inspire-indiana Chapter 16: In team fights, flank first! Nobody's getting away!
Chapter 16: In team fights, flank first! Nobody's getting away!
"Shigeru Inuya is the kind of guy who won't act until he sees a clear benefit."
"He can't afford to keep feeding 500,000 people and their horses every day."
"He wants to fight, but he's afraid we'll hold our ground."
"Therefore, we must give him a reason to launch a full-scale attack—the Wei family army is starving to death; if we don't attack now, when will we?"
Wei Zhao traced the map northward, past the Northern Rong army's defenses, and stopped behind them.
"But what Shigeru Inuya didn't know was that as he swarmed out, his back was also exposed."
He glanced at Liu Jingshuang, his eyes deep.
"Third Sister-in-law Huo Qingluan's 50,000 heavily armored troops have not shown up yet."
"I initially thought the Battle of Luoyingkou was a feint, but now it seems that it was to cover the route for the heavily armored army to actually flank the enemy."
"At this moment, the 50,000 heavily armored soldiers should be like a nail, firmly planted in the retreat route of the Northern Rong army, just waiting to be harvested."
Only Wei Zhao's voice remained in the council chamber.
The generals' breathing began to quicken, and the despair in their eyes was gradually replaced by a fanatical light.
"As for provisions."
Wei Zhao moved his finger back to the south, pointing to the area south of the Yangtze River.
"Second sister-in-law Su Qingyun comes from a wealthy salt merchant family in Jiangnan. She has always managed the Wei family's finances."
"The imperial court may cut off our food supply, but it cannot cut off the Su family's source of wealth."
"Second Sister-in-law is a shrewd and calculating person; she would never watch the Wei family army starve to death."
"If I'm not mistaken, Second Sister-in-law is already leading a massive grain convoy, built with real money, and is almost at Yanmen Pass."
"These provisions are not for defending the city, but for our counterattack against the Northern Rong after this great victory!"
Wei Zhao withdrew his hand and turned around.
The white long gown stirred a gentle breeze as she moved.
He looked at the old lady, and also at the fierce generals filling the room.
"The false information spread by my mother was to lure Shigeru Inuyasha's entire army into attacking."
"Third Sister-in-law's heavily armored troops cut off their retreat, while Second Sister-in-law's provisions secured the rear and prepared for a counterattack."
"So, barring any unforeseen circumstances—"
His voice suddenly rose, each word like iron, striking everyone's eardrums.
"Our Wei family army will surely win this battle!"
Quiet.
Absolute silence.
The dozen or so battle-hardened captains were all gaping, their minds buzzing from the shock of this deduction.
A miraculous escape from a desperate situation?
No, this is a trap!
Looking at Wei Zhao's profile, Liu Jingshuang's heart skipped a beat.
She knew Wei Zhao was clever, but she didn't expect him to be able to guess the old lady's trump card so thoroughly and calculate the entire battle situation so accurately.
This man not only possesses ruthlessness on the battlefield, but his strategic thinking is also astonishing.
"Good! Good! Good!"
The old lady said "good" three times in a row, then slammed her iron cane heavily on the ground.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three muffled thuds shattered the silence in the council chamber.
The old lady stood up.
His slightly hunched back straightened instantly, like a peerless old sword drawn from its sheath.
She scanned the entire room, the killing intent in her eyes could no longer be suppressed, and the iron-blooded pressure of those who had served three dynasties instantly swept across the entire room.
"Now that you've all understood what the commander said, what are you waiting for?"
The old matriarch's voice echoed in the hall, carrying the menacing aura of decades.
"The blood feud of my nine sons, the heroic souls of hundreds of thousands of Wei family soldiers—if I don't avenge them now, when will I ever get the chance!"
All the generals knelt on one knee at the same time, the sound of armor plates clashing was deafening.
"All troops, listen to my command!" The old lady pointed her cane sharply northward.
"Abandon the defenses and open the city gates!"
"All troops, launch a counterattack against the Northern Rong!"
"Objective—Reclaim Calabash Valley!"
"kill!"
The deafening roar ripped the roof off.
Wei Zhao stood there, watching the group of veterans who were now completely enraged. He knew that the real slaughter had only just begun.
……
Outside Yanmen Pass, a fierce wind whipped up yellow sand, stinging people's faces.
Five hundred thousand Northern Rong cavalrymen spread out, a dark mass, like a huge black spot, firmly stuck to the base of the Yanmen Pass city wall.
The endless felt tents stretched to the horizon, the neighing of warhorses mingling with the sound of the wind, making one's eardrums tingle.
Shigeru Inuya rode a tall, pure black horse, its hooves pawing restlessly at the frozen earth.
He held the horse-slaying sword in his hand, stained with the blood of countless Wei people, and the scar on his left cheek that ran through his brow bone looked ferociously dark red in the cold wind.
He looked up at the tightly closed gates of Yanmen Pass.
A few soldiers of the Wei family army stood sparsely on the city wall.
Even from an arrow's length away, Shigeru could smell the sour, rotten stench of despair.
"It's been seven days, they should have run out of food by now, right?"
Munchy grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth.
He was making plans in his mind.
He knew all too well what it felt like to be hungry. When a person is starving, military discipline and beliefs are all bullshit.
Even brothers would draw their swords and fight each other for a bite to eat.
The Wei family army must be in complete chaos right now.
"Young Prince, should we send a team up to test the waters first?"
The deputy general next to him leaned over and asked in a gruff voice.
"Try it my ass."
Canine Tooth spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with sand:
"Didn't you see they welded the city gates shut?"
"These Wei family soldiers are now just a pack of starving stray dogs, cowering in their den waiting to die."
"If I send people over now, it's like sending them meat to eat!"
"The purpose of this large-scale military buildup is to put pressure on them and incite chaos as quickly as possible!"
What tactics do you use?
He patted the saddle with the back of his sword, then raised his voice, a mix of Northern Rong language and broken Chinese, and roared towards the city wall:
"Listen up, widows of the Wei family in the city!"
The sound, carried by true energy, rolled towards the city wall.
"Even the rats in your granaries have starved to death!"
"What are you still stubbornly clinging to? Is your sickly commander so hungry he's already wet his pants?"
A burst of laughter erupted from the Northern Rong army ranks.
"Open the city gates, kneel on the ground and bark like dogs a few times, and I'll reward you with some horse feed!"
"If you wash those beautiful women clean and send them out, I guarantee you'll die a quick and painless death!"
Shigeru Dogtooth laughed wildly.
He loved the feeling of cornering his prey.
During the battle at Calabash Valley, he watched as the nine sons of the Wei family gradually exhausted their strength at the bottom of the valley, eventually being riddled with arrows and turned into hedgehogs.
Those nine tough guys didn't utter a sound until they died, but what good was that?
It's turned into rotten flesh.
The people of Wei were stupid.
They're ruthless when it comes to internal strife, but when it comes to outsiders, they're all cowards.
That damned Prime Minister Lu Song, in order to kill the Wei family, he was even willing to sell out his own country's borders.
They coordinated their intelligence gathering and supply cutoffs even better than the Northern Rong themselves.
This kind of country deserves to be trampled by the iron hooves of the Northern Rong.
Just as he was about to hurl a few more harsh insults, a commotion suddenly arose from the rear camp.
"Report—!"
A scout charged wildly from the rear of the army, his horse foaming at the mouth, and the scout tumbled and fell in front of the jagged horse.
"What's the panic! Is the sky falling?"
With a sharp crack, Shigeru lashed out with his whip, striking the scout's helmet.
Ignoring the pain, the scout clung tightly to the frozen ground, his voice hoarse and distorted.
"Young Prince! Wei troops have been spotted behind... behind the main army!"
His brows furrowed tightly.
"Bullshit! The Wei troops at Yanmen Pass are all starving in the city, where would any Wei troops come from? Are the scouts blind?!"
"They're heavily armored troops!"
The scout yelled at the top of his lungs:
"A full 50,000 heavily armored troops! They've advanced from the direction of Eagle's Nest, completely cutting off our passage to Calabash Valley!"
The expressions of the surrounding Northern Rong generals all changed.
Our escape route has been cut off!