Xingliang also had some old subordinates living outside, so he had some connections with them.

However, he is no longer the Prince Shou who lived in the imperial city, but a traitor who was demoted to a commoner by the emperor and rebelled. All his old subordinates avoided him as much as possible after seeing his letters, even some of them still had some hope for the Prince Shou.

He also carefully considered his words and explained how he was in trouble and how little help was needed.

In the end, the military supplies that He Xingliang obtained were just a drop in the bucket and could not help Empress Xiaozhuang out of her predicament.

Zong Yanli sent troops to harass Chen Hanjing many times, and each time he launched a strong attack, which made Chen Hanjing frightened. With the lesson from the previous time, Chen Hanjing did not dare to slack off at all this time. When he saw Zong Yanli sending troops to attack the city, he ordered his men to light kerosene.

However, over the past month, Zong Yanli only attacked the city two or three times, and he became a little depressed when he saw that he could not take the city by force.

"General, I have a plan that can help you capture Xiaozhuang." It was at this time that Pei Liang offered the plan in front of the tent.

"Tell me about it." Zong Yanli sat upright in the tent, with many books scattered on the table and many marks made by Zong Yanli on the map. Wen Nian stood beside Zong Yanli, with a basket of sundries at his feet.

It can be seen that Zong Yanli has been rummaging through boxes and drawers in order to think of a strategy for attacking the city.

Gongsun Pu's strategy could no longer be used. Firstly, the weather had been clear for several days without any rain, and there was no fog in the morning light. The soldiers had no shelter, so if they moved the straw man, wouldn't they be made into targets?

The second reason is that if a plan succeeds, the enemy may not be fooled if it is used again, so it cannot be used again.

Gongsun Pu's advice was helpful, and as a result, the status of the White Eagle Army was suddenly raised a lot.

Who could have thought that Gongsun Pu was so good at predicting the weather and predicting wind and rain?

Gongsun Pu suddenly became a capable counselor beside Zong Yanli. Pei Liang felt a little uncomfortable about this. Although he was happy that the general had another capable person, he did not want to be outdone, so Pei Liang was not idle during this period.

Every time Zong Yanli went to battle, he followed him and observed the situation in Empress Xiaozhuang.

Now, he finally found his weakness.

"Since Empress Xiaozhuang cannot be conquered by force, it is better to lure her with benefits." Pei Liang bowed to Zong Yanli.

"How to lure the enemy?" Zong Yanli raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Xiaozhuang has been besieged by our army for more than a month. With Mr. Gongsun's strategy, I'm afraid the military supplies in the city are particularly scarce now. In addition, the enemy has been provoked. During the previous sieges, Liangguan City always lit stoves and refined oil to prevent our army from attacking."

"After burning the furnace several times like this, I'm sure the firewood in Xiaozhuang is already in danger."

"I think, General, you can order the soldiers in the army to pretend to be woodcutters and go up the mountain to collect firewood. When the enemy sees them, they will definitely leave the city to plunder the firewood." Pei Liang said confidently.

"The enemy will surely be cautious when they first see the woodcutters, so we will keep our troops in place for the first few days, so that they can gain some small benefits. When they become complacent, they will surely send a large number of soldiers out of the city to rob the firewood. At that time, our army will set up an ambush to cut off their retreat, and then gather them together and seize the city."

Zong Yanli listened and pondered for a moment. Gongsun Pu, who was sitting next to him, said, "Although General Pei's plan is good, the Chen family army may not be fooled."

Pei Liang smiled and shook his head: "No, no."

He raised his eyes seriously and said, "Of course the Chen family army will not be fooled, but there are more than just Chen family army in Xiaozhuang. The rebel army is in disarray. If they fail to unite from top to bottom, there will be some who are less thoughtful and less strategic."

"King Shou is in a state of anxiety after his previous defeat. We will offer him the sweet bait. Don't worry that he won't take the bait!"

"Pei Liang's words make sense." Zong Yanli nodded in agreement, his eyes bright as if he had thought of something. He stood up and said with a smile, "If that's the case, this general should also add fuel to the fire."

"Come, get some pen and ink!"

Pei Liang and Gongsun Pu looked at each other, watching Zong Yanli start writing in front of them. After he finished, he shook the paper and handed it to the two of them, saying with a smile: "Let's see what this plan of mine thinks?"

The two men came closer to take a look and saw that Zong Yanli's handwriting was full of corny words. The general meaning was that he was recalling the past when he had a heart-to-heart talk with Chen Hanjing, and he talked about his respect for the Chen family army and his admiration for General Chen.

In his words, he put himself in Chen Hanjing's shoes. If someone who didn't know the situation saw this letter, they would think that Zong Yanli and Chen Hanjing were brothers who had known each other for many years, but were unable to "recognize each other" due to their positions.

Although he didn't mention persuasion at all, it seemed as if every sentence was trying to persuade him to surrender.

If this handwritten letter was sent to Prince Shou's desk...

Gongsun Pu and Pei Liang's minds suddenly cleared up. They looked up at Zong Yanli and bowed deeply, "General, you are wise! When the king and his subjects are at odds, it will be the time for our army to win a great victory!"

How wonderful!

Zong Yanli used her actions to tell them that a general must not only be good at employing people, but also must plan before taking action. Marching and fighting has never relied on one person or charging headfirst. She was good at observing the battle situation and using strategies, and she dared to use them on people like Gongsun Pu who she had just recruited.

From these three strategies for attacking the city, it is enough to see that Zong Yanli is by no means just a general with bravery and brute force.

"Brother, Pu originally thought that our chances of winning after entering Wu State were very slim." Gongsun Pu returned to his tent, his heart full of excitement and unable to calm down for a long time. Now seeing Long Feiguang returning from martial arts practice, he said with great emotion: "Now Pu thinks that our chances of winning are 70%."

"Oh?" Long Feiguang raised his eyebrows in surprise, probably because he didn't expect that his third brother, who was so picky, would praise Zong Yanli so much.

You must know that Gongsun Pu was extremely picky about the King of Qing State and even judged all the other countries as having no good points.

But now it seems like he has found his own way, and his ambitions have finally found a way out. Long Feiguang was very moved by his overjoyed look. He always felt that it was a pity that his third brother followed him around in battles, had a lot of strategies but no monarch appreciated him!

Long Feiguang reached out and patted Gongsun Pu on the shoulder and said, "Choose a master and be loyal to him. Since you have found your direction, I, as your elder brother, will pave the way for you no matter what!"

"The oath you and I made as brothers was never empty words." Long Feiguang's position was clearer. He valued righteousness the most and would not hesitate to go through fire and water for his brothers.

"Brother..." Gongsun Pu was deeply moved.

These words strengthened their promise to remain loyal to the State of Wu, to the Zong Yan family, and to Zong Yanli!

On the other side, Zong Yanli didn't know that Gongsun Pu had already been conquered by her. She was selecting soldiers to pretend to be woodcutters. If they were to pretend, they had to leave no trace, so Zong Yanli even had to personally oversee the selection of the soldiers.

In order to ensure that the enemy could be deceived, Zong Yanli even asked them to take off their shirts, and anyone with a knife wound on their body had their shirts cut off.

"The general is very thoughtful. I am ashamed of myself as he is not as good as him." Pei Liang looked at the soldiers selected by Zong Yanli, who were disguised as woodcutters and went up the mountain to chop firewood. He repeatedly ordered them to chop a certain amount of firewood. If anyone was lazy or slack, he would be beheaded!

No one dared to disobey the strict order. The group of people entered the mountain and immediately looked for a good spot to start chopping wood in a hurry.

The spies in Xiaozhuang immediately reported the woodcutters to the city. Chen Hanjing felt something was amiss and asked, "Are there any enemy guards around the woodcutters?"

"No." The spy said quickly, "Those woodcutters went into the mountains in groups of two or three, and there were no soldiers following them. They looked like civilians from the border town."

"Go and investigate again, and order people to secretly observe the movements of those woodcutters." Chen Hanjing did not go there rashly, but instead reported the matter to King Shou.

He Xingliang was overjoyed when he heard this. It was like someone brought him a pillow just when he was sleepy!

He Xingliang was already getting frustrated because of the shortage of military supplies and nowhere to turn to for help. In addition, the enemy was besieging the city outside. When he heard the news, he immediately ordered people to rob the firewood pile, because the most scarce thing for defending the city was firewood.

"I think we should not act rashly for now." Chen Hanjing objected immediately: "The woodcutter is most likely someone ordered by Zong Yanli to impersonate him!"

"Whether it's true or not, we'll know after we catch him." The rebel generals and others nearby all frowned, wondering what could these woodcutters have to pretend to be.

"Wait and see for a while. If the woodcutter only moves around outside Xiaozhuang, he must be a bait." The woodcutter will definitely move to another place after chopping wood in this area. If he stays for a long time, his delay must be a trap.

Although He Xingliang was impatient, he still obeyed Chen Hanjing's words.

He frowned, thought seriously and said, "Since General Chen said so, let's wait and see."

When the spy came back from his investigation, he described the movements of the woodcutters in great detail. From the description, it can be seen that the woodcutters were in a hurry to work. Their hands and feet were nimble and it seemed that they had been working there all year round. They had hurriedly chopped down a pile of firewood and were ready to go somewhere else!

"General Chen, do you have anything to say now?" He Xingliang was impatient and turned around and ordered, "Go, arrange the troops and horses, and capture these woodcutters when they come out of the mountain with the firewood on their backs!"

"Yes." The general next to him immediately agreed.

Chen Hanjing had nothing to say. He just watched the general leave and frowned.

Sure enough, at sunset, the general returned with more than thirty captured woodcutters and a lot of firewood.

Chen Hanjing did not dare to be careless and went to the place where the woodcutters were imprisoned to interrogate them. The woodcutters were very frightened and although they answered haltingly when asked about the surrounding situation, they still answered. Chen Hanjing was still unwilling to be reassured and ordered his men to strip all their clothes off.

Except for two people with burns, the rest of the people had no old injuries on their bodies, except for the calluses on their hands.

"General Chen is too cautious. They are just ordinary people." When the rebels saw Chen Hanjing's behavior, they thought he was just pretending.

"If we wait in the mountains again tomorrow, we will surely gain something." He Xingliang did not defend Chen Hanjing. He laughed and was very satisfied with his gains today.

They made great gains in the following days.

I also learned from these woodcutters that it was because the Qiqiao Festival was approaching and there was a lantern festival in the city over there, and a stage was being built, so so many piles of firewood were needed.

He Xingliang was even more delighted when he heard this. Seeing that Zong Yanli did not move at all, as if he knew nothing about it, he became bolder and more and more soldiers went out of the city to loot firewood.

On the sixth day, the soldiers who had left the city from Empress Xiaozhuang still swaggered out of the city to rob the woodcutters as they did in the previous times. When those "woodcutters" saw the army and horses coming, they were so scared that they fled in all directions. The soldiers behind them chased them relentlessly, not knowing that they had been trapped and could not escape!

By the time the commander realized something was wrong, the White Eagle troops lying in ambush all around had already attacked, and the sound of killing was deafening.

The rebel army was totally unprepared and their fighting power was inferior to that of the White Eagle Army. How could they withstand such an ambush? In panic, they just wanted to retreat. However, when they looked back, they found that their retreat was cut off. They could no longer escape and were strangled by the White Eagle Army in the mountains.

On the other side, Zong Yanli gathered his troops and rushed out in full force to attack the city gate!

The siege was so fierce that He Xingliang was caught off guard. The city gate was lost and the enemy rushed into the city. There was no possibility of saving the city!

"Your Highness, let's retreat!" The army was already on the verge of defeat, and Chen Hanjing felt that he was no match for the opponent. If he continued to defend the city at this time, there would be countless casualties. He immediately persuaded He Xingliang to withdraw from Xiaozhuang and escape for his life.

"Retreat?" He Xingliang's face was full of unwillingness. His uprising had just begun, but he had already failed?

"Your Highness, please look at what I found in General Chen's room!" The attendant who was guarding He Xingliang had a slightly ugly expression on his face, and came with a roll of letters in his hand.

Chen Hanjing looked up and was a little confused for a moment. He didn't know there was such a thing in his room.

He Xingliang frowned, reached out to take it, unfolded it and looked at it. His expression changed instantly, and the look he gave Chen Hanjing also changed a little.

Chen Hanjing's heart skipped a beat. He Xingliang threw the letter in his hand in anger and said, "I am so devoted to General Chen and value him so much. Is this how General Chen treats me? No wonder Xiaozhuang was able to defend the city so firmly but Zong Yanli broke through it in an instant!"

"Chen Hanjing, oh Chen Hanjing! I trusted you wrongly after all!" He Xingliang looked heartbroken.

"Your Highness! I have never had any second thoughts about you!" Chen Hanjing hurriedly picked up the letter on the ground. He was furious after reading it and said angrily, "This is clearly a plot by the enemy to sow discord! I have nothing to do with Zong Yanli!"

"How dare you say you have nothing to do with him? How dare you say General Chen has no gratitude towards him?"

"..."

Chen Hanjing was speechless for a moment, and gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness! Since you don't believe me, I have no excuse. But the enemy has already breached the city gate, so please leave quickly!"

He Xingliang narrowed his eyes and looked at Chen Hanjing, as if he was thinking, worried that Chen's army had already colluded with Zong Yanli. Was he persuading him to withdraw because there were ambushes in the rear?

Chen Hanjing seemed to see He Xingliang's distrust, and at that moment he felt extremely sad.

The king and his subjects have already fallen out, the situation is hopeless...

"Since Your Highness doesn't trust me, I will stay behind to guard Xiaozhuang and intercept the pursuing troops for Your Highness!" Chen Hanjing lifted his robe and knelt down. He straightened his back and looked at He Xingliang with tears in his eyes, saying, "I only hope Your Highness will know that my Chen family! My Chen family army is definitely not a group of people with ulterior motives. I hope Your Highness will get what he wants on this trip!"