"A victory is a victory. Brother Yuanwei shouldn't be too optimistic. From the number of Liu Dai's troops, it's very likely that this is only his vanguard. Liu Dai's main forces have yet to arrive at Chang Yi City. Therefore, Brother Yuanwei should be more careful! "
Yang Rui poured cold water on Qiao Mao's enthusiasm at the right time. Although the small victory boosted the morale of Qiao Mao and his troops, Yang Rui had to explain the situation clearly to prevent Qiao Mao from becoming careless.
In truth, from Yang Rui's point of view, this small victory wasn't necessarily a good thing for Qiao Mao. Although the morale of Qiao Mao's troops had been greatly boosted and Liu Dai had expended a lot of his troops, Liu Dai would definitely be more cautious after losing some of his troops.
Moreover, the empty city strategy that Yang Rui and Qiao Mao had discussed had been used. Even though they had reduced the number of enemies, the target was not worth mentioning. If Liu Dai and his main forces had fallen for Qiao Mao's empty city strategy, there was a high chance that they would be able to settle the situation in Chang Yi City in one battle. At that time, even if they couldn't force Liu Dai to retreat, they could wait for Yang Rui's reinforcements to arrive and slowly deal with them.
Now that their vanguard had suffered a small defeat, it was enough to remind Liu Dai that it was basically impossible to use the same method to ambush Liu Dai again. Therefore, the benefits and drawbacks of this battle could not be summed up in a single sentence.
"This … Qiao Mao had also thought of this. However, if it weren't for General's reminder, Qiao Mao would have been too optimistic. I will pass down the order now. Tell all the soldiers to be on high alert and be prepared for Liu Dai's attacks at any time …" After hearing Yang Rui's words, Qiao Mao frowned slightly. Then, his expression turned serious as he said, "Please pass.
Please pass on the message. I'm here to inform Brother Yuanwei. Currently, half of the 15000 cavalrymen from Grand Mountain City have arrived and are being led by Blazing Sun's troops. Therefore, Blazing Sun can stay in Chang Yi City and assist Brother Yuanwei in defending the city. "
"Aiya! General Blazing Sun! Brother Blazing Sun! That's for the best. I'll pass the news to all the soldiers in the city to boost their morale once again! "
"It's only right to pass the message, but there's no need to talk about guarding the city to the death for the time being. Naturally, we can head to Liu Dai's route to investigate the situation. Liu Dai's large army will not be able to escape my eyes. Brother Yuanwei's troops have just won a small victory, so it's good to temporarily raise their morale. It won't be too late to make preparations if there's news of Liu Dai … "
"Blazing Sun is wise! "Men, inform all the city guards that Vice Chief Blazing Sun will be staying in Changyi City to defend the city with everyone else. All the soldiers need to do their best to protect the city until Vice Chief Blazing Sun's reinforcements arrive." That's when we counterattack Liu Dai's son … "
After Yang Rui and Qiao Mao discussed for a while, Qiao Mao followed Yang Rui's instructions and passed the message down. There was no doubt that Yang Rui staying behind to defend Changyi City was good news for the soldiers in the city. Yang Rui's title as Vice Chief and his performance since the start of the Dong Zhuo's Rebellion storyline were there for all to see. Qiao Mao's subordinates had no choice but to trust him.
After Qiao Mao's instructions were given, Yang Rui rode on his Flying Carpet and left Changyi County through the west gate. He headed west of Puyang City to search for traces of Liu Dai's army. In less than four hours, Yang Rui indeed found traces of Liu Dai's army north of the Ji River. They were preparing to cross the river.
The Ji River might not be as wide as the Yellow River to the north, but it was still a large river in this era of the game. If Yang Rui had a military force at hand, it would be a great opportunity to stop Liu Dai. In fact, all he needed was a hundred ships and one thousand five hundred Fourth Grade water soldiers to inflict severe damage to Liu Dai.
Unfortunately, Yang Rui's ships and water soldiers were currently within Pingyuan County. They were beyond his reach! Thus, Yang Rui circled the Ji River several times and could only watch as Liu Dai's army safely crossed the river.
In truth, Yang Rui had thought of persuading Qiao Mao to help defend the Ji River. However, Qiao Mao had just taken over Changyi City and had yet to stabilize the rear. Moreover, it was hard to determine where Liu Dai would cross the river. Thus, Yang Rui had rejected this idea of his own.
Judging from the current speed at which Liu Dai was crossing the river, it would only take him one game day to reach Changyi County. If one were to consider the effects of night on the advance of the army and the siege, Liu Dai would be able to launch an attack on Changyi City no later than two days from now!
After obtaining the general information, Yang Rui returned to Changyi City and reported Liu Dai's current movements to Qiao Mao. He also reminded Qiao Mao to make preparations to deal with Liu Dai at noon the next day to prevent Liu Dai from sending troops to attack again.
Even though he knew Liu Dai's exact movements, Yang Rui did not let his guard down. He still had some doubts about Liu Dai's secret letter mentioning that Yuan Shao's forces were going to assist him in the siege. When Yang Rui was near the Ji River, he had observed carefully. He didn't find any traces of Yuan Shao's troops on the roads to the west and north of Changyi City. Just in case, Yang Rui immediately rode his Flying Carpet to the east and south of Changyi City to investigate. Then, he made his way there.
It could be said that Yang Rui was very attentive to the battle between Qiao Mao and Yang Rui. First of all, the outcome of the battle would affect Yang Rui's future external environment. At the same time, there had never been a large-scale battle between the vassals. Yang Rui could also learn from this battle.
Of course, Yang Rui also wanted to investigate the movements of Zhang Ning, Gao Shun, and Zhang Liao in the southeast of Changyi City. Yang Rui's cavalry would need about two days to reach Changyi City. Zhang Ning and the other two would need to travel a little further. If the three of them could travel a little faster, the pressure on Changyi City would be reduced.
However, Yang Rui's investigation was not optimistic. It would not be easy for Yang Rui to find Zhang Ning and the other two on such a large map. Even with the Flying Carpet and the fact that Yang Rui had deliberately traveled quite a distance in the direction of Hulao Pass, he still could not find any traces of Zhang Ning and the other two. He could only hope that they would arrive at Changyi City sooner.
However, Yang Rui discovered something else. When he first left Changyi City and headed southeast, he discovered a patch of plowed soil near a forest more than ten miles away from the southern city wall of Changyi City. As it was quite far away at that time, and there were many instances of land being plowed for farming in the game, Yang Rui only thought of it as an NPC civilian's normal farming.
However, when Yang Rui returned to Changyi City after his investigation, he happened to be much closer to the forest. He unintentionally discovered that the patch of soil nearby was somewhat unusual. The terrain near Changyi City was generally flat. Normally, the land used for farming would only be plowed once before sowing. However, this patch of soil was piled up into a large continuous mound. It was difficult to see it clearly from a distance. Yang Rui noticed the abnormality and paid special attention to it.
After Yang Rui flew over on the Flying Carpet, the true appearance of the mound was revealed. The continuous sand was actually transported out from the forest. When Yang Rui entered the forest, he discovered that most of the trees in the forest had been submerged by the sand. It looked like the trunks of the trees were hanging down.
This was a huge project! At that moment, Yang Rui had already noticed the abnormality. These man-made mounds were very likely to have a special function. He just did not know who did it and what their purpose was.
At first, Yang Rui thought that someone had deliberately transported the sand to the forest to hide it. However, Yang Rui soon discovered the truth.
As he entered the forest from the side, Yang Rui discovered that many people were busy transporting sand from the forest to the edge using wooden wheelbarrows. It turned out that the mounds in the forest and at the edge of the forest were formed by these people transporting sand.
If they were only busy transporting sand, it would be fine. However, the most important thing was the identity of these people. The color of their faction was actually exactly the same as Liu Dai and Yuan Shao's "Alliance Faction — Opposing Faction"! Yang Rui immediately became alert. If these people were not Liu Dai's subordinates, then they were Yuan Shao's subordinates. So far, only these two people were Yang Rui's "Alliance Faction — Opposing Faction"!
Although the other party had many people transporting sand, they did not make much of a commotion. Moreover, they did not converse with each other. Therefore, it was very difficult for Yang Rui to obtain any useful information!
It was currently afternoon. If Yang Rui approached to investigate, it was very likely that the other party would notice him. Therefore, after much consideration, Yang Rui decided to temporarily leave the forest. He rode the Flying Carpet away from the forest and temporarily returned to Changyi City. For the entire afternoon, Yang Rui only quietly circulated his inner strength and practiced his inner strength.
However, Yang Rui did not ignore his previous discovery. Almost as soon as night fell, Yang Rui could not wait to once again head to the forest.
With the cover of the night, Yang Rui's movements were much more convenient. At this time, the people transporting sand in the forest had already disappeared. However, the path that was crushed by the sand was still there. Yang Rui carefully made his way over.
Yang Rui's discovery in the afternoon had already made some guesses. When Yang Rui finally found a cave along the way, he still could not believe it. These soldiers of the opposing faction were actually digging a tunnel?! More accurately, they were digging a tunnel! After Yang Rui killed the dozens of soldiers guarding the cave entrance with one or two moves, he tiptoed into the cave entrance. Only then did he realize that there was another world inside. In the cave entrance, there was a five to six meter wide tunnel that extended straight ahead!
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