Chapter 148: The New Pattern of War

Zhongshan County, the Central Army Camp. Ye Mingquan from the Cai Kingdom was sitting next to Shi Chengsong, temporarily acting as his strategist!

Faced with the highly anxious Shi Chengsong, Ye Mingquan remained calm: “Lord Shi, the only way forward for Zhongshan County now is to break through Anyang and announce it as part of the Cai Kingdom!

Because of our oath, we cannot take the initiative to attack Anyang; and now, even if you wanted to ‘purchase’ the Cai Kingdom’s army, it would be too late.

The battle has been at a stalemate for two and a half days now, and time is running out. Don’t be fooled by the infighting between the Kong family, the Yuan family, the Wang family, and the various princes. They won’t sit idly by while you open the road. They will send troops to encircle Zhongshan County as soon as you destroy Anyang.

So, you must act quickly, and before other large armies arrive, open the gates of Anyang in one fell swoop. Only then will Zhongshan County have a future.”

Shi Chengsong had already lost his sense of direction. With Gu Songfeng dead and Luliang County taken, his mind was in a state of turmoil. However, as the governor of a county, he still had some insight: “Is there no other way? I heard that Kaiping County in the north seems completely disorganized. If we attack Kaiping County, it should be quite easy, right?”

“Not suitable, not suitable!” Ye Mingquan sneered inwardly. What would be the point of breaking through Kaiping County? What we, the Cai Kingdom, want is Anyang, Anyang! Along with the Brilliant Star Group and all its technology! As for Kaiping County, let it go to hell!

But although he sneered inside, Ye Mingquan appeared to be offering advice to Shi Chengsong on the surface. He opened a simple map and said, “Lord Shi, please look. Anyang is only a single county, with mostly flat land and no defensible terrain. Once the borders are broken, everything else will be smooth sailing.

As for Kaiping County, it stretches five hundred miles from north to south. How many dangers could be lurking in those five hundred miles? Those generals, though they follow orders, will retaliate once they are attacked. Moreover, if we move from the north, the crown prince of the Great Xia Kingdom will not simply stand by and watch.

What’s more, Anyang is already beginning to tire. Now, with just a little more effort, victory is within our reach!”

Ye Mingquan’s words moved Shi Chengsong. With no other option, Shi Chengsong immediately gave the order to commit all soldiers. No rest until Anyang is broken through!

But at this moment, Ye Mingquan came up with a more cunning plan. “My lord, don’t commit everything. You can allocate a small portion of the troops to bypass Luliang County and attack Anyang from the south. Even if we can’t break through Anyang’s defenses immediately, we can force them to divide their forces, thus speeding up the victory of the frontal assault.”

“This idea is good!” Shi Chengsong immediately adopted the suggestion. He sent his trusted general, Shi Chongxin, who was also one of his own men, to lead ten thousand soldiers to bypass Luliang County and launch an attack on Anyang from the south.

“Ten thousand men is too many!” Ye Mingquan quickly advised. “One thousand elite soldiers will be enough. Select a thousand of the finest troops, equip them with plenty of talismans and other supplies, and move swiftly. We only need to open a small gap!

These thousand men won’t engage in trench warfare. Their mission is to carry out a surprise attack. The best course of action is to open a breach and infiltrate deep into Anyang, causing chaos behind enemy lines. There’s no need to kill enemies or capture territory, just create disruption in the enemy’s rear, and that will be sufficient!”

Shi Chengsong agreed and instructed Shi Chongxin to select a thousand elite soldiers immediately and set out with the mission of causing chaos in Anyang.

Shi Chongxin understood the urgency and quickly led his chosen troops out of the main force, heading southeast. They intended to bypass Luliang County and enter Anyang from the south.

However, just as Shi Chongxin entered Luliang  County, a scout returned with news: “We’ve discovered soldiers from Anyang ahead!”

“Damn it, Anyang is planning a surprise attack too!”

Shi Chongxin’s mood was hard to describe! But then he breathed a sigh of relief—thank goodness he ran into them head-on, or the consequences would have been unimaginable!

While Shi Chongxin was surprised, the soldiers from Anyang were even more stunned! The troops in front of them weren’t anyone else—they were the elite soldiers led by Beichen Yuqing and Yan Zhengqing, numbering ten thousand!

After resupplying with ample supplies from the coastal area, and hearing that Luliang County was temporarily calm and that Zhongshan County was making a full-force attack on Anyang, Beichen Yuqing had decided to move quickly. The previous night, he led his troops northward to attack Zhongshan County from the side. Only a few personnel remained behind to wait for further information.

What a coincidence it turned out to be—both sides encountered each other right on the border!

Shi Chongxin and Beichen Yuqing almost simultaneously learned of each other’s presence. Without delay, the battle erupted!

But compared to Shi Chongxin, the Anyang forces had not just Beichen Yuqing, but also Yan Zhengqing. The two quickly discussed, “Zhongshan County’s sudden surprise attack must be a small force, at most three thousand men. Let’s not waste time with reconnaissance. We should send the entire army forward without giving them any time to react. Liu Leigang will lead the armored vehicles and machine guns to clear the way, with artillery providing support.”

Liu Leigang was thrilled; he finally had the opportunity to test his three prized armored vehicles. These armored vehicles had just been deployed and had yet to undergo a proper test, not to mention the mockery from Yan Zhengqing previously.

On the uneven mountain road, the three armored vehicles led the charge, with machine guns and 57mm caliber cannons firing in unison. In an instant, they tore open a gap in Shi Chongxin’s army. The motorcycles followed closely behind, with the sound of machine guns rattling.

Shi Chongxin was caught completely off guard. “I said—we shouldn’t have rushed in like this! We should have paused first, done some reconnaissance to figure out the enemy’s numbers and formations, and then attacked! You didn’t even form up properly, and many of the soldiers hadn’t even put on their armor—it was still on the motorcycles! And yet, you just charged ahead like this?”

Although Shi Chongxin’s thousand-man force was elite, they couldn’t withstand this sudden skirmish and the unexpected motorcycle charge. Within moments, they were scattered! Many soldiers took the opportunity to flee—”Shi Chengsong’s rebellion? We’re out! We’ve been looking for a chance to escape, and the inspection team has been patrolling everywhere. Now we finally have the chance to ‘die in battle.'”

This skirmish was over in just a moment. Only a few of Shi Chongxin’s top fighters managed to escape in a frenzy, returning to report the news.

Beichen Yuqing’s eyes flickered. “Strip the soldiers of Zhongshan County of their equipment, select three hundred elite troops, and send them ahead to ‘escape,’ as close as possible to the enemy’s defensive lines! Also, send people to Anyang Prefecture and the front lines to report back, telling them we’ve arrived!”

In this tense moment, Song Xing nearly died getting to Anyang, delivering the message to Xu Ren.

When Xu Ren saw Song Xing, he immediately asked, “Does the young master have any special message?”

Song Xing tiredly smiled, “The young master says, you’re all really dumb!”

Everyone was momentarily stunned. But from these words, they seemed to sense a glimmer of “confidence and victory.”

Xu Ren quickly opened the letter, and as he read, his expression turned frustrated. “The young master is right, we really are stupid. Ha ha, the crisis in Anyang will be solved effortlessly! The future course of the war will change completely!”

Xia Qingqing, Yan Ze’an, and others took turns reading, and they all burst into laughter.

Of course, Li Xian’s letter wasn’t just about the war—it contained a lot more.

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