Uncle Liu stared at him in astonishment, thinking he must have misheard. “What did you say?”
Ye Shang smiled. “My lord intends to send several thousand elite soldiers to break through from inside the city. It’s just that—”
Before he could finish, Uncle Liu interrupted him. “Impossible. Ji Duoyan is not only cautious, but extremely afraid of death. There are more than twenty thousand guards stationed inside Wenxia City alone.
“There are also over forty thousand troops stationed less than five li outside the city. If anything happens inside, they can reach Wenxia City quickly to reinforce it.
“The surrounding counties have garrisons as well. As soon as Wenxia City comes under threat, tens of thousands of soldiers can gather and rush to its aid in less than half an hour.
“So it’s impossible for several thousand of you to take Wenxia City. Even if you did, you wouldn’t be able to get out or hold it.
“By then, not only would you fail to save the Young General, you might also drag the entire city’s people—and yourselves—into disaster.”
Ye Shang understood his concerns, but he had absolute faith in his lord.
Since his lord had issued the order, all he needed to do was carry it out. His lord would take care of everything else.
He smiled and shook his head. “Do you know how long it took my lord to seize Heichun County in Donghu Commandery?”
“How long?”
“One night. The enemy had more than ten thousand men defending the city, while my lord had only several thousand attackers. It was a real siege.”
Uncle Liu was stunned, his mouth hanging open as he struggled to process what he had heard.
When had there ever been a siege in which the attacking force was smaller than the defending force, yet still managed to take the city in such a short time?
Back then, the great general Zhou Sui had defended a city with only three thousand soldiers for a month and a half. Aside from Zhou Sui’s bravery and skill as a commander, it was also because he had the advantage of defending behind city walls.
That alone showed how difficult it was to attack a fortified city!
Ye Shang continued, “So you needn’t worry. My lord will certainly have everything arranged. The question now is, how do we get my lord’s men into the city?”
The hope Uncle Liu had just felt was immediately crushed again. If there were a way to get inside, sieging the city would not be so difficult in the first place.
Ye Shang was unaware of his silent complaint. “My lord’s idea is to dig a tunnel.”
Under the dim glow of the oil lamp, he spread out the map he had drawn. “We’ll start from here inside the city, then pass through this place, and this one…”
“There are several issues we need to consider. First, how do we dispose of the soil we dig out? Second, we need to find a reliable household near this section of the city wall to serve as the tunnel entrance. We can begin digging from beneath their stove or under their bed…”
Tunnels were difficult to dig. Every zhang they could save meant they could attack the city that much sooner.
Seeing Uncle Liu’s stunned expression, Ye Shang smiled.
“Don’t worry. We’ll dig from both inside and outside the city. Our people will only handle the section within the city; our men outside will dig the rest. I’m just not familiar enough with the city, and I’m worried we might fail to connect the two sections properly.”
It took Uncle Liu quite a while to recover. “You—you people are bold. Crazy, even!”
Ye Shang nodded. “It is crazy. But once we take control of Wenxia City and capture Ji Duoyan and all his civil and military officials, just imagine…”
There was no need to imagine. Uncle Liu was already trembling with excitement. He stroked the map with shaking hands, and after a long while, spat out one word:
“Let’s do it!”
“However, the location you chose for the tunnel isn’t ideal. The soil in this area is sandy and gravelly, so it’s prone to collapse. I suggest changing the route.
“And there’s the moat. The spot you chose is relatively deep. You could move it here instead. This is the shallowest part of the entire moat, and the soil is clay, which is much less likely to collapse.”
Clay was more difficult to excavate, but it was stable and resistant to cave-ins. When digging underground, the safety of the workers was the most important consideration.
As another thought occurred to him, his expression grew animated. He pointed toward a location outside the city.
“This place is farther from the entrance you selected, but someone has dug here before. They made it about two li in, though the tunnel was later abandoned.”
Ye Shang was startled. “Who dug it? Why did they abandon it?”
Uncle Liu’s gaze turned complicated. “A group of bandits. They wanted to enter the city and save their relatives inside. Unfortunately, there was a drought last year. They ate all the tree bark in the mountains before they had no choice but to give up after digging two li.”
He had learned about it by chance. At the time, he had felt both pity and despair.
How could an underground tunnel be easy to dig?
The total distance from their selected location to the city was fourteen or fifteen li. Two li might sound like a lot, but it was merely the beginning. The true challenge had yet to come—after all, the moat was the critical obstacle.
Ye Shang’s eyes lit up. He had known that dealing more with the soldiers of the Northwest Army would always yield something useful.
Especially someone like Uncle Liu, a veteran who had spent his entire life in Chongzhou. He was familiar with the terrain of its various regions and cities.
Uncle Liu’s voice carried a note of sorrow. “Chongzhou was the first place invaded by the barbarians. It began a century ago with small-scale raids, and only later did they progress to attacking cities and seizing territory.
“That’s why the people of Chongzhou are mostly fierce and hardy. Those who weren’t tough enough have long since died. That’s also why there are so many bandits in Chongzhou. They’re simply common people who couldn’t survive any other way.”
Ye Shang nodded solemnly. “Once my lord takes Chongzhou, as long as those mountain bandits haven’t resorted to cannibalism or slaughtered their fellow countrymen, they can all become my lord’s people.”
Seeing the confidence and reverence in his eyes whenever he spoke of his lord, Uncle Liu was momentarily dazed. Thinking of how formidable Ye Shang and the others were, he suddenly found himself looking forward to what was to come.
Could there really be someone capable of saving Chongzhou?
He steadied his emotions and lowered his head to examine the map. “This place has another advantage: it’s remote. Ji’s army rarely patrols this deep in the mountains.”
The location Jiang Jin had chosen and the place Uncle Liu had mentioned were actually within the same stretch of forest, but Uncle Liu’s spot lay deeper in the mountains.
It was nearly dawn by the time the two men finished discussing all the details.
The next step was finding a way to send the information out. Since Ye Shang was occasionally assigned to patrol outside, this would not be difficult.
Several days later, Jiang Jin received Ye Shang’s message. Not long after, she dispatched a team of Dragonshadow Guards, along with more than a dozen highly skilled excavation specialists, to Chongzhou.
In Sizhou, Qiu Tai had already prepared two entire boatloads of medicinal herbs, intending to go to Fengzhou and make a name for himself.
Those with similar plans, as well as people pursuing other opportunities, gradually began heading to Fengzhou too.
Hua Yuanyi took advantage of his official position to search throughout Sizhou for people who could no longer make a living, transporting them to Fengzhou in an endless stream.
Watching more and more people pour into Fengzhou, Jiang Jin was in an excellent mood. She began planning the final blow against Qu Zhao—the attack that would bring all of Fengzhou under her control.
Ningding Commandery consisted of six counties in total. The coastal counties of Tao and Zhuangchang had already been seized by Daqing, leaving Qu Zhao with only four counties, including Wuqin.
But before she could make a move, she received some news.
“Qu Zhao has withdrawn from Shanshan County?”
The scout nodded. “They also hung the bodies of a hundred Han civilians from the city gate.”
It was both a show of force and an attempt to provoke them. Clearly, Qu Zhao was truly desperate.
“Despicable!” Shuangjiang gritted her teeth in fury.
Xia Chanyi frowned. “What does this mean? Aren’t they afraid of provoking us?”
Qiu Liao sighed helplessly. “Perhaps they simply couldn’t accept defeat.”
A cold glint flashed through Jiang Jin’s eyes, though her expression remained calm. The casualties had already occurred and could not be undone. All they could do was make the enemy pay for them in the future.
She looked down at the map. “In that case, Qu Zhao is left with only Wuqin, Yunqi, and Ding County.”
Zhou Sui nodded. “The three counties can form a triangular formation, supporting and defending one another. Abandoning Shanshan County is a wise choice.”
Xia Chanyi frowned. “My lord, are we going to take over Shanshan County now?”
Jiang Jin nodded. “Yes, but Qu Zhao may very well have left all kinds of traps behind in the city.”
She turned to Xia Chanyi. “You will lead a team to Shanshan County. Be extremely careful.”
Xia Chanyi rose and bowed. “Understood.”
