Chapter 938

First Volume, Chapter 938: Formulating the Gucheng Plan

This is, after all, the Northern Di Imperial Court's rear area—absolute territory deep within enemy lands, garrisoned by large armies and fully stocked with military equipment and materials.

Especially the Wang Du Garrison, whose sole duty is to protect the Northern Di King's safety and prevent any sudden incident from threatening the capital.

And one such incident is the possibility of someone seizing the capital from within—thus, the Wang Du Garrison must also possess siege warfare capabilities.

In other words, what Qin Feng must now face is not merely the Northern Di's elite troops, but their finest army specializing in siege warfare!

This situation is no longer one to conceal—it is utterly hopeless from start to finish.

One thousand eight hundred defenders holding off an enemy ten times their number, an enemy fully equipped and expert in siege warfare—even if Qin Feng commanded them personally, and even if all one thousand eight hundred were fierce, battle-hardened soldiers, Qin Feng would never dare claim he could hold out for three months.

Yet no matter how dire the situation, Qin Feng must press forward.

After all, this Winter War is too crucial—it could directly decide whether the centuries-old grudges between Shedynasty and Northern Di come to an end, and whether Qin Feng can fulfill his promise to Jing Qianying.

As the core of this war, Qin Feng absolutely cannot drag down the main battlefield in the Rear.

Holding Changshui County for three months will secure victory; as for the Zhuozhou front, Qin Feng has absolute confidence he will advance relentlessly, conquering city after city.

Qin Feng and Ning Hu, dragging their wounded bodies, immediately began devising a defense plan, racing against time.

In broad terms, there is no shortcut to defending a city—it must be fought for inch by inch on the City Wall; once the City Wall falls, and street fighting begins, Qin Feng's defeat is all but certain—his annihilation is merely a matter of time. Thus, under all circumstances, the City Wall must not fall—it is Changshui County's first and only defensive line.

But if one merely defends the City Wall against relentless enemy assaults, massive losses are inevitable.

Even if one traded lives for lives, one could never match the enemy's numbers.

Warfare is not a simple arithmetic problem where one plus one equals two, nor is it as straightforward as losing one man meaning one less man.

One thousand eight hundred men defending the entire perimeter of the City Wall is still manageable.

But as the war progresses and numbers dwindle, when the force drops to QianWuBaiRen, the DefensiveLine reaches its absolute limit—then every soldier must enter high-intensity combat, with minimal and infrequent rotations; the physical and mental toll alone becomes a major hurdle.

When numbers fall below one thousand, maintaining the DefensiveLine forces one to reduce troop allocations across all sectors.

Remember, this is Northern Di territory—every direction is filled with enemies; the DefensiveLine must have no gap whatsoever, for even one breach will let the enemy flood in and lead to total defeat.

Yet reducing troop allocation directly causes insufficient tactical advantage—this imbalance will cause soldier casualties to rise sharply.

If it takes ten days for casualties to drop from one thousand eight hundred to QianWuBaiRen, it may take only five days to fall from QianWuBaiRen to one thousand.

And when the remaining one thousand are slaughtered and broken, leaving only a few hundred who must resort to street fighting, it may take merely two or three days.

Casualties on the Battlefield never decline gradually—they always plummet like a cliff.

Therefore, merely defending the City Wall is not a wise course.

"Ning Hu, do you have any good strategy?"

Without hesitation, Ning Hu blurted out: "What if I lead a small detachment of Tianji Camp Guards to launch guerrilla raids, disrupting the enemy's tactical arrangements and buying time for the city?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng shook his head decisively: "Impractical!"

"If we had home-field advantage, we could do this—but this is Northern Di territory, surrounded on all sides by enemy troops, with light cavalry circling everywhere; the moment we leave the City, we'll be hunted down by cavalry. Even if we somehow escape the cavalry, we'll immediately be trapped in a situation of being surrounded on all sides."

"Moreover, the enemy's Camp will certainly maintain distance from Changshui County to prevent Night Raids."

"Remember, their commanders are all senior generals from the Wang Du Garrison—how rich is their combat experience? Trying to exploit their weaknesses is as hard as climbing to heaven; even if we succeeded, such low-intensity Harassment Tactics would never affect their decisions."

On the Battlefield, no tactic remains fixed—Harassment Tactics often work wonders when one has home-field advantage or substantial allied support nearby.

But in this situation—overwhelming enemy numbers, utterly isolated—using Guerrilla Warfare is tantamount to suicide, serving no purpose whatsoever.

Seeing Qin Feng so decisively reject his plan, Ning Hu rubbed his chin, sinking into deep thought.

After a long while, another idea formed in his mind.

"Lure the enemy into the trap!"

"We deliberately leave one opening—when the enemy rushes in, we surround and annihilate them, inflicting heavy losses and crushing their morale."

Qin Feng lowered his head, pondered briefly, then shook his head again.

"Still no good—our opponent is the Jingji Garrison, and they're numerous; opening a gap recklessly risks losing control of it entirely."

"Once the enemy floods in shoulder to shoulder, that gap won't close—it's equivalent to inviting death."

The plan was rejected again; Ning Hu was utterly lost.

"We can't just huddle behind the City Wall, can't launch ambushes, can't open a gap—then what do we do?"

"Qin Brother, do you have any good strategy? Reveal it—let me see what you've got."

Qin Feng hesitated a moment, then clenched his teeth.

"There is a plan—since I've decided to hold Changshui County to the death, before even settling on this strategy, I've already begun contemplating the worst-case scenario."

"But Battlefield conditions change in Rapid Changes, and human intentions are hard to fathom—whether it will succeed depends entirely on fate."

"My plan involves two-pronged preparation: the front must be solid, the rear must be flexible."

"In short: make the enemy stumble at every step, sow discord among them!"

Ning Hu's mind worked slowly—he couldn't yet grasp Qin Feng's deeper meaning.

Qin Feng didn't press him, and explained voluntarily: "The defensive line of the County City is too long—small-scale bandit traps are useless, while deploying them along the entire line exceeds our capacity."

"Yet the core of defending the City Wall lies in inch-by-inch resistance, extending the DefensiveLine as much as possible to delay the enemy's direct assault on the City Wall."

"It seems contradictory, but it's not impossible—if we apply our strength in the right places."