Chapter 734: Xun You's Arrival
Chapter 734: Xun You's Arrival
September 25, 2017
In reality, Xu Zifu should have been the righteous hero in this battle. In this campaign, the Xianbei and Wu Xian tribes led by Xu Zifu were actually the weaker side. Lu HaiKong's forces had been the dominant party from start to finish, and Xu Zifu only had the advantage in numbers and intelligence.
When facing Wang Ti, Xu Zifu was always cautious, gradually weakening the enemy's strength while trying to conceal his own position as much as possible.
He was well aware that if they were to be located by Wang Ti, the enemy's elite forces could easily tear through any defenses and capture him, thus ending the war.
The favorable situation he currently had was entirely due to his own abilities, months of targeted preparation, and a bit of luck.
Up until now, Xu Zifu's greatest stroke of luck was his eagle's unexpected discovery of the Blood Bath Legion, which had split up and left the camp. This gave him the opportunity to almost capture Lu HaiKong's strongest cavalry and even three top generals with a strength of over 90.
However, his plan ultimately failed because Wang Ti had prepared a countermeasure for such a decapitation strategy.
On one hand, the Blood Bath Legion had left the camp and, if they could evade Xu Zifu's spies, capturing Xu Zifu with the help of the Wolf Herders' intelligence would not be difficult.
But if they were discovered by Xu Zifu, given the methods he had demonstrated, the Blood Bath Legion would be in danger. Wang Ti was also aware of this, so he had a backup plan.
As the Blood Bath Legion began to move, a cavalry unit led by Meng Qu had already set out from Wang Ti's side, including the first general under Lu HaiKong, Dian Wei.
Before this unit's departure, Wang Ti ordered the extermination of all suspicious creatures near the camp.
He knew that his side could gather intelligence through the Wolf Herders, and the enemy might also be doing the same with animals like eagles.
Therefore, before the Golden Flame Cavalry set out, Wang Ti had all suspicious creatures, including Xu Zifu's eagles used for surveillance, removed.
This move by Wang Ti was brilliant, indirectly hitting the enemy's spies and cutting off their intelligence. Xu Zifu only learned about the Golden Flame Cavalry's movements when it was time to wrap up the operation and take away the Blood Bath Legion.
But by then, it was too late. The Golden Flame Cavalry had already begun their assault.
Xu Zifu had eagles to monitor Wang Ti's forces, and Wang Ti had wolves to locate Xu Zifu's position. As Xu Zifu strategized, the iron hooves of the Golden Flame Cavalry were already thundering towards them.
Xu Zifu was still pondering how to capture Lu HaiKong's three generals when Dian Wei, at the forefront, tore through Xu Zifu's defensive line and charged towards him.
Through the eagle's perspective, Xu Zifu watched as a unit named the Golden Flame Cavalry, a group of black-clad cavalry, advanced. He realized he had lost an opportunity.
"Let's go. I underestimated Lu HaiKong's subordinates. I never expected them to have such a trick up their sleeves!"
Seeing the juicy prey slip away, Xu Zifu's face showed disappointment.
But there was nothing he could do. The Golden Flame Cavalry, led by Dian Wei, was already violently charging towards them. If they didn't leave now, they would only be waiting for death.
Yuwen Kuo also looked disappointed. It was a rare opportunity to capture Lu HaiKong's strongest cavalry, but it ended in failure.
"Don't worry. I've made arrangements on my side. Although there were some surprises, we couldn't take Lu HaiKong's three top generals. But after this battle, his Blood Bath Legion should be mostly disabled. From the perspective of results, we didn't lose out."
As Xu Zifu spoke, he waved his feather fan at himself and Yuwen Kuo, and they immediately rode away.
After Xu Zifu and Yuwen Kuo left, the two reappeared at the original site, commanding their legions to frantically intercept Dian Wei's group.
When Dian Wei's group reached them and discovered they were decoys, Xu Zifu and his forces were already long gone. Even if Dian Wei's group wanted to pursue, they had no idea where to start, and could only turn back to support Zhao Er.
With Dian Wei's support, the Blood Bath Legion, after its big burst, was mostly weakened but eventually returned to camp safely.
However, this decapitation tactic ultimately ended in failure. The Blood Bath Legion paid a price of five to six hundred lives, and Lu HaiKong's side suffered a significant loss.
Although Dian Wei's group successfully drove back Xu Zifu's forces, if they hadn't killed them, merely driving them back was of no use.
As expected, not long after Dian Wei and the others left, Xu Zifu reappeared, regrouping the scattered troops. For Xu Zifu's forces, the night raid resulted in nothing more than the loss of some common soldiers. However, the situation on Wang Ti's side had become increasingly dire.
From the outset, Xu Zifu had firmly controlled the pace of the war, successfully using the night raid to burn Wang Ti's food and supply stores.
Xu Zifu relentlessly pursued Wang Ti, even at the cost of heavy casualties, to delay Wang Ti's retreat. After several days, Wang Ti's food supplies were completely depleted, and they were still at least a thousand li away from their rear supply point.
At this point in the war, Wang Ti's forces were essentially spent.
Xu Zifu's troops were indeed strong, but what good was that without food supplies? Even the mighty Golden Flame Cavalry would be rendered useless after two days without food.
In this situation, Xu Zifu only needed to reorganize his troops and continue the previous strategy of delaying Wang Ti's retreat. At most, it would take five days for Wang Ti's forces to collapse.
Xu Zifu was well aware of this, so after Zhao Er's night raid, on the second day, they regrouped and continued to hinder Wang Ti's retreat.
Xu Zifu's troops launched harassing attacks in groups of a thousand, divided into several teams. Faced with this situation, Wang Ti's forces, already low on food, were in a dilemma. They couldn't retreat, but if they sent their elite troops, they would flee, taking the Golden Flame Cavalry and other elite units with them. Even if one team was annihilated, the remaining teams would quickly regroup and launch a frenzied attack on Wang Ti's main camp.
Xu Zifu's strategy was a masterpiece, but the outcome of the attack was often like an egg hitting a rock. However, while Xu Zifu had the egg, Wang Ti's rock was running out of food supplies, and cracks were beginning to show, threatening to shatter at any moment.
Wang Ti's forces couldn't hold out until they reached the rear food supply station.
Additionally, the Bloodbath Legion, after using the Bloodthirsty Frenzy technique, entered a five-day period of weakness. During this time, they were repeatedly harassed, and without food supplies, they had no chance to recover.
In this situation, members of the Bloodbath Legion kept collapsing, and if this continued, Xu Zifu wouldn't even need to fight; the Bloodbath Legion would be chased to their deaths.
The situation was now clear, and Wang Ti's collapse was imminent.
However, just as Xu Zifu thought he had victory within his grasp, needing only to guard against Wang Ti's last-ditch efforts, an unexpected event occurred.
In truth, Xu Zifu's greatest fortune in this war wasn't learning about Zhao Er's night raid. Even if Zhao Er had launched the raid without Xu Zifu's knowledge, it wouldn't have mattered. Xu Zifu had his methods, and without a countermeasure, Zhao Er's caution would have prevented him from being taken.
Wang Ti's food crisis persisted, and the scales of victory still tipped in Xu Zifu's favor.
Xu Zifu's true luck in this war was that a certain person hadn't appeared.
In fact, Wang Ti's forces had a strategist, none other than Xun You, who had recently joined Lu HaiKong's command.
But before Xun You arrived, Xu Zifu had already taken action.
Xu Zifu had established a favorable situation, but it ended there. Just as Wang Ti's forces were about to collapse, Xun You arrived, bringing not only himself but also a logistics team, abundant food supplies, and various medical supplies.
Xun You's arrival directly resolved Wang Ti's food crisis and thwarted Xu Zifu's tactics, which were about to enter the final stage.
When Xu Zifu learned of this through the eagles' vision, his face turned ashen, and he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
This was truly unfair. Xu Zifu, your forces were already strong, and that's fine. But to send a cavalry unit that could penetrate their defenses and capture a general in the midst of thousands was impressive.
In the midst of the raging fire, as the duck was about to be cooked, Zhao Er's unexpected move saved the day, and Xu Zifu had to grit his teeth and accept it. But now, when victory was almost in hand, the sudden appearance of an enemy force, complete with abundant food supplies and logistics support, completely overturned the favorable situation. How could Xu Zifu accept this?
But what could he do? He had underestimated an opponent with a 'Calculated Strategy'.
(End of Chapter)
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