NFBE Chapter 211 Completed
Chapter 211 Completed
Qi Shang concealed himself among the caravan, discreetly observing the breathtakingly precipitous pass ahead.
No wonder Anguo, a small country with a small population, was able to survive in the chaos of the world. The mountain roads were difficult to travel, and large siege weapons such as siege ladders could not be used. Building them on the spot would lose the significance of a surprise attack, and sacrificing lives would cost at least a hundred or eighty times more.
Sensing the scrutinizing gaze, Qi Shang quickly lowered his eyelids, appearing as an ordinary guard.
The Anguo garrison soldiers stationed at Panshi Pass looked solemn and vigilantly checked every person passing through.
Tao You led the merchant caravan, which had infiltrated the elite Chixiao Army, and calmly accepted the routine inspection. He didn't seem to care about the soldiers' rude behavior of occasionally using their spears to lift the tarpaulins of the carriages to check the goods.
The goods they transported were not problematic, and the weapons were just ordinary knives, guns, and clubs, which were not considered outrageous for a family like theirs.
As expected, the garrison found nothing amiss and let them pass. The carriage continued its orderly journey, the cargo inside swaying slightly with the wheels, making a soft sound that masked the pounding heartbeat beneath Tao You's calm exterior.
Meanwhile, Tao You, who was secretly relieved, did not notice that on the city wall, Yue Jiang, the garrison commander of Panshi Pass, was scrutinizing the caravan below with sharp eyes.
"Strange, why didn't Tao Qilang come back with him?"
Hearing Yuejiang mutter to himself, the deputy general replied, "Perhaps the Tao family has other plans. Those aristocratic families are full of intrigue and deceit."
The deputy general's words made sense. Tao Yang could have many reasons for staying in Xuan State. Even if he went to question him personally, he would probably only get perfunctory answers. Because of Tao's reputation, he couldn't press him too much.
But apart from Tao Yang's absence, Yuejiang still vaguely felt that there was something strange about the returning caravan, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
As dusk fell and weary birds returned to their nests, in a secluded mountain valley a hundred miles away from Panshi Pass, Shen Qing received a report from a scout.
"understood."
With Tao You leading the team, it wouldn't be difficult for the Chixiao elites to infiltrate Panshi Pass, so Shen Qing wasn't too worried about it. Now that they had received clear information, it was time to prepare to move on to the next step of the plan.
The conditions were simple. After dismissing the soldiers, Shen Qing sat down on the ground, spread out a diagram, and let the branches twirl around his fingertips.
He figured that Tao You was probably making an excuse that it was getting late and decided to stay overnight at the border post station. Then he would create some minor accidents, leaving Qi Shang and dozens of elite soldiers stranded at Panshi Pass so that they could coordinate an attack from the inside and outside, while he continued to lead the caravan to Andu.
The tip of the branch slid along the lines and stopped at the next city—Chishan City.
According to the plan, after receiving the signal, they would launch a surprise attack from within and without to capture Panshi Pass, and then take Chishan City in the same manner. With their victory, they would intimidate Xuanwu City. The best outcome would be for Tao You to use his position to persuade the local prefect Zhan Hui to defect. After that, it would be a real hard battle with no room for trickery.
Shen Qing certainly hoped for a way to directly access Andu by copying and pasting, which would save time and effort, but she also knew that this was unrealistic.
Firstly, communication methods were backward, and the elite Chixiao troops who ventured deeper into the heartland would lose contact. Unlike the convenient technology of later generations, where one can reply to work group messages no matter where they are.
Secondly, we can't rely on the fact that our opponents are all blockheads, just standing there waiting for them to unleash their attacks, can we?
"General, it's time to eat. Don't overexert yourself."
Shen Qing continued her research while munching on the multigrain pancakes that Hei Zi handed her. She couldn't afford to be careless; this was a fierce attack without any support, and they had to push through to Andu in one fell swoop.
In order to quickly establish his prestige as commander of the three armies and to ensure the sustainable development of Anguo's mines and seaports, he could launch a smear campaign against Anguo. However, once the war became protracted, the Xuanguo rulers believed that the military and financial resources spent on attacking such a small place would not be worthwhile, and he would definitely be ordered to stop. The excuse that "a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders" could not be used again.
As Shen Qing was pondering, her heart skipped a beat as she sensed pressure from above. She leaned back tactically and raised her hand to block.
"Snapped--"
A white mixture of solid and liquid splattered on the grain cake.
Shen Qing looked up at the sky, then at the pancake in her hand.
What's going on? Ever since he came out of quarantine, he's been getting incredibly lucky?
Seeing Shen Qing's strange expression, Hei Zi assumed that his young lady had finally learned to cherish food after experiencing military life and was no longer the noble lady who had to sift wheat flour five times.
Forget it, if I can't figure it out, I might as well stop thinking about it. Shen Qing casually handed the multigrain cake to Hei Zi, while giving him a look: Take this to feed the horse.
Hei Zi nodded in understanding, reached out and peeled off a layer of skin, then took a big bite.
"..."
Shen Qing's face twitched slightly, and she opened her mouth as if to say something but then stopped herself.
Hei Zi munched on the cake with a satisfied look on his face. The young lady wanted to share the hardships with the army and had never asked for special treatment in terms of food since entering the camp. But Wen Ying felt sorry for her and still added icing sugar to the cake. Sugar, oh, what a precious thing!
"General... what's wrong?" Hei Zi asked, chewing on his dry rations, seeing his lady's distressed expression.
“It’s nothing,” Shen Qing waved his hand and sighed, “I just remembered that before the expedition you volunteered to follow the caravan into An, but I rejected you at the time.”
Hei Zi was taken aback. Was the girl regretting it? He had said that, based on his tacit understanding with the girl on so many occasions, he was the best candidate to be the inside man for An Dang!
Shen Qing stood up and patted Hei Zi on the shoulder, "It seems you should stay by my side and gain experience points for now."
Kuroko: ? ? ?
Night fell quietly amidst sighs of reflection. Torches lit up the city walls of Pingxiang County in Yanzhou, Qi State, hundreds of miles away, reflecting the weary faces of soldiers who had endured the baptism of blood and fire.
Lu Shang, looking disheveled and no longer the dashing scholar he once was, surveyed the area and, after confirming that the Qi Kingdom's army had temporarily retreated, found a corner and sat down against the wall without any regard for his image.
After the initial swift capture of Cangzhou, before Qidu could react, Wen Yan's strategy led to the capture of two more prefectures and six counties. However, this unstoppable offensive came to an end. The Duke of Qi regained military power in a time of crisis and recaptured one prefecture and six counties within five days, transforming the course of the war.
Jingjun retreated to Pingxiang County, and the war was deadlocked for more than half a month. Victory and defeat are common in war. What bothered Lu Shang was that at this critical moment, news came that the king might issue an edict ordering him to abandon Yanzhou and retreat to Cangzhou. Was this a joke?
"My lord, Prime Minister Du is a shrewd and experienced strategist," his advisor Lü Jian advised. "An overly rapid offensive without a solid foundation makes it easy for local forces to launch a counterattack. Isn't that how Jiaozhou was lost?"
Seeing Lu Shang frown and remain silent, Lü Jian pressed on, "Pingxiang is easy to attack but difficult to defend. It would be better to retreat to Cangzhou and devise a plan later..."
Lu Shang raised his hand to interrupt Lü Jian's speech, "The best defense is offense. If Pingxiang is difficult to defend, then we'll attack Jingyang!"
"But sir, without Prime Minister Du's support, our logistics are inadequate!"
An army's supplies must come before it can move. Logistics are the lifeblood of an expeditionary force. After a moment of contemplation, Lu Shang instructed, "Ze Xiu, prepare pen and ink."
"Is Your Excellency going to submit a memorial? I'm afraid it will be in vain..."
"No, it's a letter to Jin Yi,"
"I'm afraid even Minister Wen can't defy Prime Minister Du?"
“He tricked me into living a life of hardship here, but I can’t let him have too much of a comfortable life in Kyungdu.”