Chapter 1391
Guerrilla Tactics at Lingyun Pass
Chapter 1391 Guerrilla Tactics at Lingyun Pass
"Commander Zhao, rest assured, Her Majesty the Empress is in the palace. If you have any doubts, you can send someone to verify. However, right now the rebel army is at the gates of the city, and the capital is in imminent danger. Time is of the essence. If we delay the battle, no one can bear the responsibility."
Wang Mang was prepared and laughed.
“Commander Zhao, I am Ruyi, the Empress’s attendant. Today’s matter is indeed the Empress’s decree. If you do not believe me, you can look at this phoenix-patterned token.”
Wu Ruyi spoke at the opportune moment.
As she spoke, she took out a golden token from her waist, engraved with a phoenix with outstretched wings; it was Empress Liu's exclusive token.
"This humble general, Lie Changping, pays his respects to Grand Secretary Wang! The Zhen Tian Xuan Jia Army, numbering eighteen thousand soldiers, is ready to be deployed at any time!"
Upon seeing the phoenix-patterned token, Lie Changping finally stopped hesitating, knelt on one knee, and proclaimed loudly.
Meanwhile, the Northern Army camp below Lingyun Pass was experiencing a truly dire situation!
It wasn't because Kong Xuan on the city wall was particularly difficult to defeat, but rather because the assassins under Su Ye's command, the Luo Wang, had taken the concept of "harassment" to its extreme, making them veritable ancient versions of "guerrilla warfare masters."
Since Yan Ri received Su Ye's orders, Luo Wang has completely entered a "no-holds-barred" mode around Lingyun Pass.
These assassins were like reckless madmen, lurking in the mountains and ravines during the day and rushing out at night like they were on steroids, specifically targeting the Northern Army's logistics supply lines.
Whether it was a supply convoy, an armory escort, or even a medical team transporting wounded soldiers, they would not let any of them go unpunished if they were alone or poorly defended.
The Northern Army's logistics lines stretched for dozens of miles. They originally thought that having arranged thousands of elite guards would ensure their safety, but they couldn't withstand the combined "human wave tactics" and "suicide attacks" of the Luo Wang assassins.
At first, they were low-level assassins, like demons and monsters, who would sneak up in groups of three or five, using poisoned short blades to stab horses' legs, release sleeping gas, and burn supplies. Once they succeeded, they would run away; if they couldn't escape, they would take the enemy down with them.
On one occasion, a small team transporting salt was targeted by three assassins of the Wraith level. They actually carried burning oil canisters and charged directly into the guards' shield formation, blasting a gap in the shield wall. Although they were hacked to death, they burned half a cart of salt to ashes. Salt is a strategic resource, and soldiers without salt have no strength to fight. This operation caused the Beifu soldiers on the front line to eat bland food for several days.
Later, Liu Yu increased the number of guards and even had the monks of Luyeyuan Temple help him, but the Luowang's offensive became even more intense. They even changed to having assassins of the Earth and Absolute levels leading the team. These people were stronger and more ruthless. They were no longer satisfied with small skirmishes but directly attacked the core of the transport team.
In the most tragic instance, in order to delay the supply of urgently needed arrows, Yan Ri directly dispatched five top-tier assassins and hundreds of demon-level assassins to launch a "siege and attack" operation.
First, they attacked the vanguard of the arrow transport team, deliberately leaving survivors to call for reinforcements, and then ambushed them in the valley that the reinforcements would inevitably pass through.
When the Northern Army's reinforcements arrived, they were met with a barrage of rockets and rolling boulders, as well as the Luo Wang assassins clutching oil canisters. The battle raged from midnight until dawn, leaving the valley filled with corpses. Almost all of the Luo Wang assassins perished, with five top-tier assassins fighting to the death.
One of the top-tier assassins, in order to destroy the arrow cart, dragged his severed legs, crawled under the cart, and ignited the explosives, turning himself and the entire cart of arrows into ashes.
On the other hand, the Northern Army suffered more than half of its reinforcements killed or wounded, and 70% of the arrows in the transport convoy were burned, leaving the archers at the front line in a predicament of having "no arrows to use".
The actions of the Luo Wang organization were a prime example of "hurting the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of your own." Yan Ri looked at the casualty reports of his assassins, his heart bleeding—these were all elites cultivated by the Luo Wang organization over many years. Especially the Killer-level and Earth-level assassins, each one nurtured at great expense, were now being sacrificed like leeks to buy time. Anyone would feel the pain.
But he also knew that Su Ye's order was "at all costs." Lingyun Pass could not be lost, and Kong Xuan could not be defeated. The sacrifice of these assassins was to buy time for Wang Xiangyang's reinforcements.
The effects of these sacrifices were immediate. The logistics of the Northern Army were thrown into chaos, the transport cycle of food supplies was extended from three days to seven days, and there were frequent shortages of weapons and medicines.
Frontline soldiers sometimes go hungry, and wounded soldiers, lacking medicine, can only endure the pain, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness.
Liu Yu originally planned to launch a general offensive three days later, but due to a shortage of arrows and damage to siege equipment, he had to postpone it again and again, and was dragged out for half a month.
What troubled Liu Yu even more was that the harassment from the Luo Wang was ubiquitous. They not only attacked the logistics, but also sneaked into the camp to cause damage—setting fire to tents at night, throwing laxatives into wells, and even mixing sand into the army's rations.
On one occasion, Liu Yu's central command tent was almost burned down by a fire, but fortunately the guards discovered it in time, preventing a major disaster.
Although these incidents did not cause major casualties, they greatly affected the morale of the Northern Army. During the day, the soldiers had to guard the city and repair equipment, and at night they had to guard against the sneak attacks of the Luowang. They were all exhausted and full of complaints.
Liu Yu also tried to counterattack, sending many soldiers to search for the assassins in the mountains and forests. However, these assassins were as slippery as eels, familiar with the terrain and good at disguise. The Northern Army searched several times but found nothing. Instead, they were ambushed several times and lost a lot of manpower.
Although the many grandmasters and celestial-level masters of the Rokunoenji Temple were experts in internal energy, the Luo Wang assassins would hit and run, never engaging them in direct combat. They could only follow the logistics team, running around frantically, and were of little use.
"These bastards from the Net are like persistent ghosts!"
Liu Yu was so angry in the main tent that he stomped his feet and almost smashed the wine cup in his hand.
He had fought for many years and had seen all kinds of opponents, but he had never encountered anyone as "uncivilized" as Luo Wang.
Unable to attack or defend, they could only watch helplessly as their logistics were gradually eroded, and their siege plans were repeatedly delayed.
Even Liu Muzhi was frowning. He did the math and realized that in the past half month, the Northern Army had lost enough food and weapons due to the harassment of the Luo Wang to support a 30,000-strong army in a small-scale battle, not to mention the casualties and the time lost.
"My lord, this cannot go on. The Luo Wang is clearly trying to buy time. Their reinforcements are definitely on their way. We must solve the logistical problem as soon as possible, otherwise Lingyun Pass will be even more difficult to attack once their reinforcements arrive."
Liu Yu understood this principle, but he was at his wit's end—he sent out more and more guards, but the assassins from the Luo Wang organization seemed endless; as soon as one batch was dealt with, another batch would arrive.
In the end, he could only turn his gaze to the vast sky.
“Brother, only you can keep things in order now. Go to the rear and escort a batch of supplies over. With you there, those bastards from the Luo Wang organization will definitely not dare to act recklessly.”
(End of this chapter)