Chapter 959

First Volume_Chapter 959 Logistics Corps Enters the Field

By cutting off communication between inside and outside the city, severing water and grain supplies, slowly wear down the defenders until they die.

Unfortunately, the battle situation was urgent; the best solution had become the one least usable—Chen Si's campaign was no different from tying his own hands behind his back.

Less than two hours had passed since the siege began; according to the Battle Report, preliminary estimates showed over two thousand casualties already!

This wasn't a battlefield—it was a meat grinder!

At that moment, Jing Peng burst in, drenched in blood, roaring: "Grand General, withdraw immediately! We cannot press the assault any further—the losses on both sides are not on the same level!"

"For every one enemy defender injured, our troops suffer a hundred casualties."

"The enemy defenders are Armed to the Teeth, resting and waiting; our forces expend massive casualties yet achieve nothing."

Chen Si had already been hesitating about withdrawing; now that Jing Peng had returned, he finally made up his mind and growled: "Beidi War Command: withdraw in batches!"

Seeing Chen Si finally give the order, Jing Peng exhaled in relief and immediately dispatched all his personal guards to notify the troops still fighting.

He plopped down opposite the table, dropped his gleaming battle blade on the ground, tore off his Helmet, tossed it aside, and gasped for breath.

"This city cannot be taken by brute force!"

"Grand General, we must change our Tactics—or else…"

Before Jing Peng could finish, Chen Si waved his hand wearily: "I am well aware of how difficult this battle is."

"The enemy defenders are well-equipped, their Morale steady, under Qin Feng's Command, with vast stockpiles of Materials and Supplies, plus the advantage of Catapults and Heavy Crossbows—any direct assault is self-inflicted suffering."

"Conservatively estimated, to forcibly capture Changshui County would require at least ten thousand… even tens of thousands of casualties—an exchange of a thousand enemy lives for ten thousand of our own, utterly unworthy."

"But the Enemy Army on the South Line is advancing rapidly; if we fail to take Changshui County, we may not withstand their fierce assault…"

Here, Chen Si fell silent, his heart filled with helplessness.

He knew clearly that Qin Feng had been planning for a long time, and his true strength and murderous intent had now fully manifested.

Chen Si concluded that Qin Feng had poured unimaginable sums into this Winter War—possibly even emptied his entire treasury—to wage an overwhelmingly crushing campaign.

Not only was Changshui County as impregnable as a fortress, but even the Southern Front Army's offensive forces were so lavishly equipped it made one's teeth clench.

Tens of thousands of Main Force troops were equipped with warhorses beyond imagination, their marching speed rivaling that of the Cavalry—this… this… this defied reason!

Jing Peng, who had originally sought glory, had repeatedly been shattered before Changshui County; after suffering massive casualties, he had finally awakened.

At this moment, he had not the slightest thought of assaulting the city—he only wished to preserve as much combat strength as possible.

"Grand General, if we expend too much strength on Changshui County, we will be utterly powerless when the Enemy Army from the South arrives."

"This is my humble opinion; I leave it to the Grand General's consideration."

"Why not leave a portion of our army to continue besieging Changshui County, while building strong DefensiveLines around it?"

"Who says we must capture Qin Feng himself to achieve our strategic goal? If we cannot reach Qin Feng, then treat Changshui County itself as a hostage—if we hold Changshui County, we effectively hold Qin Feng captive."

"Meanwhile, deploy the remaining forces, summon reinforcements from local regions, and march together to Ezhou to construct defenses and engage the Southern Front Army in a decisive battle—then we shall see who ultimately prevails."

Chen Si had considered this plan before, but it was too risky.

He knew the army charging toward them was no mere rabble of the Wild Emperor Party—it was Qin Feng's Elite Troops, even including the meticulously trained Expeditionary Brigade.

These were hardened, battle-tested forces; if we forced a confrontation and lost, we would not only lose the South Line but also miss our best chance to capture Qin Feng.

On one side lay Changshui County harder to chew than stone; on the other, the Southern Front Army marching at astonishing speed—even Chen Si found himself trapped in an impossible dilemma.

After prolonged debate and deliberation, Chen Si ultimately compromised, deciding largely to adopt Jing Peng's strategic plan: leave sufficient forces to besiege Changshui County, while dispatching troops and coordinating with local regions to construct defensive lines in Ezhou. Even if we could not halt the enemy's advance, we could at least slow their progress.

Moreover, the faster the enemy advanced, the deeper they penetrated into the Rear Area, the more their Logistics would lag—leaving us one last chance to fight back.

Precisely at this moment, another army of one thousand men entered Zhuozhou.

The commander of this army was none other than the Ming King himself!

Following Li Zhang's Military Deployment, he easily entered the heart of Zhuozhou under the protection of the left and right flanking armies and the Wild Emperor Party, specifically targeting small strongholds and towns along the Main Force's route of advance.

These small strongholds, each defended by fewer than a hundred soldiers, had virtually no City Defense; facing superior forces of over a thousand, they collapsed quickly.

After capturing each stronghold, the Ming King immediately left a hundred men to fortify it, then pressed on to the next.

Simultaneously, a continuous stream of strong, able-bodied men, protected by soldiers, poured into Zhuozhou and entered the previously captured strongholds to rapidly construct fortifications.

These hastily built defensive works could only be described as "crude," yet they could still hold out against attacks by hundreds or even thousands of enemy troops.

Most crucially, although these defensive works were of poor quality, they were constructed at incredible speed.

As soon as the first fortification was nearly complete, these men—called "Engineers"—under soldier protection, immediately advanced to the next stronghold and repeated the process, building steadily forward.

Typically, one defensive work could be completed in half a day; once the main body of Engineers moved on, twenty Engineers remained behind to repair and reinforce the structure, alongside the hundred soldiers stationed there.

This offensive route, tearing through the entire Zhuozhou, consisted of five large columns, advancing one after another.

The fastest Light Cavalry Corps pushed hard toward Daqi County; the Main Force followed closely behind; the Ming King led the Assault Corps, attacking and securing strongholds along the way. Though they advanced deeper with each stronghold captured and left a hundred men to garrison it, the Assault Corps' numbers did not decrease.

Because during this time, continuous reinforcements arrived—Tianji Camp Guards from the Mobile Battalion and newly arriving troops—filling the ranks of the Assault Corps.

The fourth column was the Engineers responsible for constructing fortifications.

The final column consisted of large numbers of conscripts and a few soldiers, dragging countless carts of Materials and Supplies into the battlefield—the Logistics Corps.