Chapter 212: Besiege an Army, Leave an Opening

Jiao Zhe watched those Ghost Army soldiers who had abandoned their armor and weapons, his entire person stunned; he practically tumbled off his golden Horse Carriage.

"What is going on, what on earth is going on!"

"My Ghost Army, how could they possibly be defeated!"

Cheshi had a total of fifty thousand troops: thirty thousand Ghost Army and twenty thousand City Defense Army. This Ghost Army was the very existence Cheshi relied upon most; now, not only had they lost, but they were almost entirely decimated!

The Ghost Army soldiers who fled back wailed loudly: "Great King, that Longyan Army, they aren't afraid of us at all!"

"That's right!"

"They aren't afraid of ghosts!"

"They must have invited a Celestial Master to perform rituals..."

Jiao Zhe felt dizzy; Celestial Master, my foot—do you really think you are ghosts?

"Quick, quick, go report this to His Majesty!"

"Yes!"

Jiao Zhe panicked.

An army of one hundred and fifty thousand was already on the way; what did he have to stop them with?

Now look at the Loulan Army over here.

They were also practically abandoning their armor and weapons. Where was the high-spirited, invincible air they had when they first set out?

Reguli had a gloomy expression on her face.

She had not expected that the Loulan Army, having lived in comfort for too long, would be so fragile. Each one of them dressed in such gaudy, flashy outfits, yet they all turned out to be weaklings!

It seems the Longyan were right... life springs from sorrow and calamity, and death comes from ease and pleasure.

"A bunch of trash!"

"Useless gluttons!"

"That Qiuci Army that ambushed us was only fifty thousand strong; why are you running, fight them!"

Reguli even let out a string of profanities.

In this battle, they had actually lost ten thousand men! She had only brought forty thousand Loulan Army troops out.

"Empress Dowager... the terrain is unfavorable to us!"

"That's right, Empress Dowager, I had a bit of diarrhea yesterday."

"Empress Dowager, it is not that I refuse to fight, but my mother-in-law is actually from Qiuci..."

Reguli roared: "Get out, all of you get out!"

The generals were silent as cicadas in winter; no one dared to boast anymore.

She was very depressed.

Was she really a fool for wanting to follow Liu Zheng to conquer the Northern Western Regions this time? She had originally wanted to rely on this Yinzhou army of one hundred and fifty thousand to fish for some profit... she never expected that she would almost die before her campaign even began, all because of this bunch of useless gluttons!

"Empress Dowager, we should go back to reorganize our troops, then go to Qiuci to slaughter them all!"

"Yes! Why did we have to come here?"

"After reorganizing, we will surely leave them without a single piece of armor!"

Seeing Reguli give the order to begin crossing the desert, everyone was confused. In reality, it was not that they were confused, but that they had turned cowardly. Before the expedition, they had been full of grand promises, but seeing how capable Qiuci was—why fight a war? Isn't peace good? Love and peace! Just as Reguli thought, Loulan was too rich, Loulan had too much money, causing these generals who were once brave and skilled in battle to become pot-bellied Viscounts one by one...

Who wanted to fight?

Reguli said angrily: "If it weren't for you lot, would I have taken this route? Hmm?"

She sighed: "Young Master Liu had long anticipated this, saying that if we encountered resistance or ambushes from the Qiuci army, we should take the desert route and strike directly at Cheshi..."

The group looked at each other in dismay.

This Protector of the State had even calculated this.

Who knew, before Reguli had even finished speaking, she sat on her horse, leisurely watching the blue sky and white clouds: "The Young Master also said, if we spot vultures in the sky along the way, we must shoot them down at all costs to prevent Cheshi from sending word to Qiuci or the Dayuan Kingdom."

The group was shocked once again.

Someone asked in disbelief: "Does this Protector of the State mean that he can really break the Right Wing Army, and is worried about encountering reinforcements while conquering Cheshi?"

Once these words were spoken, everyone laughed.

Isn't this a joke?

Our Loulan Kingdom couldn't even beat Qiuci, and you think you can beat that Ghost Army?

The thoughts of these people were very simple: if we are to be defeated, let's all be defeated together; no one should mock anyone else.

Reguli glared at them: "Enough nonsense, keep a close watch for me!"

Who knew that just as the words left her mouth.

Two vultures flew in from the horizon, and it was quite obvious that these vultures were flying from Cheshi toward the direction of Qiuci... which meant this was inevitably a distress signal! Because if the Ghost Army had won, Cheshi would certainly have sent a message to the Dayuan Kingdom to claim credit, but if it was sent to Qiuci, it must be for reinforcements!

Reguli's eyes lit up.

The expressions of the others changed one after another.

Could it be that this Ghost Army was really defeated?

"Shoot them down!"

"Yes!"

Although the Loulan generals were trash, they still practiced archery in their spare time.

The entire army's Archers fired ten thousand arrows at once.

No matter how high those vultures flew, they were still shot down.

"Did they call for reinforcements?"

"Have you asked for reinforcements?"

Jiao Zhe ran the whole way, shouting as he went.

"Your Majesty, eight requests for reinforcements have already been sent in succession!"

Only then did Jiao Zhe feel a sense of relief; he ducked into his golden palace and then shouted again: "Where has that Longyan army reached?"

"Your Majesty, they are still thirty miles away..."

"What?"

Jiao Zhe jumped up: "Are they flying? How are they so fast?"

The crowd was equally panicked.

That was an army of one hundred and fifty thousand; without the Ghost Army, this Cheshi had almost no natural defenses, and many local Powerful Clan elites and wealthy people had already begun packing their valuables, planning to flee.

"Defend, defend for me!"

Jiao Zhe shouted coldly: "No matter what, we must hold out until the reinforcements arrive. It is only a half-day's journey for Qiuci to get here!"

"Yes!"

But one look was enough.

Cheshi only had thirty thousand soldiers left; how were they to defend?

The commoners, having received the news, were already in a panic.

Looking at the Cheshi King's golden palace, then looking at the pathetic Cheshi city wall, only two people high.

How could this be defended?

Seeing the commoners in total disarray, Jiao Zhe's eyes turned cold: "How to defend? Simple! Round up the commoners, regardless of gender or age, and drag them to the city walls to defend! The Longyan are the most sanctimonious; I want to see if that Longyan general kills these commoners or not! If Cheshi is breached, no one will escape, so it is better to sacrifice some lowly people!"

The crowd was overjoyed to hear this.

This was truly a good Method!

The thirty thousand Cheshi troops began to run rampant through the city.

The suddenly afflicted commoners had no chance to resist before they were dragged to the city walls by sword and blade, forced to pick up various weapons.

"Listen to me, defend Cheshi well. If Cheshi is breached, neither the King nor any of us will escape!"

The generals shouted.

The commoners felt such hatred in their hearts.

You cannot win, so you make us do it? Have you no shame! You live in a golden palace, ride in a golden Horse Carriage, while we are treated like pigs and dogs, and now you tell us to defend the country together?

Do you have any shame?

Some resisted, but the Cheshi troops executed them on the spot.

The commoners panicked and could only tremble as they picked up weapons, watching the Yinzhou army rushing from afar with fear and trepidation.

The Yinzhou army.

They arrived very quickly.

In this world, the originator of the Lightning War was truly not joking about their marching speed.

The location of Cheshi was quite important and extremely strategic; Liu Zheng did not want to expend too much effort, so he did not intend to wait for reinforcements. He wanted to take Cheshi one step ahead of time before making other plans.

"Commoners?"

However, when Liu Zheng received this news, he was completely stunned.

The Scout responsible for gathering intelligence continued: "Young Master, the Cheshi King Jiao Zhe has rounded up commoners to defend the city walls, this..."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other, their faces filled with worry.

Since ancient times, the Longyan Dynasty had always claimed to be an army of benevolence and righteousness.

No matter what kind of war occurred, they would neither slaughter a city nor harm the commoners; they might plunder, but they would not massacre. This was the current bottom line for war in the Longyan Dynasty. Look at how the Prince of Shu, after occupying Wudu, at most forcibly rounded up the commoners of Wudu and took them back to Shuzhou, using them as slaves at most, but never killing them.

Slaughtering a city was something that would be despised by the world.

Therefore.

Jiao Zhe's move had indeed presented the Yinzhou army with a difficult problem.

Liu Zheng smiled: "This Jiao Zhe is truly ruthless."

But he also knew that these ancient monarchs had never regarded the commoners as human beings; they were merely pigs and dogs they raised.

Qingyang Shuo also said: "It seems the Young Master's Lightning War will have to be shelved for now. If they are truly using commoners to defend the city, there is only one Method: surround three sides and leave one open!"

Surround the enemy but leave a gap!

Everyone nodded as well.

What does it mean to surround the enemy but leave a gap?

The "Warfare" chapter states: do not block a retreating army returning home, leave a gap for a surrounded army, and do not press an army in a desperate situation too hard. This means do not obstruct enemy troops retreating to their country, leave an escape route for surrounded enemy troops, and do not push an enemy on the verge of destruction too far.

The reason is that once the enemy is truly pushed into a dead end, they are likely to display astonishing combat power—the human desire for survival is very strong.

Surrounding the enemy while leaving a gap is the opposite of "breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats."

It is normal for people to erupt with astonishing energy when facing death.

Furthermore, leaving a gap and setting up an ambush with heavy troops is also an extension of the strategy of surrounding the enemy while leaving a gap.

When the Shu Army was surrounding Hanzhong, Shangcheng Port was that gap, because the Prince of Shu knew that he could not let Hanzhong fight to the death; he had to throw the city's morale and military spirit into chaos. Once completely surrounded, it would be easy for the whole city to unite as one, making it even harder for him to capture.

Therefore, Qingyang Shuo's suggestion was perfectly suited to the current situation.

Surround the city, but leave one gap.

Will you defend, or will you run?

It is not only a dilemma, but it also easily incites internal conflict within Cheshi at this moment.

This is psychological warfare.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zheng just smiled faintly: "A mere Cheshi is not enough to warrant any grand strategy. If even a Cheshi requires me to 'surround the army but leave a gap,' wouldn't that make me a laughingstock to that Xie Lao'er?"

The crowd was startled and looked over one after another.

A sharp glint flashed in Liu Zheng's eyes: "Those not of our race must have different hearts. Longyan's benevolence and righteousness are for the people of Longyan; what does the populace of Cheshi have to do with me?"

"Attack!"

"All-out attack!"

The crowd trembled all over.

It was the first time they had seen such a cold-blooded and ruthless Liu Zheng; Qingyang Shuo even smacked his lips, a strange emotion surging in his heart.

He suddenly realized that Liu Zheng had truly grown up.

At this stage, taking Cheshi as soon as possible was indeed beneficial to the overall plan. The Yinzhou army was on a long-distance expedition, and everything should be done sooner rather than later.

It was just that Liu Zheng had always presented himself as benevolent and righteous in Yinzhou, which was why Qingyang Shuo had suggested surrounding the city first to gradually break the morale of the Cheshi army.

He hadn't expected...

Liu Zheng not only refuted him but was also so decisive and ruthless.

Shedding his identity as a student, he had truly transformed into the commander-in-chief of the entire army.

The crowd was also invigorated.

"As you wish, Young Master!"

"Changfeng is willing to serve as the vanguard!"

Liu Zheng smiled and shook his head: "You have all misunderstood. The Art of War lies in flexibility. I am not saying we should kill everyone we see, but rather to slightly modify the master's 'surround the army but leave a gap'—by simply not surrounding them at all..."

"Today, we attack one side and leave three corners open, how about that?"

Qingyang Shuo exclaimed in surprise: "What the Young Master wants is an empty city?"

Liu Zheng smiled slightly.