Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 442 Empiricism Kills People

Ren Yuan remained the commander of the scouts in the White Robe Army. Before the main army set off, he had already led his elite scouts ahead to scout out the enemy's situation.

Although they annihilated Ge Rong's forces and thwarted Liang's two northern expeditions, the Northern Dynasty remained in a state of strategic retreat. Ren Yuan and his party advanced more than two hundred li without encountering a single Wei soldier.

They traveled unimpeded to reach a place twenty miles outside Suiyang City.

Ren Yuan knew Suiyang very well, because Yucheng was just 30 li to the east of Suiyang.

The year before last, in the spring, he led a pursuit team thousands of miles to chase the imperial seal, and he and Xiao Zong played a game of cat and mouse in this area.

Later, in order to capture Xiao Zong, he even went to Yucheng to serve as Liu Mazi's strategist for a while...

In less than two years, all those once arrogant and domineering figures have passed away. This area has also returned to the rule of the Northern Dynasty, making Ren Yuan feel a sense of profound change.

Thanks to that experience, he knew the terrain and landforms of the area like the back of his hand, and knew where it was suitable to hide and where beacon towers and watchtowers would be set up.

So without alerting the local Wei army, he easily surveyed the area, figured out the enemy's deployment, left Yu Tianmin to keep an eye on Suiyang City, and returned to the main force to report to Chen Qingzhi.

~~
At this moment, the White-Robed Army had advanced to Licheng, eighty miles away, and was setting up camp.

"How is it? What's the enemy situation?" Seeing Ren Yuan return, Chen Qingzhi happily handed him the freshly baked flatbread.

Ren Yuan didn't stand on ceremony, took the steaming hot flatbread, tore off a piece and put it in his mouth. "This is really exciting, the Wei army has already reached a considerable size."

“Normal.” Yuan Hao, who was warming himself by the fire, said calmly, “I received intelligence that Erzhu Rong ordered Prince Yuan Huiye of Jiyin to command Qiu Daqian and other generals to defend the southern border, and also transferred 20,000 imperial guards from Luoyang to reinforce Suiyang.”

He paused for a moment and then said, "In this way, the enemy's defense line at Suiyang will have a strength of 70,000, which is enough to resist the Southern Dynasty's attack."

Although Yuan Hao's use of terms to refer to the Northern and Southern Dynasties was somewhat unsettling, the information he provided was absolutely true.

After the fall of Woyang, Suiyang became the front line for the Northern Dynasty to resist the Southern Dynasty. Erzhu Rong was well aware that the Southern Dynasty was the most formidable enemy, which is why he immediately mobilized troops and built defenses after recapturing Suiyang, ending the dangerous situation of the gates being wide open.

Therefore, the Northern Dynasty's defenses at Suiyang were actually prepared for the Southern Dynasty's large army, not for a mere seven thousand White-Robed Soldiers...

“Seven thousand against seventy thousand, this battle is unwinnable.” Yuan Hao was the first to back down, saying, “Why don’t we take Yu City first and then make further plans?”

This naturally drew disdainful looks from the generals. Hu Longya sneered, "If it weren't for someone's indecisiveness, would things have come to this?"

“Two months earlier, there were also 50,000 troops blocking our way, and you still couldn’t defeat them,” Yuan Hao said defiantly.

"Alright, you all need to say less and be polite to the Prince." Chen Qingzhi scolded them a couple of times, then encouraged Yuan Hao, saying, "Your Highness, don't worry. Most of the 70,000 Wei troops in Suiyang are actually defeated soldiers who fled from Shouyang and Woyang. Qiu Daqian is just a defeated general who retreated from Woyang. He is nothing to be afraid of."

"It's good that Your Excellency has confidence." Yuan Hao smiled insincerely, clearly not very convinced, but he was also uncomfortable with the rebuttal, so he silently ate his dry rations and stopped talking.

Chen Qingzhi then asked Ren Yuan, "How are their defenses? Are they prepared?"

“They were completely unprepared, probably because they didn’t expect us to send troops at the end of the year, and they were all holed up in the city for the winter,” Ren Yuan said in a deep voice.

"That's exactly the effect I wanted." This is also why Chen Qingzhi selected elite soldiers... Only soldiers who have mastered the skills can withstand the cold and fight normally in the freezing season.

"As for the defenses, Qiu Daqian actually built nine fortified camps." Ren Yuan said, marking the locations of the nine camps on the map.

To be fair, these nine camps were reasonably well-positioned, with appropriate distances between them. If they could coordinate their defenses, they could be quite useful. However, if the officers and soldiers in the camps became cowardly and dared not engage in battle, it would give the enemy the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Chen Qingzhi and his men were all too familiar with this situation... Just a year ago, Yuan Zhao's army set up thirteen fortified camps, which Chen Qingzhi breached one by one.

Qiu Daqian was on the city wall of Woyang at the time and witnessed this scene with his own eyes, yet he still did not learn his lesson.

Chen Qingzhi wouldn't stand on ceremony with him, so he marched into the Suiyang territory early the next morning and by evening made a grand entrance.

He also ordered his soldiers to spread out, march in a dispersed manner, and raise more flags to create the appearance of a large army pressing in.

Soon, news of the Liang army's sudden attack spread to all nine camps in Suiyang...

"What?!" In Suiyang City, Qiu Daqian was also startled upon hearing the news. "Isn't the Liang army celebrating the New Year? Why are they attacking at this time?!"

"Yes, they've arrived," the lieutenant said, his face pale.

"How many people?" Qiu Daqian asked hurriedly.

"I don't know, but there are at least tens of thousands of troops," the lieutenant replied.

Qiu Daqian hurriedly went up to the city wall and saw that more than ten miles away, smoke and dust were billowing and banners were like a forest. He felt that tens of thousands of Liang soldiers were an understatement.

"I guess this is just the vanguard; there's a larger force behind them." In his view, the Liang army's northern expedition must have at least 100,000 troops.

"It should be." The deputy general shared the same opinion. They had faced attacks from hundreds of thousands of Liang troops in Shouyang and Woyang, so they naturally estimated the situation based on past experience.

"Do you know who's leading the troops?" Qiu Daqian's throat was dry.

"The flag bears the character 'Chen'..." the scout hurriedly reported.

"Chen Qingzhi, it must be him." Qiu Daqian's vision went black; just as he feared, his worst fears came true.

"I thought he had been transferred away, how come he's back?" the lieutenant cried out in despair.

Not only the two of them, but also the Wei soldiers in the nine camps were terrified when they learned that Chen Qingzhi was coming.

They had already experienced firsthand this man's unpredictable military tactics and his aggressive, fiery style of warfare. In the pitch black, how could they dare to rashly go into battle? They all locked their camp gates and prayed for their own safety…

Chen Qingzhi wouldn't be polite to them, nor could he be, because he would be exposed as soon as it got light.

He immediately led his troops in a fierce attack and broke through three Wei army camps overnight.

On the walls of Suiyang, Qiu Daqian watched the Liang army's fierce offensive and felt as if he were back at the walls of Woyang a year earlier. He cursed his bad luck inwardly, daring not to send reinforcements. He could only watch helplessly as his camps fell one after another.

At this moment, a loud shout suddenly rang out from below the city walls: "Listen up, city guard! I am the special envoy of the King of Beihai! The King of Beihai has borrowed the Southern Dynasty's army to attack Erzhu Rong and avenge the deaths of the emperor and his ministers in the Hebei Incident. If you had even a shred of patriotism, you should not be aiding and abetting evil!"

"Now that my army has captured half of your camps, why don't you quickly open the gates and surrender, lest we all perish!"

(End of this chapter)