Chapter 396

180. Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

"If this won't work and that won't work, what shall we do now?"

"That's not what you said before! You claimed a single spittle from each of you could drown Li Yuanba!"

The crowd began to complain one after another.

Feng Qiji closed his mouth.

He had nothing to say.

In military matters, he was a complete amateur.

But he knew General Meng Tian was an expert, so the best course of action now was to wait for General Meng Tian to make a decision.

The next day, the nobles gathered again.

This time, General Meng Tian laid his cards on the table.

They had two choices: first, charge down the mountain and fight the imperial soldiers to the death, but that would likely end in failure.

Second, hold their ground in the mountains while seeking another route.

If they could find another route, the army could slip out of Huashan.

"General Meng, can we implement both plans?" Wei Pao said.

"Implement both? Do you mean sending people to find a route while charging out at the same time?" General Meng Tian asked.

"Yes." Wei Pao nodded: "I won't be satisfied without a fight! What if we can charge straight out?"

"What do the others think?" General Meng Tian's gaze swept over the crowd.

"Fight! If it really doesn't work, we can always retreat!" someone said.

"I think it is better to hold our ground here." someone raised an objection.

"Or perhaps we could split into smaller units to leave?" someone else proposed a new idea.

General Meng Tian listened to the crowd's discussion for a while, and his heart grew half cold.

He realized these people simply did not understand warfare; they could even come up with a plan to split into smaller units!

One must know that an army of nearly a million men is not commanded so easily.

The vast majority of the rank-and-file soldiers were not on the same page as them; they were controlled and commanded only through strict military law.

If they split into smaller units, those soldiers would have seized the opportunity to flee long ago!

Therefore, only a small number of the most loyal soldiers could be trusted to leave alone.

However, General Meng Tian was too lazy to explain further.

His own army accounted for only about one-third; the remaining majority were private troops of nobles like Wei Pao.

Thus, his words carried no weight here; on the contrary, Wei Pao's opinions influenced those nobles more.

"I suggest we decide by raising hands," Feng Qiji said, seeing the crowd could not reach an agreement, so he offered an idea.

Everyone thought this was a good idea and agreed.

"First, let's discuss the first plan: charging straight out. Those who agree, raise your hands!" Feng Qiji said.

Wei Pao raised his hand first, and Young Master Lu followed suit.

Most of the other nobles also raised their hands to show agreement.

General Meng Tian and Feng Qiji did not raise their hands, nor did a few minor nobles.

"The majority agrees on the first plan," Feng Qiji said: "Then please, Brother Wei, lead the troops to attack!"

"Wait!" Wei Pao was stunned: "Shouldn't General Meng lead the attack? My military ability is far inferior to General Meng's; it would be more suitable for him to lead the troops."

"What command is needed? Just order the army to charge forward." General Meng Tian said indifferently.

"It is still better for you, General, to lead the troops," Wei Pao said.

"My army originally had three hundred thousand men. During the recent Battle of Xianyang, I lost many of my troops, and now only over two hundred thousand remain. That means the majority of the remaining army belongs to you; your soldiers should logically be led by you."

"Of course, if you are willing to hand over command to me, I can lead the troops."

General Meng Tian said indifferently.

Wei Pao and the others were dumbfounded upon hearing this.

Handing over command to General Meng Tian? That would make General Meng Tian the actual commander.

At that time, they would all have to obey General Meng Tian.

No one would be willing to accept such a thing.

"Then how about this: I will lead the attack from the left, and you lead your army from the right?" Wei Pao said.

"Agreed." General Meng Tian nodded.

"Good, then we will prepare immediately and launch a counterattack first thing tomorrow morning!" Wei Pao said.

Soon, Wei Pao left with the nobles.

Only General Meng Tian, Feng Qiji, and a few of their close confidants remained in the main tent.

"General Meng, are we really going to charge out from the right?" Feng Qiji asked.

"Of course." General Meng Tian nodded: "It was decided by raising hands, and everyone must follow the decision."

"I hope Li Yuanba is not on the right," Feng Qiji murmured to himself.

"I actually hope he is on the right," General Meng Tian said.

"Why? Does the General think Li Xin, Wang Li, Fu Hao, and the like are stronger than Li Yuanba?" Feng Qiji asked.

"Li Yuanba possesses courage that no ten thousand men can match, but he cannot split himself. If we encounter him, we need not worry about him; we can simply charge past him. No matter how powerful he is, can he block everyone?"

"I am instead worried about the route without Li Yuanba, because they will surely station heavy troops to guard that path, and the number of cannons will certainly be greater than on the path with Li Yuanba."

"

"You have seen the power of cannons; if their numbers are sufficient, then we are in trouble!"

Meng Tian said.

"Isn't the plan to charge out extremely risky?" Feng Qiji panicked.

"Other plans carry equally great risks, because at this point there simply are no good plans!" Meng Tian said.

Hearing Meng Tian speak thus, Feng Qiji fell into deep thought.

Now he had calmed down.

Upon careful reflection, what Meng Tian said made perfect sense.

No matter what they did, the outcome would not be good.

And the root cause lay in opposing Ying Su!

Li Yuanba, cannons, the strategically gifted Zhuge Liang, and great generals such as Wang Li and Li Xin.

All these trump cards belonged to Ying Su.

When an opponent possesses so many trump cards, how can this battle be fought?

Now Feng Qiji felt somewhat regretful about rebelling.

If he had bowed to Ying Su, life could have gone on.

At most, income would be slightly lower and power somewhat less.

But now, he might well lose his life and fortune!

The next day, the great army split into two columns advancing toward two directions outside the mountains.

On the left, Wei Pao led six hundred thousand troops; on the right, Meng Tian led nearly three hundred thousand troops.

Wei Pao kept a wary eye; he divided his army into three parts, maintaining a certain distance between them.

Two hundred thousand led the vanguard, while the rear four hundred thousand would decide whether to charge forward or retreat based on the battle's progress.

Furthermore, this vanguard force of two hundred thousand was itself split into several parts. Only twenty thousand surged at the very front.

Moreover, these twenty thousand were "irregular troops," peasants forcibly conscripted by nobles like Wei Pao.

As for the nobles' own core units, they were held in the rear.

When the two-thousand-strong vanguard reached the main road, they encountered no government troops blocking the way.

After advancing a considerable distance further, the leading commander, Hou Yuan, felt something was amiss.

Wasn't it said that government troops had blockaded the road?

Where are they now?

"Order the troops to halt!"

"Send a squad ahead to take a look."

Hou Yuan said to his deputy general.