Chapter 1012: First Volume, Chapter 1012: Open the City and Launch an Attack

First Volume, Chapter 1012: Open the City and Launch an Attack

With the enemy cavalry's retreat, Qin Feng immediately deduced that the Di's military focus had long shifted from Changshui County to Ezhou; all elite troops had been relocated, and the forces remaining in Changshui County were not only few in number but also of extremely poor quality.

The Di King was gambling that Qin Feng would dare not leave Changshui County—but the facts proved the Di King had lost his bet.

In other words, the area around Changshui County was now undefended, with only minimal forces maintaining an information blockade.

Realizing this, Qin Feng did not hesitate; after a day of rest and recuperation, he immediately ordered a full muster of his army for pre-battle deployment.

Qin Feng's forces now numbered QianWuBaiRen; to prevent trouble in the Back Courtyard, five hundred men must remain in the city, and these five hundred could not consist solely of Beixi Soldiers—they had to be a mixed unit of Beixi Soldiers and Tianji Camp Guards.

Should anything go wrong later, he would not be left without elite troops at his side.

Excluding the five hundred defenders, the remaining one thousand were divided between Ning Hu and Zhang Zhenhai.

Ning Hu led six hundred Infantry straight toward Qingshan County, eliminating all enemies around it; if the enemy retreated inside the county city, there was no need to pursue—just clear the area outside the walls.

Meanwhile, Zhang Zhenhai led four hundred Cavalry to swiftly strike the transportation nodes surrounding Changshui County.

According to this period's Tianji Camp reconnaissance, the enemy garrisons at each transportation node were few—no more than a hundred, sometimes only dozens.

With the numerical and combat effectiveness advantage of four hundred Cavalry, these nodes could be swiftly destroyed.

Qin Feng's initial objective was clear: destroy the carefully laid encirclement by the Di, reopen communication channels, and gain accurate intelligence on Ezhou and Jingji.

At Qin Feng's command, Ning Hu and Zhang Zhenhai immediately led the one thousand troops out of Changshui County, splitting into two columns—one heading straight for Qingshan County, the other toward the farthest transportation node.

The reason for targeting the farthest node was simple: the Cavalry could use their speed advantage to launch a surprise attack before the enemy could react, then strike back toward Changshui County from the opposite direction, wiping out all nodes along the way.

After all, destroying the farthest transportation node meant directly severing the enemy's military supply line.

The further inward they fought, the weaker the enemy's defenses became; conversely, the further outward they advanced, the better prepared the enemy became, making combat increasingly difficult.

Even if Qin Feng's troops were elite, they must first target the softest targets—direct confrontation was a cardinal sin in military strategy.

At this moment, no one anticipated Qin Feng would dare send troops out of Changshui County; by the time the local garrison learned of it, Ning Hu had already arrived in the Qingshan County region, and Zhang Zhenhai had also launched his assault as planned.

Logically, the local garrison should have immediately dispatched reinforcements to crush Qin Feng's forces.

But the local commander did not do so; instead, he immediately sent a messenger to Wang Du to report the military intelligence.

This was not due to the commander's stupidity, but because Jingji had already descended into chaos, with all factions fighting independently—the commander had no desire to become the Chuhuoniao at this moment, so despite knowing this delay would hinder military response, he still followed protocol and notified his superiors.

By the time the Ministry of War received the report, the soldiers guarding Qingshan County had already been crushed by Ning Hu; the remaining remnants had all fled inside the county city, its Door tightly shut with no preparation for battle.

With the Qingshan County garrison routed, the Tianji Camp spies who had been operating on the periphery, unable to approach Changshui County, finally made contact with Liu Ming and sent all latest intelligence to Changshui County.

Meanwhile, inside the Palace in Wang Du, the Di King learned Qin Feng had launched an active sortie—far from rejoicing, he rested his forehead in his hand, his face filled with sorrow.

At this moment, compared to Qin Feng, the Di King cared more about the situation in Ezhou.

According to the Scouting Report, Chen Si, Wu Kang, and Jing Peng had begun withdrawing their troops without notifying the Di King, and their retreat route was not toward Jingji, but toward Bozhou.

Bozhou was vast and sparsely populated, backed by Gaoshan Country.

The Di King immediately understood Chen Si's intent—they had betrayed him, planning to flee to Bozhou as a base to continue fighting Qin Feng, and no longer cared about the Di King's fate.

The Di King never dreamed that his most trusted generals, Chen Si and Wu Kang, would betray him without hesitation.

More than anger, he felt profound sorrow and despair.

The overall situation was settled; the Di King knew he could no longer turn the tide—his only option now was to flee Jingji and retreat further north.

But as he gazed upon the Palace where he had spent half his life, and upon the Di realm itself, he could not bring himself to abandon it.

Looking at Li Yu standing before him, the Di King did not know whether to feel relief or grief—on the brink of collapse, the only one still standing by him was Li Yu, the intelligence officer.

Truly, man's plans cannot rival Heaven's design.

The Di King spoke weakly: "Minister Li, I wish to hear your thoughts on the current situation."

Facing the Di King's question, Li Yu felt equally helpless—he had only learned afterward that the Di King had dispatched the Xiongying Brigade to Ezhou to attack the Beixi Expeditionary Brigade.

Undeniably, this move could indeed undermine Qin Feng's Flash Strike Warfare on a strategic level.

But the drawback was clear: the Di King had missed his final chance to restore his authority.

Jingji's morale had long been unstable; without the Xiongying Brigade returning to stabilize the situation, not only the soldiers below, but even the Civil and Military Officials, had begun seeking their own escape routes.

Li Yu knew that unless a miracle occurred, the Di King was doomed.

Therefore, he did not directly answer the Di King, but asked instead: "Your Majesty, do you know how the garrison around Qingshan County reacted when Qin Feng sent troops out to attack?"

The Di King sighed deeply: "Following protocol, fulfilling their duties."

Li Yu's bitter smile deepened: "Indeed—fire is already at the door, yet they still follow protocol. This shows the Qingshan County commander is already prepared to switch sides."

"At present, although the army in Ezhou has not yet suffered tactical defeat, strategically, it has already collapsed utterly."

"Within three to five days, or at most seven to eight, Qin Feng's main force will appear in Jingji."

"Right now, there are only three ways to preserve the Imperial House's dignity."

"First, retreat northward; second, gather all available forces and defend Jingji's City walls to the death; as for the third…"

Li Yu did not continue.