Chapter 945 – Seizing Three Cities (Part Three)
The night was dark and heavy, the moon hidden, and the wind howled.
Hearing that the Second Prince intended to take the field himself, his personal guards and advisors were left with their heads spinning.
“Your Highness, your life is precious, and on the battlefield, swords and blades show no mercy. If you were to be injured, how would we explain it to the King?”
The guards urged, with the advisors echoing their concerns, but the Second Prince, being incredibly headstrong, felt quite good about himself.
He declared, “I have diligently practiced under my martial arts master, even my father praises me as a warrior from the Northern Frontier. How could I be afraid of death?”
Even before he came of age, he had defeated his martial arts teacher and bested several training guards in battle, returning each time with substantial spoils of war… He was the pride of the Northern Frontier, strong and valiant; could these weak Southern soldiers even scratch him?
The Northern Frontier was anything but peaceful, and there were plenty of voices within its ranks.
If a small tribe grew too strong or refused to obey the imperial court, the royal army would undoubtedly come down upon them.
However, this sort of squabble was trifling; it usually served to gild the images of the second-generation nobility in the Northern Frontier.
The Second Prince had led his troops in a few campaigns, winning triumphantly each time, which inflated his ego, clouding his judgment.
You’d think as a prince, he’d stay back in the rear waiting for military accolades, but instead, he insisted on complicating matters by charging headfirst into the front lines!
Did he lack any self-awareness of his own abilities?
Despite repeated attempts from his guards and advisors, not only did their pleas fail to sway the Second Prince, they only incited his anger and insults.
Finally, he stubbornly declared, “No more advice; my mind is made up!”
The more they urged him, the angrier he became, more determined to prove himself.
If even Liu Xi, a mere woman, could take to the battlefield, how could this brave man of the Northern Frontier, an exemplar of strength, be outshone by her?
“I will personally capture Liu Xi—” The Second Prince looked around with a snort of disdain, as if mocking.
Though obstinate, the Second Prince was aware of the value of his life, and he did heed his advisors in certain matters.
He ordered the vanguard to don the attire of Han soldiers and to raise the flag of Jiang Pengji.
If they encountered no enemies, that would be ideal; if an enemy patrol showed up, they could use this disguise to slip by.
The black night and howling wind were just perfect for a little raiding.
The Second Prince commanded the men to hold wooden chopsticks in their mouths and to wrap cloth around the horse’s mouths, forbidding any sounds.
Twelve thousand troops split into several waves, advancing along various small paths on the map towards Chao Wu.
With a detailed map in hand, they managed to evade several patrols, their journey filled with nothing but tense anticipation.
As they neared the Chao Wu Granary, patrols became increasingly frequent. Even with the cover of night, they were soon detected.
“Who goes there?”
The Second Prince felt a surge of anxiety, but the vanguard answered smoothly in fluent Southern dialect.
“We’re reinforcements sent by Liu Xi to assist the granary! The Governor fears a surprise raid by the Northern barbarians.”
This vanguard officer was quite skilled, not even breaking a sweat as he lied, wearing a facade of righteousness.
It was too dark to see how many were in the Second Prince’s party from a distance, so after a few inquiries, they were allowed to pass.
Relieved, the Second Prince felt a tinge of contempt, thinking, “Is that all?”
Perhaps they had exhausted their luck for the night; the Second Prince soon faced several more patrols, and they became increasingly adept at handling them.
Unbeknownst to him, half an hour had slipped away.
At this moment, they were less than a quarter of an hour away from the Chao Wu Granary.
In stark contrast to the Second Prince’s ease, the other two routes faced no such luck.
They encountered only three patrols, similarly relying on deceit to slip by, completely unaware that Jiang Pengji’s patrols were unlike any others. They required secret signals prior to any exchange, and if the signals did not match, it would mean death!
However, today was different.
The patrols received higher level instructions: if they encountered anyone unable to provide the secret signal, they were to play along without raising an alarm.
The Northern Frontier believed their operation was going smoothly, unaware that every move they made was already anticipated by the enemy.
Li Jiang Granary—
Li Yun chewed on straw, holding a gun in one hand while meticulously cleaning its muzzle with a rag, his sharp gaze ablaze with battle intent.
“Wan’er, Nuan, wait for me to come back!”
Li Yun tossed aside the cleaning cloth as hurried footfalls approached.
“Captain Li, the enemy has surrounded the granary!”
“Just in time!”
Li Yun straightened up, grasping the reins of his white war horse, swiftly mounting it, raising his gun high.
“Charge forth to meet the enemy!”
At this point, sounds of battle erupted outside the granary as two thousand cavalry charged towards Li Jiang Granary.
“Charge!”
Based on previous experience, the granary’s defenses would crumble under their initial charge, collapsing into chaos.
Let alone the fact that they were arriving unexpectedly; the Chongzhou side should be caught completely off guard.
Without any preparations, facing the enemy would only invite their cavalry’s iron hooves to crush them.
This time, however—
As the cavalry clad in vine armor rushed forward, their horses suddenly stumbled, toppling over from the immense momentum.
Heads erupted from the ground, each gripping strange sickle-like weapons, viciously striking at the horse legs, forcing them to falter. Once this deed was done, they hurriedly ducked back underground, employing the same trick on the unprepared second wave.
Around the Li Jiang Granary, trenches had been dug in a circular pattern extending two hundred zhang for just this purpose—specifically to counter the first wave of cavalry from the Northern Frontier.
These trenches bore no particular arrangement, even appearing with swirling patterns.
To conceal the existence of the trenches, the ground was strewn with grass, and with the cover of night, it all went unnoticed.
In the central area near the granary, dense iron caltrops were scattered between the trenches.
Upon seeing this, the Northern Frontier troops recognized they had walked into an ambush.
The Li Jiang Granary was certainly no easy target; it was a trap disguised as a feast!
However, the cavalry charged too quickly, and two hundred zhang was nothing for them.
By the time they realized they were ambushed and attempted to retreat, the vanguard unit had already charged right to the granary.
“Want to retreat? Have you asked my gun first?”
To facilitate the defense against the enemy, a narrow path half a zhang wide was left on all sides of the granary.
Meanwhile, a similar scene unfolded at the Sang Mo Granary.
Jiang Pengji had a restless nature; she disliked revising papers and preferred to jump right into battle herself.
The Northern Frontier aimed to raid the granary, specifically to steal grain. Besides their combat weapons and soldiers, they also brought a multitude of heavy carts for transporting grain. After the frontlines suffered a setback, morale plummeted, and the rear troops sought to retreat.
The supply carts became obstacles for their cavalry, trapping them and preventing any escape.
Though the Northern Frontier cavalry’s combat quality was decent, even with the shameful performance of the rear, the remaining cavalry began to organize a charged breakout.
“Mounted Soldiers, form up ahead!”
The order was given, and a flare shot into the sky.
The Mounted Soldiers stood firm in heavy boots, blocking the cavalry’s charge, forming a scaled shield wall like a sturdy iron barrier. The rear soldiers readied their sharp long spears, utilizing their comrades’ cover to resist the charge, while crossbowmen let loose from the back.
