December 30th, Dengzhou.
In the temporary general's headquarters hall, the warmth of the honeycomb briquettes dispelled the winter chill, but could not dispel the solemnity in the hearts of the generals.
Zhao Muyun sat in the main seat, listening to the reports from each battalion.
"Our army currently has 5,300 troops, including 800 wounded," Xiao Cheyun reported. "The captured grain and fodder can last for ten days, and we have enough arrows and logs, but we are short of firearms such as flammable oil and thunderclap bombs."
"The 4,200 surrendered soldiers in the city have been dispersed and incorporated into various battalions," Yang Chao added. "However, their morale is unstable and they need time to be reorganized."
Zhao Muyun nodded and looked at the map: "Li Jingang should have received the message by now. What do you all think he will do?"
A captain said in a gruff voice, "What else can they do? They'll definitely mobilize all the armies to besiege Dengzhou!"
“That’s right.” Zhao Muyun drew a circle on the map with his finger. “Dengzhou is like a nail driven into Li Jingang’s throat. He will definitely do everything in his power to pull it out.”
Yang Chao said worriedly, "General, although Dengzhou is well-defended, if it is attacked from all sides, I fear it will be difficult to hold out for long. Our army is short-handed and our supplies are limited..."
“So we can’t defend it,” Zhao Muyun interrupted him.
The generals were taken aback.
"Not defending? Then..."
"We should use Dengzhou as bait." Zhao Muyun's eyes gleamed. "We'll use it to lure Li Jingang into mobilizing his main forces to encircle and annihilate us, then we can divide and conquer him."
"Divide and conquer?" Xiao Cheyun pondered. "Does the General mean... to set up an ambush around Dengzhou and defeat the enemy reinforcements one by one?"
“Exactly.” Zhao Muyun stood up and walked to the map. “Li Jingang is going to mobilize troops in a few directions: the garrison in the capital, Li Hu’s reinforcements from Longmen Pass, and troops from Hebei and Jingxiang.”
He pointed in various places: "These troops are coming from different directions and arriving at different times. We will ambush them along their routes, wiping out one group at a time."
Yang Chao gasped, "But our army only has a little over five thousand men..."
“Who said it was only five thousand?” Zhao Muyun laughed. “I’ve already started a fire in Li Jingang’s backyard.”
He looked at Chen Kai, the Night Scout Commandant: "Any news from Hebei?"
Chen Kai stepped forward and reported to the General: "Xiong Dayong has received the secret letter. He expressed his willingness to surrender the seven prefectures of Hebei, but requested that the court formally confer titles and send troops to support him."
“Tell him that the imperial edict of investiture is on its way,” Zhao Muyun said. “As for reinforcements… send an order to Han Zhong in Hedong to end the battle in Yunzhou as soon as possible and cooperate with Xiong Dayong to launch an offensive in Hebei.”
He pointed to Xiangzhou on the map: "The key is here. Xiangzhou is the throat connecting Hebei and the Central Plains. If Xiong Dayong can take Xiangzhou, or at least cut off the connection between Youzhou and the capital, Li Jingang's northern reinforcements will not be able to get through."
“But what about Yunzhou…” Xiao Cheyun reminded him, “The Northern Barbarians are still raiding the border. If Military Governor Han Zhong divides his troops, the defenses of Yunzhou…”
“We still have Tian Qing in Yunzhou,” Zhao Muyun said. “Tian Qing suffered a loss recently, and I plan to give him another chance. Besides, we have been developing Yunzhou for a year. Even if the Tartars attack Yunzhou, we still have Shuozhou as our stronghold.”
He looked around at his generals and said, "So, our opponents are only Li Jingang's Imperial Guards in the capital, Li Hu's troops, and the troops from Jingxiang Road."
The generals then realized what was going on.
It turns out that the general had already laid out many pieces.
Xiong Dayong from Hebei, Han Zhong from Hedong, Tian Qing from Yunzhou, Lin Feng from Longmenguan...
These seemingly scattered forces are quietly working together on a large chessboard.
"Even so, our forces are still at a disadvantage," Yang Chao worried. "Especially the troops from Jingxiang Road; if they come from the south, they could form a pincer movement with the Fengtian Army coming from the north..."
"Then let's attack Jingxiang Road first." A sharp glint flashed in Zhao Muyun's eyes. "Chen Kai, have you found out which army is coming from Jingxiang Road?"
Chen Kai took out a piece of intelligence: "The scouts report that Li Jingang has ordered Liu Song, the military governor of Jingxiang, to send 15,000 troops north."
"Among them, there was a rather special force of about five thousand men, who came from Lingnan and were commanded by Zhao Guang, the nephew of Zhao Mu, the King of Nanyue."
"South Vietnamese soldiers?" Zhao Muyun raised an eyebrow. "When did Zhao Mu get involved with Li Jingang?"
"It is said that not long ago, the Nanyue Kingdom sent an envoy to pay a visit to Li Jingang and reached a cooperation agreement. Then the Nanyue Kingdom sent troops."
Zhao Muyun pondered for a moment: "Send an order to the night watchmen in the capital to have Miss Bingbing find out what the King of Nanyue and Li Jingang talked about, the more detailed the better."
"yes!"
......
Five days later, late at night.
A carrier pigeon quietly landed in Dengzhou City.
Chen Kai took down the secret letter and hurriedly presented it to Zhao Muyun.
The letter was sent by Fan Bingbing from Luoyang. It contained only a few lines: "Zhao Mu, the King of Nanyue, is over sixty years old and has ruled Lingnan for thirty years."
"Li Jingang promised the hereditary title of 'King of Lingnan,' the monopoly on salt and iron, and a marriage alliance with a princess from the royal family. In return, Zhao Mufang sent 5,000 troops to assist in the battle."
"But these 5,000 Nanyue soldiers, after crossing Lingnan and entering Jingxiang, stopped advancing and demanded grain and fodder from the locals, causing great trouble for the Jingxiang officials."
"Therefore, Zhao Guang had many disagreements with the officials of Fengchao, and there were many complaints in the army. In addition, Zhao Mu's eldest son was seriously ill and feared that he would not live much longer."
Zhao Muyun smiled after reading it.
"General, what good news is there?" Xiao Cheyun asked.
"Look," Zhao Muyun said, passing the secret letter around. "King Zhao Mu of Nanyue is old, and his son is seriously ill. He sent troops to help Li Jingang, simply to secure a future for his descendants. But can Li Jingang really keep his promises?"
Xiao Cheyun suddenly realized: "Lingnan is thousands of miles away from the Central Plains. Even if Li Jingang wanted to interfere, he couldn't. The so-called marriage alliance is probably just an empty promise."
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