Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 284 Confrontation
Pei Qinghe rarely showed such emotions.

Sun Cheng's heart skipped a beat, and he looked embarrassed: "I was just talking nonsense, please don't take offense, General."

Pei Qinghe let out a sigh of relief and said calmly, "The infighting among the Xiongnu is a good thing for us. With so many cavalrymen gone, the Xiongnu's strength has been greatly reduced. This gives us a better chance of defending the city."

"Continue to send people to scout out the enemy's situation, don't miss a single move. If I'm not mistaken, the Xiongnu will soon attack the city again."

Sun Cheng was somewhat surprised: "The Xiongnu barbarians have lost so many cavalrymen, Punu should be resting and consolidating their morale, so why are they attacking the city again?"

Pei Qinghe looked in the direction of Changli City: "If I were Pu Nu, I would have to attack the city as soon as possible. We need to fight to sustain the war effort and win back the morale of our troops. Otherwise, even more people will want to retreat and leave."

Putting myself in their shoes, if Punu didn't even have this much vision and ability, he wouldn't be fit to be a commander!

As expected, two days later, the Xiongnu barbarians came to attack the city in a menacing manner!

Pei Qinghe, wearing soft armor, went up to the city gate.

The guards at the city gate included soldiers from Liaoxi, soldiers from Pei Family Army and Guangning Army, as well as uninjured soldiers from Fanyang Army and Pingyang Army.

The wounded soldiers were recuperating in their tents, while all those capable of fighting were summoned to the city gates. There were approximately eight thousand men in total. Two thousand went up to the city gates to guard them, while the other six thousand soldiers remained below the gates, awaiting orders to go up at any time.

Pei Yun, Pei Yan, and the other archers drew their bows and nocked their arrows, waiting quietly.

Yang Hu, Yang Huai, Song Dalang, and Lü Feng each stood aside awaiting military orders.

Li Chi was the same.

The first wave of attacks by the Xiongnu barbarians has begun!

Pei Qinghe drew his bow and shot an arrow, and the archers followed suit, repelling the first wave of the Xiongnu barbarians' attack. After a while, the Xiongnu barbarians pushed siege towers and ladders to attack the city again.

This is, after all, the main battlefield of the Liaoxi Army. Pei Qinghe looked at Li Chi: "General Li, have someone push the logs and pour hot water on them."

Li Chi accepted the order without hesitation and shouted loudly. Soon, huge trees fell heavily from the city gate, smashing the siege towers and ladders to pieces, and killing many Xiongnu barbarians in the process.

As more and more trees fell, they occupied the open space below the city, making it extremely difficult for the Xiongnu barbarians to approach the city gate using their siege towers and ladders. This also greatly reduced the possibility of the barbarians leaping onto the city walls.

The Liaoxi soldiers, whose morale had been shattered by the defeat, were greatly encouraged. They had truly been terrified by the Xiongnu barbarians. If the Xiongnu barbarians were to leap onto the city gates, they feared they wouldn't even have the courage to charge forward and fight to the death, and would instead flee in disarray.

After noon, the Xiongnu barbarians withdrew their troops.

The soldiers cheered for their hard-won victory.

Pei Qinghe also laughed, but there was a hint of mockery and sarcasm in her eyes.

Li Chi said in a low voice, "Punu did not launch a full-scale attack on the city. General, do not underestimate Punu."

"He's using us as a whetstone," Pei Qinghe said calmly. "He wants to keep the Xiongnu barbarians on their attack and win back their morale."

"Coincidentally, I had the same idea."

There were five armies with their flags displayed at the city gate. Each army had its own distinct character and fighting style. To integrate and unify them to maximize their combat effectiveness was no easy task and required a high level of command skill from the general.

She needed to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and combat capabilities of each army to devise the most suitable tactics. Li Chi understood immediately and replied in a low voice, "Please give your orders, General, and I will obey."

Pei Qinghe looked at Li Chi: "I prefer dealing with intelligent people, so I won't bother with those roundabout platitudes. Of the five armies, the Pei family army is the strongest, followed by the Guangning army. The Pingyang army is small, but they are also brave. Your Liaoxi army is only slightly stronger than the Fanyang army. After more than a month of continuous fighting, you have long lost your morale and the confidence and courage to win. We must boost morale as quickly as possible."

Li Chi didn't feel humiliated because what Pei Qinghe said was true, and she even gave him some face: "There were deserters every day before, but it was only after General Pei came that the soldiers stopped fleeing. Otherwise, there probably wouldn't be many left to defend the city."

"General, there's no need to talk about banners anymore. The Liaoxi Army is gone. I was just your vanguard, and so were they."

The "they" that Li Chi was referring to were the soldiers of the Liaoxi Army. They all looked at Pei Qinghe with burning, eager eyes.

Pei Qinghe's arrival in Liaoxi City brought about earth-shattering changes in just a few days.

The people received their grain and were deeply grateful to Pei Qinghe. The soldiers of Liaoxi ate their fill for several days in a row and received double pay, greatly boosting their morale. Not only did no one desert, but they also eagerly rushed to the city gates to fight, wanting to earn military merit and recognition.

On the battlefield, morale is the most precious and hardest thing to obtain.

They couldn't wait to abandon the Liaoxi Army's banner and fully join the Pei family's army.

This time, Pei Qinghe did not refuse outright. Instead, he smiled and said, "Once we win this battle, defend Liaoxi City, and the Xiongnu barbarians completely retreat, I will raise a flag in Liaoxi City to recruit soldiers."

The soldiers from western Liaoning breathed a sigh of relief and beamed with joy.

The Guangning Army has its own banner, but it always obeys Pei Qinghe's orders. The military regulations and management in the camp are not much different from those of the Pei family army.

The Pingyang army were guests from afar, and they would have to go back after the battle, so they didn't mind.

The soldiers of Fanyang Army felt a pang of sadness.

After leaving the city gate and returning to their temporary military tents, the soldiers huddled together and whispered, "The Liaoxi Army has also surrendered to the Pei family's army. In the future, won't Youzhou only have our Fanyang Army and the Pei family's army left?"

"Actually, I also want to join Pei's army!"

“The Pei family army has very strict military regulations. If you really join the Pei family army, you will never have a relaxed life.”

"If you want a carefree life, why be a soldier? Wouldn't it be better to go back to farming?"

"What kind of good life is farming? Bandits and refugees come to rob us, and when the soldiers arrive, they swarm like locusts. What good life can ordinary people have?"

"That was before. Now that we have General Pei, the good days for the people of Youzhou are just around the corner."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers fell silent.

After a moment, someone sighed in a low voice, "Once you're in the camp, there's no way you can get out. Otherwise, you'll be considered a deserter. If a deserter is caught, they're dead. You might as well stay in the camp and make do!"

"We just hope that our General Lü will come to his senses soon and surrender to General Pei. In the future, when General Pei eats meat, we will also have a bowl of hot soup."

Inside Pei Qinghe's military tent, Pei Yun whispered, "Li Chi is a clever and astute man, ruthless and cunning, skilled at assessing situations. He's even capable of harming his own uncle. Even if we win him over, we have to be wary of him turning against us at any time and biting us in the back."

Pei Qinghe nodded and said, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

(End of this chapter)