I'm a villain in the movies and TV series "All Heavens".

Chapter 55: The Ultimate Way to Survive is to Be the Best

The wealth and prosperity of the Central Plains far surpassed that of the desolate grasslands.

If the Yuan Dynasty wanted to grow stronger, it was essential that the Central Plains, its reserve base, be firmly under their control.

As a high-ranking officer in the Yuan army, Bayan naturally understood this point.

After a day of fighting, both sides' soldiers were exhausted.

However, compared to the dejection of the Mongol soldiers...

The soldiers of Wu Kingdom, having successfully repelled the Yuan army's attacks several times, were gradually building up their confidence in victory.

On the other hand, the morale of the Yuan army had been greatly diminished due to their repeated failures in attacking the strongholds.

With one gain and one loss, the balance of power has begun to slowly tip in favor of the Wu Kingdom.

What worried Bayan the most was that the provisions they had brought were almost gone.

When they arrived, they only brought enough food and supplies for the entire army to last for one month.

Because before they came, they were all very optimistic.

This battle of attack and defense will surely end quickly, just like before, at which point they will be able to feed on the enemy.

However, the hardships of the war far exceeded their expectations.

Although Kublai Khan had already issued an order for the Khan's court to send cattle and sheep.

But during this time, they could only reduce their food intake.

This order further dampened the morale of the Yuan army.

Kublai Khan naturally also noticed the situation of his soldiers.

Therefore, during this period, he had repeatedly urged Bayan to intensify the offensive.

Faced with Kublai Khan's urging, Bayan had no choice but to once again increase the number of troops he was committed to the attack.

But this time he learned his lesson.

When attacking the southern camp, he left behind a reserve force of tens of thousands of men specifically to block reinforcements from the northern camp and Chengdu.

The battle that followed quickly turned into a meat grinder.

The two sides engaged in a tug-of-war around the camp walls.

Every inch of land was repeatedly fought over by soldiers from both sides, and countless soldiers died in this war.

However, the soldiers of the Wu Kingdom, with the advantage of the fortified village walls, still held a considerable advantage.

However, Bayan ignored the threat and continued to send his servants to launch attacks, while simultaneously ordering the Yuan army to prepare a large amount of oil.

At the same time, a huge amount of manpower was spent to build several huge high platforms outside the southern camp.

These platforms were leveled out, giving the southern campsite a height advantage due to its proximity to the mountain.

With the added advantage of these high platforms, the range of the Yuan army's trebuchets was greatly increased.

Following Bayan's orders, countless oil canisters were launched into the Wu Kingdom's camp by trebuchets.

Although Lü Wenhuan had long ago instructed the Wu Kingdom soldiers to prepare for a fire attack.

But this time, Bayan used trebuchets to throw almost the entire amount of oil brought by the Yuan army into the camp.

Even though Lü Wenhuan was prepared, quantitative changes led to qualitative changes.

The massive fire, caused by the countless oil canisters, was impossible for the southern camp to extinguish in a short time.

As a result, the fire eventually spread to the point that the military could no longer control it.

The southern camp suffered heavy losses in this battle. Mo Fei must have also seen what was happening to the south.

He immediately led his men and Liu Zheng from the north to the rescue.

However, they were held back by tens of thousands of soldiers.

After several attempts, it seemed they were about to break through the blockade.

However, they discovered that the southern camp had been engulfed by a sky full of flames.

While harboring resentment, Mo Fei could only issue the order to withdraw his troops and return to camp.

Fortunately, when he ordered the camp to be built, he had anticipated that this might happen.

Therefore, Mo Fei, who was always very cautious, directly divided the camp into an inner camp and an outer camp structure.

Although the Yuan army broke through the outer camp's defenses.

However, due to limitations in the amount of oil and the range of the projectiles, the defenses of the southern inner camp remained intact.

The southern camp, built against the mountain, and the nearly 10,000 soldiers who remained still possessed the strength to fight.

After the Yuan army broke through the outer defenses of the southern camp with an oil offensive,

An excited Bayan, seeing that the fire had subsided slightly, couldn't wait to lead his troops into the southern camp.

However, when he excitedly stormed into the camp, he saw the Wu Kingdom soldiers who had retreated into the inner camp and were waiting in full battle, and the inner camp made of earth and stone.

The excitement on his face instantly turned ashen.

Perhaps when the inner camp was built, because the inner camp was not very large, the material used was not wood.

It was built entirely of mud and stones.

Although building with this material requires considerable effort, its protective capabilities are far superior to those of wooden structures.

Under the furious leadership of Bayan, the Yuan army launched several frenzied sieges, but was once again forced to retreat in disappointment.

Thus, the war once again reached a stalemate.

"Khan! Chengdu has been run like a tortoise shell by that Emperor Wu of the Wu Kingdom."

It seems unlikely that our army will be able to breach this city in the short term.

At the Yuan army's military conference that day, Bayan told Kublai Khan his conclusions about the battle with some gritted teeth.

“I think we can take a detour up the Yangtze River and launch an attack from another location.”

One of the commanders in the tent shared his opinion.

"Choose another place? Do you think the Wu Kingdom is unprepared?"

"According to reports from spies, the Emperor of Wu Kingdom had long ago dispatched his trusted general Xue Gang to defend the major cities along the Yangtze River, with nearly 10 troops under his command, and he has been continuously expanding his forces during this period."

If we divide our forces and march south, do you think the army inside Chengdu will let us leave?

Another highly respected commander of ten thousand refuted this, saying:

However, it was precisely these words from the commander that instantly brightened the eyes of Bayan, who was feeling rather sullen due to the unfavorable battle situation.

"That's right! If we go south along the southern Yangtze River, will the soldiers in Chengdu let us leave?"

Thanks to: 8464, SDGY, Da Pang Fei Yang, Xi Shuai Tian Dao, 6836, Gu Du, Jian Zi Xian Dao, 7458, Dan Dan De Lu Guo, 1656, Qi Mei Qing Qiu, Lai Bu Ji Neng Ni, for their votes.

It's about to be featured! The editor of the Wuxia (martial arts) strong recommendation program is really great, I hope it gets good results.

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(End of this chapter)