Chapter 1260 – Attacking Huang Song, Unifying Dongqing (Part 2)
Faced with Jiang Pengji’s threat, Huang Song made a firm decision to reorganize his forces, and the first to be dealt with was the Yuan Clan, his in-laws.
Half of Huang Song’s military generals were originally from the Yuan Clan.
To curb any negative influences, he put in a lot of effort, even giving Yuan Xin, the eavesdropping savant, a thorough lesson.
After being locked in a little black room for a while, Yuan Xin finally became obedient; even though he still disliked Nie Xun, he stopped reporting him.
This expedition was crucial for Huang Song’s life and fortune. Yuan Xin, the aging fanboy, wanted to charge to the front lines for his lord, and bearing the punishment of a thorny branch, he apologized to Nie Xun. After smoothly “reconciling”, Yuan Xin was once again deployed by Huang Song, now responsible for the Cangzhou battlefield.
Feng Jin’s earlier analysis was correct; Huang Song’s main target wasn’t Cangzhou, which was merely a peripheral front.
Being on the fringe made Yuan Xin unhappy.
He had laid down his dignity to apologize to Nie Xun, and they had “reconciled” successfully—why was his lord no longer trusting him?
He wasn’t assigned to the main battlefield but was instead sent to the periphery?
Nie Xun understood Yuan Xin’s thoughts and immediately felt at a loss for words.
No mistake here; Huang Song’s actions were exceptionally cunning—he had Nie Xun serve as an adviser to Yuan Xin, creating a partnership between the two.
This wasn’t intentional on Huang Song’s part; it was simply because Nie Xun was familiar with Cangzhou’s situation and had a gentle temperament.
Thus, Nie Xun had to handle military paperwork, strengthen training, and soothe the sensitive emotions of the aging fanboy.
With his silver tongue, he successfully twisted the facts, making Yuan Xin believe that Huang Song still valued him as before.
How so?
Although Cangzhou was a bit of a troublesome piece, it nonetheless drew Jiang Pengji’s main forces.
If they could apply pressure to mislead her into misplacing her troops, wouldn’t the credit be greater than from a direct confrontation?
Nie Xun articulated his reasoning well, even hand-painting a splendid blueprint for Yuan Xin, who couldn’t help but feel tempted, despite his disdain for Nie Xun.
“Military adviser, do you have any clever strategies?” Yuan Xin eagerly sought Nie Xun’s advice.
“Pretend weakness where there’s strength, and strength where there’s weakness,” Nie Xun replied. “The essence of military strategy lies in ‘deception.’”
In other words, the battlefield involves not just bloodshed but also a contest not unlike the intrigues of the court.
Even with immense power, if there’s no strategy to match, one would simply be a brute.
Seeing impatience in Yuan Xin’s eyes, Nie Xun straightforwardly laid out his plan.
Huang Song had only given Yuan Xin 45,000 troops, which although trained, were far from elite.
To clash directly with the enemy using these forces was akin to—delivering one’s head on a platter.
Externally, Nie Xun would flaunt the banner of 150,000 elite troops.
Internally, he commanded the forces to split into two waves—one crossing the river, while the other stayed put at the camp. After the first wave set up camp eastward under the cover of night fog, the second wave would cross the river the following day.
This back and forth would naturally create the illusion of a massive army closing in.
According to Nie Xun’s judgment, the defending army in Cangzhou was not numerous, and 80,000 troops would exert significant psychological pressure.
As long as they couldn’t withstand the psychological strain and sent a request for reinforcement to Jiang Pengji, causing her to make a mistaken troop deployment directive, the task at Cangzhou would be accomplished.
If they could capture Wanzhou, even better; worst case, they had to seize Hujun—
Taking the former would cut off Jiang Pengji’s forces, allowing Huang Song to take them down one by one.
Taking the latter would ensure abundant supplies for another year or two.
Alas, while Nie Xun’s plan was solid, his teammate faltered at a critical moment.
80,000 versus 100,000; naturally, 100,000 seemed greater.
Nie Xun wasn’t a military general; his authority was slightly less than Yuan Xin’s, who could choose to heed his advice or not.
Thus, Yuan Xin, feeling mischievous, overstepped and made an unnecessary addition.
This addition not only failed to shake Feng Jin’s resolve but instead firmed his decision.
Because it was too fake!
Nie Xun saw Yuan Xin’s overstepping and felt his expression darken with anger.
Fortunately, there was no suspicious activity from Feng Jin’s side; Yuan Xin likely did not cause any trouble. He barely managed to suppress his resentment.
Yuan Xin not only perceived no wrongdoing but instead happily asked Nie Xun.
“Military adviser, do you have any further brilliant plans?”
Nie Xun kept a wooden expression, “Dispatch scouts to gather information everywhere, creating the illusion of splitting forces, then launch a heavy attack in one spot—”
Since they were faking an army of 100,000, they needed to act like they had the strength of 100,000.
Otherwise, how could this performance continue?
Yuan Xin was puzzled, “How can we split our forces?”
With their current numbers, splitting was akin to seeking death!
Nie Xun replied, “Just repeat old tricks!”
Outwardly claim to be sending out thousands, but secretly only send a couple of thousand, while the remaining troops concentrate on a single powerful strike.
As long as they made the enemy believe they still had ferocious fighting power even after splitting their forces, combined with previous misdirection, it would naturally create the false impression in their opponents’ hearts—that the enemy truly had 100,000 troops! 50,000 showing, 50,000 hidden, ready to stir trouble.
Due to delays in battlefield communication, deceiving the enemy’s sight wasn’t difficult.
Yuan Xin fell silent.
He still disliked Nie Xun, but had to admit, a literati really had a dark heart!
If he put himself in Nie Xun’s shoes, he would have believed the enemy had 100,000 men by now.
The war drum hadn’t even sounded, and he had already lost the momentum.
Nie Xun’s maneuvering was indeed slick, but unfortunately, his foe wasn’t a simpleton either.
Feng Jin rarely engaged in direct confrontations, but that didn’t mean he was weaker than others.
Meng Hunyun, formerly a lieutenant under the Meng Clan, knew every inch of Cangzhou’s terrains. As scouts brought back continuous reports, he could predict where the enemy intended to strike. After lengthy discussions with Feng Jin and Dian Yin, they finally devised an initial battle plan—
Close the doors to beat the dog!
Following Feng Jin’s earlier suggestion, they would first lure the enemy’s forces deep into Cangzhou, feigning weakness, and once the enemy grew overconfident, they would launch a surprise attack.
The common people had already been evacuated in advance, so even if they relinquished a city or two, the loss wouldn’t be great.
Feng Jin played his part perfectly, and the resistance encountered by Yuan Xin and the others was evidently feeble—not to say as weak as paper, but they could hold out for no more than a day.
This rapid-fire assault followed by relentless pursuit led Yuan Xin to capture two cities in quick succession, making him extremely pleased, while Nie Xun seemed more agreeable to him.
“The military adviser truly has a knack for foresight; they are really terrified,” Yuan Xin held a bronze wine jug, taking a sip, the liquid spilling down his neck, “Look at this situation, the rumors of Liu Xi being gravely ill might just be true… Hehe, Cangzhou can be taken in less than half a month. By now, a request for reinforcements must have already reached that Liu Thief! I hope it drives her mad; wouldn’t that be just the icing on the cake!”
Nie Xun furrowed his brows at Yuan Xin, knowing that drinking was frowned upon in the army, but this man had a penchant for drinking, needing a fix every now and then, completely unconcerned about the potential consequences!
Alas, with Huang Song absent, no one could rein Yuan Xin in.
“Liu Xi is gravely ill… this is rather unexpected…” Nie Xun shook his head inwardly.
No matter how strong, fate does not always comply.
