Chapter 1105: Chapter 1099: Bewilderment
Bai Qingyan took the map, glanced at it, and a smile tugged at the corner of her lips: "As expected, this is Yun Poxing’s style."
Xiao Ruohai stood next to Bai Qingyan and whispered, "I’ll immediately pass the order to Shen Liangyu..."
Bai Qingyan nodded: "Go ahead!"
·
The envoy of Tianfeng Kingdom, on his way out of the temporary Governor’s Mansion where Bai Qingyan was residing, lifted the curtain of the carriage. He saw the city’s citizens and soldiers repairing the city gates together and noticed the hostile glances directed at his carriage, which bore the flag of Tianfeng Kingdom. The imminent sense of war grew stronger in his heart.
As soon as he exited Pingyang City’s gates, the envoy of Tianfeng Kingdom saw a carriage bearing the flag of the Yan Kingdom swiftly pass by his own, making his mood even heavier.
When Feng Yao arrived, Bai Qingyan was with Bai Qingyu, Bai Jinzhi, Shen Kunyang, Cheng Yuanzhi, Xie Yuchang, Yang Wuce, and other military generals, standing in front of a large map, discussing the route for Zhou’s military campaign.
Wei Zhong directed someone to invite Feng Yao to the front hall for tea and then brought in a letter from Xiao Rongyan, handing it to Bai Qingyan.
Just as Bai Qingyan finished reading Xiao Rongyan’s letter, Cheng Yuanzhi commented, "Based on last night’s situation, I, old Cheng, think... using oil against the giant elephants is feasible! The Tianfeng Kingdom covers the elephants with very thick fur under their armor. As long as we have enough oil, it will surely catch fire! Even if it doesn’t work... just having enough oil to burn on the elephants’ armor would turn those elephants into roasted ones when the time comes!"
"Using oil against the Elephant Army is indeed feasible, but... we must hold the high ground!" Bai Qingyan folded Xiao Rongyan’s letter, set it aside, rose, and walked over to the map, speaking steadily, "Yesterday the oil was effective because we held the high ground on the city walls, and a volley of flaming arrows naturally gave us the advantage!"
Yang Wuce stepped forward and pointed to Hanwen Mountain: "We can set an ambush at Hanwen Mountain in advance, devise a way to lure the Elephant Army there, or force them into Hanwen Mountain and attack with oil, though the challenge is whether we can block the exits on both sides of Hanwen Mountain!"
"Blocking the exits is manageable..." Bai Qingyu stood beside Bai Qingyan, looking at the map, "Set up boulders and caltrops soaked in oil on both sides of the valley in advance; the difficult part is how to lure the Elephant Army into Hanwen Mountain or force them into the gorge of Hanwen Mountain."
"I’m more in favor of luring them in! The giant elephants are massive, and only by making it appear as if the elephants are pushing us into the gorge will it seem more realistic!" Shen Kunyang said.
Bai Qingyan shook her head, indicating disagreement: "Though Hanwen Mountain isn’t far from Pingdu City, it’s equally close to Pingyang City. Even if the generals of Tianfeng Kingdom don’t notice that our army is intentionally leading them to Hanwen Mountain Gorge, they might launch a direct assault on Pingyang City, forcing the army heading to Hanwen Mountain to retreat, thereby capturing the Zhou army more effectively?"
"If we really want to lure Tianfeng’s Elephant Army to Hanwen Mountain, then the force attacking Pingdu City must be our main force, and it must suffer heavy losses to ensure Tianfeng pursues relentlessly!" Bai Qingyan said gravely as she looked at the map, "But now is not the time for such drastic measures, and setting up an ambush at Hanwen Mountain has too many variables!"
She moved to the large map, her gaze falling south of Pingdu City, north of Danshui River, on Hanwen Mountain.
"If we really want to set an ambush... it shouldn’t be in Hanwen Mountain Gorge! It should be... here!" Bai Qingyan tapped on Hanwen Mountain behind Pingdu City.
Now that both Zhou and Yan are eager for war, it’s not just about driving Tianfeng out of this land before spring arrives, but also about preventing war and danger from occurring on their own lands, thereby sparing their citizens from suffering.
So if they must fight... they need to push the front line south, as far away from Zhou and Yan as possible.
"Does Eldest Sister already have a plan?" Bai Qingyu turned his gaze to Bai Qingyan, a hint of a smile already forming in his eyes.
Grandfather once said... Eldest Sister has the natural talent of a commander, meaning... she can orchestrate the battlefield as a commander and also fight bloody battles as a general!
"Two generals can each lead twenty thousand troops to set up formations at the north and east gates of Pingdu City. Tianfeng Kingdom, to resolve the crisis, will surely deploy their giant elephants to battle! Before the fighting starts, let the soldiers compact the snow and slick it down. Once they deploy their giants... their elephants will have no return!" Bai Qingyu glanced at the terrain, his finger landing on the south and west gates of Pingdu City, "Yan Kingdom will besiege from the south and west gates!"
"Besiege! Starve them out!" Cheng Yuanzhi rolled up his sleeves, "Xiliang is short on supplies; they won’t last long, and they’ll surrender! Once they surrender, see if I don’t kill that bastard Emperor of Tianfeng Kingdom."
Bai Qingyan observed Cheng Yuanzhi’s gnashing demeanor and smiled: "At that time, allow Yan Kingdom to open a gap at the south gate, giving Tianfeng Kingdom a chance to break through and head south..."
"Going south... leads to Hanwen Mountain; with high mountains on both sides and a gorge in the middle, it’s not suitable for setting up camp, and beyond Hanwen Mountain is the Danshui River. Setting up camp with one’s back to a river is a major military taboo!" Bai Qingyan tapped the southern side of the Danshui River, "And if they cross the river to set up camp, the Danshui River will become Tianfeng Kingdom’s first natural barrier. Therefore... if Tianfeng Kingdom breaks out from Pingyang City, they must cross Danshui River to set up camp south of it!"
Yang Wuce gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist, nodding repeatedly, his eyes bright as he looked at Bai Qingyan.
Cheng Yuanzhi cupped his fists towards Bai Qingyan: "I, old Cheng, will certainly follow the Young General Bai’s commands; please give your orders, Young General Bai!"
Hearing this, Shen Kunyang, Bai Qingyu, Bai Jinzhi, Xie Yuchang, and Yang Wuce all cupped their fists, requesting orders.
"Bai Jinzhi and General Yang Wuce, each of you will immediately lead twenty thousand soldiers to set formations at the north and east gates of Pingdu City! Before the siege, let the soldiers compact the snow to prevent the giant elephants from exiting the city. Begin the siege at dawn tomorrow!" She pointed at Pingdu City.
"Your Majesty, didn’t we agree with Yan Kingdom... to launch an attack on Tianfeng and Xiliang tomorrow? If we move ahead and attack at dawn, then tonight, during the siege... wouldn’t Tianfeng Kingdom and Xiliang be prepared?" Yang Wuce was puzzled.
Bai Jinzhi was also puzzled: "Yes, Eldest Sister, surely you don’t plan to cooperate with Yan Kingdom?"
Bai Qingyan glanced at Bai Jinzhi and explained: "The reason I’m having you lay siege early is to give Tianfeng Kingdom the impression that we, Zhou, are heavily besieging Pingdu City merely because Xiliang and Tianfeng Kingdom attacked yesterday, and not because we actually wish to fight! Putting on a facade of encirclement without assault is merely out of spite and to force Tianfeng Kingdom to give us greater benefits!"
Seeing her eldest sister nod, Bai Qingyu continued, "Zhou is demonstrating our strength to Tianfeng Kingdom while also subtly conveying that we are unafraid of Tianfeng Kingdom. In reality, though, Zhou still harbors a degree of wariness towards Tianfeng due to their Elephant Army, giving them the erroneous impression of Zhou appearing strong on the outside but weak within."