High Duke's Mansion
Ji Bei Hou looked at the report in front of him and his face fell. "Pa!" He slammed the report onto the ground and shouted, "Useless, it's all because of me."
As he raged, his body started to heat up. He then unbuttoned his robes. The day he sacrificed himself to the Heavens and Earth, he had been feeling uneasy, as if he had lost something important.
Shen Zhi's face was pale as well, "High Duke, ever since the last sacrifice, there was an earthquake. There have been rumors spreading amongst the people."
"My army has been on the offensive for a while now, and is getting tired. The enemy's counties are not willing to fight in the open. Hence, it's hard to find an opportunity to fight. It's not that the generals are not willing to fight, we cannot blame them."
"However, I've recruited another fifty thousand men to train them. Once they're trained, we can break through the blockade."
"That's right, an army is the foundation. Once the fifty thousand men are trained, we can break through the blockade." Ji Bei Hou mumbled to himself. He then sighed and said, "I guess that's the only way."
Shen Zhi looked over and felt uneasy as well. He then consoled Ji Bei Hou, "Fifty thousand men have been trained. This is High Duke's dragon soaring in the skies. Why would you panic?"
The Sea
"Hu, hu!" The wind kept blowing the sails forward, and the cold seawater hit the side of the ship, splashing waves. Layers of dark clouds in the sky moved with the wind, quickly changing color, and became dark with a gloomy atmosphere.
"Pa, pa, pa!"
Raindrops fell from the dark clouds, hitting the deck of the ship. Inside and outside the meeting room, there were two rows of soldiers. They were armed with swords, and their eyes were gleaming. One look and anyone could tell that they were elite soldiers.
Inside the room, there was a specially made meeting room. Even on the ship, it was spacious. The windows weren't big, and the room was dark. The Duke sat in the middle, with Pei Zi Yun on his left and Count Zhong Qin on his right. In front of them was a map of Ying Prefecture. Originally, they wanted to make a sand table, but due to the turbulence of the sea, they had no choice but to use a map.
The map was hung on the wall of the meeting room. Behind the three of them, there were about ten soldiers seated in three rows. Several candles were lit, illuminating the entire room.
A young commandant stood under the map and reported. He held a straight wooden stick that was as thick as a finger. He pointed at the map and said, "According to the latest intelligence, Chenglin County has successfully defended against the bandits. Dongping County and Huyuan County are also defending against the enemy's further expansion."
"According to Daoist Master's orders, the three prefectures behind these prefectures are rhythmically transferring troops to the frontline prefectures. Moreover, there's a defensive line behind them."
"After that, Ji Bei Hou did not attack again."
They were less than a hundred miles away from Ying Prefecture, and the reports kept coming in. This method of introduction was something that Pei Zi Yun had requested and devised. He wanted the Great General to understand his intentions.
County Prince Cheng was still young and didn't know much about military affairs. He listened attentively and didn't speak. Count Zhong Qin didn't hesitate as he stared at the map. After some time, he said, "Looks like the one with the most calculations wins. Daoist's plan is brilliant. Now that the enemy has weakened, and Ji Bei Hou has been trapped, once the imperial army arrives, they will be able to sweep them away."
When Count Zhong Qin said this, the three rows of generals behind him paused as they looked at each other. They then clasped their hands and said, "Daoist Master is a genius. Ji Bei Hou shall be destroyed."
Pei Zi Yun didn't seem to mind as he glanced at the map. From the looks of it, Ji Bei Hou had been trapped. Although he wasn't an Imperial Envoy, he had the authority to observe the situation.
Pei Zi Yun opened his eyes and looked at the map on the wall. His vision blurred as he looked at the map. It was as though a cage had appeared on the map. He thought to himself, "Ji Bei Hou has been trapped."
"Now that we've trapped the tiger, we can fight." Pei Zi Yun spoke calmly, "Ji Bei Hou's rebellion was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. It's just that the Count of Ping Yuan was defeated, which caused the situation to worsen."
"The Emperor is high up in the nine prefectures, and the Crown Prince is constantly watching over him. Furthermore, he has mobilized the three prefectures to work hard. We can't fight for too long. Now that we've formed an encirclement, we can proceed to the next step."
Count Zhong Qin paused as he pondered for sometime. He then thought to himself, 'Although we've surrounded them on land, there's still the Ying Prefecture Navy. If we attack them by force, we might fail.'
He then stood up and spoke, "Dao Master Pei, Ji Bei Hou has become a cornered beast. The Ying Prefecture Navy is still roaming around. If we attack now, I'm afraid there will be repercussions."
Speaking up to this point, Count Zhongqin paused. "Dao Master, now is not the time for the final battle, right? If we want to fight, we have to deal with the Ying Prefecture Navy first. "
Pei Zi Yun looked at Count Zhong Qin and said coldly, "Of course it's not a duel. How can you eat until you're fat? You'll choke to death if you do that."
Pei Zi Yun swept his gaze across the crowd and saw that they were all suspicious. He then stood in front of the map and took the baton from the Field Officer. He then pointed at all the counties around Ying Prefecture, "The defenses of the various counties have been completed."
As he spoke, he drew a circle on the map, encircling the area in front of him. "This is the encirclement of our imperial court. I call it the Iron Curtain. However, our army has already arrived. The various counties cannot simply defend themselves."
Prefecture Prince Cheng followed Pei Zi Yun's words and looked at the map. Pei Zi Yun then said, "The original intention was to form the Iron Curtain. Secondly, it was to let the Prefects and Field Officers of the various counties understand the difference in strength between us and the enemy, as well as the value and benefits of defending. I believe that after this battle, they have all realized this."
"With this realization, we can allow them to attack. We can order the Generals of the various counties to lead their elite troops to attack the enemy's territory. The soldiers will take turns to go out and train. However, the rule is that no matter which part of the army goes out to battle, the officials will lead sixty to seventy percent of the troops to defend the city, while the generals will lead thirty to forty percent of the troops to attack.
We cannot put the cart before the horse. "He pointed the baton on the map, each circle getting smaller and smaller. Pei Zi Yun then said coldly," This battle is not about attacking from all sides. We have to rely on the defenses of the city to attack from all sides. We have to make sure that the enemy is under heavy pressure, and not be able to deploy any troops. "
"When the enemy attacks, we have the counties to defend. This is like a fishbone stuck in our throats. When the enemy defends, our counties will take the opportunity to attack. As the saying goes, we are surrounded by enemies on all sides. We have to use our knives to cut our flesh and bleed our blood. This will cause the enemy to be so exhausted that they will not be able to rest and recover."
As Pei Zi Yun spoke, the entire meeting room fell silent. Everyone was shocked. Even Prince Cheng was deep in thought.
"Food has to be eaten one bite at a time, and war has to be fought step by step. As for the main force of our army, our first battle will not be against the enemy navy, but against Golden Island!"
Pei Zi Yun then used his baton to draw a circle on the map, "Our army has been traveling for a month now, and is very tired. We have to rest and recuperate. Before that, we need to win a battle to raise our morale. Treat it as a warm up!"
As soon as he said this, everyone nodded their heads in agreement. In reality, the most taboo thing for an army to do was to fight in stagnant waters. Although a small victory in a small battle did not seem like much, it would greatly boost the morale of the entire army.
Pei Zi Yun then said, "All the generals can start preparing. There are only a few hundred people on Golden Island. We can take them down in one fell swoop. As for other battle strategies, we shall discuss them after we have rested."
"Yes!" The rain continued to pour down, splashing onto the surface of the sea. The water splashed up and disappeared with the waves.
Golden Island
On the island, several people were looking out from the observation deck. All of a sudden, they saw a black dot on the surface of the sea. One of them paused, "Could it be that they have sent a ship over?"
The number of black dots in the distance kept increasing, and gradually became clearer. It turned into hundreds of huge ships heading towards Golden Island. These ships were huge in size, and looked like a flag tower.
Seeing the messenger team, the soldiers on the platform revealed expressions of horror. Cold sweat dripped down their foreheads, but they were unable to make a sound. After a long time, they shouted in panic, "This is bad! Run! The imperial court's army is here! Run!"
"What? The Imperial Army? " Within the army camp, the soldiers who were guarding the area were all lazing around. At this point, they were all alerted and came out to take a look. They saw that the fleet was nearing. The flags on the ships were lined with soldiers, and there were tens of thousands of them. The soldiers felt their legs turn to jelly.
"Disembark, get into formation!"
Pei Zi Yun stood on the observation deck and watched from afar. He saw the anchors of the ships being lowered, and the deck was lowered. The deck was wide enough for three people to sit on. Following an order, the soldiers disembarked from the ship and formed into a formation. The army was organized, and there were a thousand and five hundred of them.
There were even horses on the deck of the ships. In front of the army was a cavalry scout. Golden Island was less than two hundred square kilometers in area. After scouting for a while, they understood the situation and rushed back to report the situation. In the blink of an eye, the majority of the troops had left, and were gathered at the army camp.
The enemy's camp was very secure, but when they saw the thousand and five hundred soldiers from the Imperial Army, they panicked.
"Kill, kill, kill!" These people shouted in unison, and their voices reverberated through the skies.
Within the camp, there were several old subordinates of Ji Bei Hou. When they saw the incoming army, they shouted, "Kill, kill the bandits, kill the bandits!"
However, the moment the battle started, a loud boom could be heard, and the camp was destroyed. This was because many people saw that the Imperial Army was too powerful, and did not dare to resist.
"Those who surrender will not be killed!" As they shouted this, more and more people surrendered. Only a small group of people who were loyal to Ji Bei Hou resisted. In the blink of an eye, they were all killed.
"Tie these people up, and cut down the trees. Prepare to set up camp." A general commanded loudly as he disembarked from the ship.
The soldiers who were charging towards the camp treated these people as captives.
At this point, a Daoist hid within the forest. His hands trembled as he retrieved a talisman.
Ying Prefecture, Navy
The ship was anchored near the shore, and the rain continued to pour down from the sky, hitting the deck of the ship.
Chen Ping was wearing a raincoat as he stood there. His face was ashen as he looked into the distance. He could see that the waves were raging, and the battleships were on high alert.
"General." A group of soldiers wearing raincoats were hurrying forward. However, as the ship swayed, they were unable to stand steadily.
Chen Ping turned around and looked at the person in front of him. He then asked coldly, "What's the matter?"
This person ran in front of him, "General, the Imperial Army is attacking Golden Island!"
"What?" Chen Ping was shocked, and his heart relaxed. He had followed Ji Bei Hou. Oh no, he was now High Duke Ji. High Duke Ji had generously allowed him to expand his army.
Originally, he had six thousand soldiers. Now, he had expanded to ten thousand. The navy was different from the army. They had to have ships, and it would take one to two years before they could be manufactured. Hence, expanding the navy to ten thousand was the limit.
However, these four thousand new soldiers could not be compared to the old soldiers. Hence, when he found out that the Imperial Army had ten thousand soldiers, he could not help but feel nervous. When he heard that the Imperial Army was not coming, he heaved a sigh of relief.
'But the Imperial Army has traveled for a month. They would definitely be exhausted. If they were to fight me head-on, I might be able to win. Now that they've gone to Golden Island, that would be impossible. '
'Ai, I can only react accordingly. Once I've boarded the pirate ship, it's going to be difficult to get off. 'Chen Ping could not describe his feelings. He was filled with regret and confusion.
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