Chapter 64 Miscalculations on Both Sides

Luo Fang and Xue Chengqian were still immersed in the joy of having successfully escaped the pursuit of the Northern Barbarian cavalry, never expecting to be met with such news the moment they returned to Mount Baguzi.

The very purpose of this campaign was to relieve Dongping. Yet, even though Lord Wei had failed to dispatch troops to support their surprise raid, the city of Dongping had fallen first?

Instinctively, Xue Chengqian looked toward Wei Xiao, who was running down the mountain with a look of near-collapse on her face.

She had once charged out of Mount Baguzi alongside the others, but as their plans shifted—either to advance rapidly with cavalry or to infiltrate—they knew they would inevitably be hunted down by enemy riders in the end.

Therefore, Xue Chengqian had ordered her to return to the mountain ahead of time and await their news.

Little did he expect that when she came out to welcome them, she would bring such despairing news as well.

"Let's go! To the high ground, to see for ourselves!"

Though Xue Chengqian's heart, like everyone else's, was weighed down by immense grief, he managed to maintain his composure.

The matter was of paramount importance; he had to witness the state of Dongping city with his own eyes. Without offering any further remarks, he simply led the group halfway up the mountainside.

...

"Grand Commander! Helian Yue has failed her mission; I was unable to intercept the Liang forces that raided our main camp."

Helian Yue had already led her cavalry toward Dongping.

No, to be precise, all the Northern Barbarian cavalry had already gathered in Dongping.

Most of their main camp had been burned down, but so what? The surviving houses inside Dongping city were now their quarters, far more comfortable than living in the open camp.

"Helian Yue, you know you are guilty!"

Before Yu Tiancheng could speak, Lianda, standing nearby, began with sarcastic remarks.

"When the Liang army raided the camp, all the chieftains were trying to maintain order within the army and prevent a larger chaos. Only you! You weren't even in the camp at the time."

"For the sake of chasing personal glory, you disregarded the bigger picture. Is chasing that enemy force really more important than maintaining the order of the main camp?!"

This time, Lianda's accusation was not entirely unreasonable. Several other generals who had experienced the tension of the camp raid nodded in agreement with his words.

However, Lianda himself had been the commander left behind to guard the camp.

With the camp suffering such a lapse and being raided by the Liang army, he, as the commanding officer, should have been the one to bear the ultimate responsibility, rather than standing here pointing fingers at Helian Yue.

As expected, Helian Yue was unconvinced and stated her thoughts directly.

"In this subordinate's view, the value of that Liang general who led the raid on our camp is truly incalculable. It would be best to eliminate them now, or they will inevitably become a mortal enemy to all our tribes on the grasslands!"

Lianda sneered, "How ridiculous!"

"I saw it myself at the time. The total number of Liang troops who attacked our camp did not exceed two thousand."

"With such a paltry force, how high could the commanding officer's rank possibly be, and what sort of status could they hold within the Liang Dynasty?"

"Such insignificant characters have been wiped out countless times during our southward invasions. How could they possibly be worthy of your attention, let alone considered more important than the safety of the main camp?"

Helian Yue replied coldly, "Indeed, there were fewer than two thousand men!"

"Yet, with just that handful of troops, they burned down most of our camp, turned our ranks upside down, and in the end, we even failed to trap these audacious Liang soldiers."

"Is such a feat not worthy of attention? I dare ask Khan Lianda, when you marched south into the Great Liang, have you ever defeated an opponent like this before?"

Her few rhetorical questions left Lianda's face flushed with anger, utterly speechless.

As the commanding general left in charge of the camp, strictly speaking, he had been outmaneuvered by the enemy in this battle. To now dismiss the enemy's significance as worthless would naturally invite dissent and disbelief.

Helian Yue added, "I have already verified that the person who raided our camp is the very same commander who slaughtered thousands of soldiers of the Tiger Cavalry Regiment by the Angry River!"

"What?!"

Lianda's shame and anger vanished instantly, replaced only by profound shock and fury.

"It was them? Helian Yue, why didn't you say so earlier? This Khan will personally lead an army to capture them alive and skin them alive!"

Even Yu Tiancheng was deeply shocked.

The Battle of the Angry River could be said to be the most devastating defeat the Northern Barbarian army suffered after breaking through the Great Liang border gates. Naturally, they had thoroughly investigated the details.

The general who commanded that battle had now led men on a hundred-li detour to launch a surprise raid on them at Dongping. From any perspective, this person would become a thorn in the side of the Northern Barbarians.

However, Yu Tiancheng still managed to calm the furious Lianda.

"How much time has passed since Helian Yue returned from her pursuit? The enemy is not a fool; are they going to just sit there and wait for you to hunt them down in the mountains?"

"Though our army is vast, how can we afford to mobilize all our forces to seal the mountains and search? If the Liang army takes advantage of this to counterattack and our forces suffer a loss, who will answer to the Great Khan?"

Hearing the title "Great Khan," Lianda quickly regained his sanity.

"Still, such a grave threat cannot simply be ignored. Who knows where he might pop out from next to stab us in the back!"

Yu Tiancheng smiled. "No matter. Even if he possesses extraordinary intellect, his lack of manpower means he cannot alter the grand scheme."

"Just like in this battle, even though he could lead a raid on our camp, his attempt to relieve Dongping ultimately failed. In fact, we should even thank him!"

渚"It was precisely because of their cleverness that the defenders of Dongping believed an opportunity had arisen, completely unaware that I had already seen through their caution. By using their sortie to coordinate, I crushed them in one fell swoop and seized this fortified city."

"The Battle of Dongping has allowed us to break a strong fortress and terrify the Liang army. From now on, not only will it strike fear into the hearts of other Liang troops cowering in their cities, but it also demonstrates to every city in the Central Plains that their walls can no longer stop the iron cavalry of the Northern Barbarians!"

Helian Yue said with genuine admiration, "Thanks to the Grand Commander's stewardship of the overall situation, we were able to turn a crisis into an opportunity and capture Dongping City."

Yu Tiancheng did not explicitly state how he intended to deal with the Liang forces led by Luo Fang and Xue Chengqian, but his words successfully set everyone's minds at ease.

They shifted their focus back to Dongping and the broader picture of the war.

Their diversionary strike had been brilliantly executed, yet it was ultimately powerless to alter the grand strategy.

Perhaps there were one or two heroes within the Great Liang Dynasty, but trying to contend with the entire Northern Barbarian army was no different from a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

"Helian Yue, you are most familiar with that Liang force. Continue to monitor them afterwards. I predict they will surely rush back to Wangjiang City to avoid being hunted down by our army—"

"Report! Grand Commander, something is terribly wrong!"

"Several large granaries in the east of the city have suddenly caught fire! The Liang army had a detachment lying in ambush. Seeing our forces flood into the city and realizing they could not win, they began setting fire to the granaries simultaneously. Our soldiers tried to stop them, but were blocked."

"What? A bunch of trash! You couldn't even stop a few remnants of an army?"

"May the Grand Commander be wise, those lingering Liang soldiers were all resolved to die; they had no intention of surviving. The fire grew fiercer by the moment, and by the time we cut them all down, the blaze was already unstoppable."

As if to echo his report, the roaring flames could now be seen shooting up into the sky.

Yu Tiancheng's face drained of color.