Chapter 423: Not Playing by the Rules

"How is the Northern Di army doing now?" Gule asked a general beside him at this moment.

"Reporting to the leader, they are currently crossing the river. About one hundred thousand troops have crossed the Jin River and are gathering south of Yongzhou. At the same time, another two hundred thousand troops are on standby at Yin Mountain. Once the Great Song army enters Yongzhou, they will cross the Western Liang border, set out from Xiao Pass, and cut off the Great Song supply lines," the general said.

Gule nodded and asked again, "What about Yan Wang?"

"He is currently trapped east of the Wei River and is repairing the bridge. It is estimated that he will not be able to arrive here for ten days or half a month," the general said.

"It is just a pity about the one hundred thousand Western Liang elites in Anxi and Weicheng," Wuyan said, clenching his fists.

Once this bridge was broken, none of the Western Liang soldiers in Weicheng would be able to return.

Unlike the conscripts in Weng City, whose deaths were not worth lamenting, the loss of these one hundred thousand troops simply made his heart bleed.

"Ten days or half a month is enough. Once we finish off this group of people, we will join forces with the Northern Di army to deal with Yan Wang," Gule's eyes narrowed.

Ma Jin said, "This Yan Wang is truly a great threat. He broke through Weicheng in just these few days. If he is allowed to continue growing, I fear that even Western Liang and Northern Di together will find it difficult to subdue him."

Gule and Wuyan nodded in unison.

Their plan this time naturally included Yan Wang.

If they could successfully surround the Emperor of Western Liang.

Yan Wang would inevitably lead his troops to rescue him.

At that time, they would launch an ambush halfway with the Northern Di people.

For them, this was the best memorial for Tuoba Wuji.

After all, that was how Yan Wang had defeated the Coalition heading to Jincheng in Jinzhou back then.

"Once they have finished setting up camp, we will march out of the city to meet them in battle and continue to lure them toward Yongzhou," Gule said.

The strategy of luring the enemy deep had only just begun; Weng City was merely a small piece of bait.

Xian City was the even greater bait.

They would continue to feign defeat at Xian City, flee toward Yongzhou, and wait for them to continue their pursuit into Yongzhou.

When that time came, they would join with the Northern Di Iron Cavalry to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

"Hahaha..." Seeming to imagine the scene of annihilating the Great Song troops and ambushing the Yan Prince Army, all three of them laughed.

You cannot catch a wolf without sacrificing a child.

They had sacrificed so many Western Liang soldiers; it was time for the harvest.

Outside Weicheng.

Zhao Xu listened to the gunfire that rang out from time to time inside Weicheng and discussed the next strategy with Chang Wei, Ma Han, and others in the command tent.

"Now we must consider two possibilities. First, it is indeed the case that the Western Liang troops are collapsing like a mountain; in that case, we need not be in a hurry," Zhao Xu said, "However, this situation is almost impossible, because the Northern Di have not yet dispatched their troops."

"Second, it is the strategy of luring the enemy deep," Zhao Xu said.

The reason he thought of this first was that people of this era were too familiar with this term, and this situation fit it perfectly.

"If it is the second situation, it is troublesome. But even so, relying solely on Ma Jin's one hundred thousand troops and Western Liang's one hundred thousand troops would not be enough to easily defeat those four hundred thousand men. After all, these two hundred thousand Imperial Guards are equipped with quite a few matchlocks,

have received training from our generals, and they also have nearly three hundred pieces of artillery," Chang Wei said.

Ma Han frowned, "General Chang is right. Unless they have the help of Northern Di troops, it is impossible for them to easily defeat the central army."

Then he asked doubtfully, "But where exactly are the Northern Di people now?"

Zhao Xu and Chang Wei looked at each other. He said, "The Northern Di have been slow to act, likely to catch us off guard."

Looking at the map spread on the table, he rubbed his chin, "According to the information I have received, the Northern Di scouts have been patrolling the route from Tongguan to Yin Mountain very tightly, and our people have been unable to investigate."

The people of the Four Courts had been sending him intelligence.

But they could not enter the Hetao Plain at all.

And the Hetao Plain is near the horizontal stroke of the 'ji'-shaped bend of the Yellow River, with Yongzhou located just below that horizontal stroke.

The Northern Di's defense was so tight that it made him seriously suspect that the Northern Di had a plan to cross the Jin River and head south into Yongzhou.

If it were in the past, this plan of the Northern Di would naturally be impossible to implement.

Because the Hetao was Western Liang territory, and the Ma Family soldiers would patrol the riverbanks.

But now that Western Liang, Ma Jin, and the Northern Di were in collusion, the Northern Di crossing the river was naturally no longer a problem.

However, he was still a bit skeptical, because Western Liang was not skilled at shipbuilding, the Ma Family's ships were mainly concentrated in Sizhou, and Ma Jin had no ships under his command.

Moreover, during this period, the Four Courts had not discovered any movements of Western Liang or Ma Jin building ships.

If so, how would the Northern Di cross the river?

However, he always liked to take the worst-case scenario into account.

So he pointed to Yongzhou and said, "The Northern Di troops might appear here; if so, everything would make sense. As for how the Northern Di troops would appear here, let us not consider that for now."

Beads of sweat appeared on Chang Wei's forehead, "Your Highness, if this is the case, then there is big trouble. The Emperor is in danger, and we will have to go to his rescue. Right, right, Your Highness, this move is luring the enemy deep and besieging a point to strike reinforcements."

He suddenly had a look of sudden realization.

Zhao Xu nodded; he also had some suspicions of this in his heart.

"But the Wei River bridge is broken, and we can only watch them fall into the trap," Ma Han cried out, "What is to be done?"

With Ma Han saying this, Zhao Xu suddenly understood the entire plan of Western Liang.

Whether it was the Western Liang elites in Weicheng or the blowing up of the bridge, these were all to delay the time for him to rendezvous with the central army.

It was just that Western Liang had originally intended to use Weicheng to drag him out for more than a month.

But they did not expect that Weicheng would be broken in just a few days.

Thus, they had no choice but to blow up the bridge.

And as for the central army, they created the illusion of continuous Western Liang defeats to lure the central army to keep moving north.

"They fight their battle, we fight ours." After pondering for a while, Zhao Xu's gaze became firm.

They could not follow Western Liang's plan, otherwise they would be led by the nose, lose the initiative, and fall completely into a passive position.

Chang Wei and Ma Han looked at Yan Wang; they did not understand this sentence.

Tapping on the table, Zhao Xu pointed to Xiao Pass, "We must launch a surprise attack on Xiao Pass, take it, cut off the retreat of the Xiliang troops, and at the same time prevent the Northern Di army from exiting the pass, which would sever the retreat route of the Northern Expedition army."

"But if we wait for the bridge to be repaired, I fear the Northern Di will have already passed Xiao Pass," Chang Wei shook his head.

"We cannot wait for the bridge; have the soldiers cut down trees directly to make simple rafts to cross the river, though this means we cannot carry the Field Artillery, only the Mortars," Zhao Xu said.

The Field Artillery was too heavy; simple rafts could not support it.

The Mortars weighed no more than a hundred catties.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Chang Wei, I will give you twenty thousand soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army and all the Ma Family troops; Xiao Pass is entrusted to you. If you can successfully take Xiao Pass, you shall advance toward Wuwei to force the Xiliang troops in Qinzhou to retreat; of course, it would be best if you could also pin down a portion of the Northern Di troops."

Chang Wei nodded.

So this was 'you fight your way, I fight mine.'

If the plan went smoothly, the Xiliang people's plans would likely be thrown into chaos.

"Please rest assured, Your Highness," Chang Wei cupped his fists heavily.

Currently, Xiliang had committed the majority of their forces to Qinzhou.

The forces at Xiao Pass were bound to be weak, making it the perfect time for a surprise attack.

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