Chapter 55 A Good Deed Ruined

Luo Fang only came to his senses when he heard Xue Chengqian's inquiry.

Compared to whether Wei Xiao would personally take to the battlefield, they still needed to confirm the details of their coordination first.

The defending garrison within Dongping City indeed had more troops than they did, but facing the fierce offensive of the Northern Barbarians, how many troops could he actually "spare"?

The larger the scale of Dongping City's counterattack, the higher the possibility of routing the Northern Barbarians in a single strike.

Su Youfang was stunned at first, and then said angrily: "We simply had no time to explain such details! Lord Wei has already hoisted his banners stating that he can dispatch troops to cooperate with us, what else is there for you to question!"

Xue Chengqian said gravely: "The forces Dongping City can mobilize are directly related to the outcome of the battle, am I not allowed to ask? It is you, instead, who actually missed such an important exchange of military intelligence."

"If I am not mistaken, you probably did not even explain to Lord Wei how many troops we actually have on hand, nor whether we are official imperial guards!"

Su Youfang's face alternated between red and white, unable to utter a word in rebuttal.

Judging solely by his current expression, everyone understood that Xue Chengqian must have guessed correctly.

This Su Youfang!

He also knew that the timing for communication was extremely precious. Even when he had the time to hoist banners and help Wei Xiao report her safety to her father, he failed to explain these crucial pieces of military intelligence.

Su Youfang finally said: "Then, at worst, I will go again tomorrow. As long as it is a clear day, standing within the line of sight of Dongping City, I can communicate with Lord Wei through flags."

Xue Chengqian directly questioned: "Do not forget, you still need to head south and impersonate the imperial court's reinforcements! This matter is equally important!"

"Moreover, your risky approach today may have already aroused the vigilance of the Northern Barbarian army. If you brazenly communicate with Dongping City again, do you really think the commanders of the Northern Barbarian army are blind!"

Luo Fang rarely saw Xue Chengqian so displeased, and at this moment, only he could step forward to smooth things over.

"Enough. In any case, successfully exchanging information with Dongping City is always a good thing, and Lord Wei also understands that they need to coordinate with our actions."

"Furthermore, for Dongping City as it is now, it is also a good thing that they do not know we are the Zhenyi Camp. They must have received the news and assumed that a force of imperial guards has come to reinforce them, which will surely boost the morale of the defenders inside the city!"

The others nodded in agreement.

Even though they had never experienced defending a besieged city alone, they could still imagine the mindset of the Dongping defenders under the fierce onslaught of the Northern Barbarians.

No matter how arduous the defense of the city might be, they could endure it, but what they feared most at this moment was being abandoned by the imperial court and friendly forces.

Defending a city as an "isolated army" versus knowing that a reinforcement force was approaching from the outside would yield vastly different psychological states.

Even Wei Xiao felt quite encouraged.

Earlier, when she followed Xue Chengqian up the mountain to observe the battle situation, she was both worried about Dongping City's defense and anxious that Xue Chengqian's plan might ultimately fail, leaving no other troops to rescue them and forcing them to watch helplessly as Dongping City fell into enemy hands.

Now, they had at least successfully established contact with her father and agreed to jointly strike the Northern Barbarians, which was a tremendous advantage for Xue Chengqian's plan. At least no one would propose retreating and giving up now.

However, Xue Chengqian poured a bucket of cold water on everyone.

"Precisely because of that... it is even more unfavorable!"

"Kid Xue, what do you mean by that?"

Xue Chengqian swept his gaze coldly over all of them.

"Today, I climbed to a high vantage point and saw the camp and formations of the Northern Barbarian army. The person directing them is exceptionally methodical, actually commanding a Northern Barbarian host—which is inept at sieges—to this extent."

"Such a figure probably has a grasp of the situation and reactions within Dongping City, including their fighting spirit and morale. If there is a drastic change in these, the Northern Barbarian army might just grow suspicious!"

Only then did everyone realize that they had exposed a massive flaw.

Xue Chengqian had said before that in this battle, their greatest advantage was that the Northern Barbarians did not yet know of their existence.

Although the enemy dispatched scouts far and wide, their primary focus must be on the official roads connecting Dongping City to other major strongholds, watching whether the imperial guards stationed there were coming to reinforce.

When launching their surprise attack, they could execute a series of movements, striking the enemy's morale when they least expected it, and then coordinating with the defenders inside Dongping City.

However, if the enemy sensed beforehand—through the change in the attitude of the defenders in Dongping City—that there might be Great Liang reinforcements lurking around, the difficulty of completing their surprise attack would increase exponentially.

Luo Fang pulled a long face and said, "It was already beyond everyone's expectations that the Northern Barbarians could wage a siege battle. Surely they wouldn't pay attention to such minute details, would they?"

"Besides, there could be countless reasons for a sudden surge in morale within Dongping City. It's possible that Lord Wei offered extremely high bounties to boost morale, right?"

Su Youfang hurriedly chimed in, unsure whether he was refuting Xue Chengqian or comforting himself.

"Exactly, exactly! Unless that Northern Barbarian commander is a divine being, how could he possibly deduce that reinforcements have appeared near Dongping City?"

"At worst, we will act cautiously from now on, and only climb to the high vantage point to communicate with Lord Wei via flags on the very day before the surprise attack is launched. That way, the Northern Barbarians' defensive focus will still be concentrated on the official road."

Xue Chengqian sighed slightly.

Things having reached this point, they could only hope for the best.

They knew far too little about the commander of the Northern Barbarian army, and it was impossible to conduct various probes to figure out the enemy's tactical command.

All preparations had been made, all their forces were concentrated here, and they had even established contact with Lord Wei; they no longer had any path of retreat.

"It can only be so, but we have also made preparations for this."

"Commander Su, lead your men south immediately tomorrow. Since you originally hailed from the imperial guards, you understand the traits of marching troops best. You must mislead the Northern Barbarians as much as possible, making them mistakenly believe you are the imperial court's reinforcements."

"As long as you perform convincingly, even if the Northern Barbarian commander truly grows suspicious, he will only assume that the Dongping defenders recovered their morale upon learning that reinforcements from the south were imminent."

Su Youfang was in no mood to bicker with him at the moment and obediently agreed.

Just then, Sun Fushan brought good news.

Sun Fushan had led over a thousand brothers of his own to directly join the Zhenyi Camp, and since they brought their own weapons, the strength of the Zhenyi Camp was instantly tripled.

Now, he had explained his defection to Xue Chengqian to the leaders of the other mountain strongholds.

Sure enough, there were others who deeply admired Xue Chengqian and took the initiative to bring their brothers and pledge allegiance!

He Fang from the north of Baguzi Mountain, and Zhang Yuanxiu, who had been waylaying wealthy merchants' cargo vessels along the Yue River.

Although their strength fell far short of Sun Fushan's, they each led over three hundred brothers to join forces with them.

Sun Fushan vouched for them, stating that both greenwood leaders were deeply loyal and harbored a bone-deep hatred for the Northern Barbarians, making them completely trustworthy targets.