In order to become a Heroic Spirit, I had no choice but to cause trouble in history.

Tian Bing opened his mouth, but could only sigh.

"I hope so."

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Chapter 963 Xiang An's Blitzkrieg Strategy

"General Liang, have the warm clothes arrived?" In the military camp outside the city, Xiang An gently patted Liang Ning's shoulder, brushed the snow off his shoulder, and asked.

"Ah, General." Liang Ning turned around, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands and said, "It's basically all in place. There's still a little missing, but we can finish it by this evening at the earliest."

Xiang An sighed and handed the item in his hand to Liang Ning: "I don't need this. Go and give it to the soldiers who need it."

It was a thick lining.

"Ah? But, General, you..."

"It's alright. I'm already at a level where I'm not afraid of the cold, but our soldiers are." Xiang An patted Liang Ning's shoulder again, and without waiting for Liang Ning's response, he walked away towards his own tent.

"It's been snowing heavily for two days now, I wonder when it will stop..." Xiang Lu stood not far away, watching Xiang An walk towards him, and couldn't help but shake his head.

"There's still plenty of food left, don't worry, Fourth Uncle. It just came too fast. I didn't expect such a heavy snowfall before spring." Xiang An walked along, looking up at the sky and shaking off the snow that had fallen on him.

"With such heavy snow, marching or transporting supplies will be a problem. Xiao Si sent a group of people to find dry firewood in the snow nearby, but it won't be easy to find it in this weather."

"Sigh..." Xiang An sighed deeply, rubbing his face with his right hand, and said with a wry smile, "I even said I would take Boyang within a month, but now it seems..."

"Don't overthink it, it might be due to external factors," Xiang Lu comforted her. "After all, not everyone is like you and your older brother."

"It's alright, I have a plan now, and there might be some things I need to ask you for help with, Fourth Uncle." Xiang An patted his face, his expression turned serious, and he looked at Xiang Lu.

"Tell me, I'll agree to anything you ask." Looking at Xiang An's serious face, Xiang Lu's expression turned solemn, and he nodded.

"My fourth uncle just mentioned that my elder brother and I are different from the soldiers. This is an advantage, and I don't intend to give up this advantage."

"The heavy snow makes it difficult to march, but that's relative to infantry or chariots. Good horses can definitely run in the snow, at least my Tuanchi, Xiao Si's Zaoji, and Liang Ning and Wei Hao's mounts can all do it."

As they spoke, Xiang An and Xiang Lu walked to the makeshift stables where the military horses were temporarily kept.

Xiang An casually grabbed a handful of dry grass from the feed hopper, walked over to the side of the surging waves, and scratched the surging waves' nose.

fo

"Therefore, I plan to join forces with a few generals who are reasonably skilled in martial arts to launch a swift attack and, in a surprise attack, use advanced weaponry to conduct a small-scale assault on the city of Jibei."

"...Are you not planning to die?" Xiang Lu frowned and his tone became stern as he looked at Xiang An, who had started feeding the horses.

“I don’t intend to really attack. What I want is chaos. The generals in Jibei are all useless. I’m confident I can throw them into disarray.” Xiang An smiled and patted Tuan Chi’s neck as he said, “The best strategy is to attack the enemy’s plans, the next best is to disrupt their alliances, the next best is to attack their army, and the worst is to besiege their cities. Although I haven’t read many military books, I remember this saying very clearly.”

"Forget about diplomacy and military force. These quails from Jibei wouldn't dare lead their troops out of the city to fight me, so we need to scare them." Xiang An's face held a confident yet slightly cruel smile, his eyes narrowing. "I'll make them scare!"

"So, when I went out with a few generals, I left the affairs of the military camp in your care, Fourth Uncle."

......

Early the next morning.

"Liang Ning, how's your archery?" Xiang An asked Liang Ning, pulling on the reins of the galloping horse.

"Reporting to the General, is it... is it alright?" Liang Ning scratched the back of his head and answered blankly.

As the one with the lowest military rank among the four, he couldn't help but be reserved.

Xiang An was a Grand General, Zi Juan was a General, Wei Hao was a Deputy General, and Liang Ning, like Xiang Lu, was a Lieutenant General. However, Xiang Lu had a special status, and if we had to say, his reputation in the army was not much lower than Zi Juan's.

“…Fine.” Xiang An’s lips twitched.

He didn't expect Liang Ning to be particularly good at archery. This skill required time to develop. Both Xiang Jing and he were in abnormal situations. Apart from a few members of the Xiang family, the most famous archer in the Western Chu army should be Jiang Chun, a lieutenant general under Xiang Yu. This old hunter had already climbed to a very high position.

"Second Brother, didn't you invite Xiao Ye? I remember he's quite good at archery and riding." Zijuan asked Xiang An as she warmed up on her horse.

"Let him stay here and help Fourth Uncle... Let's go, full speed ahead, and get to Wenshui West before this evening!" Xiang An rubbed his wrist and gave the order.

"Yes!"

The three generals gave brief answers and then followed Xiang An and Da Lang Tuanchi, speeding northwards.

Four fine horses galloped swiftly through the snow, leaving four tracks on the white plain, but before long they were covered by the goose feathers falling from the sky, as if they had never existed.

What no one noticed was that shortly after the four left, a figure appeared on a bare branch by the roadside.

The figure exhaled a breath of white air, staring intently in the direction the four had left, and bit its lip.

"No, I have to watch from afar. I can only... watch from afar."

"but......"

"but......"

"what......"

A gust of wind swept by, carrying with it a torrent of falling snow, but the figure had already vanished, leaving only a trail of footprints on the ground that would disappear in an instant.

......

West of the Wen River lies Tuo County.

It's common sense that no one would attack on a snowy day, especially a heavy one.

However, the defense work on the city wall still had to be carried out, and if they did not patrol the city wall, their salary would be forfeited.

That's how it is in Tuo County right now. Several guards are standing on the battlements, shoveling snow and chatting idly.

"You know, in this freezing weather, the magistrate still makes us come to the city walls to shovel snow. What's the difference? It'll all be the same at night anyway."

"Stop complaining, I'm freezing to death, hurry up and sweep."

"Hey, I heard the old gatekeeper say that there's a widow who sells wine about half a mile west of the military camp?"

"Are you out of your mind? In this world today, how many women aren't widows? They're either widows who have died or widows who are still alive... If you want to drink, don't drag me along. If the two Sima find out, they'll definitely whip you!"

"Hey, it's okay. Let's go out while it's dark. Besides drinking, we can also..."

stop--

The soldier stopped in his tracks before he could finish speaking.

Life quickly faded, his eyes lost their luster, and he collapsed to the ground.

A sharp arrow could be clearly seen stuck in his back.

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Chapter 964 Re-attack on Dingtao

"Don't stop, shoot them all down!" Xiang An drew his bow and nocked an arrow. The arrow's aperture was slightly narrowed. Although there was heavy snow in front of them, it couldn't stop the arrow from finding its target.

There weren't many soldiers guarding the inner city walls of Tuo County, and on snowy days, they were mostly slacking off.

"General!" Liang Ning shouted, "There's been a riot in the county town!"

The guards on the battlements had been mostly cleared, and the city gates remained tightly shut despite the heavy snow, but...

"That's enough, retreat!" Xiang An put his Thousand-Step Horn Bow back behind him, shouted expressionlessly, and then turned his horse around and ran away.

"drive--!"

"drive!"

The three generals did not delay and stopped what they were doing to follow.

"General, what's the point of us doing this?" Wei Hao shouted after Xiang An, sweating profusely despite it being the dead of winter.

“It’s very simple. This attack is steady. If we move steadily, the enemy will be thrown into chaos!” Xiang An controlled the speed of the swift horse and reduced it a little. The swift horse was much faster than the fine horses of Zijuan and the other two. If the speed was not reduced, the other three would not be able to keep up at all. “Although our sheep-like attack will not cause real damage to the enemy and the losses will be minimal, it can change their stable and steady mentality.”

"In short, it's about scaring them!"

"Suspicion, worry, panic—that's our objective!"

"The reason why our Western Chu can win every battle is because we have a large army and sufficient supplies, but the key is that we have never been afraid of any enemy! Even when facing 400,000 Qin troops under the walls of Julu, we will not retreat. A tenacious spirit plays a very important role in a war. This is the key to morale and the foundation of victory."

"And now, we must dig up and destroy this foundation! If we can instill fear in the enemy, then without our troops even approaching the city, the enemy will retreat without a fight."

“I see…” Wei Hao and Liang Ning nodded together, indicating that they understood Xiang An’s intention, while Zi Juan was deep in thought, seemingly deducing something.

Xiang An turned his head to look at Zi Juan, smiled with satisfaction, and continued, "But this method is not very useful under normal circumstances. Even if it is useful, it is not very meaningful when the troop strength is disparate. The reason it was useful this time is because of this heavy snow."

"All kinds of strategies need to be used in the right place and on the right person. Xiao Si, remember to use your brain on the battlefield in the future."

“…I understand, Second Brother.” Zijuan nodded, pursing her lips.

Liang Ning and Wei Hao exchanged a glance on horseback and sighed in unison.

There were two incredibly valuable items in the Western Chu army, but now it seems they have nothing to do with them anymore.

One is Zijuan's heart, well... it's best to just think about it.

As for the other one, it's Xiang An's guidance. It's not bad as it is now. Although I'm not being taught, it's still great to get some experience from the sidelines.

......

“Yongqiu, or Waihuang, are not suitable for the time being. The geographical advantage is still too great, and with the arrival of the General, our troop numbers are not superior. Even if we attack in the spring, it won't be easy.” A burly man stood next to Xiang Yu, arms crossed, and sighed. “Going west is difficult…”

His name was Chen Ping, and he was a general in the Western Chu army.

The atmosphere inside the Chengwu military camp was somewhat oppressive at this moment.

The generals sat around the sand table, looking at each other, unsure of what to say.

Because of the long-term garrison, many generals were sent by Xiang Yu to guard the cities around Chengwu and to defend against attacks from the feudal lords, in order to guard against Changshan and Han.

"Fortunately, the General has relieved some of the pressure from the north. Hopefully, there will be good news from the General's side..." Jiang Chun sighed.

"It's alright, I've already received the intelligence." Xiang Yu, who had been crouching to observe the sand table, straightened up. His calm yet imposing eyes swept over the generals of Western Chu, and the generals whose eyes were swept over involuntarily lowered their heads, not daring to meet Xiang Yu's gaze.

It's not that Xiang Yu's eyes were particularly fierce, but rather that his calm demeanor alone was enough to create an overwhelming sense of pressure.

"It's intelligence from Xiang An's side. According to his scouts, because the northern army's attack direction is Boyang, it seems that Changshan King Zhang Er has transferred some troops to support Jibei. Unfortunately... the speed is a bit slow."

As Xiang Yu spoke, he walked to his seat, sat down, poured himself a cup of hot water, and took a sip.

"Tian An should be grateful for this heavy snow. If it weren't for this heavy snow, Boyang would probably have already been captured by the General." Chen Ping shook his head regretfully. As someone who understood military strategy, he admired and respected Xiang An the most.

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