Chapter 156: Tallying and Measuring the Sand by Chant

"My brother, imagine this: why would the barbarians abandon the city?" Ding Yizhi asked.

Although Zhang Chi felt somewhat puzzled by this as well, he could not figure out the reason behind it.

Seeing Zhang Chi shake his head, Ding Yizhi answered his own question: "There is only one possibility. The barbarians are deliberately trying to lure us into the city."

Ding Yizhi's conjecture was not entirely unreasonable. If this were indeed the case, it was no wonder he suspected there was a traitor within the army; otherwise, how could the barbarians have known the marching route of their northern expeditionary force?

There were six commanderies in Qinzhou. If the barbarians were intentionally luring Zhang Chi into the city, it was clear they had known all along that Zhang Chi's target was Lueyang.

Yet, after thinking about it for a moment, Zhang Chi felt something was amiss and asked, "If the barbarians knew our movements beforehand, why didn't they hold Lueyang and engage us in battle? Knowing that holding a city grants the advantage of terrain, why abandon it and hand that geographical advantage over to us instead?"

What Zhang Chi said made sense. In the era of ancient cold-weapon warfare, the attacking side often had to pay a price ten times or even more than that of the defenders. Under such circumstances, how could the barbarians allow the roles of attacker and defender to be reversed? It was no wonder Zhang Chi was filled with doubt.

"What my brother says is true. Holding a city is undoubtedly holding a strategic advantage. However, try looking at it from another angle: if the barbarians had defended the city, while it would not have been easy for us to take Lueyang, it would have been equally difficult for them to completely annihilate our army."

Hearing Ding Yizhi put it this way, Zhang Chi began to understand: "You mean the barbarians have long since laid an ambush near Lueyang, using the city as bait to lure us in, and intend to surround us once we enter?"

Ding Yizhi nodded solemnly and said, "The actions of the barbarians this time are undoubtedly aimed at annihilating our entire army!"

This revelation shocked Zhang Chi deeply, yet he still harbored a doubt in his heart: "If we hold the defensive advantage of the city, how could the barbarians possibly muster enough troops to besiege it?"

The barbarians had recently suffered a crushing defeat with an army of three hundred thousand. Zhang Chi could not fathom how Yao Shuode could gather a large army again in such a short period of time.

Ding Yizhi replied, "Perhaps the barbarians' forces are not sufficient to storm the city either, but they never intended to attack the city in the first place."

Zhang Chi's thoughts had just become clear, only to be muddled once more by Ding Yizhi's words.

"The barbarians intend to surround the city without attacking, trapping our main force in Lueyang until we perish," Ding Yizhi said softly. "This is also why I said there must be a traitor within our ranks. Such a scheme requires knowing our army's greatest weakness—the shortage of provisions."

A sudden realization dawned on Zhang Chi. If this truly was the barbarians' strategy, then food supplies were the most crucial link in the entire plan!

The supplies from his rear had been delayed, and the grain in Lueyang had been completely emptied out. Now, listening to Ding Yizhi's detailed explanation, everything fit together seamlessly.

If the barbarians had prepared for this, and the stalemate continued, Zhang Chi's army would descend into chaos without a battle in a matter of days.

"Ordinary people do not know the actual state of our grain reserves. Therefore, this traitor is very likely among your closest circle." This was the very reason Ding Yizhi had hesitated to speak when others were present, saving these words for a time when only the two of them were alone.

Now, Zhang Chi completely believed Ding Yizhi's deduction; the reality was likely just as he described. But who on earth was the traitor? Zhang Chi began to ponder.

The people around him were just a handful:

Daoxuan and Santong? These two had followed him all the way from Huainan and shared a brotherhood with him. It was utterly impossible for them to collude with the barbarians.

Du Ximing and Qin Bo? Du Ximing had been encountered in the Wang family's caravan, but he was a trusted confidant of Miss Wang. Ever since her death, he had followed Zhang Chi according to her dying wish and had never shown the slightest disloyalty. Furthermore, although Zhang Chi was the nominal commander-in-chief, the deployment of troops was handled by Du Ximing and Qin Bo. If the two of them were colluding with the barbarians, they wouldn't need to resort to such roundabout methods.

Hanxiang? While she was not of Han Chinese ethnicity, she and Santong were deeply in love, having vowed to follow him ever since Shaoxing. Zhang Chi simply could not believe she would be a traitor.

Dark Blade? That was even more impossible. Dark Blade had a cold and upright temperament, and had always hated the barbarians to the bone. How could he possibly collude with them?

Zhao Qian? Zhang Chi hesitated for a moment. To be honest, although Zhao Qian was somewhat tainted by the worldly and mercenary airs of the Sichuan officialdom, he was, after all, the descendant of a famous general, and his basic stance remained firm. After careful thought, Zhang Chi eventually ruled him out.

Sun Rubai? He was the former defender of Pingwu. Even when completely besieged with supplies and water cut off by the barbarians, he had sworn to resist them to the death. How could he collude with the barbarians at a time like this?

Yet none of them seemed suspicious. Who then could the traitor be? Zhang Chi was completely at a loss.

Ding Yizhi's prediction proved entirely accurate. True to his words, as evening approached, the barbarians still did not attack the city. Standing on the city walls, one could still make out the billowing dust under the distant setting sun.

The scouting outriders had also returned with their reports: Lueyang backed onto the Qinling Mountains to the north, offering no way out, while to the southwest lay a continuous range of high mountains mirroring the northern Qinling, much like two parallel lines. Only the southern route led directly to Liangzhou Pass, but at this moment, it had long been cut off by the barbarian army.

The situation was far from optimistic.

Santong muttered and complained, "A whole day has passed, why aren't the barbarians attacking the city? At worst, we can just charge out. It's all the same!"

However, matters were rarely as simple as one wished. Qin Bo said, "The barbarian forces this time are bound to be substantial. Even if they cannot storm the city, if they choose to cut off our retreat, it will be extremely difficult for us to break through. Besides, the barbarians have already laid their ambush; they are in the dark while we are in the light. If we stay in the city, we at least have walls to defend, but once we venture outside..."

"Then what are we supposed to do? We can't charge out, and if we stay holed up in the city, our provisions will run out in a few days. Are we just going to starve to death in here?"

Indeed, what Santong said was entirely true. Hiding in the city like this meant that in a few days, when the food ran out, starving to death was a genuine possibility.

The morale of the group was low. At that moment, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Zhang Chi, and he smiled. "There is no need to worry, everyone. I actually anticipated this long ago."

Seeing Zhang Chi's confident expression, their eyes lit up. Santong, being the most impatient, immediately asked, "What brilliant plan do you have, Brother Zhang?"

"A brilliant plan is perhaps too grand a word, but holding the city for three to five months is quite feasible."

Santong was utterly depressed upon hearing this. "I thought you had some marvelous scheme, but you're just talking nonsense. Our army has no grain left—how can we hold out? Forget three to five months, we'll barely last seven or eight days!"

Zhang Chi smiled. "Who said our army has no grain? That was merely a false rumor I spread. Now the barbarians have indeed fallen for the ruse and sent a large army to besiege the city. If this consumption continues, the cost to the barbarians will far exceed ours. Furthermore, their forces are limited; with the main army deployed to surround Lueyang, Qinzhou must be left defenseless. Once we hold out a bit longer, and the barbarians become exhausted while our forces are fully rested, we can break through the encirclement in one fell swoop and directly attack Qinzhou."

Upon hearing this, Santong's eyes lit up instantly, and he cried out, "So this was Brother Zhang's stratagem all along! It is simply brilliant—you even kept me in the dark."

"If I couldn't even fool you, how could I hope to deceive the barbarians' spies?" Zhang Chi said with a smile. "Order the three armies not to panic. The provisions in the camp are more than enough to feed the troops for hundreds of days. What we must do now is maintain strict vigilance and prevent the barbarians from launching a night assault."

Relieved to learn this was all part of Zhang Chi's plan, the generals withdrew to arrange their respective defense duties.

Though Zhang Chi spoke with such confidence, where on earth could he conjure up any food supplies? His reasons for saying this were twofold: first, to stabilize military morale; second, because a brilliant plan had just occurred to him in a flash of inspiration.

While Zhang Chi's words could deceive the others, they could not fool Du Ximing. Since the three armies were actually under his direct command, how could he not know whether there was food in the camp? Therefore, he did not leave with the others. Once everyone else had dispersed, he turned back.

"My Lord," Du Ximing asked, "food supplies in the city are critically low. Since you spoke as you did just now, do you have a specific plan in mind?"

Zhang Chi trusted Du Ximing unconditionally; had Du Ximing been in collusion with the barbarians, Zhang Chi wouldn't need to worry about how to escape, as he would likely have already become a prisoner of the barbarians.

Therefore, Zhang Chi shared the conclusions he and Ding Yizhi had reached with Du Ximing.

In fact, Du Ximing had also sensed something was amiss, but because everyone around them was like a brother, he resolutely refused to believe any of them could have colluded with the barbarians.

"The traitor is certainly within the army, but not necessarily among our sworn brothers. With so many people mingling in the camp, it's quite possible someone managed to find out the true state of our provisions. Rather than sitting idly, we should set a trap to make this traitor reveal themselves," Zhang Chi said.

Coming from a later era and having read his fair share of historical texts, Zhang Chi recalled a stratagem from the books known as "singing out tallies while measuring sand."

This stratagem was originally used by Tan Daoji, a prominent general under Liu Yu, when the latter launched a northern expedition after claiming the throne. At present, however, Liu Yu was merely a junior officer in the Northern府 Army, and Tan Daoji was just a foot soldier under him. Zhang Chi shamelessly borrowed this stratagem for his own use.

The method of "singing out tallies while measuring sand" involved using the measuring utensils typically employed for rice. Sand was packed into grain sacks, with only a thin layer of white rice spread over the top. Then, they would make a public show of measuring grain and loudly announcing the tallies. Doing this not only stabilized military morale but also gave the false impression to any spy that the army's provisions were sufficient to last for hundreds of days.

Consequently, the traitor would inevitably leak this information to the barbarians, making it effortless to flush them out.

Beyond that, the besieging barbarian army consumed far more supplies than their own forces. Originally, the barbarians had calculated that Zhang Chi's army lacked food, which was why they chose to surround the city without attacking. If the standoff dragged on indefinitely, the ones unable to endure it would likely be the barbarians themselves.

Once the traitor leaked the news of the city's abundant grain reserves to the barbarians, they would be forced to abandon their strategy of a passive siege. This shift would grant Zhang Chi's forces far more opportunities to break through the encirclement.

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