Vol 9 Chapter 135 (2/2)
“I was actually very curious about that, about how they could so accurately pinpoint what route we would take, that Lord Guan Yu would pa.s.s through there.” She said calmly as she reached out to touch her bandana and then rubbed her temple, “I thought about it for the entire afternoon and only understood how after speaking with the garrison colonel here. The enemy did not actually plan on a pincer.”
“Eh?”
“What’s going on? They didn’t plan on a pincer but they did a pincer anyway… Ah… It feels confusing.” Zhou Cang frowned as she asked irritatedly.
However, I cannot blame her at all as even I have no idea what she is talking about. Yuan Zhi did not say anything to me before this as well and she must have been brooding about it the whole afternoon while waiting for the rest to come here.
“I apologise. I was not clear.” Yuan Zhi continued and extended her hands which she brought together as she spoke, “What I meant is that the enemy did not prepare to pincer only the route we took.”
“Eh?”
“That means that the enemy laid an ambush at the other routes as well?” Yun Chang immediately responded but she still seemed troubled as she continued, “But that would be difficult to do given their numbers.”
“Yes which is why they did not have any other ambush. Just the east and west forests.” Yuan Zhi said as she nodded at Yun Chang before s.h.i.+fting her gaze to me and then back to Yun Chang, “Lord Guan Yu, do you remember how many routes were there when you advanced towards Fan city?”
“Just 1 slightly wide road.” Yun Chang replied and paused for a moment before she continued, “But there were 2 other dirt roads on either side as well that were narrower. I wondered if I should split the troops and proceed but then decided against it.”
“Un, that’s it right there.” Yuan Zhi nodded rather casually and continued in a louder tone, “Whether Lord Guan Yu chose the middle, left or right road, or split hour troops, you would have been ambushed anyway.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Un?”
“Ah… So that’s what it’s about…” Liao Hua uttered. Seems like she understood while Yun Chang and I were still in the dark. When I looked over, I saw that Liao Hua had a piece of silk in her hands which should be a map of the surrounding area.
“Ah, could it be…”
“Ah~”
Just then, Yun Chang, Wen Yuan and even Chen Ging seemed to understand what Yuan Zhi meant. Zi Long too was no longer frowning and her eyes were wide open.
“Yes.” Almost everyone understood with the exception of me but Yuan Zhi continued to explain anyway, “The reason why that is so is because the beginning and end of the 3 roads is the same. No matter which road you take, you will get ambushed by at least 1 side.”
Ah! I see… No matter which route they take, the enemy just needs to wait for them at the end and set an ambush on 2 sides to ensure that they will be able to ambush us.
“Un… From the map, the roads go through the forest and lead into a small and spa.r.s.e patch of shrubbery.” Liao Hua explained as she looked at the map, “That should be the end of the forest.”
“Which means that after they get there, they will reach the barren area just outside Fan city.”
“It should be easy for them to deploy the rest of their troops to wherever we were before springing the ambush.”
Yun Chang and Zi Long said respectively.
“And besides, based on Lord Guan Yu observed, they had cleared the branches and leaves on your side. Which means that they likely did it for the other side as well so they would have been able to ambush you even if you took the other routes.” Yuan Zhi continued to explain, “If Lord Guan Yu had taken the outer route, the troops on that side would spring the ambush before retreating to the middle. If Lord Guan Yu gave chase, the troops stationed on the other side would spring the ambush again.”
When Yuan Zhi finished, she looked around as did I. Everyone was brooding about it. Zi Long in particular looked up at Yuan Zhi and blinked but did not say anything. I too looked at Yuan Zhi and felt impressed. Yuan Zhi is clesrly capable enough on her own without relying on knowledge of history.
“There should be no other questions right? If there are none, then I will conclude what we just discussed.” Yuan Zhi said as she looked around at everyone before resting her eyes on me, “The fault for this loss lies with me for not being able to accurately predict the enemy’s movements. Because our losses were grave, we are now in a dire predicament. The greatest enemy we now face is not Li Dian or Cao Ren but the one who proposed the ambush.”
“You mean… Shen Pei?”
“Yes, if that is indeed her name. We must be wary of Shen Pei.” Yuan Zhi continued, “She is clearly devious and parlour tricks like what we used in the second battle will not be able to deceive her. If we attack, she will likely see through any weird movements. Especially after our failed raid.”
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