Chapter 70: The Art of Retreat

  Liuju Zhuang, where Yan Liang's army is stationed.

  After returning to the camp, he took off his armor and sat down with a thud, humming: "Brother, today's battle was too suffocating. We fought against Wang Lei with several times our strength, yet ended in defeat, losing face." As he spoke, a hint of shock flashed across his eyes, and he said in a low voice: "Especially that big black guy holding two iron spears, his martial arts skills are high, his strength is great, my hands were shaken numb, I couldn't even hold the hilt firmly, this is a formidable enemy."

  Yan Liang sat down, let out a long breath and said calmly: "Dahuozi's martial arts are not to be underestimated, but today's battle for us, even if it wasn't successful, we still gained a lot."

  Wen Chou Dao: "Oh, what does brother mean?"

  Yan Liang smiled lightly and explained, "After this battle, we have figured out Wang Yue's strength. There are only two or three generals under his command, with less than 2,000 troops. The reason why we couldn't break through Wang Yue's camp was that the troops brought were insufficient, and the equipment for attacking the camp was also insufficient. Tomorrow, the main army will set off, directly attacking Wang Yue's large camp, and defeat him in one fell swoop."

  Wen Chou raised his thumb in praise, saying: "Elder brother is wise and brilliant. Once we capture Wuqi County, we will report the news to our lord. At that time, our lord will surely reward us brothers heavily."

  Yan Liang nodded and said, "After defeating Wang Lei's army, try to capture Wang Lei alive, and also capture that big black man. Recommending them to our lord will be beneficial to us as well."

  Wen Chou frowned and said, "Elder brother, Da Hei Zi's martial arts are more formidable than ours. If he joins the lord's side and gains a foothold, our brothers' position will be...".

  Yan Liang waved his hand and shook his head slightly.

  Wen Chou asked: "What does 'elder brother' mean?"

  "Brother, the situation under our lord is complicated. Several important officials have different political views and don't get along with each other. The same goes for the military generals, there are many factions. We brothers are trusted by our lord, but there are also many people who envy our position, so we need allies to help us. Da Hei Zi and Wang Lei have pledged allegiance to our lord, and they were recommended by us, aren't they on our side? It doesn't matter if their martial arts skills are high or not, as long as they can increase our weight in our lord's heart." After a pause, Yan Liang continued: "I really admire the abilities of Wang Lei and Da Hei Zi, these two men are not bad."

  Wen Chou stood up with a serious expression and praised: "Elder brother is wise and has many strategies, younger brother admires."

  Yan Liang smiled and said: "Go down and rest, tomorrow we will set out for the front line to fight."

  Wen Chou left the main tent and returned to his own camp to rest.

  ……

  After nightfall, the sky was initially full of stars, but soon dark clouds gathered and it became overcast. However, there was no rain that night. That night, Wang Xue's army camp did not rest. The soldiers in the army began to withdraw from the campsite in an orderly manner, and then the campsite was dismantled. The large army left Suzhou Village with torches lit.

  In one night, the army vanished without a trace.

  The next day, Yan Liang and Wen Chou led their troops into the territory of Su Village. The army arrived outside Wang Yue's camp, Yan Liang looked at the abandoned items left behind after use, as well as the abandoned camp, and was stunned for a moment.

  Yan Liang suddenly burst out laughing loudly.

  That laughter was wild and unrestrained, with a strong sense of self-satisfaction.

  Wen Chou's face was puzzled, and he asked: "Brother, Wang Lie withdrew his troops, and we lost the opportunity to defeat him. This is a bad thing, why are you still laughing loudly?"

  Yan Liang stopped laughing and explained, "Wang Lei suddenly withdrew his troops, he must have been intimidated after fighting with us and retreated. I thought Wang Lei was a formidable opponent, but now it seems that this person is not to be feared. In this battle, we will surely win." Immediately, Yan Liang ordered the scouts to investigate the situation of Wang Lei's army, while the army temporarily stopped advancing.

  An hour later, the scout returned.

  The scout stood in front of Yan Liang and said loudly: "Wang Lei's army retreated ten miles, and set up camp ten miles away."

  "Got it!"

  Yan Liang nodded and let the soldiers withdraw.

  "Wen Chou asked in a low voice: 'Brother, Wang Lei has retreated ten miles, what should we do?'"

  "Go after him!"

  Yan Liang narrowed his eyes and said, "Today we'll attack and intimidate Wang Lei into surrender. Without fighting, we can subdue the enemy's army. First, we'll fight to make Wang Lei fearful, then capture his troops. This is the best strategy... I was thinking of a fierce battle, but since Wang Lei is afraid, we can destroy his psychological defenses and force him to surrender."

  With an ugly face and high morale, he ordered a full-speed advance.

  The army rushed straight to Wang Wei's camp and marched halfway before Wang Wei led his troops to meet them.

  The two armies met, and Wang Lei and Dian Wei charged forward like two sharp blades.

  Over a thousand soldiers launched a fierce attack and clashed with the army under Yan Liang. Yan Liang and Wen Chou refused to show weakness, and their soldiers launched a massive counterattack. After a round of attacks, Wang Lie sounded the retreat drum and withdrew his troops back to the camp. Yan Liang took advantage of the victory to pursue, killing all the way to the gate of Wang Lie's camp, but there were ambushes outside the camp that killed him in coordination with the defensive fortifications inside the camp, and Yan Liang did not make any progress, and retreated again.

  But today's battle, Yan Liang made progress once again.

  After the army set up camp, Yan Liang sent someone to Wang Lie's camp to deliver a letter, wanting to surrender Wang Lie. After meeting with the envoy, Wang Lie directly refused and drove the envoy away. This person is sometimes worthless, Wang Lie clearly refused Yan Liang, but after Yan Liang received the news, on the one hand he was extremely angry, and on the other hand he admired Wang Lie for having backbone.

  Such an opponent is worthy of recruitment and respect.

  The large army temporarily rested, but in the middle of the night, Wang Lei's troops retreated again.

  Wang Lie retreated twenty miles, and opened up a distance with Yan Liang. Yan Liang saw Wang Lie retreating step by step, and was overjoyed in his heart. The current situation must be that Wang Lie could not withstand the pressure, but did not want to surrender, so he struggled desperately like a trapped beast. Yan Liang led his army to follow up, pressing step by step.

  Yan Liang had already made up his mind, and now he only needed to slowly advance, constantly pressuring Wang Lei, finally breaking through Wang Lei's psychological defense line, forcing Wang Lei to surrender.

  As long as Wang Lei can't hold on, he will surrender.

  In fact, Yan Liang could have launched the most violent attack and had a bloody fight with Wang Yue. However, Yan Liang saw an opportunity to win step by step, so he gave up the method of killing one thousand enemies at the cost of losing eight hundred men, and wanted to slowly consume Wang Yue's forces.

  Unfortunately, when Yan Liang was planning to deal with Wang Wei, he didn't realize that his slow and cautious approach had actually led him into the trap set by Wang Wei, everything was proceeding quietly.

  ……

  Wang Lei's military camp, the main tent of the central army.

  Wang Lei's expression was serious as he asked, "Feng Xiao, tomorrow is the final crucial moment. Are you prepared?"

  "Rest assured, my lord," Guo Jia said with a light smile. "Everything has been arranged properly! We have spent so much time and effort for this very moment - to annihilate Yan Liang and Wen Chou's armies in one fell swoop. This time, we will surely succeed."

  "Alright, go and get some rest early."

  Guo Jia stood up and bid farewell, returning to his own camp.