The Devil's Tribulation

Chapter 496: Flesh and Blood

Under the Yingfeng City of Chu State.

Sun Erleng looked at the more than 20-zhang-high city wall and sighed, "If we really attack by force, I don't know how many soldiers will lose their lives."

Although it is said that the success of a general is based on the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers, Sun Erleng really couldn't bear to see the more than 500,000 elite soldiers he had trained being lost under the high walls of the Great Chu.

Sun Erleng had already surveyed the nearby terrain and found that there was nothing he could use, so he had to resort to a brute force attack.

He had been keeping his troops here for a month, and was afraid that morale would be affected if he did not attack the city. He then ordered: "Call all generals above the army level to hold a combat meeting at the Marshal's Mansion!" Upon hearing this, personal soldier Nie Xiaocheng was immediately cheered up and thought to himself: "The general has finally made up his mind!"

After a while, more than fifty generals, big and small, all arrived. Sun Erleng glanced at them and said, "I have decided to attack the city in three days." When the generals heard this, they were so excited that they could hardly sit still.

Sun Erleng patted the table and said, "This is a tough nut to crack..." Before Sun Erleng finished speaking, Ren Bin stood up and shouted, "Marshal! The main attack this time must be handed over to me. I am willing to issue a military order!"

Sun Erleng said with a smile: "Okay, you have ambition. Let me ask you, how do you plan to fight?"

Ren Bin replied: "Besiege three sides and leave one side!" "That's too one-sided. Do you have any more specific ideas?" Ren Bin replied: "Not yet, but isn't that what siege is all about..."

Sun Erleng said angrily, "You haven't figured out anything yet, and you're rushing to die! That's a city wall more than 20 feet high, even a physical practitioner can't climb up, sit down!"

The generals below were whispering among themselves, and Sun Erleng asked, "What do you think? Any ideas?" No one answered. Apart from a violent attack, there was really no better way to attack the Yingfeng Pass opposite.

A young general stood up and said, "Marshal, we can try a fire attack." Sun Erleng smiled and said, "Tell me how to use a fire attack?"

The young general said, "We can use catapults to throw kerosene cans, and then use rockets to shoot in and ignite the kerosene. This will definitely cause chaos on the Chu army's city walls, and then we can take advantage of the opportunity to attack the city."

Sun Erleng tapped his fingers and said, "That's a solution, but we don't have much kerosene. Do you have any other ideas? Tell us~"

After a while, another general stood up and said, "Marshal, their city walls are high, so we can just dig a tunnel~" Sun Erleng sneered, "Do you think Qi Hong won't be prepared for this? Is there anything else..."

A personal soldier suddenly ran in and whispered something to Sun Erleng. Sun Erleng did not dare to neglect him and got up and went back to the inner room.

After Sun Erleng entered the house, he saw a strange young man wearing tattered linen clothes, with his hands tied, standing in the house anxiously.

Just as Sun Erleng was about to step forward to inquire, his personal guards quickly protected him and said, "Marshal, be careful of a scam~" Sun Erleng pushed the personal guards away and said, "Bullshit scam! If Qi Hong wanted to assassinate me, would he use such a despicable method? Get out of here!"

After pushing aside the guards, Sun Erleng looked at the young man and asked, "You said you are Qi Hong's confidant? Are you here to deliver a letter?"

The visitor bowed quickly and saluted, saying, "I am Lai Kechuan, a captain of the Black Flame Army under Marshal Qi, and I am here to pay my respects to Marshal Sun!" The Black Flame Army was the only personal army under Qi Hong's command, with a strength of only 10,000 men.

Sun Erleng nodded and asked, "How do you prove your identity?" Lai Kechuan's hands were tied, so he couldn't take it, so he gestured to Sun Erleng and said, "General, please release me first. The evidence is on me."

Nie Xiaocheng, a personal soldier, asked in confusion, "I searched you just now, but didn't find anything." Lai Kechuan chuckled and said, "This is a serious matter, how can I just leave it out there? Please loosen the rope, and I'll take it out right away."

Sun Erleng nodded to his guard, who stepped forward to untie the rope and said, "Take it, let me see where you are hiding."

Lai Kechuan said, "Please lend me a dagger..." "No!" Nie Xiaocheng said angrily, "What do you want to do with the dagger?!" Lai Kechuan laughed and said, "General Sun is very brave, is he afraid of a small person like me holding a dagger?"

Sun Erleng said calmly: "Give it to him." He also wanted to see what this guy wanted to do with the dagger.

Nie Xiaocheng reluctantly handed over a dagger, then held his sword in his hand, ready to respond to any sudden changes at any time.

Lai Kechuan took the dagger and cut open his pants, revealing his white thigh. He aimed at a red and swollen spot and stabbed it directly with a "plop". Then he dug around and dug out a bloody piece of cloth.

The captain named Lai Kechuan never frowned during the whole process, which made Sun Erleng immediately look at him with admiration.

Lai Kechuan dug out a palm-sized piece of cloth from his thigh, threw the dagger aside, held the cloth with both hands and said, "This is a letter from Marshal Qi to you. It has Marshal Qi's seal on it. This is the evidence."

Sun Erleng did not reach out to take the cloth immediately. Instead, he looked at Lai Kechuan and said, "I didn't expect that there are still heroes in Chu. It's a pity that your court is already corrupt and can't stop my Great Zhou army."

Lai Kechuan smiled and said, "Marshal Sun, I am just an unknown soldier under Marshal Qi. I don't understand state affairs, but if it is a battle between two armies, Marshal Qi may not be worse than Marshal Sun!"

"Well said!" Sun Erleng laughed and said proudly: "Qi Hong is quite capable, but compared with me, he is still a little behind. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken over thirty cities in a row~"

Lai Kechuan was speechless. Although there were reasons, Qi Hong was indeed defeated and lost dozens of cities. Facts spoke louder than words.

Seeing that Lai Kechuan had nothing to say, Sun Erleng took the piece of cloth with a smile, read it quickly, and asked excitedly, "Where's the other letter?"

"I hid it outside." Lai Kechuan whispered, "Marshal Qi said that the letter was more important than his life and property, and told me to be very careful."

Sun Erleng hurriedly said, "Treat the wound and bring it immediately. I'll be waiting here!" Lai Kechuan bandaged his thigh casually and nodded, "I'll go right away!"

Lai Kechuan walked so fast that he disappeared in a flash. Sun Erleng nodded slightly to Nie Xiaocheng, who immediately understood what he meant and hurriedly followed him out. Then he raised his hand and two more personal soldiers came, and the three of them followed Lai Kechuan.

Nie Xiaocheng and two followers followed Lai Kechuan and ran for ten miles before they saw Lai Kechuan stop under an old banyan tree. Lai Kechuan fumbled around under the tree for a while, took out a letter, nodded to Nie Xiaocheng and said, "Okay, let's go back."

Nie Xiaocheng reached out for the letter, but Lai Kechuan held it to his chest and said, "I'm sorry, I have to hand it to Marshal Sun in person!" He was worried that there might be spies around Sun Erleng.

Nie Xiaocheng snorted and thought to himself, "What's so great about that!"

Afterwards, the three of them quickly returned to the Marshal's residence. Sun Erleng took the letter and wanted to see what was written inside. However, after seeing the wax seal, he sighed with some regret and said, "I will ask my confidant to send it back. General Lai, please stay at the mansion to recover from your injuries and wait for news."