Chapter 1723: Information Warfare

Prince Soubise adopted a fire attack, as he feared the Longyan soldiers would not take the initiative to strike.

Therefore, he used a fire attack to harass them, hoping to goad the Longyan soldiers into taking the initiative.

Arrows rained down indiscriminately, many falling upon the tents of the Longyan soldiers; as the weather was dry and the materials parched, a raging fire soon ignited.

Prince Soubise watched the fire grow increasingly fierce in the Longyan military camp, a smile appearing on his face.

Now, if the Longyan soldiers did not launch an attack, they would be trapped and burned to death within their camp.

But as time ticked away, second by second, the Longyan camp continued to burn.

Yet it remained abnormally calm, with no signs of any Longyan soldiers moving out; they even allowed their camp to burn.

Prince Soubise frowned; seeing this abnormal scene and thinking of a certain possibility, he suddenly let out a cry of alarm!

"Retreat, retreat!"

But by then, it was already too late.

The Longyan soldiers, who should have been in the camp, charged out from all directions of Halei Mountain.

Seeing these suddenly appearing Longyan soldiers, the two armies of the Holy Cross Army were momentarily stunned, and they scrambled to meet the battle.

However, they were caught off guard by the Longyan soldiers.

Unable to defend in time, the Holy Cross Army immediately collapsed into chaos under the Longyan offensive.

The battle did not last long; the infantry and crossbowmen of the Holy Cross Army were almost completely annihilated by the Longyan soldiers.

Preliminary estimates suggest that the Holy Cross Army lost at least over ten thousand men in this battle.

Meanwhile, the Cavalry led by Prince Soubise, at the foot of the mountain to the north, had not yet had time to launch an attack when they heard the battle cries of the Longyan soldiers coming from the mountain.

Through his Telescope, he clearly saw how their Holy Cross Army troops were being slaughtered by the Longyan soldiers, and his heart sank instantly.

But Prince Soubise did not choose to provide support; instead, he immediately withdrew his troops.

He did not know when the Longyan soldiers might notice his Cavalry unit, and to Prince Soubise, this unit was his last remaining capital.

It was the force the Holy Cross Army used to eliminate the kingdom of Prussia; he absolutely could not let the Cavalry be lost here.

Upon seeing the infantry unit on the mountain fall into an ambush, Prince Soubise immediately chose to retreat without the slightest hesitation.

……

On the other side, in the true main camp of the Longyan soldiers.

Liu Zheng took a sip of hot tea, watched the smoke still rising in the distance, and smiled.

Just at this moment, the Chief of Staff ran in to report.

"Sir, this battle has wiped out a total of fifteen thousand Holy Cross Army troops, with five thousand captured; we have one thousand wounded and three hundred dead."

"Understood. Pass on my order: give the fallen Longyan soldiers a grand burial, bring their coffins back to Longyan, and we must take good care of their families. Provide full medical treatment to the wounded Longyan soldiers, and if they cannot continue to fight, settle them properly."

Liu Zheng looked into the distance and said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

The Chief of Staff responded immediately, looking at Liu Zheng with a smile: "Sir, you truly possess god-like foresight. How did you know the Holy Cross Army might launch a sneak attack?"

"According to the intelligence provided by our informants, these Holy Cross Army troops should have already retreated; they should be on their way to Hanover."

Liu Zheng turned around, looked at his Chief of Staff, and laughed: "Who told you I knew the Holy Cross Army would launch a sneak attack?"

The Chief of Staff was stunned, looking at Liu Zheng in confusion.

Liu Zheng sat down and explained: "The intelligence information I received is identical to the information you received."

"In my view, the Holy Cross Army was indeed going to retreat."

"However, I have never overly trusted this intelligence; such information can only serve as a reference."

"If one takes it as absolute truth, it is very likely one will fall into the enemy's trap."

The Chief of Staff frowned and said: "Sir, do you mean our intelligence is inaccurate, and the intelligence personnel have a problem?"

Liu Zheng shook his head and said indifferently: "No, they have no problems at all."

"It is just that they have likely already aroused the suspicion of the King of Saxony; otherwise, the King of Saxony would not have requested support from the Holy Cross Army."

"The Holy Cross Army is a very special unit; they are a group of devout followers of Catholicism, and it is very difficult for our intelligence system to infiltrate them. We have no way to obtain their intelligence."

"Nor do we have any way to know their operational plans; they are the greatest danger to us."

The Chief of Staff nodded thoughtfully: "So that is why you built a fake camp on Halei Mountain, to lure them into the trap and provide them with false intelligence."

Liu Zheng nodded: "Correct, that is the logic. The Holy Cross Army cannot be infiltrated by our intelligence system, but that does not mean they won't believe the information we provide."

"From the very beginning, Prince Soubise fell into our information trap. As long as he took any action against that camp, he would eventually encounter our counter-measures."

The Chief of Staff nodded and murmured: "So that's how it is."

Liu Zheng sighed: "However, it is still a bit of a pity this time; we didn't manage to keep the Holy Cross Army's Cavalry."

"Otherwise, we could have established a Cavalry in Saxony, and by then, the Longyan soldiers could sweep across Europe!"

The Chief of Staff also smiled: "Sir, there is no need to be too troubled. The Holy Cross Army suffered heavy losses this time; if their Cavalry dares to expose their position next time, I am confident I will make them leave their War Horses behind!"

Liu Zheng did not speak; he did not know when the next battle with the Holy Cross Army would be.

"Alright, notify Wang Zhongyang and have him come see me."

"With the Holy Cross Army having suffered such heavy losses, there is no need for us to continue staying in Saxony. The Air Raid Plan must be launched quickly."

Hearing the four words 'Air Raid Plan', the Chief of Staff felt an inexplicable excitement.

Launching attacks from the sky—this was a method of warfare only recorded in myths; he never expected they would realize it now.

This was extremely exciting for the Chief of Staff.

The Chief of Staff immediately summoned Wang Congyang.

After seeing Liu Zheng, Wang Congyang bowed deeply and said very respectfully: "Sir, the gliders are ready, and as you instructed, the appropriate amount of sugar and flour has been added to the bombs and explosives."

After looking at Liu Zheng, Wang Congyang bowed deeply and said with great respect, "My lord, the glider is ready, and as you instructed, the appropriate amount of sugar and flour has been added to the bombs and explosives."

"The power of the glider has now increased explosively!"

"What we can be certain of is that this Air Raid Plan has absolutely no issues regarding explosive power, and there is absolutely no problem with destroying the heavy industrial zone of Saxony."

"Everything is ready now; the only problem is that without strong winds, our gliders have no Method to reach their optimal gliding distance."

After Liu Zheng finished listening to Wang Congyang's report, he said, "When the wind picks up next time, give Saxony the final blow; I no longer wish to continue wasting time in this place."

"Yes!"

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