Chapter 20 The Night Raid Launched By Dongqin
1784 Words
On the mid-autumn night, when the Mid-Autumn Gala in Lingyin College was in full swing, a night raid took place in Shangyan, which located in the southern part of the Yugu Continent.
Adjoining Beihan, Shangyan was a barrier in front of Beihan.
Both Beihan and Shangyan had sent a large number of troops to support Frostless City.
It gave Dongqin a good excuse to attack Shangyan by night.
After the battle over Frostless City came to a stalemate, Dongqin general Zhang Xiaoling also thought hard about how to reduce the losses and gain the greatest benefits.
The original strategy was to quickly capture Frostless City in the way of a blitz and take Zhongwu.
Then, they would take Zhongwu as a springboard and a stronghold, and continued marching westward to attack Xichu. If all went well, they would attack Beihan and Shangyan with their victorious divisions and their domestic troops. Finally, they would ally with Yunyu Kingdom to attack Nantang in the vast grasslands.
But the war changed quickly and everything did not go according to plan.
The four-countries allied forces held fast to Frostless City and evenly matched Dongqin's army. Although Dongqin's soldiers were stronger, they had to pay a heavy price to win.
At that point, Nantang would not await its doom. Prairie riders would surely take advantage of the situation. Then Dongqin would lose its occupied area, making a futile effort.
That's why both sides confronted each other, and neither of them was willing to make rash moves. They fought a few small local battles from time to time to test the waters.
Zhang Xiaoting thought hard for a long time, facing the map in front of him, frowning.
He fixed his eyes at Frostless City and its surrounding terrain, searching for an appropriate route to break with.
However, he thought it over and over and failed. His forehead knotted in a frown, then stretched, and then knotted again.
Finally, he let out a sigh of helplessness.
"How to break the ice so as to get the most benefit at the least cost?" Zhang Xiaoting asked himself.
He had summoned subordinate officers and advisers to discuss the issue many times.
The advice of most officers was to storm Frostless City at all costs.
While advisers mainly suggested waiting for a chance of winning.
The soldiers grew restless and were anxious for a good fight.
"At this rate, we'll lose without a fight!" Zhang Xiaoting was a little impatient, too.
He unfolded the map again. This time, instead of focusing on Frostless City, he scanned the countries on the map, looking across the whole continent.
After scanning the map several times, his eyes suddenly stopped at Shangyan.
The country was closest to Zhongwu and supported them the fastest.
As a small country, Shangyan had sent its main force to Zhongwu, so its national defense must be weak.
"Raid Shangyan!"
Such an idea suddenly came to Zhang Xiaoting.
This idea that couldn't be contained ignited Zhang Xiaoting.
"Calm down and think twice. Is it feasible? You have hundreds of thousands of men under your command. One wrong step could lead to a disaster!"
Zhang Xiaoting warned himself.
He looked into the map for a while and conceived a general plan, then he left the headquarters.
His bodyguards followed him to the back of the hill.
"Today's commander in chief looks less worried. He is calm and there seems to be a trace of delight."
A bodyguard who knew Zhang Xiaoting well thought.
That night, Zhang Xiaoting called senior officers together for a secret military meeting.
The senior officers were surprised at his proposal.
Zhang Xiaoting made a detailed analysis of the current situation and a specific strategic deployment, and the proposal won the unanimously approval from all the advisers and officials.
The plan would be implemented during the mid-autumn night, when the defense was the laxest.
Zhang Xiaoting transferred a c***k troop of fifty thousand soldiers and divided them into ten groups. They were ordered to march at different speeds and in different ways at night and muster at the border of Shangyan on the mid-autumn night.
Therefore, the reunion supper on the Mid-Autumn Festival had become the last supper of many people.
The surprise troops of the Dongqin Dynasty unexpectedly attacked and captured the cities of Shangyan. They took only four hours to reach Yunshui City, the capital of Shangyan.
The garrison hastily assembled met the battle in a hurry.
The soldiers of Shangyan, who had just finished their meals, were not the opponents of the fifty thousand c***k soldiers of Dongqin. The defense line of Yunshui City was soon pierced.
The c***k troops of Dongqin, which had been dormant for a long time, approached the imperial palace like wolves.
They reached the palace at the cost of less than five thousand casualties.
The royal guards immediately held the palace, trying to hold out until the coming reinforcements from various regions arrived.
However, over forty thousand Dongqin troops wouldn't give them such time.
Having gone deep into Shangyan's territory, they had no way back. Instead, if they could capture the palace, they would win tremendous honor.
Reinforcements would block their retreat.
And in that case they would die.
Only the brave won in adversity!
The royal guard was also made up of elite members selected from the various troops.
Although there were only less than 20,000 guards, they all vowed to defend the palace to death.
When both parties were brave, the strong won!
Fearless of danger, Dongqin's c***k troop spared no pains.
When the individual qualities of soldiers were close, numerical superiority played a decisive role.
At the cost of over ten thousand elite soldiers, Dongqin army invaded the palace of Shangyan.
Yan Nanfei, the ruler of Shangyan, was captured by Dongqin.
By the time reinforcements arrived, the royal palace had fallen into the hands of Dongqin.
For fear of hurting the captive emperor, the reinforcements dared not enter the palace to rescue him.
Soon, from the palace came the imperial edict that Shangyan kingdom had been destroyed and would be completely subordinated to Dongqin.
The news shocked the Yugu Continent.
No one imagined that the first kingdom to be captured was Shangyan.
Not even the well-informed Beggar g**g had received any advance news of the night raid.
The Beggar g**g didn't get the message until the raid had begun.
When Mu Qianmei got the message, Dongqin had already conquered Shangyan.
The Mid-Autumn Gala was over. Mu Qianmei got the unexpected confidential message as soon as she returned to the dormitory.
"Make a feint to the east and attack in the west... A good practice, hahaha..."
Mu Qianmei praised, smiling.
"Alas! There must be a lot of people having died in the raid..."
Mu Qianmei felt a little sad.
Life is so vulnerable and small in the face of war.
The old Taoist priest came in a hurry. He saw Mu Qianmei reading the confidential message and contemplating, and asked calmly,
"Dongqin has taken a shocking action. What do you say, little girl?"
"Yes, it surprised me. It is called 'making a feint to the east and attacking in the west.'" Mu Qianmei answered at once.
"'Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west?' Hahaha... It's a proper saying!" The old Taoist priest exclaimed.
This is one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems. This stratagem is used quite a lot." Mu Qianmei said without thinking.
"Thirty-Six Stratagems? What is Thirty-Six Stratagems? Is it something you've learned before?" The old Taoist priest asked in surprise.
Mu Qianmei suddenly realized that there wasn't such a classical book about military tactics in this world!
She didn't conceal the Thirty-Six Stratagems from the old Taoist priest and told him what the stratagems are.
"Wonderful indeed! There is such a magic book in the world. Little girl, don't let it out. Maybe we can use it in the future." The old Taoist priest reminded kindly.
"I know, I won't tell anyone. But I'll write it down when I'm free and pass it on to future generations."
Mu Qianmei said.
Hide it after you write it down. How much do you know? You even know military tactics." The old Taoist priest sighed again.
"Military tactics can be used not only in wars, but also in officialdom and commercial competition and in every aspect of life." Mu Qianmei answered with a smile.
"What a wonderful book!" The old Taoist priest exclaimed again.
Speaking of the books on military tactics, Mu Qianmei missed her hometown in her previous life again. It had a splendid culture of thousands of years, and the knowledge she had learnt was only a drop in the ocean.
However, compared with the knowledge here, she was far ahead.
As she had come to this strange place, she would either change the environment or be changed.
Given the chance, she would prefer to reshape the world herself rather than being assimilated into it.
However, a person was so small in this big world. A small kingdom had perished over night.
A person's was less powerful than a kingdom.
Even though the Beggar g**g had become the biggest g**g on the continent, it was not as powerful as the military might of a kingdom.
She deemed that she should gain more power.
Otherwise, after the war, no country would allow the existence of the Beggar g**g unless the Beggar g**g was obedient to it.
Mu Qianmei didn't want her Beggar g**g to be a subordinate force of a country. It should be independent.
There was a long way to go.
Mu Qianmei thought.
It was an accident to come to this world. She didn't know whether she could go home - possibly she couldn't.
The Beggar g**g couldn't keep it out of the world. It was difficult for a person to stay away from all the troubles under current situation, let along a g**g.
That night, Mu Qianmei thought a lot and could not fall asleep for a long time.
However, the situation of the Yugu Continent was changing unexpectedly with each passing day.
The destruction of Shangyan changed the situation of the war.
The 80,000 troops sent by Shangyan to support Zhongwu immediately received an urgent edict to return to the capital.
Not long after they left Frostless City, they received a second edict, ordering the troops to cooperate with Dongqin to attack Frostless City.
As a result, Dongqin's army was boosted. Moreover, the troops of Shangyan, who had just withdrawn from Zhongwu, knew Frostless City very well, which doubled Dongqin's might.
Dongqin sent an army to garrison Shangyan and transferred the remaining thirty thousand c***k troops to Frostless City.
The situation became extremely tense.
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