mtl008 Chapter 272 3 Crossing Qiu Dingjiang
Chapter 272 3 Crossing Qiu Dingjiang
It's not that Baines doesn't trust Geng Wei, but he doesn't want to make any more unnecessary sacrifices. Therefore, he did not agree to Geng Wei's proposal immediately, but planned to wait and see.
In Baines' opinion, Zong Yanli's troops have already been depleted a lot, so they just need to extend the front line and consume more troops. If they fight a protracted war, Zong Yanli may not be able to resist. If they disperse their troops to surround Pofu Pass, it will be disastrous if Zong Yanli discovers their weakness and defeats them one by one.
Geng Wei did not force it, he just expressed his own opinion. As far as the current war situation is concerned, the role played by Qi's troops is really not enough to have a say.
In the military tent, Zong Yanli sat at the table, writing the military report.
"General." Zong Yanli had just put down his writing when Lu Peibai entered. He looked up at Lu Peibai and said, "Sit down. How is your injury?"
"I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern, General." Lu Peibai responded with her head slightly lowered. She was originally worried that since she was injured and Zong Yanli was treating her, after they were so frank together, she would be too embarrassed when facing Zong Yanli.
But now she realized that she had been overthinking it. Her commander was completely focused on the battle and did not treat her with any discrimination between men and women.
Just as he was recovering from his injuries, countless military tasks were sent to him. He heard that an old general from Qi had arrived to lead the army, and he was called back again.
Lu Peibai sat quietly beside him and heard Zong Yanli mention Geng Wei.
"I'm not familiar with this person." Lu Peibai thought for a moment and said, "The Qi State has long been dominated by aristocratic families. Old generals like General Geng, who have spent their entire lives in the military, have been honored with titles, but no one cares about them anymore after they took back their military power."
"Not everyone can sit on the highest throne and control military power forever."
"The rotation of kings is also a kind of baptism."
There seemed to be some deep meaning in Lu Peibai's words, perhaps he was reminding Zong Yanli that the first thing the new emperor did after ascending the throne was to cultivate his own people, which is the nature of every leader.
Isn’t Geng Wei awesome?
he is great.
But what's the use?
There are many military households who have been leading troops in battles for many years, and their wives and children are separated from them, and finally they have no family. Geng Wei was born in an ordinary family, not from a noble family. His family has been military households for generations, and his background can be said to be cut from the same mold as Zong Yanli.
The family's merits were accumulated by the father and grandfather, and thus a lot of personal soldiers and guards were gradually trained. However, the frequent wars in Qi State were one thing, and the disputes over imperial power always inevitably resulted in many casualties.
"After the new emperor ascended the throne, the Min family took sole control of the military power." Lu Peibai pursed his lips and said, "If Qi had not encountered such a crisis this time, I'm afraid no one would know who Geng Wei is."
"..." Zong Yanli was silent for a moment, then he sighed softly and told Geng Wei that he was ordered to lead the army this time. All his subordinates were veterans over fifty years old, and all the old, weak and sick were going to fight.
Lu Peibai nodded slightly and responded: "I have heard that it is indeed unexpected that Qi State would allow such a situation to occur."
Zong Yanli frowned and said, "Please pay more attention to this matter. General Geng also hopes that Mr. Mingxi will know something about it secretly."
Lu Peibai nodded in agreement and said that he would find a chance to check it out.
From early autumn to late autumn, Zong Yanli and Baines fought several times, and Kan Shi also fought many times. The two fought fiercely on the battlefield, but on the day of the winter solstice, they sat together in a tavern to warm up the wine and talk about heroes.
Zong Yanli seemed to have gotten used to Kan Shi's bragging when the first snow fell in the north again.
Kan Shi drank a pot of hot wine, picked up his sword and stood in front of the tavern to dance with it for Zong Yanli. His sword dance was so powerful that every move and every style seemed so familiar to Zong Yanli. She sat up straighter and realized that the sword style Kan Shi was dancing with was what she had learned.
"it is good!!!"
"Great! Here comes the hero again!"
"..."
The men drinking in the tavern were attracted by Kan Shi's sword dance and cheered for him loudly.
Kan Shi exhaled a breath of turbid air, looked at Zong Yanli with clear eyes and smiled: "How is it?"
Zong Yanli smiled and said, "I only learned it to be 30% similar."
Kan Shi was not surprised at all by Zong Yanli's extremely devastating words. He laughed up to the sky and said, "I have fought with you many times. I have been thinking about how to defeat you day and night, and I have put in a lot of effort!"
"Me too." Zong Yanli smiled calmly. The two of them seemed to be looking forward to the next battle at this moment. This contradiction of wanting to fight with them to determine the winner, while at the same time having a feeling of mutual respect for them made people very entangled.
"The first snow has arrived, and it's winter again." Du Zhe looked at the snow falling outside and seemed to feel a sense of urgency.
"Winter always comes so early in the north." Zong Yanli touched the warm wine in the cup, raised his hand and drank it all in one gulp.
"I'll take you deer hunting." Kan Shi suddenly became interested and said to Zong Yanli excitedly, "It's very useful to make a pair of gloves with deerskin in winter."
Zong Yanli probably never imagined that one day he would ride horses together with the enemy general and experience the joy of hunting by the stream in the wilderness.
So pure and casual, she watched Kan Shi pounce over and pin the deer down, still yelling: "Zong Yanli! Don't just stand there and watch, come and help!"
"Hahaha, so cool..."
"This deer is really big. It's so fat and strong after eating so much."
"Kan Shi, my knife is not for killing deer..."
"Hey! Then use mine."
"..."
So when Zong Yanli finally carried half a deer back to the camp, everyone in the camp was stunned. Pei Liang and others walked around the half deer, looked at Zong Yanli in surprise and asked, "General, are you out hunting?"
Zong Yanli nodded, with a hint of a smile on his face. Pei Liang asked with a puzzled look: "If you went hunting, why did you only bring back half a deer?"
Zong Yanli paused, lowered his eyes to look at the half deer on the ground, and said with a deeper smile: "I gave it to a friend."
The word "friend" was swirling in her mouth. When she said it, she felt a very strange feeling in her heart. She smiled again and said, "Take it down to the kitchen and stew it while it's fresh!"
Pei Liang was a little surprised. Looking at Zong Yanli's departing back, he thought about the "friend" that Zong Yanli mentioned and felt very strange and a little sad. It turned out that a general could also make friends. It was really rare.
Fighting in winter is the most difficult. Zong Yanli did not take the initiative to fight this time, and Baines also tacitly agreed to a truce.
This is probably the most ordinary winter day I have ever had.
Zong Yanli often took his men out to chop firewood while observing the movements of the enemy.
Unexpectedly, the enemy also went out of the city to cut firewood. When we met them, there was another fierce battle. In the end, they fought several times for the firewood and several times for the river. They fought like this until the end of the year.
Zong Yanli finally received the news that Gao and Jin were sending troops to help, and his heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down.
However, just when Zong Yanli thought he could have a peaceful year, he suddenly heard the news that Pofu Pass had been recaptured.
On that snowy night, the wind and snow blew so hard that it hurt people's faces. Zong Yanli led his troops and retreated to Taoyang City in the wind and snow. The troops left behind in Pofu Pass could not withstand the enemy's sudden attack and were defeated in an instant.
"The enemy army actually went around Pofu Pass. Are they planning to encircle us from the front and back?" In Taoyang City, Fu Jiashi and his men retreated from Pofu Pass in a very miserable state. Fortunately, the losses were not great. When they stayed at Pofu Pass, it was only to prevent the enemy army from going around the pass. If there was any enemy army going around the pass, they would be informed at the first time.
The purpose was not to defend the city by force, so Fu Jia Shi did not defend it to the death. Seeing that the enemy was coming in full force, he made a prompt decision and ran away with his men.
Zong Yanli nodded and said, "Perhaps so, but since they are going to encircle them from behind, wouldn't it be exposed if they did it in such a big way? It would be disadvantageous for them to encircle them again. I'm afraid they have other plans."
Zong Yanli frowned and thought deeply. If we stick to Taoyang City, it will not be a good thing for our army.
She called Long Feiguang, Pei Liang and others at the first moment, and made a bold decision without any hesitation. If they lost Pofu Pass, they would take the enemy's Kangshan City. Now the enemy's forces were very clearly dispersed, and there was absolutely no extra support in Kangshan City.
"It may not be easy to get from Taoyang City to Kangshan City..." Zhan Haoyue said in a low voice with a frown.
"We'll go by water." Zong Yanli said as he stood in front of the sand table, "We'll cross the Qiuding River."
"Cross the river?"
"Taoyang City has been occupied by our army. We can cross the river from Taoyang City and directly attack Kangshan City." Zong Yanli's thoughts were very clear. He looked at the sand table in front of him and said, "If the enemy army returns to support Kangshan, we will attack Baishui Pass from Kangshan."
Everyone looked at the marching route that Zong Yanli analyzed bit by bit, which was a direction that they had never imagined.
For the first time, Lu Peibai felt Zong Yanli's strategy. It seemed that she had completely understood the map of Qi State from the two years of battles in a very short period of time, and utilized the terrain of various regions to the extreme, which was like escaping from a tiger's mouth and walking on a tightrope.
It is clearly a strategy of winning by taking risks, but it is inexplicably admirable and makes people feel that there is no better strategy than this!
After careful calculation, everyone decided to take action immediately.
Zong Yanli sat on the general's seat with a stern expression and said, "It is obviously inappropriate to engage the enemy head-on before the reinforcements arrive. Now that the enemy has taken action, I'm afraid they have some plans. If we don't move, we will lose our advantage."
"I want to prevent the enemy from gathering and attacking us. This will consume their combat power and show our strengths and weaknesses." Zong Yanli stared at the map in front of him, looked at Qiu Dingjiang and slowly narrowed his eyes and said, "This Qiu Dingjiang is what we rely on."
At this time, they didn't quite understand the meaning of Zong Yanli's words until the enemy finally made a move.
The troops were mobilized, and Zong Yanli led his troops straight to Kangshan City. When they crossed the Qiuding River and rushed into Kangshan City, a signal came from Taoyang City that it was under attack. Zong Yanli led his troops without stopping and attacked Baishui Pass.
It seemed as if he was planning to abandon Taoyang City and go straight to Baishui Pass.
The enemy was horrified when they heard that Zong Yanli's army was going to attack Baishui Pass. Geng Wei had made every calculation and was sure to capture Taoyang City, but he did not expect that Zong Yanli would go straight to Baishui Pass.
Compared with Baishui Pass, Taoyang City is simply not worth mentioning. If Baishui Pass is broken, Zong Yanli can directly attack Huanglong!
Geng Wei had to withdraw his troops back to Baishui Pass for support. Unexpectedly, Zong Yanli saw that Baishui Pass could not be breached, so he turned around, crossed Qiu Dingjiang for the second time, and went to attack Pofu Pass again.
The enemy had just recaptured Pofu Pass, but before they could even hoist all the flags, it was recaptured by Zong Yanli again. After taking back Pofu Pass, they fought their way back to Taoyang City.
The enemy was extremely furious after being fooled like this, and turned back to attack Taoyang City again. Zong Yanli did not defend the city either. He led all the enemy troops to Taoyang City, and used the strategy of crossing the hill three times to attack the river, and went straight to Baishui Pass. All the troops at Baishui Pass were transferred away, and Zong Yanli broke through the pass and fought his way in.
"Kill--!!!" The flames rising into the sky were so eye-catching among the melting snow, and the flag of Daqian was flying in the sky.
boom--!
The collapsed city gate was a symbol of victory.
By the time Benes led his troops back from Taoyang City, it was already too late.
Yi Tiangan's troops returned to reinforce Kangshan City, and Geng Wei's troops recaptured Pofu Pass. It seemed that Kangshan City, Pofu Pass and Taoyang City were all taken back in this battle, but they lost the most important Baishui Pass, and their plan failed!
Sanduqiu Dingjiang captured Baishui Pass!
"General, you are mighty!" The flag belonging to Zong Yanli was waving inside Baishui Pass. She stood on the city wall with a weather-beaten face, looking at the enemy troops wandering outside the city, helpless, and finally smiled.
The winter of this year was spent in such an intense war. Zong Yanli was 32 years old this year. With such a small force, she was able to defeat the coalition forces of the three kingdoms, seize Baishui Pass, and gain an extremely important strategic position.
Zong Yanli didn't have a moment's respite, because this battle made Baines deeply pulled, and it was imperative to recapture Baishui Pass...
Under the dim candlelight, Zong Yanli sat upright at the table, with a strand of hair hanging in front of his forehead. He stared at the drawings on the table with frowned brows and looked at them over and over again. Long Feiguang, Bai Xiuyun and others went in and out many times, and repeatedly reported on the strategic deployment within Baishui Pass.
When she lowered her head and looked at the long hair falling on her shoulders, she realized that she had not cut her hair short for a long time. Her hair even smelled greasy.
"General, Manager Zhao has brought the grain book." Gao Feilin hurried in and leaned over to Zong Yanli.
"Please come in." Zong Yanli quickly ignored the stench on his body, sat up straight and responded in a deep voice.
Zhao Liangcai was also very busy, and there must be nothing good coming here.
Although our army won the victory, the loss of military supplies and food fodder is already precarious. Now the enemy army has surrounded Baishui Pass, and it seems that they want to trap them inside Baishui Pass and cut off their food supply in order to defend the city to the death.
Zong Yanli was forced to either go out of the city to meet the enemy, or starve to death in the city after eating and drinking the little food and fodder he had.
This is going to make Zong Yanli a turtle in a jar!