The bandits looked at Xuan Yuanzhan with some concern upon hearing this.

Xuanyuan Zhan, however, was not worried about this problem at all: "How many soldiers could there be in all the tribes of the Northern Rong combined? It would definitely not exceed 300,000. The Northern Rong is not unified now, so there would definitely not be 300,000 soldiers attacking our Eastern Chu. Judging from the current situation outside Beifeng City, there are probably only 200,000 troops. But since this is a secret passage, they can't come too openly if they want to sneak over here. There will definitely be soldiers attacking Beifeng City. How many people do you think they can spare to use this secret passage?"

Mu Lingchen thought for a moment and said, "Half of them!"

Because if it were him, he would reassign half of the people.

First, if the number of people is too small, even if they pass through this secret passage and reach the rear of Beifeng, they can easily be wiped out. In that case, not only will they be useless, but they will also be sending them to their deaths and damaging the morale of their own army.

Secondly, if there are too many people, even if they don't attack Beifeng City, the enemy will still notice something is wrong, and it's easy to end up losing more than you gain!

Half the force is just right; there are enough men to attack Beifeng City, and enough to outflank the enemy. With 100,000 soldiers in both the front and rear, it will be easy to form an encirclement, and taking Beifeng City will be a simple matter.

Xuanyuan Zhan laughed: "Just as I thought, so Tuoba Xiong will probably send half of his men to walk this mountain path."

Mu Lingchen frowned: "You just said that there are 200,000 soldiers outside Beifeng City right now."

During this time, he has been leading people to dig a channel in the Beiliang River, so he is not really clear about the current situation outside Beifeng City.

When the Northern Rong attacked before, he wanted to lead troops into battle, but Xuan Yuanzhan said that the battle should be led by the Zhenbei Army. Although they could not be absent from the battlefield, the 100,000 reserve troops from the capital they brought were only for support, so he was not allowed to go. Instead, he was put in charge of digging the river channel in the Beiliang River.

After all, this battle must be fought, and the Beiliang River must be dredged.

Otherwise, when the northern regions suffer from water and food shortages, things will only get harder.

Xuan Yuanzhan nodded: "The preliminary estimate is indeed 200,000."

Initially, the Northern Rong army had only about 100,000 soldiers, and it should be the Tianqiong tribe that stood out. Later, Tuoba Xiong did something to spread propaganda, which attracted other Northern Rong tribes. Several tribes gathered another 100,000 people, and now there are about 200,000 Northern Rong troops outside Beifeng City.

In the first few days, he thought he would wear down the Northern Rong army first, and after a few days of wear them down, he would lead his soldiers out to fight them in a big battle and drive them back in one go.

Who could have imagined that Tuoba Xiong would be able to recruit so many Northern Rong troops!

Mu Lingchen raised an eyebrow: "So, even half of them would be 100,000 soldiers. It'll be difficult for 40,000 to fight 100,000!"

Xuanyuan Zhan smiled confidently: "You mean on flat ground. If it were outside Beifeng City, it would be difficult for 40,000 to defeat 100,000 in a battle. But this is a mountain road, on the edge of a cliff. Our men are all skilled cliff climbers, and the terrain is very advantageous to us. In addition, we have an ambush up there. Even if we only have 100,000 men in total, it would be enough to kill those Beirong troops who have lost their composure."

After hearing what Xuan Yuanzhan said, Mu Lingchen thought it was feasible.

Bai Ying led his brothers from Liuying Village along the mountain path back to Liuying Village.

Xuan Yuanzhan then directed the other soldiers of the Northern City Army to sort and inspect the vines. He had to ensure that these vines could hold people, as they would be of great use later.

After clearing away the vines, Xuanyuan Zhan led his soldiers up to choose ambush sites.

Looking up at the lush greenery above, Mu Lingchen laughed and said, "This is indeed a good place to set up an ambush. From here, you can see the cliff path below clearly, while those below can only see this lush greenery when they look up."

Xuanyuan Zhan also felt that the cliff was a good place for an ambush. He had to admit that Bai Ying's method was really good, and this place was simply a godsend for them.

Mu Lingchen observed for a moment, then frowned and said, "There are quite a lot of bushes here, but there's nothing to use as weapons. We need to bring some stones up from the foot of the mountain!"

Xuanyuan Zhan nodded: "Yes, we need to transport the stones. We need to get them all up here in the next few days to avoid delaying the ambush!"

"Then I'll have them transport the stones when I get back!"

Mu Lingchen has been dredging the riverbed these past few days and has cleared out quite a few stones, which have piled up like mountains along the Beiliang River. He was originally wondering where to transport these stones, but now he doesn't have to worry about it anymore.

Even if all those stones were transported here, it probably wouldn't be enough, but there are mountains all around, so finding stones should be easy.

Xuanyuan Zhan reminded, "Don't look for large rocks. They'll be easy to spot and difficult to handle. Just pick out rocks that are easy to carry. Equip the 30,000 bandits lying in ambush above with bows and arrows. That'll be enough for their attack."

Seeing that he was reminding him of everything, Mu Lingchen frowned and said, "You weren't here the day of the ambush?"

Xuanyuan Zhan glared at Mu Lingchen: "If I don't sit in the city tower, wouldn't that arouse suspicion? Just like Tuoba Xiong certainly wouldn't have come to walk this mountain path himself that day; he had to put on a show for me below the city tower, and I naturally had to accompany him!"

Mu Lingchen gave Xuan Yuanzhan a thumbs up. As expected of someone who had wiped out 40,000 bandits in just a few days in the North, he really could calculate everything. Mu Lingchen had no choice but to admire him!

"By the way, what do you plan to do with the Imperial Guards from Kyoto?"

He didn't see the Imperial Guards arrive, but he heard that the one leading them was Deputy Commander Yang Feng, who was killed by Bai Ying.

Well done!

That so-called deputy commander actually dared to want to cut off Xuan Yuanzhan's head; he's got some nerve!

And those two, Xuan Yuanzhi and Xuan Yuanyu, are utterly shameless. Taking advantage of the emperor's serious illness, they even dared to forge an imperial edict and come to the north to kill people. How could they even think of such a thing!

Xuanyuan Zhan didn't take those Imperial Guards seriously at all: "What else can we do? There aren't enough soldiers in the North. I can't just kill them all, can I? We'll definitely send them to the battlefield first, and we'll deal with the rest later."

Mu Lingchen nodded silently: "I heard that Aunt Bai and Cousin Ning'er have both been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, you..."

When Mu Lingchen heard about these things, his biggest worry was not Bai Shi and Su Xuening, but Xuan Yuanzhan.

He knew that Xuan Yuanzhan was in the most agonizing situation at this moment, torn between the greater good of the nation and his mother, wife, and children. This choice was too difficult.

Xuanyuan Zhan narrowed his eyes and said, "Xuanyuan Zhi and Xuanyuan Yu will definitely use them to threaten me, so my mother and Ning'er will not be in mortal danger. But I must finish this battle as soon as possible and return to the capital!"