Jiuxi

Chapter 756 754 [One Step Slow]

Taikang City, Governor's Office.

Five days have passed since Lu Chen sent someone to deliver the war declaration, and Wu Yanshu has not given him a clear reply.

Qi Jing's army was still confronting each other in the Taikang area. Although the atmosphere was tense, no fierce conflict had broken out for the time being. There was not even a small-scale test. At most, it was a confrontation between the two armies' cavalry scouts.

Lu Chen and Wu Yanshu were like a pair of chess players facing each other across a river. Although they appeared calm on the surface, undercurrents were surging in private.

However, judging from the current situation, Lu Chen is obviously better. Not only did he take the initiative that day and inflict heavy damage on the Guiyou tribe of the Jing army, but also because Fan Wendi lived up to everyone's expectations and took back Bai County in just four days, thus opening up the passage between Taikang and Yongqiu.

In the side hall, Lu Chen finished reading the secret letter in his hand and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Liu Shouguang smiled and said, "It seems to be good news."

Lu Chen handed over the secret letter. Liu Shouguang took it and looked at it. His eyebrows raised and he said loudly: "Great!"

This secret letter was written by Yin Shangfu, the inspector of Chengzhou in the Zhijing Bureau. The letter focused on three things. First, the Dai army cut off the retreat of Jing's army as promised. Second, the Huaizhou wing army and Chengzhou border army were about to arrive at the location designated by Lu Chen. Third, Shazhou Luo Yaozong successfully resolved the internal hidden dangers. The Shazhou warriors were ready to fight at any time and would use their advantage of familiarity with the terrain to launch a fierce offensive against Jing's army.

Lu Chen stretched out his arms and smiled, "This battle is almost coming to an end."

Liu Shouguang couldn't help but sigh: "Your Excellency is a master at using troops. I am convinced."

Although he had been staying in Taikang, he was the Grand Commander of Jingzhou who had spent half his life in military service. After mastering sufficient and comprehensive information, he could reproduce Lu Chen's plan in his mind.

The defeat at Kaocheng put Jingzhou's defense line in jeopardy, and Lu Chen's first step was to lead his troops directly to Yaoshan Pass.

If he didn't do this, Wu Yanshu would devote all his energy to the western front. In the end, no matter who wins or loses, the Jingzhou defense line will inevitably be disrupted.

After taking down Yaoshan Pass, Lu Chen did not continue to pursue his strategy, but corrected his strategy in time, preventing Wu Yanshu's plan to strangle the main force of the Jingzhou Army from succeeding.

If it ended here, Qi and Jing's sides could only be said to be evenly matched in this battle.

Lu Chen won a great victory at Yaoshan Pass, and Wu Yanshu won a great victory at Kaocheng.

Lu Chen can threaten Heluo through Yaoshan Pass, and Wu Yanshu can also use the occupied territory to sweep Jingzhou at any time.

The two sides are roughly in a delicate balance.

The key to the outcome of this battle lies in the 50,000 troops sent by Emperor Jing to Shazhou. If Nan Yong can capture Pingyang and Shahe, from a strategic perspective, Jing State will undoubtedly be the final winner. This is also the reason why Wu Yanshu did not withdraw his troops and intended to delay the main force under Lu Chen.

However, Lu Chen's careful arrangements were like a net that trapped Nan Yong's troops, and the thread of the net was always tightly held in his hands.

Facing Liu Shouguang's sincere praise, Lu Chen shook his head and said, "There's no need for us to be so formal in private."

Liu Shouguang just felt particularly happy, and at the same time had a very strange feeling. Although he and Lu Chen had not been close in the past and there was a big age gap between them, through this period of time together, he felt that facing Lu Chen, a young man in a high position and power, was much more comfortable than facing Han Zhongjie's pretentious old face.

He said leisurely: "I am not flattering you, this is from the bottom of my heart."

"OK. It's from the bottom of my heart."

Lu Chen smiled and changed the subject: "Let's talk about business."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shouguang sat up straight and naturally acted like a subordinate.

Lu Chen did not deliberately correct him, and said calmly: "At this time, Wu Yanshu should secretly deploy troops. After all, the Jing army still has the advantage in manpower."

Liu Shouguang pondered and said, "Your Excellency is right. Wu Yanshu has always been bold and cautious. In addition, you made him suffer a loss on the day you arrived. He will definitely not give up. In the battle of Kaocheng, Wu Yanshu took a risky move and directly abandoned the entire defense line and gathered all his forces to severely damage our army. He is very likely to use the same trick again."

The so-called repeating the old trick meant that Wu Yanshu remained silent on the surface, but secretly transferred troops from the east and west fronts to Taikang, waiting until the decisive battle to surprise Lu Chen.

"I hope he can do it again."

Lu Chen smiled calmly, looked into the other person's eyes and said, "Brother Liu, Taikang is handed over to you. I will leave 40,000 soldiers for you."

Liu Shouguang's heart moved, and he asked expectantly, "Are you going to travel west, sir?"

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Retaking Bai County is the first step. Next, our army must recover the lost territory. Another crucial reason is that I cannot allow the main force of the Jing Army under Wu Yanshu to calmly respond to the Jing Army. Perhaps in Wu Yanshu's eyes, the short battle in the southeast that day was just an appetizer. The battle table I sent seems to prove this. In fact, I have no such plan. From the moment I left Yaoshan Pass, I did not want to fight a head-on battle with the main force of the Jing Army."

Liu Shouguang smiled and understood, "Let him use his strength without any use."

"The one who understands me is Brother Liu."

Lu Chen stood up and said earnestly, "Wu Yanshu will receive urgent news from the southwest in a few days at the latest. I expect he will send troops to rescue. After all, Nan Yong is the brother-in-law of the Emperor of Jing. He can't just stand by and watch him die. But there is no guarantee that he won't go crazy against Taikang City, so please be cautious, Brother Liu."

Liu Shouguang said solemnly: "Don't worry, sir. Although I don't have the ability to plan and strategize, if we only talk about the method of defending the city, 40,000 soldiers are enough to stop the 150,000 soldiers of the Jing army!"

Lu Chen nodded slightly and said with satisfaction: "Then I'll leave it to you." The two of them walked out of the side hall side by side, and Lu Chen immediately summoned all the generals to hold a military meeting.

He did not tell everyone his deepest strategy, but simply led them westward to gradually recover the lost territory.

The situation here is changing rapidly, so it is naturally difficult to completely hide it from Wu Yanshu.

When receiving the report from the scouts, Wu Yanshu was discussing countermeasures with Guiyou and others. The battle table sent by Lu Chen was still on the table.

Just as Lu Chen guessed, the silence of the Jing army was just an illusion. They were secretly preparing for battle. Wu Yanshu had already transferred 10,000 elite troops from the eastern front. At the same time, he made adjustments to the armies on the western front, abandoning some unimportant cities and transferring more than 20,000 elite soldiers to Chunping County, 30 miles north of Taikang. They would arrive by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

"What did you say? The Qi army is evacuating Taikang?"

Wu Yanshu frowned slightly and looked intently at the confidant who came to report the news.

The man said cautiously, "Yes, stay. At first our scouts thought the enemy was just rotating normally, but later they found something wrong. The Qi troops stationed south of Taikang City moved westward one after another, with no intention of turning back. Yesterday morning, the general flag of Lu Chen of Southern Qi left Taikang and headed west under the protection of thousands of soldiers from the Ruishi Battalion. Our scouts paid a huge price and finally confirmed that the Qi army is only holding on to the three cities of Taikang, and all the outlying strongholds have been abandoned."

Wu Yanshu suddenly felt a headache.

He subconsciously looked at the battle table.

Is this really just Lu Chen's strategy to confuse the enemy? Or has he never intended to fight a decisive battle with the Jing army?
But if that was the case, why did this man travel thousands of miles across mountains and rivers to come to Jingzhou? If it was just to relieve the danger of Taikang, he only needed to send tens of thousands of elite troops to help. He could stay in Yaoshan Pass in the north and continue to exert pressure on Nanjing City.

The generals looked solemn. Gui You said in a deep voice, "Stay here. Is Lu Chen trying to deliberately lure our army to station here, and then lead his elite troops to attack the cities occupied by our army?"

This was a very reasonable and correct direction, and other generals nodded in agreement.

"wrong."

Wu Yanshu suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart, and his face became increasingly stern: "It's not just that."

"This……"

Guiyou and others were speechless.

Judging from the current situation, planning to move westward is Lu Chen's only option, otherwise he would not withdraw most of his troops from Taikang.

Wu Yanshu stood up and walked to the sand table, staring at the entire western battlefield. The ominous premonition became stronger and stronger, and he said slowly: "Lu Chen should have guessed that I transferred troops from the east and west fronts, so he wants to use this time difference to attack our weak western front. But judging from his past tactics, he will not choose such a stupid method. It is his style to directly defeat our main force in one battle."

"Going to the Western Front at this time... the Western Front..."

Wu Yanshu muttered to himself, his brows gradually wrinkled into the shape of a "川" character.

The generals gathered around, and for a moment they had no clearer ideas.

"Report!"

Suddenly, a quick and sharp voice was heard outside the tent.

With Wu Yanshu's permission, his confidant brought in two men in their thirties who looked quite disheveled.

Wu Yanshu's eyes fell on one of them. He recognized that this was Nan Yong's confidant, so he suppressed his worries and asked, "Lord Nan Yong actually sent you here?"

The man knelt down with a plop and said in panic, "Stay behind, our army is trapped by the enemy in the Feiniao Pass area! Tens of thousands of elite troops of Dai State suddenly moved south, directly cutting off our retreat. The army of Qi State took advantage of the situation and pressed forward. The people of Shazhou began to counterattack. Our army can neither advance nor retreat. We may be in danger at this moment! There are enemies on all sides. My companions and I have traveled thousands of miles and desperately found a way to survive and come to ask for help. I beg you to stay and send troops to rescue immediately, otherwise... otherwise my master and 50,000 troops will die in Shazhou!"

The tent was as silent as death at this moment.

Guiyou and others opened their mouths and looked at Nan Yong's two cronies with pale faces.

Wu Yanshu stood there in a daze.

He suddenly turned around and looked at the battle plan on the table, and finally figured out why Lu Chen led his troops to the western front before him. The other party obviously wanted to make arrangements in advance to prevent him from sending troops westward to rescue Nan Yong.

A strong fishy smell suddenly rose in his throat, but this time Wu Yanshu forced himself to endure it.

However, his head hurt so much that he could hardly stand.

Under the tense, heavy, and worried gazes of everyone, Wu Yanshu raised his hand to cover the back of his head and said with difficulty: "Go back and tell Lord Nan Yong that I will find ways to send troops to rescue him."

After saying this, Wu Yanshu walked back to his seat and sat down.

There was hardly a trace of life on his face.

(End of this chapter)