Fort Mulan suddenly became the focus of the southwest battlefield.
Since Hong Xiuquan insisted on fighting, Yang Xiuqing naturally had to carry it out to the end. No matter how great the sacrifice was, for now, Hong Xiuquan's will in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was unquestionable.
While the Southern Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was attacking the Mulan Fortress, the Leopard Army Corps led by Han Xin had already received an order from the Military Administration to rush all the way to reinforce the fortress.
Because they had been delayed at the command center for two days, even if the Leopard Tao Army was forced to march, they could only reach the Mulan Fortress before the 28th.
Thus, the defenders led by Bai Qi had to resist the enemy's fierce attacks for at least two days.
Apart from that, Wuzhou County had just been conquered and had yet to be officially ruled by the Mountain Sea Territory. Therefore, the logistics of the Leopard Tao Corps still had to rely on Zhaoqing County to be in charge of the transportation.
It could be said that Han Xin's decision to attack Fort Mulan was a risky one. Fortunately, Han Xin was an opportunist to begin with. He knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
When the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom attacked the Mulan Fortress, they focused all their attention on the front line. Once the Leopard Tao Army attacked them from the back, they might be defeated immediately.
In order to win, Han Xin was willing to take this risk.
As for the First Regiment of the Dragon Xiang Legion led by Jiang Kai, they were still slowly advancing in the Hundred Thousand Mountain Range and would not be able to make it in time for the battle.
In view of the current situation in Chiyou City, Ouyang Shuo didn't dare to transfer the Imperial Guard Regiment away for the time being.
To suppress all of Wuzhou County with the strength of a division, Ouyang Shuo was already trembling with fear, as if he was walking on thin ice. After leaving the courtyard, Ouyang Shuo sent an order to Lin Yi, telling him to lead two brigades and an independent division of the Mountain Barbarians out of Chiyou City, sweeping through the local forces in Wuzhou County.
The mountain barbarian tribes of Wuzhou County were numerous, numbering in the hundreds. More than sixty percent of the tribes had settled down in Chiyou City. The remaining 40% would become local tyrants.
On the day that Ouyang Shuo arrived at Chiyou City, he had asked Wang Feng to personally lead a team of one hundred people and go around the city to make public announcements to pacify the people and declare the rule of Shanhai City.
According to Wang Feng's secret letter, there were some places that blocked the Divine Martial Guard from entering the city.
Towards these insensible barbarians, Ouyang Shuo naturally had to display the thunderous methods of a king. He could also use this opportunity to wipe out all the stubborn local powers of Wuzhou County in one fell swoop.
To clear the obstacles for Fan Zhongyan to take over Wuzhou County.
The Black Snake Guard, including the military intelligence, had never given up on infiltrating the various prefectures and counties of Wuzhou. With the cooperation of the two intelligence agencies, Lin Yi's thunderous operation would definitely be successful.
…
When the Black Snake Guards sent a secret letter saying that there were less than 40,000 soldiers stationed in Tianjing, Ouyang Shuo had indeed thought of leading the Imperial Guard Division and the four Mountain Barbarian Independent Divisions to attack Tianjing and destroy the nest of Tianping Kingdom in one fell swoop.
To be honest, the idea was tempting.
After careful consideration, Ouyang Shuo gave up on this tempting idea for three reasons.
Firstly, Tianjing City was not a pushover.
Hong Xiuquan had reincarnated, so how could he not be diligent in managing his own nest? According to the response of the Black Snake Guards, Tianjing City's city walls, including its defensive facilities, were top notch in the wilderness.
According to the classification, it was already half a level higher than a county city, between a county city and a capital city. Moreover, if Hong Xiuquan was given a little more time, he could really build Tianjing into a capital city.
Thus, without the help of siege weapons, taking down Tianjing City was truly a delusion. Not to mention anything else, Ouyang Shuo was certain that Hong Xiuquan must have set up cannons on the city walls.
Cannons might not be very good for attacking a city, but they were really great weapons for defending a city. The cannons looked down from a high vantage point, and with the protection of the battlements, they could really kill gods and buddhas in their way.
Its power and lethality were even more terrifying than the Three Bow Eight Bull Bed Crossbow.
With just the Mountain Barbarian Independent Division that he had just subdued, Ouyang Shuo really did not have the confidence to take down this tough bone.
Secondly, Xunzhou County was not some back garden.
Hong Xiuquan's rule over the people was based on the organization of religion as the core of his rule.
Thus, in Xunzhou County, whether it was officials or commoners, they were all believers of Taiping.
Ouyang Shuo believed that once he led his troops into Xunzhou County, no matter how careful he was, his army would be exposed in front of Hong Xiuquan in less than half a day. There would be nowhere to hide.
Thus, a surprise attack was simply impossible.
Hong Xiuquan's rule over the people was truly like an iron bucket. All the commoners of Tianping Kingdom were his believers and also his spies. No movement could be hidden from Hong Xiuquan.
In comparison, Chiyou's rule was only cruel and domineering.
Thirdly, Wuzhou County was still not stable.
Ouyang Shuo's rule was not stable. Apart from the factor of Chiyou City mentioned earlier, as well as the constraints of the local powers. More importantly, he had to guard against the South Xiang City-State to the north of Wuzhou County.
After the Battle of Zhaoqing, all the neighbors of Shanhai City had long realized one thing: if they did not want to be annexed by Shanhai City, just relying on passive defense was far from enough. They had to be vigilant at all times. When necessary, they even had to take the initiative to attack, using offense as defense.
Otherwise, at any time, Shanhai City could 'boil frogs in warm water' and wipe them out one by one.
Moreover, the leader of the South Xiang City-State, South of Rosy Clouds, was not a simple person. This person had been quiet until the Battle of Giant Deer, only revealing his sharpness.
Moreover, once he appeared, he was unstoppable, with the attitude of 'shocking the world with a single brilliant feat'.
The South Xiang City-State could be established in a short period of time, apart from the objective factor of the threat of Shanhai City, the prestige of South of Rosy Clouds in the Alliance was also a main reason.
In comparison, the Siege Lion and the Dragon Seeking Acupoint were both inferior.
Anyone like this was basically an extremely shrewd person.
Ouyang Shuo did not think that after the South Xiang City-State was established, it would be a 'well-behaved baby'. At the crucial moment, South of Rosy Clouds had the courage to fight with Shanhai City.
Thus, Ouyang Shuo did not dare to easily loosen his control over Wuzhou County.
According to the intelligence from the Black Snake Guards, South of Rosy Clouds and Ruan Ping had been meeting frequently recently. The two of them had probably reached a tacit understanding and formed an alliance of interests, preparing to fight against Shanhai City together.
Thus, the situation of Shanhai City in the north and east was really not optimistic. If they wanted to take another step forward and expand their territory again, it would be even more difficult.
At this time, how could Ouyang Shuo take the risk and attack Tianjing rashly?
With Ouyang Shuo's personality, he preferred to fight steadily and surely.
As long as the Han Xin Corps arrived in time and defeated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Southern Army, the two armies of Shanhai City could join forces and conquer Xunzhou County with absolute strength.
Stability was the goal that Ouyang Shuo had set. As long as he stabilized himself, Shanhai City would be in an invincible position. And if he was impulsive and chose to take the risk, it was very likely that the enemy would turn the tables.
The biggest difference between Ouyang Shuo and Di Chen and the others was that his foundation was not deep enough.
Whether it was Di Chen, Lord Chunshen, Wolf Warrior, Xiong Ba, or even the almost fallen Military Killer, no matter how they fought against Ouyang Shuo and suffered setbacks, they were always able to turn the tables again and again, quickly recover their strength, and even improve.
What did they rely on? They relied on the foundation of the aristocratic families.
But Ouyang Shuo was different. Although he relied on the advantage of his rebirth, he was constantly increasing the foundation of his territory. Reaching this step was already a crucial moment. If he suffered a heavy blow, he might not be able to climb back up.
Why?
Because Ouyang Shuo's personal foundation was insufficient. In a one-on-one fight, how could he be a match for the aristocratic families?
What Ouyang Shuo could do was to use the advantage of his rebirth and the characteristics of his territory to continuously unearth historical talents. At the same time, he spared no effort to cultivate the native talents of his territory to fight against the aristocratic families.
Therefore, Ouyang Shuo could not make any mistakes. If he did, what awaited him would probably be a bottomless abyss.
There was a strange phenomenon in the China region that Ouyang Shuo had only recently realized. That was, according to the comparison of his previous life, the territory of Di Chen and the others was actually stronger than in his previous life.
Why?
It was precisely because of Ouyang Shuo's pressure that Di Chen and the others rapidly grew up.
Ouyang Shuo's role in the China region was actually that of a "spoiler." It was just that this spoiler was too outstanding. He had beaten Di Chen and the other aristocratic families' juniors to wake up in advance.
This phenomenon was similar to the "catfish effect."
Ouyang Shuo was the catfish in the pond.
When Ouyang Shuo realized this problem, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.
October 26th, the third day of the war.
The Southern Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was ready to fight with all their strength. Nearly 200,000 soldiers were dispatched.
Naturally, the most eye-catching were the four cannons.
Learning from yesterday's lesson, Yang Xiuqing ordered people to build a protective cover for the four cannons overnight to prevent them from being hit by the fireballs of the catapults and being destroyed on the spot.
Cannons were indeed powerful, but they were somewhat exquisite.
Other than cannons, the Southern Army's second trump card was the hundreds of mobile arrow towers. In order to avoid being completely suppressed by the ballistae of Mulan Fortress, the Southern Army had to fight for the high ground.
This time, it would be a confrontation between the archers of both sides.
Other than that, the frontline troops of the Southern Army were all saber and shield troops.
Yang Xiuqing's goal was very clear. He did not expect to break through the Mulan Fort, which was like a natural moat, within a day. He did not expect to attack the city walls and engage the Shanhai City army in a melee battle.
Yang Xiuqing's goal was to ensure that the cannons could concentrate their firepower and destroy a section of the city wall to create an opportunity for tomorrow's attack.
Apart from that, they also had to destroy the ballistae and catapults on the city walls.
If they didn't get rid of these things, the Southern Army wouldn't be able to attack the city walls.
Yang Xiuqing was born in a poor family. His family farmed the mountains and burned charcoal for a living. But personally, he was truly talented and had extraordinary wisdom. Whether it was in politics or military affairs, he had performed well. (To be continued.)
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