The Tyrant of the Great Qian Dynasty: Not only will I refuse to arrange a marriage alliance, but I w

Thirty thousand cavalrymen of the Azure Wolf Cavalry were wiped out overnight at the south gate of the capital.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the vast Northern Barbarian camp.

The arrogance and bloodlust that had appeared on the soldiers' faces when they first arrived vanished, leaving only fear and bewilderment.

In their eyes, the capital city was no longer a piece of easy meat, but a steel behemoth that would devour anyone it chose.

Morale in the army plummeted to an unprecedented low.

Small groups of soldiers even began to try to escape this place that terrified them under the cover of night.

Huyan Ba ​​killed more than a dozen deserters who had been captured by the supervisory team, and only with their bloody heads could he barely stabilize the morale of the army, which was on the verge of collapse.

But he knew in his heart that the morale of the army was in disarray and their fighting spirit had been broken.

In the short term, his army was no longer able to launch any effective large-scale sieges.

Inside the command tent, the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive.

Hu Yanlie, who had narrowly escaped death, knelt on the cold ground. His young and arrogant face was now filled with the fear of surviving a disaster and endless shame.

"Brother! It's my incompetence! It was my underestimation of the enemy and reckless advance that led to the annihilation of my 30,000 elite Canglang Iron Cavalry! I... I'm willing to accept death for my sins!"

He kowtowed heavily to the ground, awaiting his brother's judgment.

Huyan Ba ​​did not draw his sword and kill him as he had imagined.

He looked down at his younger brother, his gaze cold and devoid of any warmth.

"Death? If you die, who will avenge my thirty thousand warriors?"

Hu Yanba's voice was hoarse and deep.

"You better live well. Use your own eyes to see how I will, step by step, flatten that fortified city, how I will capture that brat named Su Zhe, and tear him to pieces to atone for our fallen warriors!"

These words caused him more pain than being killed outright.

Right there in the Northern Barbarian camp, a gloomy atmosphere hung heavy, and everyone felt insecure.

However, a very strange development has emerged from the capital.

Su Zhe issued an order that no one could understand.

He actually withdrew half of the garrison from the most heavily defended east gate, and redeployed these troops evenly to the north, west, and south gates, which had just experienced a major battle.

For a time, the defenses of the eastern gate of the capital city appeared exceptionally weak, and even the patrolling soldiers on the city tower became sparse.

This unusual military intelligence was quickly delivered to Huyan Ba's desk.

His generals immediately started discussing it and were in an uproar.

An impatient general immediately stepped forward and volunteered for battle: "Great Chanyu, this must be that brat Su Zhe's lack of troops, so he's robbing Peter to pay Paul! He thought we would focus our attacks on the north and south gates, so he concentrated his forces there! We can take this opportunity to gather our main army and launch a fierce attack on his weakly defended east gate! We can break through the city in one fell swoop!"

This proposal was supported by many generals.

In their view, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The gray-robed strategist beside Huyan Ba ​​shook his head, rejecting this view.

"No, Great Chanyu, generals. This is neither a trap nor due to insufficient troops."

His voice drew everyone's attention.

"If he truly lacked troops, he should have consolidated his forces instead of blatantly exposing his weakness. This is more like... a psychological warfare tactic."

"A psychological warfare tactic?" Hu Yanba frowned.

The strategist nodded and slowly analyzed, "Great Chanyu, our biggest problem in the army right now is not the loss of troops, but the unstable morale and low spirits. Su Zhe in the city must have noticed this as well."

"He deliberately left the east gate open. This opening was not for us to attack, but to show to the soldiers in our army who were cowardly and wanted to escape."

"Surround three sides and leave one open; the best strategy is to attack the enemy's mind." The strategist said, emphasizing each word. "The art of war says that when besieging a city, there must be a gap, so that the enemy has a way to escape and will not fight to the death. Su Zhe's move is exactly the opposite of that. He is telling our wavering soldiers that if they run east, they will have a way to survive and will not be intercepted by heavy troops."

"In this way, morale will be further eroded, and more and more soldiers will desert. If we send heavy troops to guard the area outside the East Gate to prevent our soldiers from escaping, it will make us appear weak and ineffective, unable to even keep an eye on our own army, which will further damage morale. If we do nothing, the army will slowly disintegrate as it flees day by day."

"This plan, though seemingly simple, is extremely vicious!"

After hearing the strategist's analysis, all the generals in the command tent felt a chill run down their spines.

They then realized that the young prince was not only ruthless on the battlefield, but also a master at understanding people's hearts and using strategies.

Hu Yanba remained silent for a long time, his gloomy face revealing no emotion.

A cold laugh rolled down his throat, a laugh filled with the violent anger of being provoked.

"Winning hearts and minds? What a brilliant plan! He thinks he can dismantle my 400,000-strong army of steppe wolves with such childish tricks? How naive!"

A bloodthirsty ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

"He wants to demoralize my troops, but I'll do the opposite! He wants to see it, right? I'll show him!"

Huyan Ba ​​stood up and issued an extremely bloody order.

"Pass down my order! From this moment forward, all battalions in the army will be subject to collective punishment! If one person deserts, his entire ten-man squad will be executed!"

"A squad escaped. His entire centurion squad—the centurion and his deputy centurion—are to be executed!"

"If a hundred-man squad has a problem, the entire commander is equally guilty!"

"Furthermore!" he emphasized, "Send a supervisory team to guard the area five li outside the east gate! Five thousand men will suffice! Anyone who dares to flee eastward, regardless of who they are or their status, will be killed without exception!"

He wanted to use the blood of his own people to fight against Su Zhe's psychological warfare.

He wanted everyone who wanted to run away to know that running forward meant certain death. Staying meant there was still a glimmer of hope.

On the East Gate tower of the capital city.

Su Zhe held up a monocular telescope, which he had commissioned the Ministry of Works to polish overnight using the finest crystal.

Through the telescope, he could clearly see the movements of the Northern Barbarian supervisory team in the distance.

He also witnessed the bloody scene of several barbarian soldiers who tried to flee eastward being mercilessly caught up by their own supervisory team and then having their heads chopped off.

He put down the telescope, a smile playing on his lips, as if everything was under control.

Hu Yanba's reaction was exactly what he had expected.

A headstrong, violent overlord of the grasslands, when provoked, will only choose to solve problems through even more violent means.

"The bait has been thrown in, the water has been stirred up, and the fish are starting to panic."

Su Zhe spoke softly to Chen Baipao beside him.

"But that's not enough. The fire isn't burning bright enough."

"We need to give them another boost."

He turned his head and looked at the figure standing silently in the distance, waiting for orders—Zhang Hu, the garrison commander of the South Gate.

"General Zhang."

Zhang Hu stepped forward and knelt on one knee: "Your subordinate is here!"

Su Zhe's lips curled slightly, his smile enigmatic.

"Your new task has arrived."

"I want you to take your one hundred trusted men and go and be a 'deserter'."

"Not only do we have to escape, but we also have to bring a 'big gift' with us, and escape to Huyan Ba ​​in style."