Chapter 399

"This subordinate was too far away to see the specific situation clearly, but I heard the cannon fire,"the messenger said.

Wei Pao thought for a moment and then said, "Go report to General Meng that our offensive here has been frustrated and we have already lost one hundred thousand troops!"Wei Pao said.

He had only lost about sixty thousand; stating ten thousand now was an intentional exaggeration of losses to show Meng Tian that he had done his utmost.

"Lost so many? It hasn't even been half a day..."the messenger was stunned.

"What, do you think I am lying to you?"Wei Pao roared, "Go to the front lines yourself and see how many corpses are on the ground!"

"This subordinate does not think my lord is wrong; I merely spoke out of turn due to shock. Please forgive me, my lord!"the messenger said.

"This place is not far from the front lines; you should go and take a look."Wei Pao said, "Someone, accompany him to the front lines to take a look, then return with him to General Meng, and come back to report to me!"

Wei Pao's subordinates immediately led the man and Meng Tian's messenger to the front lines.

They arrived at a small hill and then looked at the main road ahead.

They saw corpses everywhere on the road.

Even from such a distance, they could smell the scent of blood.

"Too terrible!"the messenger shook his head, "I must return immediately; the battle at General Meng's position is also very difficult!"

"Let's go together!"Wei Pao's subordinate nodded.

Several of them rode their horses immediately toward the direction where Meng Tian's forces were stationed.

Before nightfall, the group arrived at Meng Tian's main army encampment.

When Meng Tian heard that Wei Pao had lost one hundred thousand troops, he could not help but show a bitter smile.

Originally there were nearly one million troops; several thousand were lost in the battle at Outside Xianyanggong, and Wei Pao lost another one hundred thousand, leaving only eight hundred thousand now.

"We underestimated Facing Ying Su's ability; it is now impossible to break out from the front,"Meng Tian said.

"General, how is the situation on your side?"a scout from Wei Pao's side asked.

"I sent five thousand elite soldiers, but as soon as they went up, they were scattered by their cannon fire, and only over three thousand escaped back,"Meng Tian said.

"What?"the scout seemed not to have heard clearly.

"We lost about two thousand men,"Meng Tian said calmly.

"Then... we take our leave first,"the scout said.

"After you return, tell my lord Wei that we will meet at our original encampment tomorrow at noon,"Meng Tian said.

"Yes,"the scout responded.

After they returned to Wei Pao's territory and told Wei Pao about the situation on Meng Tian's side, Wei Pao and the others were instantly half-dead with anger.

They had sent two batches of people to fight successively, the first time twenty thousand and the second time one hundred thousand, thus causing very serious losses.

And Meng Tian, on the other hand, only sent five thousand men to fight!

Was he too lazy even to pretend?

"Meng Tian, that old fox, is using us as pawns! Tomorrow I will confront him directly and see how he explains it!"Wei Pao raged.

"My lord Wei, calm your anger; we cannot offend General Meng right now,"someone nearby advised.

"What is there not to offend? If he is allowed to trick us, are we not allowed to speak against him?"Wei Pao roared.

"Meng Tian has fought in a hundred battles; he is not only the only one among us who knows how to fight, but also one of the Great Qin's famous generals, and his ability is no less than that of Wang Jian and others."

"If we want to resist Facing Ying Su and his gang, we can only rely on him!"

Young Master Jiang Lu said.

"I know he is formidable, but we cannot simply suffer losses for nothing, can we? We lost nearly one hundred thousand men, while he suffered almost no losses; what does that count as?"Wei Pao said.

"Very well, next time any action is required, let Meng Tian go,"Jiang Lu said.

Wei Pao thought for a moment and felt that what Jiang Lu said made sense.

This time they suffered a loss, but the next time an action is taken, they can rightfully and strictly demand that Meng Tian execute it.

The next day, the nobles gathered together again.

Although Wei Pao did not want to question Meng Tian, he was still angry, so he intentionally asked about the details of Meng Tian's battle yesterday.

He wanted to hear how Meng Tian would explain sending only five thousand men to fight.

Meng Tian also sensed the dissatisfaction of Wei Pao and these others, guessing that these people felt psychologically unbalanced because his side suffered fewer losses.

Thinking of this, Meng Tian said slowly, "Facing Ying Su has not yet returned; they are in charge of military affairs by Zhuge Liang."

"This person uses troops cautiously and does not fight battles without certainty."

"Now that they have sent troops to block our path, it shows they are confident in achieving this."

"According to my speculation, their confidence comes first from Li Yuanba, and second from possessing a large number of cannons..."

"And the characteristic of cannons is their immense killing power, which is very effective against soldiers crowded together."

"Therefore, I ordered the soldiers to spread out their formation before charging forward, which could reduce our casualties."

"However, once the formation is spread out, the number of soldiers launching the attack is limited."

"This is the reason I sent five thousand elite soldiers to make a probing attack."

Meng Tian explained his reasons in great detail.

Wei Pao listened and was left speechless.

Because Meng Tian's strategy was correct.

When dealing with cannons, personnel must indeed spread out.

Otherwise, it would be like on our side, where many die in a single blow.

"Originally, I intended to wait until after the first wave of attacks, then send another batch up to exhaust their cannonballs."

"But at that time, I received news of your defeat and feared the enemy would launch a counterattack while taking advantage, so I abandoned the idea of attacking again."

"Now, as their formation becomes increasingly stable, it will be even more impossible for us to break out."

Meng Tian concluded.

"Then what should we do?" Wei Pao asked.

"First, send people to other places to see if we can find a new way out," Meng Tian said.

Wei Pao and the others discussed for a while but could not think of any new plan, so they could only do as Meng Tian said.

Soon, dozens of reconnaissance teams set out.

They advanced in all directions to search for any possible exit.

After arranging the reconnaissance teams, Meng Tian returned to his own main tent 4.3.

A short while later, Feng Qiji walked in.

"General Meng, how likely is it that we will find another way out?" Feng Qiji asked.

"Very difficult," Meng Tian said calmly.

"If we cannot find an exit, aren't we trapped here to die?" Feng Qiji said.

"If it were just you and me wanting to leave, it wouldn't be too hard; we could slip away on a small path under the cover of night."

"But doing so would mean abandoning this army of hundreds of thousands, which would be no different from death."

Meng Tian said.

"General Meng, we cannot just sit here and wait to die; you must think of a plan!" Feng Qiji said with a bitter face.

Meng Tian gave a bitter smile and remained silent.

If it had been ten days ago, he would have come up with many plans.

But now he could not think of any plan to solve the current predicament.

184. The Last Plan

After the previous battles, Meng Tian realized he had been wrong, terribly wrong.

The greatest mistake was failing to understand the enemy's strength.

Only after witnessing Li Yuanba's unstoppable force on the battlefield and seeing the immense power of those cannon shells did he feel the gap between the two sides.

Besides the gap in strength and equipment between the two sides, there was also a gap in organization and capability.

Now he found this person, Facing Ying Su, extremely terrifying.

Li Yuanba, the cannons, and the appearance of Zhuge Liang and others were all connected to Facing Ying Su!

Making an enemy of such a terrifying person was unwise.

But now it was too late.

Once the arrow has been shot, it cannot be taken back.

"General Meng, what if we send a secret envoy out to contact the nobles outside, and then act from within and without?" Seeing that Meng Tian remained silent for so long, Feng Qiji offered a plan.

"Contact the nobles outside? Will they agree?" Meng Tian asked.