Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 749 Strategy
Seeing the chaos on the city wall, Taizhen Xuqing said to Li Zhen, "With Liang's firearms being so powerful, how can we possibly hold out?"

Li Zhen said, "Prince Consort, in the current situation, unless we ask the Deputy Commander to come and use his magic, we can fight back. Although the Liang army's firearms are not very lethal, they are very damaging to the morale of the troops. If the firearms continue to fire, I'm afraid that the morale will collapse, and if the Liang army charges, the city walls will change hands."

"What do you think?"

“I’m afraid we won’t be able to hold out until the Deputy Commander comes to our rescue. Perhaps we should preserve our troops and go to Youzhou for a decisive battle,” Li Zhen replied.

Taizhen Xuqing was undecided after hearing this.

After instructing Li Zhen to guard the city, Tai Zhen Xu Qing returned to Yelü Zonglin's residence.

Hearing about the situation outside, Yelü Zonglin said, "Prince Consort, we can have the city gates blocked. If the cannons outside the city hit the gates, the Liang army will be able to break into the city. We can also have the soldiers take turns defending the city. In this way, the city walls will not collapse and the city gates will not be breached, and the Liang army will not be able to enter the city."

"Blocking the city gates? This..."

"In this way, Liang's army cannot break into the city through the city gate, and we cannot leave the city either. We can only defend the city to the death."

Yelü Zonglin said, "Prince Consort, Yutian County was captured because the soldiers were suppressed by artillery fire and dared not raise their heads, allowing the Liang army to take advantage of the situation and storm the city walls."

"Although the Liang army outside the city is elite, their numbers are not much greater than ours. Right now, we can only attack the south gate. We can freely enter and exit the other gates. However, we must be careful to defend these gates to prevent them from being attacked by surprise."

After letting Yelü Zonglin recuperate in peace, Taizhen Xuqing left Yelü Zonglin's residence and ordered that the south gate, which the Liang army was attacking, be blocked with sand.

The messengers requesting help were dispatched to Youzhou in three waves.

Even after nightfall, the cannons outside the city continued firing, periodically unleashing a barrage of shells onto the city walls.

Hearing the booming cannon fire, Taizhen Xuqing, Li Zhen, and Yelü Zonglin couldn't help but have their own thoughts.

As for Youzhou Prefecture, after sending two armies to aid Tanzhou and Jizhou, Youzhou was left with less than 20,000 troops. When the letter requesting aid from Jizhou arrived, He Zhongbao had already led half of his soldiers to attack Tanzhou.

He Zhongbao met up with Qiong Yaonayan halfway and angrily asked, "How could we have suffered such heavy losses?"

Qiong Yaonayan recounted how Liang's 100,000 elite troops besieged the city and were equipped with formidable firearms. Upon hearing this, He Zhongbao exclaimed, "These southern barbarians are so elite! With only this many men, how can we possibly resist them?"

Qiong Yaonayan said, "Why don't we return to the fortified city of Youzhou and hold out? The one-month deadline is approaching. By then, the two territories will be separated, and this war will be over. Once we return to Liao, we can find out the truth and then settle things with Liang."

He Zhongbao said, “That may be true, but we can’t just cower in there so easily. I know a place in Youzhou called Qing Shi Yu. There’s only one road leading in, and it’s surrounded by high mountains with no way out. I’ll use my magic to create a fog. You take a hundred or so cavalrymen and lead these barbarians straight in. I’ll deploy my troops to surround them from the outside. They’ll have no way out and no way to retreat, and they’ll surely starve to death.”

"In this way, we will teach the southern barbarians a lesson, so that they will not underestimate us. In this way, we will also let them know our strength and dare not attack the city recklessly."

After discussing the matter, the two turned their troops around, set up camp, and waited for Zhao Zhen's army.

Within two days, Zhao Zhen led a large army to attack.

Upon hearing the report from the vanguard Shi Wengong, Zhao Zhen urged his troops to hurry forward.

Upon arriving at He Zhongbao's camp, Zhao Zhen asked, "Who is leading the troops?"

Shi Wengong said, "Your Majesty, judging from the banners, the commander is Deputy Commander He Zhongbao. Judging from the number of tents in the main camp, this Liao army numbers no more than ten thousand men." Zhao Zhen, upon hearing this, said, "How dare such a small force stand against my hundred thousand troops?"

Military strategist Wu Yong said, "Your Majesty, the deputy commander He Zhongbao is quite capable during the interrogation of the Liao prisoners. He should not be underestimated."

Upon hearing this, Yan Shude exclaimed, "Strategist, what makes this fellow so special? How could he possibly withstand so many of Liang's generals?"

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

Wu Yong said, "I have interrogated the prisoners. This He Zhongbao is no ordinary man. The Liao people say that he is ten feet tall and can fight ten thousand men. What's even more formidable is that he is skilled in sorcery. We must be very careful when facing him."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen said to his generals, "We are tired from the journey today, so let's set up camp and march out tomorrow. We will make a concerted effort to wipe out this army, take Youzhou, and end this war as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, everyone accepted the order, assigned soldiers, and set up camp.

As night fell, Wu Yong said to Zhao Zhen, "Your Majesty, the enemy is weak and we are strong. Tonight, I fear they will raid our camp and try to demoralize our army."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "What the scholar said makes sense. Let Pang Wanchun, the 'Little Yang Youji,' Lei Jiong, the 'Tiger Shooter,' and Ji Ji, the 'Bear Shooter,' lead the 'Shooting Sound Battalion' to ambush on both sides of the main camp. When the drums sound in my central camp, the ambushers on both sides will come out at once and rain down arrows. As for the main camp, let Shi Xiu, the 'Desperate Saburo,' lead three thousand soldiers to ambush. We will attack from three sides and make sure they never return."

"The king's arrangements are very appropriate."

At that moment, Wu Yong requested military orders and assigned four men to lie in ambush.

Meanwhile, in the Liao army's main camp, after seeing Zhao Zhen and others leading their troops down to the camp during the day, Qiong Yao Na Yan said to He Zhong Bao, "Commander, the Liang army is elite and has a large number of men. In a head-on battle, we will definitely be no match for them."

"This fellow has won many battles in a row, beheading generals and conquering cities and territories. His morale must be high. Today, he is rushing to set up camp and is full of arrogance. He must be unprepared. Tonight, I am willing to lead a force to raid the camp. We can win a complete victory and avenge the loss of our soldiers and generals."

He Zhongbao said, "Alright, you go and raid the camp, I will personally lead troops to meet you."

At midnight, Qiong Yao Nayan led two thousand elite soldiers, sneaking out to scout. Their horses had their bells removed, and their men wore soft armor. He Zhongbao began his magic, and a mist spread out, leading Qiong Yao Nayan directly to Zhao Zhen's main camp.

At the sound of shouts, two thousand cavalrymen charged into the stronghold.

As the drums sounded, Shi Xiu, leading his troops in the stronghold, shouted, "Kill!"

Upon hearing this, Qiong Yao Na Yan knew that Zhao Zhen's stronghold was well-defended. Before setting the stronghold on fire, she shouted, "Retreat!"

The rear guard became the front guard, and this elite Liao army turned around and left. Two thousand cavalrymen unleashed their speed and galloped towards the Liao army's main camp.

Another drumbeat sounded, and thousands upon thousands of arrows shot towards the Liao army shrouded in mist.

Two volleys of arrows alone were enough to kill at least half of the Liao Kingdom's elite cavalry.

He Zhongbao escorted Qiong Yao Nayan back to the main camp. Seeing that Qiong Yao Nayan had two arrows stuck in her body, but thankfully she was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Tomorrow, proceed according to plan. You go out of the camp to challenge them, pretending to be outmatched. When their army charges, I will cast a spell to create fog, and you will carry my battle flag to see if you can lure the Liang army into [Qingshiyu]. If you fail, don't linger; we will return to Youzhou to regroup."

(End of this chapter)