Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 656 The Last Living Force
Facing this trapped beast's fight, although it is a bit tricky this time, it is not without benefits.

That is, all four gates were closed, and the Liao army could not escape. This battle might be the most difficult one, but it might be the only tough one.

Zhao Mu then inspected the area. He was busy in Youzhou City for half the night. He carefully counted the defenders in the city.

There were indeed a lot of defenders in Youzhou City, and Zhao Mu had no way of counting those who were sleeping in the barracks.

However, there were at least 20,000 to 30,000 people patrolling, checking sentries, and standing guard. It can be seen that the garrison in Youzhou City was no less than 70,000 to 80,000 people.

Zhao Mu also checked the soldiers' attire and walking posture.

Zhao Mu was also sure of one thing, that is, the Liao army stationed in Nanjing Youzhou was absolutely elite, some of them had martial arts skills, and some were even good at extra-special skills. This reminded Zhao Mu of the Shushan army under Yelu Yanping during the battle of Xiongzhou.

Zhao Mu knew that everyone in the Shan army was skilled in Shaolin Kung Fu at that time, and it must have been Xiao Yuanshan who introduced Shaolin Kung Fu to the Liao Kingdom. However, Zhao Mu had not fought with the Liao army many times over the years, and had not encountered these people.

Although these people's martial arts were far inferior to Zhao Mu's, when facing his second-line troops, even if they could not defeat five at once, they could at least defeat three at once.

Zhao Mu thought, "It seems that the Liao Kingdom has given up all other places this time and is determined to fight me to the death here. If my men fight them, I'm afraid it will be like an egg hitting a rock. Moreover, the four gates have been closed, which means that except for the garrison and the civilians who are used to assist in the defense of the city, the rest of the royal family and their families have been completely moved to the rear, so they have turned Youzhou City into a military fortress and intend to fight me to the death here."

Zhao Mu sighed and said it was difficult.

Although it is not difficult to capture the city with his current military strength, if he attacks by force, he will suffer at least tens of thousands of casualties.

The four gates were closed, and the battle was a fight to the death. Zhao Mu felt that the Liao army was quite "courageous" this time.

I think the reason why I was able to capture Zhuozhou and other places so easily before was because the Liao army concentrated its main forces here.

Faced with this ancient version of the "Maginot Line", Zhao Mu wanted to bypass it, but this was an ancient war and he couldn't get supplies through airdrops. If he bypassed it, the Liao army would pose a serious threat to his logistics supply line.

Now Zhao Mu was really in a dilemma. But if he didn't open the iron gate, he couldn't go straight in.

Although Zhao Mu was scratching his head, the sky was about to dawn, so he hurried back to the military camp before daybreak.

At this time, Li Canghai had not slept all night and had been waiting for Zhao Mu in the main tent.

The soldiers had no objection to a woman living in the main tent, after all, Li Canghai was a dragon guard. The soldiers dared not to touch the brow of the heavenly order that they could execute first and report later.

Even though sometimes they would hear some infuriating and obscene sounds coming from the commander's tent.

Seeing Zhao Mu coming back in his nightgown, she asked, "What's the situation in the city?"

Zhao Mu took off his face scarf and said, "It's difficult! It's really difficult. Youzhou City is not only full of elite troops, but also heavily guarded. Moreover, all four gates have been blocked. It seems that the defenders in the city are determined to perish with us. If we storm, although we can capture the city and destroy the enemy, my men will certainly suffer heavy casualties."

"And it seems that there should be nothing valuable in the city. Apart from the common people and necessary food, other property, officials, and their families should have been moved away long ago." Seeing Zhao Mu's distressed look, Li Canghai said, "Why don't I try to persuade him to surrender?"

Zhao Mu was a little surprised to hear Li Canghai's words. He didn't expect that Li Canghai would actually want to help him.

Seeing Zhao Mu's expression, Li Canghai said, "Why are you looking at me like that? I just want to save the Liao Dynasty from unnecessary sacrifices. Besides, you just said that there are elite soldiers in this city. If we fight to the death, the Song Dynasty's soldiers will suffer heavy casualties. And the Liao Dynasty will also lose all its elite soldiers after this battle."

"If we keep them, we can let them follow our king to the grassland to establish a country. Then our king can have some soldiers and horses to protect him. This will also be good for our Liao. As the great shaman of Liao, I naturally don't want to see Liao being bullied in the future. After all, there is no reason on the grassland."

Zhao Mu thought for a moment, and then said, "Forget it, uncle. I think you don't need to waste your breath. Now my four families are divided into Liao. Jin, Yan, and Song are taking land and plundering people. And I took their wealth and wives, daughters, and sisters. No matter which one, any man with blood will not sit idly by. Well, although the casualties will be greater, this is the only way."

Zhao Mu yawned and then hugged Li Canghai. He said, "I've been busy all night and I'm very tired. Uncle Master, help me relax first, and then you and I can have a good rest."

Zhao Mu then instructed the Dragon Guards who were on night watch outside the door: "Pass on my order, let the three armies continue to rest, and don't disturb me unless it's important."

The Dragon Guard responded.

Zhao Mu embraced the beauty and went to Wushan to have a sweet dream.

Zhao Mu enjoyed Li Canghai's tenderness and gentleness, but he was also worried about the siege.

Zhao Mu did not let Li Canghai persuade the surrender, not because he did not believe in her ability. If she explained her identity as the Great Shaman, the Khitan defenders in the city might really surrender.

But Zhao Mu did not intend to let these defenders surrender.

This is because these defenders are the elite of the Liao Kingdom, and they are absolutely elite. Zhao Mu's purpose in destroying the Liao Kingdom is to take down the sword hanging over the head of the Song Dynasty.

If the Liao army's main force cannot be annihilated, they will easily revive in the future by hiding in the grasslands. Moreover, if they abduct their wives, daughters and clan members, it will be just like the Jingkang Shame.

The Liao people's history books may also record it for several generations. It may even become a "national humiliation" that must be avenged.

If you don't remove the roots, they will grow again in the spring breeze. Zhao Mu didn't want to leave a hidden danger for himself or the Song Dynasty. So these people "had to be killed".

However, killing the surrendered soldiers would damage one's virtue. Zhao Mu must defeat them openly and kill them, annihilate the last remaining force of the Liao Kingdom, and make it impossible for them to gather a decent strength and plot against the Central Plains again.

Therefore, even if this battle would be extremely brutal and result in heavy casualties, he had to fight.

Zhao Mu held Li Canghai in his arms to rest until the evening of the next day, when they slowly got up.

Outside Zhao Mu's tent, the generals had been waiting for a long time. Even the vanguard general came to greet him every hour.

(End of this chapter)