Chapter 204: Volunteering

Three hundred thousand lion-powered troops were stationed in Yancheng.

Three hundred miles outside the city, the Black Scale Cavalry, who were guarding the dangerous pass, finally revealed their true strength:

There are a total of 200,000 troops, all of whom are strong and fast-moving Black Scale Cavalry.

Huo Gannian led the main force of Shiwei to the dangerous pass to attack the enemy, and fought fiercely for months.

Although the Lion Power Army had 300,000 men, it had an advantage in numbers and was fully equipped with chariots, infantry, cavalry, boats, as well as long sword battalions, archery battalions, throwing battalions, iron barrel fire chariots, etc.

However, because Zhao State's territory was too small, it was impossible to train a large number of cavalry if it was not properly utilized.

Therefore, there were only 20,000 cavalrymen among the 300,000-strong army.

The three hundred thousand brave soldiers had no war horses and found it difficult to break through the Black Scale Cavalry's defense line.

Outside the city, Huo Gannian had been advocating for war for a long time, but he had been unable to capture the city.

Inside the city, Yun Chen was responsible for post-war reconstruction, including food supply and the restoration of Yancheng.

She took Rong Yi and a group of soldiers to count the number of people in the city, buried the bodies of the civilians and soldiers defending the city, treated the wounded, and provided shelter for the elderly, weak, women and children who had lost their family members. She helped the people rebuild their houses and gradually restored people's livelihood.

But as he counted, Yun Chen found something wrong.

Yancheng is a wealthy city with about 150,000 people.

In addition to the 10,000 soldiers defending the city who were killed or wounded, nearly 20,000 civilians were missing.

Many people, including her former neighbors, are missing.

No one is seen alive, and no body is seen after death.

Yun Chen verified through various sources that the 20,000 civilians were actually captured by the Black Scale Cavalry and taken to the enemy camp.

Twenty thousand civilians were captured, which was a major event that could be reported directly to the East Palace in Kyoto.

The Eastern Palace has issued an order that the captured civilians must be rescued and the lives of 20,000 people must not be abandoned.

But how to rescue?

Two hundred thousand Black Scale Cavalrymen were stationed at the pass outside the city, and no one knew where the twenty thousand Yancheng citizens were being held.

In the commander's tent, everyone discussed the matter and talked about it around the map.

Huo Gannian sat in the main seat, his brows sometimes furrowed, sometimes relaxed, and sometimes he shook his head to himself, as if he had thought of something in his mind, but before he could say it out loud, he denied it himself.

Ye Yan, Hua Jue and Buyan all suggested sneaking into the Black Scale Cavalry camp at night to find out where the captured people of Yancheng were being held before making plans.

Rong Jiang, Rong Yi and Zhi Luo advocated deploying troops and tactically luring the enemy out of the camp, and then launching a surprise attack on the camp to rescue the people of Yancheng.

Ye Yan disagreed and shook his head repeatedly, "Finding someone takes time. What if we can't find them right away? What if the enemy figures out we're being deceitful and turns back to kill us? Wouldn't that just make us lose our way?"

Rong Jiang, like Ye Yan, was a man of prudent character who took the overall situation into consideration. However, Rong Jiang possessed a bit more decisiveness and ruthlessness, honed through battlefield experience, than Ye Yan. He said:

"Twenty thousand people won't be too difficult to find. If we are discovered, it's hard to say who will be defeated. We can attack from both sides. Even if we find the people of Yancheng directly, it will take time to rescue them, and we will have to fight anyway."

As a military strategist, Zhiluo, although not skilled in martial arts, was full of ideas. She pondered the whole thing for a long time and said to Huo Gan:

"General, knowing yourself and your enemy ensures victory in every battle. Whether it was your months-long battle to defeat the enemy or your rescue of the captured civilians of Yancheng, the key lies in 'not knowing.'"

Huo Gannian nodded without saying anything. It was obvious that what Zhi Luo said hit the nail on the head, and it was something Huo Gannian had already thought of.

Rong Yi hooked his arm around Rong Jiang's neck, and the two brothers looked at the map side by side:

"Yes, the problem lies in our lack of understanding of the Black Scale Cavalry. We have only just learned their true number of troops. We are completely clueless about the distribution of their generals, equipment, camps, rations, weapons, and so on."

Hua Jue couldn't help but want to roll his eyes, but because Rong Yi had a military post, he resisted the urge to do so, but his tone was no longer friendly:

"Isn't that nonsense? We don't know the Black Scale Cavalry, and the Black Scale Cavalry don't know us! Who in a war could possibly know the other side's complete situation? That's such top secret information."

After hearing Hua Jue's words, Zhi Luo was about to speak, but Momo ran over from somewhere, jumped onto her shoulders, held a melon seed in her two little paws, and started to eat it with relish.

Where did the melon seeds come from in such a serious occasion as discussing military affairs?

Zhi Luo touched Mo Mo's head and looked in the direction the little paw was pointing. Yun Chen was sitting behind everyone eating melon seeds.

Seeing Momo "betraying" him, Yun Chen lowered his voice and pretended to be angry:

"Little Coal Ball, you betrayed me? Don't even think about me giving you any next time!"

Mo Mo bared his teeth and squeaked twice, then raised his big furry tail to protest to Yun Chen.

Zhi Luo tapped Mo Mo's little head and scolded softly: "Don't make a scene." Then he smiled apologetically at Yun Chen.

Being disturbed by Momo, Zhiluo almost forgot what she wanted to say. She said:

"Guard Hua was right. The distribution of each side's camps and the soldiers stationed there are all top secret information. So whoever gets this information will have a greater chance of victory."

As if he already knew what Zhiluo was going to say, Huo Gannian's eyes suddenly became sharp, and he raised his hand to make a "silence" gesture, not allowing Zhiluo to continue.

Zhi Luo was puzzled, but the superiors and subordinates in the army were clearly defined, and obeying orders was her duty, so she kept quiet.

Without saying anything, he opened the conversation very tactlessly:

"What the military advisor is saying is that we need to first obtain a map of the Black Scale Cavalry's camp defenses. With this, we can formulate targeted tactics and launch a large-scale attack, while also learning where the people of Yancheng are being held. In this way, we can defeat the Black Scale Cavalry."

Zhi Luo did not respond. She saw that Huo Gannian's face had darkened. She did not want to disobey her superior again and create obstacles for her career.

But she didn't understand why Huo Gannian, who looked like he had already thought of the key issue, didn't say it and didn't allow her to say it.

At this time, Yun Chen finished eating some sunflower seeds from the back, stood up, patted his pants, and squeezed into the noisy discussion at the table. He tapped the map and said calmly:

"I'm going to steal the defense map."

Huo Gannian closed his eyes and sighed softly.

Zhiluo finally understood why Huo Gannian stopped her from speaking.

Because Huo Gannian had already thought of this method and had already expected that Yun Chen would take the initiative to volunteer, he did not want Yun Chen to take such a big risk.

Now Zhiluo knew that he had said the wrong thing and looked at Yunchen with guilt.

The two brothers Rong Jiang and Rong Yi laughed and said:

"We both volunteer to go with Captain Yun!"

Yun Chen shook his head and said firmly:

"No, I'm going alone."

As soon as these words came out, Ye Yan and the others immediately went crazy. Bu Yan jumped up and said anxiously:

"I said the wrong thing! It's all my fault for talking nonsense! Good Achen, let's not joke. That's a den of 200,000 Black Scale Cavalrymen. How can I go there alone? Isn't that like dropping soybeans into the sea? The risk is too great! No, no!"

Ye Yan also issued a strong order: "You are not allowed to go! Only a madman would sneak into the enemy camp alone. And how would you sneak in? How would you steal? And how would you escape after stealing? During the Battle of Guying City, Jiao Zuotai recognized you. How are you approaching?"

Hua Jue frowned, "If anyone wants to go, it's me. It's not your turn, little brat!"

Knowing that they were all concerned about him, Yun Chen smiled, then looked at Huo Gannian, who had a worried look on his face, and said seriously:

"The commander-in-chief can't move. Brother Ye Yan is now in charge of the affairs of the Huo Gang and can't move. Brother Buyan can't leave either. Our commander is left alone. Rong Jiang and Rong Yi are not as familiar with the territory of Yancheng as I am. So I have to go. Individual soldiers are flexible and easy to retreat, but a large group will attract attention and make it difficult to sneak in."

Hua Jue was angry, "What about me? Where did you put me? I can go there too!"