Northern Liang Royal City!
Lin Rusong has been having a tough time lately. On one hand, he has to help Li Anlan threaten and intimidate the Northern Region Barbarians, on the other hand, he has to take care of the troublemaker Shachi Kingdom in the Western Regions, and he also has to worry about his son. This has left him exhausted.
Looking at the map in his hand, which clearly showed the topography of Ningchuan Commandery, he couldn't help but curse, "That Li Sansi is a complete waste! He actually needs my son to clean up his messes. I've actually fought against someone like him for over ten years; I'm ashamed to be associated with him!"
Forehead!
Several powerful figures from Northern Liang nearby couldn't help but twitch their lips. The prince was throwing a tantrum again. Poor Li Sansi was already dead, and he still had to whip his corpse and criticize him.
"Your Highness, she's already dead, so please don't speak ill of her anymore," Wang Ziwen said with a wry smile.
snort!
Lin Rusong glanced at Wang Ziwen, then decided to give his old partner some face; after all, the dead should be respected.
He said in a deep voice, "My foolish son is stubborn too. Li Anlan gave him some lousy governorship of Xiliang and he's completely lost his bearings. Can this lousy governorship possibly be as promising as the future Prince of Northern Liang?"
"Besides, I gave him 100,000 troops and he didn't use them. How is he going to attack Ningchuan Commandery with only 30,000 new recruits? And that old geezer Bai Zizai doesn't even bother to come along!"
When he first heard about Xiliang Province and Xiliang governor, he knew what Li Anlan was up to. To put it bluntly, Li Anlan was just worried about his son becoming too powerful, so he was trying to trap him in advance.
That bastard was cunning; his own foolish son actually believed him.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince is a smart man. He must know that the Western Regions are not stable, which is why he sent 100,000 troops back. Since the Crown Prince dared to send them back, he must have a way to deal with Tuoba Yu. Your Highness doesn't need to worry!" Wang Ziwen couldn't help but comfort him.
To be honest, he also felt that the Crown Prince was taking a bit of a risk. After all, if they had an army of 100,000, they would have a much better chance of defeating Tuoba Yu.
The crown prince actually sent someone back. While this could be explained by confidence, the question is, where does that confidence come from?
"He has no confidence whatsoever; that kid is just reckless!"
Lin Rusong glared at Wang Ziwen, then looked at his trusted confidant Xu Zhong and said in a deep voice, " Xu Zhong, if you were to deal with Tuoba Yu, how would you do it? How many men would it take to reclaim Ningchuan Commandery from him?"
Xu Zhong pondered for a moment and began to calculate Tuoba Yu's troop strength, combat power, and advantages.
He then solemnly said, "Your Highness, after the successive losses of Tuoba Yu's troops, they should be around 40,000. These men are mainly cavalry, lacking the means to attack cities, but they are even less skilled at defending them."
However, given Tuoba Yu's temperament, he would definitely capture able-bodied men from Ningchuan Commandery to fill his army, so the army could reach about 80,000 to 100,000 men.
To deal with him, I need an equal number of troops; otherwise, I'm likely to be counterattacked by Tuoba Yu. At the same time, I can also instigate a rebellion among the people of Ningchuan Commandery, allowing us to eliminate Tuoba Yu from within and without.
He knew one thing clearly: although Tuoba Yu suffered heavy losses and only had 30,000 to 40,000 main force left, the problem was that these 30,000 to 40,000 main force were the real elite, absolutely no weak or incompetent soldiers.
Moreover, someone like Tuoba Yu would never adhere to any rules; he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He would even capture civilians as cannon fodder and then hold the city walls. It would indeed be very difficult for 30,000 people to take him down.
Why!
Lin Rusong's expression instantly turned grim, and he sighed, "Yes, attacking a city with 30,000 men is somewhat overestimating our strength. There are tens of thousands of elite enemy troops inside the city, not tens of thousands of idiots!"
He was deeply worried; wouldn't his son be overconfident and end up causing a major disaster?
"Report!"
"News has arrived from the front: the Crown Prince's army has marched on Ningchuan Commandery Ningchuan Commandery and has already captured it. The Northern Barbarians Great General Divine Eagle Tuoba Yu fled in terror, only to be pursued by the Crown Prince to the borders of Youning Commandery, where countless enemy soldiers have been killed!"
A Northern Liang Guard rushed in, panting, and shouted as he walked.
"What? This kid took over Ningchuan Commandery?" Lin Rusong stood up abruptly, looking horrified.
Even the usually composed strategist Wang Ziwen was dumbfounded. This was simply unbelievable! The Crown Prince could conquer Ningchuan Commandery with only 30,000 men and make Tuoba Yu flee at the mere sight of him?
He couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "How is this possible? Tuoba Yu was a warrior who won ten battles in ten campaigns in Northern Liang. How could he be so frightened by the Crown Prince's thirty thousand men that he fled at the mere sight of them? Could this be a fake Tuoba Yu?"
"Unbelievable! How did they manage to take this place? Was Tuoba Yu really so terrified of the Crown Prince that he ran away at the sight of him?" Xu Zhong also looked incredulous.
In terms of warfare, he believed he was second to none, but he admitted he couldn't have waged such an outrageous battle.
After all, this is a siege, and it's against Tuoba Yu's city. Even if he's not good at defending a city, his combat power is no joke. He could overwhelm the prince with sheer numbers.
Lin Rusong couldn't help but look at the messenger and said in a deep voice, "Damn it, what are you doing standing there like a quail? Tell me quickly how my son fought this battle!"
Seeing the boy standing there in a daze, he was immediately furious and snapped him out of his daze.
oh oh!
Xiao Northern Liang Guard suddenly realized what was happening; he was actually shocked by the reactions of his own superiors. It was simply too astonishing.
He explained, "After the Crown Prince seized the opportunity, he decisively sent troops to capture Little Pine Mountain. Then, he borrowed 50,000 troops and marched straight towards Ningchuan Commandery. Wherever the Crown Prince's army went, it was as if it were flat ground, and almost no one could stop it!"
Tuoba Yu held out for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before the city was breached by the Crown Prince, who fled in terror. The Crown Prince then swayed his powerful figure, instantly winning over the people of Great Ning.
The crown prince then decisively pursued Tuoba Yu, intercepting him on the outskirts of Youning Commandery, where more than 30,000 brave men came to join him...
Holy crap!!!
Upon hearing Northern Liang Guard's words, everyone in the hall fell silent, utterly stunned. This was just like the storyteller's tale they'd heard last time—completely absurd!
"Is this news absolutely true?" Wang Ziwen glanced at the Northern Liang Guard and frowned.
"Grand Steward, this news is absolutely true; it came from Commander Yi Yun."
"If it's from Yi Yun, then it can't be wrong!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Yi Yun would never joke about something like this, which meant it really had happened.
So here's the question.
It really happened, but how did they manage to do it?!
Wang Ziwen shrugged and said with a wry smile, "Although it's true, it's outrageous! It's not like the young master is waging a war; it's like he just casually took Ningchuan Commandery. This is simply incomprehensible to me!"
Although he trusted Lin Yi, he was still frightened this time.