bookrandom Chapter 2159 The decisive battle begins!
Chapter 2159 The decisive battle begins!
Chu Ning's question silenced Han Xing.
He walked to Chu Ning's side, standing shoulder to shoulder with the king as they gazed at the silent, fortified city, his mind racing with deductions.
After a moment, he said in a deep voice, "I can guess that the enemy is about to launch a general offensive."
"Moreover, judging from the scale of the rewards, the final offensive will be within seven days—because the morale boost from wine and meat can only last for seven days at most."
"And then?" Chu Ning asked.
"Then……"
Han Xing paused for a moment: "This subordinate will immediately strengthen the city's defenses, send more troops to defend the city, and prepare more rolling logs, stones, and oil-soaked arrows."
"At the same time, we must strictly control the food supplies in the city—because the fact that the Chu army dared to reward so generously shows that they have sufficient food supplies to fight a protracted war, while the food supplies in the city are limited, so we must be careful with our resources."
"Any more?"
Han Xing pondered for a moment and said, "It will also boost the morale of the defending troops, but they will not follow our army's example of giving large rewards, because the food supply will not be enough. They may increase the food rations, or... use other methods."
"for example?"
"For example, tell the soldiers that the Chu army eats their last meal before their deaths, while they eat the heroic rations for defending the country."
Han Xing's voice revealed a hint of admiration: "Guo Ziyi is a veteran general who understands the morale of the army. He must have a way to keep the defending troops fighting with limited supplies."
After listening quietly for a long time, Chu Ning slowly nodded: "What General Han said is almost exactly what I thought."
He turned back to face Jianghuai City, his black dragon-patterned cloak fluttering slightly in the night breeze: "Guo Ziyi must have guessed that I will launch a general offensive within seven days."
"He must have made preparations as well. Perhaps he even calculated my attack route, how many troops I would use to attack the east gate, how many troops to attack the west gate, how many troops to launch a feint attack, and how many troops to launch the main attack."
Han Xing's expression changed slightly: "Your Majesty, should we change our plans?"
"No need."
Chu Ning's voice suddenly became firm, each word like an iron nail driven into a wooden board: "Even if he is prepared, even if he has calculated everything, I will still take Jianghuai in one fell swoop!"
He took a step forward, as if to traverse the twenty-mile distance and step directly onto the Jianghuai city wall:
"Because this battle isn't about strategy or scheming, but rather—"
Chu Ning suddenly turned around, pointing to the sea of fire behind him, the ocean of revelry where 300,000 troops had gathered:
"It's the morale of the troops! It's the fighting spirit! It's the belief in victory!"
His voice suddenly rose, piercing through the surrounding noise: "Guo Ziyi can make the defending troops tighten their belts and hold on to the death, and can make the soldiers eat chaff and wild vegetables to persevere."
"But he cannot change one fact: outside the city, there is a well-fed and well-watered army, full of morale and eager to make a name for itself!"
"Inside the city, there are 200,000 exhausted defenders whose food supplies are dwindling daily, trapped in an isolated city, with no idea where reinforcements are coming from!"
Han Xing was thrilled by these words.
Chu Ning walked up to him, his eyes blazing: "General Han, do you believe it or not? In the general offensive seven days from now, when my war drums sound and my dragon banner points forward, the fighting power unleashed by these 300,000 troops will far exceed Guo Ziyi's imagination!"
"No matter how many schemes or preparations he makes, in the face of absolute power, they are nothing but—"
He spoke slowly and deliberately: "Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!"
Just as the words were spoken, the distant roar of Ranming's vanguard battalion echoed: "Crush the Jianghuai region! Point your swords at Chang'an!"
Immediately afterwards, the shouts of Feng Mulan's Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, along with the navy and various battalions and units, totaling 300,000 troops, rose and fell like waves crashing against the walls of Jianghuai City.
Chu Ning smiled.
That was the smile of a monarch looking down upon the world, the smile of a hegemon determined to win.
"Did you hear that, General Han?" he said softly. "This is the source of my confidence."
Han Xing knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist and said in a deep voice: "In this battle, our Chu Kingdom will surely win, and His Majesty will definitely be able to personally set foot on Jianghuai City!"
"Very well!" Chu Ning helped him up: "Seven days from now, I will drink with you and 300,000 soldiers at the Jianghuai City Tower!"
He took one last look at the fortified city that stood silently in the night.
Soldiers on the city wall, can you hear me?
Can you feel it?
The fighting spirit of these 300,000 troops has reached its peak.
Seven days later, this fighting spirit will transform into the most violent thunder, the most blazing flames, and the sharpest blade—
I will utterly shatter you, this city, and the last bulwark of the Tang Dynasty.
Chu Ning turned around and strode back to the imperial tent.
His silhouette was stretched long, very long in the towering flames.
Like a giant dragon about to take flight, it has already opened its claws and revealed its fangs.
And the prey is just ahead.
The outcome will be revealed in seven days.
Time flies, passing by in a flash.
The seventh day, dawn.
Before the morning mist had even dissipated over the Jianghuai Plain, the war drums of the Chu army camp had already sounded.
That was not the usual roll call drum, but a deep, continuous war drumbeat, like the heartbeat of the earth.
The drumbeats started from the vanguard camp at the far east and spread rapidly like ripples, eventually reaching a stretch of thirty miles where tens of thousands of war drums sounded simultaneously.
Boom——Boom——Boom——
The sound of drums shook the morning mist, made the earth tremble, and made the Tang army's banners flutter in the wind on the city walls of Jianghuai, twenty miles away.
Before the central command tent, Chu Ning, clad in golden armor and covered by a black cloak with dragon patterns, sat upright on his warhorse.
Behind him stood three thousand Imperial Guard cavalry, each clad in gleaming armor, their spears forming a forest.
Further away, the various battalions of troops were rapidly assembling, and dust billowed into the sky like yellow clouds rising from the ground.
"His Majesty."
Han Xing rode up to Chu Ning's side. The old general was now wearing his long-forgotten Mingguang armor, his white hair flying in the morning breeze.
"All battalions are ready."
Chu Ning nodded, his gaze sweeping over the generals who were about to set off: "Ran Ming."
"The general is here!"
Ran Ming dismounted and knelt on one knee.
Today, he was not wearing his usual heavy armor, but rather a light chainmail suit, with two swords at his waist and a specially made powerful bow slung across his back—this was his attire for personally scaling the city walls and fighting.
"East Gate," Chu Ning said, uttering only two words.
"Understood, sir!"
Ran Ming rose, mounted his horse, and pointed his long sword eastward: "Vanguard Battalion—follow me!"
Fifty thousand elite vanguard troops poured out of the main camp like a flood.
Instead of forming neat square formations, they advanced rapidly in skirmish formations.
This is a siege formation specially trained by Ran Ming—loose, flexible, and capable of minimizing the damage from enemy arrows and rolling logs.
But the most striking figure in this army was the fierce general who charged at the very front.
Ran Ming.
At this moment, he was wearing old but gleaming iron armor, holding a heavy battering ram, his beard and hair flying in the morning breeze.
He did not ride a horse, but walked at the forefront of the entire army, each step as steady as a mountain.
"General Ran!"
A young general rode up and said, "You are the commander of an army, how can you walk on foot? Please mount your horse!"
Ran Ming didn't turn his head, his voice as firm as iron: "Today, I will either die at the East Gate of Jianghuai, or be the first to step into Jianghuai City."
"A horse? It's in the way!"