The Prodigal Son

"What? They made it through?"

"Are you sure they made it through?"

On the east side of Wanquan Mountain, Qin Fumeng looked at Liang Hongqiao, who had returned with the news, with a face full of surprise.

"We've definitely made it!"

Liang Hongqiao answered affirmatively: "This subordinate even sent men disguised as civilians to investigate, and confirmed that they broke through Wangzhou Prefecture with very few casualties. If nothing unexpected happens, they should have already taken Shangxing last night."

"Good! Good indeed! As expected of someone from the Qin family! Haha..."

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Qin Fumeng burst into laughter.

Well done!

His earliest idea was to capture Shangxing!

The plan was changed for various reasons.

Unexpectedly, his grandson accomplished this strategic goal.

On the second day of the war, they captured the important town of Shangxing!

That old bastard Zongbi is probably so angry he's vomiting blood!

Haha!

Pretty!

That's fucking beautiful!

Overjoyed, Qin Fumeng quickly ordered Yuan Ji: "Order everyone to work harder; all defensive deployments must be completed before noon!"

"yes!"

Yuan Ji loudly accepted the order.

Qin Yu has already captured three cities in succession!

It's their turn to step up their game!

Looking at the large patch of firewood in front of her, Liang Hongqiao had already guessed Qin Fumeng's intentions.

This large amount of firewood would come in handy if the enemy attacked them from Rock Fortress.

However, she still had some questions in her mind, and immediately asked, "Duke of Wei, what should we do next if the enemy troops at Panshi Fort don't come out?"

In this situation, shouldn't the enemy forces at Panshi Fort choose to hold their ground rather than launch an offensive?

"Of course they won't attack!"

Qin Fumeng answered with a smile.

"what?"

Liang Hongqiao was slightly taken aback, looking at him with a face full of doubt.

He knew the enemy wouldn't attack, so why did he do all this?

Qin Fumeng noticed her confusion and explained with a smile, "The enemy forces at Panshi Fortress are currently like a trapped beast. Such enemy forces are often the most dangerous..."

A trapped beast is not scary; what's scary is a trapped beast fighting desperately with a life-or-death mentality.

Therefore, regardless of whether they fight their way out or not, we must prepare in advance!

What they are doing now is adding a chain to this trapped beast, putting pressure on it, and preventing it from breaking out in the short term.

"Forgive my ignorance, but how can I apply pressure?"

Liang Hongqiao remained bewildered.

Qin Fumeng smiled and asked, "How often does the enemy transport supplies to Panshi Fortress?"

"Based on my understanding, it will take about forty-five to fifty days."

Liang Hongqiao was fairly aware that the two sides' troops were locked in a stalemate at the border.

"right!"

Qin Fumeng nodded slightly. "The last time the enemy transported supplies to Panshi Fortress was eight days ago..."

Based on his experience, if the enemy commander is experienced, he would reserve supplies for ten to fifteen days.

If the defending general is experienced, he might even kill some of the horses to reduce food consumption and reward the soldiers with horse meat, thereby boosting morale and preventing the soldiers from feeling anxious because they are trapped.

Although more than 10,000 enemy troops fled into Panshibao yesterday to deplete their supplies, the army's food supplies in Panshibao are still relatively plentiful.

If the enemy is careful with their food, they should be able to last for a month without any problem.

It wouldn't be impossible for them to force their way into Rock Fortress, but the casualties would certainly be heavy.

Starving the enemy out is definitely the best strategy.

But he didn't want to keep dragging things out with the enemy.

Their 100,000 troops were wasting a month at Panshi Fortress, which was giving the enemy an opportunity!

Therefore, what they need to do now is to take defensive measures.

The enemy troops at Panshi Fortress would think that they had enough food to wear down the enemy, and the Ning army on the outside had taken good defensive measures. It would be a loss to rush out, so they might as well hold Panshi Fortress.

In this way, they managed to neutralize the ferocity of the trapped beast!

Then they can free up troops to take Wangzhou Prefecture, which is defended by Zong Bi.

The enemy wanted to wear them down, so they threw the heads of Zong Bi and his generals into Panshi Fortress!

Let's see if the enemy can keep at it!

Perhaps because Qin Yu led his troops through Wangzhou Prefecture, Qin Fumeng was in an exceptionally good mood and patiently explained things to Liang Hongqiao.

Hearing Qin Fumeng's explanation, Liang Hongqiao finally understood and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Duke Wei!"

"Don't be so polite!"

Liang Hongqiao nodded earnestly, her face filled with gratitude...

……

"Traitor!"

"You villain!"

"You scoundrel!"

In the Yan Kingdom's palace, the Yan Emperor roared, venting his anger.

Yesterday afternoon, news of the Ning people's massive offensive and the loss of each county reached Huyao.

But this was not what angered the Yan Emperor the most.

What angered him most was that the more than two thousand bushels of pepper he had in his hands were completely wasted.

He had planned to wait for the price of pepper to rise further before making a purchase, but the price of pepper plummeted.

With so much pepper in hand, you could eat it as a meal for a long time, let alone use it as a seasoning!

He and the ministers in the court who hoarded pepper all lost everything!

Now, he and many of his ministers are so poor they can barely afford to eat.

The Ning army has already come knocking on our door. He is holding court to discuss state affairs, and many ministers in the court are listless, most of them probably worried about their money.

Moreover, they also transferred 60,000 troops to Jizhou!

The supplies and provisions that these 60,000 troops were constantly moving around were secondary.

The key issue is that, of these 60,000 troops, apart from 15,000 cavalry, the other units were simply unable to provide rapid support to Zong Bi.

Despite the fact that the Yan state had an army of 400,000, almost half of that force was stationed in Jizhou, Panshan Pass, and Wangzhou.

At least 50,000 to 60,000 troops should be stationed at the three key locations of Huyao, Huguan, and Yunzhou.

The 30,000 to 40,000 troops in those eastern states are too far from Wangzhou!

After all the calculations, the vast Yan Kingdom could only mobilize 60,000 to 70,000 troops to support Wangzhou.

Having been repeatedly outmaneuvered by the Ning people, and with a large amount of silver flowing into Da Ning, the Yan Emperor was completely overwhelmed.

Seeing the Emperor of Yan lose his temper, Yan Li felt equally grief and indignation, but he had to suppress his anger and persuade him, "Father, now is not the time to be angry. Let's quickly think of a solution!"

They have urgently dispatched 50,000 troops to support Zong Bi.

However, the current crisis in the Yan Kingdom cannot be resolved by 50,000 troops.

In this battle, they will not only drive the Ning people back, but also launch a counterattack on the Ning Kingdom!

Otherwise, with the continuous outbreak of various crises in the Yan state, even if the state were not destroyed, there would probably be widespread suffering within its borders.

"A solution? We have no money, no grain, and the court is full of good-for-nothings! What am I supposed to do?"

The Yan Emperor's anger not only did not subside, but burned even brighter. "Is this all your doing? Are you satisfied with this mess now?"

Faced with the Emperor of Yan's angry rebuke, Yan Li felt both aggrieved and ashamed.

He thought he had gotten a great deal, but in the end, he was completely outmaneuvered by Qin Yu.

He even suspected that Qin Yu had been plotting against him from the very first time they met!

That insidious, treacherous, and shameless scoundrel!

However, although he cursed Qin Yu in his heart, he couldn't help but admire Qin Yu.

Every step was meticulously planned!

Step by step, they pushed the Yan Kingdom into the abyss!

"Report..."

Just then, a panicked and urgent voice came from outside...