Li Yunxiu looked at Lu Yunzhou, then at Zhao Defang, and shook her head. "Neither of you need go on a campaign. The Chengyuan Army need only deploy five thousand troops to pitch camp three li outside the pass."
"May I ask what the Princess Consort means by this?" Lu Yunzhou asked in bewilderment. "Pitching camp a mere three li out—how will that put any pressure on the Black Qiang?"
Li Yunxiu replied, "General Lu, you should be well aware of the manor's plan this time."
Lu Yunzhou nodded and praised, "The Prince and Princess Consort have cultivated ties with the Northwestern Army, and having the two armies detour around Yumen Pass was truly a stroke of genius. The Black Qiang will never anticipate it."
"Since that is the case, our side should seek no glory, only avoid blunders," Li Yunxiu said mildly. "Right now, the White Qiang Royal Court is holding out and awaiting rescue, not daring to send troops out. If you venture too deep into the steppe, General Lu, and the main Black Qiang force wheels south to besiege the Chengyuan Army in coordination with their five thousand flanking troops, do you think the White Qiang will ride out to save you, or that three thousand Iron Eagle Cavalry will be enough to break the encirclement?"
Lu Yunzhou froze upon hearing this, falling silent.
He was known as one of the Zhenxi Army's sharpest military minds. Previously, he had only considered that he could not leave Wang Yu to face the pressure alone. But nudged by Li Yunxiu's words, he realized this was precisely the Black Qiang's scheme to besiege a position to draw out and ambush reinforcements.
The White Qiang still had ten thousand cavalry, plus three thousand Chengyuan Army troops; in truth, they could hold out for quite a while. Yet if he were to march out recklessly and get encircled, Lingwu Pass itself might be put at risk of falling.
However, doing nothing on their end would not do either. Leaving their prince stranded on the grasslands without any reaction would easily arouse the Black Qiang's suspicion and vigilance.
Deploying five thousand soldiers to camp three li outside Lingwu Pass would show concern for Wang Yu without leaving them vulnerable to being enveloped by the Black Qiang's main army sweeping south, while also tying down that five-thousand-strong detachment from heading north to reinforce the siege of the White Qiang.
It truly accomplished three goals at once.
As long as Feng Jing and Zhao Jingjun breached the Black Qiang Royal Court, the Black Qiang host would be thrown into chaos. When that happened, the army stationed outside Lingwu Pass would be in an even better position to sweep forward and rout them.
Lu Yunzhou cupped his hands. "The Princess Consort's arrangement is brilliant. This general is full of admiration!"
Li Yunxiu nodded and said to the two of them, "Send out scouts from both the Chengyuan Army and the Iron Eagle Cavalry, making it look as though we intend to reach the White Qiang Royal Court. If they encounter enemy resistance, tell them not to force a fight.
"In addition, dispatch another team of scouts to move by night and lay low by day, detouring from the east to scout the situation at the White Qiang Royal Court—especially to determine the exact strength of the Black Qiang's main force.
"Be sure to exchange dispatches with Jinfeng Pass once a day. The moment General Feng breaches the Black Qiang Royal Court, Jinfeng Pass will surely be the first to know, and only then will our hour to strike arrive.
"Especially you, Commandant Zhao. When the time comes to advance, the Iron Eagle Cavalry will be the spearhead. You must swiftly shatter those five thousand horsemen, then join forces with the White Qiang in a pincer attack to crush the Black Qiang's main army."
"Understood!" Lu Yunzhou and Zhao Defang cupped their hands and withdrew.
That afternoon, the gates of Lingwu Pass swung wide open, and five thousand Chengyuan soldiers marched out—only to advance three li before pitching camp and fortifying their positions.
The Black Qiang cavalry launched a probing attack, but not only did it achieve nothing, it left behind more than a dozen corpses before they beat a panicked retreat.
Nor did they dare commit all their strength to an all-out assault. Overcommitting would leave them no way out; if the Iron Eagle Cavalry inside Lingwu Pass suddenly charged out, they would not be able to turn in time and could easily be swallowed whole.
Thus, they had no choice but to send word back to the main force.
"Lingwu Pass has mobilized troops."
"Yet they only marched three li before pitching camp, showing no intention of advancing further."
"It is the same on the White Qiang's side."
"Whenever we attack, they only loose arrows from afar and disengage at first contact, steadfastly refusing to meet us in a decisive engagement. With the Chengyuan Army guarding their rear, it will be hard for us to break them in the short term."
"What is their game?"
"The White Qiang are only defending their royal court, but what about the surrounding herdsmen? What about the cattle and sheep they need to graze? Their stored fodder will run out in less than half a month—what will they do then?"
"What is the situation at Jinfeng Pass?"
"Scouts from Jinfeng Pass are fanning out east and west to reconnoiter, but show no sign of heading north, nor any indication of crossing the steppe to reinforce Lingwu Pass."
"To mobilize the Xionglue Army and Ding'an Army stationed in Fengming Prefecture would take at least a month. The Yangwei Army in Longshan Prefecture would be faster, but even that would take half a month. By then, the White Qiang will likely have collapsed."
"To rescue the White Qiang, the garrisons of both Jinfeng Pass and Lingwu Pass must march out. Yet Jinfeng Pass sits idle, and the troops from Lingwu Pass have only advanced three li. What could this mean?"
"Peng Hu and Lu Yunzhou are battle-hardened veterans. Perhaps they saw through our strategy of besieging the target to strike reinforcements."
"But Zhao Yu is with the White Qiang! Today I saw the Chengyuan Army standard and the Prince of Zhenxi's 'Zhao' banner right beside the White Qiang Royal Court. And according to our informant inside, he is still there."
"How dare they sit back and watch Zhao Yu stay trapped among the White Qiang?"
"Perhaps it is because we haven't put enough pressure on the White Qiang yet?"
"Then put pressure on them!" Yuan Dingle barked in a deep voice. "All forces, attack!"
Like a surging tide, the Black Qiang cavalry flooded toward the White Qiang Royal Court. The White Qiang warriors answered with a storm of arrows. After the Black Qiang cavalry charged through the volley for some distance, the defenders fell back, pushing the Chengyuan Army's wagons and tribal carts forward into a fortified wagon barricade to halt the Black Qiang riders.
Under the stubborn resistance of the White Qiang warriors, the Chengyuan troops, and the herdsmen, the Black Qiang cavalry suffered casualties at a rate far higher than the White Qiang.
Moreover, because the Black Qiang cavalry were on the outer perimeter, the Chengyuan soldiers and wagon formations could maneuver, constantly interposing themselves in front of the charging cavalry.
Unless the Black Qiang steeled their hearts to pay a harrowing toll of thousands of cavalry to force a breakthrough against the wagon barricade, they had virtually no hope of winning a swift victory against roughly equal numbers of White Qiang warriors.
After a brief skirmish, the Black Qiang left behind dozens of corpses and sounded the retreat.
"Since the garrisons at Jinfeng Pass and Lingwu Pass aren't moving, there is no need for us to stick rigidly to drawing out reinforcements," a burly old man proposed inside the Black Qiang's main tent. "Time is on our side anyway. As long as we keep the White Qiang Royal Court under siege, they will collapse in under half a month, and the defenders of Jinfeng and Lingwu won't be able to sit still. When that day comes, whether we ride south to deal with the border garrisons before returning to take the White Qiang, or swallow the White Qiang whole first before turning around to strike Lingwu Pass—it will all be up to the Great King's pleasure."
"Sound logic," Yuan Dingle agreed, then turned his gaze toward Yuwen Haojie. "What does the Esteemed Envoy think?"
Yuwen Haojie cast him a glance and said indifferently, "Since the Great King has no objections, I naturally have none either. Besides, mutually destructive strife between the two Qiang branches is not what I wish to see."
Yuan Dingle nodded repeatedly. "Precisely, precisely! Once I have unified the White Qiang under my banner, I must still bring my armies to the Central Plains. We cannot afford too many casualties."
Hearing this, Zhaixingzi was thoroughly displeased. "Besieging the White Qiang until they fall into internal turmoil? What if Zhao Yu uses the chaos to escape?"
Zhuixingzi chimed in with sinister undertones, "If Zhao Yu flees back to the Central Plains to muster his forces and prepare for war, the Black Qiang will find breaching those two passes far from easy, won't they?"
Deep within Yuan Dingle's eyes, a flicker of irritation flashed.
In truth, to the Black Qiang, the purpose of the Twin Stars of the Xingxiu Sea had merely been to investigate Yan Xiangxue's condition without implicating the Black Qiang, and perhaps lure Wang Yu out into the steppe along the way.
The matter had unfolded with unexpected smoothness.
Wang Yu had entered the steppe and been cut off midway; barring unforeseen accidents, returning to the Central Plains would be all but impossible for him.
In theory, the Twin Stars of the Xingxiu Sea had already fulfilled their historical mission; they were of no further use.
Even so, they were Xiantian experts after all, so the appropriate courtesy had to be maintained. Yuan Dingle asked respectfully, "Do you two have any thoughts on the matter?"
Zhaixingzi glanced at Shi Mo and Yuwen Haojie. "The Black Qiang and White Qiang have been clashing for two days. They haven't seized any opportunity to mount a sneak attack, nor have they launched a night raid. It's clear they are dead set on defending. In that case, why don't we pay a visit to the White Qiang Royal Court?"
Zhuixingzi added, "If we can assassinate Zhao Yu or the White Qiang King under cover of night, the White Qiang will descend into chaos. The Great King won't need to wait half a month—a single battle tomorrow could settle everything."
Yuan Dingle said nothing, only shifting his eyes toward Shi Mo.
The corner of Yuwen Haojie's mouth curled with contempt. When all was said and done, the Twin Stars of the Xingxiu Sea were mere itinerant martial artists who had never witnessed army combat.
True, let alone Xiantian experts like them, even for those at the Houtian stage, ordinary soldiers posed no threat whatsoever. A scattered squad of eight or ten was mere fodder, and even several dozen could be taken on.
Yet once soldiers grew numerous and fought with coordination, things became an entirely different story.
Had Atuke and his companions not faced Xiongnu troops in the gorge that day who had dismounted to fight on foot, scrambling in disorder to rescue Qiao Riyan—unable to form ranks, jumbled together, barely able to shoot their bows, and burdened with every conceivable disadvantage—they would have had no choice but to break out and flee.
Against the synchronized volley of a hundred mounted Xiongnu archers, an ordinary martial artist might withstand two or three rounds, but could they weather seven or eight?
This was why Wang Yu had dared to venture into the Western Regions with just three hundred Iron Eagle Cavalry to wipe out the Five Great Bandits of Mount Qi: ordinary pugilists truly could not stand against a well-formed, organized force of sufficient numbers.
If a Xiantian expert were trapped in a battlefield, they might last a bit longer, and breaking out might not be too difficult, but winning against such numbers was virtually impossible.
Thus, the true threat of Xiantian experts lay in their ability to strike like ghosts, impossible to guard against, not in charging battle lines head-on. This was also why the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor and the Great Vajra Monastery held each other in mutual wariness.
As for whether there were individuals who could match an army or rival an entire nation on their own?
There were! History recorded a handful. Yet even they had not slaughtered an army of millions to the last man; rather, they had pierced through the battle lines to claim the commanding general's head amidst the roaring throngs.
And such figures were either Great Grandmasters or at the very pinnacle of the Grandmaster realm—figures like Ye Tianlin and Huyan Chi. At the very least, neither Shi Mo nor Qiulin Ji possessed such ability.
Yet actions like that would invite the wariness of the entire world. Unless pushed to the absolute brink, figures of that caliber would not wield their might to dictate worldly affairs.
Furthermore, anyone capable of reaching that realm had long cultivated an extraordinary state of mind and generally would not resort to such things.
Take Ye Tianlin, for example: with a single man and a single sword, he could subdue the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions and bring them back under the Central Plains' sway. But if the central imperial court lacked the strength to follow up and establish routine governance, it would all be in vain.
Or Huyan Chi, who could use sheer brute force to unite both the Black and White Qiang, or even cow the Xianbei into submission. Yet the Xiongnu Royal Court had not yet recovered its peak strength; even if he unified the steppe by force, dissent would simmer under the surface, orders would be obeyed in name while flouted in secret, and effective rule would remain impossible.
To bring the matter back: with the Black Qiang and White Qiang currently at war, it remained unclear whether Yan Xiangxue had recovered from her injuries, leaving Gulanrena as the only confirmed Xiantian expert on their side.
Under such circumstances, how could the White Qiang fail to take precautions?
The key figures were lodged together, the area lit bright as day by torches, guarded by hundreds of White Wolf Guards and Chengyuan soldiers. The moment an intruder showed themselves, volley upon volley of arrows would greet them. How on earth could anyone charge through that?
Then Yuwen Haojie watched as Shi Mo's eyes shifted, before turning to Zhaixingzi and saying, "In that case, I shall accompany you two to infiltrate the White Qiang camp. I will hold off Yan Xiangxue, and the two of you can try your hand against Zhao Yu."
Zhaixingzi sprang to his feet. "Splendid!"
Zhuixingzi's eyes gleamed with icy malice. He had long wanted Zhao Yu dead, and there would never be a better opportunity than tonight!
Night fell, moonless, under a canopy of stars.
Taking a wide detour, Shi Mo, Zhaixingzi, and Zhuixingzi crept silently into the White Qiang Royal Court from the north.
Chapter 120