Chapter 525: Zhao Duan Comes Out of Seclusion (5k)
The sun jumped out of the ground and the world suddenly became bright.
The main force of the imperial army was advancing towards the rebel stronghold, Ning'an County.
However, the expected rebel resistance did not come. Instead, they began to encounter large numbers of refugees who were driven here along the way.
Somewhere on a hillside.
Xue Shence, dressed in military uniform, gazed solemnly at the plain ahead. A cold wind blew across his face, causing his hair to flutter beneath his helmet.
"The army still can't advance?"
In front of the sight, the road was completely blocked. The refugees with their families fleeing from Ning'an County were so numerous that there was almost no end in sight. They carried luggage, carriages and horses, forcing the imperial army to stop.
Even though the soldiers below were constantly leading the refugees from the road to the side of the road and away from the main army, the team could only advance at a very slow speed.
"Your Excellency, there are too many refugees. We are carrying a large amount of equipment and supplies, and we cannot take a detour. This is already the fastest speed we can go." A military officer behind him responded helplessly.
Xue Shence sighed softly, waved his hand, frowned, and whispered:
"Something's wrong."
Behind him, Mo Chou walked up the hillside against the wind and asked:
"What's wrong? They're clearly using these refugees to slow down our advance and avoid a head-on confrontation with us."
In today's counterattack, the army in the city was divided into three teams.
Xue Shence led the largest army, including Chen Huoshen's firearms battalion, as the main force and advanced head-on.
Commanders Shi Meng and Yuan Feng each led a team to attack along the other two routes.
Xue Shence said calmly:
"From what these refugees have said, we've confirmed that most of them are from around Ning'an County, including Wenshui County. They were ordered out of the city by the rebels and driven to flee towards us along this route.
This is a very clever move. It can seriously slow us down, buy us more time, and also throw a heavy burden on us...
Oh, if the rebels had chosen to burn the city at the most critical moment, then these refugees would have lost their homes, and the court would have to find a way to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to settle the refugees.
I'm afraid that the military rations that Governor Zhao worked so hard to collect are not enough to feed these refugees.
This is the opponent's real killer move."
Of course, what he didn't say was that driving away refugees was also to reduce the harm of "burning the city."
Even though King Mu had been defined as a "traitor", he chose to burn the city, an act destined to bring him infamy. However, burning only houses and fields... and burning people to death are still two completely different things.
Su Dan drove out a large group of refugees, which not only disgusted the imperial court, but also reduced the resistance and consequences of burning the city.
Mo Chou asked doubtfully, "Since you see it so clearly, what's wrong?"
"Time." Xue Shence turned back and looked at her seriously:
"It's too early to use this tactic. If we want to fight to the maximum extent possible and buy time, we should first send out troops, relying on the terrain along the way to hinder our advance, causing us as much damage as possible, and then drive away the refugees...
But Su Dan has chosen to do this now. I suspect some of my previous judgments were wrong, but I still need intelligence feedback from the other two teams to verify it."
Mo Chou pursed her lips and said with worry in her eyes:
"We've been out of the city for several hours now. Considering that Shi Meng and Yuan Feng's teams set out even earlier, they should have received some news by now."
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a falcon from the army broke through the clouds in the eastern sky.
Soon, a military intelligence report from Yuan Feng was delivered to the hillside.
Xue Shence unfolded the letter, glanced at it, and his expression darkened slightly. He said to the group of generals who had gathered:
"Yuan Feng's team is advancing much faster than expected, and has already passed Yinma Village."
Everyone was delighted:
"The enemy must be aware of our superior strength and know they cannot resist, so their morale is low and they have no will to fight to the death."
Mo Chou was also confused and asked, "Isn't this a good thing? Why are you so sad?"
Xue Shence shook his head and sighed deeply:
"Is it a good thing? Something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary. Based on my experience fighting with Su Dan some time ago, this group of rebels is definitely not a group of scattered sand that surrenders at the sight of a threat. It is impossible for them to retreat so quickly. Considering these disaster victims in front of me, there is only one answer!
That means Su Dan has already withdrawn the main force of the rebels, and only a group of mediocre soldiers are left outside to occupy the territory!
He clearly controlled the geographical advantages, but he voluntarily gave them up and handed them over to us!
What does it mean?
This means he had no intention of fighting us, nor did he think of defending the city! Instead, he was planning to withdraw from the beginning! We were deceived by his pretense! "
Got cheated?
Mo Chou and the others were startled!
Over the past two days, the imperial court has been analyzing the rebels' actions and has come to the following conclusions:
Su Dan is prepared for failure, but he will still fight against the court.
It was intended to buy time to transport the looted materials from the city, and also to weaken the imperial court's military strength as much as possible and hinder the offensive momentum.
The subsequent tactical arrangements were also made based on this judgment.
But at this moment, Xue Shence said that Su Dan had never thought about fighting, but had already started to evacuate.
Mo Chou's heart suddenly skipped a beat:
"If that's true, doesn't that mean they might burn the city down beforehand? They wouldn't wait until they 'can't hold their territory' or 'can't defeat us' before doing this, but rather their goal from the very beginning was to burn down the city?!"
At this time, a falcon also flew over from the western sky.
"Report! Commander Shi has sent a message! His troops have captured Wenshui County! They are heading towards Ning County!" The messenger came running.
For a moment, everyone was stunned.
"Wenshui County has been captured?!" Xue Shence couldn't believe it.
You must know that the purpose of Shi Meng's team was only to contain Wenshui County, and they were not the main force of the attack at all.
Therefore, Chen Huoshen had no artillery at all. Therefore, it is impossible for Shi Meng to capture the city by relying on firearms.
It took only a few hours to capture one of the two cities occupied by the enemy. How could this not be terrifying?
Could it be that the defenders in Wenshui County have also withdrawn?
"Impossible, our spies have repeatedly confirmed that the main forces of the rebels are in Ning'an and Wenshui cities. It is impossible for the other side to withdraw without anyone noticing! It is impossible for such an obvious target to go unnoticed in advance!" Someone questioned.
Xue Shence immediately snatched the letter and was slightly stunned after reading it.
Mo Chou came closer, her expression becoming strange.
According to intelligence, the successful capture of the city was attributed to the Death Squad led by Wei Xianzong.
The first target of the Death Squadron was Wuhe Town, which they captured unexpectedly smoothly. Afterwards, Wei Xianzong led the officers and soldiers of the Death Squadron to change into rebel clothes, disguised themselves as "ruined soldiers" and fled to Wenshui County.
And successfully tricked the city gate open.
Of course, this was achieved mainly thanks to the assistance of the "puppet army" who voluntarily surrendered from the former inspection office of Wuhe Town.
In addition, another important factor is that the "garrison commander" of Wenshui County and Chen Yong, the chief of Wuhe Town, are relatives...
"After successfully entering the city, Wei Xianzong disguised himself as one of Chen Yong's men, approached the Wenshui County garrison, found an opportunity to kill him, and then destroyed the rebels' command post inside the city.
Then they instigated some of the surrendered imperial soldiers within the city to revolt... opened the city gates, welcomed Shi Meng into the city, and only then were they able to capture Wenshui County. Well, Shi Meng's musket team also played a significant role."
Mo Chou read out the information with a strange expression:
"After Shi Meng captured the city, he discovered that incineration points had been set throughout Wenshui County. Based on the intelligence provided by the surrendered soldiers and according to military orders, the plan to burn Wenshui County would have been launched today. Fortunately, we were able to defeat it beforehand."
After a pause, he added:
"As for Wei Xianzong, he has led the Death Squad, pretending to be a defeated soldier, and fled to Ning'an County, trying to blend in."
Is this even possible? The generals looked at each other in bewilderment.
The intelligence only briefly stated the result, but you can tell from your brain that the process is definitely not that simple.
The enemy general is not a fool, how could he be easily tricked into opening the city?
"Emperor Xianzong of Wei... Governor Zhao has saved us a great general." Xue Shence sighed. Even he was amazed by the courage and ability of the former commander of Qingzhou.
Xue Shence waved his hand and said:
"This is good news. With the Wenshui River breached, Shi Meng has no refugees hindering him. He is likely to attack the rear of Ning'an City first and cut off his retreat route. This time, Su Dan will have a headache.
However, the time they have to buy us is limited. We must speed up our progress and stop taking it slow. Pass the order on to violently drive out the refugees and clear the roads as quickly as possible!"
He turned around and looked towards Ning'an County, the Fang Tian Hua Ji in his hand feeling heavy and cold.
…
…
Ning'an County, inside the lobby of the county government office.
The atmosphere was solemn at the moment. Generals were hurrying in and out, but there was no sign of disorder.
The entire city had begun evacuation preparations as early as yesterday. Everything should have been chaotic, but under Su Dan's rule, it appeared to be in good order.
The entire Ning'an County is now empty, and the people have been driven away. The remaining rebels are like a sophisticated instrument, carrying out Su Dan's military orders.
The "Juren General", the vanguard general of the Yunfu rebels, sat upright in the lobby.
He was wearing an official robe, a black gauze hat, and only half a piece of soft armor on his upper body. In the gaps of the armor, there were several books that were often read.
Su Dan has a handsome appearance, a fair complexion and a light beard, and he has the air of a scholar.
"General, the sixty-seven burning points in the city have been properly prepared, and the people have all been driven out of the city. We only need the order to burn the city."
An officer came to report in the hall.
Su Dan nodded slightly and said with a smile: "That's right, order the army in the city to prepare to evacuate. We will leave today, and the moment we leave, the city will be burned down."
The officer took the order and left.
The evacuation order was only issued today, and no one below knew about it. This was an arrangement made to avoid being discovered in advance by the court spies in the city.
At the back of the hall, a deep voice suddenly sounded:
"Amitabha, the general said before that we should defend the city firmly and burn it down only as a last resort."
The person who spoke was actually a big monk, but he was not wearing monk's robes, but a very common cloth shirt.
He carried a large bamboo hat with a gauze curtain and a long stick on his back, but the scars on his bald head revealed his origin.
Su Dan turned around and said to the monk with a smile:
"Master Fanlong, as the saying goes, all is fair in war. The imperial army is powerful, so defending this city is pointless. We released all that information before just to confuse Xue Shence. Setting fire to the city required four signals to be met simultaneously. Why would we go through so much trouble?
There was only one real signal: 'burn when withdrawing.' As for the treasures in the city, it was indeed a pity, but it would take too long and make too much noise to transport so much treasure away, and it would be impossible to hide it from Xue Shence, so they had no choice but to burn them."
He explained patiently.
This is naturally because the other party’s identity is special.
This monk "Fanlong" is a martial arts expert in a temple called Shenlong Temple on the Huai River.
The main temple of Shenlong Temple in the capital was destroyed, but the branch temples scattered across the country, especially in the rebel-occupied areas, still existed.
Monk Fanlong came here on behalf of Prince Mu to protect General Su Dan.
Fan Long clasped his hands together, and a sigh crossed his tough face:
"Amitabha."
Hypocritical...Su Dan smiled without saying anything.
Suddenly, a messenger came from outside the hall and reported:
"General, a defeated group of over a hundred soldiers from the Wenshui County garrison have fled outside the city, claiming that the county has been breached by firearms from Shi Meng, commander of the Imperial Divine Machine Battalion! The garrison commander has been tragically killed!"
What? !
Su Dan's smile froze on his face, and he finally felt uneasy!
After careful questioning, he murmured:
"The new firearms are truly powerful, having defeated the Qingzhou Army's Shenji Battalion..."
He quickly walked to the map on the wall in the lobby, looked at it carefully, and his expression became increasingly ugly.
Wenshui County has a special location. Once occupied by the imperial court, his retreat route can be cut off.
As a result, his plan to lead the troops to evacuate today would be difficult to implement, because once they evacuated, even if Ning'an County was burned down, the road would still be empty.
As long as Xue Shence breaks through the refugees' obstruction, he can advance straight ahead and catch up, but the Yunfu army is blocked by the Shenji Camp in Wenshui County...
Being attacked from both sides is a big taboo in military strategy!
"Order! All troops, defend the city and use it to resist Xue Shence. Also, escort the detained civilians to the city gates. If the enemy uses the artillery, we will use it to force them to retreat."
Su Dan immediately ordered:
"Send another order, the troops on the eastern front will cooperate with the cavalry to retreat and open up the evacuation route!"
The evacuation route does not need to pass through the Wenshui River, so as long as the cavalry who are not good at defending the city are sent to contain the people of the Shenji Camp, they can still evacuate.
Upon seeing this, Monk Fanlong lowered his brows and felt uneasy.
…
At the same time, in Ning'an County.
In an empty residential area, "Sikong", a member of the assassin organization "Xiu Yi Zhi Zhi" of Prince Mu's Mansion, looked warily at a group of mysterious people who suddenly appeared in the courtyard.
The boy, about seventeen or eighteen years old, was very thin, but his arms were extremely long, his eyes rolled around, and he looked very smart.
At this moment, he held a handleless dagger in his hand and stared at the uninvited guests in cloaks:
"Who are you?"
The leader was tall and straight, two heads taller than Sikong. He looked down at the young man and casually took out a token from his waist, threw it to him, and said coldly:
"Where is Nie Yurong, the Embroidered Clothes Envoy?"
Did he know about the existence of his elder sister? Sikong was startled and quickly caught the token. He looked at it carefully and saw the word "Mu" clearly visible on it.
Many anti-counterfeiting details also match.
This is a warrant that only the eunuchs in Prince Mu’s Palace have!
Sikong did not dare to be careless and bowed respectfully:
"Envoy Nie Xiuyi is currently lurking in the enemy camp. I wonder why you are here, sir?"
"He's not here..." The leader frowned, but still raised his hand to take off his hat, revealing a long and thin face:
"We are here under the order of the prince to assist General Su in resisting the enemy."
When he took off his hat, Sikong finally saw that the man was carrying a strange wooden bow on his back.
The young man was stunned for a moment and blurted out: "Master Lu Tong?!"
He recognized the man's identity: Lu Tong, the best archer among the retainers of Prince Mu's palace, nicknamed "Wan Tian Qing".
…
…
Just as the two armies set out and a war was about to break out.
In Taicang Prefecture City, inside the Lu Mansion's courtyard.
Zhao Duan watched as the formation in the house gradually dimmed, and wisps of flames were madly absorbed and converged into the Red Flame Holy Armor.
Two whole days passed as he continued to smelt and refine, throwing almost all the useful rare objects he had looted from the gentry in the city into the "furnace" of the Red Flame Holy Armor.
The effect was also very significant. At this moment, the color of the Red Flame Holy Armor was no longer red, but turned white.
This is the change that occurs after the internal accumulation of magic power breaks through a certain limit.
"The magical power within this armor at this moment is definitely beyond that of the mortal world, and it is very likely to have reached the realm of a celestial being."
Zhao Duan raised his hand and took the armor. It felt warm to the touch, but just touching it gave him a thrilling feeling.
It was as if this was a blazing furnace that could explode at any time and burn everything.
He put on the "full-blood version" of the Red Flame Holy Armor, covered it with his clothes, walked out of the yard, and raised his hand.
In the pool, an ancient seal was also flying around, covered with misty water vapor. It was the Black Turtle Seal.
Now the color is almost pure black, forming a sharp contrast with the pure white Red Flame Holy Armor.
"Who would have thought that this seal contained almost an entire underground river? However, this is already the limit. With my true cultivation level, there is no way I can activate either of these two talismans to their full potential."
Zhao Duan murmured softly.
Suddenly, he looked up and saw a certain part of the courtyard wall, and said:
"Come in."
A black shadow then twisted and leaped into the courtyard, gradually solidifying into the appearance of the worshiper Song Jinxi. The killer eunuch bowed and said:
"Sir, the scholar has brought back information, and I feel it is necessary to inform you."
Two days ago, Zhao Duan asked him to ask the gold medal shadow guard scholar for information about Bai Falcon.
"Speak." Zhao Duan said lightly.
Song Jinxi said:
"The scholar said that the white falcon has been captured by Xiu Yizhizhi, a subordinate of Prince Mu's palace, and is most likely dead. Therefore, the white falcon in the palace should be fake, and may be Xiu Yizhi impersonating him."
Zhao Duan was not surprised at all, as if he had expected it. He nodded and walked out of the Lu Mansion.
"Very good, follow me back to the government office."
Song Jinxi asked, "Sir, do you want to arrest this man for questioning?"
Zhao Duan shook his head, looked towards the south, and said softly:
"Xue Shence has already gone to war, so we can't be absent."
(End of this chapter)
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