Chapter 899: Ten Thousand Horses Shake the Heroic City

Twenty li southeast of the Love Shenjing, north of Wuwu Town.

The army gathered, filled with murderous intent, spears and blades stood like a forest, warhorses stomped their hooves, seemingly about to charge and slaughter like a tide in the next moment.

The twenty thousand remnant Mongol elite cavalry had been dormant for many days, like a bow drawn and ready to shoot, finally reaching the last juncture of being ready to go.

Man Hai heard the scout's report, his eyes flickering slightly, and asked, "Has there been any troop deployment in the city these past few days?"

The scout said, "There has been no deployment of a single soldier or horse. Currently, the troops guarding the workshop total more than eight hundred infantry and cavalry.

But every day, carriages drive out of the city, covered with curtains, and accompanied by soldiers, traveling back and forth between the city and the firearm workshop every day."

Man Hai's expression was solemn, and he asked, "Are you sure the leader is definitely the Count of Lord Weiyuan, Jia Cong?"

The scout said, "Before we set off, we looked at Jia Cong's portrait, although it is somewhat different from the real person.

But the leader is a young general, looking very young, wearing bright armor, riding a Dawan steed.

He is followed by the general's banner, the soldiers are very respectful to him, and he has a method for commanding the cavalry. He definitely doesn't look like an impostor.

I was also worried about recognizing the wrong person, so I mixed into the refugees outside the city and got as close to the workshop as possible to check.

It just so happened that he led the cavalry to roam, leaving the workshop a little further away, and I happened to see his appearance clearly.

This person looks very spirited, very upright and handsome. It is rare to see a man look so upright, and he is seven or eight points similar to the portrait. It is definitely Jia Cong."

Man Hai laughed upon hearing this and said, "Jia Cong was once the scribe of the Great Zhou's peace talks and often entered and exited the Mongol mission's residence.

His portrait was secretly drawn by our mission's painter. I didn't expect it to be of use today.

The world says that Jia Cong's appearance is outstanding, comparable to Pan An and Song Yu among the Han people. The mission members also mentioned it when they returned.

If a man is handsome, who else could it be but him? It is said that he was born lowly, and his birth mother was a beautiful courtesan. He was born looking like his mother, which is why he grew up looking like that.

This person is definitely Jia Cong. This time it can't be wrong. When I capture him, I must see what he looks like, haha..."

The personal guards beside Man Hai heard Man Hai's loud mockery and also let out mocking sounds, but because of the strict military discipline, they didn't dare to be too presumptuous.

The Assistant Regional Commander beside him said, "Second Prince, we led the army to infiltrate Wuwu Town, controlling the fifty or sixty li around, and all the living people have been wiped out.

The Zhou people don't know where our main army is lurking. In their eyes, the capital area should be very safe and comfortable, but they still sent nearly a thousand people to guard the workshop.

Even the Count of Lord Weiyuan, Jia Cong, is personally guarding it. From the end general's point of view, the workshop must be building powerful firearms, otherwise, they wouldn't be so heavily guarded.

The carriages traveling back and forth between the city and the outside every day are all covered with curtains, mostly transporting materials for building firearms, or transporting finished firearms back to the city.

Second Prince, these firearms must be important, and most of them are used for the war against the Mongols, which is why the Count of Lord Weiyuan, Jia Cong, guards them personally.

Second Prince acts cautiously. We have sent scouts for three consecutive days to closely monitor the movements of the firearm workshop. Their actions are quite regular.

The end general thinks the time is ripe. Second Prince still needs to make a decision early, and the attack should not be delayed, lest we miss this great opportunity.

If they transport all the finished firearms back to the city, Jia Cong will also withdraw to the city. Our army's long-term planning will be in vain."

Man Hai said, "You are right. Although our army brought a lot of military rations, the consumption of twenty thousand troops is extremely fast.

In the past few days, we swept through Wuwu Town, Jiafeng Town, and Yushan Village, and got a lot of grain and materials, but it is impossible to solve it once and for all.

Because we want to take action against Jia Cong and the firearm workshop, in order not to startle the snake and expose our army's traces, the twenty thousand troops have been dormant for several days.

These days we have no troop movements, and we have to eat our fill every day. The grain consumption of twenty thousand cavalry every day is an astonishing number.

We must take Jia Cong and the firearm workshop as soon as possible, so that our army can determine the subsequent attack plan.

Otherwise, if we consume until the grain is tight and the twenty thousand troops fall into distress, this move of infiltrating from afar will cause complications and be difficult to end.

Pass my military order: leave two thousand-man teams to guard the grain and materials hoarded in Wuwu Town, and the remaining eighteen thousand troops will follow me to attack!"

The Assistant Regional Commander beside him said, "Second Prince, Jia Cong has less than a thousand troops under his command. The end general will take three thousand-man teams, which is enough to surround and capture him.

Is it raising him too high for the whole army to attack? Even if he has firearms, most of them are infantry and cannot resist several times the cavalry."

Man Hai laughed, "Although Jia Cong is a master of firearms, firearms are not the thunder of heaven's punishment. Perhaps they have some power, but most of them are exaggerated.

With just these troops of his, what can he do? He is not worthy of our ten thousand Mongol warriors attacking him with all their strength. He doesn't have this qualification yet!

Although Jia Cong has less than a thousand troops, the Love Shenjing is the national capital of the Great Zhou, and there are at least one hundred thousand troops in the city. We must not underestimate them.

Jia Cong is a key figure in the Great Zhou. If they send thousands of people to encircle and suppress, the Love Shenjing will surely send troops to rescue. By then, we will be unable to achieve success in one battle, and it will surely cause complications.

The troops in the north of the Love Shenjing are numerous, but the Great Zhou has always been short of warhorses. In previous years, they traded with the Mongols, and most of the horses exchanged were male horses.

We exchanged very few female horses, and even if a portion of the quantity flowed out, most of them were tampered with and rarely gave birth normally.

So the Zhou people's cavalry is very limited. Most of the cavalry has been transferred to the Beisan Pass. Even if the Love Shenjing is the Zhou people's national capital, at most there are five thousand cavalry, which is already the limit.

Once I only send three thousand-man teams, they will surely have the strength to fight, and wanting to capture Jia Cong alive will be difficult.

But if our whole army of eighteen thousand cavalry comes out, the momentum will be arrogant. The Zhou people will definitely not dare to open the city gates in a hurry.

Otherwise, our army's cavalry momentum is great. Once they send troops and cannot arrive, and are broken through the city gates by our army, won't the war between the two states become a joke?

So as long as the whole army comes out, the Zhou people will be afraid to fight. To ensure the safety of the Love Shenjing, they will mostly abandon Jia Cong, so we will be more likely to win the battle!"

The Assistant Regional Commander realized with a start and said, "The end general has shallow knowledge. Second Prince plans and commands, brave and martial. This battle will surely be a victory.

As long as Second Prince can capture Jia Cong alive, not only will the Zhou people lose face, and the defenders of the Beisan Pass will lose morale, but the Mongols will also have the power of firearms.

This is a heaven-shaking great merit. By then, the Great Khan will surely have heavy rewards. Among the princes of the Tuman tribe, Second Prince's fame and prestige will surely be unmatched."

Man Hai smiled proudly, although he said, "The First Prince was able to break through Xuanfu Town, which is the first merit of going south. Happening to meet the opportunity, it is truly enviable."

Although he said he was envious, his words were arrogant and domineering, but there was no half-point of envy, only unruly and arrogant disdain.

That Assistant Regional Commander was also an old man in the army and knew the various broken things in the Tuman tribe. As Man Hai's deputy, he naturally knew his thoughts well.

He smiled, "Xuanfu Town could be broken, which was certainly due to proper use of troops, but it was also thanks to the Sun family's spies who set up insiders in the city, otherwise it would be difficult to succeed.

Second Prince's move this time is strange and brilliant, but being able to take Jia Cong and the firearm workshop is a strange merit. The Han people have an idiom: it is easy to get a thousand troops, but hard to find a general.

Jia Cong is a famous minister and general of the Great Zhou, so his weight is naturally above Xuanfu Town. The end general first congratulates Second Prince on his merit."

Man Hai heard this and was very proud in his heart, couldn't help but laugh loudly, and said proudly, "The whole army attacks! If this battle is won, everyone will be heavily rewarded!"

Eastern suburbs of the Love Shenjing, Ministry of Works firearm workshop.

On the wasteland south of the workshop, Jia Cong led three hundred elite cavalry to gallop and practice military formations, acting meticulously and rigorously.

The cavalry team either charged forward, or flanked and circled, or stopped and shot, or retreated on horseback. The tactical movements were proficient, and the advance and retreat were uniform.

Jia Cong was ordered in a hurry to lead six thousand Divine Machine Camp soldiers on an expedition, so his training and coordination with the soldiers were actually quite unfamiliar.

Although he used every opportunity during the march to deepen the coordination with the soldiers, the time was short and the effect was insufficient.

Moreover, the strategy he formulated for dealing with the enemy, wanting to achieve success in one battle and efficiently command the two thousand firearm cavalry, was the top priority for victory.

For the two thousand cavalry to exert combat power, they must be proficient in tactical movements, so that they can advance and retreat freely at the critical moment of life and death.

When Jia Cong decided to return to deal with the enemy, leading the army to infiltrate the Shejia Dirt Hill and secretly compete with the remnant Mongol main force, it gave him an opportunity.

In fact, the three hundred elite cavalry roaming every day were not the same batch of people. Every day, there was at least three rotations, so that the two thousand cavalry on Shejia Dirt Hill were all trained.

Even under the prying eyes of the remnant Mongol scouts, it was not too difficult to hide and do this, because Shejia Dirt Hill was north of the workshop, closer to the east city wall.

Because the remnant Mongol scouts were hiding their tracks, they dared not get too close to the workshop, so they would naturally miss the details. As long as Jia Cong deliberately set up a formation, he could secretly cross the Chencang. ===== CHAPTER 900 =====