Chapter 278
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Chapter 278: Marching
The reconnaissance team’s day-long search results put Jiang Wei slightly at ease.
After another night’s rest in Songshan City, he led 1,000 troops out of the city, planning to cover 70% of the distance on the first day while preserving the soldiers’ strength.
On the second day, the day of the assault, they would rush straight to the outskirts of Songhe City, rest briefly, and then immediately launch the attack!
Jiang Wei, having formulated his plan, did not relax his guard.
Along the way, he kept his soldiers vigilant and dispatched scouts to survey the surroundings.
However, it turned out he had been a bit too nervous, as nothing unexpected happened along the way.
Leading 1,000 men, he successfully completed the first day’s march without incident.
“It seems the enemy really did retreat back to Songhe City…”
Jiang Wei mused.
The siege army outside Shangyuan City was no joke, not to mention that even siege towers had been deployed.
Who would dare ignore such a threat?
Thinking of this, Jiang Wei felt slightly more at ease.
After setting up camp for the night, a peaceful night further relaxed his tense nerves.
Early in the morning, after the soldiers had a small meal of dry rations, the army began to advance again.
His marching efficiency was quite steady.
According to the plan, he estimated he would have about an hour to rest his troops before the midday assault.
“General, Songhe City is just ahead.”
And so it was.
Listening to a soldier’s report, despite being pre-battle, Jiang Wei still felt a sense of relief.
At least so far, the entire plan had proceeded without any problems.
He looked up to check the sun’s position in the sky.
There was still some time until midday.
Jiang Wei waved his hand, signaling his soldiers to sit down, eat something, and rest for a while, performing their final pre-battle preparations.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, a dense whooshing sound suddenly entered Jiang Wei’s ears.
Before he could think further, a volley of arrows from the distance rained down directly on their scattered formation!
“An ambush?!”
Faced with this sudden attack, Jiang Wei’s troops were caught completely off guard.
A single volley caused noticeable casualties, and their already scattered formation instantly became even more chaotic.
Jiang Wei, as the commanding general, was now filled with shock and anger.
He never imagined that the enemy wouldn’t set an ambush near Songshan City, but instead near Songhe City!
“Everyone calm down! All shield-axe soldiers form a defensive formation to block the arrow rain!”
“Halberdiers, pay attention to any infantry units launching surprise attacks from the surroundings!”
Jiang Wei shouted instructions while swinging his bronze long sword to deflect the arrows flying towards him.
At the same time, his gaze quickly swept over the archer unit positioned on the distant high ground.
“Damn it! It’s the terrain!”
“Is this archer unit hiding behind that high ground, using the elevation difference to affect sightlines?!”
Although he had figured out how the archer unit had appeared, Jiang Wei remained deeply unsettled.
“Who is the enemy’s commanding general?”
“Why would he choose this location for an ambush?”
“The main siege army from Shangyuan City is already pressing on, is he planning to abandon Songhe City? Or, is this ambushing force the defending army from East Frontier City?!”
In an instant, many thoughts raced through Jiang Wei’s mind, but the enemy clearly had no intention of letting him ponder further.
As the archer unit revealed itself and launched its attack, the shield-axe unit ambushing on the other side quickly charged out!
Guo Zhen, clad in bronze armor, led the charge at the forefront of the troops.
His gaze swept over Jiang Wei, who was sitting on horseback, and a hint of disappointment flashed in Guo Zhen’s eyes.
The enemy general he eagerly wanted to kill for revenge was not this one.
But regardless, as long as they were enemies, killing them all was the right thing to do.
The number of enemy troops waiting to ambush him here was greater than Jiang Wei had anticipated.
The moment the two sides’ shield-axe soldiers clashed, his formation, which he had just barely stabilized, almost broke apart again.
Startled, Jiang Wei quickly began directing the shield-axe unit at the front to engage the enemy.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel even more perplexed.
“So many troops?”
“Do these foreigners really intend to abandon Songhe City?”
“I can’t understand it.”
“Songhe City is a strategic stronghold. If they abandon it, they would lose at least half of the advantage they accumulated in the early stages!”
“Wait, could it be…”
As his thoughts rapidly turned, Jiang Wei quickly considered another possibility.
“Could it be that the enemy saw through His Majesty’s strategy, knowing that we intended to launch a pincer attack on Songhe City, and knowing they couldn’t hold it, simply chose to abandon Songhe City proactively?”
“While preserving their forces, they are setting an ambush for me here, and after the battle, they will retreat directly to East Frontier City to regroup?”
The more Jiang Wei thought about it, the more he felt his guess was correct.
In an instant, the pressure in his heart soared because if the enemy did that, wouldn’t his situation be dangerous?!
Secretly lamenting his predicament, it wouldn’t be easy for him to shake off the enemy’s entanglement here.
The enemy probably wouldn’t let him leave easily either.
If he were in the enemy’s shoes, if he were going to abandon Songhe City, he would still make the opponent pay a price, and this flanking force was undoubtedly the best choice.
At this point, Jiang Wei could only order his soldiers to resist with all their might, hoping that the main siege army from Shangyuan City on the other side would break through Songhe City soon and come to his aid.
However, Jiang Wei was destined to be disappointed.
He probably wouldn’t have guessed, even if he racked his brain, that Luo Ji had no intention of abandoning Songhe City from the very beginning.
He intended to annihilate this thousand-man flanking force, defend Songhe City, and even planned to use this opportunity to capture Songshan City.
At this very moment, as midday approached, the main siege army from Shangyuan City once again assembled outside Songhe City’s west wall.
During this period, this army would almost daily show their presence right under their noses.
However, Zhao Pan, who had been appointed as Songhe City’s defending general by Luo Ji, did not show any signs of relaxation or carelessness.
After all, his own personality was extremely meticulous.
Not to mention that 2 days ago, Luo Ji had just sent a messenger to inform him that the siege might begin within these 2 days, telling him to prepare mentally.
Knowing this news, Zhao Pan was even less likely to relax his guard.
As for how Luo Ji knew?
It was very simple, the key lay in the communication issues of this era.
Their messages had a delay, and to avoid this, there was a very simple method.
Calculate the schedule in advance and set a date for everyone to act together.
And Luo Ji’s scouts, after discovering Jiang Wei’s thousand-man force leaving Songshan City, got the news.
Was it difficult for him to deduce that the enemy would launch a formal attack within these 2 or 3 days after a bit of thought?
This move could be said to be a victory in intelligence warfare.
