The World is Shocked 91. Night Raid

When they returned to Yonglin City, Xia Shu had indeed been busy with several Black Cloud Cavalry leaders to reinforce the defense of Yonglin City. Yun Ting had been itching to see this, so he said a word to Ye Li as soon as he returned to the city, not caring about greeting her, the Princess of Dingguo, and followed her to run around. Murong Ting had no interest in the piles of files and maps that Ye Li was reading in the study. She turned her eyes and ran to find some young and strong youths and nimble women in the city, preparing to organize them so that when the war came, although they could not follow them to the battlefield, they could still help take care of the wounded and handle the logistics. Ye Li also agreed with her idea, and Murong Ting, who had been restrained by Murong Shen for a long time, was even happier and went with a smile on her face.

Ye Li sat in a specially vacated study room, frowning as she looked at the map unfolded in front of her. She was obviously not a genius, at least not when it came to commanding large-scale operations. In her previous life, as a special forces soldier, she was better at local group operations and attacking the enemy's vital points. But now, facing a siege of hundreds of thousands of troops without the advantage of weather or even terrain, she would be lucky to be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive, let alone turn defeat into victory. The Broken Snow Pass, which had never been opened by foreign races in hundreds of years, had obviously given Yonglin City a very safe feeling. Therefore, the defensive capabilities of the Yonglin city walls were not good at all, not to mention internal defense. Who would have thought that the soldiers stationed at the Broken Snow Pass would one day have to face attacks from within the Great Chu?

"I've met the princess." Xia Shu, Yun Ting and others came together and stood at the door to salute Ye Li. Ye Li waved to everyone without looking up and said, "Come in, what's going on?" Yun Ting, who was the most straightforward, smiled and said, "Thanks to the help of the Black Cloud Cavalry brothers, we have strengthened the city defense a little bit." The Black Cloud Cavalry commander who came with them shook his head and said, "Yonglin City itself has a poor foundation. Even if we strengthen it a little more, I'm afraid we still can't hold out for long." Yesterday's attack was just a test. When the next attack starts, it may not be so easy to stop.

Ye Li raised her head and frowned slightly, saying, "The rebels should not attack in the next two days, but we should be on guard. You should be more careful." They deliberately set up a suspicious formation yesterday to deceive Mo Jingli. When Mo Jingli didn't know how many people they had, Mo Jingli should not attack easily. But the trick of deceiving people can't last long. Once Mo Jingli finds out the truth, they will only be greeted with a stronger attack. "Yun Ting and Xia Shu, you are familiar with the surroundings, come and take a look at this map." Yun Ting and Xia Shu came forward with some curiosity. What was unfolded on the desk in front of Ye Li was a large map. A line of beautiful handwriting on the top read "Yonglin Topographic Map". Yun Ting and Xia Shu soon discovered that this map not only included Yonglin City, but also included the topography of almost all places within a radius of nearly 100 miles around Yonglin City. It also includes Broken Snow Pass and parts of southern Xinjiang. Most importantly, this map is obviously newly drawn. Yun Ting asked puzzledly: "Does the princess need a map? We still have a few maps here, and Broken Snow Pass also has a full map of Yongzhou."

Ye Li shook her head. Neither she nor Heiyunqi were familiar with Yongzhou. And being unfamiliar with the terrain was obviously a big taboo in war. So she had sent a message to Heiyunqi to collect terrain data near Yonglin when she was still in Southern Xinjiang. It was not until last night that they drew them with reference to the original map. However, because she did not check most of the areas herself, there was some uncertainty in this map, so she wanted Yunting and Xia Shu, two people who were familiar with the local area, to take a look.

Xia Shu stared at the map seriously for a long while, with a fanatical light in his eyes, and he exclaimed softly: "Did the princess draw this herself?" Ye Li rubbed his eyebrows and said: "Although I believe in the soldiers of the Black Cloud Cavalry, I haven't been able to check it out on the spot after all. You can take a look at this map to see if there is anything wrong." Xia Shu looked at it for a long time, pointed to a place on the map where a river was marked and said: "Here... If this river channel is closer to this mountain, there will probably be no problem." Ye Li picked up the pen again and asked: "How far is this river from this mountain?" Xia Shu lowered his head and calculated silently: "About three miles." Ye Li raised his eyebrows. It was indeed a bit far off. When it comes to maps, a slight mistake can lead to a huge error. Xia Shu watched in admiration as he picked up a brush and began to modify the drawing. He admired the Princess Dingguo in front of him from the bottom of his heart. Apart from other things, even if someone had been to all the places in person, he might not be able to draw a map, not to mention that Princess Dingguo could draw it almost exactly just by hearing about it. This map is at least ten times clearer and more detailed than their existing maps. What does war depend on? In addition to military strategies, isn't it the weather and terrain? But not every commander has the opportunity to explore the place where the battle is going to be fought. Basically, with this map, the area within a hundred miles around Yonglin can be seen at a glance.

"Princess, are we just going to wait for the rebels to attack the city?" Yun Ting asked impatiently.

Ye Li smiled and asked, "What did you think of this?"

Yun Ting was somewhat embarrassed. Originally, they could only wait for the rebels to attack the city. It was not that they were willing to do so, but they had no other choice due to the limited manpower. But now they had two thousand Black Cloud Cavalry, right? Black Cloud Cavalry was not good at defending the city, but at attacking, right? Of course, he himself did not like defending the city.

"There are mountains and forests around Yonglin, and the cavalry's ability is greatly restricted and can't be fully exerted." Xia Shu frowned and said, for the first time in his life, he was annoyed by the heavy mountains and forests on the map. If the land was flat, the Black Cloud Cavalry could do more than what they are doing now. However, he also knew that if the land was flat and the rebels of more than 100,000 troops were all at the gates of the city, it would be even more impossible to pass.

The Black Cloud Cavalry Commander sneered, "Although the Black Cloud Cavalry is called a cavalry, they are not only good at riding and archery." The cavalry is mainly used to deal with the Northern Rong, but the horses of the Chu are simply no match for the horses of the Northern Rong. Although the Black Cloud Cavalry are all elite, it is definitely a head-on confrontation with the iron cavalry of the Northern Rong. Xia Shu looked at the arrogant Black Cloud Cavalry Commander and the silent An Er and An San standing aside, and hesitated, "Can we take the initiative to attack and disrupt their plans?"

Ye Li raised her eyebrows, "Tell me about it."

Xia Shu picked up the charcoal pencil sitting on the table and marked it on the map, saying, "The rebels are now camped 20 miles from Yonglin. If we launch a surprise attack with cavalry, we should be able to catch them off guard."

An Er said, "The cavalry makes too much noise. If we want to move quickly, we will be discovered before we even get close to the camp. And... how can we sneak attack a camp of hundreds of thousands of soldiers with only two thousand men?" If they are really trapped in a huge army, the Black Cloud Cavalry may not be able to escape unscathed. Xia Shu shook his head and said, "We don't need to sneak attack their camp. The terrain of Yonglin means that they will never and cannot station all their troops in one place. If the rebel camp is here, then some troops will definitely be stationed here and there to form a pincer, which can also protect the camp. The troops stationed in these two places should not exceed 10,000. Maybe... we can create some chaos?"

"Qin Feng?" Ye Li raised her eyebrows and asked the Black Cloud Cavalry Commander.

Qin Feng frowned and said, "If that's the case, we can cut off the road leading to the main camp from the left wing in advance, and it's entirely possible to wipe out all the troops on this side. Even if that's not possible, this mountain road is not very wide, and the enemy's reinforcements won't come too quickly, so we have time to escape. But in this way, the enemy may suspect that the main force of the Black Cloud Cavalry is not in Yongzhou at all." Ye Li blinked and asked with a smile, "What if the left and right wings are wiped out?"

Everyone in the study room looked at Ye Li. It was already difficult to wipe out all the people on one side, so how could it be possible to wipe out both sides at the same time?

"Second An, Third An, collect all the information about Mo Jingli's military camp as quickly as possible." Ye Li ordered.

An Er and An San nodded in agreement, turned around and left the study.

For two consecutive days, Mo Jingli had no choice but to keep his troops in place because he had not received any news about the Black Cloud Cavalry. Whenever he saw the few Black Cloud Cavalry in Yonglin City from a distance, Mo Jingli always suspected that there were not many Black Cloud Cavalry in Yongzhou, and Mo Xiuyao was not in Yongzhou at all. But just when he was about to make up his mind to attack, he felt that this was probably a trick by Mo Xiuyao to lure him into a trap. Mo Xiuyao had always been cunning and he had to be on guard. Therefore, even though people from Nanzhao had already urged him to attack, he could only lead hundreds of thousands of troops to confront the small Yonglin City.

"Your Highness, Nanzhao has urged us many times. Should we attack Yonglin tomorrow?" asked a middle-aged man who looked like a military advisor in the big tent.

Mo Jingli frowned and said, "Why are they in such a hurry? If they are so anxious, why don't they try to attack Broken Snow Pass themselves? They have been fighting for so many days and they haven't even scratched Murong Shen's skin!" The military advisor smiled helplessly and shook his head, "The walls of Broken Snow Pass are strong and have been difficult to break since ancient times. It is understandable that they have not been able to take it down for a long time." Mo Jingli hesitated, looked at the military advisor with frowned brows and asked, "Letting the Nanzhao people enter the pass... will it really work?" The military advisor was stunned, looked at him in confusion and said, "What does your prince mean?" Mo Jingli snorted and said, "It didn't take the Nanzhao people any effort to sweep Yongzhou. Once the Nanzhao people are allowed to enter Broken Snow Pass, I'm afraid... it will be easier to invite them in than to send them away." Although the Nanzhao people are cooperating with him now, he certainly knows that they are not that honest. Once the myth that Broken Snow Pass has remained unbroken for a hundred years is shattered, I am afraid that these people will challenge Broken Snow Pass more diligently and invade the territory of Da Chu in the future.

"Your Highness, once the arrow is shot, it cannot be retrieved." The military advisor advised, "Once we break the agreement, Nanzhao will probably withdraw its troops immediately. Then Murong Shen will turn around and deal with us. When the imperial court's reinforcements arrive... the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, Your Highness should fight quickly and make a quick decision." Mo Jingli nodded. How could he not understand this truth? "You said... why did the Black Cloud Cavalry come so quickly?"

The military advisor said with some embarrassment: "Prince Ding has always been a man of foresight. We have not found any trace of the Black Cloud Cavalry in the past two days. I am afraid that it is a hidden chess piece that Prince Ding has buried here earlier." Thinking of this, the military advisor couldn't help but feel regretful. If it weren't for the Black Cloud Cavalry, Yonglin City would have been in their pockets by now. Maybe even Shattered Snow Pass would have been broken.

"Are you saying that Mo Xiuyao had already anticipated that a war would break out in Southern Xinjiang?" Mo Jingli asked with an unpleasant expression.

The military advisor dared not admit it, and just said: "Perhaps it was only Prince Ding who stayed behind to guard against Nanzhao. After all, Prince Ding fought very well in Southern Xinjiang." If the royal family had not been worried about the reputation of the then Major General of Prince Ding's Mansion and his military exploits, and ordered the troops to withdraw, I'm afraid the current Nanzhao would have ceased to exist. Needless to say, Nanzhao hated Prince Ding, and Prince Ding probably regarded the revived Nanzhao as a thorn in his side. Mo Jingli curled his lips in disdain, "Mo Xiuyao claimed to be a god in military operations, but he failed to pacify Southern Xinjiang after fighting for a year. It took me only half a month to sweep Yongzhou. It will take at most another half a year to pacify the entire south of the Yunlan River!"

"Your Highness is wise." The military advisor smiled, wiping his sweat without leaving a trace. The fact that they were able to succeed so smoothly this time was definitely because God was helping them. Ever since Murong Shen guarded Broken Snow Pass, the emperor has used various methods to reduce the military strength of Yongzhou, and the governor of Yongzhou has been doing his best to make trouble for Murong Shen. That's why Yongzhou's defense was left empty. And this time, they took action suddenly and unexpectedly, which made everything go smoothly. When the court reacts in the future, I'm afraid it won't be so smooth. But your Highness is right. As long as Murong Shen at Broken Snow Pass is eliminated, the area south of the Yunlan River will indeed be in their pocket.

"Your Highness! The Western Army is under attack!" The soldiers outside the tent reported in a panic. Mo Jingli was startled, and suddenly stood up and walked out of the tent to look into the distance. Sure enough, he saw a fire in the west. "What the hell! How could Yonglin City still have the strength to launch a surprise attack?" The military advisor followed behind and was also stunned when he saw the situation in the west. He quickly reminded: "Your Highness..." Mo Jingli said coldly: "Send someone to reinforce!"

"Your Majesty, look over there!" The generals who had hurried over shouted in surprise. At the same time, the eastern camp was also lit up with fire. One of them said in shock, "The eastern camp was also attacked!"

The military advisor's eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Highness! Yonglin City doesn't have many soldiers and horses. If you want to attack the east and west wings at the same time, then the city must be empty. If we take the opportunity to attack the city now..." Mo Jingli turned around and stared at him, "Do you think the two guys in Yonglin City have the courage to leave Yonglin empty for a night attack?" He was not familiar with Yun Ting and Xia Shu, but they were not strangers. They were said to be the two youngest lieutenants under Murong Shen. Two lieutenants in their early twenties would not dare to leave Yonglin alone and take risks even if they had ten times the courage. Moreover, anyone who is not an idiot knows that even if the night attack is successful, it is impossible to repel hundreds of thousands of troops, and it will waste the defense forces of Yonglin City.

"What your Highness meant..." the military advisor frowned.

"Send spies to investigate! General Zhang, General Li, reinforce the East and West Camps!"

"Yes! Your Majesty."

On a mountain peak not far from Prince Li's camp, Ye Li looked down with satisfaction at the fireworks and sounds of killing below. Xia Shu, An Er and An San followed Ye Li and watched the scene below the mountain. "Reinforcements are coming!" Xia Shu pointed to a group of people and horses on the road below the mountain moving quickly towards the West Camp. Ye Li lowered her eyebrows and smiled, "Is the West Camp about to end? Let's have someone lead them around a few times." Xia Shu smiled and said, "Of course, in terms of terrain, our locals who have been stationed here for many years are more familiar with it. I'm afraid the East Wing will soon be unable to hold on." Ye Li said, "Let them deal with the people there. Let the Dark Guards prepare. I don't want Mo Jingli to send more troops to reinforce." Eating too much will choke to death. An San smiled and said, "Don't worry, Princess. The Dark Guards are not good at fighting, but they are definitely good at making trouble!"

"The rebels would never have thought that their own people would come out from behind to kill them." If they were attacked from behind in the dark, they would have to prepare for a dog-eat-dog fight. Thanks to the fact that King Li had not had time to change his appearance, the rebels' weapons and uniforms were similar to those of the Yonglin guards. As for whether they could see the emblem of King Li's fiefdom in the dark valley, it depended on their luck.

Ye Li nodded with satisfaction, "Let's go and take a look." The four of them got on the horses parked not far away and ran silently to another hilltop in the dark night. It can be predicted that there will be an even more exciting battle there.

No one was spared that night, and the fighting did not stop until the sky gradually brightened. As a result, Mo Jingli's already gloomy face became even darker than ink. The nearly 30,000 troops from the east and west wings plus the reinforcements suffered nearly 70% to 80% casualties. The bodies left by the enemy were less than 3,000. As for the valley behind the East Camp, it was almost entirely his own people. If he still couldn't guess what happened, he would be an idiot! More than 20,000 soldiers were killed in one night, and the commanders of the east and west camps and the two generals sent to reinforce also died. This was a shocking blow to the originally high morale of King Li's army. At some point, the news that King Ding and his Black Cloud Cavalry were in Yonglin City spread quietly in King Li's army. Almost all the soldiers couldn't help but panic. The Dingguo Palace and the Black Cloud Cavalry definitely have an everlasting and unshakable intimidation in the hearts of every soldier.

At this time, Yonglin City was indeed filled with joy. This great victory made Yun Ting walk with joy.

"Don't be happy too soon. By the time Mo Jingli figures out the truth, no one will be able to stop his army." Ye Li said helplessly. Yun Ting said excitedly, "How about we launch a few more sneak attacks?" Xia Shu rolled his eyes at him unhappily, "Do you think that King Li's men are all idiots? Will they let you succeed again after being ambushed once? Maybe they are waiting for you to fall into their trap now." Ye Li nodded and said, "Xia Shu is right. This time we are really taking a risky move. If Mo Jingli reacts and attacks Yonglin directly, then even if we can kill another 20,000 or 30,000 rebels, it will be useless." Yun Ting gradually came back to his senses from his excitement, biting his fingers anxiously, "What should we do? When will the damn imperial reinforcements arrive?"

"Princess." An San came in with a letter. Ye Li nodded and said to the two of them, "You guys go and get busy first."

Yun Ting and Xia Shu left respectfully. Ye Li took the envelope from An San and opened it. She was happy at first, but soon her face darkened. An San looked at Ye Li's changing expression with some surprise. He didn't know what was written in the letter that made the usually calm princess so abnormal. After a long while, Ye Li slammed the letter on the table and said, "Pass the order down. All troops are on alert starting today!"

"Princess, what's wrong?"

Ye Li said: "Mo Jingli will most likely attack Yonglin within the next two days."

An San was puzzled. According to their prediction, the rebels should not take any action in the next few days. Ye Li glanced at the letter on the table and said, "The reinforcements will arrive at Yunlan River within three days, and Mo Jingli will get the news soon. If he doesn't attack Yonglin now, he will have no chance once the reinforcements arrive." An San nodded, "So... as long as we can hold on for three days..."

"I'm afraid these three days won't be so easy."

In the army of King Li, Mo Jingli stared at the secret letter in his hand as if he wanted to stare a hole in it. After a long while, he said angrily: "What a great Black Cloud Cavalry. I want to know who the expert is in Yonglin City!" The secret letter clearly stated that Mo Xiuyao had entered the palace to see Mo Jingqi ten days ago. Even if he had left Beijing at that time, it would be impossible for him to rush to Yongzhou in such a short time. So the one who blocked his way these days was not Mo Xiuyao, the cripple. And the Black Cloud Cavalry... except for the two thousand Black Cloud Cavalry in Yonglin City, there was no trace of the Black Cloud Cavalry after searching almost the entire Yongzhou.

"Your Highness, now..." The military advisor's face was solemn, "The reinforcements are coming very quickly. They will cross the Yunlan River in three days at most. Please make a decision as soon as possible." Should the troops withdraw and attack eastward, or continue to attack westward to break through the Broken Snow Pass and join the Nanzhao army.

"Attack the city at all costs!"

The battle started again, and this time it was more intense than the attack a few days ago. Mo Jingli spared no effort in sending out his most elite troops to attack the city. Although the defense capability of Yonglin City was further improved with the help of the Black Cloud Cavalry, the soldiers defending the city were exhausted and suffered heavy casualties due to the uninterrupted and crazy attack. The rebels gradually retreated all day until night, but they were still confronting Yonglin City less than five miles away. Nearly half of the Yonglin defenders had been killed or injured during the day. They could not even rest peacefully at night and had to guard against the rebels' sneak attacks at night. Ye Li frowned as he looked at the situation in front of him. He waved his hand and ordered the Black Cloud Cavalry to stay at the guard tower at night so that the soldiers guarding the city could have a rest for a while.

"Ah Li, can we defend Yonglin City?" Late at night, Murong Ting stood on the tower and looked down. The dark and oppressive camp of the rebels in the distance made people feel heavy. Ye Li looked at her sideways and smiled, "Why are you scared?" Murong Ting pouted and said dissatisfiedly, "Who is scared? It's just... I have never seen so many dead people. Daddy always said that I was naive before, but now I know that I am really naive. I always thought that I knew more than others because I stayed at the border with Daddy for a few years. In fact, I have never seen a battlefield." Ye Li comforted her softly, "You did a good job." Murong Ting was also busy that day, bringing doctors and strong men in the city to help military doctors treat injured soldiers, and help transport food, arrows, etc. He looked haggard. "General Murong will definitely be proud of you."

Murong Ting smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I didn't do anything. Ah Li is the most amazing one. If Ah Li was my father's daughter, my father would be so happy that he would wake up laughing even in his dreams."

Ye Li laughed softly and said, "Why don't we go back and ask General Murong if he's willing to let me switch with you?"

"No, Daddy loves me the most."

Ye Li chuckled and whispered, "Don't worry, we will be fine."

Murong Ting was startled, and sighed, "I'm not afraid. If the rebels really come, I'll kill one of them, and I'll kill two of them!" Seeing Murong Ting pretending to be brave, Ye Li couldn't help but sneer. She sighed and looked up at the crescent moon in the sky, and a trace of worry gradually stained her beautiful face.

In a corner of the tower, Xia Shu and Yun Ting stood side by side, their eyes fixed on the slender figure in the distance. Ye Li was wearing a moon-white men's suit, with her black hair tied up with a moon-white ribbon instead of a hairpin. Under the moonlight, her crystal-clear face was covered with a layer of light silver light, showing a trace of pure melancholy. Her aura, as quiet as a lotus and as elegant as an orchid, overshadowed the fiery girl in red beside her.

"If I can survive this time, I must join the Black Cloud Cavalry!" Yun Ting said firmly. Joining the Black Cloud Cavalry has always been his wish, but he is even more determined now.

"If we really can't hold on tomorrow, you escort the princess away first. Go to Jiangbei, and we should meet reinforcements soon after crossing the Yunlan River." Xia Shu said calmly.

Yun Ting glared at him and asked, "Young Master, are you the one who escaped from the battlefield?"

Xia Shu glanced at him calmly, "Don't you know what the relationship is between the princess and Prince Li? What will happen if she falls into Prince Li's hands?" Yun Ting was stunned, and couldn't help but look at the woman standing in the wind in the distance. He scratched his head in annoyance and said, "I don't have the ability to escort the princess away, so you should go. You are better at persuading people. The princess doesn't look like she will abandon Yonglin City and leave on her own. After all, I have never seen a princess like this before."

Xia Shu nodded in agreement. Although they had only known each other for a few days, this Princess Ding, who was younger than them, completely overturned their perception of the title of princess. She looked weak on the outside, but was stronger than a man on the inside. She also had amazing intelligence, the sharpness of a general, and better skills than many people. Many times, Xia Shu felt that the woman was not a princess who was used to being docile, but a soldier who had experienced many battles.

"What do you think? If we both survive, and I ask the princess to take me into the Black Cloud Cavalry, will she agree?" Yun Ting has always been in the habit of not considering problems that cannot be solved. He turned his head and began to fantasize about a beautiful future.

Xia Shu thought for a moment and smiled faintly: "Perhaps you can go and ask Princess Ding if the Black Cloud Cavalry is still recruiting people."

Yun Ting's eyes lit up, and he was eager to try when he saw the moon-white figure talking to Murong Ting not far away. Xia Shu shook his head helplessly, turned around and walked down the tower, saying, "Go back and rest, don't forget there will be another fierce battle tomorrow."

Yun Ting nodded nonchalantly, still hesitating whether to ask Princess Ding, after all, not everyone has the opportunity to meet the owner of Black Cloud Cavalry. Looking at the soft figure under the moonlight, Yun Ting turned and walked down the tower. If he could still survive tomorrow, he would ask Princess Ding to accept him into Black Cloud Cavalry!