Chapter 1

It wasn't until two cavalry battalions of the Xueqi Army's main force appeared less than five *li* outside of Qingya that the Northern Liao army became aware: the Xueqi Army had already captured Xiangning and even freed up forces to interpose themselves in their flanks and rear. But at this point, it was already very difficult for them to react. Qingya's forces were already insufficient, and in the midst of the chaos, it was breached in less than an hour, with a large amount of supplies seized by the Xueqi Army. Originally, according to the strategy of "besieging a point to strike at reinforcements," Qingya should have been surrounded but not attacked, but the problem was that Qingya's defenses were too lax. If it couldn't be taken down, it would have seemed too fake. Zou Shuangwen decisively charged into Qingya, simply changing the strategy of besieging a point to strike at reinforcements to adapting to circumstances, first seeing how Gao Senqi would react.

Gao Senqi was also quite shocked. He never expected such a thing to happen. The Xueqi Army had captured Qingya, while he hadn't yet made any headway against Ye Tao. After falling into a stalemate, he was actually somewhat doubtful. Ye Tao was clearly not like he was on the first day of battle, always keeping sufficient reserves in hand, but instead was trying to rotate his soldiers as much as possible to reduce casualties. The heavy ordnance battalion also began to continuously create bursts of fire on the river beach, causing large-scale casualties to the Northern Liao army.

In fact, after getting used to the bursts of fire, the dazzling momentum of this attack method, which used to inspire fear, hadn't changed much, but the damage caused wasn't too great. The characteristics of the bursts of fire determined that the extreme lethality of this attack was not high. Burns and scalds were unavoidable, but directly killing or even seriously injuring people was difficult in this open area. Moreover, due to the staggered positions of the two armies, the Xueqi Army had actually been using bursts of fire with minimal lethality. This was clearly not an act of killing, but rather creating chaos to delay the Northern Liao army's pace of attack.

Originally, Gao Senqi and others believed that Ye Tao was also out of ideas and could only rely on this method to persevere and wait for the results from the rear. But now it seemed that while Ye Tao was adjusting his tactics, Xiangning City had changed hands. The Xueqi Army had actually broken through Xiangning City in less than a day? In Gao Senqi's view, even though he had always estimated the Xueqi Army's combat power to be very high, it exceeded his imagination.

Gao Senqi didn't hesitate and immediately arranged for the troops attacking on the front line to withdraw from the battle, cross the river, and retreat, while the entire army immediately prepared to move. Zhang Lixian and others were also in no mood to argue. The battle had turned out like this, which was too unexpected for them. The capture of Qingya was not just a matter of disrupting their logistical center. There were always ways to find a road for withdrawal. The grain and supplies stored in the camps in the past should be enough to use before they could retreat to a place where they could be resupplied. But the problem was, if they couldn't take back Qingya, it meant that the other side of the river no longer belonged to the Northern Liao. The Xueqi Army could rely on Qingya as a bridgehead to calmly deploy defenses and send out patrols. And Dongping also had airships, which made it even more impossible to deal with.

"General Zhang, the army will be divided into two parts. I will personally lead one part, about 100,000 men, and I will try to attack Qingya fiercely to see if we can take back Qingya while the enemy's foothold is unstable. You will lead the other part and attack towards Moyun Ridge and Jinji Mountain, making sure that the Jinji Gorge passage is in our own hands. If the attack on Qingya is unfavorable, the army will have to continue to retreat from Jinji Gorge to Jingcheng." Gao Senqi instructed, "There should be no food or other supplies to collect along the way. The army's baggage must be handled carefully. Although the enemy's small units will not attack recklessly, harassment and sabotage are inevitable, not to mention the airships."

Zhang Lixian nodded, cupped his fist and said, "Young General, please rest assured, this general will not allow Jinji Gorge to be lost."

Gao Senqi nodded and said, "General Zhang, prepare to go now. I will lead the army to attack in half an hour. By tomorrow... if we still can't take Qingya, then we have to run quickly. Once we are bitten by the Xueqi Army, heh heh, we won't be able to escape."

No one had ever dared to test how amazing the Xueqi Army's equipment and marching speed were. But at least everyone knew one thing: the Xueqi Army was an all-cavalry force. Even the infantry, heavy infantry, and longbowmen were equipped with horses, but they just didn't use them in battle. And they had also heard a lot about the Xueqi Army soldiers being multi-skilled. No matter how amateur the Xueqi Army's cavalry were, they were definitely faster than the Northern Liao army's infantry. And the Xueqi Army still held many marching records. Dongping's military would definitely not announce what the exact numbers were, but neither Gao Senqi nor Zhang Lixian had any interest in trying to challenge these records themselves.

After making arrangements in a hurry, Gao Senqi immediately prepared to attack Qingya. Qingya was not a strong city, just a small town with simple walls. The Xueqi Army was able to take it in one go because Qingya was almost undefendable. He had to challenge it no matter what. Of course, Gao Senqi didn't plan to empty the forward camp all at once. He arranged for more than 30,000 soldiers to stay behind, paying attention to the movements of Ye Tao's troops at all times. After fighting for three whole days, everyone had an unspeakable feeling about Ye Tao's unshakeable troops, but no one dared to underestimate them. It was expected that no one, from the general leading the troops to the lowest-ranking soldier, would take this surveillance and defense work lightly.

However, what Gao Senqi didn't expect was that just as the troops he had prepared to attack Qingya were about to depart, they were suddenly ambushed by a mixed force of Xueqi Army light and heavy infantry. At this time, Gao Senqi was still preparing for the army's subsequent attack in the forward camp, but he didn't expect that the Xueqi Army, despite being at an absolute disadvantage in terms of troop strength, had once again taken the initiative to attack on the tactical level. The location of this attack was less than ten *li* away from the forward camp. The battle lasted for less than a quarter of an hour. A large number of light and heavy infantry, and even archers, seemed to emerge from the forest, unleashing three rounds of arrow volleys before launching an assault. They were unstoppable, and almost immediately tore a hole in the flank of the Northern Liao army that was rushing forward. Then, after charging left and right in the formation for a while, they retreated calmly under the cover of a large number of smoke bombs released by the airship force. The casualties caused by this attack were limited, after all, the Xueqi Army didn't want to be surrounded by the army, but they greatly delayed Gao Senqi's pace of counterattacking Qingya. When Gao Senqi personally led the army to approach Qingya, he couldn't help but gasp. Several ballistae had already been set up on Qingya's city walls, and the Xueqi Army was stacking large bags of grain to reinforce the walls, forming small bunkers. The flag fluttering on Qingya's city wall was none other than the name of Zou Shuangwen, the Xueqi Army's supervisor, which every general in the world had heard of.

Zou Shuangwen had come in person? Gao Senqi snorted coldly. The Xueqi Army's strength wasn't due to any one person. For the Xueqi Army's soldiers, this was describing the fact that they had a cohesive group force, but for the enemy, it was the reason why they weren't afraid of any one person in the Xueqi Army. Whether it was Ye Tao or Zou Shuangwen, they could control the Xueqi Army, but how much they could add to the Xueqi Army's combat power was questionable. Compared to Ye Tao, who had actual achievements in defense, Zou Shuangwen, in the eyes of many, was only able to sit in this position because of good luck and a good family background. The so-called competitive employment, internal competition based on ability, and other statements had never been taken to heart by people from other countries.

"Gao Senqi is here." Zou Shuangwen also noticed Gao Senqi at the same time, but the staff officer's reminder only flashed through his mind, and he didn't pay much attention to it. He said lightly, "There are only 8,000 people here... and Gao Senqi is putting on such a big show." There was a burst of laughter around him.

"Supervisor, the airship team reports that Marshal Ye's military intelligence communique: Gao Senqi's forward camp has stopped attacking. Our unit will rest in place for two hours before launching an attack." A scout ran over and read.

"Good, they've been attacking Marshal Ye for three days, let's see how long it takes for Marshal Ye to break through their forward camp. Hehe." Zou Shuangwen was relaxed. "Remember, we are only providing cover here, we must make the other party believe that we are the main force. And then... hehe..."

Zou Shuangwen didn't finish speaking, but everyone smiled knowingly. Three battalions of the Xueqi Army were strong enough to defend this small city, especially since there was a large amount of good stuff stored here. The remaining troops had now returned to a state of lurking and gathering. Zou Shuangwen felt that he was now like teasing a poisonous snake with a stick. He would let the poisonous snake bite it first, and when he pulled the poisonous snake out of the tree hole, to the point where it couldn't shrink back at once, he would hit its vital spot with the stick and take its life.

In Xiangning City, it was a different scene. The soldiers transported by airship earlier took over Xiangning, relieving the soldiers who were lightly wounded but still held their posts, who went to find places to sleep and rest. When they woke up, they found that there were more than five times as many friendly troops in the city. They climbed onto the city walls, and the scene they saw stunned them. Flags that they were very familiar with were not far away, and a rolling iron torrent was heading towards Xiangning City: the Tianxuan Army had arrived. The Tianxuan Army, which was originally prepared to be deployed in the later stages of the war against the Northern Liao, had joined the battle sequence ahead of schedule. Qiu Haohui was an old superior and old friend of the Xueqi Army, and there was no problem cooperating with him. And the fact that the Tianxuan Army, as the most professional heavy infantry unit in the world, was sent to the battlefield fully illustrated Dongping's determination to prepare for a strategic decisive battle with the Northern Liao. Not only that, but behind the banner of the Tianxuan Army, they actually saw the banner of Chi Yun: the Imperial Guards had also arrived. And after Chi Yun arrived, the news he brought was even more surprising: Tan Xiaopei would arrive in Xiangning by airship in ten days!

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