Chapter 408: Fall Back
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
After Baiqi took over control, a system notification sounded out in Ouyang Shuo's ear.
"System notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, General Baiqi has obtained the commanding rights to the Qing Dynasty Camp, rewarded fifty thousand battle contribution points, battle contribution points multiplier increased by 20%."
Overpowered!
Fifty thousand points were enough to make other players bleed with jealousy. The multiplier also meant that if Ouyang Shuo obtained ten thousand points, he would get an extra two thousand.
With the battle results of the Shanhai City Army, Ouyang Shuo would receive a huge amount.
Following which was another battle report.
"Battle Report: Shanhai City General Baiqi has achieved a hidden requirement and obtained the commanding rights of the Qing Dyansty Camp. Baiqi will replace Zhang Han to lead the 450 thousand troops as well as the player forces."
The moment the notification sounded out, the lords felt really conflicted.
The lords in the Qing Dynasty Camp felt like they had taken the right side. Baiqi leading them was much better than Zhang Han doing so.
Most importantly, the commands of the imperial court would not affect Baiqi.
After he received the commanding rights, he first ordered Wang Li's troops to retreat and back off to Jiyuan City.
This order was totally unexpected.
Even Zhang Han did not understanding the rational.
"Wu An Lord, it was really difficult for us to surround them. Why did we retreat?"
Baiqi shook his head, "In your opinion, solely based on them, can we take down Julu?"
"No!"
Zhang Han resolutely shook his head. If they could, they would not have failed to make any progress in two months. Looking back at the Battle of Julu, history had forgotten one hero.
This hero was the Zhao Country official Chen Yu.
It was mentioned that Li Liang murdered Wu Chen and his sister.
After Zhang Er and Chen Yu escaped, they conferred Zhao Xie as king and defeated Li Liang.
That Chen Yu was this Chen Yu.
The real tactician and planner of the Battle of Julu was Chen Yu.
How so? Let us see what he did during this battle.
Firstly, he gathered the scattered forces.
After Julu was surrounded, Chen Yu sought reinforcements and formed the army north of the river.
Secondly, communicating with Julu City.
During the period where Zhang Er and Zhao Xie were trapped in Julu, they could only get into contact because of Chen Yu.
Thirdly, linking up Xiang Yu's army with the Zhao Army.
Xiang Yu killed Song Yi. As for leading the troops to save Julu, and the communication between the two armies, Chen Yu orchestrated all of this.
Hence, inside and outside the city, the true core of the communications was Chen Yu.
Under the linking of Chen Yu, relying solely on Wang Li, it was difficult to take down Julu City.
The moment Zhang Han spoke, before Baiqi could explain, Zhang Han frowned. Thinking carefully, asking the troops to return seemed like the right choice.
With the addition of the player troops, the Qin Army could go and assist the Wang Li Army. However, they could not forget that the Chu Army opposite the yellow river also similarly had over five hundred thousand players.
It was the same as saying that to attack Julu, the Qin Army would split into two.
A portion was in Julu City, a portion was in Jiyuan City.
If the two armies could link up with one another, it would be fine. The hard part was that Xiang Yu's Chu Army were stuck between the communication line of both armies.
They were like a snake being stepped on.
Continue attacking Julu? They could not take it down in a short time. Defend and wait? They would be under threat.
They were in a really bad situation.
Under Baiqi's instructions, they prevented the situation where Xiang Yu destroyed the Wang Li Army while Zhang Han watched on. However, to use this to defeat the Anti-Qin Army was highly difficult.
At best, both sides would enter a stalemate. However, who knows when that would end. If they did not pay attention, the Chu Army might catch a loophole to take them by surprise.
Hence, after Baiqi understood the situation, he decisively gave up the encampment of Julu, making them turn around to defend Jiyuan City.
This was a case of Baiqi not using soldiers based on common logic.
Retreating was just the first step in his strategy, as he had further considerations.
The way Baiqi used troops was that he like to ponder, ponder about the opponent, ponder about the battle. He could often find the decisive action and point out the key of the battle.
Seeing that Zhang Han had understood, Baiqi continued, "The key to this battle is grain."
After Zhang Han took down Handan, he transported all of the grain to Jiyuan City. Hence, in history, when the Zhang Han Army was trapped for half a year, they still had sufficient grain.
As for the Anti-Qin Alliance, if the encirclement of Julu was broken, their grain problem would be solved in the short term.
In truth, the danger lurked within the player army.
As they say, fortune and misfortune were closely related.
Anything had its pros and cons.
The fifty-three thousand player force in the Anti-Qin Camp brought with it huge combat strength. At the same time, it brought a huge burden on the logistics of the alliance army.
When Julu City was surrounded, the grain in the city was already insufficient.
If would be okay if it was only the alliance army, they could probably sustain themselves for half a month. However, with the player force, they would run out in less than a week.
In a pleasant coincidence, the surrounding region lacked grain that the enemy could collect.
Hence, comparing the two, the Qin Army housed in Jiyuan City were in an infallible situation.
At the same time, Baiqi made a complete analysis on Xiang Yu's character.
Based on his personality, he definitely would not drag things on with the Qin Army. The only way out would be to use his most familiar method; he needed to forcefully attack Jiyuan City.
With that, the Qin Army would possess the strategic advantage.
All of the sudden, the Qin Army held the absolute advantage.
One had to say that Baiqi's plan was a level higher than Zhang Han's.
When Zhang Han heard it, he was in awe and worship.
The following discussions focused on how to ensure the smooth retreat of Wang Li's forces and how to avoid being attacked. In this aspect, Zhang Han was experienced and did not need Baiqi's instructions.
On the first day, Baiqi changed the whole landscape of the battle.
Of course, Xiang Yu's personal strength and terrifying explosiveness was an unpredictable factor. Whoever dared to underestimate him would be asking for defeat. He did not hold the title of strongest general in the ancient times for no reason. In history, be in Wang Li or Liu Bang, they all lost under his hand.
When Xiang Yu led the Jiangdong Warriors to go berserk, it was an alluring sight.
The Battle of Julu was far from reaching a foregone conclusion.
In the following two days, under the cover of the Zhang Han army, Wang Li and his forces successfully returned.
Before his troops left, they gathered up all the grain in the camp. They destroyed the grain that they could not bring away and left nothing behind for the alliance army.
At the same time, Xiang Yu had just finished the organization of the player force.
After learning that the Wang Li Army had left and the encirclement outside Julu City was unexpectedly undone, he immediately ordered his troops to cross the yellow river and move into Julu City.
At the same time, the three hundred thousand prince army that were sitting on the fence followed. At this point, the Battle of Julu was heading in a totally different path from history.
Each camp held a city and were north and south of one another.
Jiyuan City was located at Shuizhi Town, west of Anyang. At this place, in the north, south, and west directions were mountains like that of a pocket. Shuizhi Town was at the bottom of the pocket.
Anyang City sat nicely in the opening of the pocket.
West of Shuizhi Town was a road that crossed the mountain range through Linzhou. Then it went down south to enter Henei Prefecture, which was the back of Zhang Han's forces.
The location was highly treacherous. The water ridges possessed both shallow and deep water regions, which traveled from west to east, forming a natural barrier.
After Baiqi gained control of the army, he arranged the troops to rush construction work on the front lines of Jiyuan. He arranged three separate works all the way until they reached under Jiyuan City.
Although they retreated to defend Jiyuan City, Baiqi wanted to proactively defend.
Building defence projects was his strong point.
At the same time, Baiqi also reorganized the 450 thousand Qin Army and the seven hundred odd thousand player force. He assigned them to various defence regions.
The 150 thousand Wang Li Army, which were mainly light cavalry, were assigned to the position of reserve army. They would be in charge of assisting various points of the battlefield.
Of the three hundred thousand Zhang Han Army, 150 thousand would camp in Jiyuan City. The remaining would form a defensive chain using the three defensive projects as the core.
The seven hundred thousand odd player force were either arranged on the three defensive works or on the city wall.
Each group had their own specific duties.
With that, for the player army, if they wanted to gain battle contribution points, they had to outdo their enemies at the regions they took charge of.
Victory was all in their own hands; if they lost, they could not blame others.
Baiqi's plan totally reduced the chance of the player force having internal conflicts.
Toward this arrangement, the lords in the Qin Dynasty Camp naturally had nothing to say and the doubts in their hearts were wiped out. After Baiqi gained command, they had originally thought that he would act bias toward the Shanhai Alliance.
The truth proves that they were just too wary about him.
Baiqi really managed to treat everyone equally.
The only weird thing was that Ouyang Shuo's three thousand palace Guards had disappeared in Jiyuan City.
After that, until the battle ended, the lords in the Qin Dynasty Camp would not see him. Bai Hua and Feng Qiuhuang were also along with him.
Toward this matter, although the lords had their doubts, they did not take the matter to heart.
As long as the Shanhai City Army defended Jiyuan City, anything else would not be a problem. In such a huge battle, the influence of a single lord was really minute.