Chapter 854: Counter-Encirclement

"How are the movements of the Xiangzhou army?" Zhao Xu withdrew his gaze and looked toward Xiangzhou in the west.

"The scouts haven't returned yet, but this subordinate estimates it will be within these two or three days," Chang Wei said. "Your Highness, do you think the army in Changcheng will retreat to Shacheng, or will the army in Shacheng reinforce Changcheng?"

"They will reinforce Changcheng," Zhao Xu said. "This Prince does not believe Liang Kai will easily abandon Jiangzhou, and this is an opportunity for a pincer attack. Most importantly, it is already too late for the army in Changcheng to retreat now. Even if the Shizu generals do not understand this, the Western Lands generals in Ba City will."

The Shacheng that Chang Wei spoke of is the contemporary Changsha region of Hunan.

The main force of Wu is basically stationed in Shacheng.

Chang Wei nodded.

The marching speed of the Shizu Army is significantly slower than that of the Prince's Personal Army.

Moreover, they can now reach Changcheng directly via Chang Hu.

Once the Shizu Army in Changcheng retreats, we will order a small detachment to force-march ahead of the Changcheng army, intercept them, and then have the main force catch up to launch a pincer attack and crush them.

Sure enough, three days later, the scouts returned with news that the Shacheng army was setting out toward Jiangzhou.

"Your Highness guessed correctly. The Shacheng army did not head directly east toward Changcheng, but instead circled south toward Anqing," Chang Wei said, having received the intelligence brought back by the scouts, and walked straight to Zhao Xu's temporary residence in Anqing.

At this moment, Zhao Xu was standing under a willow tree in the courtyard, staring at a map of Da Song and pondering something.

Hearing this, he said, "If we commit the majority of our troops to Changcheng, the Wu army will inevitably attack Anqing, cut off our retreat, and then head south to coordinate with the Changcheng garrison from both inside and outside."

He paused, then added, "If we remain stationary and keep the majority of our troops in Anqing, they will certainly engage us in a standoff, leaving us in a dilemma."

He stood up and walked a few steps, then said, "And before Xie An sealed the city gates, the Four Courts sent out intelligence that Xie Bi had been placed under house arrest by his father. It is evident that Xie An's will to resist us is very firm."

"If that is the case, then there can only be a bloody battle," Chang Wei said. "These Shizu are truly stubborn."

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Your Highness, this subordinate believes that leaving twenty thousand troops in Anqing City is enough to hold it. The remaining eighty thousand troops are more than enough to attack Changcheng; there is no need to worry."

"This Prince is naturally aware of that, but this war could be fought more easily," Zhao Xu laughed. "Since they are waiting for us to attack Changcheng, we will intentionally avoid Changcheng and head to Shacheng without them knowing, causing their wishful thinking to fall through."

Chang Wei's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "That's right! Shacheng is effectively an empty city now. As long as we take Shacheng, the Wu army will become wandering ghosts. At that time, we can leave a small force to garrison Shacheng and then, in turn, coordinate with the Anqing garrison to launch a pincer attack on the Wu army, which will surely annihilate them. As for the Changcheng army, they are merely lambs in a cage waiting to be slaughtered; it won't be too late to deal with them later."

"Correct, that is exactly what this Prince means. There is no time to lose; you shall immediately lead sixty thousand troops to set out for Shacheng and take it," Zhao Xu said.

He could only give Chang Wei sixty thousand soldiers.

After all, Anqing required twenty thousand soldiers to garrison it.

There were another twenty thousand soldiers currently recovering the counties on both banks of Chang Hu.

According to the battle reports being continuously sent back,

the actions of these twenty thousand soldiers were very smooth, and the counties on both banks of Chang Hu had basically been taken by them.

Moreover, seeing the arrival of the Prince's Personal Army, the people of Jiangzhou were truly very enthusiastic, not only sending food but also drink.

They even took the initiative to help the Prince's Personal Army build Scaling Ladders, and even helped hold the ladders during the fighting.

It was precisely with the help of the people that they made rapid progress.

It is feared that in another two or three days, only Changcheng will remain in all of Jiangzhou.

By then, these twenty thousand soldiers will also need to shoulder the task of besieging the Changcheng garrison.

"Yes, Your Highness," Chang Wei acknowledged.

Zhao Xu nodded. "To ensure the operation goes smoothly, take Qin Shan and Guan Tong's First Army and Second Army with you."

Chang Wei had originally wanted to suggest leaving Qin Shan behind to prevent the Wu army from attacking Anqing.

But after thinking about it, he gave up on the idea.

The Yan Wang had naturally given this order after careful consideration.

Furthermore, the combat effectiveness between the various armies of the Prince's Personal Army did not differ much.

Most importantly, every army was currently equipped with Qin-series Rifles and carried a large number of Hand Grenades.

Each army also had sufficient Howitzers and Rifled Cannons.

Relying on such firepower to defend the city, the six hundred thousand Wu troops could not possibly take Anqing.

Having settled this, Chang Wei went back to order the First Army and Second Army to get some sleep.

As night fell, they traveled light and set out for Shacheng.

The distance between Shacheng and Anqing was only six hundred li, about three hundred kilometers.

With the marching capability of the Prince's Personal Army, they would only need six days to arrive.

……

At the same time, in Tongxian, Xiangzhou.

The six hundred thousand-strong Wu army was resting outside the county seat, and the torches in the night were distributed throughout the camp like stars in the sky.

The commander leading these six hundred thousand troops was named Liang Tong, a younger cousin of Liang Kai, and currently served as the commander of the Wu National Defense Army.

In order to firmly control the Wu army, the main generals of the Wu army were mostly members of the Liang Family.

At this time, they had already been out of Shacheng for two days.

"This battle is a matter of life and death. Our Wu has nowhere left to retreat, so everyone must muster twelve times the spirit this time."

In the central command tent, Liang Tong was eating and drinking with the generals.

After having his fill of food and wine, Liang Tong spoke sternly to the generals.

Among the orders Liang Kai gave him were two words—fight to the death.

Last time the Yan Wang's army came west, they had a false alarm, but this time there was truly no way to avoid it.

"The Yan Wang is bullying us too much. Jiangbei and the three southeastern provinces are not enough to satisfy his appetite; he insists on driving us to extinction. Since that is the case, then we shall perish together," a general said angrily, slamming his wine cup onto the ground.

"Only by killing the Yan Wang can we resolve the hatred in our hearts. It is said that the Yan Wang is currently in Anqing; we must not let him escape this time."

"……"

The Wu generals were filled with righteous indignation.

Having been driven from the prosperous coastal areas to such a barren place as Xiangzhou, they naturally hated the Yan Wang to the extreme.

Among the generals, there were also those with worried expressions, but in such an environment, they dared not speak words that were out of place.

Furthermore, regardless of what they think, the outcome is already set; they must obey military orders and, together with the army in Changcheng, launch a pincer attack on the Yan Prince Army.

Liang Tong was very satisfied with the performance of the generals.

He looked toward the direction of Anqing, his eyes narrowing.

He was very clear about the prowess of the Yan King Army.

But one cannot stop traveling the mountain road just because tigers eat people.

In this battle, even if they are defeated, they must heavily damage the Yan King Army.

In this way, they can buy time for the influential clans until the arrival of the Westerners.

At that time, the scales of victory will tilt in their favor.

Thinking of this, he drank the Wine in his cup in one gulp.

The next day, the main army continued its march toward Anqing.

Because the army was large in number and carried a massive Baggage Train.

After another six days of marching, they only reached the border between Xiangzhou and Jiangzhou.

It would take another three days to reach Anqing City.

However, Liang Tong ceased marching here.

He was waiting for news from Changcheng.

If the Yan Prince Army attacked Changcheng, he would then launch an offensive toward Anqing.

And while he was waiting for news from Changcheng.

Chang Wei, along with the soldiers of the First Army and the Second Army, had already arrived at Shacheng after six nights of marching.

They prepared to launch a surprise attack on Shacheng under the cover of night.

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