484 Risk (1/2)

Shangguan Fei had once proposed that they should set up an ambush in the mountain and attack the Golden Roc Army on the flank. At the time, though Gu Shenwei had not seemed too enthusiastic, he was actually impressed: This was the very strategy he had conjured up with Dugu Xian.

Dugu Xian was making every effort to try to win the imminent war because like the Dragon King, they were both traitors of the Golden Roc Fort. He knew very well that the ending of the war would lead to his survival or death.

In front of the troops, Dugu Xian was a spirited commander. He inspected them every day, helped them to resolve problems and boosted the morale. Compared to the Dragon King who seldom showed his face, the approachable Left General was becoming increasingly popular.

However, in private, Dugu Xian was not so confident. Alone, with the Dragon King, he told the truth, ”In addition to the right timing and place, what matters most is the soldiers. We have 30,000 Dragon army soldiers versus 80,000 Golden Roc Army soldiers. Even if Xiaoyao Lake was 10 times larger and the An Kingdom became one man wide, there would still be gaps between us.”

Dugu Xian was not a believer in miracles either. ”Indeed, smaller forces have defeated larger forces in the past. However, that was an exception, based on the enemy's major mistakes. Otherwise, even the greatest general wouldn't have been able to defeat an army more than twice the size of his.”

Sometimes the Left General was too pessimistic. Gu Shenwei asked, ”So, why did we go south to the An Kingdom? To lose as slowly as possible?”

”We have to do it even though it's difficult. We are less in numbers, so we have to strive for every advantage we possibly can. Every one of them helps us win. We've raised the chances of winning, it's in progress, but it's not enough. Unless Shangguan Jianyi makes a major mistake, 30,000 soldiers still can't beat 80,000 soldiers.”

Gu Shenwei was not waiting for the enemy to make mistakes either. Thus, before heading south, he had been reflecting on the tactics of the final battle.

Flank attacks were normal but very effective tactics. In most cases, a general would take great precautions against raids on his flanks, unless there were already natural barriers.

Wushan was a natural barrier, its steep slope fronted on the An Kingdom. A few dozen kung fu masters could be set up there, but it was impossible for a troop.

”That's exactly why it's called an ambush, attacks from Wushan that surprise them,” Gu Shenwei explained to the Left General.

Dugu Xian thought little of the plan. ”Well, we can surprise them. But how can we manage to hide 3,000 soldiers in an impossible spot, and go unnoticed at the same time?”

Gu Shenwei had studied several maps, and asked An Kingdom natives and Wushan soldiers about every secret passage and undeveloped track before finally, choosing a place.

”Here.” Gu Shenwei pointed it out on the map. ”This is Gulping Wind Gorge, there's a gentle slope five kilometers away in the west. The roads are not too rough there; we can set up 3,000 to 5,000 people.”

Dugu Xian thought for a long while and started to question. ”First of all, we need to lead the Golden Roc Army here for the final battle.”

”Yes.”

”Did Your Majesty ever consider that, in that case, we'll give up half of the An Kingdom territory? The Golden Roc Army will come in easily. We'll be running out of advantages.”

”Since we're most likely to lose with a regular strategy, we have to take risks.”

”It's quite conspicuous here, I'm afraid he won't take the bait. Or perhaps he'll take the top of the hill beforehand, and our people will be stuck behind the hill.”

”You said no matter how well prepared we are, if we want to beat stronger enemies, we have to make them make mistakes. That's what I'm going to do.”

Dugu Xian was surprised, but slowly gained confidence from the Dragon King's cold and resolute look. The Dragon King's scheme might work; all he had to do was hold the enemies in the frontline battlefield.

However, there was something he needed to make sure of. ”Which troop will you send?”

During the establishment of the Dragon army, they had built more than 20 armies of thousands of soldiers. In the expansion, they had built a few more, amounting to 36 troops at present. Some troops fell short of 1000 soldiers, but were still referred to as armies of thousands.

Gu Shenwei shook his head. ”Since we want to surprise them, we can't be conspicuous. There're spies all over the barracks. We can't possibly deploy them in secret. Moreover, we're already less in numbers; I don't think we should divide our forces.”

Du Guxian agreed and wondered where the troops would come from.

Gu Shenwei circled Wushan on the map. ”We have a troop here.”

Du Guxian thought about it for a while. ”Tuo Nengya?”

Soon after he returned to the Western Region, Gu Shenwei appointed machetemen Tuo Nengya and Ha Chilie of the Wushan tribe to annihilate the Golden Roc Fort's remaining forces in Wushan. The two of them went deep into the mountain and cooperated with other forces to make a safe way toward the Land of Fragrance.

It was not an easy task. The two of them brought only a few people with them. Over the past few months, they had taken over some of the remaining forces, and annihilated others. In the end, they had taken a third of the area. Moreover, they had recruited more soldiers. There were already more than 3,000 people, and the number could be more than 5,000 if they recruited more.

Gu Shenwei had been in touch with Tuo Nengya through letters. When he first restructured the Dragon army, he immediately appointed Tuo Nengya as the commander of thousands, and Ha Chilie the vice commander of thousands, when they were both away from Xiaoyao Lake.