Encircle and attack reinforcements

During this expedition, the only proper battle had been the attack on the arsenal. It was a complete steamroll, and Xia Luqi, that brute, hadn't had his fill of combat at all.

Now that someone was pursuing them, it was the best opportunity for the Nanzhou Army.

"Chief Secretary Liu, how do you suggest we fight this?"

"According to scout reports, there are three pursuit forces near us. The closest is the one to the west, with about two thousand men."

As Liu Rengui spoke, he pointed to a town on the map.

"Bang Jie, take the First Division and set an ambush ten li east of this location. Try to drive the enemy into this town. Remember, you must leave a few remnants of the enemy force to allow them to call for reinforcements."

"Understood!"

Taking his orders, Xia Luqi led the First Division and turned the column westward.

Of the remaining troops, Liu Rengui assigned one brigade of five hundred men to continue escorting the spoils of war northward, while the remaining two thousand men halted.

The Dong Kinh reinforcements coming from the west were the garrison originally stationed at the border of Son La and Xinghua, led by Wu Quan's second son, Wu Changwen.

Upon learning that the rear had been raided, Wu Changwen was eager to distinguish himself. Coupled with his lack of respect for his uncle, Third Brother Yang, he ignored Third Brother Yang's orders and led his troops in a day-and-night pursuit.

Passing through the town, Wu Changwen had no intention of stopping; he merely replenished some water before continuing the chase eastward.

After traveling over ten li, they reached a forested mountain area. Seeing the terrain, one of his subordinates couldn't help but advise him.

"Second Prince, the mountain path ahead is narrow and the jungle is dense. It is a perfect place for an ambush. We should halt the army temporarily and send out scouts to probe the path for safety."

Wu Changwen would not listen to the advice at all.

"The Nanzhou Army is burdened with a large number of prisoners and loot; they must be fleeing north with all their might right now. How could they possibly set an ambush here? Order the entire army to pursue at full speed!"

Seeing their commander's decision, the subordinates could say no more and urged the soldiers to quicken their pace.

The Dong Kinh soldiers had been marching day and night, each one as exhausted as a dog. Originally, they hadn't felt much while they were constantly on the move.

But after stopping briefly in the town earlier, all that tension had vanished. Now, having forced themselves to walk another ten-plus li, fatigue permeated their entire bodies.

As dusk approached, the mountain path was unnervingly silent. There wasn't even the sound of insects or birds, giving off a strong sense of unease.

Though Wu Changwen was somewhat reckless, he was also a veteran who had led troops for many years. At this moment, he also felt something was wrong.

"Order the men to pass through here quickly and set up camp to rest ten li ahead."

Hearing that they could rest after another ten li, the Dong Kinh soldiers summoned their last bits of strength and quickened their pace.

Just then, the sound of bamboo whistles suddenly erupted from the mountain forest.

"Not good! It's an ambush! To arms!"

Armies generally did not wear armor while marching; it was either carried by laborers, loaded onto horses, or placed on ox carts.

At this moment, the Dong Kinh soldiers were scrambling to find their armor, but it was already too late.

A massive amount of boulders rolled down the slopes, carrying immense kinetic energy as they crashed into the Dong Kinh army.

"Ah! My foot!"

"Help me!"

"To arms! To arms! Sword and Shield Soldiers to the front!"

Screams and shouts rose one after another, falling into a chaotic mess.

Following the rolling stones came a flash of cold steel—the weapons of the Nanzhou First Division's Sword and Shield Soldiers.

The unprepared Dong Kinh army was quickly cut into several segments, unable to support each other. Soldiers could not find their officers, and officers could not find their soldiers; it was pure chaos.

Realizing he was ambushed, Wu Changwen felt his soul nearly leave his body. He had come to snatch glory for the sake of the succession; if he died here, everything would be over.

Ignoring everything else, Wu Changwen roared,

"Retreat! Retreat back to that town! Quickly, retreat!"

After shouting, he didn't care if his soldiers followed. He turned his horse and fled westward.

Xia Luqi remembered Liu Rengui's instructions. He did not pursue, but quickly led his troops to wipe out the remaining enemies. After clearing the battlefield, he leisurely headed west.

That night, Wu Changwen hid in a civilian house in the town with over two hundred remnants of his force, shivering as he held a bowl of hot porridge.

"How... how is it? Have the... have the messengers been sent out?"

The lieutenant who had previously warned Wu Changwen about the ambush approached to comfort him.

"They've been sent. Both teams of messengers have been sent out. Do not worry, Your Highness. The reinforcements from the direction of Cao Bang shouldn't be far from us. If they move quickly, they'll arrive in a day or two."

"That's good, that's good!"

"Fortunately, the Great General previously built walls around these towns, otherwise... sigh..."

The news of the Second Prince being besieged was like a bolt from the blue for the Dong Kinh army. At this point, they couldn't care less about recovering their losses; they had to save the Prince first!

The troops from Cao Bang set out before dawn, their commander desperately urging the soldiers to quicken their pace in his anxiety.

Upon reaching the place where Wu Changwen had been ambushed, the Dong Kinh army halted.

"General, this is exactly where the Second Prince was ambushed. We should be careful."

"Precisely because of that, the Han people will definitely not use the same tactic in the same place twice. We are only ten-plus li from where the Second Prince is besieged. Tell the brothers to work a bit harder and rush there to reinforce him!"

"Understood!"

With the order given, the Dong Kinh army continued their rapid journey westward.

On the road, yesterday's blood still stained the ground, and severed limbs could be seen from time to time. This made the Dong Kinh soldiers feel a sense of dread, and they became more cautious.

To their surprise, they had only gone halfway when the sound of bamboo whistles rang out, followed by a massive amount of boulders rolling down from the forest.

Indeed, these were the same boulders from yesterday, reused by Liu Rengui.

It was almost the same recipe and the same flavor. The unprepared Dong Kinh soldiers had no idea how many enemies there were and quickly fell into chaos.

Wu Changwen waited and waited until his hope nearly withered, and finally, he saw the reinforcements he had long for. However, these reinforcements... of the three thousand Cao Bang reinforcements, one round had been ambushed by Liu Rengui, and they were charged again by Xia Luqi's men as they entered the town. By the time they made it inside, only three hundred-plus bedraggled survivors remained.

The garrison commander of Cao Bang had also been targeted by Xia Luqi while entering the town. He was run through by a spear and knocked off his horse, dying with his eyes wide open in resentment.

Over the next two days, Liu Rengui suppressed the urge to swallow Wu Changwen's force whole, using him as bait. He even deliberately let two waves of messengers seeking help escape.

Learning that his nephew was besieged and the reinforcements had been ambushed and nearly wiped out, Third Brother Yang was also dumbfounded. The most critical issue was that he couldn't scrape together an army to reinforce them now.

The East Pass garrison, along with the northern border forces, only had about five thousand men left. The Cao Bang garrison now only had two thousand.

Over in Thanh Hoa, the two sides were currently locked in a stalemate with the Lan Xang people; it was impossible to mobilize troops from there for reinforcements.

In his helplessness, he could only move troops to stabilize the defensive line and prevent further losses, while sending someone to Thanh Hoa City to report the news, hoping Wu Quan would make a decision.

How much food could a single town have? Even if Wu Changwen seized all the grain from the commoners, it wouldn't last more than a few days. Instead, it only resulted in those commoners weeping as they took their families to become prisoners of the Nanzhou Army.

After being besieged for several days, Wu Changwen's mind had cooled down, and he finally understood what was happening.

"The Han people are indeed incredibly cunning. They are surrounding me to consume the reinforcements wave by wave."

The others were also shocked. Thinking back to what happened to the Cao Bang reinforcements, they understood Liu Rengui's intent.

The terrifying thing about an open scheme is that it's difficult to break. Neither Wu Quan nor Third Brother Yang could abandon Wu Changwen; this was a classic case of 'attacking where the enemy must save'.

And most crucially, Dong Kinh was currently in a standoff with Lan Xang and could not mobilize many reinforcements to help.

"A dead end!"

As these words surfaced in Wu Changwen's mind, he couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.