Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 360 Update
Faced with the "miracle" of artificial rain, the morale of both sides shifted, and the Red Turban Army soldiers swept away the previous dejection caused by the "monks and Taoists" approach, their morale soaring several times over.

The soldiers shouted in their hearts, "The Red Turban Army truly has a wise master secretly helping them!"
No wonder the generals just now notified the entire army to prepare for "rain shelter" so that most of the gunpowder and bullets could be kept dry; they were probably going to use some kind of "magical magic"!
Once the heavy rain subsides, they can fire cannons to kill the enemy and defeat the exhausted government troops in one fell swoop!

The rain continued to fall, but the "Celestial Master" did not become enraged and order the killing of everyone.

Seeing that the "Celestial Master" had let him go, the gray-robed sorcerer immediately understood. Ignoring the mud on his legs, he turned and retreated. The other monks, Taoists, and sorcerers also put away their "tools of the trade" and fled in all directions without even saying goodbye.

Some soldiers were also stunned, and some even wanted to follow the mage to escape this dangerous place.

Only a few officers recovered their senses. After a series of shouts and beatings, they killed more than a hundred fleeing soldiers and inspected the entire camp with their heads. At this time, the "Celestial Master's" magic gradually weakened, and the rain stopped after more than an hour. Only then did the officers and soldiers of the entire camp calm down.

However, while the line of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers was maintained, the morale of the entire army plummeted to freezing point due to the "air raid" and heavy rain.

The civil and military officials who gathered again in the main tent all looked dejected.

Yang Wenyue had completely lost his pre-battle confidence; his dejected demeanor resembled that of a defeated dog that had been soaked in the rain all night.

Since ancient times, military strategy has always relied on three factors: "favorable timing, advantageous location, and harmonious human relations."

The Red Turban Army dared to penetrate deep behind enemy lines, carefully selecting and deploying their forces on the battlefield, thus gaining both geographical and popular advantages even before the fighting began.

The bandits are currently employing the ingenious trick of "air raids" and have the "timing" that the Heavenly Master can manipulate at will. They have all the advantages of timing, location, and popular support. How can the government troops possibly win this battle?
Yang Wenyue sighed and looked around at the two rows of civil and military officials on either side, "Do any of you have a good plan to repel the enemy?"

"Today our army has suffered three setbacks and its morale has wavered. On the other hand, the enemy army has the help of the Heavenly Master and its morale is high. If our army is not careful, we will lose the whole game."

It would be better to join forces and hold our ground, digging deep trenches and building earthen walls to await reinforcements from all directions.

"Hmm?" Yang Wenyue immediately looked at the grain supervising official, who paused and reluctantly replied, "The army's grain supplies are still sufficient... for ten days."

The latter didn't say anything more, but Yang Wenyue could already tell from the other party's troubled tone that the army's provisions probably included mules and livestock.

If even the mules and horses are gone, the officers and soldiers won't be able to escape far, even if they wanted to.

"The rebels' firearms are incredibly sharp; their muskets and cannons are all within my range. If we hold our ground, we'll just be sitting here and taking hits. Once the rebels break through our wagon formation, we'll suffer a crushing defeat!"

"But the soldiers' morale is low. How can they fight the enemy in the open field? If they can't attack, they have to defend."

Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts sank. The "trap" woven by the rebel army was sweeping in. They could neither attack nor defend. Tens of thousands of government soldiers were already trapped like turtles in a jar, at the mercy of others.

The officials had different expressions, and some were already considering building a pontoon bridge to escape across the Ji River, but they dared not voice it.

Seeing that his officers and soldiers were at a loss, Lu Wenjin came up with a brilliant plan instead. "Governor Yang! The rebels have repeatedly thwarted our advance today, and they must be arrogant and complacent. Today's torrential rain has soaked our gunpowder, rendering it unusable. I request that you select three thousand brave warriors and divide them into two groups to launch a surprise attack on the rebels' mountain and land camps. This will surely defeat them!"

Lu Wenjin's tone was extremely confident, but Yang Wenyue was still undecided. Could this work?
The grain inspector retorted, "It was pitch black at night; how could thousands of warriors have traversed several miles in the dark?"

"The rebel army is not a monster. They will definitely light fires for illumination when patrolling at night. This is common military knowledge. Surely you, Magistrate Chen, are unaware of this?"

Upon hearing this, the other military officers couldn't help but grin and chuckle. They all laughed at Chen Daotai for not understanding military strategy, and at Lu Wenjin for being a "running away from home" who was trying to redeem himself, yet he could talk so eloquently about military strategy.

Someone else attacked Lu Wenjin, saying, "You're confused! The rebel army's Heavenly Master has boundless magical power. If he uses thunder magic to kill the enemy, thousands of elite soldiers will be routed, and our army will have no strength left for a decisive battle."

Lu Wenjin was not annoyed at all. He raised his head and bowed to Governor Yang, saying, "In my opinion, the rebel army's Heavenly Master did not continue to kill. There must be two reasons for this... First, the Heavenly Master does not like killing. He only used magic to scare us away. Otherwise, he would also use thunder magic to hurt people. The rebel soldiers who landed were just sacrifices to summon wind and rain."

Secondly, summoning wind and rain consumes a great deal of magical power, and the Celestial Master is already exhausted. He is currently unable to unleash thunder and rain; otherwise, if it rained heavily for three days, our soldiers would have no strength left to fight.

At this moment, the Celestial Master's magical power was exhausted; he dared not wait for the Celestial Master to recover his energy before using his secret technique!

Yang Wenyue was moved by the key point that "the gunpowder would be soaked and the enemy's firearms would be unusable."

Du Cang, however, felt a surge of fear and trembling within him, as if facing a formidable enemy.

How could we launch a night raid on the bandits? The bandits possessed the "divine power of illumination."

During the several battles to recapture southern Liaoning, he personally witnessed the spiritual light illuminating the city as bright as day at night!
Although the Red Turban Army separated from the Beiwei Army and became its own force, it must have inherited some secret techniques.

Faced with "Lingguang," a night raid by thousands of elite troops would be tantamount to suicide, and would also wipe out the only hope of the main force.

If the Shandong army is defeated, the rebel army will be able to reach the capital in less than three months.

Never launch a night raid!
He harbored a sense of loyalty to the emperor, but Du Cang was more in awe of "Lord Lu," who had promoted him, and was thus influenced by his "benefactor" to be loyal to the court.

Du Cang spoke again, enduring the intense gazes of the assembled civil and military officials, saying, "A night attack is absolutely out of the question! The rebel army possesses a secret art of illumination that can light up the battlefield as if it were daytime! If three thousand brave warriors charge in, even if they don't take bullets, they will still be bombarded by a hail of crossbow bolts!"

Yang Wenyue nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. Indeed, they couldn't gamble on the Celestial Master losing all his magical power. If the opponent still had the strength to use the "Spiritual Light Technique," the night raid tactic would fail.

Lu Wenjin looked displeased, but still patiently asked the other party for their opinion, "Then, in your opinion, how do we repel the enemy?"

"Hold your ground..."

"Hmph, cliché. How can sitting and waiting for death break the deadlock?" "Uh..." Du Cang glanced at Yang Wenyue, gritted his teeth and said what was on his mind, "Why not take advantage of the night to build a bridge to cross the river, withdraw to northern Henan and rendezvous with the Black Flag Camp from the north and south."

"Ridiculous! The army's morale is low, and they desperately need a victory to boost their spirits. But you, instead of fighting, want to flee!" Lu Wenjin seemed particularly sensitive to the idea of ​​fleeing, feeling that Du Cang was subtly mocking him. "You say a night raid is difficult, but crossing the river at night is easy? With tens of thousands of troops, who will be in front and who will be behind? How can those lagging behind be content? When the time comes to fight for our lives, we'll be defeated before the enemy even gets here!"

"Select the elite soldiers first, followed by the garrison troops and local militia—given the bandit army's nature, they will certainly not mistreat the garrison troops and local militia..."

"You actually want to abandon your allies and save your own life!"

"I, Du, am willing to lead my troops to cover your retreat."

"Very well!" Lu Wenjin frowned deeply. "I knew you had been flirting with the rebels for a long time. Today you've finally exposed your true colors! You pretend to be the main force, but in reality, you're trying to lure the rebels to attack my army halfway across the river, causing us to trample each other and collapse without a fight!"

“What Du has said is from the bottom of his heart!” Du Cang said. “The enemy’s intelligence is astounding. Our army cannot launch a night attack, and we must be even more vigilant against a night attack by the enemy. Tonight is a golden opportunity. If we do not leave now, we will wait even longer…”

Lu Wenjin flicked his sleeves, pointed at Du Cang's nose, and cursed, "Shut up! It's already a great favor that Governor Yang allows you to listen to the discussion in the tent, but you have repeatedly contradicted your superiors, boosting the morale of the enemy army and diminishing the prestige of our army. It's clear that you've been tainted by the enemy army's arrogance! Guards, drag this scoundrel out and give him fifty lashes!"

As soon as the guards stepped into the tent and grabbed Du Cang's arms, Yang Wenyue interrupted them, "Wait! Military discussions are a collection of everyone's strengths. How can we not allow others to offer suggestions? The night raid plan is indeed risky, but Du Cang is also suspected of exaggerating the danger—was the forty strokes waived, and he was only given ten lashes."

As soon as Yang Wenyue finished speaking, the flame in Du Cang's heart was completely extinguished.

He sometimes fantasized that if Lu Xiangshan were the commander-in-chief, he would surely listen to good advice and wouldn't be in this dilemma. It's just a pity that the current emperor listened to slander and imprisoned Lu Xiangshan.

The dull thud of batons striking flesh came from outside the tent. Yang Wenyue and the others were about to discuss other good strategies when they suddenly heard a commotion outside the camp.

It turned out that the rebel army had sent a cavalry squad of twenty men to come through the mud.

Instead of launching an attack, they threw dozens of stained cloth bags at the soldiers' vehicle formation.

Considering the enemy's many tricks, the government troops selected twenty daredevils to go to an open space and slowly untie the cloth bags, while a group of high-ranking officials hid behind the human wall and shield formation to carefully observe.

They were shocked to find that the bag contained not delayed-action "thunderbolts," but bloodied, clean-faced heads. Yang Wenyue and the others were utterly astonished.

The bag contained the heads of the generals guarding Lunan: Yizhou, Yanzhou, Jining... even the general guarding Dongping, which was two hundred miles from Jinan.

The rebel army's arrogance seemed to be a declaration that while the government troops were tied up in Gaowan County, a Red Turban Army detachment had already swept through the counties of Lunan Prefecture. "Your reinforcements have all been defeated by us, so just surrender obediently."

The expected reinforcements were wiped out.

His clenched fists relaxed instantly, and his eyes widened involuntarily. Yang Wenyue shook his head in disbelief, unable to believe that those severed heads were real.

He seemed to see hundreds of thousands of bandits sweeping in from all directions like a tidal wave.

The reinforcements were all defeated, and the strategy of holding out and waiting for reinforcements failed.

The plan to cross the river and withdraw also carries considerable risks—not to mention whether the Black Flag Battalion can capture Kaifeng or whether they can merge with them.

With their withdrawal, Jinan will inevitably be attacked from both the north and south by the rebel armies, and the two vassal kings in the city will hardly escape.

As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, how could he not be held accountable by His Majesty?

The number of governors and viceroys who have been beheaded or had their entire families exterminated by imperial decree is too many to count on one hand.

Yang Wenyue couldn't help but gently touch his neck, imagining himself being beheaded by the executioner, with his entire family suffering the consequences...

"Ah!" Yang Wenyue exclaimed subconsciously.

Between life and death, he seemed to see the last straw.

Night raid.

The rebel army arrogantly announced the news that "the government troops and reinforcements have been defeated and killed," believing that the government troops were already fish on the chopping block and could be taken at any time. Therefore, they waited for the opportunity to "subdue the enemy without fighting" to appear, hoping to capture more government troops and achieve the greatest victory.

As the ancients said, an arrogant army is bound to be defeated. Today, with the roads muddy and the enemy's firearms ineffective, they certainly did not expect that the officers and soldiers, whose morale was low, would still have the idea of ​​a night raid.

If the night raid succeeds, the entire chaotic situation can be turned around.

Whether for his reputation before and after his death, or for his own life, Yang Wenyue was willing to gamble everything on this.

He immediately summoned his generals and selected elite soldiers to form a night raid team.

Two thousand soldiers attacked the enemy camp, while one thousand soldiers rushed straight into the mountains.

If the night raid goes smoothly, a signal arrow will be sent, and Yang Wenyue will then send another 20,000 fierce soldiers to launch a fierce attack.

(End of this chapter)