Chapter 1 Too Much!

"Bullying! Too much bullying!" Xie Bo'an, the Grand Marshal of the Eastern Route and Heishan Road of the Northern Liao, paced back and forth in his command tent, trying to quell his anger. He was already the third supreme commander of the Eastern Route Army, the Yulin Army, and the newly formed army in just one short year. The first, full of ambition upon taking office, had barely established himself when he was caught off guard by the newly formed tribal coalition army, whose morale was high. After four months, he couldn't bear the nerve-wracking pressure of fighting the tribal coalition army, so he seized an opportunity during an inspection at the front line to fall off his horse and was sent back to Yanjing to recuperate. The second commander was the Northern Liao's emperor's nephew. He thought he had brought a large number of troops, a full 150,000 to 160,000, and could swiftly wipe out these tribal coalition forces, along with Dongping's detached force. He even shouted slogans about capturing Tan Weiran alive and negotiating peace with Dongping. But what happened? After five months of fighting, the tribal coalition army grew stronger and stronger, transforming from a chaotic, reckless charge based on morale and courage into a force with elite troops. Although some tactical movements were still clumsy, their obedience to orders was exemplary. Later, it was heard that the tribal elders had instructed their troops during the painful period of transition for the tribal army: all orders, understood, must be executed; not understood, enhance understanding during execution... These words may not have been original, but they put them into practice. Over the months, under the leadership and education of Tan Weiran and Chi Lei, the tribal coalition's commanders at all levels gradually grew, learning that fighting involved countless other forms besides advancing and retreating, besides frontal combat and ambushes. Sensing their progress, these tribal officers and soldiers enthusiastically studied tactics and relentlessly drilled. The tribal coalition's several trump card elite forces began to take shape during these months. Naturally, Northern Liao was not satisfied with this record. Therefore, Xie Bo'an took office.

Xie Bo'an was a steady character. After taking command of the army, he didn't act rashly, but attacked step by step, advancing layer by layer, using his superior forces to force the tribal coalition army to make choices: either concentrate your forces for a decisive battle, or retreat... He once pushed the tribal coalition army back. But then, frustrating things happened. A force from Dongping, starting from Yicheng, landed by ship on the coast more than 200 *li* southeast of Yanjing, briefly occupying four or five towns and adopting a posture of holding fast and waiting for reinforcements. This frightened the officials of all sizes in Yanjing. If Yanjing were lost, or if Dongping opened another front in addition to the current two-front war, then the battle would be impossible to fight. Northern Liao immediately gathered its forces to counterattack, finally forcing Dongping to retreat when they realized the difficulty. This landing force boarded ships and returned. Aside from looting a few towns with meager treasuries, it didn't cause much damage. But from then on, an elite force of around 20,000, heavily emphasizing mobility, remained stationed in that area. And 6,000 of the most elite and battle-hardened soldiers in that force were drawn from Xie Bo'an's command.

Xie Bo'an was depressed for a long time after losing such an arrow-shaped force. But after all, he still held a superior force, and was still engaged in a tug-of-war with the tribal coalition army around Tianmeng City. The tribal coalition army had a clear advantage in the casualty ratio, but Xie Bo'an didn't care. He wanted to see how much blood the tribal coalition army could shed. He believed that with a little more time, he could definitely take Tianmeng City. But at this moment, Ye Tao came.

Xie Bo'an deployed an airship squadron to intercept him, which was only to be expected. It was one thing when there were no airships before, but now that they had airships, they couldn't let their airspace be used by the enemy at will, could they? But unexpectedly, Ye Tao didn't leave, and even brought in so many troops in just one month. Dongping's troop movements, especially the mobilization of the clan soldiers of these major clans, could not be concealed from the numerous Northern Liao spies in Dongping. A large number of elites gathered in the northeast of Northern Liao, making Xie Bo'an's originally confident battle situation in danger of collapsing at any time.

"What does His Majesty say?" Seeing his deputy, Dong Liushui, rush into the military tent with a copper messenger tube, Xie Bo'an quickly asked. Since the popularity of codes, the messenger tube had become just a formality. Dong Liushui must have translated the military order before coming to find him.

"His Majesty will scrape together another 30,000 or so troops for us. But... the rest is just encouragement." Dong Liushui sighed.

Xie Bo'an also sighed. Thirty thousand... these were 30,000 troops scraped together. Could their combat effectiveness be relied upon? Although Ye Tao was leading troops from Dongping that were also scraped together, was that the same thing? What Ye Tao had added were elites among elites. Those clan soldiers from the major clans were not kept around for show; they were the face of each clan.

"Tell Generals Yan Dan and Jiao Luming to come see me." Xie Bo'an didn't say much, pacing quickly back and forth in the military tent. He seemed to have made a decision. His original anxious expression eased. Dong Liushui found it strange, but still responded loudly and quickly went to inform them.

Yan Dan and Jiao Luming had both just returned from the front line to Xie Bo'an's central army headquarters. They were commanding the central and western routes of the battle, respectively, and performing their duties faithfully. They could be said to be Xie Bo'an's right-hand men. Xie Bo'an had always been very satisfied with these two generals, who belonged to the Yulin Army and the Eastern Route Army, respectively. One must know that these two were not his direct subordinates... but their obedience to his military orders had never wavered.

Yan Dan and Jiao Luming quickly arrived at the central military tent. Both had been woken up after going to bed, but knowing that the military situation was urgent, they had no complaints.

Yan Dan cupped his fist and asked, "Grand Marshal, what are your orders for summoning us?"

"Take a look for yourselves." Xie Bo'an handed the military order to the two. The heaps of encouraging words were of little use to generals like them who led troops in battle on the front lines. The only thing useful was seeing that there were 30,000 reinforcements.

Jiao Luming shook his head. "Grand Marshal, 30,000 people... this... doesn't seem like enough. Our current strategy is still very effective, but Ye Tao's arrival has disrupted our original tactics. To face him head-on, even with 30,000 men, our chances of winning are less than 30%."

Xie Bo'an said with a bitter smile, "How could I not know that? But there's no way around it. The Yunzhou army is pressing forward step by step, and General Gao is also fighting very hard. The Western Route Army can't spare troops to support the Eastern Route, so we can only rely on ourselves." Xie Bo'an paused and said, "We still have a numerical advantage, a two-to-one advantage... If we continue to fight like this, I'm afraid there won't be any good results. I want to ask you... within three days, how many troops can you pull out, besides those left to guard the front line and feint, and gather for an attack?"

As soon as Xie Bo'an said this, the two were dumbfounded, but Yan Dan immediately reacted. Xie Bo'an was starting to adjust his battle strategy. He had finally decided to engage in a strategic decisive battle with the tribal armies, preparing to concentrate his forces and launch a strong offensive.

At this time, Ye Tao was in Tianmeng City, in an entire gun emplacement specially vacated for him, in the large room on the top floor that he was using as a temporary residence, playing chess with Tan Weiran and Chi Lei.

"It's been a long time since I've been so relaxed. I didn't expect it to be at a time like this. It seems that Father was right when he said that you always know how to make yourself comfortable." Although they were playing chess, they were using military chess to deduce the situation around Tianmeng City. Although the data was virtual, with their current understanding of the strengths of both sides, the data they set was not far from the actual situation.

"Since I'm here, and it looks like I won't be leaving anytime soon, I naturally have to be comfortable." Ye Tao had no objection to Tan Weiran's or even the Tan family's evaluation of him. "Isn't His Majesty the same now?"

Tan Weiran smiled and said nothing. Tan Xiaopei himself sometimes complained that he was becoming less and less like a soldier. Of course, no one would take his words too seriously. Tan Xiaopei didn't need to be a soldier at all. He now needed to become a strong and stable monarch. Not being like a soldier was the right thing.

After Ye Tao decided to stay in Tianmeng City, he took out his toolbox and used local materials to customize a complete set of comfortable beds, tables, and chairs for himself. With the addition of the wind turbine generators later transported from Yicheng, Ye Tao's room quickly became the standard for comfortable living. Of course, for most people, it was just a passing fancy. The tribal leaders took it for granted that Ye Tao enjoyed the highest quality of life. Tan Weiran and Chi Lei had to go to the front line to command troops, so they had no objections. Every time they returned to Tianmeng City, they would come here to drink tea, play chess, and dissipate the tension and depression brought by the war with Ye Tao. Although the fighting was in full swing, since the main officers were so relaxed, the whole army was infected, and the atmosphere became relaxed. This was something Tan Weiran and Chi Lei had not expected. Ye Tao's value as a commander-in-chief was fully demonstrated in this one aspect alone.

"Xie Bo'an's courage won't be smaller than mine. How do you know he wouldn't dare to do that?" Based on the recent movements of the Northern Liao military, they simulated a situation where the Northern Liao army concentrated all its forces on one route, fiercely attacking Tianmeng City, and abandoned the defense of other directions. In this way, the original advantage of using the tribal coalition army's and Dongping's troops' rapid movement and strong individual combat power to constantly break through ambushes and mobile warfare was broken at once. "Losing territory and troops... of course, it wouldn't look good in the report to the Northern Liao emperor, but it's really effective. He did free up large areas of land with only a small number of guarding troops. But do we dare to take it?"

Chi Lei and Tan Weiran were stunned. Chi Lei, needless to say, the best scout in the world, still had doubts about frontal combat, feeling that it wasn't worth it. Tan Weiran wouldn't put himself in a dangerous situation unless necessary. Fighting a decisive battle with inferior forces was such a dangerous and unprofitable situation.

"Then what do we do? Tianmeng City's walls haven't even been finished yet. It can't be defended, right?" Tan Weiran scratched his head, looking helpless.

"It's okay. I seem to be a little more familiar with defensive warfare than you are. Don't forget, I made my fortune by defending cities." Ye Tao said with a smile, "I did a great job in Baishi City back then."

"Are you kidding?" Chi Lei groaned in pain and asked.

"Of course not... this battle has to be fought sooner or later. To win over the hearts of the tribes is very simple, just prove our strength. This time, the opportunity has come. We've calculated our combat power. Purely in terms of combat power, we don't have a disadvantage. So, let's fight. If we win, the overall situation on this route will be settled, and we can cooperate with the main battlefield to advance on Yanjing. I believe Northern Liao can't scrape together many troops to stop us. Indeed, the losses may not be small, but that depends on our command, organization, and preparation..."

Tan Weiran suddenly came back to his senses and asked, "You're commanding? If Father finds out, I'll be the first one to get beaten..."

Ye Tao said with a smile, "It'll be fine if we win."

Seeing that Tan Weiran and Ye Tao were still full of doubts, Ye Tao stood up and sighed, "Since I'm here now, let me make this decision. Whether it's to show our strength or to decide the battle, we have to fight this battle. We have to let Northern Liao know that we are the ones who decide the battle, we... are the ones who decide Northern Liao's fate, not the other way around."

Hearing Ye Tao say this, Tan Weiran and Chi Lei finally nodded. Ye Tao's last words still moved them. Yes, they were the ones who were going to destroy Northern Liao as a country. They had to have such determination.

"Of course, off-the-field tactics are still necessary. Don't worry about the main attack direction. Send out my decision in a telegram in a moment. Dai Yun will naturally strengthen the frontal offensive when he sees it, so we don't have to face a similar situation after this battle. We still have this kind of tacit understanding. Also, since Xie Bo'an dares to abandon unimportant areas to concentrate his forces... then, we should create some trouble for him in Yanjing as well. Although we can't say that we can influence the Northern Liao court now, we do control the direction of public opinion in Yanjing."