Chapter 1154

First Volume, Chapter 1154: The War Has Already Begun

Long before Sun Bo's vanguard army marched toward Gusu City, Qin Feng's Southern Campaign had already begun in silence.

After all, this matter was of utmost importance; Qin Feng could never wait until spring to engage the Southern Border Powerful Clans in a fair, face-to-face war.

The situation inside Gusu City had long been reported to Qin Feng through the Brocade Uniform Guard.

As more troops amassed, Qin Feng grew not the slightest bit anxious—instead, he became increasingly relaxed.

Gusu City is only so large; even at its peak, its garrison never exceeded ten thousand.

Now, fifty thousand troops have been crammed inside at once, and the sheer volume of materials consumed is an astonishing figure.

Qin Feng was waiting for Gusu City's carrying capacity to reach its limit.

Once that happened, merely blockading Gusu City would cause it to collapse from within within no time.

In the end, the best method for siege warfare has always been "surround but do not attack."

But how easy is it to blockade Gusu City?

The string of major fortified cities behind Gusu City alone gave Qin Feng great headaches.

Thus, the key to capturing Gusu City did not lie in Gusu City itself, but in cutting off its reinforcements.

Qin Feng's plan was simple, yet extremely ingenious.

Three thousand Beixi Light Cavalry infiltrated the Gusu City region in batches, gradually.

Though called infiltration, this region was still the domain of the Southern Border Powerful Clans, with countless spies and informants—complete secrecy was impossible.

Precisely because of this, Qin Feng could turn their own strategy against them.

Once the defenders inside Gusu City learned that Northern Border Elite troops had entered the theater, they would inevitably panic and reinforce Gusu City's defenses.

Qin Feng was extremely confident of this.

First, because Qin Feng had just finished the Northern Di War and was at the peak of his fame.

Second, because Lin Wenwan was stationed in Gusu City; Lin Wenwan understood Qin Feng well—and precisely because of this, she was more likely to be outwitted by her own cleverness.

Of course, the most crucial point in ensuring Gusu City would hunker down in defense.

Was the pressure exerted by Sun Bo's main army.

The vanguard force was assembled from the Central Plains Imperial Party and the Jingji Garrison; its combat effectiveness spoke for itself, and it was primarily composed of Infantry.

With Infantry as the main force, this vanguard army moved slowly but was difficult to defeat.

To annihilate the vanguard entirely would require at least double its numbers.

Lin Wenwan clearly would not order the Gusu City Garrison to commit its entire force.

As long as it was confirmed that Gusu City adopted a defensive posture,

Then the open field beyond the city walls became highly exploitable.

These three thousand Beixi Light Cavalry, leveraging their warhorse advantage, could shuttle back and forth between Gusu City and the rear cities.

Although this cavalry force could not capture any city or engage in any "direct frontal battle,"

Merely constantly ambushing supply convoys, disrupting the war's rhythm, and forcing the Southern Border Army to deploy large numbers of troops to protect their logistics was already a strategic success.

Even without directly severing the supply line, merely disrupting it was enough to inflict tremendous pressure on Gusu City.

Meanwhile, the Beixi Expeditionary Brigade's engineering units had also quietly advanced toward Gusu City.

Once the supply trains arrived, they could begin assembling various siege equipment to launch comprehensive ambushes against Gusu City.

With the vanguard army holding the perimeter, if the Gusu City Garrison ventured out, they would face open field battle.

If they stayed in, they would be constantly harassed by siege weapons.

This was the strategy of encirclement and attrition.

But in addition, Qin Feng had a contingency plan: if Gusu City prematurely dispatched troops outward, the plan could shift accordingly.

At this moment, the Gusu City Light Cavalry being encircled and intercepted was already part of Qin Feng's contingency plan.

Liu Ming and Sun Bo's sole mission was to do everything possible to trap this light cavalry unit.

Then, using this cavalry unit as bait, they would wear down the garrison's morale or lure them into opening the city gates.

At this moment, the Vanguard Cavalry had charged directly toward Gusu City, driving the Gusu City Light Cavalry westward from the east, starting at Gusu City.

Due to differences in horse stamina and bow and arrow reserves, the Gusu City Light Cavalry dared not engage the Vanguard Light Cavalry rashly and could only flee continuously.

Under normal circumstances, the Vanguard Cavalry could not catch up to the Gusu City Cavalry in a short time.

Unfortunately…

Before executing their "interdiction of supply lines" mission, the Beixi Light Cavalry had been scattered around Gusu City in units of one hundred.

And before carrying out their logistics mission, their only task was to assist Sun Bo.

Soon, the Gusu City Cavalry became entangled with over a hundred Beixi Light Cavalry.

One thousand seven hundred against one hundred—a seventeenfold disparity.

The Beixi Light Cavalry, who should have been instantly crushed, instead fought while retreating, leaving the Gusu City Light Cavalry with a scalp-tingling dread.

The reason was simple: the Beixi Light Cavalry were fresh, rested, and had abundant horse stamina.

Meanwhile, the warhorses of the Gusu City Light Cavalry were utterly exhausted.

Previously, during their ambushes against Sun Bo's vanguard, they had consumed too many arrows; in contrast, each Beixi Light Cavalry soldier carried more than double the standard quota of arrows.

Moreover, the Beixi Light Cavalry had maximized the advantages of cavalry tactics.

They had deliberately neglected training in Ji Zhan.

As a result, their primary training had been reduced to only two skills: horsemanship and archery.

These specialized Beixi Light Cavalry archers never engaged enemies in close combat.

How long they could fight depended entirely on how many arrows they carried—even the horse spear had been eliminated.

Once their arrows were spent, they would unhesitatingly withdraw from the battlefield and head to the nearest supply relay station or military stronghold to replenish their arrows.

The Gusu City Light Cavalry couldn't catch up to the Beixi Light Cavalry, and were repeatedly shot and killed by the enemy's arrows.

After these one hundred plus Beixi Light Cavalry withdrew from the battlefield, the Gusu City Light Cavalry had already fallen into complete disarray.

How many had been killed was simply unknown; Main General Wu Teng only knew that of the seventeen hundred cavalry under his command, only a little over five hundred remained, with all the rest having scattered.

Before Wu Teng could catch his breath, another fresh, fully equipped contingent of Beixi Light Cavalry charged out.

This time it was even more outrageous—there were only fifty plus of them.

Yet despite their small numbers, the Beixi Light Cavalry began harassing Wu Teng's forces without the slightest hesitation.

After successive hard-fought battles, Wu Teng and his men's arrows were nearly all used up, with no way to resupply; facing the Beixi Light Cavalry's ceaseless harassment, they could only take a passive beating.

In the end, having truly no other choice, they could only wheel their horses around and charge off in the opposite direction.

During this time, scouts kept coming in to rejoin them.

"General, Sun Bo's cavalry to the north is approaching."

Wu Teng had no choice but to flee toward the southeast.

As a result, not long after, another scout came to report.

"General, there are enemy forces in all three directions—east, north, and west!"

The warhorse beneath Wu Teng was nearly spent; he couldn't win a fight, and he couldn't escape either, and he couldn't help but let out a hysterical, furious roar.

"What damn Lady Lin—just a short-sighted woman with long hair, nothing more!"