Turn the tables on them

Just as Gao Yuan was rushing toward the Zhongnan Circuit day and night, the toungoo people had already begun their move.

Initially, it was just small units testing the waters, leading to several skirmishes with the Xuanjia Army.

The Xuanjia Army suffered dozens of casualties, but they also achieved the feat of decapitating over two hundred enemies and capturing over a hundred prisoners.

This caused the Toungoo army to become increasingly cautious, reducing their daily marching speed to twenty li.

While this meant the upcoming battles might be harder to fight, it also gave Liu Rengui time to deploy his forces at leisure.

This was also thanks to the fact that the Zhongnan Circuit had just finished its immigration process; the population was not only sparse but also mostly resided within the city walls.

The commoners were even more willing to cooperate, especially after receiving a promise from the government that they would be compensated for any lost young crops once the foreign tribes were repelled.

Liu Rengui's scorched-earth policy proceeded extremely smoothly.

Seeing Liu Rengui give up on harassing them along the way and even take the initiative to demolish two mountain passes, the toungoo people grew bolder.

They left only one army to monitor the two county towns along the route, while the main force bypassed them and headed straight for the heart of Chaiyaphum.

Upon receiving this news, Liu Rengui felt as if he had been offered a pillow just as he was getting sleepy. He immediately ordered one division of the Xuanjia Army to reinforce Chaiyaphum, while the Second Division and Third Division moved out to bypass the main Toungoo force.

Just as the toungoo people surrounded Chaiyaphum and began constructing siege engines, the Beiwei Army circled behind them, their target naturally being that isolated group of five thousand men.

At dusk, the Beiwei Army arrived five li from the enemy camp and lay in wait within the mountain wilderness.

After Liu Rengui personally finished scouting the situation, he decided on a night raid strategy.

“Bang Jie, I will lead a thousand men on the periphery to provide support. You lead the main force to strike the enemy camp. Remember, it must be fast and ruthless!”

Having waited for so many days, Xia Luqi had long been rubbing his hands in anticipation. He gave a cruel, cold smile.

“Just you wait and see. It's only two thousand-some people; the battle will be settled in an hour at most.”

Though he knew their strength was an absolute crush, Liu Rengui still couldn't help but remind him,

“This is our first battle against Toungoo. We must ensure victory in this opening engagement. Do not be careless or underestimate the enemy.”

“This humble general understands.”

Under a dark moon and high winds, the Toungoo camp was deathly silent, which made Liu Rengui feel a faint sense of unease.

The time had already reached the third watch. Seeing that Liu Rengui had delayed giving the order, Xia Luqi couldn't help but lean in and ask,

“Grand Commander, are we still not attacking?”

“No rush. Bang Jie, don't you think this camp is a bit too quiet?”

Xia Luqi waved his hand nonchalantly.

“They're probably just exhausted from marching for days and have all fallen asleep.”

Liu Rengui still shook his head, pointing at a watchtower in the distance.

“Even if they're sleeping like the dead, this is still a camp of thousands. And look at the man on that watchtower—why hasn't he moved an inch for so long?”

With Liu Rengui's reminder, Xia Luqi also noticed something was wrong.

“Could it be a trap?”

“Bang Jie, do we have accurate intelligence on how many troops the toungoo people left here?”

“According to the scouts, judging by the cooking smoke and tents, it shouldn't exceed five thousand men. Could there be a trick?”

Liu Rengui nodded, agreeing with Xia Luqi's suspicion.

“It seems there is a master strategist in the opposing ranks!”

“Dammit, these toungoo people really aren't anything good. They almost lured old Xia into a pit.”

Xia Luqi cursed for a bit, then looked at Liu Rengui and asked,

“Commander, what do we do next? Do we just retreat?”

Liu Rengui shook his head decisively.

“Retreating is definitely not an option. We can turn the tables and hit them with a counter-ambush. Bang Jie, lean in.”

Xia Luqi leaned close to Liu Rengui and listened as he explained his plan.

At the fifth watch, the originally silent Toungoo camp suddenly became rowdy. The sound of horse hooves was everywhere, and firelight reached the sky.

In the shadows, the Toungoo commander laughed loudly.

“Hahaha, the Han people really fell for it! Men, kill them all!”

Suddenly, battle cries erupted from all sides. Several dragons of fire appeared from the shadows as the Toungoo army charged toward the camp.

However, when they rushed into the camp, there wasn't a single person in sight as far as the eye could see—only about a hundred charred horse carcasses.

“General, why is there no one here?”

“General, there's not a single person!”

The Toungoo commander was stunned for a moment, then something suddenly occurred to him, and he shouted loudly,

“We've been tricked! Retreat! Retreat!”

But it was too late. A sky full of fire arrows flew in from outside the camp.

The tents, firewood, and straw scattered throughout the camp now became death warrants for the toungoo people.

The massive fire burned the Toungoo soldiers until they wailed and ran in all directions.

When they rushed out of the fire, soot-faced and disheveled, they found the Beiwei Army soldiers in their black iron armor watching them like tigers eyeing their prey.

Someone couldn't help but cry out in alarm,

“It's the Han! It's the army of the Gan Kingdom!”

“What do we do? We're surrounded!”

“Fight them to the death!”

Some who refused to believe their luck ran forward while screaming, only to be shot into sieves by crossbow bolts, dragging down the comrades beside them.

After a round of slaughter, some Toungoo soldiers looked at the fire behind them and lost the courage to resist.

“Clang!”

The crisp sound of a weapon hitting the ground rang out. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the sound of metal clashing against the earth was heard everywhere.

Liu Rengui smiled and gave Xia Luqi a nudge.

“What are you standing there for? Go collect the prisoners!”

Only then did Xia Luqi snap out of it, commanding his soldiers to step forward and begin confiscating the prisoners' weapons and armor.

By dawn, the Xuanjia Army from the nearby county town came out to assist, and they barely managed to finish cleaning up the battlefield before noon.

Xia Luqi arrived at the commanders tent with a wide grin.

“Commander, guess how many enemies we wiped out this time?”

“Should be no less than ten thousand, right?”

Xia Luqi slapped his large hand.

“As expected of the Commander! A full twelve thousand-some people. They had already set an ambush, just waiting for us to send troops to the rescue.”

“Are you sure they hadn't detected our movements?”

“I carefully questioned several officers and confirmed they had made this arrangement from the very beginning;

I also found the camp where they were hiding in the nearby mountain forests; they had been stationed there for at least five to seven days.”

Liu Rengui finally breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that their actions had not been discovered.

Xia Luqi then proceeded to report the spoils of this battle.

“In this great battle, only about fifty of our men were wounded and none were killed. We captured over twenty thousand dan of grain, over three thousand sets of intact leather armor, over two hundred sets of iron armor, and countless weapons.”

Hearing these numbers, Liu Rengui couldn't help but reveal a disdainful smile.

“Heh, this hegemon of Central-South isn't all that much. Their armor rate is so low.”

“Exactly! By the way, Commander, should we Pursue and Attack to wipe out the toungoo people in one go?”

Liu Rengui shook his head.

“The main Toungoo force is no less than a hundred thousand. Even if we wiped out these twelve thousand, there are still over eighty thousand. We absolutely must not be careless;

Let the soldiers rest for a few days, and send more scouts to investigate the Toungoo situation.”

Although Xia Luqi was simple-minded, he was definitely not a reckless fool and had self-awareness.

He knew Liu Rengui was clever, so he naturally followed Liu Rengui's orders implicitly.

Of course, this was on the premise that Liu Rengui remained loyal to Gao Yuan.

The Toungoo army had now arrived beneath the walls of Chaiyaphum. They surrounded it on all four sides and began felling trees, preparing to build siege engines.

With over eighty thousand combat troops plus laborers, there were a full hundred thousand-some people. There were even many domesticated elephants working; the scene was quite spectacular.

Inside the city, the defenders consisted of only three divisions of the Xuanjia Army and the First Division of the Beiwei Army.

That's right, Gao Yuan had also arrived. However, he did not choose to meet up with Liu Rengui and Xia Luqi, but chose to defend the city instead.

Gao Yuan stood atop the city wall, looking at the bustling scene outside, and couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.