Chapter 565: On the Eve of the Decisive Battle

A gentle breeze blew, fluttering the Black Shark flags on the warship.

On the deck, Chang Wei and Zhou Yi sat opposite each other at a table.

On the tabletop was a map of the Ningjin Dusi, and Chang Wei was writing and drawing on it.

Just then, a small boat came over from the shore.

A soldier boarded the warship and said to Chang Wei, "General, Captain Qin and Captain Guan have successfully taken Ning City."

"Excellent!" Zhou Yi slammed the table and stood up, his expression excited.

Compared to Zhou Yi, Chang Wei was much calmer.

To him, capturing Ning City was already within his plan.

How could sixty thousand men fail to take even an empty Ning City?

If they couldn't, Qin Shan and Guan Tong might as well stop being captains and go home to nurse their babies.

Seeing that Chang Wei did not speak, the soldier continued, "Captain Qin also said that the General need not transport grain to Ning City; the grain currently stockpiled in Ning City is enough for them to eat for a year."

Hearing this, Chang Wei finally revealed a faint smile.

Taking Ning City was expected, but capturing a large amount of grain was a pleasant surprise.

This would save them the heavy task of transporting grain.

"Good, with sufficient grain, Ning City is as secure as a mountain," Chang Wei laughed heartily.

Since Qin Shan and the others occupied Ning City, Ning City was now equivalent to another Yanguan.

Here, he planned to have Qin Shan and the others fight a defensive battle to further deplete the living strength of the Northern Di.

Afterward, he would have Mo Yu and the Ningjin Army block both ends to complete the encirclement of the Northern Di army.

Thinking of this, he said to the soldier, "Go to Yanguan immediately, bring this news to General Mo, and tell him to act according to the plan."

The soldier acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Watching the soldier get off the ship, Zhou Yi said, "If I didn't still have to command the fleet, I would really want to go to Ning City right now."

Chang Wei looked toward the west, "No rush; from now on, not just Ning City, but anywhere in the Ningjin Dusi you want to go, you will be able to go."

Having said this, the two looked at each other and smiled.

At the same time.

Some of the Northern Di cavalry who fled from Ning City headed toward Jin City, while others headed toward the Yanguan camp.

One day later, the cavalry heading south arrived at the Yanguan camp first.

Dismounting, the cavalryman rushed into Gule's tent with a panicked face.

At this time, another charge launched by Gule had ended in failure.

Inside the tent, generals like Gule and Ke'erqin were at their wits' end.

Seeing the cavalryman so distraught, Gule was furious and shouted, "What are you panicking about? Did the Song People capture your mother?"

"Great Administrator, the Song People really did capture my mother; not just my mother, they captured the mothers of many of us," the cavalryman sobbed, "Just last night, the Yan Wang's troops attacked Ning City, and Ning City has fallen!"

"What!" Gule could hardly believe his ears.

Ke'erqin,

Gule, and Wuyan were all stunned.

"Ning City has fallen!" the cavalryman said again, his crying growing louder.

Gule still could not believe it; he took three steps in two and reached the soldier, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up, "Say it again, what exactly happened!"

The cavalryman had no choice but to cry while explaining how Ning City was attacked and how the slaves took the opportunity to revolt.

The more Gule heard, the colder his heart became, and his hand gripping the soldier fell weakly.

Ke'erqin and the others changed color repeatedly.

"Ning City stored three months of our grain, while our camp's grain is only enough for ten days; if we cannot take Yanguan within ten days, we will have to retreat," Ke'erqin said.

Wuyan said, "We should stop attacking Yanguan now and wait for the Khan's orders. This matter is too strange; we have likely fallen into the Yan Wang's trap again."

"That's right, since the plague caused the Yan Wang's troops to suffer heavy losses, how could so many troops suddenly appear?" Gule added.

After a pause, he continued, "And this Yan Wang is also strange; if there were only thirty thousand men, they could not have held on until now, and still fought with such ease."

Gule and Ke'erqin looked at each other and nodded.

Gule and Wuyan were right.

During the battles of this period, they also felt more and more that something was wrong.

It was just that the Khan's orders were in place, and they could not disobey.

Now, with Ning City suddenly captured by the Yan Wang's troops, they could no longer continue to attack Yanguan recklessly.

"Withdraw the troops immediately, do not engage in battle, and wait for the Khan's new orders," Gule shouted.

The three of them answered in unison.

……

Jin City.

Mule Hongzhen, Tiemuta, and Wulanba had been paying close attention to the battle at Yanguan.

Every day, cavalry went to Jin City to report the latest battle situation to him.

But today, he did not wait for the battle report from Yanguan, but instead received the news that Ning City had fallen.

After confirming that this news was true, Mule Hongzhen remained silent for a long time.

Tiemuta and Wulanba looked at their father; they felt that their father seemed to have aged ten years in this moment.

"Isn't Yanzhou rampant with plague? Haven't the Yan Wang's troops suffered more than half losses? How did he hold Yanguan and still split off troops to attack Ning City?" In Mule Hongzhen's mind, these questions kept questioning him, almost driving him mad.

Everything could deceive him, but smallpox would not deceive him.

Once infected with smallpox, the plague could not possibly not spread among the Yan Wang's forces.

Furthermore, the Black Iron Guard saw many people with smallpox with their own eyes.

"What on earth is going on?" Not only could Mule Hongzhen not figure it out, but Wulanba could not figure it out either.

How could such a flawless plan have such a huge oversight?

"Great Khan, I fear we have fallen for Yan Wang's trickery again; if the plague were spreading in Yanzhou, he could not possibly mobilize so many troops. There is only one other possibility: the plague has had a negligible impact on Yanzhou, or perhaps there is no plague in Yanzhou at all," Tiemuta said sternly.

"The Black Iron Guard saw it with their own eyes, how could it be fake!" Wulanba said anxiously.

The current actions taken against Yanguan were all based on the premise that Yanzhou had been devastated by the plague.

If that were not the case, the losses at Yanguan would be blamed on him.

After all, the poisoning plan was orchestrated by him single-handedly.

"But now the facts are right before our eyes: Yanguan has not been taken after a long siege, and Ning City has been seized by Yan Wang's troops. It is now as if Yan Wang has cut the entire Ningjin Dusi in two; we must stabilize the Ningjin Dusi now," Tiemuta said loudly.

He was not blaming Wulanba.

He had also approved of the poisoning plan in his heart.

But now that a problem had arisen, he had to make his Great Khan and Wulanba wake up and resolve the current crisis.

The troops under Commander Gurtu had already suffered heavy losses at Yanguan, and now their retreat route had been cut off.

If Yan Wang were to launch a pincer attack, Gurtu, the two hundred thousand Northern Di troops of Horqin, and the two hundred thousand Royal Tent Army of the Xiliang King would likely never return.

"Tiemuta is right. Regardless of what method Yan Wang used to escape the plague and hide so many troops, we must hold onto the Ningjin Dusi now," Mule Hongzhen said. "Immediately reorganize the troops; I will personally retake Ning City!"

Immediately after, he ordered someone to go to Yanguan to have Gurtu's forces retreat north to rendezvous with him and cooperate in taking Ning City.