Watching Bai Qingyan leave, Old General Cui Shanzhong finally turned to the generals beside him and said: “Have the soldiers prepare tonight—Great Zhou might raid our camp!”
The soldier following beside Old General Cui Shanzhong looked back at Jiangzi City and said: “Old General, Great Zhou hasn’t entirely captured the hidden soldiers we sent into the city. This subordinate believes we should strike while the iron is hot… coordinate from inside and outside to break the city and capture the Great Zhou Emperor alive. With the Great Zhou Emperor in our hands, wouldn’t we fear that the Great Zhou won’t surrender quickly?”
“Great Zhou is inside the city, we are outside. If we truly attack Jiangzi City, we Xiliang might not gain any advantage… instead, we’d lose troops. Moreover, given the Great Zhou Emperor’s ability to lead troops, if we cannot take Jiangzi City directly in one battle, it would be detrimental to our Xiliang morale!” Old General Cui Shanzhong finished speaking as the young attendant helped him mount his horse.
If he had still thought earlier that Bai Qingyan only sent one person toward Yecheng Pass for rescue to minimize the target, now Old General Cui Shanzhong could be certain that if Bai Qingyan truly wanted to seek help from the outside world, with her intelligence, she would have countless methods.
She sent one person out of the city simply to test whether there were ambush soldiers at Jiangzi City’s south gate, to verify her prediction about his actions as a Xiliang general.
Also, because… with only one person leaving the city, he would spare this messenger’s life to interrogate the situation inside the city and the content of the message.
This young girl was even more formidable than he had imagined, and she greatly cherished the lives of the soldiers around her. He must respond carefully.
Old General Cui tugged at the reins and glanced up at the walls of Jiangzi City: “Since Great Zhou insists on fighting, then we’ll wait for Great Zhou to light signal fires to call for reinforcements. If Bai Qingyan plans to resist stubbornly without lighting signal fires for aid, we’ll spread the news that our Xiliang army is besieging the Great Zhou Emperor, send scouts to watch the movements at Yecheng Pass, and once Great Zhou forces come to aid, we’ll set ambushes to annihilate as many Great Zhou troops as possible!”
“What if the defending general at Yecheng Pass doesn’t come because he hasn’t received orders?” a Xiliang general asked.
“Then we’ll starve out Jiangzi City. When the city runs out of ammunition and provisions, we’ll capture the Great Zhou Emperor alive in one move, along with Great Zhou’s imperial heir!” Cui Shanzhong said.
If the defending general at Yecheng Pass brought troops to provide reinforcements at this time, their Xiliang would first annihilate part of Great Zhou’s forces, then capture Yecheng Pass, isolating Great Zhou’s main force on the other side of Yecheng Pass. Without provisions, the Great Zhou’s main force… after starving for a long time, would no longer be a main force.
Cui Shanzhong had vaguely guessed the troop deployment inside the city from that Great Zhou soldier who had gone to Yecheng Pass for reinforcements.
That Great Zhou soldier was a tough bone, claiming there were one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand soldiers in the city, and provisions enough for the soldiers inside to use for ten or twenty years. No matter what torture they used, he just wouldn’t tell the truth—he was indeed a tough man.
But this tough man had also exposed many problems during interrogation that Cui Shanzhong could see through. If the provisions in the city were truly sufficient, confidence would have made that soldier directly state… the provisions in the city were enough to last half a year or a year, enough to hold until Great Zhou’s main force captured Yun Capital and returned to rescue the emperor!
Rather than holding a desperate mindset and saying impossible, fantastical things to fool their Xiliang army!
The Great Zhou had been continuously providing relief to Xiliang disaster victims, sending grain to refugees in a steady stream. Jiangzi City was merely a transit station for provisions being sent to Yecheng Pass. Six days ago… The Great Zhou had just sent away a batch of provisions. To avoid alarming the Great Zhou and drawing the Great Zhou’s attention, even though Xiliang forces lacked provisions, he hadn’t gone to plunder.
Although he hadn’t sent scouts to investigate in detail, Great Zhou couldn’t possibly send a batch of provisions from Great Zhou territory to Xiliang every six days, so the provisions inside the city definitely wouldn’t be abundant!
What Cui Shanzhong had to do next was besiege Jiangzi City, then send people to raid Great Zhou’s provisions—the military provisions being sent from Great Zhou territory to Great Zhou’s main force. Troops move only after provisions are secured first. Without provisions… let’s see how the Great Zhou fights this battle at Yun Capital!
Cui Shanzhong’s choice to surround Bai Qingyan at Jiangzi City was not without detailed calculation.
What they had to guard against next was the Great Zhou’s surprise attacks.
Today was the first day of their Xiliang siege. If they wanted to dampen their Xiliang army’s fighting spirit, tonight would be most suitable for a sneak attack.
Although this was Cui Shanzhong’s first time facing Bai Qingyan in battle, he had already studied in detail every battle Bai Qingyan fought after the Bai family sons died on the battlefield and she returned to the battlefield again, especially the several major battles with Yun Poxing. He knew that Bai Qingyan’s warfare was almost flawlessly calculated—she could accurately predict their movements from the slightest actions.
Therefore, this time Old General Cui Shanzhong needed all of Xiliang’s forces to summon one hundred and twenty percent of their spirit to respond.
As soon as Bai Qingyan returned to the city, Liu Pinggao said: “Your Majesty… light the signal fires to call for reinforcements! Even if we don’t light signal fires for aid, I’m afraid Cui Shanzhong will still spread news of the siege!”
“If Old General Cui spreads the news, Great Zhou forces might not necessarily believe it, but if we light signal fires, Great Zhou soldiers will come to the rescue. If Xiliang sets ambushes along the way… have you considered the consequences?” Bai Qingyan casually tossed the riding whip to Liu Pinggao, her expression cold and stern.
Her mind was extremely clear. Old General Cui was probably waiting for Great Zhou to light signal fires: “If General Yang Wuce inside Yecheng Pass brings troops to provide reinforcements, Old General Cui will retake Yecheng Pass. At that time… we and Great Zhou’s main force advancing toward Yun Capital would truly be cut in two!”
As long as Yecheng Pass wasn’t lost, provisions could still be transported from Feng’erlan City to Yecheng Pass.
What Bai Qingyan worried about now wasn’t the safety of Jiangzi City, but that Old General Cui would set ambushes midway to raid Great Zhou’s provisions being sent to Yecheng Pass. Not to mention cutting off the Great Zhou’s main force’s provisions, Xiliang was currently severely lacking in grain.
Bai Qingyan’s fingers lightly caressed the jade cicada inside the pouch at her waist. Sitting and waiting for death wasn’t her style. The most conservative approach would be to delay Xiliang’s main force so that A’Qi and A’Jue could successfully capture Yun Capital.
But even though Bai Qingyan only had five thousand troops at hand, she would never be satisfied with merely delaying Xiliang’s main force and waiting for Great Zhou’s main force to capture Yun Capital before turning back to provide rescue. Now that Jiangzi City hadn’t reached a dead end, while restraining Xiliang’s main force, she wanted to think about how to use signal fires to inflict losses on Xiliang’s main force here.
If Xiliang’s main force was destroyed here, Xiliang would have no more power to turn the tide…
It could be said that the Xiliang forces led by Old General Cui Shanzhong were Xiliang’s last hope.
Bai Qingyan’s steps were slow as her mind repeatedly went over Xiliang’s maps, the area around Jiangzi City… and the maps from Jiangzi City to Yecheng Pass.
The captain of the Bai Family’s covert guards was settled in the residence where Bai Qingyan was staying. The military physician was applying medicine to the captain’s wounds. Fortunately, no bones were injured—they were all external wounds, but… they still looked quite terrible to behold.