Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 1172

Chapter 1172: Chapter 1166: Washing Away Past Humiliation

"Once when Yan Kingdom was at its strongest... it opened the gates of Yecheng Pass." Ye Shouguan said coldly, "But, even at that time, the ever-victorious Yan general Tang Yi, known as the God of War, opened the gates of Yecheng Pass in the hands of my grandfather and father, yet ultimately did not dare enter. Why?"

"Tang Yi feared that if he entered Yecheng Pass, he would be trapped by the well-fortified Xiliang soldiers on the high peaks at the sides..." Ye Shouguan looked towards the city walls on both mountain peaks, illuminated like a long dragon by lights, "And if they directly passed through Yecheng Pass to advance on Yunjing, Yecheng Pass would be reoccupied by the Xiliang army. How then could Yan’s forces manage without supplies? Should they rely on the northwest winds to conquer Yunjing?"

This... is the real reason behind the impregnability of Yecheng Pass! To break through Yecheng Pass is not merely to open its gates; true conquest lies in taking the fortified high grounds on both mountain peaks!

Perhaps because no one had ever successfully attacked up the city walls to those high peaks, Bai Qingyan underestimated the defenses of these peaks. Even if in the end, Xiliang soldiers were reduced to a mere hundred men, it would still be as difficult as scaling the heavens for the Zhou people to ascend. On the walls, there are huge stones polished for decades left unused, ready to roll down and crush anyone who attempts a direct assault along the walls!

Hence, Ye Shouguan dared to send the soldiers from both mountains around to flank the Zhou army...

Ye Shouguan clenched his teeth: "Bai Qingyan is too confident. She thinks... by committing her entire main force to open the gates of Yecheng Pass, she can, first... scale our built walls to take the peaks, and second... pass through Yecheng Pass to capture Deyang, Lean, Luquan, and Jingrong, pushing straight to Yunjing! Just dreaming!"

"But what if the Zhou army, realizing they were being attacked from both sides, decided to break out through the southern gate of Yecheng Pass instead?! What if they took our Emperor of Xiliang and passed through Yecheng Pass to attack Deyang!" The commander loyal to Ye Shouguan feared Yecheng Pass would fall under Ye Shouguan’s command, "If they imitate the old Rong, taking where they conquer, then... the whole of Xiliang would know that the commanders of Yecheng Pass failed to rescue our majesty! There would probably be speculation across the nation... that you, General, had surrendered to Zhou!"

Ye Shouguan considered that Bai Qingyan might press forward regardless, ignoring the army’s supplies, imitating the old Rong, looting the people’s grain wherever they go. However... Xiliang is suffering a grain shortage now, with famine widespread... It’s only a matter of time before starvation spreads even among the corpses. Even if they did plunder the people, they would still find nothing to take.

"Bai Qingyan isn’t foolish enough for that!" Ye Shouguan clenched his fists tightly, "It was because of the jade brocades and furs, caused by merchants from Zhou, that made Xiliang’s people stop farming... Why wouldn’t Bai Qingyan know of Xiliang’s grain shortage? To provide grain for the Tianfen Kingdom’s troops, Xiliang’s people have been reduced to eating bark. What else could they let Zhou take?!"

"Therefore, for Bai Qingyan, it is undesirable to waste soldiers’ strength and energy to climb the high mountains, to disperse forces and attack the ultimately unassailable mountain wall fortresses. Better to concentrate forces on attacking Yecheng Pass!" Ye Shouguan’s gaze fell on Li Tianfu and Ye Yingnan, who were hung on the siege ladders, "She hung our Emperor of Xiliang on the ladders to force the soldiers on the mountain peaks to descend along the walls to rescues!"

Ye Shouguan pointed to the trebuchets in the distance, speaking with affirmation: "Zhou wants to use our Emperor of Xiliang to lure the reinforcements from the high peaks down to save their emperor, look at those trebuchets, Zhou has endured without using them until now, why is that?!"

Ye Shouguan, believing he had seen through Bai Qingyan’s tactics, sneered: "They are waiting for the moment when the soldiers on the high peaks rush down the city walls to attack our reinforcing soldiers. Zhou intends to put the battlefield in and outside Yecheng Pass, to expend our forces significantly! Zhou will certainly scale the city walls after that, making it much easier to conquer the fortress walls on the high peaks! I bet she’s planning just that!"

Though Bai Qingyan fights bravely, she is nonetheless young. Moreover, having ascended to the position of the Emperor of Zhou, she holds the title of God of Slaughter, elevated by others, lacking experience. She’s probably relying on having their Emperor of Xiliang Li Tianfu as a hostage, thinking that, as long as she focuses on capturing Yecheng Pass, drawing their forces to aid their emperor... she can use the inside and outside of Yecheng Pass as a battleground to deplete their Xiliang forces, then assault their connected city walls!

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