Chapter 58

  After a great war, the three water armies suffered thousands of casualties, but did not achieve any results. As for the Tia side, Kevin DePardy led his army back to the city to rescue, and after much effort, he finally pushed out the Dukyi army that had entered the city. Although their casualties were not great, the dead and wounded civilians numbered in the thousands.

  This battle was a crushing defeat for both the Three Waters Army and Tia.

  As soon as Shangguan Yuanyu returned to the camp, he didn't even rest and directly rushed into the central army tent with his three-pointed two-edged knife, questioning Liang Qi why he wanted to withdraw troops. Seeing that he looked like he was going to eat people, Bai Yong could only stand up and act as a peacemaker between him and Liang Qi, holding back Shangguan Yuanyu and explaining the reasons for their withdrawal in detail.

  Shangguan Yuan let out a furious roar, slamming the knife in his hand to the ground and plopping down on his rear end. Panting heavily, he cursed, "Damn it! How did Duji's army find out that we were going to collaborate with Tia's army?! And they just so happened to launch an attack on Tia City at the exact moment Tia's army was leaving the city?!"

  Bai Yong was silent, unable to respond. At this time, Liang Qi, who had been closing his eyes and not speaking, opened his eyes and said: "This should be what Remi Azabao expected. Our army came to relieve the siege, and the besieged Tia army took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack. This is not an unexpected tactic."

  He glanced at him and let out a huff, not responding. Now even he himself didn't know who he was angry with. In short, this battle was too suffocating.

  Li Qiyu said in a low voice, "Just now, I carefully thought about Duji Jun's tactics again. I have to admit that their tactics are the best way to break through our army and Tia's inside and outside cooperation, and our army and Tia don't have any countermeasures."

  Shangguan Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked in doubt: "Could it be that the commander of the Duji Army, Lei Abao, is even more cunning than you?"

  Liang Qile did not answer the question of Shangguan Yuanrang, he said in a low voice: "I'm afraid that after this battle, the Tiya army will not dare to easily come out of the city for another battle, and we can only rely on ourselves to deal with the Duji army."

  At this point, Guan Yuan also felt it, and now he admired Liang Qi's wisdom at the beginning. Before advancing to Tia City, he first pulled the Tianying Army as a backup. Thinking of the Tianying Army, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said: "Liang Qi, Du Ji's army doesn't know we have the Tianying Army as our backup."

  He was stunned by his nonsensical sentence, and Liang Qi blinked his eyes, looking at Shangguan Yuan in confusion.

  Shangguan Yuanrang said: "According to what you said, the commander of Duji's army must be a very skilled military leader. He should also be able to judge that our army bypassing Wale Town and making a surprise attack on Tia City is an extremely risky move, which would cut off our supply lines. I think he should unite with the Duji army in Wale Town to launch a pincer attack on us... But actually, we still have the Tianying Army as our backup, so we're not afraid of his counterattack..." As he spoke, Shangguan Yuanrang's thoughts became disordered, and he tapped his own head, scratching his hair, saying: "Anyway, you're more skilled in military strategy than I am. I think there's an opportunity to be seized here. Liang Qi, what do you think?"

  Liang Qishao glared at Shangguan Yuanrang, remaining silent for a long time. Seeing this, Shangguan Yuanrang waved his hand impatiently and muttered, "Forget it, forget it! Consider it as if I didn't say anything!"

  "No! I think Yuan Rong's words make sense." Liang Qi still stared at him with her eyes wide open, and after a while, he suddenly burst out laughing and praised: "Yuan Rong's intuition about the warplane is far better than mine!"

  Upon hearing this, the officers inside the central army tent looked at each other, their spirits lifted, and they all stood up simultaneously, gathering around the commander's desk, including Shangguan Yun.

  "Liáng Qǐ, what riddle are you trying to solve? Tell me, what have you figured out?" asked Shàngguān Yuánràng.

  "Thanks to you, I was reminded of this." Liang Qizheng said seriously: "What you said is not wrong, our army asked the Tianying Army for reinforcements, even the king didn't know about it, let alone Du Jiguan. Now, the 50,000-strong Tianying Army can be considered a surprise force." He paused and pointed to the map, saying: "Our army took the initiative to attack, morale is high, Du Jiguan's army doesn't dare to easily come out of camp for battle. But if we drag on for a few more days, our army will not be able to take down the enemy, morale will weaken, and supplies will run low. At that time, Du Jiguan's army will definitely take the initiative to seek battle and attack with all their might. When that happens, our army will find it difficult to resist. As soon as our army retreats, the Du Jiguan's army in Wale Town will also come out to intercept us, at which point Du Jiguan's army will form a pincer movement, and our army will be defeated for sure."

  The generals nodded as they listened, and Shangguan Yuan let out a frown, saying: "You've been talking for a long time, but you still haven't made it clear what our army should do now, whether to fight or retreat!"

  "Nature is war!"

  "Alright! Then I'll go rest first, and head out to battle early tomorrow!" Shangguan Yuan wiped the sweat from his face with a flourish, turned around, and was about to walk away.

  Liáng Qǐ hastily stopped him and said: "Yuǎn Ràng, listen to me! The battle I'm talking about is our army not retreating, stalling here with Dù Jī's army, but we must show that we're ready to fight at any moment."

  Guan Yuan let raised an eyebrow, and showed a look of dissatisfaction. Liang Qi could only patiently explain again: "Du Ji Jun now most hopes that the battle can drag on, to consume our army's grain, so we will do as they wish, and exhaust them, until the opportunity is ripe, our army will retreat, and lure the enemy to attack."

  "So, in that case... nothing's going on tomorrow?"

  Li Qixiao's thief said, "Although we have to consume, but we can't let Du Jigui see it, so our army can't be idle." He looked around at the surrounding generals and said seriously, "Pass down the order, tomorrow, the first to fifth battalions will strictly guard the camp, and the sixth to tenth battalions will all go to quarry stones and cut wood, let Du Jigui think we are making preparations for a big battle!"

  The generals were taken aback at first, then they all burst out laughing and saluted in unison, saying: "Your subordinate obeys the order!"

  Shangguan Yuan said: "To deceive the enemy, it's not necessary for the five brothers of the army to go out and do physical labor, is it?"

  Li Qizheng said, "I want you brothers to go and gather stones and cut wood, not just to confuse the enemy. In the next battle, our army will consume a large number of crossbow arrows and stone bullets, so it's always necessary to stock up more." He paused for a moment, then said to the generals, "By the way, now we need to control the consumption of food and grass. The brothers who stay in the camp will have two meals a day, with each meal reduced by 30%. The brothers who go out to work will still have three meals, but without increasing the amount."

  The generals looked at each other in dismay, and after a moment's pause, they all replied in unison: "Yes, General!"

  That night, the scout reported that the Eagle Army's reinforcements had left Liangzhou and were on their way to Tia. Since the Eagle Army did not bring a large amount of baggage, they were lightly equipped and would march faster. They would arrive at Wartown in about five days. The commander of the reinforcement troops was Guan Tang, the deputy commander of the Eagle Army.

  As soon as it was known that Guan Tang was leading the army, the three water armies were filled with complaints. Who didn't dislike Zi Yan? How could they have sent this unlucky guy over here? It wasn't that there was a deep conflict between the people and Guan Tang, but rather because Guan Tang's bad luck was notorious. When Tang Yin transferred him from being the commander of the new army to being the deputy commander of the Tianying Army, he said that Guan Tang had no problem with his abilities, it was just that his luck was too bad, and he wasn't suitable for being a military commander. In the Wind Army, Guan Tang even got the nickname "General of Frequent Defeats".

  Liang Qidao understood Zi Yan's intention, and he sent Guan Tang to come over. He was sure that their side would win this battle, so he let Guan Tang come over to establish some merit. After all, being known as a general who often loses is not a good reputation. With this nickname, it's hard for him to command the whole army, not to mention that Guan Tang himself felt embarrassed. Zi Yan was also taking advantage of this opportunity to help him out.

  It's really a fortunate thing to be able to work with someone like Zi Yan! thought Liang Qi.

  Knowing the route of the reinforcements, Liang Qi's heart was even more at ease. He ordered the rear to transport grain and grass, the amount of which didn't matter, but the formation had to be large. The goal was to lure Duke's army from Wartown to attack, and as soon as they saw Duke's army coming, there was no need to resist, just abandon the grain and escape.

  The next day, following Liang Qi's military order, the Sanshui army began to openly leave their camp to quarry stones and cut down trees. The mountains and forests of Tia are everywhere, and quarrying stones and cutting down trees is not a difficult task. The large-scale actions of the Sanshui army could not be hidden from the eyes and ears of the Duji army, and soon the news reached the Duji army's camp.

  Today, the Feng army and Tiya army did not come to attack, but the atmosphere in the Duji military camp was still heavy. Upon learning that the Feng army had begun large-scale stone quarrying and woodcutting, all of Duji's generals were extremely tense, gathering together in the command tent to speculate that the Feng army might launch a massive assault, mobilizing many large-scale attack weapons.

  Remy Azabao didn't seem to care, instead bursting into loud laughter and asking the crowd: "What does it mean that the Wind Army is quarrying stones and cutting down trees?"

  Everyone was puzzled and shook their heads in unison.

  "Feng Jun is too careless and unprepared. By the time they're ready, it'll be at least a few days from now. By then, Feng Jun's food supplies will already be in short supply. We won't even need to attack them, our army can take the initiative!" Remi Azab said with full confidence and a hint of a smile.

  "But... what if the Wind Army's rear supplies of food and fodder are transported here?" a general said with deep concern.

  "If that's the case, even if Ed is my brother, I'll severely punish him!" Remi Azabah said with a serious expression. Now that Val Town was blocking the Wind Army's supply line, if grain and fodder were transported in, Ed Azabah, who was stationed in Val Town, would naturally not be able to escape blame.

  He said that, and the generals had nothing more to say. At this time, someone else suggested taking advantage of the current opportunity to launch a fierce attack on Tyre. Remi Azabai was too lazy to respond to such suggestions, and only coldly said: "The whole army will not move."

  Just as Shangguan Yuan said, Remy Azabah is very familiar with the current situation of Sansui Army and also knows its strengths and weaknesses. However, he overlooked one thing - the 50,000-strong reinforcement troops behind Sansui Army, which became a crucial factor in the battle between the two sides.

  Strictly speaking, this was not a mistake by Remi Azabao, but rather a mistake by Duke Intelligence. The eyes and ears of the Wind Country in Ningdi overlooked one side, focusing intently on Yancheng instead. Since there were no movements from the central army of the Wind Country in Yancheng, Duke assumed that the Sansui Army had no reinforcements behind them.

  Intelligence leaks often directly determine the outcome of war.