Chapter 141: Three Intelligence Reports!

Since ancient times, formidable warriors with extraordinary talents like Li Yun were naturally born for the battlefield.
In the past, being a bandit was a waste of his profound abilities.
This time, Li Yun finally engaged in a formal battle against a regular army for the very first time, and at last, he shone with absolute brilliance.

With such a fierce warrior charging at the absolute forefront, the soldiers behind him, all veterans of suppressing bandits, surged with soaring morale and forcefully drove the rebels—who had already breached Linshui County—back out of the city!
This proved that, at least in localized battlegrounds such as the city gate tunnel, the forces commanded by Li Yun held an absolute advantage!

Dragging his long spear behind him, Li Yun strode forward while the rebels retreated before him in panic. Not a single person dared to step within a radius of ten feet of him!
This spear was simply too terrifying!
Its speed was blinding, and its force was crushing!
Those who failed to react in time were instantly killed with a single thrust, while those who managed to react and tried to parry with their weapons found themselves completely unable to withstand the blow!
It seemed the only countermeasure was to escape beyond the lethal circle of that spear.

Li Yun drove the enemy back for more than a dozen zhang and was about to press further when Zhou Liang grabbed his arm and lowered his voice, "Chieftain, let's head back into the city!"
Only then did Li Yun calm down slightly and look around.
At this moment, the majority of his men were still inside the city. Because he had ventured too far out, the rebels he had forced out of the city were vaguely beginning to encircle them.
Li Yun took a deep breath and began to slowly retreat.
When he reached the vicinity of the city gate, Li Yun turned to look at Zhou Liang, panting slightly, "Head back into the city first and secure the gate."
Zhou Liang acknowledged the order and escorted Li Yun back inside.

However, the city gate had been knocked down, leaving Linshui County currently without a proper gate. Yet, the rebels had already witnessed their terrifying prowess, and seeing Zhou Liang and his men guarding the entrance, they suddenly dared not attempt to force their way through the gate tunnel anytime soon.
Who knew if that god of slaughter was still waiting there?

Having returned to the city, Li Yun removed his visor. As the adrenaline receded, a wave of exhaustion washed over him, making his legs feel weak beneath him.
When a person is excited, especially during intense combat, adrenaline is secreted rapidly, making them oblivious to fatigue and even pain.
Now that the euphoric state had faded, Li Yun realized that his physical stamina had been severely depleted.
After all, just moments ago, he had fought almost without pause for half an hour, expending a massive amount of physical energy.

Zhou Liang helped him sit down and said, "Chieftain, this is precisely what one must watch out for on the battlefield; you cannot expend your stamina too recklessly."
"Many generals meet their end this way—fighting until they exhaust all their strength and collapsing on the battlefield."
"Otherwise, no matter how one tries to escape, one would always manage to make it back."

Li Yun took a sip of the cold water handed to him by a subordinate and let out a long sigh, "It seems Third Uncle really has served in the military before."
Zhou Liang's expression shifted slightly, but he remained silent.

After catching his breath for a long while, Li Yun finally recovered somewhat. Just as he was about to speak again, he saw Su Sheng descending from the city wall, trotting all the way over to him. Before even getting close, he raised his thumb from afar.

"Brother Li, your valor is truly peerless!"

Li Yun looked at him and asked, "Is everything alright on the city wall?"
"They've retreated for the time being," Su Sheng replied. "They'll probably set up camp outside the city. They likely intended to capture Linshui in one fell swoop, but seeing Brother Li acting like a god of war scared them off."

Li Yun smiled faintly, "It was merely thanks to the excellence of this armor. If not for this suit of iron, I would have died a hundred times over."
"You shouldn't put it that way."
Su Sheng glanced at the armor on Li Yun's body and the long spear beside him, then said with a smile, "This suit of yours weighs at least twenty pounds, and this heavy spear must be several pounds as well. If an ordinary person wore this armor and wielded this weapon, just moving would be a struggle, let alone charging into battle and killing the enemy."

After offering a few words of praise, the young general casually sat down next to Li Yun and asked, "Didn't Brother Li say earlier that you wanted to test these rebels? What do you think of them now?"
Li Yun thought for a moment and replied, "They are already much stronger than those we encountered near Mount Tianmu, but they still don't seem all that formidable."
Pondering further, he added, "I just don't know if all of Zhao Cheng's subordinates are of this caliber, or if this particular force is merely mediocre even among his ranks."

"This was the size of a captain's battalion," Su Sheng exhaled a breath of stale air and said. "After the way you cut through them, this captain's battalion probably won't dare to launch a frontal assault on Linshui again anytime soon."
"Even if they attack again, it certainly won't be fought like today."

Li Yun stood up, stretched his limbs, and smiled, "In an hour or two, once I've rested, I'll head out of the city and go cause some trouble for them."
"Would the Young General care to join me?"
"I will, of course I will," Su Sheng clapped his hands and laughed. "It is a rare privilege to watch Brother Li wield a spear; that weapon dances up and down in your hands like a black dragon."
"I just happen to have a lot of strength," Li Yun said with profound modesty, smiling, "I don't have any other particular skills."

After exchanging a few polite pleasantries, Li Yun climbed back up to the city wall. Sure enough, the rebel forces besieging the city had all completely withdrawn.
"From today's battle alone, Brother Li has slain at least twenty or thirty enemies."
Su Sheng looked at Li Yun and smiled, "I will truthfully report this merit to the Great General."

Li Yun waved his hand dismissively, "That's of no consequence."
He summoned Li Zheng and Zhou Liang and assigned them their respective tasks.
Zhou Liang's task was naturally to repair the city gate that had been knocked down.
As for Li Zheng, he was to lead a detachment out of the city to scout and locate the rebels' encampment.

By evening, the city gate had been fully repaired, and Li Zheng had successfully discovered the exact location of the enemy camp, which was less than ten miles away from Linshui City.
Having selected two hundred men, Li Yun summoned Su Sheng and said, "Young General, I need your cavalry to coordinate with me."

Su Sheng raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Is Brother Li planning to raid their camp?"
Li Yun smiled along with him.
"At least we should test the waters. We can't let them rest so comfortably."

Su Sheng readily nodded, his voice deep, "I will have the cavalry move closer to Linshui right away."
The hundred cavalrymen under Su Sheng's command were mostly stationed outside Linshui County rather than inside the city walls.
After all, well-trained cavalry units were far too precious to be kept inside Linshui County. For one, it wasn't entirely safe, and secondly, once inside the city, these cavalrymen would essentially have their legs crippled and lose their effectiveness.

With the cavalry arranged, Li Yun took only two or three hundred men and left Linshui, heading straight for the rebel encampment outside the city.
His boldness stemmed from two reasons: first, through direct engagement, he found that the combat effectiveness of these rebels was not particularly formidable.
Second, no one would ever suspect he was audacious enough to dare a camp raid while being heavily outnumbered.

As the sky gradually darkened, Li Yun, fully armored once more, quietly led his subordinates out of Linshui County.
Guided by Li Zheng, they advanced without hesitation straight toward the rebel camp.

It must be said that these rebels indeed lacked the basic qualities required of soldiers. It was one thing that they failed to achieve any results in their siege during the day, but at night, they maintained virtually no guard whatsoever. When Su Sheng led the cavalry charging into their camp to set fires, the entire encampment was thrown into immediate and utter chaos.

At this moment, Li Yun and his men had already reached the vicinity of the rebel camp. This time, he carried no spear; instead, he wielded a heavy, single-handed saber.
Watching the fires erupting in all directions across the military camp, Li Yun narrowed his eyes and slowly commanded, "Charge with me!"

Over two hundred men shouted in unison and surged behind Li Yun, rushing torrentially into the rebel encampment.
A short while later, the sounds of battle and shouting echoed through the night.

***

The next day, Great General Su, still stationed in Ning State, received a total of three intelligence reports, all sent by his son, Su Sheng.
The first report stated that Linshui was tightly surrounded by a rebel captain's battalion.
This report caused Great General Su to frown deeply. Just as he was hesitating over whether to dispatch reinforcements to relieve Linshui, the second report arrived.

The second report detailed the full course of the great victory at Linshui, prompting Great General Su to slap his thigh in admiration and exclaim, "Splendid!"
Closing the report, he muttered to himself, "That rascal really was born for the battlefield..."

After uttering this under his breath, Great General Su resumed handling other military affairs. Half a day later, a courier knelt before Su Jing and bowed deeply.
"Great General, urgent dispatch from Linshui!"

Su Jing frowned, looking at the intelligence report presented to him.
"What trouble has that brat stirred up this time?"