Chapter 12: Fire Attack!

  Ji Ling's three-pointed, double-bladed knife was stuck in the ground, his body stood like a great mountain at the entrance of the camp, motionless, his eyes gleaming brightly, his copper bell-like eyes staring fixedly at the forest 100 meters away, his nostrils humming, venting his discontent. After a long time, Ji Ling finally said: "Take away the soldiers on the ground, there is no need for soldiers to guard the arrow tower, just have the soldiers in the camp patrol from time to time."

  The night patrol officer responded loudly: "Yes, I understand!"

  Ji Ling let out a cold hum and returned to his tent with the three-pointed two-edged knife, continuing to rest. Bao Hong, who had just come out of the tent, hadn't even reached Ji Ling's side before he turned back to his own tent, knowing that Ji Ling was still in a bad mood, so he tactfully didn't disturb him and went back to sleep as well.

  After Ji Ling left, the soldiers who had just rushed out of their tents also put down their weapons and returned to their tents to sleep.

  The night was deep and the whole camp had returned to calmness.

  Time slowly passed, and in the military camp, apart from the footsteps of patrolling soldiers, there were occasional light snores, and by midnight, even the patrolling soldiers began to feel drowsy, listlessly waiting for the soldiers who came to take over their shift.

  At this time, a rustling sound arose in the forest.

  A large group of black-clad men emerged from the forest, over 70 Yellow Turbans under Wang Can's command, as well as more than 20 soldiers under Zhou Cang and Pei Yuan Shao's command, all gathered in the forest, waiting for Wang Can to give orders.

  "Beat the drum!"

  Wang Can gazed at the quiet military camp with a playful smile on his face.

  "Bang, bang, bang~~~~"

  A dull, muffled drumbeat burst forth from the forest, sometimes low and heavy, sometimes high and soaring, startling the birds roosting in the trees. The huge sound caused the birds to spread their wings and fly away in a flurry towards the distance.

  "Sound the horn~~~~"

  At the same time as the war drum sounded, Wang Can gave another order.

  "Wooo, wooo, wooo~~~~"

  The distant and prolonged sound of the bugle suddenly seemed to come from afar, waking up the soldiers who were sleeping in a beautiful dream. In the military camp, one by one, the soldiers opened their sleepy eyes, and those who had just fallen asleep quickly picked up their weapons that had been placed aside, put on the clothes and armor they had taken off not long ago, and then rushed to the main camp in a crowded manner.

  The soldiers stood listlessly in the military camp, yawning and lacking energy, their spirits sagging.

  These soldiers were either leaning to one side or wearing their armor improperly, or hadn't fastened their belts... In short, the entire camp was in disarray and had lost all discipline. Not only were the soldiers listless, but even the centurions, chiliarchs, captains, and generals were yawning repeatedly, their eyelids drooping as if they were about to fall asleep.

  Wang Can led a group of soldiers hiding in the dense forest, hehe laughing.

  His soldiers were in high spirits, waiting for the night to harass Ji Ling. Now that the government troops had no spirit, it was just what Wang Can meant. When the soldiers laughed, Zhou Cang's face showed a serious expression, and he asked worriedly: "Sir, by harassing the government troops like this, we are only hurting their skin without really hitting them. Will such harassment be useful?"

  Wang Can smiled and said: "I didn't plan on using harassment to attack the government troops, this was just a way to provoke Ji Ling."

  Ji Ling? Wang Can sneered coldly, a great general like this was sent to Ru Nan to fight against the Yellow Turbans, he must have been dissatisfied in his heart for a long time. Now what Wang Can needs to do is to thoroughly stir up Ji Ling's dissatisfaction, making him lose his rationality and achieve the effect that Wang Can needs.

  Ji Ling was just as angry as Wang Can had thought, extremely furious, with a dark face, not saying a word, like a mother tiger who had been robbed of her cub, raging uncontrollably.

  A group of little thieves, they're actually here to cause trouble again.

  Ji Ling walked into the military camp and stood in front of the soldiers. With a "peng" sound, she thrust her three-pointed double-edged knife into the ground.

  "Wang Yue, assemble the soldiers under your command. We are about to annihilate the bandits in the mountains." Ji Ling let out a loud roar, his voice like that of a fierce tiger, filled with rage.

  "Ah!" shouted Wang Yue loudly: "Yes!"

  Wang Yue responded with a single word, then prepared to turn around and gather his soldiers. Just as he was about to leave, Bao Hong rushed out quickly, blocking Wang Yue who was preparing to leave, saying: "General Wang, wait a minute, I have something to say!"

  "General Bao, what do you mean by blocking my soldiers?"

  Ji Ling was filled with anger, regardless of Bao Hong being Yuan Shu's ally. Moreover, Yuan Shu came from the prestigious Yuan family, which had produced three high-ranking officials in four generations. The current Minister of Works, Yuan Huan, was the head of the Yuan family and held a prominent position as a pillar of the imperial court. At that time, the Yuan family was at the height of its power. A minor official like Xi Yuan's eight school lieutenants couldn't even enter Yuan Shu's line of sight. It was only because Yuan Shu needed to use Bao Hong as a pretext to attack Ru Nan that he formed an alliance with him.

  At this time, Ji Ling was unhappy in her heart and didn't want to bother with Bao Hong anymore.

  He kept a straight face, his eyes gleaming like electricity, staring at Bao Hong, waiting for him to speak.

  Bao Hong was furious in his heart, after all, he was also the commander-in-chief of this alliance army, and Ji Ling was so rude to him. However, thinking that Yuan Shu's power was great, he also had the idea of following Yuan Shu, so he suppressed the anger in his heart, put on a gentle smile on his face, walked up to Ji Ling, and said with a smile: "General Ji, it's just a group of small thieves. There are patrolling soldiers inside the camp and there is a barrier outside to protect us. These bandits can't even get into the camp. Why bother getting angry at them? The army will rush to Runan City tomorrow, so let's rest early and take care of our spirits, and we'll be in good shape to attack Runan City tomorrow."

  Ji Ling let out a cold hum, but didn't say anything else.

  Ji Ling could be a great general, and he wasn't incompetent. He was just hot-headed and prone to outbursts of anger. After listening to Bao Hong's words, he came to his senses and realized that sending troops out at this time would be unwise, especially at night when they could easily fall into an ambush. Ji Ling's face turned pale and then red again as the anger in his heart gradually subsided. He waved his hand irritably and said, "Forget it, forget it! I'm going back to bed. Damn these little thieves! If I catch them, I'll skin them alive!"

  After finishing speaking, Ji Ling picked up the three-pointed two-edged knife inserted into the ground and returned to the military camp.

  Bao Hong finally let out a sigh of relief, wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead, and felt a wave of dizziness in his heart.

  Ji Ling's killing intent was too strong, and when Bao Hong faced him directly, he only felt a chill on his back, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, fearing that Ji Ling would suddenly become enraged and grab the three-pointed two-edged knife on the ground to chop at him. Fortunately, this barbarian was still somewhat reasonable and actually went back to sleep. He turned around and said to Wang Yue: "Wang Commander, let your soldiers go rest, you don't need to worry about the mountain bandits outside the military camp, just let them be, as long as they don't attack the camp it's fine."

  Wang Yuedao said: "Yes, I will follow orders."

  Bao Hong nodded and also turned back to the camp to sleep, he didn't get a good rest either, yawning continuously, had been wanting to return to the camp to sleep for a long time. In just one moment, the soldiers who had just put on their clothes and gathered in the military camp returned to the camp again, took off their armor, placed their weapons aside, and continued sleeping.

  Wang Can hid in the mountains and forests, a cold laugh, without sending troops would be over, hum, the good show is still behind.

  He gave an order, saying: "Pei Yuanshao, you lead twenty soldiers under your command, armed with bows and arrows, rags, and oil, to ambush behind the government army camp. When a big fire breaks out in front of the camp, you immediately let your soldiers shoot fire arrows at the rear of the camp. The fire arrows must be scattered and not concentrated together, so as to create an illusion that we have many people, but also cannot waste bows and arrows, these are all precious supplies transported from Xuchang."

  Pei Yuanshao said in a low voice: "Yes!"

  After finishing speaking, Pei Yuanshao waved his hand and the more than 20 soldiers under him took out their bows and arrows, holding bundles of cloth and oil behind Pei Yuanshao.

  After the deployment of Pei Yuanshao's men was completed, Wang Can ordered: "Zhou Cang, you also take twenty soldiers to ambush on the right side of the military camp. When the fire starts in front of the military camp, let your soldiers shoot fire arrows into the right side of the military camp, just like Pei Yuanshao, and make sure to create a false impression that we have many people, no mistakes are allowed!"

  "Right!" replied Zhou Cang, and then beckoned to the twenty soldiers who had already been assigned to stand behind him.

  "Liu Cheng, you lead twenty soldiers to ambush on the left side of the camp. Request that it be the same as Pei Yuanshao and Zhou Cang. After the fire starts in front, give the order to launch the fire arrows and make it seem like we have many people!"

  "Yes!" Liu Cheng excitedly replied, he was finally reused by Wang Can. With a smile, he beckoned the twenty assigned soldiers to stand aside and wait for Wang Can's final order.

  After Wang Can finished giving orders, he said: "The remaining soldiers follow me and fire the signal at the front of the military camp."

  He paused, then said: "Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao, Liu Cheng, you three shoot out fire arrows, wait for the fire to be huge, and then immediately retreat, come here to meet with me, and then wait for the final command.

  "Yes!" The three replied in unison.

  "Alright, go ahead, be careful!" Wang Can waved his hand and said.