Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 318: Rong Ling’s Brave General
"Military Advisor... Alas, I have made a fool of myself in front of you." Zhang Liao said helplessly.
At this time, Zhang Liao was shirtless in his room. They were old comrades who had beaten Cao Cao together and had also been beaten by Cao Cao. Chen Gong had no scruples and just pushed the door open and walked in.
It was just as Shamoke said. Zhang Liao didn't even have a bandage to stop the bleeding at this time. The wound on his shoulder had obviously scabbed over. It seemed that there was no injury to the tendons and bones, otherwise it would not have healed in just one month.
"What exactly happened? You two... faced off against Huang Zhong, and actually lost the battle?" Chen Gong couldn't believe it.
Others may not know the strength of Zhang Liao and Shamoke, but how could Chen Gong not know?
Shamoke was a reckless person, and Zhang Liao seemed to be gentle and measured when commanding his troops, but once he got angry, he would dare to charge into the enemy camp!
Although they were not as good as the "lord", both of them were top-notch warriors of the time. How could they be defeated by just one person? And he was an old warrior with gray hair?
Before this, Chen Gong only knew that Huang Zhong was quite methodical in deploying troops and commanding them, and judging from his archery skills, it was obvious that he was also a brave man when he was young.
However, Huang Zhong had never demonstrated his strength in frontal combat before, so naturally Chen Gong and Zhang Liao thought that Huang Zhong's physical strength was no longer at its peak, so he was unwilling to fight in close combat.
Unexpectedly...
"No, no, no, it was me and Huang Zhong fighting, and Wen Yuan was helping me… If we had fought together from the beginning, we should have been able to win." Shamoke muttered in rebuttal.
And "together from the beginning"?
Back then at Hulao Pass, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu didn't have the courage to ride out into battle together!
"Could it be that... Huang Zhong can be with the lord..." Chen Gong's face also wrinkled.
"Impossible! If it was Fengxian, the military advisor would not be able to see me and Brother Sha, so he should..." Zhang Liao retorted hurriedly, but then paused.
"Should?" Chen Gong asked inquiringly.
"It should be... about the same level as before Zilong took that step." Zhang Liao said speculatively after a moment of silence.
Zhao Yun before heading to Yiyang.
The pinnacle of gold and jade? Half a step to transcendence?
Even Zhang Liao didn't know much about transcendence, and Shamoke had never heard of it. He had always believed that he had become the best in the world after being possessed by the totem.
Chen Gong didn't understand this, but he had a vague feeling that Huang Zhong shouldn't have been so powerful before...
Could it be that there was a breakthrough?
However, they didn't know that Huang Zhong didn't make a breakthrough, but had been silently letting the opponent win.
But now Liu Pan has been pushed to Changsha. Huang Zhong, who was originally struggling between loyalty and righteousness, ultimately felt that "loyalty" was more important, so he used his real skills!
In the novel, when Huang Zhong was nearly sixty years old, he fought Guan Yu three times. The first time, they fought for more than a hundred rounds without a clear winner. The second time, Guan Yu defeated Huang Zhong by dragging his sword. The third time, Huang Zhong also used a trick to lure Guan Yu, but in order to repay Guan Yu's kindness, he only shot off the red tassel on Guan Yu's helmet...
The only regret is that he became famous too late. When he followed Liu Bei, Huang Zhong was nearly 60 years old, but his style of leading troops was still "always leading the charge into battle." When he was 70 years old, he even killed Xiahou Yuan in the Dingjun Mountain battle. It was this battle that helped Shu Han seize control of Hanzhong.
Huang Zhong is only in his early fifties now, and his bravery is probably even greater than that of Guan Yu of the same period.
Huang Zhong in the world of Cheng Ji is similar to Zhao Yun. He was also born as a martial artist, but later joined the army. He practiced the "Sun Shooting Art" which was passed down from his family. He specialized in improving his liver and gallbladder and improving his eyesight. His eyesight was also the basis for being a sharpshooter...
If it weren't for the fact that in order to extend Huang Xu's life, Huang Zhong consumed a large amount of true energy every once in a while, causing his foundation to loosen, Huang Zhong actually had a chance to be promoted to the transcendent realm by taking advantage of the current "inflation" of generals.
"Apart from the bravery of this one man, what about Rongling's city defense and military strength?" Chen Gong asked after taking a few steps in the house.
"Huang Zhong also has a 300-man magic archery team under his command. They are all Ji Zao's personal guards. Everyone holds a longbow and is as good at shooting as ordinary generals. The number of the garrison in Rongling should be between 12,000 and 18,000, and it is said to be 30,000.
Moreover... Huang Zhong should have some combat skills similar to Sun Bofu's, which can enhance the archery skills of the Divine Archery Team, as well as the range and power of their arrows in a short period of time. If we attack the city, we must beware of them beheading us from a high position, or killing other generals." Zhang Liao said after thinking for a while.
Shamoke also said, "There is another young general, called 'Wenchang', who is also very powerful... When Wenyuan came to save me, he was stabbed by Huang Zhong several times and had no time to withdraw from the battle circle. I wanted to fight him, but was stopped by the young general... My arm was weakened by Huang Zhong's heavy sword, but I was not someone who could stop it. However, the young general looked about the same age as me and was wearing gilded armor, but he fought with me for more than thirty rounds."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liao looked at Shamoke. Firstly, he wanted to remind him not to speak so openly about bullying the minority in a fight next time. Otherwise, not only would it be embarrassing, but if Fengxian heard about it in the future, he might be pulled away for instructions. Secondly... Zhang Liao actually wanted to say, that person doesn't look like he is "about the same age" as you!
That "Wen Chang" looks very young, and you, Shamoke... if you don't tell me, who would know that you are only sixteen years old?
"An old man and a young man? Interesting." Chen Gong muttered.
After Chen Gong returned to Yinshan, he personally took charge of Yinshan military affairs. Both the expeditionary force in Jingnan and Zhang Liao's troops were very familiar with Chen Gong, so there was no question of whether to change the commander or not.
Regardless of whether it was effective or not, Chen Gong delivered a declaration of war to Rong Ling three days later.
In addition to the daily slander of the opponent, denying the legitimacy of Jingzhou Prefecture, and publicizing the righteousness of his own offensive behavior, he also proposed "to reduce the tragedy of wives losing their husbands, parents losing their sons, and children losing their fathers", hoping that Huang Zhong could respond to the will of heaven and the will of the people and surrender to the General's Mansion.
If they are unwilling to surrender, they hope that Huang Zhong can go out of the city and fight openly. If they can win, the General's Mansion will retreat. If they cannot win, they hope that Huang Zhong will put the lives of his soldiers and their families first.
However, Huang Zhong's response did not surprise Chen Gong - surrender? Fight? Forget it!
In the letter, Huang Zhong emphasized that the governor of Jingzhou was appointed by the imperial court and was a relative of the Han Dynasty. The general's attack on Jingzhou had already lost the support of the people and caused an uproar in the world. The people of Jingzhou were united and would give the invading enemy a head-on blow. He hoped that the general would stop before it was too late...
After talking all this nonsense, Huang Zhong said - if you want to avoid casualties, even though I'm too old to lift a sword, I'm willing to fight with the generals in the General's Mansion!
However, with the previous battle situation in mind, Chen Gong directly replied - Bullying the elderly is not the style of the General's Mansion, let's just attack the city directly...
While the letters were going back and forth, the 500 "engineers" trained by the Ministry of Civil Affairs who had arrived with Chen Gong not long ago had already collected materials on site and built a number of ladders and battering rams.
The Wuling area cannot transport catapults, but some raw materials that cannot be collected on site have been transported here. As long as these engineers are given time, it is only a matter of time before they can "build" a catapult on the spot...
