Chapter 306: Night Raid on Xin City

"Your Highness, the Xiliang army has moved. Large numbers of Xiliang troops are rushing toward Huaicheng from both Xin City and Jincheng!"

In Hengshan County, the cavalry responsible for reconnaissance reported the Xiliang movements back to Zhao Xu.

Over these past few days, he had dispatched a large number of scouts.

Relying on the advantage of the Telescope, the scouts easily avoided Xiliang sentries and penetrated deep into the heart of Jinzhou to conduct reconnaissance.

"Excellent, Liu Tan has succeeded." Chang Wei gripped his fist tightly.

Qin Shan and the others also had excited expressions.

With the Xiliang soldiers from Xin City and Jincheng being drawn away, the defenses of the two cities would inevitably weaken.

If they took Xin City this time, they might even be able to strike while the iron was hot and take Jincheng as well.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly, "We still need to wait a few more days. We will take Xin City once we estimate the Xiliang reinforcements have reached Huaicheng."

Acting too early would only allow Tuoba Wuji to see through their plan of feigning an attack in the east while striking in the west.

If the Xiliang troops were to withdraw back by then, they would be in trouble.

The commanders nodded slightly; he naturally understood these things.

Following this, Zhao Xu ordered the scouts to continue scouting and reporting, keeping a constant grasp on the Xiliang movements.

At the same time, he had the commanders prepare to set out at any moment.

The time taken to capture Xin City should not be too long.

After all, Liu Tan and the soldiers under his command only carried ten days of dry rations.

Two more days passed, and the various reports sent back by the scouts indicated that the Xiliang army was estimated to be one day's journey from reaching Huaicheng.

At this time, Zhao Xu ordered the soldiers setting out on the expedition to rest during the day and march at night.

The distances from Xin City and Huaicheng to Hengshan County were roughly the same, both around three hundred li.

However, because they had to carry the Artillery and other Baggage Train, Zhao Xu gave them three days of marching time, and it was to be done by hiding during the day and marching at night.

During the reconnaissance process, the scouts brought back the locations of the forests and mountain ranges along the route.

They would march according to the nodes where they could hide to avoid exposure.

Nighttime.

The sixty-thousand-strong army was fully equipped and ready to go.

Because a large amount of grain and fodder was stored within Hengshan County, he left ten thousand men behind to defend it.

At the same time, there were sixty pieces of Field Artillery capable of firing twelve-pound Cannonballs.

If the battle went poorly, they would retreat back here.

Therefore, this base camp pushed forward into Jinzhou absolutely could not be lost.

Everything was prepared, and the army set out under the cover of night.

In the thick night, the Prince's Army disappeared into the darkness once again.

This time, they would attack Xin City.

They made a forced march for an entire night.

Before dawn broke, they arrived at their predetermined location, Yu Mountain.

The army hid there to rest, while simultaneously dispatching scouts to reconnoiter and guard against Xiliang sentries.

Sitting in the mountain forest, Zhao Xu, like the soldiers, was eating Roasted Flour and drinking cold water, his face full of exhaustion.

Chang Wei sat with Zhao Xu, looking at this young Yan Wang with a gentle smile.

At this moment, the noble prince before his eyes did not seem like the Yan Wang, but rather a comrade-in-arms fighting alongside him.

"What are you grinning at? There are no flowers on this prince's face." Zhao Xu glared at Chang Wei.

Chang Wei chuckled twice, "This subordinate is laughing because for a prince to be able to march at night with rough men like us, Your Highness is likely the first in history."

Zhao Xu cleared his throat so that the Roasted Flour could slide down smoothly.

He then said, "This prince wants to tell you all that the hardships you can endure, this prince can endure as well. From now on, none of you think of acting arrogant before this prince by relying on your merits."

As the saying goes, arrogant soldiers and fierce generals.

Since ancient times, armies have been extremely difficult to control.

Generally, those who could make an army submissive were emperors who conquered the world through military prowess.

For example, Li Shimin, or the father and son of the old Zhu family, and so on.

These founding emperors also understood that armies were hard to control.

Therefore, fearing that after their deaths the old generals would not listen to the new monarch, they would either kill the meritorious officials or establish a system of favoring civil officials over military ones, using civil officials to command the army.

However, this only resulted in the subsequent weakness of the army.

It was precisely because of these considerations that Zhao Xu decided to lay a solid foundation for himself in the army.

Therefore, he personally participated in every current battle.

With such illustrious military achievements, no commander in the Prince's Personal Army should think of comparing their merits to his.

"How could we dare, how could we dare!" The commanders immediately put on a grinning face.

They admired the Yan Wang from the bottom of their hearts.

At the moment, truly no one dared to compare their military exploits with the Yan Wang.

Just as they were speaking, a scout suddenly galloped over and entered the mountain forest.

"Your Highness, Xiliang sentries have been discovered ahead," the scout said.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xu gave the commanders a look.

The commanders immediately returned to their respective units and ordered all soldiers to lie down.

At the same time, they put muzzles on the horses to prevent them from neighing.

This was because the scouts had discovered the Xiliang sentries using the Telescope.

They had enough time to conceal themselves.

After a while, sure enough, Xiliang scouts passed through below the mountain path.

Once the Xiliang scouts had left, they sat back up to eat, then rested and slept.

When night arrived, the main army set out once again.

At the same time.

Below Huaicheng, Liu Tan decided to withdraw after besieging the city for over four days.

The Scout discovered the Xiliang main army coming to provide support, numbering over ninety thousand men.

His mission was to drag out the Xiliang reinforcements as much as possible.

Therefore, after nightfall, he marched by night again, heading toward Tongguan.

The Xiliang reinforcements arrived to find nothing, searching everywhere for the Yanzhou Army, when they suddenly received news that the Yan Wang's troops were pressing straight toward Tongguan.

They immediately rushed toward Tongguan.

But by the time they reached Tongguan, the Yanzhou Army had vanished again, this time disappearing without a trace.

"We must find them." Jili gazed at Tongguan ahead, his heart filled with extreme fury.

……

Below the walls of Xin City.

It was still the dead of night.

After a three-day trek, the Prince's Mansion army arrived here.

"Your Highness, Xiliang has dispatched an army of ninety thousand to support Huaicheng; the Xiliang troops in Jincheng and Xin City will not exceed sixty thousand, perhaps even fewer, especially in Xin City, which likely has fewer than ten thousand," Chang Wei analyzed.

Zhao Xu nodded.

Tuoba Wuji had a total of one hundred and fifty thousand men under his command.

This number was more or less accurate.

Looking toward the flickering lights occasionally appearing on the battlements of Xin City, Zhao Xu could sense that it was poorly defended.

"Launch the attack at dawn," Zhao Xu said.

This feint had completely drained the military strength of central Jinzhou.

Upon receiving his order, Chang Wei immediately commanded the troops to surround the city on all four sides, rather than surrounding it on three sides and setting an ambush on one as they had at Hengshan County.

At the same time, he moved the Artillery near the city gates.

However, Xin City was different from Hengshan County.

Hengshan County had no moat, but Xin City did.

Therefore, after arriving at Xin City, he had the soldiers cut down trees, then bind the trees together to make temporary Floating Bridges.

Gradually, the east began to pale with the first light of dawn.

The outline of Xin City gradually became clear.

Just at this moment, a massive booming sound rang out.

The Artillery blasted the city gates open.

However, as wood splinters flew, Zhao Xu saw that the space behind the gate was packed full of Sandbags.

Seeing this, Chang Wei frowned and immediately ordered the soldiers to carry the Floating Bridges and charge toward the city gate to clear the Sandbags inside.

When the sound of the cannons rang out, the Xiliang generals inside Xin City were shocked and terrified.

They rushed to the city walls and, looking at the Yan Wang's soldiers who had surrounded Xin City completely, fell into utter panic.

Because they knew very well that there were only a mere six thousand soldiers inside Xin City.

How could these six thousand soldiers resist an enemy ten times their number, equipped with Artillery?