Chapter 230 - 144 Capital City Tremors_5

Cao Fan managed a bitter smile.

This was probably the only thing that could offer him solace in this predicament.

Another two days passed.

On the third day,

the siege from outside the city suddenly ceased!

"What’s going on?"

Sha Wenlong asked anxiously, "Could it be that reinforcements have already arrived?"

"Report—"

The scout came back with news.

Twenty scouts went out, but at most only two or three would return each time.

He said wildly with joy, "General Sha, the rebel army’s food and forage supply was cut off three days ago. They are now forced to temporarily stop their offensive and send people northwest to gather supplies. The troops outside the city have decreased by one-third!"

Then, before the supplies run out, new ones are delivered. Any error in between can lead to food supply interruption.

This is often why it’s said that provisions should go before soldiers and horses.

Now the rebel army outside the city is hungry, which is starting to cause chaos among the troops. A forced siege at this time might lead to significant losses.

"Good, good!"

Cao Fan hurriedly asked, "Is it a great victory in the northwest? Have the Vermilion Bird Camp and White Tiger Camp broken through? No, wait, then why would they go northwest for supplies... Could it be Sword Gate Canyon? Impossible to be so quick."

"It is indeed strange. Ming State has two granaries in total, one large and one small. The largest is Golden Spring Manor, followed by Mingdi Prefecture in the northwest, which is the smaller granary and doesn’t have much food."

Sha Wenlong, looking at the map, said, "Logically, the food and forage for the rebel army outside the city should be supplied from Golden Spring Manor. Why run to the northwest? Could it be... Golden Spring Manor’s supply line has been raided?"

"Impossible!"

"There’s no way our forces would appear at this location!"

"General Zhao!"

Cao Fan’s eyes lit up, "General Sha, is it possible that General Zhao has used some clever strategy outside Wutong Prefecture, devoured the pursuing forces, and then turned back to Golden Spring Manor?"

"That’s the only possibility!"

Sha Wenlong thoughtfully nodded, "If so, General Zhao has made an enormous contribution. After the granaries of Golden Spring Manor were torched, the granary of Mingdi Prefecture is simply not enough to supply Chi Mei, the rebel army, and West Qi’s armies all at once. At most, it’s only to avoid immediate demoralization. If they plan on a protracted war, they must transport food from outside the Great Wall, and that cost would be astronomical. This will be of great help in the overall war situation!"

"Chiu—"

While the two were discussing,

a Hai Dongqing flew in against the setting sun.

"Princely Heir, look, it’s Chen Sansi’s bird. I suspect it’s probably dead. From now on, this Hai Dongqing can be yours to use... Hm? There’s intelligence on it?"

Sha Wenlong removed the note and after reading it, his body shook, and he involuntarily took two steps back.

"General Sha?"

Cao Fan stood up, "He’s not dead?"

"Far from it, far from dead!"

Sha Wenlong’s hands were slightly trembling, "On their journey eastward and southward, they suddenly turned around, leaving tens of thousands of our troops grasping at straws! Then they marched westward, they are the ones who burned the supply line, and by now they may have taken Golden Spring Manor."

"Based on their current route, they are likely to continue westward and meet up with Zhao Wuji soon to attack Wutong Prefecture. If that’s the case, Wutong Prefecture might hold out even longer than us!"

"This youngster, how did he come up with this? He sure has a lot of nerve. Doesn’t he fear encountering a large enemy force after crossing the river?"

Intelligence must be shared, and it must be real.

That is the rule in the military, an iron-clad rule.

Even if there were previous disagreements, they still needed to keep each other informed; otherwise, it would be tantamount to murdering the Right Army. If it leads to severe consequences, it would be considered as treason—a betrayal of the nation, and exterminating one’s entire family wouldn’t be out of the question.

After hearing all this,

Cao Fan clenched his fists.

He started desperately searching the map for "dead" routes, and after racking his brain, he finally found a flaw, "It’s too late! Even if previously ignored, following the burning of the food and forage, West Qi Kingdom will definitely send troops southward to encircle General Zhao. If we join forces now, we would directly run into West Qi’s large army, still a dead end. Wutong Prefecture, they can’t take it!"

"Princely Heir, you truly have a thorough understanding of Military Books, even I overlooked this. You’re right, they’re still doomed."

Sha Wenlong nodded satisfactorily, "The difference is, before they die, they’ve relieved some of our pressure."

"That guy..."

Even Cao Fan began to feel a sense of regret.

If he could go back to before Selected Point started, instead of waiting for the other party to court his favor and not simply regarding him as a "dog" that needed an owner, was there a possibility to make him his own?

Grandpa really had foresight, having seen this person’s extraordinariness a long time ago.

But now, it was too late to say anything.

It would be best for this person to die near Wutong Prefecture, otherwise, if he managed to survive to the end, there would be big trouble.

Outside the city.

Central Army Tent.

"So soon? Couldn’t stop them after all..."

Dong An closed his eyes, feeling an inexplicable suffocation.

He had really been outplayed by a greenhorn.

"Every disciple of Sun Xiangzong deserves to die, all of them!"

Dong An nearly smashed the map, "Encircle them to death, encircle them to death behind Golden Spring Manor, I want their heads, I want to see a head surnamed Chen, do you understand!"

"Yes!"

...

On the border of Yan State, the camp of West Qi Kingdom’s large troops.

Martial Saint Zhong Wuxin, looking at the report of the granary being burned, his face darkened, then all his emotions settled into a cold laugh, "If I had known that Dong An was such a failure, I would never have agreed to his ’shutting the door to hit the dog’ strategy. Now, look what’s happened, we’ve lost our provisions; it might actually be better to let Liang Ji come out and command, maybe there’d be some improvement."