Lord of the Desert

Chapter 354 Conspiracy
Two hours later.

The sun fell into the mountains in the west, and half of the sky was oozing blood.

The elite troops of the Baisheng Army rushed up the wall of Duanli City for the sixth time, but considering the weather, it was impossible to break the city today.

Over the past few hours, the attackers had occupied the entire section of the city and one corner tower at their peak, but in the end they were unable to seize the trail leading to the city.

Thus, the battle with a destined outcome became a common torment for both sides.

Not until the penetrating sound of gongs rang out below the city did the soldiers finally breathe a sigh of relief and cover each other as they retreated through the Linche Passage.

The defenders recaptured the city walls and sent off the enemy with a symbolic farewell shot of arrows.

Following the remnant troops across dozens of feet in silence, Hong Fan's half-numbed thoughts thawed a little.

The scattered positions were filled with artillery carriages bent from excessive use; the cast iron barrels of the two heavy guns still retained a charcoal-reddish tinge.

On the command platform in front of the battlefield, the central army general Yi Hong had a gloomy face and urged his subordinates in a stern voice to count the casualties. Only when he saw Hong Fan coming over did he suppress his temper and nodded to him.

When he reached the camp gate, Hong Fan heard the hoarse shouts of victory coming from the top of the city wall again. Perhaps because of the distance, the sound was so fragile that it was almost indistinguishable, like a whimper.

He looked back in the direction of the sound and saw that the chariots and ladders that could not be withdrawn were impatiently doused with tung oil by the defenders, burning them into several brilliant torches.

The massive siege engine disintegrated in the fire, smoke rising from its corpse.

The sky was all red.

Torches were lit on the top of Duanli City.

"Today is the first battle for our left army..."

Yi Hong was giving a lecture in the distance.

Hong Fan stepped through the camp gate and heard a sharp cry coming from above his head.

Deep in the sky, the goshawk is diving deeper.

······
On the same day, two hours later.

The evening breeze pushed the night across the earth.

The flags of the Victorious Army were immersed in darkness.

The Chinese military tent.

Twelve candles as thick as children's arms shattered everyone's shadows on the curtain.

Xu Yuntao sat alone at the top - military rank takes precedence on the battlefield - and the remaining three main officers, including Baisheng Gong Qiu Yuankui, Junsi Xiahou Ling, and Xingjun Sima Chen Yan, sat on the left side of the sand table.

As for Duan, Gu, Hong and other warriors who were semi-isolated from the Baisheng Army system, had a transcendent status and played a core role, they sat on their sides.

After days of busy work, everyone looked tired.

"I have specially invited you all to come here before the military meeting because I have important matters to discuss."

Upon seeing this, Xu Yuntao opened an iron box, revealing dark ochre-colored unknown tobacco leaves inside, and scattered them to everyone.

"Refreshing."

He gave an additional explanation.

Seeing that several people took it, Hong Fan did not refuse and learned to put it in his mouth.

After chewing it twice, with just a little bit of saliva soaking in, a pungent and spicy taste will spread between the lips and teeth, mixed with bitterness.

After a few seconds, the smell of tobacco leaves swept along the trachea and nasal cavity toward the top of the head like wolf smoke, as if a military flag had been inserted into the Baihui acupoint.

Hong Fan's mouth twitched from the spiciness, but his spirits suddenly perked up.

"I just received new news."

Xu Yuntao continued.

"I came from Yunlan City."

Everyone looked solemn when they heard this.

Xu Yuntao was originally a general of the Tianfeng Army. He led his troops in rebellion because a storm destroyed his hometown without distinguishing between friend and foe.

He naturally has information channels in Yunlan City.

But birds only know how to return to their nests, and there are no carrier pigeons that can deliver letters directly to the battlefield.

Moreover, with the situation in Fengyunding Wuchang Realm becoming more and more dangerous day by day, every piece of news worth sending out is absolutely important.

"Since our army assembled at the end of August, the Tang family has gone to Yunlan City several times to ask for help."

Xu Yuntao had only said half a sentence when Qiu Yuankui held his breath.

At this moment he paused.

After a while, until Qiu Yuankui's eyes gradually turned unfriendly, Xu Yuntao said in his usual straightforward tone: "But the three Yuanci in the city have not stopped their regular business, and they still have no intention of coming to help three days ago."

"Okay, that's exactly what I expected!"

Qiu Yuankui slammed the table and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is there anything more important than a strategically important place like Duanli City?"

Hong Fan asked. "Of course there is no such routine."

Qiu Yuankui rushed to explain and wiped the sweat from his temples.

"It's nothing more than the two families in Yunlan City each having their own selfish motives!"

His tone at this moment was particularly relaxed.

“The Feng family’s top priority right now is the Fengyunding blood sacrifice.

This matter is personally handled by Feng Mubai, the clan's top expert, and he cannot be late for even a day - it can be said that Feng Mubai carries Feng Jianke's life on his shoulders, so he cannot leave Yunlan City even a step."

"As for the Gong family and the Feng family living in the same city, from a selfish point of view, I'm afraid they would like the Feng family to decline the most. Besides, Gong Zhengping and Tang Shaoyou have been enemies since they were young, and the grudges have accumulated for decades. How could they be willing to come?"

Qiu Yuankui's hindsight was loud and clear.

"What about Feng Manyun?"

Hong Fan asked again.

"Young Master Hong asked exactly the key question."

Military commander Xiahou Ling smiled back.

"Yes, Feng Manyun could come but didn't; from this we can see that the Feng family has decided to avoid fighting."

【Avoid war? 】

This word confused Gu Yixin.

He wanted to ask, but when he saw Hong Fan's enlightened look, he stopped himself for fear of wasting everyone's time.

"The context of this matter is a little more complicated."

Military Commander Chen Yan saw his confusion.

"The interests of the Feng family and the Tang family are not completely consistent."

"Feng Mubai summoned Tang Shaoyou to Yunlan City many times in his early years. If this Wang Ting Zhongcheng had more magnetic force to command two or three years ago, the situation in Huaiyang would never have come to this."

"Unfortunately, Gong Zhengping and Tang Shaoyou are not easy to use. At the beginning, they were even happy to see the righteous army wear down the Tianfeng Army. Since the royal court is weak, the aristocratic family has become the new king of the county."

Chen Yan waved his feather fan.

"Besides, the Feng family's control over Duanli City is limited now."

"For more than 300 years in the imperial dynasty, it has long been common for aristocratic families to secretly hide people and embezzle tax revenue. Feng Jianke has been in seclusion for 20 years. It is hard to say whether Duanli City belongs more to the royal court or the Tang family."

"Ah, uh..."

Gu Yixin looked serious and uttered two ambiguous interjections.

“So this is an open conspiracy.”

Hong Fan took over the conversation.

"The Feng family sits back and watches this battle. If Duanli is defended, we won't be able to organize an offensive for more than half a year, and Yunlan City will be safe. If Duanli cannot be defended, the Tang family will lose their ancestral land and become mortal enemies with us. Where else can they go except Yunlan City?"

"At that time, there were four Yuanci stationed in Yunlan City, which was as solid as a rock!"

Across the sand table, several people nodded in agreement.

"I see, but I still find it weird."

Gu Yixin nodded and scratched his forehead again.

"The royal court is not even going to take care of the rebels?"

It went against his simple logic that the "officials" indulged the "thieves".

"I'm afraid they've settled their accounts and decided it's better not to do anything about it."

Hong Fan laughed.

"Whether Feng Jianke succeeds or not is a matter of these two years."

"If it succeeds, the Feng family will have another Martial Saint in the world, and the chaos in Huaiyang will be resolved. If it fails, it will be hard to find a genius in the Feng family, and it will be hard to say who will be our friend and enemy at that time."

At this point, his heart moved.

[This conspiracy is not necessarily going to succeed...]

But Hong Fan did not say it out loud - because Duanli City was something the Baisheng Army had to take, and the Tang family had to defend it.

At this moment, he saw Duan Tiannan, who had been leaning back in the chair with his eyes closed, slightly opened his eyes towards him and made the shape of "I know" with his lips.

PS:

There will be an update of 40,000 words today.

I wrote Chapter 353 on March th and thought I was better. But my condition deteriorated again in the next few days, and I wasted more than a month.

My mind has been confused for too long, so this chapter was difficult to write at the beginning.

Especially the first four or five hundred words, I had no emotions and could only force myself to write well. I tried too hard and the text was jerky and I was at a loss. I had to make repeated adjustments before I found some feeling.

(End of this chapter)