With eight hundred soldiers, they captured the city and killed its ruler

Ren Tianye's mind was a little dazed.

Even though he had experienced such things many times, every time he saw it, he still found it unbelievable.

He felt that coming to this female-oriented novel world was like a normal person entering a mental asylum!

Forget it, let's not insult mental patients.

Putting down the letter, he looked up and said: "This general has agreed to Zhang Liang's request. If he is willing to be my inside man, after the matter is accomplished, I will certainly not treat him poorly."

After discussing the agreed signals and deployment with the messenger, Ren Tianye had Wang Ming escort him out.

He, however, was deep in thought.

Zhang Liang seemed to be genuinely surrendering; otherwise, the signal for the joint attack would not be so precise, and the information provided about Sifang City would not be so clear.

However, Ren Tianye did not let his guard down.

After all, the opponent was Ye Fan, who had the aura of a protagonist.

He always felt that Ye Fan's way of thinking was ungrounded, floating in the air, and full of assumptions. He shouldn't have cared, but there were always some wild and unexpected methods that could cause people to suffer great losses.

He worried that this was Ye Fan's stratagem.

Sending Zhang Liang to feign surrender to lure him into a trap!

Therefore, he had to be thoroughly prepared.

"Report!"

The messenger sent by Zhang Liang had barely left when another messenger rushed in: "Great General, someone else has come to defect!"

"He claims to be the Grain and Forage Transport Commissioner of Sifang City!"

"Someone else?" Ren Tianye was astonished. His army hadn't even camped in front of Sifang City yet, and this was already the third wave?!

"Bring him in."

Soon, a pale, limping middle-aged man walked in. Seeing Ren Tianye, he immediately bowed: "Great General, this lowly one is Zhu Gui, the Grain and Forage Transport Commissioner of Sifang City, and I am willing to serve the Great General."

Saying this, the Grain and Forage Transport Commissioner Zhu Gui recounted his experiences in Sifang City, his face full of sorrow: "The people of the Li family in Sifang City do not treat us as human beings, so there is no need for me to be loyal to them."

"Today, I surrender to the Great General, and I am willing to offer all the grain and forage in Sifang City."

With that, he presented the storage map of the grain and forage in Sifang City that he carried with him. Ren Tianye took it and was shocked.

Damn it, so much grain!

Where did Sifang City get it from?

Or could it be Ye Fan's void productivity?

He said: "I accept this map, and I will record a great merit for you. However, you must now return to Sifang City and guard my grain and forage."

"When I enter the city, you must coordinate with me from the inside. At the very least, you must absolutely not provide any grain to the soldiers of Sifang City."

"Yes!"

Zhu Gui, the Grain and Forage Transport Commissioner, was overjoyed. After agreeing, he turned and left.

Watching his back, Ren Tianye was still deep in thought. This Grain and Forage Transport Commissioner Zhu Gui had the same experience as the deputy general Zhang Liang, which was why he defected.

Both were of great use to him, and could even be the key factors deciding the outcome of this battle.

The problem was...

Were they genuinely defecting?

Or was it Ye Fan's tactic to lure the enemy?

He had to think it over carefully!

Soon, the army marched forward, continuing to approach Sifang City. Three miles outside Sifang City, they set up camp, made preparations, and planned the siege.

Night fell, and the sky grew dark.

A messenger ran in: "Great, Great General, someone else has come to defect!"

"Someone else?"

Ren Tianye was dumbfounded. This was truly extraordinary. He wasn't the chosen one of destiny; he was just attacking Sifang City, so how could so many people come to defect?

He told the messenger to bring the person in.

It was a man dressed in fine clothes and wearing a felt hat, looking like a shopkeeper: "Great General, this lowly one is the owner of a grain shop in Sifang City, and I have come specifically to serve the Great General."

"Oh? Why have you come to me?"

"Great General, the Third Young Master of the Li family, Li Jiren, abruptly stopped the efforts to prevent the plague from spreading, saying he had to go pick up some Miss Su Xiu. This caused the plague to go out of control, and people have already started getting infected."

"Great General, if we don't surrender to you now, we will all become dry bones in Sifang City."

Third Young Master of the Li family, Li Jiren?

Stopped lighting the fires just to pick up his sister Su Xiu?

Ren Tianye was speechless.

What kind of monsters and demons were the Li family?!

Su Xiu was just a bit pretty, was it worth making such a huge fuss and disregarding everything else?!

"Great General, this lowly one has lived in Sifang City for a long time and can provide a map of all the alleys in the city."

"Good, draw it out!"

Just as he arranged for the grain shop owner, the messenger rushed in again.

And it wasn't just one, it was one after another.

"Great General, someone else has defected."

"Great General, someone else has defected."

"Great General, someone else has defected."

"Great General, someone else has defected!"

...

The messengers were incredibly busy.

One defector after another entered the tent.

They were all citizens of Sifang City: commoners, artisans, merchants, and military households. They all came for the same basic reason—the impending spread of the plague. If they didn't defect, Sifang City would become a dead city, and they wouldn't survive either.

The information they provided was also highly varied.

"Great General, this lowly one can provide the shift change times for the city defense..."

"Great General, this lowly one can provide the distribution of water wells in the city..."

"Great General, this lowly one knows the residential courtyards of the defenders' families..."

"Great General, this lowly one can provide the secret paths used by the defenders to transmit military intelligence..."

"Great General, this lowly one knows the residence of the prostitute who is the lover of Ye Tiancheng, the City Lord of Yunji City."

...

Listening to the increasingly clear information coming in one after another, Ren Tianye simply handed the task of organizing it to someone else.

His tightly furrowed brows completely relaxed.

Ye Fan could have Deputy General Zhang Liang and Grain and Forage Transport Commissioner Zhu Gui feign defection, but it was absolutely impossible for him to get so many poor commoners and merchants to defect. Therefore...

There was only one truth!

Sifang City had lost the hearts of the people!

And they had lost it to an absurd degree.

In that case, the information provided by Deputy General Zhang Liang was accurate.

Out of the twenty thousand soldiers in Sifang City, ten thousand had genuinely defected to him. As for the remaining ten thousand, Zhang Liang was already inciting them. Even if it didn't have a great effect, it couldn't get any worse.

The Grain and Forage Transport Commissioner's information was also accurate.

In other words, before he even entered Sifang City, the grain and forage inside already belonged to him.

Counting it all up, he had a massive amount of grain, twenty thousand soldiers in his hands, at least ten thousand insiders within Sifang City, the defense maps of Sifang City, the street maps, and even information about City Lord Ye Tiancheng's concubine.

In this battle, he couldn't think of a single reason why he would lose!

"Just like Zhan Shubai defending Yunji City!"

"When things draw near, you always find that the difficulty is far lower than imagined!"

Thinking this way, Ren Tianye commenced the military council.

He said: "Sifang City is right before our eyes. Who is willing to be my vanguard?"

Zhang Shi knelt on one knee without hesitation: "Great General, this subordinate is willing to go. I will definitely take Sifang City within one day!"

Deputy General Wang Ming hesitated for a moment, then also knelt on one knee: "Great General, this subordinate is willing to go. I will definitely take Sifang City within half a day!"

Su Jin, who was a clerk, was also in the tent. At this moment, she wanted to put on armor and go to battle, but she knew that Great General Ren Tianye could not possibly let her lead troops. She could only follow Deputy General Wang Ming to reap some benefits.

Summoning her courage, she said, "Great General, I am willing to assist General Wang Ming in capturing Sifang City."

Ren Tianye glanced at her and said coldly, "Step down."

"Yes, yes, Great General!"

"Are both of you willing to go?"

"Yes, Great General." Seeing someone competing with him, Zhang Shi said without hesitation, "Give me ten thousand troops, and within two hours, I will conquer the city and kill its lord!"

Wang Ming also said loudly, "Great General, give me eight thousand troops, and within one hour, I will conquer the city and kill its lord!"

Zhang Shi stood up: "Great General, give me five thousand troops, and within half an hour, I will conquer the city and kill its lord!"

Wang Ming refused to show weakness: "Great General, give me three thousand troops, and within half an hour, I will conquer the city and kill its lord!"

Zhang Shi: "Great General, I only need one thousand troops."

Wang Ming: "Great General, I only need eight hundred men!"

...