Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 189 Settling in Zhongyuan City

In the largest private room on the sixth floor of the Wushuang Restaurant in Zhongyuan City, Mo Yuming, Jiang Yuheng, Sun Min, Qi Feng, Fan Yongjun, Ge Zhuang, Xiao Shan, Duan Shichen, the restaurant manager, and Ahao were raising their glasses in celebration.

"Gentlemen, let's raise a toast to today's great victory." Mo Yuming sat at the head of the table and raised his glass of fine wine.

Those present immediately began a celebration.

"This toast is to thank our General Sun Min and Manager You for their generosity in hosting such a lavish banquet to celebrate our victory!" Mo Yuming smiled and raised his glass to the two of them.

Sun Min and You Xuelong awkwardly raised their glasses in return.

"What's going on?" Qi Feng asked Sun Min softly beside him.

“Yesterday, Manager You and I made a bet with the Lord, and we lost. This banquet is the stake of the bet. Whoever loses has to treat us,” Sun Min said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Fan Yongjun excitedly asked, "What are you betting on?"

"It's nothing much, we just bet on how long it would take you to storm the city and how long Wuheng could hold out. In the end, Manager You and I both lost."

Then Sun Min explained the contents of their bet to everyone. After listening, everyone showed expressions of surprise.

Even as a commander, Jiang Yuheng couldn't guarantee the duration of the war, because the battlefield was constantly changing and any unexpected event could affect the outcome. Therefore, even after experiencing countless wars, Jiang Yuheng couldn't estimate how long a single battle would last.

Seeing everyone looking at him curiously, Mo Yuming smiled slightly and said:

"It's actually quite simple. Through my observations along the way, I gained a clear understanding of the enemy's combat strength, including those secretly stationed legions, whose combat strength was all roughly the same. After entering Zhongyuan City, I discovered that Wu Heng was completely incapable of leading troops into battle, and was also a cowardly and extremely selfish fellow."

As you all have seen, although he has 100,000 soldiers, he does not have a single general who can lead them into battle. The generals in power are all his family elders and relatives by marriage.

Secondly, the troops were of a single type and lacked training. After entering the city, I found that the soldiers guarding the city, the patrolling soldiers, and the soldiers stationed in the camps were all infantry. Moreover, their discipline was very poor, both in their formations and when they carried out their missions. Yesterday, when their garrison came out of the camp to defend the city wall, tens of thousands of troops did not even line up in formation. Some soldiers even put on their armor and set off with the troops without properly dressing themselves.

Thirdly, Wu Heng actually built a military camp capable of garrisoning 100,000 troops outside the city lord's mansion, effectively surrounding it. This turned the city lord's mansion into a city within a city, requiring one to traverse several miles of military camps to reach it from the outside.

Clearly, he recruited so many troops primarily to protect himself, believing he could only be safe by living among tens of thousands of soldiers. Little did he know that once the city fell, his fortified lord's mansion would become a prison trapping him.

From the points above, it's clear that Wu Heng is a person who is extremely insecure, utterly incompetent, and distrustful of others. His long tenure as city lord is primarily due to his Wu surname. Furthermore, because Zhongyuan City is surrounded by Wu Ji's other major cities, it has no direct contact with other countries. These other cities are all under the jurisdiction of people with the Wu surname, so they won't engage in conflict with him. Therefore, his 100,000-strong army is a paper tiger, utterly ineffective in combat.

Therefore, when they encounter our formidable army, they will only be able to take the beating. So I am certain that as soon as our army begins its assault on the city, they will lose their composure and crumble at the first blow.”

“That’s true. When I was commanding the catapult troops to attack, I found that the enemy soldiers standing on the city wall were not alert at all, and were even pointing and commenting on our catapults,” Qi Feng said.

Sitting next to Qi Feng, Ge Zhuang said, "I originally wanted to spar with someone with a slightly higher cultivation level, but after watching the whole thing, I didn't even see half a Heavenly Rank cultivator. Logically, there should have been at least one or two!"

“Both the original city and the original city have a near-heavenly-ranked expert in charge. The Central Plains City is so big, how come it doesn’t have a heavenly-ranked expert? Could it be that Wu Heng is too stingy?” Xiao Shan also said.

"It's not that Zhongyuan City doesn't have Heavenly Rank experts. As far as I know, there were originally four Heavenly Rank experts, but they were wiped out a few days ago!" Manager You has been staying in Zhongyuan City and is very familiar with the city's strength.

"Who destroyed them?"

Duan Shichen asked in surprise.

"Of course they were eliminated by us. Brother Duan didn't participate in the last siege of Eunuch Pao and his group, so he naturally doesn't know. In fact, the four Heavenly Rank Level 1 experts led by Eunuch Pao were guest elders of Zhongyuan City."

Sun Min replied.

"Wu Ji's attempt to steal a chicken has backfired spectacularly. Not only has she lost two inner clan elders and 100,000 troops, but she has also surrendered Zhongyuan City. More importantly, she has offended the Feather Palace. It seems she won't have many good days ahead!"

Jiang Yuheng said.

“Indeed, this is not just about losing a city. He was originally considered above average among the seven marquises of Longguo, but now only eight of his twenty Heavenly Rank guest ministers remain, putting him at the bottom in terms of Heavenly Rank experts. Although his territory is not the smallest now, the loss of 200,000 soldiers and the loss of Zhongyuan City will definitely cause his status among the marquises to plummet.”

"Their fighting strength is so weak, why don't we take this opportunity to march down and destroy the other nine cities in one fell swoop, and then go straight to Zhongdu and occupy Wu Ji's lair!"

General Fan said loudly.

"It's easy to conquer a city but difficult to defend it. Although our 50,000 soldiers are enough to sweep through any of their cities, this is all we have. We are not bandits who plunder and then leave. Besides, if all our soldiers are out fighting, who will protect our country? If any neighboring country sends a force, we will suffer heavy losses, which would be a losing proposition."

Mo Yuming said.

"We have just captured Zhongyuan City, but we have not yet captured the eight subordinate cities under its jurisdiction, and a large area within its jurisdiction needs to be reorganized and managed. Therefore, we still have a lot to do to consolidate our position."

Jiang Yuheng continued.

……

"This is the City Lord's Mansion of Zhongyuan City! It covers quite a large area!"

After finishing their meal, Mo Yuming and the others arrived at the City Lord's Mansion in Wuheng. Standing on the rooftop corridor, they could see the entire Central Plains City in the distance.