Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

When Yuchi Gong smashed the wine bowl for the third time, the chirping of cicadas outside the tent was tearing apart the sultry heat of the June noon.

The bandage on the bearded general's right shoulder had turned yellow-brown, and the festering wound attracted green-headed flies, which made an irritating buzzing sound when he waved the map.

When Li Mi's leather boots stepped into the central military tent, they brought in a rare cool breeze.

The Minister of Personnel of the Tang Dynasty wore a moon-white round-necked robe, a belt around his waist decorated with seven green jade abacus sticks, and a bamboo folded fan in his hand with a painting of "Yu Gong Regional Map".

The dense wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were like water systems on a map, and there was no trace of panic on his thin face.

"General, please look."

Li Mi lifted the curtain with his folding fan, and the heat wave wrapped in a foul stench hit him in the face.

The camphor incense wafting from his sleeves actually created a three-foot-high scent of fresh air amid the stench of corpses: "The smoke from the Chu army's camp is 30% thinner than it was three days ago!"

The folding fan suddenly pointed to the southeast corner and chuckled, "The military spies have received news that they are running low on food."

Yuchi Gong grabbed a handful of salt beans and threw them at the sand table. The beans bounced on the map of Mangshan: "I don't care whether he eats bugs or dirt! This Chu Ning kid..."

He suddenly pressed his bleeding right shoulder: "You're shrinking more than a turtle!"

Li Mi chuckled, unfolded his folding fan and waved it gently. The ink-painted Yellow River on the fan suddenly began to ripple - it turned out to be a trick of light and shadow inlaid by a skilled craftsman using mother-of-pearl.

"General, have you ever heard the howl of a dying wolf?"

Li Mi used a wolf-hair brush dipped in tea and drew a winding curve on the table: "The Eagle's Beak Cliff of Mang Mountain is shaped like the throat of a hungry wolf. Two days later at midnight..."

The tip of the pen suddenly pierced through the rice paper: "One hundred carts of food and fodder of the Chu army will be turned into a sea of fire here."

Yuchi Gong's one eye suddenly widened, and his iron wristband knocked over the bronze lamp tree: "Do you think Chu Ning is a fool? The grain road must send heavy troops..."

He suddenly froze, and with his nose flaring, he leaned closer to Li Mi's sleeve and said, "Old fox, have you opened my secret message box again?"

Li Mi laughed loudly and shook out a scroll of silk from his sleeve. The seal of the grain officer of the Chu army was mixed in the tiny regular script:

"In order to prevent our army from intercepting the grain, Chu Ning divided the 5,000 soldiers escorting the grain into three groups. Unfortunately..."

He suddenly raised his chin high and said with a smile: "My Tang Dynasty spies have learned about this. Their plan will fail."

Yuchi Gong slammed the table and stood up, the bronze tiger talisman on the corner of the table fell to the ground: "I will order 8,000 elite cavalry..."

"The general's sword should be cut here."

Li Mi pointed the tip of his wolf-hair brush at the Chu army camp on the sand table: "Tomorrow at 5 p.m., please lead 20,000 soldiers to feint and attack the main gate."

The pen suddenly turned to the northwest hills: "I led three thousand black-armored soldiers and bypassed Ghost Crying Gorge in the twilight to rob the Chu State of its grain!"

Suddenly, hot wind blew in from outside the tent, blowing open the hem of Li Mi's shirt, and Yuchi Gong burst into laughter.

"Very good. If this plan succeeds, our army can trap the Chu army here."

But after a pause, Yuchi Gong's Adam's apple rolled up and down, and he suddenly frowned and hesitated: "If this plan doesn't work..."

"Then this old man's white hair..."

Li Mi took off the hollow silver crown, revealing his barren head: "Hang it at the gate of the Chu army to provide light for the general."

He suddenly clapped his hands three times, and the sound of a mechanism turning came from outside the tent.

Eight wooden donkey carts covered with animal skins were loaded with tung oil, and their wheels were iron-clad tetrahedral pyramids.

"Very good, let's do as you say, Lord Li. I will go down and make the arrangements right away!"

Yuchi Gong finally couldn't resist the temptation.

Of course, I trust Li Mi's judgment more!

The next day, as dusk fell, Li Mi boarded the lookout car.

He took off his wolf-hair brush and drew in the sunset. The setting sun actually flowed along the tip of the brush into a blood-red stream. Three thousand black-armored soldiers led their muzzled war horses into the valley. The horses' hooves were wrapped in cotton cloth soaked in goat's milk. Not even the mountain sparrows were startled.

Yuchi Gong's mace smashed against the gate pillar, and wood chips flew everywhere. "Beat the drum! Knock a hole in Chu Ning's tortoise shell for me!"

He raised his eyes and looked towards the northwest sky - there were three green kites rising there, which was the communication technique that Li Mi learned from the barbarian wizard.

Ran Ming on the wall of the Chu army camp broke the copper handle of the telescope.

He saw the main force of the Tang army setting up catapults in front of the camp, but he didn't know that thirty miles away on the cliff of Guikui Gorge, three hundred oil-soaked vine ropes were silently hanging down into the abyss.

The sound of the gears on Li Mi's steel legs meshing with the whimpering of the mountain stream formed a ghostly melody.

When the smell of tung oil wafted from the Eagle's Beak Cliff at midnight, the gear on Li Migang's leg had just turned the seventh round.

He looked at the hundred grain carts at the bottom of the valley, which were visible in the torches, but the ruts on the carts were abnormally shallow.

The cart, which should have been fully loaded with rice, left traces on the soft soil as light as if it were an empty cart.

"Fire arrows!"

The moment Li Mi closed his folding fan, three thousand rockets lit up the night sky.

The unique sound of arrows from the Black Armor Army pierced through the mountain fog, and dozens of fire lotuses suddenly blossomed at the bottom of the valley.

But when the burning sacks burst, what splashed out was not rice but lime, which mixed with tung oil and burned into a pale flame.

The soldiers of the Chu army who were escorting the grain suddenly threw away their swords, took out copper whistles from their pockets and blew three long and two short whistles.

The bottom plate of the grain cart engulfed in flames exploded, and three hundred shirtless strongmen jumped out from the mezzanine. The cowhide water bags on their shoulders sprayed green mucus, which actually extinguished all the rockets of the Tang army.

The folding fan in Li Mi's hand, which contained the "Yu Gong Regional Map", broke with a "crack", and his white teeth bit through his lower lip:

"We've fallen into a trap! Retreat immediately!"

But at this moment, red flags of the Chu army were seen lit up on the cliffs on all sides.

Muffled thunder was heard from the east side of the valley. Fifty iron-clad grain carts smashed the wooden boards disguised as rocks, and the real grain and fodder were revealed at this moment.

A deputy general of the Chu army sat upright on his horse, holding the head of a Tang army spy on his lance - the informant who had passed false information to Li Mi three days ago.

"Master Li is so calculating!"

Chu Ning's Panlong Cloak appeared on the top of the western cliff. The bronze loudspeakers carried by eight strong men drowned out the roar of the fire:

"What a pity! This was all my plan. You've been fooled!"

Li Mi's gray hair was blown up by the heat wave. He suddenly laughed out loud, and his laughter resonated with the frequency of the Chu army's copper whistle:

"What a trap!"

"I don't know if this jar is thick enough!"

Ten armored vehicles suddenly rushed out of the burning lime mist, and black water spurted out of the copper pipes on the roof - it was the wooden donkey mechanism hidden by Li Mi.

The black water exploded when it came into contact with fire, creating a gap in the Chu army's red flag formation.

The Black Armor Army immediately formed a human ladder and climbed to the top of the cliff by stepping on the shoulders of their comrades.

Chu swept the snake spear across, knocking the flying caltrops into the rock wall three inches away: "Release the rolling stone!"

His eyes reflected the flames rising into the sky, but he saw that the huge rock that should have fallen was caught by layers of rattan nets - the fire-proof rattan ropes that Li Mi had arranged in advance now became lifelines.

Chu Ning suddenly drew his bow and arrow, and the medicine bag tied to the arrow exploded into purple smoke in the air.

"Kill them, leave no one behind!"

Chu Ning, who hated Li Mi so much, did not want to subdue him, but only wanted to kill him to vent his anger.

The provocations of the Tang army in the past few days made him furious. Now that he had the chance, he would naturally kill the counselors in the Tang army first.

Tonight, Li Mi is doomed to die, no one can save him!