Chapter 474 Responding to the Challenge

"Now that they've come knocking on our door, we have no choice but to fight." When Ye Tao said this, his whole body seemed to radiate a chilling anger. Was this Gao Senqi's war demeanor? If he thought this would make Dongping think more highly of Northern Liao, he was mistaken. It would only enrage Ye Tao.

The Blood Kirin Army, plus some attached units, meant that Ye Tao had less than 60,000 troops in total. If he were to face Gao Senqi head-on, that would be a troop ratio of at least one to two. Whether in a decisive battle or a complex campaign, this troop ratio would largely negate the Blood Kirin Army's excellent equipment and superior combat power. Moreover, Gao Senqi had always understood that Ye Tao wouldn't fight a war of attrition, but he would.

"Lord, give the order. We must avenge this," everyone said in the military tent. Although they were all aware of the vast numerical disadvantage, they showed not a trace of fear of the impending battle. Although they only carried a little over ten days' worth of rations, and they understood that Gao Senqi probably wouldn't let them easily break through to Zhenbei Pass, the Blood Kirin Army's fighting spirit was higher than ever before.

"Xing Yuan, take stock of military rations, horse feed, and various supplies, especially horse feed. How long can they last? I want specific numbers."

Xing Yuan, who was in charge of logistics and warehousing, was Suo Zheng's former deputy and was well-prepared for Ye Tao's request. "Lord, without reducing the supply standards, the daily rations can last the entire army for fourteen days, and the horse feed can last for eleven days. If we calculate according to the extra meals needed for combat, there will be absolutely no problem for the entire army to fight for seven to eight days."

"Lord, since Gao Senqi pulled off that trick in Wangchuan, even though a battle is inevitable, he won't engage us so easily, right?" Zou Shuangwen asked. Gao Senqi was only a day's journey away from them now, but he had plenty of ways to avoid battle or maneuver in other ways. They had originally planned to attack Xiangning, and that preparation work would take at least two days. Gao Senqi would definitely not allow them to have the leisure to attack.

"How long do you estimate it will take to take Xiangning City?" Ye Tao asked.

Zou Shuangwen looked at everyone in the military tent. This was something they had already planned, but originally, they had planned to use 30,000 troops to attack Xiangning. Now, the bigger problem was that if a battle wasn't decided quickly, they would probably be attacked from both sides. He still said firmly, "According to the Gardener Plan, it will take two days."

"Send a message to Zhenbei Pass, requesting that they send no less than 5,000 troops to Xiangning to prepare to take over the city. The original plan to attack Xiangning remains unchanged, but now, there are no 'ifs.' You must take Xiangning within one day. 30,000 troops will attack the city, and the remaining 20,000 will block Gao Senqi. We… need to block them for at least one day and night. Then, the two forces will join together and fight Gao Senqi in a decisive battle," Ye Tao announced calmly.

"Lord… in that case, the pressure on the blocking force will be too great. Xiangning has over 10,000 defenders. Using 30,000 to attack the city is safe. Why not transfer most of the troops to fight the blocking action? That would be a more normal distribution of combat power," a battalion commander reminded him.

"That way, neither side will have an absolute numerical advantage," Ye Tao retorted coldly. "Then don't even mention the problem of taking Xiangning City in one day."

Zou Shuangwen thought for a moment and said, "Actually, this distribution is also right. The Western Route Army is rushing here based on the Flying Tiger Battalion. Since we are putting on an appearance of continuing to attack Xiangning City, they must speed up their advance. When the time comes, we will be rested and ready, and even if Gao Senqi is strong, he won't be able to get hundreds of thousands of troops to transition from marching to fighting in a short period of time. At most, he'll be able to commit a third of them to battle. Even if it's 50,000, if we respond properly, the blocking force won't be in any danger. Lord, let me lead the blocking force."

"No," Ye Tao said, "I will lead the blocking force. You just need to take Xiangning for me. You are good at this kind of operation, and I am good at finding some fun when there are few people. Isn't that how it's been since I started leading the Blood Kirin Army?"

Ye Tao's words reminded Zou Shuangwen of the scene a few years ago when he angrily charged through the pass and led the Blood Kirin Army to resist the Western Ling army at Baishi City. This was not just about finding fun. Ye Tao could become fanatical but not irrational in such moments of crisis. Although he was not born into a family of generals, Ye Tao did have the temperament of a general when he became fanatical. And Ye Tao also had a general's stubbornness. Combining this with his current status as commander of the Blood Kirin Army, Zou Shuangwen could only sigh and agree to this division of labor. The main thing was that he believed Ye Tao would be safe no matter what. He had Liu Yong and the others by his side. For this full-scale campaign, the Guard Battalion had sent out its most elite forces. After all, the battlefield and places like Ye Family Fort were completely different.

In siege warfare, the most useful units were naturally the heavy ordnance battalion, the light infantry, and the longbow battalion. Ye Tao only equipped a small number of these units in the blocking force, taking 2,000 men from each. These three types of soldiers were equally important for blocking and defensive operations, but Ye Tao rejected Zou Shuangwen's suggestion to continue strengthening these forces on his side for two reasons. Ye Tao's explanation was that he was not prepared to spread out such a wide front. Drawing 2,000 men from each type of soldier had already taken into account the need for rotating operations. Everyone knew Ye Tao's idea of blocking Gao Senqi at Xia Ming Mountain, and they quite agreed with the small front strategy that Ye Tao mentioned. Ye Tao's other reason was that if not strengthening these forces for him could allow Zou Shuangwen to resolve the battle of Xiangning City sooner, then he would rather have reinforcements arrive ahead of time.

Zou Shuangwen and the rest of the Blood Kirin Army had never been so embarrassed. They had always prided themselves on being the number one army in the world, and others also saw them that way. But now, caught off guard, they had temporarily become an isolated army. They had seven or eight days of supplies in hand, but if they couldn't achieve anything in these seven or eight days, they would lose all face. Originally, the Blood Kirin Army had let Ye Tao lead the Blood Kirin Army, partly because they thought that cooperation with the Yunzhou army would be smoother, and partly because they thought that Ye Tao had established the Blood Kirin Army, and there would probably be no more opportunities for him to go to the battlefield in the future. They wanted the founder of the Blood Kirin Army to witness the victory together with everyone. However, the current situation required Ye Tao to lead a part of the Blood Kirin Army to resist a formidable enemy in order to allow the Blood Kirin Army to complete its pre-arranged strategic deployment. This was really embarrassing and infuriating for them, the Blood Kirin Army officers, who had been spoiled and cultivated a fearless temperament. Zou Shuangwen and the others immediately made a military pledge to break through Xiangning in eight hours. This time, forced into a dead end, even a dog would jump over the wall.

Zou Shuangwen brought out the two military flags from the time the Blood Kirin Army was formed, and the entire army swore an oath and set out.

The scouts and airships that had been sent out had confirmed that Gao Senqi's army was approaching and was only a little more than a day away from them. After Ye Tao established a position at Xia Ming Mountain, he slightly surveyed the terrain, drew a sketch, and ordered everyone to build fortifications. With the troops at a disadvantage, Ye Tao was not interested in fighting Gao Senqi in the open. It was always good to take advantage of the terrain. However, he had no intention of shrinking back and defending to the death. Otherwise, he would not have brought out most of the Blood Kirin Army's cavalry. Although the Blood Kirin Army's cavalry was inferior to Yunzhou's many cavalry units in terms of horsemanship, their various tactical movements were stronger than most cavalry battalions in Yunzhou. And their equipment was even better than that of the Guard Battalion and the Imperial Guard Cavalry Battalion. The protection was about the same, but the Blood Kirin Army's cavalry armor was half as light as ordinary cavalry armor. This allowed them to run faster and fight longer. Three cavalry battalions were sent out first, and they raided Gao Senqi's left-wing camp in the early morning of the next day. Although Gao Senqi was not completely unprepared, the soldiers under his command were exhausted after all. Before the central army could come to their aid, they were broken through. When the Blood Kirin Army's cavalry retreated contentedly, the left-wing camp had been completely set on fire, with countless personnel and materials lost. And this night raid won Ye Tao another day. That is to say, if Zou Shuangwen really took Xiangning in eight hours as he said, and the reinforcements from the Zhenning Pass garrison arrived in time, then when they fought Gao Senqi's army, they might just wait for Zou Shuangwen's reinforcements… This calculation greatly encouraged the soldiers fighting the blocking action, which meant that they only needed to defend independently for one day. For the soldiers of the Blood Kirin Army, this did not seem to be a problem.

Gao Senqi did not want to stop in place for a day to reorganize the army and carry out repairs. However, Ye Tao's airship team made his army nowhere to hide, and he secretly called himself lucky. If Wangchuan was not just a transit center for airships and the reconnaissance of the surrounding area was not very strong, his army would not have had the opportunity to attack Wangchuan by surprise. This would not have caused the current situation. But Ye Tao would obviously not make this mistake again. No part of the Dongping army would be polite in this situation with such a strong intelligence advantage. What he had to face must be a well-rested army. He knew that Ye Tao never relied on luck. Gao Senqi knew that if the troops did not rest for this day, then he would really put himself into Ye Tao's tactical plan, and there would really be no chance.

Gao Senqi didn't care too much, and he restrained himself from thinking about the chance of victory. He just took the first wave of more than 50,000 troops and slammed into Ye Tao's simple camp position that had been operating for only two days. And on the same day, the Zou Shuangwen division of the Blood Kirin Army began to attack Xiangning in full force. In the Blood Kirin Army, something happened that Zou Shuangwen did not expect. He promised Ye Tao that he would break through the city in eight hours, but the battalion commanders below did not buy it. In particular, Zou Shuangwen used the first generation military flag of the Blood Kirin Army as a kind of honor, promising that the battalion commander who performed best in this battle would keep the military flag until the next battle. Each battalion commander was holding back their energy and wanted this honor. At the battalion commander level, eight hours had already been cut off by a quarter, and they told the centurions that they had to break through the city in six hours. And at the centurion level, the officers were young and passionate, had solid military skills, and could mingle with the soldiers below, clamoring to break through the city in four hours and eat in Xiangning in the evening… In this way, the war unfolded in an atmosphere of frenzy.

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Sorry, I was thinking about updating A Night in the Grid for Christmas, and I wrote in a hurry, so the protagonist visited the wrong place. Thank you for your reminders, I have already revised it, and I wish you all a Happy New Year in advance.