Chapter 424: The Standoff

"I await your news, Wang." Zhao Xu patted Chang Wei on the shoulder.

In the Battle of Tongguan and the battle where he borrowed troops from Ma Han to strike Ma Jin, Chang Wei had fought both engagements with great skill.

In his view, Chang Wei was fully capable of independently commanding an army of over one hundred thousand men.

However, compared to the previous two times, the conditions this time were more difficult.

After all, they could not carry Artillery, nor could they carry War Chariots; they had to travel light.

But there was no other way.

In a large-scale military campaign, there are often many times when a portion of the army must sacrifice itself for the overall strategic risk.

This was such a situation.

But if this detachment led by Chang Wei progressed smoothly, it would greatly alter the current war situation.

It had the same effect as "besieging Wei to save Zhao."

As for the specific outcome, that would be a test for Chang Wei.

"Commander, and all of you, listen well: once we cross the Wei River, General Chang Wei's orders are my orders. You must not disobey in the slightest. Do not forget, the land beneath your feet right now is the land of the Ma Family. If we of the Ma Family do not sacrifice ourselves at a time like this, when will we?" Ma Han stood up and looked toward Commander and the Ma Family generals behind him.

"Yes, Head of the Family," Commander and the Ma Family generals shouted in unison.

Xiao Pass was once the first barrier for the Ma Family to defend against Xiliang.

It had now been gifted to Xiliang by Ma Jin; this was a pain in their hearts.

This time, they would surely fight with blood and sweat to take it back.

Zhao Xu and Ma Han exchanged a glance.

He ordered Chang Wei and Commander to immediately lead the troops to build rafts.

At the same time, he had the Wangfu Army soldiers remaining in Weicheng hand over their Dry Ration Bags to the Ma Family soldiers.

Ever since the Roasted Flour played a good role in the surprise attack in Jinzhou last time.

This time, the army was also well-stocked with Roasted Flour.

Ten days of dry rations were enough for them to reach Xiao Pass.

That night, the starry sky was brilliant.

Weicheng was bathed in silver moonlight.

In the woods west of the city, Wangfu Army soldiers and Ma Family soldiers were busy felling trees.

They cut down the trees, carried the trunks to the riverbank, and tied them into simple rafts with hemp rope.

Within three days, they crossed the Wei River in batches and set off toward Xiao Pass.

Watching the figures of the crossing soldiers gradually disappear on the horizon.

Zhao Xu turned back to face Weicheng.

The reason he did not choose to also use rafts to cross the river and join the main force was because there was another reason: the Xiliang soldiers inside the city were still putting up a desperate resistance.

If he led his troops across the river now, it would be equivalent to handing Weicheng over to the Xiliang people on a silver platter.

It would be equivalent to leaving a nail in his own rear.

Furthermore, as long as the bridge was not repaired, the War Chariots and Artillery could not cross the river.

If they encountered a large-scale attack by Xiliang Cavalry, the Wangfu Army soldiers would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

At that point, not only would they be unable to support the main force, but they would also have doomed themselves.

Based on these points, he could only wait.

Xian City.

Zhao Heng sat in the main camp tent, watching the retreating soldiers.

Ever since the camp was set up, the garrison in Xian City had deployed formations in front of the city to engage them in battle.

Over these two days, the two great armies had clashed several times, with wins and losses on both sides; the situation was intense, quite different from the crushing victory at Weng City last time.

However, whether it was him or the generals in the army, they were still full of confidence.

Because they knew the number of troops in Xian City; even if it came to a war of attrition, they could not afford to lose.

"Has nothing been detected yet?" Yang Feng stood before Zhao Heng.

Just then, a Scout commander came over, and Yang Feng immediately inquired.

"Reporting to the General, there is nothing unusual around Xian City," the commander said.

Yang Feng nodded, but his heart grew increasingly suspicious.

While setting up camp under Xian City, he had dispatched Scouts to patrol the surroundings of Xian City.

It had been several days, and there was no news regarding the Northern Di.

Zhao Heng glanced at Yang Feng, "General Yang, being cautious is a good thing, but being overly cautious is not. At present, Xian City only has two hundred thousand troops; we should take it quickly. If we follow your advice and wait ten days or half a month, there really will be complications due to delay."

The Second Prince's face was full of smugness.

He was not stupid; when at Weng City, he had secretly ordered the Han Family Scouts to head to Xian City to investigate.

But everything indicated that there were indeed only Xiliang and Ma Jin's troops around Xian City.

Only then did he urge the main force to head to Xian City.

Now Yang Feng had patrolled for another three days, and there was still nothing unusual.

This undoubtedly proved that he had made another correct decision.

Now, he even admired himself a little.

So marching and fighting were this simple.

He should have volunteered to go to Jinzhou to fight Xiliang in the first place.

If so, the military merit would be his; what did it have to do with Yan Wang?

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Yang Feng remained silent; he did not refute, but his heart was still filled with doubts.

The Second Prince said, "Father Emperor, in this son's view, this Xiliang is overly arrogant. It was one thing for Weng City to use new recruits to deal with us, but now they have actually arrayed their forces outside the city to confront us."

"In these years, the wars between Great Song and Xiliang have seen more defeats than victories, so they naturally look down upon us," Zhao Heng snorted coldly, "but today's Northern Expeditionary Army has Artillery and Matchlocks; it is no longer the army of the past."

Yang Feng remained silent.

The Xiliang people did not close their gates and stay inside to defend the city to the death, but chose to start the battle outside the city; this was because the generals inside the city were confident they could defeat the Great Song army in open field combat.

In the various wars of Great Song, it was not as if the defending side had never come out of the city to confront the enemy.

The Second Prince naturally had his reasons for thinking this way.

But was everything from leaving the pass until now really that simple?

He did not believe it, yet he could not produce any evidence.

If he were to speak of his intuition as a veteran of a hundred battles, the Emperor, in his current high spirits, would naturally ignore it, not to mention that there was a Second Prince obstructing things from within.

Thinking of this, he sighed softly.

"Woo— woo—"

At this moment, the sound of horns resonated across the battlefield.

Noon had arrived, and the soldiers on both sides needed to rest and eat.

They would continue to fight in the afternoon.

Xian City.

Gule, Wuyan, and Ma Jin set up a small table under the city wall, and the three of them drank Wine leisurely.

"Gule, this Great Song army is indeed more troublesome than before. Many of our soldiers were killed by the opponent's Artillery. If we relied solely on our Xiliang, this time would truly be difficult," Wuyan finished a cup of Wine and frowned.

Gule nodded, his expression gloomy, "And that Matchlock formation of the Great Song Imperial Guards also caused our soldiers to suffer quite a bit. Fortunately, that thing takes nearly thirty breaths to fire once."

From the mouths of captured Great Song soldiers, they learned that the fire-spitting sticks in the hands of the Great Song soldiers were called Matchlocks.

In the morning's engagement, the Great Song army first used Artillery to bombard them.

Once they endured the casualties and closed in, they used Matchlocks to strike them.

When it came to close-quarters combat, these Matchlock soldiers would run to the back, and the Long Spear soldiers and Shield-bearers would step forward to fight them.

This set of movements was very fluid; through interrogating captives, they knew that the Great Song Imperial Guards had been trained by generals sent by Yan Wang.

"If we keep fighting like this, I fear we won't be able to hold on for long," Ma Jin said with some depression.

Gule and Wuyan looked at each other; in the fighting over these two days, they had basically let Ma Jin's soldiers take the lead.

Ma Jin naturally felt heartache for his own soldiers.

But for the sake of this heavy blow to Great Song, they had already lost one hundred thousand Xiliang soldiers at Weicheng, so how could they care about Ma Jin's troops?

Gule said, "Since it is an act, it must be performed realistically. Weng City was new recruits, so they could naturally retreat quickly. If we retreat too fast now, I fear it will arouse the suspicion of the Emperor of Great Song."

"That's right, hold on as long as you can. Besides, it will still take some time for the Northern Di army to cross the river," Wuyan patted Ma Jin on the shoulder, "Think about it, if we fail to stop Great Song from reclaiming Qinzhou and Yongzhou this time, what will be your fate?"

Ma Jin's heart tightened; as a traitor to Great Song, the Song People would naturally not let him off.

Gritting his teeth, he said, "As long as we can defeat Great Song, what does it matter if a few people die!"

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