Chapter 772 – Sharp Turn Down
12th month, 5th day, Yunnan Province.
The 1st Guards Legion led by Huo Qubing had reached the frontlines and crossed the border, starting the first battle in the Battle of Yunnan.
In the next week, their progress through Dongchuan went unusually smoothly.
With the help of the cavalry forces, the Heavy Armored Mountain Barbarian Infantry Division acted as the main force. The 1st legion attacked strategic lands all the way, not facing any problems. City after city easily fell into the hands of Shanhai City.
The siege weapon making technology of Consonance City was produced on a large-scale by smiths and artisans in the city to rush out countless siege weapons.
The three forces all brought along large amounts of siege weapons to assist them in the battle.
Even so, the smoothness of the process exceeded their expectations. As it was too smooth, it made Huo Qubing wary; the enemy might be planning an ambush.
The only normal thing was probably the grain problem.
All the granaries in the cities that they had taken down were completely burnt and emptied out. What was worse was that even the grain in the houses of the civilians had been taken.
Such a situation was not limited to the main cities but also the affiliated cities.
Apart from food to survive, the houses of the people in Dongchuan Prefecture did not have any excess grain. Before the war, the Military Affairs Bureau had sent an order prohibiting them from taking food from the people.
Du Ruhui warned the generals, "Even if we are hungry, we cannot snatch the food of the people. Whoever goes against this order will be severely punished."
The goal of the Battle of Yunnan was to destroy the Yunnan City-State, not to destroy the local economy, people, and their sentiments. If their army really fooled around, it would be hard to make the people trust them again.
Anywhere the army passed, they were unable to find much grain and could only take it from the grain transporting forces.
During this week, with the help of the Flying Squad, the three intel organizations conducted a blanket-style search. Weirdly, they still could not find any traces of the enemy.
It was like the 200 thousand troops had not even appeared in Yunnan Province.
Without a doubt, the armies of Yanhuang Alliance had already moved away.
This time, the Alliance Army was like a layer of mist hanging over the skies of Yunnan, making this battle even more uncertain.
Under such circumstances, Huo Qubing did not dare to take the risk. The 1st legion did not dare to split up to increase their speed and just took down city by city.
Apart from that, Huo Qubing also focused on the protection of the grain supply, sending the two cavalry regiments from the 1st division to help monitor and protect them.
With their ability, even if they met the 200 thousand alliance troops, it would not be too bad if they were prepared.
Hence, his strategy was to be prepared for a sneak attack but not lose out on a good opportunity.
The 1st legion continued as planned and pretty much swept through the entire Dongchuan at a rate of two cities every three days.
As for the weird situation the right troops were facing, Baiqi ordered for the middle and left troops to slow down and maintain their strength.
************
12th month, 15th day, Dongchuan Prefecture.
In just 10 days, the entire Dongchuan Prefecture basically fell under the hooves of the 1st Guards Legion, only left the city at the north was left - Yongren City.
This city was located at the intersection of Yunnan Province and the Shu Lands. If one walked 200 miles in, they would reach the famous city of iron in real life - Panzhihua.
Panzhihua's iron resources were 70% of that of the Shu Lands, one of the four largest iron regions in China. Its titanium source was also the largest in the world. It also had the third most vanadium in the world.
The Panzhihua region in the game was located within Swordsman City's territory.
The iron ore industry naturally became one of their pillar industries. However, due to the difficulties of transporting iron making it rather inconvenient and hard to sell, it was difficult to make profits.
There were no trains in the game, so one could not transport large batches of iron ore; especially across land, where transporting such resources posed even more of a problem.
Hence, Feng Qingyang could only sit on this treasure mountain but could not change it into actual gold. At most, he could rely on the shocking iron ore reserves to develop his military industry.
However, due to the lack of technologies and technical manuals, their military industry was barely surviving.
Hence, Feng Qingyang had one of the worst situations amongst all the members of Yanhuang Alliance. In the various huge battles, including wilderness matters, Swordsman City did not have a huge say.
As one of the heads of Yanhuang Alliance, Feng Qingyang was not as famous as Di Chen and Chun Shenjun. Even Xiong Ba and Zhan Lang were more famous than him.
Even Wandering Magic had been in the spotlight more often than him.
Hence, only then did he totally give up on running the territory and focus on martial arts; he wanted to work with the Shu Imperial Court to form a win-win situation.
...
This morning, Huo Qubing led his troops and arrived ten miles outside of Yongren City.
"General, it seems like the enemy has not set an ambush in Dongchuan. We have worried for nothing." The one who spoke was the newly appointed 1st division Major General Ma Teng.
As an East Han General, Ma Teng greatly respected the West Han general Huo Qubing. He did not look down on him despite his age and treated him really seriously.
If one used generations to consider, Huo Qubing was from the same generation as Ma Teng's ancestors.
If it was anyone else commanding them, Ma Teng might not be happy about it, but their commander was Huo Qubing, someone they all trusted and respected.
Not only that, Ma Teng also warned Ma Chao and Ma Xiu to treat him more respectfully.
Ma Teng only respected Huo Qubing while Ma Chao totally worshipped him. He knew that he was strong but lacked a strategic mind.
On the other hand, Huo Qubing was a god of strategy. Which young general during the Han Empire did not worship Huo Qubing?
Chasing one's idols was not something that only modern day people did.
...
Huo Qubing rode on his warhorse, looking out at Yongren City; a look of uncertainty filled his eyes. During the whole way here, the Alliance Army they had predicted did not appear.
Looking at the situation, Yunnan City-State had treated Dongchuan City-State as a chess piece to be given up. Or in the eyes of the Lords, Dongchuan did not have any strategic value, so why not just give it up?
But based on his intuition, Huo Qubing felt that things were not that simple. His uneasiness continued till today, and he still could not find the source.
"Would Yongren City be a trap?"
The intel from the Military Intelligence Division showed that there were no signs of troops inside. Even the neighboring regions were checked out; there was no one.
If the Alliance Army wanted to sneak attack, the only possibility would be to teleport over while they sieged. However, if that really happened, they would not cause much of a threat to the first legion.
Huo Qubing calmed himself down; he looked at Ma Teng and said, "Do not let down your guard. Order the troops to attack!"
As a soldier, before he received proper intel, Huo Qubing would not stop attacking because he felt uneasy.
As long as they took down the city in front of them, the entire Dongchuan Prefecture would fall into their hands. If that happened, their actions would have a direct influence on the entire battle.
The first blood of the war belonged to the Guards Legion.
...
As the order was given, the war drums sounded out and the siege began.
The main force was the two Mountain Barbarian Divisions with the two Cavalry Divisions protecting the wings. The one in charge of the backlines was the Iron Armored Beast Division.
At 10 AM, using the siege weapons, the Mountain Barbarian Division successfully pushed in under the city walls. Next was the arduous siege, which the mountain barbarians were proficient at.
If everything went well, the city in front of them that looked exceedingly normal would fall before nightfall.
Just at this moment, the situation changed.
The teleportation formation at the center of the city suddenly shone with a blue light. An unceasing number of soldiers walked out and gathered on the field.
Each force gathered up, led by their officers to the various city gates.
In less than ten minutes, the intelligence division spies hiding there received the news. However, it was too late to use the Feng Birds to spread the news.
The spies took the risk of exposing their identities and pulled the signal bullets.
With a 'Pew!' a red signal bullet representing the presence of enemies exploded out in the air.
When Huo Qubing saw the signal bullet, not only was not he not nervous, he even heaved a sigh of relief.
The unknown always made one nervous.
The moment the Alliance Army showed themselves, taking off their veil, Huo Qubing had nothing to fear.
"Send down the orders, ask the frontline to retreat."
Since the Alliance Army had shown themselves, Huo qubing would not be so arrogant to think that he could take them down so easily. Even if they got in, it would be a chaotic battle.
To a mixed legion like them, a chaotic battle within the city would be disadvantageous.
Hence, Huo Qubing was ready to fight the 200 thousand strong Yanhuang Alliance Army outside the city. Even if he could not win, he was confident about containing them until reinforcements arrived.
One must not forget that the 2nd Guards Legion was lying in wait in Consonance City.
...
What Huo Qubing did not know was that a calamity was approaching. The entire battlefield would turn on its head because of this battle.