nycdaug Chapter 288 Invasion
Chapter 288 Invasion
Zong Yan Guanghe nodded as if he understood, for he had finally witnessed with his own eyes the dangers of the battlefield. Still young, he wore armor that did not fit him well. Although he was unable to follow his father to the battlefield in person and could only hide in the back, he was already close enough to the battle.
It is obvious that Zong Yanguanghe does not have the ability to kill the enemy now, and his mind is not yet mature. Zong Yanli only keeps him in the rear camp. Apart from taking care of him during training, most of the time he is asked to follow the military doctor or the kitchen, or be a groom.
It seemed like a humiliating act, but Zong Yanli told him that the composition and integrity of an army could never be separated from these.
If you want to become an outstanding military leader, you must learn more than just the art of war.
Zong Yanguanghe was a hard-working man. He did things like making fire and chopping wood, washing the foals, and when he had nothing to do, he would read the Art of War and arrange the troops. He would sometimes be called by some gentlemen to play chess, or be pulled by Yan Yingshan and others to practice. His life was quite busy every day.
As a result, he had very little time to see Zong Yanli, but every time he met Zong Yanli, he felt that he had learned a lot.
Those things that he thought were meaningless seemed to become full of meaning after Zong Yanli asked about them.
For example, he can now cook for himself and has the ability to serve as the leader of a group. He is familiar with the habits of war horses and understands the importance of war horses during marches. He has also seen many wounded soldiers and learned simple bandaging methods.
Zong Yan Guanghe once thought that he had learned a lot from his second uncle and grandfather's teachings.
But now I realize how poor I am. The more I follow my father, the more I realize that I have nothing to be proud of, so I work harder and harder.
"General." Just as Zong Yanguanghe came out of the tent, Bai Xiuyun came in. He leaned slightly towards Zong Yanli and said, "It seems that the patrol today found signs that the Northern Kingdom's troops are withdrawing from the entire ancient city. I wonder if they are going to abandon the city and leave."
"Abandon the city?" Zong Yanli raised his eyebrows upon hearing this and asked Bai Xiuyun to explain in detail.
Since Zai Yongnian has already gone to the battlefield in person, how could he retreat so easily?
Zong Yanli listened carefully to Bai Xiuyun's words and did not rush to take any action. Instead, he asked Bai Xiuyun to continue investigating, while he asked Gao Feilin to call Pei Liang and others over.
Pei Liang and his companions were somewhat surprised to hear the news: "Does the Northern Emperor really intend to abandon the entire ancient city or is this just an empty city plan?"
"What if they pretend to abandon the city, but actually ambushed all their troops in the city, waiting for our army to enter the city without any preparation, thinking they have picked up an easy advantage, and be ambushed and surrounded?" Zhan Haoyue frowned and said, "Or maybe they think the entire ancient city is not a strategic military defense area."
"Instead of defending the entire ancient city, why not abandon it and occupy the important military defense points in the North Country first?"
As Zhan Haoyue finished speaking, everyone in the tent frowned. Both possibilities seemed to exist?
Zong Yanli stood up and walked to the hanging map. Many places were circled on the map, but they naturally didn't know where the North Kingdom's defenses were. Even the sand table map of the North Kingdom had not been pieced together.
Zong Yanli looked at the location of the ancient city on the map, frowned and said, "As far as the current situation in the North is concerned, if we try to lure our army into the city, we can temporarily encircle and ambush them and deplete our forces, but we can't win in one fell swoop."
"If we make a mistake, there will be a counterattack. It's really not worth it." Zong Yanli said slowly: "Zai Yongnian is the Northern Emperor. Although he can't be called a wise ruler with a great reputation, he is definitely not a foolish person. He took such a risky move at the critical moment of the Northern Kingdom's life and death."
"There are two dangerous passes in the North Country, one is Longdong and the other is Yifeng." Zong Yanli continued slowly, "Longdong is located in the mountains, and its danger is self-evident. It would be great if we could seize it."
Everyone understood what he heard. Zhan Haoyue raised his eyebrows and said, "General, do you think that the Northern Emperor would not hesitate to give up the entire ancient city to feed us and withdraw his troops to Longdong to guard the pass?"
Zong Yanli turned around and looked at everyone, smiled slightly and said: "If I were the Northern Emperor, I would definitely do this."
"But..." Zong Yanli pondered, "Once the entire ancient city is lost, the entire prefecture behind it will also be lost. This is equivalent to cutting off a piece of meat from the Northern Kingdom. Will the Northern Emperor be willing to cut off meat and bleed so much?"
Zong Yanli found it hard to guess, and the people below looked at each other, all a little unsure. After all, they had never fought with him, and the fact that Taiyi Pass was captured so easily was not enough for them to understand this Northern Emperor.
At this time, Zhou Cang, who was standing on the side, said: "General, no matter what strategy the Northern Kingdom adopts now, our army must enter the entire ancient city and pass through the counties and states in the rear. Instead of guessing the enemy's actions, it is better to identify one thing."
Zhou Cang smiled slightly and raised his head and said: "That is to attack the entire ancient city."
Zong Yanli was slightly stunned after listening to this. She had always had many things to consider when marching, such as the aftermath plan and whether to try another plan if the current one didn't work. Now, after hearing what Zhou Cang said, she suddenly realized it and was almost led astray by the enemy's tactics. No matter how the Northern Kingdom marched, she had to take the entire ancient city.
Then why bother so much?
As Sha Haoqian's adviser, Zhou Cang had worked with Zhan Haoyue and others in the past, but he did not participate in many things.
Now that his general had completely surrendered to Zong Yanli, Zhou Cang naturally joined in. He lowered his eyes and said indifferently, "The Northern Army really abandoned the city and left. General, now is obviously not the right time to pursue them. You should establish your prestige first when you first enter the North."
Zhou Cang said step by step that they must attack the entire ancient city and enter the northern counties and prefectures, and plant the flags of Daqian all over the city walls. Only in this way can they gradually build up morale and undermine the morale of the northern people.
What they want to invade is a country's territory, not break through a city gate.
Zong Yanli came to his senses and realized that he had been too cautious after leading the army for so many years...
"In this case, the general only needs to focus on one thing, which is to attack the entire ancient city with all his heart and soul. As for whether the Northern Army has really gone to Longdong, we only need to send people to follow them and understand their movements in order to detect opportunities and prepare for war."
As Zhou Cang finished speaking, Zong Yanli's eyes lit up, and he nodded slowly and said, "Mr. Zhou is absolutely right!"
Zong Yanli said no more, turned around and gave orders to prepare to attack the city on a certain day.
Wouldn’t we know what’s going on in the ancient city once we break into it?
Zai Yongnian over there did indeed leave the entire ancient city with his troops. After weighing the pros and cons, he had to abandon the entire ancient city. Longdong is a dangerous pass for the Northern Kingdom, and perhaps it will also be the Northern Kingdom's last chance to turn the tables.
Zai Yongnian could only bear the pain of cutting flesh and bleeding and lead all his troops towards Longdong.
He even thought that he wanted Zong Yanli to learn the news and give up Longdong to chase him, so as to extend the battle line to Longdong.
Unfortunately, he was wrong. Zong Yanli did not do such a stupid thing as picking up watermelons and losing sesame seeds. Even though he knew that Beidi went to Longdong, he was not in a hurry to chase him. Instead, he led his army to attack the ancient city which seemed like an empty city.
Zong Yanli was very disappointed. She thought Zai Yongnian might have made some preparations before abandoning the city, such as leaving some soldiers to set up an ambush?
But after they entered the ancient city, they found that it was truly deserted, not some empty city tactic...
As another flag of Daqian was raised in the North, a terrifying sense of oppression weighed on the hearts of the people in the North. They seemed to have really felt the horror of the impending demise of their country, and panic and demoralization were rapidly unfolding.
Zong Yanli never stopped his steps. Starting from the entire ancient city, he swept away the surrounding states and counties. The flag of Daqian covered the entire land.
Her style of doing things remained the same as before. She did not engage in burning, killing or looting. She only occupied the city, looted government offices and military tents, and intimidated the people. If there were those who resisted, she would not show any mercy. Occasionally, a few heads would be hung at the gate of a city wall.
Sha Haoqian really liked Zong Yanli's style. At this moment, he was lying on the city wall, looking at the head dripping with blood. He laughed and turned back to Zhou Cang and said, "I haven't had such a good time in a long time."
Zhou Cang curved his lips, looked at Sha Haoqian with a gloomy gaze and said, "When Cang persuaded the general to follow the wise master, the general did not have this expression."
Sha Haoqian: “…”
"This is all old news, why are you still bringing it up!" Sha Haoqian stood up, looked at the vast land of the North Country and said with a laugh: "It's not too late to come now!"
Zhou Cang could not deny it. Sha Haoqian turned his gaze and asked, "Did Yang Wei go to look for that Deputy General Wen again?"
Zhou Cang responded and said, "It seems like he is urging Deputy General Wen to get married."
Sha Hao was speechless, thinking about his impression of Wen Nian, and said dryly: "If he gets beaten up later, don't say I'm in the army."
Zhou Cang almost laughed out loud when he heard this. When he returned to the tent, he saw Wen Nian and Yang Wei fighting.
No, it should be said that Yang Wei was unilaterally suppressed.
Zhou Cang stopped and watched for a while. Everyone was praising Zong Yanli's bravery, but the bravery of the deputy general beside Zong Yanli was no less than that of others. It was a pity that every time he was mentioned, he was only mentioned in a few words.
Yang Wei was beaten by Wen Nian and had no power to fight back. Seeing that there was nothing to see, Zhou Cang slipped away first.
His own general has already run away, when will he run away?
Yang Wei was beaten so badly that his body was covered with bruises. He couldn't find anyone to complain to, so he could only apply medicine himself. However, Wen Nian turned around and reported the complaint to Zong Yanli.
Zong Yanli was stunned for a long while after hearing this. He looked Wen Nian up and down and said, "I don't think you look like you lost the fight. Why are you so angry?"
He had clearly come here to complain, but when he heard Zong Yanli's question, he didn't know what to say. He just lowered his head and remained silent. After a long while, he said, "Nothing, I just think General Yang is too noisy."
Zong Yanli retracted his gaze and responded vaguely: "Since General Sha didn't say anything, treat it as a private matter and handle it yourself."
After saying that, she continued to lower her head and look at the book in her hand. Wen Nian lowered his eyes and responded, then turned and left.
Wen Nian, who was standing outside the tent, felt a little uncomfortable. Ever since Zong Yanli settled the matter of his offspring, he had never been close to Wen Nian again. It was as if he had used him and thrown him away. Wen Nian comforted himself again and again that this was how it should be.
What's more, the general is now focused on the battle situation...
But the bitterness in my heart grows day by day. No one can be so indifferent and not miss someone after experiencing such an intimate relationship.
Wen Nian lowered his eyes, suppressed the sadness in his heart, and walked away.
When Zong Yanli occupied many prefectures and counties in the north, good news finally came from Wuhuan: the State of Qi was destroyed.
Zong Yanli received two letters, one from Wuhuan and the other from Sang Caijie. The contents of the two letters were almost the same, except that Sang Caijie's letter described in detail the process of Duzhe's attack on the Qi imperial city, and now it had entered the final part.
Some members of the Qi royal family have escaped, and they must be dealt with clearly. Otherwise, if the fire cannot be extinguished and they come back again, it will be bad.
After Zong Yanli briefly read the letters, he replied and no longer paid attention to them. The growth of Wuhuan was also quietly unfolding at this time, and Zong Yanli had already begun to lead his troops to Longdong.
During this period of time, the Northern Army set up defenses in Longdong, and every move was under the surveillance of Zong Yanli. Now they came here as if they were going to fight.
Summer has arrived in a blink of an eye, and it is time for Zong Yanli to sweat every day. The army uses a huge amount of water, so even if it is time to save water, Zong Yanli still has to wipe his body, otherwise it will be really unbearable.
"Come on, come on, let's have another round!" There were quite a few soldiers wrestling shirtless outside the tent. At this moment, Monkie was wrestling with Yang Wei. Both of them were shirtless and rolling around in the killing of the enemy.
“You’re really not afraid of the sun…” Zhan Haoyue and Zhuang Chengbi hid in the shade and watched.
Lu Peibai seldom came out, perhaps because she felt that she was a woman, so it was better to avoid it when there was nothing to do. Zong Yanli did not rush to attack Longdong, but first asked Long Feiguang to take people to survey the terrain. He was not idle either, and called Bai Xiuyun to go out of the tent together.
Zong Yanli often went out to investigate on his own, and Zhan Haoyue and others were used to it.
Zhou Cang glanced at him and said, "The general is leaving the tent like this, so you and I don't have to follow him?"
Zhan Haoyue waved his fan and said, "This is not the first time Mr. Zhou has met the general. How could he not know the general's temper?"
"It's impossible to keep up with us. Instead of being a drag, it's better to check the account books for the general." Zhan Haoyue said.
"..." Zhou Cang was silent. He was almost in a state of depression.
These days, whenever Zong Yanli entered a city, the flag of Daqian would be raised with great pleasure, but these counselors would feel painful in settling accounts.
Although Zhou Cang was also highly valued by Sha Haoqian, he would not have so many military affairs to deal with. What Zhou Cang could not accept the most was that they had to learn to imitate Zong Yanli's notes and help write military reports when they had nothing to do...
Yesterday, he was even asked to write a memorial. Zhou Cang was a little dazed for a moment. Could he be an accountant?
The only thing that made him feel comfortable was that no one present ran away.