Shortly after Arahan's army left Mazhuang and pursued eastward with all its might.
A small team quietly appeared in the southwest of Youzhou City.
They were flying the banners of the Northern Barbarians, wearing tattered leather armor, and their ranks included several large carts covered with felt, making them look like a remnant army that had finally found its way home after a rout from the front lines.
The guards on the city wall immediately spotted them and sounded the alarm.
"Who goes down below the city walls? State your name immediately!" the gatekeeper officer shouted sternly.
"General! General, open the door!"
Among the ranks below the city, a man who appeared to be the leader cried out in a heavily accented Northern Di language, "We escaped from Black Wind Valley! We barely managed to escape the pursuit of the Hedong army and fled here!"
"There might be pursuers behind us! Please, General, let us in!"
The defeated soldiers of Black Wind Valley?
The defending officer was skeptical, but seeing that the enemy was few in number and dressed in rags, they did indeed look like defeated soldiers.
Moreover, I heard that some people did escape from the Battle of Black Wind Valley.
"Wait! I'll go report to the lord!" The officer dared not make the decision on his own.
When the news reached the Southern Privy Council, Han Yanshou was already in a state of great distress.
Hearing that it was just a few dozen defeated soldiers from Black Wind Valley, he waved his hand impatiently and said, "Check their identities. If there are no problems, let them in! Otherwise, they'll make a racket outside the city!"
Little did he know that these dozens of "desperate soldiers" were the most fatal pawn in Zhao Muyun's entire plan.
They were elite scouts personally led by Tang Yanhai, and demolition experts selected by Liu Yi's Divine Machine Battalion!
What they carried was the concentrated fire oil and thunderbolts of the entire army!
Their mission was not to attack the city, but to blow open the gates of Youzhou from within at the most critical moment!
The Empty City strategy was now truly complete.
Han Yanshou's overconfident defense of the city unwittingly brought the greatest hidden danger into the city.
Meanwhile, Zhao Muyun, leading his main force, waited patiently outside Youzhou City like a hunter for that earth-shattering roar, for the moment when he would finally reap the fruits of victory.
Arahan was transferred in the wrong direction, the garrison in Youzhou remained holed up and refused to come out, and the internal spies were already in place...
All conditions are ripe.
Arahan led his exhausted cavalry, following the trail left by Zhao Muyun's main force as they advanced north, for nearly a hundred miles, all the way to Sanhe Town, south of Jizhou.
However, they came up empty-handed again.
The so-called "clear traces" disappeared suddenly near Sanhe Town, like a kite with a broken string.
Scouts searched in all directions and found only some messy cart tracks and hoofprints north of the town, pointing to the mountains further north, but the scale was far from enough to support the movement of several thousand main force troops.
"We've been tricked again!" Arahan's face turned ashen, and his hand gripping the reins trembled slightly with extreme anger.
He felt like a fool, being repeatedly tricked by Zhao Muyun with various clumsy yet effective tricks.
Where exactly is his main force?
A strong sense of unease gripped Arahan's heart.
Zhao Muyun went to great lengths to lure him to the north, definitely not just for a horse ride!
There must be a bigger scheme behind it!
His goal...
Is his goal really...?
A terrible thought flashed through Arahan's mind like lightning.
Youzhou!
"Return to Youzhou immediately!"
Arahan's voice carried a hint of panic he himself was unaware of. He turned his horse around and frantically whipped it, shouting, "Quick! The entire army must return to Youzhou at top speed!"
Ten thousand Northern Di cavalrymen, weary and filled with spreading panic, embarked once again on their long journey home.
He came full of anger, but left with a heart as cold as iron.
Unbeknownst to many, Youzhou was already rife with undercurrents, awaiting its final eruption.
......
At the same time, Zhao Muyun's main force, after making the gesture of advancing north to Jizhou and successfully attracting Arahan's attention, did not continue northward but quietly turned around in a nearby valley.
Hiding by day and moving by night, relying on Tang Yanhai's scout camp's thorough knowledge of the terrain, they followed a hidden woodcutter's path, bypassing all possible spies, and headed straight for Youzhou!
For this march, Zhao Muyun demanded the utmost concealment and speed.
All unnecessary baggage was discarded, horseshoes were wrapped, soldiers were gagged, and even the heavy armor of the heavy cavalry was disassembled and carried by pack horses to reduce noise.
They traversed through dense forests and valleys, using all the natural terrain for cover, yet their speed was by no means slow.
"Grand Commander, another thirty li ahead is Lugou Bridge in the northwest of Youzhou."
Shen Qian, the deputy commander of the Night Watch, appeared beside Zhao Muyun like a ghost and reported in a low voice.
"According to the last news from inside the city, Captain Tang and his men successfully infiltrated the city yesterday and are hiding in the abandoned barracks near the southwest corner tower."
"Han Yanshou kept all four gates tightly closed, with the main garrison concentrated at the north and east gates to guard against our 'main force' attacking from the Juyong Pass or Jizhou direction. The defense in the northwest direction was relatively weak."
"Good!" Zhao Muyun's eyes flashed with a sharp light. "Tell the brothers that victory is just around the corner! Wu Shangzhi, Guo Luo, once the heavy cavalry reaches their designated positions, immediately don your armor and check your weapons!"
"Xi Sheng, Mo Dao Battalion, get ready! Once the city gates open, you will be the first elite troops to charge in!"
"Liu Yi, the Shenji Battalion, gather all available crossbows to suppress the defenders on the city walls and cover the ascent!"
Orders were whispered down, and every soldier's eyes burned with long-suppressed fighting spirit and the excitement of making history.
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