Truth mixed with falsehood, reality blended with deception—only when Bai Qingyan truly deployed her troops would Western Liang be caught completely off guard.
Just as Bai Qingyan had anticipated, after Old General Cui returned, he ordered the entire army to remain on high alert and prepare ambushes in wait for Great Zhou’s night assault.
Old General Cui believed that Bai Qingyan was full of cunning schemes. In her previous battles against Yun Poxing, she had always led small contingents of troops in nighttime raids on camps, burning grain supplies and weapon stockpiles.
Now that Bai Qingyan had openly declared she would return to assault their camp at night, if they didn’t take it seriously, they might be playing right into her hands!
Currently, Western Liang was most short of food and grain supplies. Old General Cui had no choice but to guard against this. At the same time, he also wanted to inflict losses on the small forces Bai Qingyan sent out for camp raids—the fewer soldiers within the city, the more advantageous it would be for Western Liang.
After all, if they truly couldn’t lure Great Zhou’s main forces back to rescue their emperor in the end, and they were really about to attack Yun Capital, Old General Cui would have no choice but to change his strategy and assault the city to capture Bai Qingyan, to salvage the dire situation.
What he hoped for more at this moment was that the people he sent to deliver news of Western Liang’s siege of the city would reach Yecheng Pass, and the defending general at Yecheng Pass would quickly dispatch troops to investigate, then relay the message to Great Zhou’s main forces at the front lines. When the Great Zhou’s defending general from Yecheng Pass came to rescue the emperor and was ambushed, Great Zhou’s main forces would have no choice but to turn back and come to the rescue.
Old General Cui let out a long sigh, looked up at the overcast sky thick with clouds, and ordered: “Have the scouts keep a close watch. As soon as Great Zhou’s city gates open… report immediately!”
“Yes!”
Liu Pinggao, feeling uneasy, personally climbed up to patrol several sections of the city walls.
When Du Sanbao saw Liu Pinggao approaching, he cupped his hands in salute and said: “Lord Liu, I heard that Western Liang is short on food. How about I have my brothers set up a roasted pig here on the city tower? The wind is blowing toward the Western Liang military camp—when they smell the meat, won’t it make them die of hunger?”
Liu Pinggao clasped his hands behind his back, the hand holding his riding whip gently swaying it as he spoke: “Wonderful! They’re starving over there, and you’re roasting pigs here! When people are extremely hungry, there’s nothing they won’t do. Are you trying to urge them to attack the city, or are you eager to meet your maker?”
Liu Pinggao reprimanded Du Sanbao with neither warmth nor coldness.
Du Sanbao pressed his lips together and frowned, saying, “My idea wasn’t good, so the general doesn’t need to use it. But there’s no need to speak like that. Back when I followed General Wang Xiping, General Wang Xiping loved it when we came up with ideas. Even if the methods couldn’t be used, he always said it showed we were using our brains!”
“Should I praise you, too?” Liu Pinggao lightly struck Du Sanbao’s shoulder with his riding whip, then moved closer to him. His tone softened: “His Majesty is currently in the city, so we must prioritize stability in all matters. I also appreciate that your mind is sharp, but you just like to act first and report later, doing things recklessly! Right now, with His Majesty here… this isn’t the time to be clever. Follow His Majesty’s orders properly! Later, when His Majesty isn’t here… when we’re fighting battles, you can suggest ideas freely!”
Hearing Liu Pinggao speak this way, Du Sanbao clasped his fists and saluted: “Lord Liu speaks reasonably. Du Sanbao will not act first and report later. I’ll listen to Lord Liu’s and His Majesty’s commands in all matters!”
Liu Pinggao chuckled softly and tapped Du Sanbao’s helmet with his riding whip: “His Majesty can even remember you—your future is limitless. Just don’t act recklessly, understand?”
“Yes!” Du Sanbao responded, and the bit of resentment he’d harbored toward Liu Pinggao quietly dissipated.
After watching Liu Pinggao leave, Du Sanbao’s subordinate ran over, straightened the helmet on his head, and asked Du Sanbao: “General, when do we open the city gates?”
“What’s the rush…” Du Sanbao looked toward the distant Western Liang army camped around the city. “Look, the Western Liang camp still has bright lights burning. We’ll wait until they’re asleep, then open the city gates and scare them to death!”
The cold wind howled, creating an atmosphere of nervous tension at every sound.
The lanterns on Jiangzi City’s walls swayed wildly in the wind, while the distant campfires of the Western Liang army sparkled like a devastated galaxy, surrounding Jiangzi City. If not for both armies being in strict battle formation, it would truly be a beautiful sight from afar.
February 11th was the date Bai Qingyan had set for the counterattack. On that day, she wanted to let Old General Cui achieve both his goals—whether seizing grain supplies or ambushing Great Zhou forces coming from the direction of Yecheng Pass—she would divide his fifty thousand Western Liang soldiers and scatter them, making them easier to deal with.
Before that, Bai Qingyan hoped to gain the help of the city’s civilians as much as possible.
That night, the Great Zhou army within the high walls enjoyed a good night’s sleep, but the Western Liang army outside the city wasn’t so fortunate.
Old General Cui also remained sleepless through the night. After having his soldiers extinguish their lights, he sat quietly in his command tent, waiting for Bai Qingyan to send troops for a night assault.
Sure enough, not long after the Western Liang army extinguished their lights, their scouts came to report that Great Zhou’s west gate had opened.
The Western Liang army immediately went on high alert, especially the Western Liang soldiers surrounding the west gate, who gripped their swords and arrows tightly without daring to loosen their hold.
But who would have thought that after waiting for more than an hour, they saw no Great Zhou army come to attack. Then they heard that the east gate had opened, so the Western Liang forces surrounding the east gate once again began their vigilant watch, but again waited a long time without seeing any attack.
Old General Cui sat in his command tent and ordered all the generals surrounding Jiangzi City’s four gates to maintain their alert. This was one of Bai Qingyan’s schemes, intended to lull the Western Liang army into complacency.
However, after the north gate opened and another hour passed without any Great Zhou army assault on the camp, Old General Cui began to sense something was amiss.
By this time, most of the night had already passed. The Western Liang army, having maintained its vigilant watch for half the night without any enemy assault on their camp, was showing signs of fatigue.
Not only could they not eat their fill, but now they couldn’t sleep well either. Some in the military camp even began to doubt Old General Cui’s judgment of the battle situation, muttering that perhaps the old general was getting senile.
Great Zhou’s repeated actions of opening city gates made Old General Cui, who had already ordered his soldiers to maintain their defensive positions for so long, increasingly convinced that this was Bai Qingyan creating a false impression.
She was trying to disrupt the Western Liang army, making them think that each time the Great Zhou opened and closed the city gates, it was just to intimidate them without any real intention of assaulting the camp.
Old General Cui said to the Western Liang generals, “Next, Great Zhou will open the south gate! If I were the Great Zhou Emperor, once the south gate opens… There still won’t be any Great Zhou army assault on the camp. They’ll pretend to toy with the Western Liang army, and after we Western Liang forces lower our guard, they’ll certainly open the city gates again and send troops out to assault the camp! Go… dispatch a few more scouts to watch the south gate and see if any Great Zhou soldiers come out after Jiangzi City’s south gate opens!”
Soon Western Liang sent additional scouts to the south gate. The south gate opened wide then slowly closed again, and indeed no Great Zhou troops were sent out to assault the camp.
After the scouts reported back, the Western Liang soldiers all praised Old General Cui for his prophetic insight.
Old General Cui clenched his teeth, stood up, and declared with certainty: “The next time Great Zhou’s city gates open, that will be the time they deploy their troops!”