Wu Shuangren led his men to provoke Mount Liang's vanguard today, frightening them into staying put and not daring to advance further, which undoubtedly bought them some more time.
Let's see how Wu Shuangren will withdraw step by step from here.
Linwen County.
While Wu Shuangren was hurling insults at Yan Xiaobing, the men of the First Battalion, Second Battalion, Third Battalion, and Sixth Battalion who remained in the county town were gradually withdrawing from the town.
When Wu Shuangren saw that the Mount Liang vanguard had chosen a defensive position, he immediately sent someone back on horseback to inform the people in the county town.
In the distant mountains and forests, the scouts sent by Mount Liang watched this scene from afar, silently counting the number of people evacuating from the county town.
"How many?"
"Approximately four thousand people."
"That's about the same as my count. Go back and report."
"Good."
A figure slid down from the tree and quickly disappeared into the forest.
Noon.
Yan Xiaobing remained on the hillside with the vanguard of Mount Liang.
After sending out scouts to confirm that Wu Shuangren had led his cavalry far away, he ordered the more than 3,000 men to disarm, put down their shields and weapons, and remove their heavy armor.
A moment later, a scout ran out of the nearby bushes, covered in sweat.
Because traveling on the official road might lead to encounters with Wu Shuangren's cavalry, the scouts sent out by Mount Liang dared not ride horses on the official road and could only run through the forest, which took up more time.
The scout brought Yan Xiaobing intelligence about Linwen County.
"More than four thousand people were evacuated?"
Yan Xiaobing frowned, a look of doubt on his face.
He called Lin Qian, Zhigang, and Liang An together to discuss the matter.
"First he brought over nine thousand men, then several hundred cavalry to provoke us, and now he's withdrawn half of them. What do you think Wu Shuangren is up to?"
Yan Xiaobing asked.
"Perhaps they're trying to lure us into launching an attack?"
Liang An offered his own guess.
Wu Shuangren had previously led over three hundred cavalrymen to constantly provoke them, clearly intending to provoke the vanguard into attacking. Now that the cavalry had withdrawn, he had also withdrawn half of the troops from the county town, seemingly continuing his provocations and luring them into an attack.
The more Wu Shuangren this way, the less Yan Xiaobing and the others dared to make any rash moves.
If it were any other opponent, they might not have been so cautious. But Wu Shuangren had indeed earned a formidable reputation in the previous battles in Yi Province, achieving remarkable results on Mount Liang Mountain, which forced them to be more careful.
The others chatted amongst themselves, but Lin Qian remained silent throughout.
Just as the group was discussing, two riders came galloping from the direction they had come from.
After confirming their identities, Yan Xiaobing had the two men dismount and come closer.
"Do the Grand Marshal and the Military Advisor have anything to say?"
Yan Xiaobing asked.
The vanguard and the main Mount Liang force were only half a day's journey apart, and they maintained communication daily.
After receiving intelligence from Linwen County last night, Yan Xiaobing immediately sent messengers back to inform Lu Yulin and Wu Yan that Wu Shuangren had led more than 9,000 Yi Province Militia into Linwen County Seat.
Now that the other side has sent a message back, Yan Xiaobing wants to know if there are any new orders.
"The Grand Marshal has given the order!"
A messenger took out a token from his pocket.
Yan Xiaobing straightened up, his expression turning serious.
"The Grand Marshal has ordered General Yan Xiaobing, commander of the vanguard, to lead the vanguard to Linwen County at top speed and to investigate its strengths and weaknesses!"
Yan Xiaobing was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and took the token. "Yan Xiaobing, commander of the vanguard army, obeys the order!"
After accepting the token, Yan Xiaobing asked the two messengers, "Was this order suggested by the strategist?"
One of the messengers nodded and said, "After receiving the intelligence, the strategist immediately suggested to the Grand Marshal in his tent that the vanguard should attack Linwen County Seat first to investigate its strength."
Yan Xiaobing seemed to be deep in thought upon hearing this.
Everyone on Mount Liang believed in the wisdom and strategies of strategist Wu Yan. Since the enemy had ordered the vanguard to attack Linwen County Seat, they must have some ulterior motive.
"Issue the order: everyone depart immediately, at full speed, towards Linwen County Seat!"
Yan Xiaobing gave the order.
Soon, the three thousand vanguard troops left the hillside and returned to the official road, rushing towards Linwen County Seat.
On the way, scouts sent by the Mount Liang vanguard and scouts sent by Wu Shuangren came into contact and clashed.
Wu Shuangren had already returned to Linwen County Seat, soon received a report from his scouts that the Mount Liang vanguard was rapidly heading towards the county.
He sighed, "We can't fool them anymore, let's retreat."
According to the tactics devised by Guo Jiwang, the ideal outcome would be if the vanguard of Mount Liang waited until tonight to join forces with the main force of Mount Liang before taking action.
Next, Guo Jiwang prepared several deceptive tactics for Wu Shuangren to stall for time tomorrow.
However, if Mount Liang's vanguard rushes to Linwen County Seat at top speed today, it means the enemy has become suspicious, and those deceptive tactics will be useless.
Regardless, the enemy will attempt to attack Linwen County Seat!
A stratagem like the Empty City Stratagem requires mutual consent from both sides; one party must be willing to give and the other willing to receive for it to be effective.
If the enemy sends a suicide squad to probe the enemy, the empty city ploy will be exposed.
Wu Shuangren quickly led his personal guard and cavalry to withdraw from Linwen County Seat, which was practically deserted.
About an hour later, dust billowed along the official road.
The vanguard of Mount Liang arrived in Linwen County Seat.
Yan Xiaobing looked at the county town a few hundred feet ahead and could see flags planted all over the city walls, but not a single person in sight.
He already had a vague suspicion in his mind, but he still felt it was unlikely.
"Hou Yue, take three hundred men and attack!"
Yan Xiaobing gave the order.
"Yes!"
A Mount Liang general received the order and led three hundred vanguard men to charge forward.
These three hundred men, all dressed in lamellar armor and carrying shields, cautiously approached the town gate.
When they were less than fifty paces from the town gate, no one appeared on the city wall, nor did they launch any attack.
Everyone realized something was wrong.
In the end, the three hundred vanguard soldiers of Mount Liang scaled the city walls without any hindrance and entered the city...
"Not a single person?!"
Yan Xiaobing quickly received the answer.
His face turned ashen; he realized he'd been tricked!
"Report! We've searched all the surrounding villages, but only caught a little over two hundred people."
Another subordinate came to report.
Bang!
Yan Xiaobing slammed his fist heavily onto the bricks of the county town wall.
"I guessed right, Wu Shuangren brought his men here to cover the evacuation of the people of Linwen County!"
Lin Qian stood to the side and spoke, his expression complex.
"Immediately return and inform the Grand Marshal and the Military Advisor of the situation here, and tell them: We will advance at full speed to catch up with Wu Shuangren and the others!"
Yan Xiaobing first addressed the messenger, then gave the order, "Leave all supplies in the county town, and leave one hundred men to guard them. The rest of you take only three days' rations. We'll depart in a quarter of an hour!"
A quarter of an hour later, the three thousand vanguard soldiers of Mount Liang set off again.
This time, the march turned from a normal march into a forced march, and everyone started jogging!
These 3,000 vanguard troops were composed of Mount Liang's elite forces, and a considerable number of them were martial artists who had cultivated Internal Skill.
Therefore, Yan Xiaobing believed that as long as they pursued with all their might, even if Wu Shuangren's men retreated a few hours earlier, they would definitely be able to catch up!
Now that he has figured out Wu Shuangren's true intentions, his goal has become very clear—
They did their best to hold off Wu Shuangren's men while waiting for reinforcements from the main force to arrive.
He believed that once the strategist Wu Yan received the intelligence, he would definitely send a large cavalry force to arrive as soon as possible.
Regardless, Wu Shuangren dared to play with fire like this, so he was determined to make him pay the price!
Chapter 158: The Ambush, Guns and Swords Clash! (Large Chapter)
Yi Prefecture City.
Guo Jiwang was in Wu Shuangren's residence, sitting in his study handling official business.
After Wu Shuangren left, he entrusted him with the defense of Yi Prefecture City and all affairs within the city.
Nominally, the Yi Province Militia was supposed to assist the government in defending the city, but in reality, it was the government that was assisting the Yi Province Militia.
Ever since Guo Jiwang took out that stack of letters and threatened them in front of the Prefect of Yi Province and a group of officials, these people have been very cooperative these days, approving as long as the requests are not too unreasonable.
In reality, Guo Jiwang did not actually obtain the letters written by those officials to Mount Liang. He merely extracted this crucial information from Hong Zhanming, then took some papers with writing on them, folded them up, put them in his pocket, and finally took them out to frighten the officials.
Those officials may have had their suspicions, but since the Yi Prefecture City was now in the hands of the Yi Province Militia, these officials were dependent on them and, feeling guilty, they didn't dare to verify it.
Although Guo Jiwang held leverage over these people and had an absolute advantage, he did not act arrogantly towards these Yi Province officials. Instead, he consulted with them on everything.
His political maneuvering was masterful; he could give these officials face while still getting things done.
With him helping to watch over Yi Prefecture City, Wu Shuangren could confidently lead almost all of his troops out.
"Grown ups."
Zhou Zhengqing suddenly walked into the study.
What is it?
"The scouts report that the first group of evacuees is only about thirty li (approximately 15 kilometers) from the city. If they move quickly, they should arrive before noon tomorrow."
Zhou Zhengqing said.
Guo Jiwang nodded and said calmly, "Understood."
Zhou Zhengqing looked at him. "Are you worried about Militia Commander Wu?"
He had followed Guo Jiwang for many years and knew his temperament very well.
Guo Jiwang would drink when he was happy, when he was angry, and even when he was doing something serious or thinking.
There's only one situation in which I won't drink it—
When I'm nervous.
When Wu Shuangren led over two hundred men to ambush more than six thousand Mount Liang, Guo Jiwang didn't drink much.
Since Wu Shuangren led the main force away yesterday, Guo Jiwang hasn't drunk much.
"In military campaigns, if one always harbors wishful thinking and relies on the enemy's mistakes, then death is not far off."
Guo Jiwang suddenly spoke up, "The plan I gave Wu Shuangren largely relied on the opponent making a mistake, which is why I didn't want him to lead his men to Linwen County."
Zhou Zhengqing listened silently from the side, knowing that Guo Jiwang just needed someone to confide in at this moment.
Sure enough, Guo Jiwang continued, "As long as there are truly intelligent people on Mount Liang's side, my plan can only buy us half a day at most."
"Before he left, I told Wu Shuangren that he had to be prepared for a tough battle, even one that could cost him his life!"