Chapter 330 A Good Start

Striking on two fronts and deploying almost all his main force was a rare gamble for Gao Yuan.

When Gao Yuan voiced this bold plan, Zhao Xiyao and the other women were startled, but they didn't object too much out of trust in him.

Gao Yuan took Zhao Xiyao's small hand and patted it gently.

"Rest assured, with Chen Dao and Ma Song in charge, and the Imperial Guard Division and ten thousand Beiwei Army soldiers stationed there, it won't be easy for the Qian Army to break through our defensive line."

"As long as they can hold out for half a year, I can end the campaign and return with the main force. By then, they'll be the ones worrying."

There was one thing Gao Yuan didn't mention: he still had a trump card. If the Great Qian really dared to stir up trouble, Cao Xing and his fifteen thousand naval troops, along with eight thousand Xuanjia Army soldiers, would launch a surprise attack on the southeast coast.

With their source of provisions compromised and the Capital City under constant threat of attack, men like Xiao Yu and Cui You wouldn't have the heart to plan any offensives.

Having secured the women's consent, the troops in Gao Yuan's plan immediately began moving in secret batches. Although he wasn't afraid of Great Qian taking advantage of the situation, he still wanted to hide the news for as long as possible to delay discovery.

Since tens of thousands of troops were already scattered around Panyu and moved under the cover of night, their deployment went unnoticed.

As for Gao Yuan himself, he knew spies would be watching him and the Xiaoguo Army, so he waited until the very end to leave.

He initially headed toward Qitian Ridge, feigning an inspection of the Jiangnan West Circuit. Only after entering the circuit did he take a route through Jiannan to reach Hanzhong.

Following orders, Chen Dao and the Baier Soldiers patrolled Panyu every few days with great fanfare.

This tactic worked well; the spies assumed Gao Yuan was merely on a routine trip and didn't report it.

Thus, by the time the Northern Liang spies in Nanzheng realized something was wrong, the borders had been sealed. They had no way to send word out and could only fret in vain.

Instead, several groups of spies were caught trying to cross the border, leading Wu Ban to trace and dismantle more than half of the Northern Liang spy network operating in Hanzhong and Chencang.

Without anyone noticing, Gao Yuan completed a deployment of tens of thousands of people over a distance of more than a thousand miles.

Qishan County was the base of Gao Zi. However, because the city was small, only his Personal Guards and five hundred defenders were stationed inside, while his five thousand Cavalry were all in a camp outside the city.

He never imagined this arrangement would lead to his greatest defeat since joining the army, with no chance for redemption.

Gao Yuan's Secret Guards had already scouted the Cavalry's location. Under the cover of night, Gao Yuan ordered the Beiwei Army to surround the hill where the Cavalry was stationed.

Furthermore, trenches over three feet deep and ten feet wide were dug at the foot of the hill, lined with Abatis and Chevaux-de-frise, blocking any possibility of a downhill Cavalry charge.

Gao Zi was shocked by the news. He immediately deployed men to send word to Mei County and Chang'an for reinforcements while attempting to lead troops to the rescue himself.

However, both the messengers and his troops were intercepted by the Xiaoguo Army as soon as they appeared. If he hadn't fought desperately to cover the retreat, Zhao Meng would have stormed the county seat with his troops.

The camp held the high ground, and since the five thousand men were elites, a direct assault would result in heavy casualties. However, they had a fatal weakness: their supplies depended entirely on daily deliveries from the county seat.

Thus, Gao Yuan chose to besiege without attacking, sending men to the foot of the hill every day to shout for their surrender.

These Cavalrymen, mostly qiang people, were not particularly steadfast. They were used to the game of surrendering when they couldn't win and then rebelling again once they had recovered their strength.

Seeing no hope of escape, the qiang people began descending the hill in groups to surrender. In less than five days, over three thousand of the five thousand Cavalry had surrendered.

Seeing everyone else surrender, those remaining on the hill lost the will to hold out and chose to surrender as well.

What they didn't know was that Gao Yuan would not treat these non-Han people with kindness. While the Han defectors might be resettled, these qiang people were turned directly into slaves and sent to Jiannan Circuit as forced labor.

These qiang people used to enjoy bullying others, raping and looting unarmed Han civilians. They never expected that one day they would become slaves to the Han.

By the time they were shackled and driven into lightless mine shafts, they were filled with regret, but it was too late. They would never have a chance to rise again.

In less than ten days, the five thousand Cavalry were wiped out. Gao Zi knew he was finished; with fewer than five hundred defenders left in the city, he believed he would be done for in less than a day if Gao Yuan ordered an assault.

To save his life and spread the word, Gao Zi decided to break out that night. He had to get through.

Under the cover of night, he actually managed to break out with his men. Unfortunately, to avoid alerting the enemy, he didn't dare set fire to the grain and military supplies in the city, which all became Gao Yuan's spoils of war.

But when he finally reached Mei County after much hardship, he saw the county seat surrounded as tightly as an iron barrel.

Without stopping, Gao Zi took one look at Mei County from a distance and turned his horse toward Chang'an.

News that Gao Yuan's main force had captured Qishan and besieged Mei County, leaving Gao Chou in dire straits, quickly shook the entire Guanzhong.

Gao Bing, stationed in Chang'an, was immediately caught in a dilemma: whether or not to rescue Gao Chou and those eight thousand troops.

If he didn't, judging by Gao Yuan's previous attacks on Da San Pass and Chencang, the city would fall in a few days.

With Gao Yuan's absolute superiority in numbers and Cavalry, it would be difficult for Gao Chou and his eight thousand troops to even break out.

If he did rescue them, the recent example of Gao Yuan using the "besiege a point to strike reinforcements" tactic to wipe out tens of thousands of Great Qian's elites was fresh in his mind.

What worried Gao Bing even more was what to do with the troops stationed in Jingyang, Lantian, Hu County, and other places.

If he left them where they were, Gao Yuan could defeat them one by one after finishing off Gao Chou in Mei County.

If he pulled them back, it would be equivalent to handing those places over on a silver platter.

Suddenly, Gao Bing felt his available forces were spread too thin. The root of all this was the lack of Cavalry.

Without Cavalry, their mobility was naturally much poorer, and they had lost the initiative in the campaign.

Gao Yuan could use the mobility of his Cavalry to roam and strike anywhere; there would be no more peace in Chang'an or the entire Guanzhong.

While Gao Bing was agonizing, at the foot of Mei County's walls, craftsmen were orderly constructing siege engines.

Gao Chou was determined to hold out, and Mei County had stockpiled enough grain, which gave Gao Yuan a headache.

"If I'd known, I would have brought the Imperial Guard Division. With a few Flying Thunder Cannons, we could have given them a round of shelling."

Since the development of the Red-Coat Cannons showed promise, Gao Yuan had ordered a halt to the production of Flying Thunder Cannons.

Mainly because those things weren't cheap to cast and weren't durable; they'd be scrapped after a few uses, making them not very cost-effective.

However, even without the Flying Thunder Cannons, the Yue Army wasn't completely out of options.

They still had linchong siege towers, Scaling Ladders, and most importantly, explosive packs.

Using black powder explosive packs to blow up city walls was unrealistic, but there was hope for blowing open the city gates.

Seeing that Gao Bing was slow to send reinforcements, Gao Yuan prepared to finish off Gao Chou and his eight thousand troops.