Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Gongsun Yi issued his orders one by one, and the faces of the generals in the hall grew paler and paler.

This is not a retreat of the battle lines; it is clearly an abandonment of all the peripheral forces that the Scorpion Clan has cultivated in the northern frontier for a year, and a retreat of all its forces into the isolated city of Black Stone Fortress!

"General!"

Finally, one of the generals couldn't hold back any longer: "If this happens, all the territory we've built up over the years will be lost..."

"Territory?"

Gongsun Yi turned his head, his gaze sharp as a knife: "Only those who can save their lives can talk about territory. Didn't you understand yesterday's battle?"

He stood up, ignoring the medic's advice, walked to the map, and pointed emphatically at the location of Blackrock Fortress:

"What is the purpose of Chu Xuan and Su Tingmei joining forces? It is to annihilate our forces. Why are they besieging the city and attacking reinforcements? It is to lure us out of the city for open battle."

"And now,"

He surveyed his generals: "How many soldiers are still capable of fighting? Thirty thousand? Fifty thousand? The Chu army and the Youzhou army combined have at least eighty thousand elite troops! Going out of the city for a field battle is exactly what they want!"

There was silence in the hall.

"Therefore, from this day forward, Blackrock Fortress is a hedgehog."

Gongsun Yi said in a low voice, "Let's shrink back and make it impossible for them to find a way to attack us."

"They want to attack the city? Fine, give them fifty thousand lives in exchange."

"They want to besiege the city? Fine, let's see if they run out of supplies first, or if we starve to death first."

"But General, what if the Chu army takes advantage of this and seizes the strongholds we abandoned..."

"Let them occupy it."

Gongsun Yi sneered: "Those small strongholds are easy to attack but difficult to defend; they're essentially traps that drain our forces."

"The Chu army's division of troops to guard the area is exactly what I wanted—once their forces are dispersed, that will be the time for our counterattack."

He paused, then added, "In addition, send someone to secretly report to the Khan, detailing yesterday's battle."

"We request the royal court to quickly dispatch grain and supplies, and... to thoroughly investigate all details about Su Tingmei."

"Su Tingmei?"

"Correct."

A hint of apprehension flashed in Gongsun Yi's eyes: "Chu Xuan is brave, but not to be feared. But this Su Tingmei... her military tactics are like those of a ghost, and her schemes are like those of a demon."

“If I hadn’t risked my life to break the deadlock yesterday, none of Ashina’s 35,000 men would have survived.”

He walked to the window and looked towards the southern sky. Dusk was deepening, and the stars were beginning to appear.

"From this day forward, Blackrock Fortress will be in a state of war."

"All soldiers are canceled from their rest days and are required to work in three shifts. The number of guards at the granary, armory, and water source will be tripled. A curfew will be imposed in the city, and anyone who goes out on the streets at night without a valid reason will be executed."

"Yes!"

The order was like a stone thrown into water, creating ripples throughout Blackrock Fortress.

That night, hawks flew out of the fortress one after another, heading towards the Scorpion Clan strongholds and outposts scattered throughout the northern frontier.

When the scouts received the order, most of them were taken aback, but military orders are absolute, so they had no choice but to retreat overnight.

The grain-stealing team acted overnight, taking away what they could carry away from the grain and supplies hidden in various parts of the wasteland, and burning what they couldn't take to ashes.

The firelight flickered in the night, like a funeral fire lit for this contraction strategy.

All of this was observed by Chu scouts who were thirty miles away.

"Report—The Scorpion Clan is undergoing a full-scale retreat, abandoning all outlying strongholds!"

When Chu Xuan received the intelligence, he was playing chess with Su Tingmei in the camp.

He played white pieces, while Su Tingmei played black pieces. The black and white pieces intertwined on the chessboard, a scene fraught with danger.

“That old fox Gongsun Yi…” Chu Xuan placed a piece on the board: “He’s going to play the coward.”

Su Tingmei gently waved her feather fan and placed her piece silently: "As expected, he saw through our strategy in yesterday's battle."

"The wisest choice now is to retreat and hold on."

"Then let's..."

"Not urgent."

Su Tingmei made another move: "If he retreats, we will surround him; if he defends, we will trap him. War is like cooking a small fish; when the time is right, the fruit will naturally ripen and fall."

He raised his eyes and looked at the northern night sky: "Order the entire army to set up camp thirty miles outside Blackstone Fortress starting tomorrow."

“We will not attack, but besiege. In addition... we will send people to take over the strongholds abandoned by the Scorpion Clan.”

"take over?"

"Yes." Su Tingmei smiled slightly: "How could we refuse such a generous gift from Gongsun Yi?"

The game continues.

In the north, the gates of Blackrock Fortress slowly closed, like a giant beast shutting its mouth.

The balance of power has now shifted.

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight pierced the thin mist over the northern wilderness, the garrison on the walls of Black Stone Fort witnessed a sight they would never forget.

On the southern horizon, smoke and dust surged like ocean waves.

It started as a single line, then quickly spread out, eventually becoming a dust curtain that blotted out the sky.

Beneath the dusty curtain, a dense array of military formations stretched out—the golden banners of the Chu army and the black banners of the Youzhou army stood in a crisscrossing pattern, fluttering in the morning breeze.

Without war drums or bugles, the army advanced in near-solemn silence.

Cavalry roamed the flanks, while infantry phalanxes advanced steadily in the center. Catapults and crossbows were slowly dragged behind the formation, the sound of wooden wheels rolling over the barren earth deep and rhythmic, like the breathing of a giant beast.

"They are coming..."

On the city wall, a young soldier murmured, his knuckles white from gripping his spear.

When Gongsun Yi donned his armor and ascended the city tower, the army had already stopped three miles outside the city.

The distance is delicate—just at the edge of crossbow range, enough to deter the city walls while avoiding the risk of a surprise attack.

Clearly, the commanders of both the Chu and Youzhou armies were extremely skilled in siege warfare.

"Array."

Chu Xuan's golden armor gleamed in the morning light as he rode to the front of the formation, his voice amplified by the messenger.

"Order all battalions to set up camp at the designated locations!"

The command spread out like ripples.

The army began to disperse in an orderly manner: 20,000 Chu troops on the eastern route set up camp three miles outside the east gate of Black Stone Fortress, guarding the key road leading to the grassland.

The 20,000 Youzhou troops on the western route were deployed in a staggered formation outside the west gate, blocking the retreat route to the mountains.

Chu Xuan personally led 30,000 troops to guard the south gate, while the Youzhou army dispatched 15,000 men to build a camp outside the north gate.

In just two hours, the four camps, like four iron nails, firmly pinned Blackstone Fortress to this wasteland.

The camp was well-organized, complete with trenches, barricades, and watchtowers, clearly indicating a long-term siege.

"They don't intend to launch a full-scale attack."

Ashina had somehow climbed onto the city wall as well.

His face was pale, and his chest was wrapped in thick bandages, but his eyes remained sharp: "They are waiting."

"Waiting for what?" the lieutenant asked.

"Wait until we run out of food, wait until we are in internal strife, wait until we collapse on our own."

Gongsun Yi's voice was eerily calm. He pointed to the four large camps in turn: "Judging from the size of the camps, each camp has at least half a month's worth of provisions stored up."

"And from the rear of the main Chu army, there are still a steady stream of supply convoys on their way."

Following his finger, everyone looked and sure enough, on the southern official road, a long caravan of vehicles snaked forward like ants.

Grain carts, water carts, and military equipment carts came and went in an endless stream.

"They're trying to starve us to death," Ashina gritted his teeth.

Just then, the garrison commander of the west gate rushed over: "General! Smoke is rising thirty miles to the west! It's... it's the Eagle Claw stronghold we abandoned!"