Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

After confirming several times that the Zijin Mountain defense line was completely empty, and even that there were no tunnels or other traps that could be laid, Fu Heng finally ordered the army to march into the Zijin Mountain fortress.

Looking at the well-arranged earthen and wooden fortresses, Fu Heng couldn't help but wonder: "Such a good defensive line, why did the Chu army just abandon it like that? What happened?"

He carefully observed the area and noticed that the trenches under his feet had been recently renovated, which aroused his suspicions even more.

This makes no sense at all.

Battle reports from various places came in from the Chu army. Li Hong showed them to him when he was in the capital. He knew that the Chu army was definitely not the kind of coward who would choose to retreat when they saw the Wuying officers and soldiers coming.

The fortifications being built on Zijin Mountain are clearly intended to defend against the attack of Wu Zhao's army.

but……

"Something's wrong."

Fu Heng keenly sensed that there seemed to be a conspiracy involved.

As one of the top three generals in Li Hong's reign, this insightful ability was honed through years of battlefield experience.

However, his limited thinking prevented him from identifying the source of the conspiracy, even though he knew there was one.

Trapped the army at Zijin Mountain?

Although Zijin Mountain has a treacherous terrain, there are still many flat areas suitable for cavalry charges. How could the enemy possibly besiege it?

Moreover, Zijin Mountain spans nearly ten miles in circumference and is easily accessible from all directions, requiring more than 300,000 troops just to besiege it.

According to available intelligence, the Chu army numbers between ten thousand and twenty thousand, making a siege virtually impossible.

Cut off their retreat and prevent the army from returning north?

This idea was immediately rejected by Fu Heng.

If he couldn't reclaim Southern Zhili, how could he face the emperor? If the Chu army really cut off his retreat, he would be laughing in his dreams.

He believed that the Chu army commander would not be so foolish.

Since besieging or cutting off their retreat is impossible, what other methods are there?

Fu Heng racked his brains but couldn't figure out why the Chu army would voluntarily abandon the fortress they had built.

Ultimately, Fu Heng lacked experience. If he had understood the true value of the phrase "technical and tactical gap," he would have immediately turned and run away.

In fact, he had read all the battle reports and memorials sent from those places, but he didn't pay much attention to the sharp firearms.

He had seen firearms on the Eastern Yi battlefield, and they could indeed cause some trouble for the army's offensive.

However, firearms have an extremely low hit rate, and coupled with the cumbersome loading process, they are far less effective at killing than the dense fire produced by bows and crossbows at close range.

Last year, in the Battle of Mangshan against the Dongyi, Fuheng personally led 800 cavalrymen from the outer vassal states, braving a surprise attack from muskets and cannons, and directly approached within ten paces of the enemy's lines to begin firing in a barrage, directly defeating the main force of the Dongyi and annihilating 3,000 Dongyi government troops in one battle.

However, fewer than forty of their own cavalrymen from the outer border regions fell from their horses.

Moreover, after obtaining Dongyi firearms, Wuzhao craftsmen carried out large-scale imitation and improvement, and now they have surpassed Dongyi firearms in both quality and quantity.

Even so, Fu Heng still didn't take those firearms seriously.

Because he had experimented on the training ground, he found that when the cavalry attacked, once the enemy launched a volley of fire, they would be subjected to a dense and continuous barrage of arrows from the archers, which would easily defeat them.

Firearms are only effective when placed behind obstacles and fired from defensive fortifications.

As for open field battles, firearms could not stop the cavalry archers' offensive regardless of the formation they adopted.

So why did the Chu army abandon their strong defensive fortifications?

Fu Heng was completely baffled.

This cannot be blamed on Fu Heng. Last year, when Ban Dingyuan used twelve infantrymen and 98K rifles to defeat an equal number of Wuying cavalry at the fenced training ground, Fu Heng was on the Eastern Yi battlefield. Otherwise, he would have realized that muskets and rifles, apart from their similar appearance, are completely different things.

Unfortunately, he no longer has the opportunity or time to learn about it.

(Fun fact: The volley shooting tactic that many people boast about is only good for being slaughtered when facing a well-trained mounted archer group. The cavalry era officially ended only after the line formation was fully perfected and the slide bayonet was invented.)

"General, as you instructed, we have thoroughly searched inside and outside Zijin Mountain and found nothing suspicious. We didn't even see a fly, let alone the Chu army."

After surveying the terrain, Mingrui immediately reported the situation of Zijin Mountain to Fuheng.

Fu Heng: "Have you investigated thoroughly? There can be no carelessness whatsoever."

Mingrui: "Aorui and I went to inspect the area ourselves, along with Quan Xiancheng, Guarjia, and Yongshan. We didn't find anything suspicious."

Even the water source has been tested; the horses drink it, which means it's not poisonous.

Fu Heng: "Then tell me, why did the Chu army abandon this good stronghold? What are they planning to do? Do they want to fight us to the death under the walls of Jiankang?"

Mingrui said nonchalantly, "Who knows? Maybe the foreigners are just not very bright."

Fu Heng sighed: "Alright, make the arrangements first. Tell each battalion to guard their respective strongholds. By the way, how much food do we have left?"

Mingrui: "It's only enough for three days. I've already sent Guarjia to the surrounding villages to collect food."

Fu Heng: "We have over 100,000 troops; we still need to rely on grain transfers from the capital."

Mingrui: "He Yong did not send a letter to tell us not to worry. His Majesty has already authorized He Yong to transport grain and fodder to the entire Wuzhao Kingdom."

Fu Heng: "Let's hope so. Supplies are the foundation of morale."

……

Meanwhile, at the Coal Hill outpost, Shen Lang closely monitored the movements in the direction of Purple Mountain through a high-powered telescope.

"Commander, most of the enemy has already entered Zijin Mountain."

Jiang Qin excitedly reported the traces he had discovered.

"very good."

Shen Lang put down the binoculars.

"Go back and tell Lü Meng to launch the attack in three hours. After the two artillery clusters have finished firing, have him rush into Zijin Mountain as quickly as possible and make sure to annihilate all of Wu Zhao's main forces."

"Yes!"

Jiang Qin finished his military salute and was about to leave.

"return."

"Is there anything else you need, Commander?"

"Tell Lü Meng that the first battle is the decisive one, and that we must stop this entire Wu Zhao army at all costs!"

"Leader!"

Jiang Qin shouted and turned to leave the command post.

Shen Lang was still worried. If he didn't have to be in charge, he really wanted to lead the charge himself.

But then I thought, what's the point?

After all, I already have everything.

……

Three hours later, Fu Heng looked at the setting sun and then at the soldiers boiling water and cooking rice, and felt a strange sense of irritation.

The weather in April was cool yet slightly muggy, which perfectly matched Fu Heng's state of mind at that moment.

boom--

Suddenly, a thunderclap sounded out of nowhere, making Fu Heng tremble involuntarily.

"what happened?"

Fu Heng hurriedly pulled on the wooden windowsill to look outside.

The next moment, a roar erupted from the camp.

A group of soldiers from the military camp who were gathered around the campfire immediately rose up and flew into the air, along with a nearby horse that was also torn to pieces.

Immediately afterward, before Wu Zhao's soldiers could react, a barrage of high-explosive shells rained down, covering the entire Zijin Mountain stronghold.

Instantly, screams and the neighing of horses filled the air, and the stronghold of hundreds of thousands of troops was instantly engulfed in flames.