Chapter 905: A Blade Shatters the City Walls

After Zhang He and Gao Lan stayed behind to cover the retreat, they broke through Liu Bei’s encirclement by heading west. These two formidable warriors successfully escaped because Liu Bei and his forces were more focused on taking out Yuan Shao rather than dealing with internal energy experts like them. Killing Yuan Shao held far greater significance than dealing with internal energy masters, which allowed the two to escape.

Once they broke free from the battlefield, Zhang He and Gao Lan rallied nearly a thousand scattered troops under their command. Without daring to delay, they quickly decided to head for Ye City. They felt it was crucial to deliver the news of the disastrous defeat in Yanzhou to the rear so that proper preparations could be made to prevent Liu Bei from exploiting the situation.

However, neither Zhang He nor Gao Lan could have imagined that by the time they reached Ye City, the highest authority had already shifted to Cui Jun, a figure nurtured by Guo Jia and instructed to act as he saw fit.

Cui Jun had already gained considerable trust from Yuan Shao, so when Jiang Yiqu left Ye City, he entrusted the military authority of the rear guard to Cui Jun.

Once Jiang Yiqu left, Cui Jun quickly consolidated his control over Ye City and, using its resources, extended his control over all of Wei Commandery. He fortified defenses under the pretense of protecting against Liu Bei, rapidly constructing a defensive system.

This system was indeed perfect. As its core, Ye City bolstered its military presence. After completing all of this, even the generals who had initially doubted Cui Jun’s capabilities were now convinced of his reliability.

No one suspected that Cui Jun could be a traitor. His actions had significantly strengthened the defenses of Wei Commandery, and though Ye City itself had some vulnerabilities, it was heavily defended by numerous soldiers. In the short term, the city was virtually impossible to take.

In this situation, Zhang He and Gao Lan returned to Ye City. Upon hearing of the disastrous events in Yanzhou, the city was placed under high alert. With the presence of two renowned generals like Zhang He and Gao Lan, any dissenting thoughts from Cui Yan were temporarily put on hold as he awaited the right moment to act.

Not long after Zhang He and Gao Lan arrived, Liu Bei’s army also reached Ye City. By this time, Cui Yan had already learned of Yuan Shao’s death and the fact that Yuan Tan had retreated north. This meant that Ye City was now essentially without reinforcements.

Cui Jun, however, chose not to disclose this information to anyone. Even though Liu Bei’s forces had arrived at Ye City, they were relatively small in number. With Zhang He and Gao Lan commanding the defense, and tens of thousands of elite soldiers inside, taking the city seemed a daunting task.

As Cui Jun pondered how best to handle the situation, he received a message from Guo Jia’s messenger hawk, instructing him not to reveal his true intentions but instead to strengthen the city’s defenses. Along with the message, Guo Jia sent a formation diagram that significantly enhanced the utilization of the city's protective cloud energy.

Using the diagram, Cui Jun set up an impressive cloud energy formation around Ye City. The moment the dense cloud appeared, the city’s defenders were filled with overwhelming confidence and joy.

In short, the more they understood Cui Jun, the more trustworthy they found him. With two powerful generals leading the defense, an abundance of soldiers and supplies, and the belief that they were far from defeat, the defenders of Ye City felt no pressure to hold out for a year or more.

Then, something happened that shattered everyone’s expectations — something akin to divine intervention. Guan Yu, with a single strike, obliterated Ye City’s mighty walls, which were considered some of the strongest in the land. Liu Bei’s forces poured in, and before anyone in Yuan Shao’s army could react, they were routed.

Zhang He and Gao Lan were also swept up in the retreat. The moment Ye City’s walls crumbled under Guan Yu’s blade, the two generals were left with a deep psychological scar. Unless they could overcome this trauma, they would never be able to advance further in their martial paths.

This was Ye City — a city with walls tens of meters high, defended by tens of thousands of elite troops and 300,000 civilians. It was not some minor town like Le Ling, with no capable generals and only three-meter-high walls.

“In the end, they chose to do this,” Chen Xi said with a sigh as he watched Liu Bei’s army surge through the breach in Ye City’s walls.

The formation diagram that Guo Jia had sent earlier was intended for this moment. The formation could indeed enhance the city’s cloud energy defenses, but there was one spot where the cloud energy appeared thick but was actually extremely thin — a deliberate flaw left in the formation. Sometimes, they needed to create a legend.

With a single radiant strike, Guan Yu sliced through the cloud energy and shattered the city walls. This display of what seemed like divine power was enough to break the morale of Yuan Shao’s troops.

In cold-weapon warfare, morale was often more important than numbers or quality. In the blink of an eye, Yuan Shao’s once-confident troops crumbled under Guan Yu’s strike. When the gods themselves took the field, mortal combat became a farce.

This was exactly how Yuan Shao’s troops felt. When Guan Yu’s colossal blade effortlessly tore down the towering walls of Ye City, the entire army fell into despair. Despite Liu Bei’s forces being at less than half their normal fighting capacity, they easily routed an army many times their size.

This was a clear demonstration of how emotional human beings are. After Guan Yu’s single strike, every soldier who looked at him was filled with fervent admiration. Even though their strength had been reduced by more than half, their fighting spirit surged beyond its peak.

At the same time, it seemed as though Guan Yu’s martial prowess had evolved. His aura, which had spread to its limit, now gained an even deeper glow surrounding him. Every saber-wielding soldier in his army had entered a state of fervor.

However, after delivering that devastating strike, Guan Yu’s energy had nearly been exhausted. Yet according to Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong, Guan Yu now resembled a volcano covered in ash, quietly building up for another explosive eruption. Indeed, Guan Yu had successfully embarked on his own path following that single strike.

“This was the plan all along, wasn’t it? After all, an opportunity like this only comes once. With the protection of the cloud energy, it's nearly impossible to pull off without leaving it to us to create a legend,” Guo Jia said with a smile.

“This battle will undoubtedly shock the world,” Jia Xu said with a sigh. “However, this victory will ensure that our army’s morale remains at an exceptionally high level for a long time. As for General Guan, he will likely gain many profound insights from this.”

“The whole point of this maneuver was to boost our army’s morale. Otherwise, why bother attacking Ye City?” Lu Su rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying, we might as well leave the walls as they are. No point rebuilding them.”

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