Upon hearing the news brought back by the spy, Li Xiao's face turned ashen.
I painstakingly led my men to ambush them, and waited all night, hungry and cold, only to find that the enemy only had a main force of less than 10,000 men.
Where did the remaining 70,000 go?
Thinking of this, Li Xiao suddenly had a bad feeling.
Li Xiao then summoned the Right Chancellor, Zhu Yao, and the military officers together.
"Gentlemen, our investigation has revealed that the Han army outside the valley entrance numbers less than ten thousand men. I find this rather strange. What are your thoughts on this?"
Upon hearing this, the Right Chancellor paused, his lips parted slightly, about to speak, when he felt his clothes being tugged. Glancing at the corner of his eye, he saw Zhu Yao shaking his head at him.
Recalling that his repeated attempts to offer advice had been fruitless, the Right Chancellor immediately shut his mouth.
"Hmm? Why are you all silent?"
Seeing that no one spoke, Li Xiao's expression darkened even more.
Everyone remained silent.
"Right Chancellor, you speak."
The Right Chancellor, whose name was mentioned, quickly thought for a moment, then hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, do you think the Han army only has this many men?"
"How is that possible?" Li Xiao's eyes widened immediately upon hearing this: "The young emperor of Han is in the army. No matter how bold he is, he couldn't possibly only bring such a small number of people. Have you lost your mind?"
"This... Your Majesty, I truly do not know. Please forgive me."
Despite his displeasure at Li Xiao's insults, the Right Chancellor feigned fear on his face.
Seeing this, Li Xiao glanced at the Right Chancellor with some displeasure, then turned to look at Zhu Yao and the group of generals, only to find that everyone had their heads down and did not intend to speak.
Seeing this, Li Xiao suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "The Emperor of Han has personally led the expedition, yet he has only brought such a small force. I believe he must have already divided his troops, either to attack our own country or to detour eastward, preparing to cut off our retreat..."
Zhu Yao, who had been silent all along, spoke up, "Your Majesty, what should we do then?"
Li Xiao pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "With the Left Chancellor recruiting a large army to defend the city, it is impossible for the Han army to take it down in a short time."
Therefore, I believe that the Han army is preparing to annihilate us here, and then send a large army to invade our country.
This is also why the Han army refused to enter the valley; they must be planning to tie us down here, wait for their main force to bypass us and attack us from both sides.”
After saying this, Li Xiao looked at his generals and said, "Issue my order that the entire army abandon the ambush, immediately return to camp to reorganize, take Muzha City tomorrow, and then take a detour to the north to return to the country and defend it."
"Your Majesty is wise."
The generals were overjoyed at the thought that they would finally be free from the cold tonight.
Soon, the order was given, and the Goguryeo soldiers cheered and packed up before retreating to their camp east of the wooden fortress.
By noon, the entire Goguryeo army had withdrawn, leaving behind only a large number of carefully prepared logs and boulders on both sides of the valley.
News of the retreat of the Goguryeo army quickly reached Liu Hong and Zhu Jun's ears.
Zhu Jun immediately ordered the entire army to reorganize its equipment and prepare for tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Gao Shun's 15,000 soldiers, after several days of travel, had arrived at a mountain forest 30 miles east of the Goguryeo camp.
While sending out scouts to intercept the message, Gao Shun immediately ordered the entire army to set up camp and prepare to recuperate before advancing again early the next morning.
The capital of Goguryeo, Sifangcheng.
At this time, Xu Rong's vanguard army also joined Ma Teng and others and arrived at the foot of Sifang City.
The Goguryeo Left Chancellor, who was in charge of guarding the capital, also hurriedly came to the city wall. When he saw the dense banners of the Han army outside the city, the Left Chancellor's expression changed, and he turned to look at a general next to him.
"What is the situation with the Han army? How many men do they have?"
The officer replied, "Reporting to the Left Chancellor, the Han army has a total of only 35,000 men, including 15,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry."
"Thirty-five thousand men?"
The Left Prime Minister was taken aback upon hearing this. "But judging from their numerous banners, they don't seem to be a force of 35,000 men."
"Left Prime Minister, you included the Han army's laborers and supply trains in your calculations. After careful reconnaissance over the past few days, the Han army's actual combatants number at most 35,000."
"Now our army has 130,000 able-bodied men inside the city, plus 300,000 men defending it. Such a small Han army has absolutely no chance of breaching the city."
"Okay, that's good."
Upon hearing this, the Left Prime Minister's expression softened, and the anxiety he had been feeling finally subsided.
"What I don't understand is that the Han army is supposed to be 80,000 strong, so why are less than half of them here?"
The Left Prime Minister smiled and said, "That goes without saying. They must have gone to attack other cities and passes. However, I was prepared and have already ordered all the men in each city to be conscripted to defend the city. There will be no trouble."
"But the Han army has been in the country for so long, why haven't we received any battle reports from other cities and passes?" the defending officer asked doubtfully.
The Left Chancellor's expression shifted: "What? Do you mean the remaining Han troops went to Buyeo to attack the King?"
"It is very likely. After all, Your Majesty is leading all of our country's elite troops. If we are defeated by the Han army and Your Majesty is in danger, we will not be able to hold out for long."
The Left Chancellor asked urgently, "What should we do then?"
After a moment of contemplation, the defending general said, "In my humble opinion, we should take advantage of the Han army's unstable foothold and defeat them. Then we can gather our main force to support Your Majesty. By attacking from both sides, we will surely annihilate all the Han army."
"That makes sense!!" The Left Prime Minister nodded.
Just then, Xu Rong, the commander of the army, also rode out of the formation and stopped outside the range of the Goguryeo defenders' arrows.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
