Nine out of ten gamblers lose; I've run into a jerk!

Chapter 217 The Multitalented General Shen

Shen Qing led his troops on a rapid march, still following the original route to hide outside Chishan City, and sent out scouts to gather information.

"General," the returning scout reported, "the four gates of Chishan City are sealed off, and no one may enter or leave."

"It seems that Chishan City has indeed received the news."

Chishan City is located behind Panshi Pass, and it was impossible for Yuejiang not to send someone to deliver the message. Although Shen Qing had anticipated the outcome, he still felt very regretful.

What a pity! It's such a shame.

"General, so what if Chishan City is prepared? Our Sky Lantern Squad will be invincible!"

The newly appointed centurion Zhang Yong said that his soldiers were also eager to try, wishing they could set up baskets, start fires, and fly into the sky right now. The sweetness of the successful surprise attack had obviously made them complacent.

If you take a chance, you can become a centurion! Even if you miss the first opportunity to buy a horse's bones for a thousand gold pieces, and the value of your merit is greatly reduced, it shouldn't be too much to ask for a squad leader instead, right?

In their view, the survival rate of landing a sky lantern safely is much higher than climbing the city wall. As for the risk of death, it is not a big deal. Soldiers are promoted based on their survival rate!

Having experienced it firsthand, Zhang Yong felt that the plan was flawless. He had always heard stories of miraculous troops descending from the sky, and now he had witnessed it firsthand, becoming one of the legendary heroes.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qing frowned, sensing something was amiss. It wasn't for any other reason than that his subordinates were becoming far too arrogant. As the saying goes, pride comes before a fall, and opening champagne halfway through can easily lead to a harsh reality check.

"Set up camp and hold back for now."

Shen Qing's prestige is rising daily after his first victory, and now his orders need no further explanation; his subordinates will carry them out.

"Follow the order."

After the officers of all ranks dispersed, Shen Qing pondered to himself. There was another reason why he was not in a hurry to use the hot air balloon attack method to attack the city.

According to the original plan, Tao You should be on his way to Xuanwu City at this moment, and have left a group of people in Chishan City under some pretext.

It's unclear whether Biaozi and his men's actions at Panshi Pass were discovered, or whether the messenger reported it. If so, the people stranded in Chishan City are in grave danger.

Without inside support, the effectiveness of hot air balloon operations would be greatly reduced. Poor communication is a real problem; he was completely unaware of the situation inside the city at the moment.

Frustrated, Shen Qing scratched her head. She still needed to find a way to get information.

While Shen Qing was anxiously waiting in the dark, Song Heng, just one city away, was extremely busy mobilizing all available manpower and resources to deal with the impending war.

"Jiang Wu, evacuate the people in batches, avoid gathering in crowds, and try to stay in open areas. Get tents from the treasury. Fortunately, the weather is not too cold now, so sleeping outside won't be too difficult."

"promise!"

"Shi Kai, tell me more about the details of that sky lantern, find its weaknesses, and we can take precautions."

Thinking of the tragic events of that night, Shi Kai felt a bitter taste in his mouth. "The sky lanterns flew too high, arrows couldn't shoot them down, and ballistae were difficult to aim at. Unless Yi the Archer were reborn, we could only bring them down."

"If we're talking about weaknesses..." Shi Kai recalled carefully, "it should be due to the influence of wind direction."

After hearing this, Song Heng stroked his beard thoughtfully.

The next day, Lu's army saw more than a dozen sky lanterns slowly rise in Chishan City like the rising sun, hovering above the city and swaying slightly.

Shen Qing looked through his homemade telescope and, sure enough, there was a long rope hanging from the bottom.

The crowd remained silent for a long time as they watched this scene. After a while, the first soldier uttered a curse, and the rest of the soldiers began to commit verbal offenses.

"Damn it! They're copying us!"

"How shameless!"

…………

Shen Qing was speechless as she listened to the insults. These days, there's no such thing as intellectual property rights or patents. When it comes to life and death, no one will be polite to you.

He just didn't expect the other party to come up with a solution so quickly. Most people would have been terrified and lost their composure in the face of such an unconventional and sudden event. It has to be said that the person in charge of Chishan City was incredibly calm.

Now that's great! At the same altitude, all they need to do is put arrows on the enemy's hot air balloons. If any enemy hot air balloons get close, they can be shot down in no time!

"The ancients were so clever," Shen Qing exclaimed for the nth time. He had hardly encountered any fools since he transmigrated.

The Sky Lantern Preparation Team was quite dejected. They had thought they could rely on one trick to succeed, but it only lasted a day before it became outdated.

"What's the panic!" Zhang Yong scolded. "General Shen must have a brilliant plan!"

Seeing Shen Qingyun's calm and composed demeanor, everyone's confidence was immediately rekindled.

At this moment, Shen Qing stood against the wind, listening to the flattering comments of the crowd, thinking to himself, "Bullshit, what brilliant plan could General Shen, who is leading troops into battle for the first time, possibly have?"

"Disperse, this general has his own plans."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong was overjoyed, exclaiming, "General, your wisdom and strategy are truly unparalleled and unfathomable!"

Ha! The unparalleled General Shen only knew the next step of the plan a fraction of a second earlier than you.

When they reached a secluded spot, Shen Qing punched a tree trunk, causing the leaves to fall in a rustling sound.

'9527, come out!'

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Chishan City Prison —

Qi Shang leaned against the corner of the wall, sunlight streaming through the skylight onto his face. He unconsciously clutched at the straw, his mind filled with worry. He had volunteered to accompany the caravan, yet he had caused such a huge mistake. If this caused him to miss a crucial opportunity in battle, he would truly be guilty of a thousand deaths.

Just then, I suddenly felt a shadow appear in front of me. I looked up and saw that a bird had landed on the skylight and blocked the light.

"Ah, if only pigeons could carry my messages..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the unremarkable gray tit landed in front of him and raised its claws.

Qi Shang was surprised to find a small bamboo tube tied to the mountain sparrow's claw. He quickly untied it and checked it. Sure enough, it was General Shen's notebook!

He immediately tore off a corner from his inner garment, bit his finger to briefly explain the current situation, and then tied the strip of cloth back to the bird's claw.

"It's truly a blessing from heaven!"

The titmouse rolled its eyes, flapped its wings, and took flight. It wasn't that the heavens were watching out for it; it had been discovered that it had controlled the bird to poop on Shen Qing's head. Sigh… this host is damnably perceptive!

The conscripted soldier 9527 resignedly flapped his wings and flew back to the Lu family army's encampment.

Shen Qing took off the strip of cloth and glanced at it briefly. Qi Shang hadn't actually left Chishan City. This Prefect Song was even smarter than he had imagined.

However, since Qi Shang and his group were neither tortured nor sacrificed, it seems that negotiation is not impossible. We need to find a way to break through their psychological defenses...

[By the way, how did you find out that it was me controlling the bird?] 9527 was very puzzled; it didn't make sense.

Shen Qing rolled her eyes. "With your IQ, you're basically doomed to never do anything bad."

【! ! ! 】

Shen Qing twirled the strip of cloth. In fact, 9527 was enough to investigate the caravan's situation. The main purpose of this strip of cloth was to tell the entire Lu family army that their multi-talented General Shen had gained another skill: training birds.

One use of able-bodied men is hardly enough!