Chapter 804: Zhao Xu's Trap

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"Boom!"

"..."

When Luse and Wang Xie retreated to the second trench, the battle at Niu Tou Tan showed a one-sided trend.

As the Shizu Army soldiers fighting at the front suddenly realized there were no reserve troops to support them, their hearts collapsed instantly.

A large number of soldiers simply threw away their Weapon and raised their hands, choosing to surrender.

In less than half an hour, the Wangfu Army controlled the entire Niu Tou Tan.

With Niu Tou Tan captured, Zhao Xu, Chang Wei, Lv Chang, and other generals crossed the river by Steamship.

"Your Highness, the remnants of the Shizu Army have all fled toward Jinling, likely heading to the second trench fortification."

The battlefield was filled with smoke, and the trenches were piled with the corpses of Shizu Army soldiers and Mercenaries; Zhao Xu was inspecting with a furrowed brow when Chang Wei said this.

A Colonel had just reported the situation he had scouted.

Zhao Xu nodded; with Niu Tou Tan taken, only two trench fortifications remained for Jinling City.

Next, he would have to destroy these two fortifications and annihilate the enemies on the battlefield.

In any war, the primary goal is to annihilate the enemy's effective strength, rather than simply capturing cities and seizing strongholds.

The military strength of the Han Family, Xie Family, and Wang Family was mostly concentrated in Jinling; once this force was annihilated, both Su City and Song City would be easily resolved.

But if he could not annihilate them, they would rely on their massive military strength to contest him city by city.

This was also the reason why he did not take the shortcut of attacking other coastal cities from downstream.

In the end, he still could not avoid this battle at Jinling.

"No need to pursue; let the soldiers rest for two or three days before advancing toward Jinling," Zhao Xu said after a moment of contemplation.

Jinling City was right in front of him; it could not run away.

The three families, including the Xie Family, would not run either.

If they ran, this Granary of the world would fall into his hands.

Therefore, both sides would eventually have to decide the victor.

Furthermore, the eastern and western trenches of Jinling City could support each other.

Why should he use a fatigued army that had just fought a battle to attack a Shizu Army that was rested and waiting?

It would be better to rest securely and then wipe them all out at once.

Besides this, there was one more point.

Jinling had two rivers to its east and west; the one on the west was called the Yuntai River, which was the contemporary Qinhuai River, and the one on the east was the Jiuxiang River; between the two rivers was a mountain, the contemporary Zhong Mountain.

Including Jiujiang, Jinling was situated exactly between three waters and one mountain, which could be described as easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Because the trench fortifications of Jinling were located behind the Qinhuai River and the Jiuxiang River.

So he needed to prepare tools for crossing the river.

For example, dragging some small boats ashore and nailing wooden planks onto them.

When fighting, pushing these small boats into the river and connecting them front to back with iron chains would form a pontoon bridge.

"Yes, Your Highness," Chang Wei replied.

Zhao Xu looked again at the nearly ten thousand captured Shizu Army soldiers and said, "Warfare sometimes also relies on psychological tactics; these prisoners can be used to undermine the morale of the Shizu."

Chang Wei did not understand and looked at Zhao Xu, waiting for the rest.

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Xu said, "Escort these prisoners to Jiangbei and let them witness the thriving life in Jiangbei today."

Chang Wei gave a bitter smile, "Your Highness, these captured soldiers are either from Rich Clan or are relatives of Rich Clan; how could they feel grateful to Your Highness like the commoners? Letting them see it will be in vain."

"That is not necessarily true," Zhao Xu rolled his eyes, "I did not exterminate the Rich Clan; don't those Rich Clan who were willing to hand over their land live quite well in Jiangbei?"

He paused and continued, "Let them see that the Rich Clan who handed over their land are still living well; it will always leave some impact on them. When they are released and return to spread this among the Shizu Army, it will at least dissolve the resistance of some people."

Chang Wei nodded slowly, "Your Highness is indeed far-sighted."

Having decided this, Chang Wei ordered people to escort the prisoners to Jiangbei, lead them to walk through the countryside and tour the county towns, and let them witness the earth-shaking changes in Jiangbei.

After resting for two days at Niu Tou Tan, Zhao Xu ordered the main army to approach Jinling City.

They confronted the Shizu Army on the opposite bank of the Yuntai River.

Stopping two kilometers from the Yuntai River, he looked through a Telescope at the orderly trench fortifications on the other side of the river.

Compared to the Niu Tou Tan fortifications, the Jinling trench fortifications were longer and basically circled the city.

Moreover, the first row of trenches was only about ten meters from the riverbank, clearly to prevent them from crossing the river.

By comparison, it was indeed more difficult to attack than Niu Tou Tan.

After observing for a while, Zhao Xu frowned and ordered the soldiers to set up camp.

However, he did not have the Prince's Personal Army set up wooden fences or Caltrops around the camp, just simple tents.

"Hehe, Your Highness, will they fall for it?"

In Zhao Xu's tent, Chang Wei laughed heartlessly.

When marching and fighting, setting up camp is essential to prevent the army from being night-raided and suffering heavy losses.

This time, Zhao Xu did the opposite, naturally having his own plans.

Because they had a more powerful defensive means than wooden fences—Landmine.

Since the enemy's trench positions were hard to attack, he would lure the snake out of its hole, let them take the initiative to attack, and win during the chaos.

"The chance of them falling for it is very high," Zhao Xu said with a confident expression.

Given the strength of the Prince's Personal Army, the enemy would easily think they were arrogant, hence not even setting up a camp.

Thus, they would send a large number of elites to attempt a night raid.

After all, no general would pass up an opportunity to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

In this way, he could order the soldiers to bury landmines around the encampment.

To give them a surprise when they launch a sneak attack.

At the same time, the Wangfu Army soldiers will also be able to sleep soundly.

It will not be too late to come out and fight once the landmines are detonated.

"Hahaha, this general is somewhat impatient." Lv Chang, Qin Shan, Guan Tong, and other generals were also present and could not help but laugh out loud.

Zhao Xu continued, "However, while the soldiers may sleep, they must be able to enter battle and reach their respective positions the moment they wake up; also, leave markers while burying the landmines so you don't find yourselves unable to get out the next day."

"Yes, Your Highness." The group responded in unison.

Although the Prince's Personal Army had long since brought the landmines to the north bank of the Jiujiang.

But because of the standoff across the river, they had basically not used them.

The enemy does not understand landmines, so they will certainly be in for a surprise.

The opposite bank of the Yuntai River.

Luse and Wang Xie naturally noticed the situation of the Prince's Personal Army's encampment.

The area around the Yuntai River is flat as a pancake, and the Prince's Personal Army's barracks are just sitting there on an open field without any protection, simply like a young girl walking alone at night.

"Could it be a trap?" Wang Xie asked Luse.

The failure of the Battle of Niu Tou Tan made them increasingly desperate for a victory to boost morale.

"Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't, it's hard to say." Luse shook his head.

The enemy's completely unguarded tents made it difficult for him to suppress the idea of a sneak attack.

But the battle at Niu Tou Tan also made him afraid.

So he dared not make a decision.

Yet he did not want to let this opportunity slip by, so he said, "We will know clearly after conducting some reconnaissance tonight."