Chapter 692: Standoff

"Your Majesty, the Yan Prince Army is currently heading toward Yang City."

In the Imperial Study, Wang Xie said to Han Zheng.

Just as they had guessed, after the Southern Liang troops withdrew, the Yan Prince immediately gathered his troops and then took action.

Over these two days, he continuously sent out cavalry to scout, discovering the Yan Prince's intentions.

However, this was within his expectations; after all, if it were him, he would also choose to attack Yang City.

In fact, they had also concentrated a large number of troops in Yang City, preparing for a battle with the Yan Prince's forces.

Also in the Imperial Study were Xie Duan, his younger brother Xie An, and Wang Zi'an.

Xie An said, "I have transferred another two hundred pieces of Artillery to Yang City; currently, Yang City possesses nearly six hundred pieces of Artillery."

Han Zheng nodded; today, he had taken off his Dragon Robe.

Han Qi had been captured by the Yan Prince, and Han Bi had died in battle at the Nan'an Dock Fort.

At present, his Han Family had no one available to use for a time.

After deliberation, he decided to let Wang Xie be responsible for commanding the troops.

The Xie Family troops would still be commanded by Xie An.

"In this battle, I only ask to be able to drag the Yan Prince down at Yang City; the longer, the better," Han Zheng said.

Wang Xie and Xie An exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously.

The two left, and Xie Duan said to Han Zheng, "Brother Han, Brother Wang, do not hesitate any longer. Take everything that can be taken; do not leave anything behind. Otherwise, once Yang City falls, everything will belong to the Yan Prince."

Pausing for a moment, he continued, "Rest assured, I, Xie Duan, will not take advantage of others' misfortune. After all, in the future, I will still be counting on the two of you to huddle together for warmth."

Han Zheng shook his head, and Wang Zi'an also revealed a helpless smile.

Having set the plan to delay the Yan Prince's southward advance, he decided to transfer the national treasury of Qi to the south, leaving nothing for the Yan Prince.

Afterward, he would head south with Xie Duan, first traveling to Peng City to continue resisting the Yan Prince.

If the Yan Prince pursued relentlessly, they would fight a battle at Peng City, then move further south until they crossed Jiujiang and reached Jinling.

Xie Duan calling him "Brother Han" was not out of disrespect.

It was because he was preparing to shed the title of Emperor of Qi and once again become Han Zheng, the Head of the Family of the Han Family, one of the Eight Great Influential Clans.

After all, once Qizhou was lost, he would no longer have the face to call himself an Emperor.

Furthermore, it was also unfavorable for the plan currently being managed in Dongying.

"Brother Xie's words are a slap to my face. I, Han Zheng, am not like Dou Wei, full of underhanded ideas. Even if I were to give the wealth of the national treasury to Brother Xie, what of it?" Han Zheng said.

Upon hearing this, Xie Duan laughed heartily and said, "Right, I hope you and I can treat each other with sincerity and not be like that old fox Dou Wei, who only does dirty deeds."

Having said that, Xie Duan extended his hand. Han Zheng and Wang Zi'an exchanged a glance and placed their hands on Xie Duan's hand; this was trust in one another.

Liao Cheng.

Zhao Xu and Chang Wei set out from Dongping City and, after two days of trekking, arrived here.

They rested briefly for half a day.

Next, they headed south and, after another day and a half of trekking, arrived at the foot of Yang City.

Ordering the army to set up camp about eight hundred meters outside Yang City, Zhao Xu and Chang Wei found a raised slope and looked toward the ramparts of Yang City.

Noticing the dense rows of Artillery on the walls of Yang City, the two exchanged a glance and shook their heads lightly.

"This area in front of Yang City is barren, and the ground is all stone; this subordinate's new style of warfare really cannot be used. Chang Wei was somewhat annoyed. "This Qi state actually has some clever people who know how to adapt to circumstances."

Zhao Xu nodded. "The situation on the battlefield changes in a thousand ways; marching and fighting are just like this. We cannot let ourselves take every advantage."

Surveying Yang City, which blocked the middle of the mountain road, he said, "We cannot dig tunnels, so we will adopt the old method: a night raid."

For him, the difficulty faced at the moment was only that they could not take full advantage as they did with digging tunnels.

However, relying on the advantage of their firearms to take Yang City would still be quite easy; it was just slightly more difficult than Pingyuan City.

"Yes, Your Highness," Chang Wei said; the Yan Prince had thought of the same thing as him.

With such dense Artillery, attacking the city during the day would naturally result in more casualties.

But taking advantage of the night to let skirmishers approach the city walls and blow up their Artillery was still possible.

Yang City walls.

Once the Yan Prince's troops arrived, Wang Xie and Xie An ascended the city walls.

Looking toward the Yan Prince Army that was setting up camp, he and Xie An exchanged a glance.

"The Yan Prince's troops should attack the city at night," Wang Xie said.

"Why?" Xie An looked at Wang Xie; he felt unconvinced by this member of the Wang Family who was over twenty years his junior.

Wang Xie said, "In previous battles, the Yan Prince would rather go to trouble than order his soldiers to force an attack on a city, which shows he cherishes the lives of his soldiers immensely. This time will naturally be no exception. The General will have to work hard tonight."

Once Wang Xie said this, Xie An fell silent.

It seemed that was indeed the case.

He said, "This is troublesome. Today the sky is filled with dark clouds, and tonight it will surely be pitch black. The Yan Prince's troops have always liked to send scattered soldiers to harass us; how is this battle to be fought?"

Although their mission was to delay the fall of Yang City as much as possible.

His heart truly had no confidence.

Wang Xie said, "Does General Xie never study the tactics the Yan Prince used when fighting the Northern Di? Among them are methods to counter the night raids of the Northern Di."

Upon hearing this, Xie An's expression became somewhat unsightly.

But with a great battle imminent, he only sought to complete his mission, so he said, "Please, enlighten me."

Wang Xie came before Xie An and said a few words to him.

Xie An was overjoyed upon hearing this.

While the two were talking, they were seen clearly by Zhao Xu through a Telescope.

Zhao Xu said, "The one on the city wall seems to be Xie An; he once came to Yanzhou to escort Prince Chun back to Jingshi. Is that young general Wang Xie?"

During the Northern Expedition, when Zhao Heng came to Yanzhou, Wang Zi'an brought him to Yancheng, and he had met him.

During this time, when Xu Ke was gathering intelligence on Qi, he also gained some understanding of Wang Xie, describing him as having both courage and strategy.

Thinking of this, he frowned and gave a few instructions to Chang Wei.