Chapter 669

After an old monk entered meditation, Xu Zengyi suggested to Chen Wuji to first bait the Qiang People and see their reaction.

If they take the bait, there will be no need to worry about subsequent problems, and there's no need for Chen Baojia to escort the Qiang People all the way over.

By then, keeping a few more captives could also achieve the goal of exchanging with the Qiang People.

If the Qiang People don't take the bait, then the only option is to delay.

Block the city gate, and keep it blocked until Chen Baojia escorts the Qiang People over.

Chen Wuji finished a pot of tea and still couldn't come up with a more reliable plan, so he agreed to Xu Zengyi's suggestion.

This really is the most reliable tactic at present.

The orders were soon issued, and this not-so-large military camp quickly sprang into action under the cover of night.

Chen Wuji drew five thousand troops from the central army and both flanks, stationing them in strategic locations along the way to set ambushes.

The next day, at dawn, a convoy of donkey carts quietly left the original Qiang Ren Da Ying under the protection of the Lu Halberd Unit's soldiers, transporting the grain and fodder from the camp to the rear.

They needed to let the Qiang People see, yet also pretend not to let them discover; this timing wasn't a good choice.

Chen Wuji and Xu Zengyi pondered for a long time, finally settling on this time.

The Qiang People had just taken Wuyang City; it's unlikely they'd already relaxed to the point that at dawn there was no one awake on the city walls.

On a hill not far from Wuyang City, Chen Wuji and Xu Zengyi stood side by side, gazing at the movements in the not-so-distant Wuyang City.

"How strange, how odd—why is it still so quiet? Could it be they're really that at ease?" Chen Wuji muttered as he watched the grain-transport convoy about to disappear from sight.

Xu Zengyi's expression also turned odd: "Indeed, that shouldn't be the case; even if the Qiang People aren't planning to chase the grain, there should be some movement on the city walls, but now it's so quiet it's as if not even a breath can be heard—what scheme is this wolf up to?"

Chen Wuji said to his aides: "Have Lu Ji come over."

"Yes!"

This place is right behind the original Qiang Ren Da Ying, so Lu Ji arrived quickly.

Within less than half an hour, he arrived.

"My lord, are you looking for me?"

"After you swapped positions with the Qiang People, have you noticed any other movements by them?" Chen Wuji asked.

Lu Ji shook his head: "After yesterday's battle between our army and the Qiang People, the Qiang People occupied Wuyang City and made no other major movements."

"However, they dispatched many scouts scattering in all directions; the Deputy General sent small units of Bīngmǎ to intercept several routes of the Qiang People's scouts. I had wanted to capture a few alive for interrogation, but these Qiang People are no ordinary tough nuts—they immediately committed suicide when the situation turned unfavorable."

"The Deputy General yesterday intercepted four routes of the Qiang People's scouts, nearly a hundred people, and didn't leave a single survivor."

Chen Wuji's brows knitted tightly: "How could such vital information not be reported?"

"My lord, it's not that the Deputy General didn't report; I was waiting for the scouts' information." Lu Ji said candidly.

"The Qiang People's scouts would rather die than be captured alive by our army; they surely carry a great secret, so I dispatched scouts to pursue them along the way."

"Merely reporting this one oddity to my lord—wouldn't that just add trouble? At least we should grasp something before reporting."

Chen Wuji gave a slight nod: "Your consideration is not bad. But the Qiang People just took Wuyang City, yet they hastily dispatched Death Soldiers out of the city—what could be the purpose? Could there be reinforcements coming?"

"It must be reinforcements." Xu Zengyi said, "Besides reinforcements…… no, wait—there's actually another possibility."

"What?"

"Scouting!"

"Scouting?" Chen Wuji muttered doubtfully.

"Yes, scouting!" Xu Zengyi said solemnly.

Langdu successfully stormed into Wuyang City, but that also gave himself a dead-end move; he lacked sufficient supplies and couldn't do anything to us in the short term. To keep this game alive, he must open another path, either leading our army out to fight or finding a way to survive.

This path to survival is actually more reliable than trying to get their supplies back.

Chen Wuji's expression changed slightly: "Sir, do you mean the Qiang People might be leading us on?"

Xu Zengyi nodded: "Zhong Qiang's goal is to capture Nan Jun; capturing Nan Jun and overthrowing my lord are now equivalent, so as long as I defeat my lord, they can completely ease their pace and leisurely occupy Nan Jun."

"Given the Qiang People's usual practice, once they set out, they won't lack supplies."

"With the Qiang People's habit of looting wherever they go, once they set out they truly won't be troubled by supplies."

"They're trying to make use of their cavalry advantage again." Chen Wuji said solemnly.

After hearing Xu Zengyi out, he had basically concluded that the Qiang People would surely do that.

Infantry chasing cavalry would be exhausted to death and still couldn't catch up.

"This wolf is truly cunning!" Chen Wuji muttered.

"He's found his most comfortable way of fighting; if he really does that, we'll really be in trouble—we'll be dragged to death by this damn thing."

Xu Zengyi soothed: "My lord, no need to be angry for now; perhaps the Qiang People are going to call for reinforcements."

"Sir, I'm all grown up—stop coaxing like a child." Chen Wuji chuckled, "This is the battlefield; there can be no luck. Regardless of whether that's possible, we need to prepare in advance—first bring Chen Wu Yin over."

He really didn't expect Xu Zengyi to suddenly pull such a trick on him.

This kind of soothing, like coaxing a child, left Chen Wuji torn between laughter and tears.

After Xu Zengyi finished speaking, he also embarrassed himself, gave a dry laugh to cover up, and then said: "My lord, it's time to attack the city! We won't hesitate because of the townspeople; if the Qiang People really use the populace as leverage, we'll adjust then."

Chen Wuji nodded: "We can move now; regardless of how much we can achieve, let's first wear down their forces."

"That's exactly what I meant."

Chen Wuji immediately ordered the construction of Siege Equipment on the spot, to attack the city in the afternoon.

We can't really let the Qiang People lead us by the nose.

If the over forty thousand Qiang People cavalry truly took Nan Jun as their pasture, the Qiang People would have found their most comfortable fighting style, but Chen Wuji would feel awful—he'd surely be sickened to death.

By then, the Qiang People would be looting everywhere, seizing the army's provisions from the mouths of Nan Jun's townspeople, so there'd be no need to worry about supplies.

When interested, he'd turn and fight Chen Wuji; when not, he'd continue leading Chen Wuji's great army on a leisurely tour of all Nan Jun.

Will we still be able to fight this battle then?

Chen Wuji's army had many infantry; cavalry at most totaled only six thousand, and even if all were combined, compared to the forty thousand Qiang People, there would still be a huge gap.

By then, if you can't win in a fight and can't catch up in pursuit, you'll really be in trouble on both sides.