Chapter 193: Surging

"Your Highness, there are currently over a hundred Flame Guards infiltrated in Fanyang. Once the Yuan Family makes any move, they will immediately send word back."

The Prince's study.

Xu Ke stood at Zhao Xu's side.

After the Yuan Family's failed assassination of Mo Di, Yan Wang immediately ordered the Flame Guards to strengthen their surveillance of the Yuan Family.

To this end, he specifically pulled the core members of the Flame Guards from Yan Commandery and Shanggu Commandery to enter Fanyang.

Zhao Xu nodded. "This matter is of great importance; there can be no carelessness."

Yuan Li has had dealings with the Northern Di people, and now he has attempted to assassinate Mo Di.

This is something that would make anyone vigilant.

Especially since he is Yan Wang, and his entire livelihood is in Yanzhou.

If Yuan Li truly colludes with the Northern Di to breach Yanguan, he would truly be finished.

After all, he is clear that he is currently no match for the Northern Di.

Not to mention that encountering the fierce Northern Di Cavalry in the field is a disaster in itself, the sheer number of Northern Di soldiers is enough to make him struggle to cope.

As the saying goes, many ants can bite an elephant to death.

Therefore, for him, Yanguan must absolutely not be lost at this moment.

It is precisely because of this worry that he became cautious upon learning this news.

At the same time, he mentioned this matter in the memorial he submitted to Zhao Heng, requesting that Zhao Heng send troops to garrison Yanzhou and thoroughly investigate the matter.

After giving a few more instructions, he let Xu Ke return and rose to head toward the Armory Bureau.

Upon arriving at the Armory Bureau, Zhao Xu handed a drawing to Wang Ying.

"Other matters at the Armory Bureau can wait; for now, focus on building this thing," Zhao Xu said to Wang Ying.

The current situation in Yanzhou is complex, and the snow on the roads has obstructed trade routes; for this period, trade in Yan Commandery has slowed down like a silted river.

Therefore, matters like making Glass can be slowed down entirely.

Wang Ying looked at the drawing and quickly realized what the thing Yan Wang had drawn was, because he had been thinking about this matter himself during this time and was just about to report it to Yan Wang.

"Is what Your Highness drew a two-wheeled carriage to carry Artillery?" Wang Ying asked.

Zhao Xu nodded; what he had drawn was indeed a Two-wheeled Cannon Carriage.

The wheels of this cannon carriage are very large, all cast from steel.

Between the two wheels, there is also a thick steel plate to secure the Artillery.

Once the Artillery is placed on it, it can be pulled by horses for flexible mobility.

With the current Yuan Family situation, one must take precautions.

If the Yuan Family truly defects to the Northern Di, I fear a war that burns across all of Yanzhou is about to begin.

By then, relying solely on his force of thirty thousand men would certainly be stretched thin.

Thus, he can only bring out the Artillery to achieve a tactical effect of winning by surprise.

"This thing is not difficult. From today on, you will lead the craftsmen to cast them, and build one for every piece of Artillery," Zhao Xu said.

This cannon carriage is actually equivalent to the two wheels of a horse carriage, but it has requirements for sturdiness; there is no difficulty to it.

"Yes, Your Highness." Wang Ying agreed immediately.

In his view, there is no problem for him to build this thing independently.

Zhao Xu then pulled Wang Chong aside and said to him: "A batch of ammunition for the Artillery must also be rushed out to prepare for a rainy day. Also, you need to make this kind of shell..."

As Wang Chong listened, he became excited. He nodded heavily. "This is easy, please rest assured, Your Highness."

Zhao Xu patted his shoulder with satisfaction.

Leaving the Armory Bureau, he headed toward the North Camp.

Today, the soldiers were not drilling, but were organizing their Armor and wiping and polishing their swords and blades in their respective barracks.

After he had Chang Wei make preparations that day, the entire military camp had been set in motion.

"Your Highness, the last general has already ordered the transfer of twenty thousand new recruits from Shanggu Commandery. If war breaks out, all the veteran soldiers will be deployed. I fear Yancheng will be empty and taken advantage of. At that time, leaving a small number of veterans to lead these new recruits will at least be of some use," Chang Wei said.

He was preparing for the worst-case scenario.

If Yanguan is in trouble, they can only give it their all.

The cities of Yan Commandery and Shanggu Commandery will inevitably have no troops for defense.

Zhao Xu's expression was grave, but he still nodded.

At present, no one can predict what will happen next.

If Yanguan is held, his fief survives.

If the fief is held but Yanguan is lost,

his fief will eventually perish as well.

In this dilemma, he can only choose to hold Yanguan.

Of course, the best case is that this incident is merely a court struggle within Great Song and does not involve the Northern Di.

Otherwise, after destroying the Zhang Family, his fief will face another life-and-death test.

"It can only be so," Zhao Xu sighed slightly.

These new recruits have not been trained, and their fighting spirit is a hundred thousand miles behind the veterans.

But now they can only be forced onto the city walls.

After inspecting the main camp, Zhao Xu finally went to the Government Office.

During the last Northern Di Autumn Hunt, the Village Soldiers in the countryside played an important role.

For Zhao Xu, these Village Soldiers are also a part of the military power in his fief.

It is necessary to mobilize them just like last time.

After arriving at the Government Office.

He had Liu Fu order the officials to go to the countryside and have the Village Heads and neighborhood chiefs make preparations.

Having arranged these matters, Zhao Xu returned to the Prince's Mansion and dove straight into his study.

He needed to create several sets of contingency plans so that, after unavoidable events occurred, he would not be caught in a panic.

And after that, it was just a matter of quietly waiting for the situation to develop.

……

Shangjing.

This was where the Northern Di Wangting was located, situated three thousand li northwest of Yanzhou.

After ten days of trekking, Enke arrived at the Wangting.

On this day, the wind and snow on the Grassland ceased, and the sky was clear without a single cloud.

The golden sunlight made the vast white snow shine with a luster like gold.

In the glistening white world, a golden Khan Tent appeared exceptionally conspicuous; that was the tent of the Khan Mule Hongzhen.

Passing through layers of sentries, Enke walked into the tent under the guidance of the Khan Tent guards.

Kissing Mule Hongzhen's boots, Enke said, "Khan, the fish has already taken the bait; now we can take Yanguan."

Mule Hongzhen, who had been lying on a chair, straightened his body at this moment.

"Did Mo Di die?" he asked.

"No, he failed, but he agreed to attack Yanguan," Enke said.

Mule Hongzhen was somewhat disappointed.

After Guo Tu went to the Black Iron Royal Tent, Enke had told him about the trap he had set for the Yuan Family.

To him, this plan was very tempting.

It was worth him taking a risk once.

However, what he had hoped for most was Mo Di's death, to then force the Yuan Family to cooperate with them in attacking Yanguan.

"It is truly disappointing," Mule Hongzhen sighed, "but if we do not use the Yuan Family now, I fear there will be no opportunity later."

After pondering for a while, he continued, "After you return to the Black Iron Royal Tent, immediately lead the troops to Ningjin Dusi to rendezvous with the Night Wolf, Curved Blade, and Copper Bull royal tents, and march on Yanguan."

The Northern Di had ten royal tents.

But at present, he could not mobilize all of his forces.

In the far west of the Northern Di, the Aoman there had been constantly contending with the Northern Di for land.

Two royal tents were dealing with the crisis there.

And the soft underbelly of the Northern Di was Xiliang, where two royal tents were on guard.

In the Extreme North, there was still one royal tent fighting against an unknown enemy.

The last royal tent was stationed in Shangjing, guarding the Khan Court.

Yet even so, in his view, four royal tents were enough.

Back then, it had only taken four royal tents to take Ningjin Dusi.

Moreover, there was currently the Yuan Family acting as an inside contact.