Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 489 Outside Yanmen Pass
In April last year, Su Ze built a new city at Yanmen Pass and appointed Murong Shaozong as the governor of Hengzhou, blocking the Erzhu family's passage to the north.

Now Su Ze led the troops from Hengzhou, Dingzhou and Youzhou to the new city of Yanmen, facing the Yanmen Pass where Erzhu Zhao was stationed across the mountain.

However, just like the dilemma encountered by Erzhu Rong, Su Ze also encountered difficulties when facing Yanmen Pass.

Yanmen Pass is still too dangerous.

Su Ze personally surveyed the terrain and led his troops to challenge Erzhu Zhao in front of Yanmen Pass, but Erzhu Zhao stayed inside the pass and ordered his archers to shoot any approaching soldiers. Su Ze had no choice but to retreat to the new city of Yanmen.

Today, Wei Xiaokuan is escorting grain and fodder here, and Su Ze takes the opportunity to summon all the generals to discuss how to break through Yanmen Pass.

Living in the big tent, Su Ze looked around and said:
"If any of you have any good ideas for breaking the city, I will not be stingy with my rewards."

Some of the soldiers were eager to try, but when they thought of the solidity of Yanmen Pass, they backed off.

Wei Xiaokuan stood up and said, "My Lord, I think Yanmen Pass is strong and not easy to break through."

Su Ze looked at Wei Xiaokuan.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Wei Xiaokuan was the number one city defense expert in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

However, saying such things in front of all the soldiers might shake the morale of the army.

Wei Xiaokuan was one of the first people to defect to Su Ze. He should have known that the most taboo thing during a war is to shake the morale of the troops.

But Su Ze decided to listen to Wei Xiaokuan's words and said:

"Tell me all you think, and I will forgive you."

Wei Xiaokuan then said:
"Erzhu Zhao is a man of great ambitions but little talent. He is ambitious and ambitious, and is a man of courage but no strategy. If the Duke of the County attacks aggressively, he will instead hold fast to the dangerous pass and not come out. If the Duke of the County leaves a loophole, he will definitely come out to fight."

"Now everyone in the Erzhu family has been promoted, but Erzhu Zhao, who is guarding Yanmen Pass, has not made any contribution. How can he bear it?"

"As long as our army retreats, Erzhu Zhao will certainly come out to attack, and this will give us a chance to break through Yanmen Pass."

Su Ze thought about it and felt that Erzhu Zhao was indeed not a talented general.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Erzhu Zhao was favored by Erzhu Rong entirely because of his bravery. He inherited the bravery genes of the Erzhu family and was able to fight wild beasts with his bare hands.

Erzhu Rong once commented on Erzhu Zhao, "Although Zhao is brave in battle, he only has 3,000 cavalry. If he has more, it will cause chaos."

After Erzhu Rong's death, Erzhu Zhao rushed into Luoyang and killed Yuan Ziyou to avenge Erzhu Rong, but this caused the Erzhu family to split, and they were eventually defeated one by one by Gao Huan.

Su Ze also nodded slightly. Wherever there are people, there is the world of martial arts.

Erzhu Rong's proud method of training soldiers by raising poisonous insects also led to fierce competition among the "Erzhus", and none of them were convinced of each other.

Just as Wei Xiaokuan said, Erzhu Zhao was also eager for achievement, and this might be a breakthrough.

But give up Yanmen New City?

Su Ze hesitated again.

The location of Yanmen New City is even more dangerous than Yanmen Pass. It is the highest point of the mountain range and has a more advantageous geographical location.

By controlling the new city of Yanmen, Su Ze can attack Yanmen Pass at any time and ensure the safety of Hengzhou.

But if they use Yanmen New City as bait and still fail to break through Yanmen Pass, it would be a loss of both the wife and the army. Hengzhou would lose the pass and might be attacked by the Erzhu family at any time.

Su Ze hadn't made up his mind yet. At this time, Dugu Xin stood up and said:
"Please stay and be alone."

To speak alone means to make plans alone. Su Ze nodded. After the other generals left, Dugu Xin called Wei Xiaokuan again.

Dugu Xin said:
"My Lord, I am willing to lead 500 elite soldiers to ambush in the new city of Yanmen, and wait for Erzhu Zhao to enter the city before launching an attack."

Su Ze looked at Dugu Xin, then at Wei Xiaokuan. It seemed that the two of them had already discussed this strategy.

This is normal. The two of them cooperated well when they were in Wuyuan City. Dugu Xin was a naturally charming person, so it was normal for Wei Xiaokuan to establish a personal friendship with him.

With Su Ze's current prestige, he is not afraid of interacting with his subordinates.

But Su Ze still said:

"It's not your turn to set up an ambush in Xincheng."

Dugu Xin was stunned for a moment, and Su Ze said:

"Only if I am in the city can the morale be maintained. Dugu Xin and Wei Xiaokuan cannot do this either."

At this time, Dugu Xin and Wei Xiaokuan hurriedly advised, especially Wei Xiaokuan said:
"County Lord! A son of a rich family should not sit idle in the hall. There are too many variables in an ambush like this. If this is the case, it is better to hold out in Yanmen New City and consume Erzhu Zhao!"

Su Ze waved his hands. There was nothing he could do. The game of dragon chess had reached a critical moment and he had to do it himself.

When Liu Bang faced Xiang Yu, he was almost traumatized, but he still went into battle personally every time.

Several founding monarchs in history, even the "great magician" Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, personally led his troops to fight against Wang Mang's army.

The same was true of Li Er and Zhao Da in later generations.

“No one has ever become the emperor without merit.” When fighting for the world, you need to fight hard and do it yourself.

Dugu Xin and Wei Xiaokuan's plan was perfect. They lured Erzhu Zhao to attack Yanmen New City, and then ambushed him from inside the city. However, with their prestige, they could not afford the consequence of "faking defeat".

It was impossible to tell ordinary soldiers about a feigned defeat and ambush on such a scale. At most, it would be reported to the captain level.

Ordinary soldiers did not know that it was a feigned defeat, and they might not be able to organize themselves after the defeat.

Various problems can arise during an ambush, and without someone who can hold the situation in check, it is impossible to carry out such an operation.

Dugu Xin and Wei Xiaokuan are indeed talented generals, but they have not yet accumulated enough prestige in Su Ze's army.

It can be said that in Su Ze’s army at present, the only ones who can carry out the task of feigning defeat are Hou Jing, Yu Jin, and Su Ze.

There's nothing we can do about it, that's how war works.

Although the battlefield was carved out by ordinary soldiers one sword at a time, the personal heroism of the commander-in-chief will also have a decisive influence on the battlefield.

War is certainly a continuation of politics, but the results of war are full of contingencies and can also have a reverse effect on politics.

No matter how well-planned politicians are, they will be exposed on the battlefield in the end.

It’s not that Su Ze doesn’t trust the two of them, but he is the only one who can carry out such a plan.

Didn’t Erzhu Rong on the opposite side always lead the central army to charge?

Su Ze said firmly: "Starting from tomorrow, you will build momentum outside Yanmen Pass and lure Erzhu Zhao out of the city to fight."

"The Xuanjing Division will also cooperate with you to spread rumors in Yanmen Pass and lure Erzhu Zhao out of the city."

Wei Xiaokuan was ready to persuade him again:

"My Lord, you don't have to be so anxious. Hedong County is strategically located and Erzhu Rong has no way of conquering it. We still have time."

Su Ze sighed and said:
"When it comes to marching and fighting, there is no such thing as a foolproof time. The situation is favorable to our army now, but who knows what will happen in the future?"

"Now that we have the chance to fight for our lives, we must fight. How can we leave it for another day?"

This time Wei Xiaokuan also fell silent.

This is indeed the case with things in the world, and no one can predict what will happen in the future.

There is no such thing as a perfect war. We are always pushed forward by the current situation.

Now that there is an opportunity to break through Yanmen Pass, Su Ze naturally must seize it.

Having said that, if Erzhu Zhao had not fallen into the trap and had not fought outside Yanmen Pass, Su Ze would not have suffered any losses.

Dugu Xin and Wei Xiaokuan followed the order and began to provoke the defenders inside Yanmen Pass in the following days.

Inside Yanmen Pass, Erzhu Zhao was indeed annoyed by Dugu Xin and Wei Xiaokuan.

They organized people with loud voices to curse in front of Yanmen Pass early in the morning. They cursed as harshly as they could. After hearing them, Erzhu Zhao wanted to rush out of Yanmen Pass with weapons and kill people.

At noon, Dugu Xin ordered catapults to throw all kinds of "dirty things" into Yanmen Pass, including rotting corpses of various animals, human and livestock feces, and the corpses of scouts sent by Erzhu Zhao to investigate outside the city.

In the evening, smoke would rise from Dugu Xin's camp, and the aroma of barbecue would waft in the air.

However, during these days of confrontation, by constantly sending out scouts, Erzhu Zhao also obtained an important piece of information: Su Ze's army was "short of food."

This was also the information that Erzhu Zhao's scouts had obtained at the risk of their lives. It turned out that the smoke from cooking and the smell of meat were just a show put on by Dugu Xin.

Erzhu Zhao heard that Su Ze's army was short of food, and that Su Ze was not at the front line these days. He had returned to Pingcheng, Hengzhou to supervise the transportation of food and fodder.

Erzhu Zhao did not completely believe this information, but Su Ze did not show up for several days in such an important battle as the attack on Yanmen Pass, which did indicate some problems.

After much consideration, Erzhu Zhao still could not resist the temptation of making great achievements, so he decided to send a small team out of the city to investigate the situation.

These days, Erzhu Zhao was very frustrated.

Ever since Su Ze entered Hengzhou, Erzhu Rong gave Erzhu Zhao a strict order, requiring him to defend Yanmen Pass to the death.

Seeing his uncles and brothers fighting on the front line and making great achievements, while he had to guard the desolate Yanmen Pass every day, this was unacceptable to Erzhu Zhao, who was combative by nature.

It was finally time to fight, but it was another terrible battle of defending the city. Erzhu Zhao was filled with anger and had no place to vent it.

Erzhu Zhao originally only sent out cavalry to harass the enemy, hoping to vent his anger in recent days, but he unexpectedly discovered that although Dugu Xin was fierce, the fighting effectiveness of his army was not very strong.

When his cavalry attacked, they quickly broke through one of Dugu Xin's camps and took back many empty pots.

Erzhu Zhao quickly called the cavalry commander over and asked, "When you rushed into the camp, were all these pots empty?"

The cavalry commander immediately said:

"Yes! General, the captives also said that Dugu Xin arranged for his men to boil water in empty pots to deliberately create smoke."

Erzhu Zhao paced back and forth. It seemed that the news about Su Ze’s army’s food shortage was true!

Yes, there was war in Dingzhou and Youzhou last year, and there was no grain in the autumn harvest, and Hengzhou itself is also a barren place.

This is an opportunity!
(End of this chapter)