Chapter 231 A Plan to Turn the Tide
Zhou Qing was stunned with anger upon hearing Wu Gui's words!
He never expected that the Grand Marshal of the Border, the highest commander in charge of border defense affairs, would say such a thing!
It seems that the traitor and spy Zhao Hu mentioned earlier must be Wu Gui!
Zhou Qing could no longer contain herself. She suddenly raised her voice and shouted, "Wu Gui! You traitorous dog! Stop spreading these lies! As the Grand Marshal, instead of ensuring logistics and boosting morale, you're just being a lackey of the Manchus, inciting unrest here!"
Wu Gui sneered, turned to Zhou Qing, and said, "General Zhou, I must admit you are indeed quite capable! Under the powerful military force of the Man Kingdom and the suppression of the Demon Legion, you were still able to firmly defend Steel City and even wrest military power from my hands!"
"But is this really for the brothers' good? You're just doing it for your own selfish desires!"
Then, Wu Gui looked at the generals below and said loudly, "Do you really think that General Zhou, whom you admire so much, is a good person? Let me tell you, he's not even human!"
"He led you here, fighting to the death, shedding blood and sweat. It was us human cultivators who died, while he protected these demons!"
Zhou Qing's face grew paler and paler; her already fair skin was now as white as paper.
The soldiers below exchanged glances, their eyes filled with hesitation and confusion.
At this moment, Zhao Hu was the first to react. He leaped up and pointed at Wu Gui, shouting, "You traitor Wu Gui! After saying all that, you're just trying to become a traitor, spreading rumors and misleading the public! You must have taken benefits from the Great Manchu Kingdom and the Prime Minister's Mansion. Such a traitor deserves to be killed by everyone!"
As Zhao Hu spoke, he moved swiftly and charged straight at Wu Gui!
The next moment, Wu Gui's four personal guards rushed forward and launched several attacks in an instant, sending Zhao Hu flying!
Zhao Hu coughed up a mouthful of blood and pointed at Wu Gui, saying, "Your guards are all cultivators from the Manchu Kingdom! You...you have indeed betrayed the Ming Dynasty!"
Seeing that his plan had been exposed, Wu Gui burst into laughter and said, "In short, those who listen to my advice today will be guaranteed wealth and honor; those who dare to be stubborn and resist will face certain death! Now, who dares to defy me?"
Just then, a figure appeared in front of Wu Gui in an instant!
The next moment, a flash of sword light, and Wu Gui's head shot into the sky, finally landing on the wine table, his eyes still open in death!
The murderer was Chen Yang!
With a flick of his hand, five black-armored puppet soldiers flew into the ranks of the Manchu guards!
Chen Yang and five black-armored soldiers immediately rushed into the crowd, tactically weaving and flashing back and forth, dividing the hundred guards into scattered pieces, preventing them from forming an effective army to attack!
At this moment, Zhou Qing finally reacted and shouted, "What are you all standing there for? Are you just going to watch Chen Yang take all the credit?"
The generals at the banquet also came to their senses and rushed forward.
With the arrival of Zhou Qing and others, the Manchu cultivators protecting Wu Gui were quickly wiped out!
Zhou Qing, without a moment to reflect, immediately ordered the soldiers below, "Everyone, immediately end the victory celebration and return to your posts!"
"Zhao Hu, Yang Cheng, each of you take 30,000 troops and follow me out of the city to guard the outer perimeter of the Great Wall of Steel. We absolutely cannot allow the Manchu cultivators to cross it! Also, immediately send formation masters underground to repair the Great Wall of Steel's formation!"
As soon as Zhou Qing finished speaking, she saw a subordinate rush in.
He was stunned by the scene at the banquet hall, then quickly said to Zhou Qing, "General Zhou, something terrible has happened! Our Great Wall of Steel formation has been destroyed, and all the formation masters guarding it have been killed. The formation cannot be activated now!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than another subordinate rushed in, shouting, "General Zhou, cultivators from all over the country are gathering, seemingly preparing for a major attack! Why hasn't the Great Wall of Steel formation been activated yet?"
Zhou Qing gritted her teeth, waved her hand, and said, "Brothers, the formation can't be repaired in a short time, but that's no reason for us to back down! The defenders, hold your posts! The rest of you, follow me out of the city and fight a direct confrontation! Do everything in our power to protect the steel formation barrier!"
Chen Yang walked to Zhou Qing's side and said, "Where is that formation? Let me go take a look."
Zhou Qing turned her head and looked at Chen Yang with an urgent expression: "Chen Yang, do you understand formations?"
Chen Yang nodded: "I know a little bit, no, to be precise, I know a lot."
Overwhelmed with excitement, Zhou Qing grabbed Chen Yang's arm: "Really? Quick, come with me to the underground!"
He waved his hand, signaling his soldiers to prepare immediately, while he led Chen Yang to a diagonally downward entrance at the city gate.
After entering the entrance, there is a spiral staircase below. About ten meters underground, there is a row of complex array plates – this is the core control room of the Great Wall of Steel array!
The Great Wall of Steel is divided into above-ground and underground sections.
The above-ground portion resembles the Great Wall, consisting of approximately three-meter-high blue walls cast from various alloys.
The true core of the Great Wall of Steel formation is located more than ten meters underground.
The Great Wall of Steel formation had been damaged before, but fortunately Chen Yang and Liu Qingxia obtained some iron ore, which allowed them to repair the formation.
I never expected it to be destroyed again, and this time the destruction is even more thorough!
Moreover, previously only the surface of the formation on the ground was damaged, but this time, the core patterns of the formation were forcibly smashed, and it is impossible to repair without a top-notch formation master!
The entire Great Wall of Steel formation is enormous, covering an area equivalent to more than a hundred football fields. The damaged part is located at the center of the formation, which is clearly the core of the power output!
Zhou Qing quickly said, "Back then, it took more than twenty array masters from Zhaoming Academy five years to build this Great Wall of Steel array! Chen Yang, can you understand the principles of array formations in such a short time?"
Chen Yang glanced at it and nodded casually: "This formation is very simple, it's just a bit large in scale. Let me take a look."
After studying it for a moment, he understood and said to Zhou Qing, "It seems that after the Great Wall of Steel formation is activated, an energy barrier will appear. The barrier can only attack from one direction, and attacks from other directions will be completely blocked, right?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing looked at Chen Yang excitedly: "You can actually understand it!"
Chen Yang chuckled lightly, "Alright, I got it. I can repair this formation in three minutes."
Zhou Qing was so moved by these words that she almost cried!
At that moment, a subordinate rushed in and reported, "General Zhou, the enemy will reach the Great Wall of Steel in ten minutes!"
Zhou Qing breathed a sigh of relief: "That's enough! That's more than enough! Chen Yang can repair the formation in three minutes!"
Upon hearing this, the general collapsed to the ground with a thud, wiping the cold sweat from his brow, and wept with joy: "Good! That's wonderful! Waaah, we're saved!"
Chen Yang observed the Great Wall of Steel formation and then said, "Although this formation is simple, it is enormous and consumes a lot of spirit stones each time, so its power is astonishing. I can modify the formation slightly to allow it to unleash a fierce attack!"
"I suggest we set a trap: you lure the Manchu soldiers from above into within fifty meters of the Great Wall of Steel formation. Once they're inside, I'll activate the formation and unleash its attack, catching them completely off guard!"
Zhou Qing turned her head and looked at Chen Yang in astonishment: "Chen Yang, you can not only repair it, but also actively change the function of the formation?"
Chen Yang shrugged: "That's easy, the principles of formations are all the same."
Zhou Qing nodded excitedly, "Okay! That's great! You modify the formation, I'll go up and distract them, so the Manchu troops can head towards the Great Wall of Steel!"
After saying that, Zhou Qing turned around excitedly and left in a hurry.
Before long, bursts of smoke and fire erupted in the steel city, accompanied by cries and screams.
Then, a small squad of twenty men suddenly defected, leaving Steel City and heading towards Manchuria.
The leader of this defection squad was Zhao Hu.
Zhao Hu was seriously injured and his face was pale.
After entering the Manchu army camp with twenty men, he frantically recounted the chaos within the Iron City, saying that Wu Gui's and Zhou Qing's men were locked in combat, and the Iron Great Wall formation could not be activated. They were willing to surrender, hoping only to save their lives.
The generals of the entire country were so excited by my, Zhao Hu's, serious injuries and his words that they contorted their faces with excitement!
Although he had previously turned Wu Gui to the other side, he was finally relieved to hear the definite news.
The Manchu leader immediately ordered Zhao Hu to lead twenty men at the front, leading the army to quickly rush towards the Great Wall of Steel!
When the army arrived at a distance of about ten meters in front of the Great Wall of Steel formation, the twenty men suddenly stopped.
The Manchu generals were extremely cautious—they feared the Great Wall of Steel formation the most, because once the formation was activated, all their attacks would be blocked, while the attacks of the Ming soldiers behind the Great Wall of Steel would remain unaffected!
The Manchu generals became cautious and moved slowly, and all the troops gradually gathered outside the Great Wall of Steel.
He said to Zhao Hu, "You two go over the Great Wall of Steel first and see what's behind it!"
Zhao Hu was naturally eager to cross the Great Wall of Steel immediately.
Not long after, the Great Wall of Steel formation suddenly activated!
With a loud "whoosh," the steel Great Wall, spanning more than ten kilometers in radius, suddenly released a blue light, which transformed into countless wind blades that instantly rushed towards the Manchu army!
The energy was so immense that instantly, the surrounding world resounded with the roars of dragons and tigers, and endless cyan wind blades relentlessly sliced through the army of 100,000.
In a single exchange, tens of thousands of Manchu cavalry were slaughtered in an instant!
Tens of thousands more were seriously injured.
The next moment, Zhou Qing, Zhao Hu and others, leading tens of thousands of cultivators, suddenly scaled the steel Great Wall, and a series of attacks crashed down!
In an instant, the Manchu cavalry were thrown into chaos, and screams of fear spread through the ranks.
The cultivators in the rear of the country turned and fled, and in the blink of an eye, the attack turned into a massacre!