Chapter 331 (1/2)

Hu Che Er had no choice but to go to battle after receiving Zhang Xiu’s letter. In the end, he could only tell his subordinates to prepare to dispatch. However, Hu Che Er had already become afraid of Xu Shu’s strategy and Liao Hua’s ambush. So, he dispatched his troops cautiously. The first place he sent his troops to was Guangzhou.

Ten scouts went to the walls of Guangzhou and noted that Urban Army’s banner and Liu Mang’s banner was no longer there. The Black Flag Army was still around along with Xu Cheng, w.a.n.g Wei, Hao Shao, and two more of the Urban Army’s generals, Huang Xu and Cheng Yu. This showed that Liu Mang had truly left the city.

However, Hu Che Er was still not relieved as the banners could be set up or taken down at will. For example, the Urban Army and the Black Flag Army could have already left the city to fight. Hu Che Er was not sure if Liu Mang was actually courting death. If they were ambushed by ten thousand heavy infantries, he would not even have enough men for them to kill.

So, Hu Che Er had the Hans in his army take off their armor and leave their horses to enter the city as a common citizen. Hu Che Er initially thought that this would be a difficult task but Guangzhou’s gates were wide open. After Liu Mang had left, Hao Shao gave the order for Guangzhou’s gates to be open at all times, unless there was an invasion. He did this simply to tell Hu Che Er that he is allowed to spy on them as much as he wants.

When the spies entered the city, they were immediately observed as Yangzhou currently had little population. On top of that, Guangzhou was a small city with only about a few hundred citizens. Now that there was war everywhere, the common people would not be running around everywhere. Most of them would simply wait for the war to end before coming out. This was why the few spies were extremely obvious.

Hao Shao was also very tired. Not only did he need to let these people in. He also needed to make sure not to hinder them. He even needed to have people pretend to be greedy and take bribes to bring them to look at the main camp. It was to the extent that Hao Shao felt like a turncoat. Fortunately, the scouts went back in less than a day.

“Milord. The rest is up to you!” Hao Shao muttered after he saw the spies leave in satisfaction.

“What did you say? The Black Flag Army and half the Urban Army is still in the city?” Hu Che Er asked while playing with his sword. The Black Flag Army only have five thousand men and the Urban Army also have five thousand men. This was confirmed information. However, if the spies’ words were right, this meant that there were seven thousand and five hundred men in the city. This also meant that Liu Mang truly took only two thousand and five hundred men with him.

If this was the case, Hu Che Er was no longer afraid. After all, he was only afraid that it might be a trap. If there were really seven thousand and five hundred soldiers in the city, Hu Che Er would quickly dispatch his Xiliang Cavalry to fight against Liu Mang and earn merits. He would not let this chance go. However, Hu Che Er calmed himself down and said, “Go to the city and spy on them again. If this is truly the case, you will be rewarded heftily!” Hu Che Er wanted to know everything before he dared to act.

“Yes!” Although the spies were not too willing to go again as they had already spied on the enemy, they once again did as instructed because Hu Che Er commanded them to and also promised them rewards, giving them motivation.

Before these people re-entered Guangzhou, the gates of Guangzhou suddenly opened. A group of heavily armored soldiers began to line up at the moat outside the city.

Taking the lead was the Black Flag Army with Xu Sheng and w.a.n.g Wei at the front. At the rear was half the Urban Army with Cheng Yu and Huang Xu amongst them. These seven thousand five hundred troops encircled the plains of Guangzhou.

“Good! I knew there was a trap! These two groups should be moving out to the promised location to ambush us!” Hu Che Er said with disdain. He then thought highly of himself for being cautious enough to dispatch his men to spy on the enemy a second time.

“General is wise!” The Qiangs were not good at flattering but the Hans were smarter at such things. Although flattering was derogatory, there is no one who doesn’t like hearing words of praise. Those few words placed Hu Che Er in a good mood.

“Come! Bring me a pen!” Hu Che Er asked for a pen while feeling pleased with himself. Hu Che Er was of Qiang descent. Although he knew military strategies, he was still not as good with texts. He could read but not write. One Han soldier stood beside Hu Che Er and wanted to give praise that Hu Che Er had good handwriting. However, those words remained stuck in his throat. After a long time, Hu Che Er asked, “How do I write this word?”

A few of the Hans became helpless. Fortunately, there were a few that could write. They helped Hu Che Er to write a reply to Zhang Xiu. Zhang Xiu had written a simple letter with one word. “War”. Hu Che Er returned Zhang Xiu with a simple reply. “It’s a trap.”

Zhang Xiu wanted him to dispatch to show the might of the XIliang Cavalry but since that there was a strap, he could not dispatch. Hu Che Er dispatched someone to send this information and was prepared to lead his troops back to his main camp. However, he was soon pulled to the side by one Han 1000-man commander. The man looked at the troops at Guangzhou and asked, “General. Don’t you feel that something is wrong?”

“Wrong? What is wrong? These are all heavy infantries. Have you not seen them before? Have you never seen the Left General’s White Eared Soldiers? Making a fuss over nothing!” Hu Che Er replied to the Han 1000-man commander with disdain.

“No, General. I know of the things you speak of but did you not notice that they have been standing there for a long time now?” The man asked again. Quite some time have pa.s.sed since the time he dispatched scouts to the time he was troubling over how to write the letter. However, the troops remained standing outside Guangzhou City.

“Haha. They are making a battle formation in fear that we would attack them during the journey!” Heavy infantries needed to be in formation to fight against heavy cavalries. If not, they would easily be torn apart.

“Really?” The Han 1000-man commander was in doubt. Would it really take that long to make a formation? Even the White Eared Soldiers did not take that long. Was the White Eared Soldiers of higher grade than the Black Flag Army and the Urban Army?

Just as Hu Che Er was about to leave, something big happened.

“General!” The Han 1000-man commander called out again. Hu Che Er was now very agitated. Had this Han 1000-man commander not praise him earlier, Hu Che Er would have already slapped him. “What now?” Hu Che Er asked while feeling vexed but the moment he turned around, he was also stunned. The Urban Army and Black Flag Army that he believed would ambush him turned around and returned to the city. What was going on?

“General! They are withdrawing?” The Han 1000-man commander was in doubt but the reality in front of him showed him this. The heavy infantries that had lined up went back inside the city.

“There is definitely a trick!” Hu Che Er said as he watched “That’s right. They must enter from this gate and then exit from another! They do this to confuse us!” Hu Che Er finally reasoned.

“General is wise to even be able to see the Fake King’s schemes! Truly a G.o.d of the military!” The flattering came again.

Just as Hu Che Er felt pleased with himself, two soldiers that have once entered Guangzhou replied, “General. Guangzhou only has two entrance. Our scouts are also placed at the other side. If the enemies leave from that side, we would be informed.” Hu Che Er had already sent spies in. Those people soon gave the report that the soldiers did not use any misdirection tactics and had returned to their main camp.

“They should be preparing to set out at night!” Hu Che Er continued to be cautious but he was no longer in a hurry to return to his main camp. They cooked, ate, and slept. Hu Che Er asked to be called when there was movement.

Hu Che Er had slept very soundly until a soldier entered his camp and woke him up.