While the Tatars were preparing for a desperate battle, Pei Jie's side was not idle either.
After the soldiers finished cleaning up the battlefield, they took turns resting to recover their strength. Pei Jie also had Han Zhongyu invited over to discuss the strategy for retaking Hangu Pass.
After all, before I arrived, Han Zhongyu and Xie Yushu managed to hold off the Tatar army of 100,000 for four or five days with only a few thousand men, which was simply a miracle in the history of warfare!
Despite being outnumbered by a factor of twenty, the fact that Tianshui City was not lost was a great victory for them. This was a classic example of winning with fewer troops, and it certainly reflected their strong will and unwavering belief in their ability to fight to the death.
However, Pei Jie, who had led troops for so many years, knew all too well that such a victory could not have been achieved by spirit alone; there must have been some strategy he was unaware of supporting it.
He was really itching to find out!
When Han Zhongyu learned that he wanted to know how he defended the city, he didn't hide anything and told Xie Yushu about the two key moves that turned the tide of the battle.
Upon hearing Xie Yushu's suggestion to use straw men and mats to catch arrows, Pei Jie slapped his thigh in excitement.
"Hahaha, Princess Jingde is indeed wise. She used the enemy's arrows to fight back, which saved both time and labor. This plan is ingenious. In my opinion, it should be recorded in history and left as a reference for future generations."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yi sincerely praised Xie Yushu for her quick wit and sharp mind.
At the same time, he was shocked that Xie Yushu was not only successful in business, but also a heroine on the battlefield. He felt regretful about what he had missed!
It turns out that I had been too good for myself back then. A pearl was covered in dust. It's a pity that neither I nor the Xiao family had the discernment to see the potential. We had a pearl in our family, but we treated it as rubble.
Now, this pearl is no longer relevant to him, and thinking of this, Xiao Yi felt a deep sense of loss again.
Before he could finish speaking, Han Zhongyu continued...
"On the fourth day, the Tatars changed their tactics. They attacked like mad dogs, recklessly charging forward. They also reduced the number of arrows they fired, and we eventually ran out of ammunition and food."
We thought that day would be our death day, but Yu Shu had the prefect bring some trained pigeons, sorcerers, Taoist priests, and street performers with phosphorus powder, which is the kind of thing that makes talismans spontaneously combust without fire.
Yu Shu said that this kind of thing has an extremely low ignition temperature and is very easy to ignite. She also boldly guessed that the black oilcloth commonly used to cover grain and fodder must also be found on the Tatar side.
Black absorbs heat, so when the sun is shining brightly, pigeons can carry phosphorus powder over and stick it to a black cloth. After the sun shines on it for a while, it will surely ignite the phosphorus and set the cloth ablaze.
As she predicted, at the most critical moment of the war, the Tatars' supplies were burned. We then spread the word that reinforcements had arrived. The Tatars, fearing being surrounded by reinforcements, withdrew their troops. Thus, we held out for another day.
However, due to the disparity in troop strength between the enemy and ourselves, the Tatars eventually stormed into the city.
Thankfully you arrived in time; had it been even a little later, several more villages might have suffered!
Han Zhongyu spoke calmly, but Pei Jie and Xiao Yi were inwardly in turmoil.
Pei Jie asked in shock
"You're saying that street performers and those charlatans' tricks have such an effect!"
That's really strange!
Such a wonderful thing, and they just let them hold it in their hands to amuse others, what a waste!
No, this general will immediately order his men to retrieve all that magical phosphorus powder you mentioned!
With such a powerful weapon in hand, defeating a few Tatars would be a piece of cake.
Pei Jie was also a man of great energy and decisiveness. As soon as he finished speaking, he sent several of his men to collect phosphorus powder from several nearby towns.
Then he repeatedly praised Xie Yushu as a genius, saying that she knew such obscure knowledge, and compared to Xie Yushu, he, a general who only led troops into battle, was somewhat short-sighted.
Hearing Pei Jie give Xie Yushu such high praise, Xiao Yi was at a loss for words. Pei Jie and Han Zhongyu were both young masters from noble families, skilled in both literature and martial arts, and handsome in appearance.
Even they praised Xie Yushu highly, which shows how outstanding she is.
It was indeed his own blindness and delusion that he had mistaken her for an ordinary woman and even dared to dream of having two wives. Only now did Xiao Yi truly understand where Xie Yushu's confidence in accepting the letter of divorce and starting her own household came from.
It turns out that when she came to the Xiao family, she really was just making do and compromising.
But she thought she was marrying above her station.
He thought that since he had become a general, giving her the position of a concubine would be doing her a favor.
However, in the eyes of Han Zhongyu and Pei Jie, Xie Yushu was indeed a genius, a remarkable woman whom they could not compare to.
Ha! He truly is a genius; otherwise, how could he have created such amazing things as repeating crossbows, glass, and alcohol?
As expected, they were the ones who shared the same vision, while I was just a wild boar that couldn't eat fine chaff; even if it were offered to me, I wouldn't know how to appreciate it.
Having realized this, Xiao Yi blushed deeply and could no longer stay in the room. He mumbled something about going to check on his brothers' injuries and quickly left.
Since it was a rest period and no battle plans were being made, it didn't matter whether Xiao Yi was there or not, so Pei Jie let him be.
He then discussed with Han Zhongyu how to recapture Hangu Pass in the shortest time with the fewest casualties and drive Suhebalu back to the grasslands.
Pei Jie originally planned to divide the army into three parts: he would lead the main force to attack from the front, Xiao Yi would lead his men to flank from the left, and another team would be sent to flank from the right.
Unlike Tianshui City, Hangu Pass is not surrounded by city walls. Instead, it is flanked by high mountains and dense forests. Even tens of thousands of troops could enter silently and stealthily, making it difficult for others to detect them. A surprise attack would greatly increase the chances of a resounding victory.
However, Han Zhongyu felt that after the incident of the burning of the grain supplies, the Tatars had become frightened birds and would probably not gather together. They were likely to disperse into several groups. Blindly rushing in would not be a wise move, but would only make it easier for them to divide, surround and devour them.
After all, they number around 60,000 to 70,000! They shouldn't be underestimated.
Pei Jie listened, pondered for a moment, and nodded.
"That's a possibility. In that case, we'll have to move the battlefield to the area between Hangu Pass and Tianshui City."
Therefore, some people had to be left behind to guard the city in case of emergency.
"How about this? I'll leave you eight thousand men to guard the city, and General Xiao and I will lead our men to slaughter them all!"
"I, Han, will certainly live up to your expectations!"
However, General Pei still needs to make troop deployments first. Sukhbaatar is very skilled in fighting and has many fierce generals under his command. General Pei needs to decide on the candidates to fight him.
If they were to fight, their strength would be evenly matched, and there wouldn't be any innocent casualties.
Pei Jie thought about the people he had fought before, then asked Han Zhongyu...
"I have fought a few myself, and I know their strengths and weaknesses. Lord Han, do you think there are any other outstanding fighters that I haven't noticed?"
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