Chapter 5: What are you doing in the city? Like a delicate flower...
Fang Yilan was holding his chin with his hand, staring at the map on the wall of the study with a sad face and a dull look in his eyes.
Ningqiu City is surrounded by mountains on three sides, forming a natural barrier to protect the city. The mountains to the east, west, and north are steep, leaving only a winding official road to the south. Mountains on either side of the road form a narrow valley.
Even someone like Fang Yilan, who knew nothing about military affairs, understood that Qiu Ning's terrain was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
If we choose to attack head-on, regardless of the final outcome, our military strength will inevitably suffer serious losses; if we are defeated, the person on the throne will also make us suffer the consequences.
Born in a peaceful era, she couldn't even do a simple task like killing fish, let alone lead troops in battle. Why not just take advantage of the chaos and secretly escape, hiding her identity and becoming an ordinary citizen?
But if you get caught along the way...
Fang Yilan's gaze wandered and quietly fell on another person in the study.
This man came uninvited early in the morning and was now sitting at the table in the front hall, holding a pen in his hand, drawing something.
As if noticing her gaze, Zhao Huaixu's lips suddenly curled up into a faint smile, and he whispered, "General, does something seem to be bothering you?"
"In Ruining, how many years is the sentence for desertion?"
"If it were an ordinary soldier, he would be caned a hundred times," Zhao Huaixu stopped writing and looked up at her, adding with a half-smile, "However, if it were a general, he would certainly not be able to escape beheading and having his property confiscated."
Well, let’s just stay here…
Fang Yilan snorted coldly and changed the subject unhappily: "You came to my place so early in the morning, are you here just to cause trouble?"
Zhao Huaixu's beautiful thin lips curled slightly downwards, pretending to be distressed. "It's really sad. Huaixu had good intentions and wanted to help the general solve his problems."
After he finished speaking, he picked up the blueprint he had just drawn on the table and walked slowly to Fang Yilan's desk.
Fang Yilan lowered his eyes and saw a route map.
Zhao Huaixu tapped a spot on the map and continued, "Kangrao and Ningqiu are adjacent. Huaixu often visited Ningqiu to visit old friends, so he knew that the people of the two places had opened up a rural path for their daily livelihoods."
"I've heard that the Ningqiu prefect, Wen Wanshu, is a coward who loves to live and cowardly, and he likes to rob the people. I'm afraid that many refugees will continue to pour out of these roads."
Fang Yilan also remembered this incident. It was mentioned in the intelligence that the people of Ningqiu often came to Kangrao to file complaints and appeals, but the officials of the two places were in cahoots, so the appeals were naturally ineffective.
Fang Yilan's eyes flashed.
It is true that Ningqiu is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Similarly, the transportation of supplies is naturally extremely dependent on the only official road in the south. All we need to do is let the army block the valley area in the south.
Given Wen Wanshu's character, he will definitely exploit the people, and he will definitely try to send Xiling's supplement through the country road provided by Zhao Huaixu.
She could rob the grain carts and then sneak into the city. When the Fang family army came outside the city to persuade them to surrender, she would lead a small team inside the city to support them. With the help of both inside and outside forces, the city gates could be opened and Ningqiu could be captured in one fell swoop.
Fang Yilan detailed his plan, and the more he spoke, the more he felt that it was feasible. He suddenly slapped the table, stood up, and strode towards the door.
Zhao Huaixu took a few steps after him, his expression concerned. "General, why don't you let me go with you? I'm familiar with all the key points here, so I can take care of you."
Fang Yilan paused in his hurried pace, turned sideways, and grinned, revealing a hint of joking: "This isn't a beauty pageant, what are you doing? You're standing in the crowd like a delicate flower, and you'll be seen at a glance. You'd better stay back and recuperate."
After saying that, he no longer looked behind him, waved his hand and disappeared from Zhao Huaixu's sight.
Zhao Huaixu was stunned at first, not expecting such an answer. A trace of embarrassment flashed across his face, and he seemed to want to say something, but the corners of his mouth twitched, and he swallowed the words back.
Delicate flower?
*
Fang Yilan rode his horse to the military camp and summoned all the generals.
"General, let me go with you to enter the city." Lieutenant General Lin was originally impressed by the strategy, but when he thought about the internal support, it was too dangerous to go deep into the enemy camp, and he couldn't help but feel worried.
She shook her head decisively and refused: "The army cannot be without a leader. We still need you to stay and command and dispatch."
This way, she wouldn't have to command and dispatch a large army, lest she show weakness. If she was mistaken for being possessed by some evil spirit, she would be captured, burned on the fire and offered as a sacrifice to the gods, and that would be the end of her.
However, Fang Yilan pretended to be mysterious and added, "Besides, the people of Xiling are quite familiar with the faces of the commanders. It would be better if I disguise myself as a man, so that it would be less noticeable."
Lieutenant General Lin was about to speak up, but Fang Yilan raised her hand to stop him. In the end, everyone followed her plan and prepared to go.
Lieutenant General Wang led an army of 30,000 and quickly occupied all the important roads and passes south of Ningqiu, strictly prohibiting any troops from passing through.
They also sent troops to patrol from the south to the east and west and set up checkpoints. Ningqiu was completely surrounded by the Ruining army.
The night was as dark as ink. On a country road west of Qiu Ning, a small team of seven or eight people were sparsely scattered, pushing a few simple ox carts, slowly moving towards Ning Qiu.
The cart was fully loaded with goods, all covered tightly with tangled straw. Everyone looked panicked, their steps hurried, and they kept glancing around cautiously.
Suddenly, a sharp night wind blew past, like a shrill wail.
Several dark shadows rushed out from the depths of the woods. Before the people in the team could react, or even see the other party's appearance clearly, the cold sharp blade had already ruthlessly cut through their necks, and blood splattered on the spot.
Only two or three managed to regain their composure, hastily drawing their swords in an attempt to resist. Their struggles seemed too feeble in the face of these dark figures, and they were all slaughtered in just a few moves.
The guard used his sword to pry open the leader's collar, found a token, and handed it to the black-clad leader. "General, all eight of our troops have been ambushed. They were loaded with fresh rice."
Looking at the dead bodies all over the ground, Fang Yilan's heart still skipped a beat. He kept hypnotizing himself in his mind, but pretended to be calm and gave orders.
"Clean up the bloodstains, leave a cart, and send five people to change clothes and go into the city with me."
"yes."
At the west gate of Ningqiu, it was curfew time and the city gates were locked. The leader of the guards suddenly heard a group of six people pushing an ox cart approaching. He instantly became alert, drew his weapons, and shouted, "Who are you?"
The thin man in the lead hurriedly took out a token from his collar and flashed it towards the city gate.
Seeing this, the team leader raised his hand and asked the soldiers to put down their weapons. He waited for the team to stop in front of him and checked the goods one by one.
After confirming that everything was correct, he nodded to let them go.
With a dull thud, the city gate slowly opened to both sides, and the man leisurely drove his ox cart into the city.
The team leader felt a strange feeling in his heart, as if something was fishy going on. He frowned slightly, looked back and forth at the few cars, and stopped a few more people.
He asked solemnly, "Wait a minute, the supplies we transported in the past were always several trucks, why is there only one today?"
Fang Yilan's face was covered in black ash. He lowered his voice deliberately, his face full of flattery: "General, you don't know! We were really unlucky along the way. We ran into Ruining's patrol troops. We were no match for them and could only run for our lives."
"We lost several of our brothers along the way, and we were able to barely keep this truckload of goods."
Having said that, he kicked the wheel angrily.
The rest of the people nodded when they heard this, with a look of lingering fear on their faces.
Fang Yilan pretended to have just come to his senses and cast his gaze back at the leader. His attitude became increasingly humble, and his words were full of flattery. "Those people in Ruining are despicable, using only despicable tricks that are not worthy of being seen. With just them, they still think they can capture Qiuning? With a general like you guarding here, they are simply daydreaming and wishful thinking!"
The team leader felt relieved by Fang Yilan's soothing words, and the boredom of guarding the city for days was much relieved.
Looking at these people from top to bottom, I saw that their clothes were torn in many places and stained with blood and dust. It really looked like they had just suffered a severe blow.
After pondering for a moment, he finally raised his hand to signal for passage.
Fang Yilan's back was actually soaked with cold sweat. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't nervous, but playing this kind of supporting role was a piece of cake for her.
Zhuang Gu's whip flicked the ox's back intermittently, driving the cart slowly into the city gate. He thought, having been in the army for over six years, this was the first time he had the honor of accompanying the commander on a special mission.
His eyes couldn't help but look at the rough farmer in front of the team, who was dressed in coarse linen and looked very rough. Thinking back to her acting skills that even made herself scolded, Zhuang Gu felt that the respect he had in his heart was shattered at this moment.
But then he remembered Fang Yilan's words about "taking advantage by wits." He felt that he still needed to practice and learn more about strategy.
*
"How dare you offer me this stale rice!" Wen Wanshu kicked the rice basket in front of him to the ground.
"Sir, food cannot be transported in right now. This is already the best food in the city." A wealthy businessman with a flattering face got up from the ground in embarrassment.
"Even if you have to rob, you must get it for me! Do you want to starve me to death?" A fat-headed and big-eared official sat on the high hall with a gloomy face, without a trace of mercy on his face.
In the past few days, Fang Yilan and his companions have been hiding among the crowds of people, quietly observing the developments in the city.
The city streets were filled with the cries of children and the wails of the elderly. Ragged and thin, the common people sat scattered on the streets, their eyes long dry of tears. They were like two dry wells, filled only with despair.
A hunchbacked old lady was running forward tremblingly, holding a small bag of corn tightly in her arms, and holding a child of seven or eight years old tightly with one hand. The child's steps were unsteady and it was obvious that he was sick.
Two yamen runners, with fierce eyes and shouting, chased after him relentlessly.
The child was already weak, and because he ran so fast, he suddenly stumbled and fell heavily to the ground. The old man was also dragged down and fell into a heap.
The yamen runners caught up with them in an instant, cursing and beating up the old man and the young boy who had no power to fight back.
Fang Yilan's face was filled with anger and a terrifying look. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white from the force. He stared intently at the hellish scene in front of him.
"General, you must not act impulsively."
Zhuang Gu's face was full of worry. Before leaving, Lieutenant General Lin's attendants reminded him to keep an eye on the general, to put the overall situation first, and not to do anything extreme or surprising to avoid alerting the enemy.
If the defenders in the city discovered that Ruining soldiers had sneaked into the city, Ningqiu would definitely strengthen the city's defenses in all aspects, and the entire plan would fail.
The people around looked reluctant, but no one dared to step forward to stop it.
The old man used up his last bit of strength to protect the child under himself, grabbed the corner of the yamen runner's clothes with both hands, and begged bitterly with tears in his eyes.
"Please, adults, please be kind and let us go!"
Unfortunately, the begging for mercy did not arouse the conscience of the yamen runners. Their fists and kicks rained down like raindrops until the old woman vomited blood and died.
The two yamen runners then snatched the corn from the old man's hands, stood up, and with a twisted look of complacency on their faces, they glanced around with contempt and said fiercely: "You really don't know how to live or die!" Then they walked away with a big laugh.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
