This was agreed upon beforehand by both sides. The Yi Province Militia would go to Rong Province under the name of the Shannan Army, so naturally they would raise the banner of the Shannan Army.
Wu Shuangren originally planned to recruit 3,000 laborers from Yi Prefecture City to join the grain transport team, but Yan Bin told him that the people of Linwen County volunteered to help transport the grain!
Therefore, the three thousand laborers no longer needed to be conscripted from Yi Prefecture City; they could simply be taken from Linwen County.
In the past few days, Linwen County has already sent a large amount of grain and fodder over.
Once this large army reaches Linwen County, it will set off with all its provisions.
This was Xu Jing's suggestion; this method is called 'station-based grain transport'.
Instead of bringing enough provisions for the entire journey from the starting point, they set up 'supply stations' along the way and delivered them one station at a time.
Linwen County was the first 'supply station'.
Next, the army will travel from Linwen County to Rong Province, carrying enough provisions for fifteen days. It will only take eight days to reach Rong Province City, saving two days compared to Wu Shuangren's initial plan.
Moreover, after the main army leaves Linwen County, Yi Prefecture City will continue to send people to Linwen County to deliver grain. The grain transport teams following the main army can turn back, retrieve grain from Linwen County, and then transport it to the front line.
The army will pass through two counties in Rong Province along the way. If they can capture both, these two counties can become new grain transport stations.
In this way, the army's supply lines will be initially established, and the time available to attack Rong Province City will be much more abundant.
Compared to Wu Shuangren's initial battle plan, Xu Jing's improvements made it more forgiving of errors.
"Set off!"
After surveying the front lines, Wu Shuangren drew his Fish-Dragon Saber, pointing the tip forward.
Twelve large drums sounded simultaneously, signaling the departure of the Yi Province Militia and the Shannan Army!
The two groups of people headed north along the official road, forming a long line that stretched as far as the eye could see.
On the city wall, Guo Jiwang stood behind the battlements, watching the army depart into the distance.
He needs to stay in the rear and guard Yi Prefecture City for Wu Shuangren.
Only with him guarding this place could Wu Shuangren feel at ease leading his troops out.
Bai Jinhuan stood beside Guo Jiwang, his body still wrapped in cloth.
He had been seriously injured by Ciwen and his injuries had not yet healed. In addition, Yi Prefecture City needed a general who could be stationed there, so Wu Shuangren asked him to guard Yi Prefecture City with Guo Jiwang.
Bai Jinhuan looked on with regret as he watched the departing procession.
Rather than guarding Yi Prefecture City, he preferred to stay with the troops, leading First Battalion of soldiers to fight alongside Wu Shuangren!
Guo Jiwang patted him on the shoulder. "Bingzheng, you'll go to Mist Hidden Mountain next and keep an eye on everyone to train those new recruits well. If things don't go well in Rong Province, we might need to send reinforcements."
Bai Jinhuan was taken aback, then turned to look at Guo Jiwang: "Mr. Guo, Mount Liang has suffered defeat after defeat, and should no longer be able to stop the advance of the Yi Province Militia and the Shannan Army, right?"
He didn't think the battle in Rong Province was likely to go wrong.
Guo Jiwang smiled, picked up the wine gourd, and took a sip:
I hope so.
As the more than 6,000 Yi Province Militia marched towards Rong Province together with the Shannan Army, Song Hai, who was located in Ya Province City, had already quietly sent someone to the Shannan Army's camp to meet with Wang Yan, the commander-in-chief of the Shannan Army this time.
Upon meeting the envoy sent by Song Hai, Wang Yan asked directly, "Speak, what brings you to see me, Commander?"
The envoy bowed respectfully to Wang Yan and said:
"Commander Song asked me to inquire with Marshal Wang whether the Shannan Army would like to add tens of thousands more troops?"
P. S.: I've had a cold and headache for the past couple of days, so I'm not posting much.
177. With the army at Rong Province, how can we attack the city?
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178. Attacking cities is inferior; attacking hearts and minds is superior.
The next morning, the two armies split up.
The Shannan Army guarded the south side of Rong Province City, while Wu Shuangren led the Yi Province Militia to guard the east side of Rong Province City.
Both sides' cavalry patrolled outside the city to prevent anyone from the city from launching a surprise attack on the supply lines.
Xu Jing led his men to set up another camp on the east side, and had several watchtowers built on high ground to keep watch over the city walls day and night.
While the camp was still under construction, Wu Shuangren ordered Xu Yu to take several Internal Skill to ride horses to the Rong Province City and shout a message:
"Listen up, you Mount Liang people! You've suffered defeat after defeat in Yi Province, and now we're here to kill you again! Why don't you surrender?!"
A commotion broke out on the city wall.
From being the attacker and invader at the beginning, to now being attacked and provoked by others.
This stark contrast indeed left many Mount Liang warriors feeling frustrated and disheartened.
However, this provocation was just the beginning.
Next, Wu Shuangren continued to have people shout into the city.
How were the vanguard of Mount Liang, numbering over 3,000, defeated by just over 200 men? How was the Mount Liang Army defeated at the Yi Prefecture City? How was Lu Yulin's wrist broken? How was Guan Sheng captured alive?
These events were loudly proclaimed below the city walls, described in vivid detail!
The defenders on the city wall went from initial agitation and anger to shouting back, but eventually fell silent.
What breaks a person's defenses is never harsh words, but the truth.
Lu Yulin sat inside the city gate tower; the injury to his left wrist had not yet healed.
He touched his wrist, his face ashen.
"Brother, just bear with it a little longer. Once things are settled in Ya Province, we'll finally be able to hold our heads high!"
Yan Xiaobing comforted him from the side.
"To finally get my revenge?"
Lu Yulin gave a self-deprecating laugh, shook his head, and remained silent.
Outside the city, mocking remarks echoed all day long.
The next day, Wu Shuangren rode alone to a stop three hundred paces outside the city gate, activated his Internal Skill, and shouted:
"Lu Yulin, I'll give you one more chance. Come out and fight me one-on-one! If you win, I'll withdraw my troops; if you lose, surrender the city!"
Another commotion broke out on the city wall.
The defeat of the Mount Liang Army Yi Prefecture City cannot be entirely blamed on Lu Yulin. However, Lu Yulin's one-on-one loss to Wu Shuangren was indeed a contributing factor to the Mount Liang Army's defeat.
If he had been able to defeat or even kill Wu Shuangren on the spot, the outcome might have been different!
The low morale of the Mount Liang soldiers in Rong Province City is largely due to Lu Yulin's defeat.
If someone had dared to provoke Lu Yulin in the past, challenging him to a duel, the Mount Liang warriors would have eagerly awaited to see how their war god would defeat his opponent.
But now that Wu Shuangren has proposed a duel with Lu Yulin, the Mount Liang soldiers in the city are no longer looking forward to it, but rather worried.
Inside the city gate, Lu Yulin tried several times to get up, pick up his spear, and go out to fight Wu Shuangren!
But in the end, he held back.
His left hand injury has not yet fully healed, which will affect his marksmanship.
This made him lack confidence that he could defeat Wu Shuangren.
Yan Xiaobing, who had been watching over Lu Yulin the whole time, could naturally see the struggle in Lu Yulin's heart, so he comforted him, "Brother, once you've recovered from your injuries, you'll have plenty of opportunities to compete with him and reclaim the reputation you've lost today!"
Lu Yulin touched his left wrist and nodded.
In any case, Lu Yulin ultimately did not step forward to respond to Wu Shuangren's challenge that day.
The morale of the Mount Liang soldiers inside the city continued to decline.
On the fourth day, Wu Shuangren and Xu Rong simultaneously sent men to fill in the moat.
The moat of Rong Province City is fed by water from a nearby river. Now it is the dry season, and most of the riverbed is exposed. The deepest part of the water is no more than knee-deep, so the water in the moat is naturally even less.
It's more like a dry moat than a moat, which would be easier to fill in.
In fact, many cities do not have moats, only city ditches.
But no matter what, someone still needs to brave the rain of arrows from the city walls to fill in the soil.
Huang Cheng, the First Battalion commander of the Rong Province Battalion, was the first to step forward and volunteer to Wu Shuangren: "Commander, I'll lead men to fill in the soil!"
Another Rong Province Battalion also vied to take the position.
Wu Shuangren gathered all the lamellar armor he had on hand for them, and those who needed more wore leather armor. He also had the archer brigade provide support from behind.
Two Militia Private from Rong Province Battalion, carrying shields and earthen bags, charged forward despite the rain of arrows raining down from the city walls.
The arrows struck the shield with a thud.
Occasionally, someone would be struck by an arrow and fall, and those nearby would immediately drag them back.
The Militia Private from the two battalions took turns going forward, throwing one bag of soil after another into the trench, gradually filling the bottom of the trench.
The so-called filling doesn't actually require filling the entire moat; it only requires selecting a few areas to fill in, allowing the army to approach the city walls.
The Shannan Army and the Yi Province Militia filled in several sections of the moat on the south and east sides of the city in just over half a day.
Because Wu Shuangren provided enough and good armor, and with the cover of a large archer unit, the casualties in the two Rong Province Battalion were very small, with only a dozen or so people wounded by arrows and no one dying.
Morale in the city is very low.
By observing the counterattacks on the city wall, Xu Jing drew a conclusion and said it to Wu Shuangren.
The Rong Province Battalion suffered few casualties not only because Wu Shuangren's side was well-prepared, but also because the Mount Liang soldiers on the city wall were unable to mount a counterattack.
Most of the arrows were inaccurate, indicating that the soldiers on the city wall didn't aim at all after peeking out; they just fired a random arrow as if it were a task to be completed.
"Given Mount Liang's current morale, if we launch a full-scale attack, we have a very good chance of taking it!"
Xu Jing said to Wu Shuangren.
Wu Shuangren nodded, but he did not intend to launch a direct attack.
Filling the city with soil can minimize casualties, but if they launch a surprise attack, the casualties will be considerable no matter what.
On the fifth day, the Shannan Army and the Yi Province Militia filled in several more sections of the moat to the north and west.
That night, Wu Shuangren ordered a feigned attack on the city.
Squads of Militia Private, carrying torches and ladders, ran towards the city wall, preparing to attack!
The soldiers inside the city were so frightened that they immediately started beating drums and gongs, urging the already sleeping soldiers to rush to the city walls.
However, the Militia Private carrying the grappling ladders did not actually get close to the city wall; they stopped halfway there.
Next, under the cover of their shields, the archers continued to approach the city walls and fired fire arrows into the city.
Arrows, trailing flames, flew over the city walls and landed on the rooftops inside the city, causing smoke to rise in some places.
Although the Mount Liang soldiers on the city wall had made fire prevention preparations long ago, they were still in a state of chaos.
Subsequently, disturbances were also heard from the north, south, and west of Rong Province City.
Wu Shuangren's Yi Province Militia, in coordination with the Shannan Army, continuously sent out men in batches to feign an attack on the city and harass the defending troops inside.
This was done not only to wear down the morale of the city's defenders, but also to prevent the enemy from sending men out of the city at night to reopen the filled-in moat.
As dawn approached, the Shannan Army and the Yi Province Militia retreated without a single casualty.
The Mount Liang garrison inside the city was exhausted after a night of turmoil.
Those outside the city knew that each attack was a feint, so they could take turns fighting, while the rest slept peacefully.
However, the garrison inside the city was unsure which attack might actually happen, so they remained constantly on edge and couldn't get proper rest.
Defending a city requires not only energy and physical strength, but also a strong will!
Over the next few days, Wu Shuangren did not actually attack the city. During the day, he sent people to shout insults and provoke a battle, and at night he sent people to harass the city incessantly.