Chapter 1303 – Defeating Huang Song, The Unification of Dongqing (Part 45)
Just as Meng Heng predicted, the value of food in Jiang Pengji’s mind is far less than the elite troops she spent heavily to train.
Food can be grown again; it only takes about a year to reap the harvest. But if people are gone, who can she ask for help?
To give birth and raise a child to the age of fighting, that would take at least seventeen or eighteen years, right?
Jiang Pengji is quite wealthy, with granaries in various places prepared for special occasions. Tightening the belt for a year is no big deal.
If losing this food can secure their safety, then so be it!
She can afford it!
This is the confidence of a wealthy local tyrant!
Not short of money, not short of food, just short of people.
Everyone can guess what Jiang Pengji is thinking, but understanding it doesn’t stop them from worrying that their lord might vent her anger on Meng Heng and others.
No matter how the process goes, the outcome is that Meng Heng and his companions lost Zhonghe County, burned countless fertile fields, and a million autumn crops were destroyed in one fell swoop.
If the lord truly pursued responsibility, Meng Heng and the others wouldn’t be blameless.
Han Yu’s mind raced; maintaining a calm demeanor, he stepped forward and said, “My lord, rejoice.”
Rejoice?
Jiang Pengji crossed her arms and rested her chin on them, turning to look at him, frowning and asking, “What’s there to be happy about? What’s worth congratulating?”
The current situation isn’t terribly bad, but it’s certainly not good.
Being forced by the enemy to burn fertile fields is painful, not only for the enemy, but it also hurts her deeply.
What joy is there?
Jiang Pengji hasn’t seen enough of these tricks. Usually, it’s at times like these that someone who dares to proclaim “joy” is surely trying to hype things up.
She’s not familiar with this tactic, but the audiences in the live stream are very familiar. As soon as Han Yu stepped up to speak, they all sat on their little benches, clattering their bowls and chopsticks, waiting for Han Yu to unveil the mystery.
Han Yu indeed lived up to their expectations, solemnly analyzing, “Huang Song’s division of troops to launch a strong attack on Hujun is merely to seize the impending autumn harvest within Hujun. With the Three Mountain Gorge as the boundary, the flames spread for several days, countless fertile fields have been burned, and yet Huang Song expended countless efforts only to capture a Zhonghe County. If Huang Song persists in attacking the Three Mountain Gorge, what can he gain aside from venting his anger?”
History isn’t without instances of people launching wars purely for “impulse,” but those cases are rare and usually don’t end well.
The battlefield is like a marketplace; one exhausts resources to wage war in the beginning, and afterward, the spoils are the reward.
If the value of the spoils far outweighs the resources spent on the battle, then it becomes a case of loss.
So the question arises: is Huang Song’s wealth substantial?
Can this wealth support Huang Song in attacking a territory that has already lost its value?
The answer is no.
Jiang Pengji knitted her brows and said, “With someone like Bo Gao, he wouldn’t engage in a losing trade.”
If Chenzhou hadn’t been harmed by Jiang Pengji and Hua Yuan, Huang Song might have been able to mobilize his forces for revenge, but now he can only calculate carefully.
No reckless moves, take it slow.
From this perspective, Meng Heng and the others are totally safe, as Huang Song doesn’t have the energy to attack them.
Han Yu said, “Huang Song is currently in a weakened state; the situation in the rear at Chenzhou is stretched thin, with no progress in attacking Wanzhou, while on the Hujun side, only Zhonghe County remains, almost a complete breakdown. If he wants to reinvigorate the chessboard, there’s only one way left—turning offense into defense and waiting!”
“Waiting? Waiting for what?” Jiang Pengji pondered for a moment and asked, “Waiting for the autumn harvest, to reap this batch of autumn crops from Zhonghe County?”
Zhonghe County is quite large, with favorable geographical position near the artificial river, making it the most productive grain area in Hujun.
Based on past statistics, the grain yield could be around three million stones; with food, they could stabilize the morale of the army without worrying about winter warfare lacking provisions.
Huang Song would never give up Zhonghe County, no matter what.
Han Yu nodded, affirming, “Yes, waiting for the autumn harvest; he needs this batch of autumn crops to revitalize the entire board, but we don’t.”
The battlefield has gone through several changes, and Huang Song’s life is unwittingly tied to Zhonghe County; these autumn crops are crucial.
For Huang Song, they are life-saving provisions, while for Jiang Pengji, they are expendable trifles.
At this moment, the tables have turned, and Huang Song is in a passive defensive position.
Jiang Pengji understood Han Yu’s intent; a glimmer of malice flashed in her eyes, making Huang Song in the distance shiver suddenly.
She smiled and said, “Wenbin, you’re right; this is indeed good news. I not only shouldn’t punish Shijiu, but I should reward him handsomely.”
Han Yu’s expression stiffened—he had only stepped out to speak a good word for Meng Heng, not to help him score points. He doesn’t need to take the blame for this.
The dialogue between the two was only a few lines, and many audiences in the live stream expressed that they couldn’t understand it, as the turn was completely unexpected.
At this moment, it was time for the language class representative to make an appearance.
【Renowned from One Battle】: Isn’t this easy to comprehend? The current situation is unfavorable for Huang Song; using a game analogy, he is currently besieged by bullets from all directions and can only survive by clinging to life, relying on Zhonghe County as a bandage to regain health before he can counterattack the streamer. After an intense battle, the initiative on the battlefield has shifted from Huang Song to the streamer. Gaining the initiative equates to having a certain advantage. The streamer needs to either stabilize, find the right opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to Huang Song, or launch an offensive, ensuring Huang Song has no chance to use that bandage.
【Three Boos Against Lü Bu】: There’s another option: burn the bandage in Huang Song’s hands.
After several analysis by the language class representatives, the audiences finally untangled the threads.
But—
Burning the bandage? What on earth?
Burning fertile fields wasn’t enough, and they should also set Zhonghe County ablaze?
Jiang Pengji said: What’s wrong with that?
Huang Song learned that Meng Heng and others had set fire to the fields, and he was so furious that he couldn’t sleep all night, his heart burning with various grievances.
A single meme could perfectly express his current mood.
【Hold back the tears, can’t hold back at all, no more holding back, wow JPG】
However, Huang Song is a man who rarely sheds tears; even if he had plenty of them, he would suppress them, feeling more aggrieved the more he holds back.
In his anger, he completely lost his rationality and ordered Yuan Chong to lead the troops to launch a strong attack on the Three Mountain Gorge!
Even if the land behind the Three Mountain Gorge has lost its value, he still had to regain face!
Before the army could accomplish their mission, scouts in the rear caught a suspicious group of people, instantly restoring Huang Song’s rationality.
This group disguised themselves as ordinary merchants, but hidden on their cart were black oil and bundles of dry firewood.
When the patrolling soldiers discovered them, they were secretly applying the black oil to the firewood, igniting it and preparing to set the wheat fields ablaze.
The strong smell of the black oil led the patrolling soldiers to locate them with their keen sense of smell.
If not for the sensitivity of the patrolling soldiers, Zhonghe County might have also been burned down.
Once ignited, extinguishing that black oil is no easy task.
Thinking back hundreds of years ago, the ancient ancestors of the northern frontier, the Qiang witch tribe, were burned to death by Prime Minister Huangfu.
Upon learning of this, Huang Song immediately called for a retreat.
Cannot afford to provoke, cannot afford to provoke, everyone under Liu Lanting is crazy!
Burning, burning, they are absolutely addicted to burning, right?
