Chapter 636

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“Fool!”

In the camp, Cui Huai was furious. The rout of the musketeers led to chaos in the front lines, preventing the subsequent troops from charging forward and engaging the Yunzhou army in close combat. Thus, they had no choice but to temporarily return to the main camp to regroup and fight again.

The Second Prince’s face was grim. Establishing the overseers was his idea, but even so, it didn’t prevent this defeat. He said, “All deserters are to be executed without mercy. All these retreating musketeers are to be killed.”

“Kill them all? Our Yan musketeers have less than two thousand left,” Cui Huai said, heartbroken. He now regretted trusting the Second Prince’s words.

If it weren’t for these overseers, how could his musketeers have suffered such severe losses?

“Your Yan has two thousand men left, but our Liang has not a single musketeer left. Your overseers are truly skilled; they act without mercy,” the Second Prince sneered.

Now that all his musketeers were lost, he would have difficulty explaining himself upon returning. After all, whether it was Yan or Liang, these musketeers were elite troops, and these elite troops were completely vulnerable before the Qi army.

Cui Huai retorted angrily, “Second Prince, what do you mean? Wasn’t it your idea to have these overseers? You were the one who said that Yan’s overseers would supervise Liang’s army, and Liang’s overseers would supervise Yan’s army.”

In this battle, only Zhao Ang suffered no losses. While secretly gloating, he feigned a persuasion, “The two of you, stop arguing. Let’s think about how to attack the city. Although we were defeated today, we only lost 30,000 men. We still have over 300,000 men.”

“General Zhao is truly speaking without feeling the pain, since it wasn’t your cavalry that suffered losses, of course you don’t feel bad. General Zhao is so eager to fight, how about letting the Black Armored Iron Cavalry break through the Qi army’s formation tomorrow?”

“That’s an idea. The muskets load very slowly, and cavalry can cover several hundred meters in an instant,” the Second Prince also echoed.

Zhao Ang’s face immediately changed. He said, “Don’t forget that the Yunzhou army also has cavalry. If the Black Armored Iron Cavalry is gone, how will you deal with their cavalry?”

This time, the three allied princes had designated Prince Yan as the supreme commander of the allied forces. Cui Huai said, “General Zhao, this is an order.”

Zhao Ang’s face turned extremely grim upon hearing this. He snorted and left the camp.

Cui Huai and the Second Prince looked at Zhao Ang’s departing figure, both revealing a cruel smile. Since they had suffered such heavy losses, how could they allow Zhao Ang to watch comfortably from the sidelines?

Yunzhou Army Grand Camp.

After Niu Ben and the other generals had a simple dinner, they gathered again in the tent. This morning they prepared, at noon they started the battle, and in the evening, they sounded the gongs for retreat.

Although they had gained considerable advantages by utilizing the power of firearms, several hundred soldiers were still killed or wounded under the relentless firing of the allied musketeers.

This battle casualty rate was still acceptable to them, as the allied forces’ losses were even greater.

“General, if the allied forces of the three princes continue to fight so recklessly, it will be troublesome. Their musketeers should be used up by now. Next, they should charge with cavalry and infantry!” Lu Fei analyzed.

All the generals nodded.

Luo Hong said, “Three hundred meters is only a few breaths for cavalry. Even for infantry, it’s only about twenty breaths to charge through.”

Niu Ben agreed deeply. He naturally knew that if they continued to clash head-on like this, they would ultimately lose tens of thousands of men, because once the allied forces charged and turned it into a melee, it would be very disadvantageous for them. After a moment of thought, he said, “From tomorrow onwards, we will hold our ground and not sally forth. We will wear down their morale over some time.”

Qi Guangyi said, “General, I request to lead 10,000 cavalry to harass their provisions.”

Bai Mu said, “I am also willing to go.”

Niu Ben nodded. “Remember, burn their provisions if you can, but never get bogged down in battle.”

“Yes, General,” Qi Guangyi and Bai Mu said in unison.

After a pause, Niu Ben continued, “I have decided to hold out for five days starting tomorrow. After five days, we will use the chariot formation to completely surround the allied forces’ camp. In this way, we can both leverage the advantage of firearms and not worry about infantry charges.”

Lu Fei and the other generals nodded upon hearing this. Today, they had merely lured the allied musketeers to engage them. In their opinion, Prince Yan and Prince Liang were overly confident in their musketeers, thinking that these musketeers could achieve an equal exchange in numbers.

In reality, these soldiers were merely targets, and they had gained the vast majority of the allied musketeers at a minuscule cost.

The next day.

When Cui Huai, the Second Prince, and Zhao Ang led their armies to Yunzhou City again, they found that the soldiers who had been arrayed in front of the city yesterday were all on the city walls.

Seeing this situation, Zhao Ang naturally breathed a sigh of relief, while the Second Prince and Cui Huai’s faces were grim.

Now they had only two paths before them: one was to attack the city, and the other was to bypass Yunzhou City. However, bypassing Yunzhou City would mean their supply lines were completely exposed under Yunzhou City’s nose.

Once the supply lines were cut off, it would be a disaster for them.

So, after weighing their options, they ultimately chose the first option: to attack the city. This time, with 350,000 troops assembled, they had to achieve a satisfactory result.

However, only when they attacked the city did they realize that there was no difference in difficulty between attacking the city and bypassing Yunzhou City.

When the cannons on the city wall began to roar, they knew that today would be a fruitless effort. Just as they thought, by nightfall, besides leaving a pile of corpses under the city, they hadn’t even pried off a single brick from the city wall of Yunzhou City.

Then came the second day, the third day…

At the same time, while the allied forces were still engaged in fierce battle under Yunzhou City, Prince Yong’s army, taking advantage of Liang’s depleted forces, had already arrived under Bingzhou City.

The general leading the Yongzhou army this time was none other than Chen Xinran, Prince Yong’s personal general. The army marching to Bingzhou was an elite force personally trained by him, consisting of 20,000 musketeers, 40,000 infantry, and 15,000 cavalry.

Liang’s and Prince Yong’s fiefdoms bordered each other. Upon receiving Prince Yong’s order, they set off from Jizhou and marched all the way to Bingzhou, encountering no resistance along the way.

“General, that’s Bingzhou City ahead,” a subordinate general said, pointing to the city in front.

Chen Xinran nodded. He said to his subordinate general, “Immediately have someone push up the cannons. His Royal Highness Prince Qi is about to ascend the throne, and His Highness Prince Yong has ordered us to take Bingzhou City at all costs. This is a great gift from Prince Yong to the future Emperor.”

“Yes, General,” the subordinate general immediately went to inform the artillerymen.

At this moment, Chen Xinran looked at Bingzhou City. Bingzhou bordered Prince Yong’s territory, and Prince Yong and Prince Liang had previously had many skirmishes here.

And now they could finally openly attack Bingzhou City.