Chapter 277
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Chapter 277: Reconnaissance Methods
Two days passed quietly after Luo Ji’s dawn raid.
These 2 days were undoubtedly easy for Luo Ji and his men because their only task was to adjust their condition.
But for Wang Tong, the defending general of Songshan City, these days were not so easy.
As the saying goes, “once bitten, twice shy.”
After such a distressing experience, he spent the past 2 days in constant fear.
At night, he dared not relax his guard at all.
At night, the defending forces on the city wall increased to 100 men, directly filling a row.
Wang Tong himself couldn’t sleep soundly, and neither could his soldiers, in every sense of the word.
This nervous state continued until the evening of the second day.
Seeing the reinforcements slowly entering the city, Wang Tong clearly let out a sigh of relief, for troop numbers truly provided confidence.
This time, Zhou Dongnan directly transferred 1,000 troops from Great Zhou Royal City.
The general in charge of leading them was Jiang Wei, a general with whom Wang Tong had a decent relationship.
Therefore, Wang Tong spoke without too many reservations.
“Damn it, why are you only arriving now?!”
“Isn’t everything fine? You know how difficult the road behind Songshan City is.”
Jiang Wei, who had just garrisoned Songshan City with 1,000 reinforcements, looked a bit tired.
Marching for days was not an easy task.
“Something almost happened!”
Recalling the raid at dawn 2 days ago, Wang Tong still looked shaken.
He had been so nervous during that defensive battle, with no confidence whatsoever, and they had only managed to hold on by sacrificing lives.
At the mention of this, Jiang Wei’s expression also became serious.
“Tell me, what exactly happened?”
As they spoke, Wang Tong recounted the entire detailed sequence of events.
After listening, Jiang Wei’s brows furrowed.
“I didn’t expect these foreigners to disregard the 2,000 strong army outside Shangyuan City and directly dispatch troops to attack Songshan City.”
Thinking of this, Jiang Wei’s thoughts turned.
“Have the foreigners not launched any more sieges in the past 2 days?”
“No.”
When mentioning this, Wang Tong’s mood was full of complexity.
The enemy not attacking had indeed made him relieved, but comparatively, he also felt like he had been made a fool of, as he had been on edge for 2 whole days!
“Have you sent out scouts to investigate the situation?”
Jiang Wei pressed again.
“Yes, no trace of the enemy has been found near Songshan City. Should we report this to His Majesty?”
“Taking the road behind Songshan City, even with one man and one horse, at full speed, a single trip takes 3 days, a round trip 6 to 7 days. According to His Majesty’s pre-arranged plan, Shangyuan City will officially begin the siege at noon 3 days from now. I am to depart immediately after resting for 1 day in Songshan City, so as to form a pincer attack with Shangyuan City’s 2,000 strong army and capture Songhe City in one go. There’s simply not enough time.”
At this point, Jiang Wei’s voice paused slightly.
After taking a breath, he continued.
“Moreover, according to you, there’s basically no trace of the enemy near Songshan City. Considering the situation at Shangyuan City, it’s highly likely the enemy came for a surprise attack, and after failing, immediately retreated back to Songhe City.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
Wang Tong, whose nerves had been strained for 2 days and was now feeling drowsy after relaxing, asked, forcing himself to stay awake.
“During my troops’ rest period, send out another 100-man reconnaissance team to conduct a carpet search around Songshan City!”
“If they still can’t find the enemy’s whereabouts, then it means the enemy has truly retreated.”
“In that case, I just need to proceed with the original plan.”
Jiang Wei spoke very decisively.
However, Wang Tong secretly felt speechless upon hearing this.
100 men?
Is that still a reconnaissance team?
That’s already a vanguard, isn’t it?
But at this point, Wang Tong didn’t care much.
Previously, he didn’t have many troops in the city and worried that sending too many out would result in them all being intercepted and killed outside, leading to troop losses that would hinder his subsequent defense.
Now that reinforcements had arrived, there was clearly no need to worry about this issue.
100 men it is, then.
He just wanted to quickly arrange things and then return to his residence for a good, peaceful sleep!
The next morning, the 100 troops quickly dispersed.
Although these were just ordinary soldiers of the defending forces, not professionally trained scouts, with 100 men, it was enough for them to conduct a carpet search around Songshan City.
“Damn it, why did this crap fall on us?”
One of the Songshan City soldiers, wearing shield-axe equipment, walked along the road anxiously, muttering a few complaints.
This irritated another soldier walking beside him.
“Whose fault is it that we weren’t on night watch last night?”
“Now the night watchmen are all asleep, so this job falls on us, doesn’t it?”
“Stop complaining and just search quickly.”
“The faster we finish, the faster we can go back.”
As he spoke, the soldier had already checked around.
“Alright, nothing here. Let’s move to the next place.”
“Wait, haven’t we checked over there yet?”
“Over there?”
The soldier frowned, looking impatiently in the direction the other soldier pointed.
“What’s over there? A few trees, a bush, some rocks? Are the foreigners’ army hiding in that bush, or on those big trees?”
After speaking, the soldier shook his head speechlessly and turned to leave directly.
The other soldier clearly didn’t want to wander alone in the wilderness either and quickly followed him.
Time passed minute by minute, and it was soon approaching evening.
To promptly bring the reconnaissance results back to Songshan City, the soldiers sent to scout began to return at sunset.
When the sun had completely set, the entire wilderness once again fell silent, until a strange bird call sounded.
“Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo-hoo…”
The call, with its specific rhythm, seemed to send a signal.
Then, under the moonlight, the branches and leaves of a large tree suddenly swayed eerily, and a figure in leaf camouflage lightly jumped down from the tree.
And about 100 to 200 meters to the left of this large tree, another identical figure emerged from a bush.
Guided by the moonlight, figures simultaneously moved towards one direction.
Only after converging did it become apparent that over a dozen people were hidden in this area!
