My wife has a secret

Chapter 230 Response
Yang Xianning felt relieved, because the Yang family army was weak, and if they could get assistance from other elite troops, they would have a better chance of stopping the enemy.

According to her speculation, it would take time for the capital to mobilize troops from all over the place, so although Huangling Pass and the three cities adjacent to the capital had no hope of holding on for too long, they could still buy time for establishing a defense line in the rear.

However, Yang Xianning was also somewhat confused. The Zhennan Zhongwu Army was a hard-earned force built by the Ministry of War with huge investment. Why would they rush to the front line in such a hurry?

You know, at this moment Huangling Pass had just been breached, and the command and intelligence of the two armies were out of sync. As reinforcements, they should not know the specific situation, and it would be a very dangerous act to rashly station troops there.

"Let the general leading the army in."

"Yes!"

After receiving the general's order, the personal guards walked out in their riding boots and led the generals from the Zhennan Zhongwu Army who had come to the palace to the residential area in the next yard.

There were few wealthy families in Jieting, so in order to make things easier, Yang Xianning chose several deserted courtyards in the city as his tent.

She was also worried that meeting with her subordinates would affect Xu Qing's rest, so she deliberately did her work in the yard next door and came to see how Xu Qing was doing when she was free.

Before Yang Xianning could sit on the bench next to her for a while, two generals of the Zhennan Zhongwu Army, wearing phoenix-wing helmets and bright silver armor, walked into the courtyard with firm steps.

The two men were strong and muscular, standing still like a mountain, and they looked like they were no ordinary people.

Facing the cold gaze of Yang's army's guards, they responded with piercing eyes, their pupils were like two cold and hard steel balls, always ready to deal with all kinds of conflicts.

It has to be said that the two armies were already competing with each other before they even entered the battlefield.

When the two men saw Yang Xianning, although their rank was several ranks lower than that of the General of Chariots and Cavalry and they were only deputy generals in the army, they had no intention of bowing their heads in salute.

Even though they were only nominal superiors and subordinates, Qi's elite troops each recognized their own master.

Fortunately, Yang Xianning didn't care about these things and asked directly: "The Zhennan Zhongwu Army has been ordered to provide assistance. Do you have any plans for the next step?"

Since the relationship between the Yang Family Army and the imperial court became cold, few people in the imperial army have seen the Yang family and the Yang Family Army again, and the same is true for the two deputy generals.

Although Yang Xianning had a great reputation and was said to be a beautiful woman who was both talented in literature and martial arts, had great wisdom and extraordinary beauty, most people felt that the reputation of this girl was exaggerated by the people of Huangling Pass.

After seeing him today, even the Zhennan Zhongwu Army, which had some reservations, had to admit that General Yang was handsome and did not look like a burly martial artist at all.

Or rather, she was too pretty.

However, a deputy general quickly came to his senses, bowed his head instead of saluting, and said in a cold voice: "I am Zhang Shunfei, from the Qinglong Battalion of the Zhennan Zhongwu Army. I am here to welcome back Lord Xu in accordance with the imperial decree of His Majesty."

"Xu Qing? Are you going to take him back to the capital?"

Yang Xianning naturally had no idea who the court wanted to send to lead the army, but when she passed through the capital, she had heard that the saint was very fond of this nephew.

What she didn't expect was that His Majesty would actually send elite troops from the court to pick her up. This kind of treatment was unprecedented and will never be repeated.

Zhang Shunfei responded calmly, "General Yang, the emperor has specially ordered you to be our special envoy. You are entitled to all the privileges on the battlefield, including but not limited to... command."

"You mean to let him lead the troops?"

It is clear at a glance who in the Qi army can lead troops to fight.

After all, most people will never have the opportunity to command troops from birth to old age.

Only the families who studied the art of war and the top military scholars who were promoted to officials through their martial arts possessed this skill.

Yang Xianning was well aware of Xu Qing's level, and her heart couldn't help but skip a beat, and her beautiful brows slightly frowned.

"If you have any opinions, you can discuss with His Majesty. We are only responsible for welcoming the Marquis back and then deciding on the next steps."

Zhang Shunfei did not intend to have too much contact with Yang Xianning. There was actually another very important reason why the two deputy generals had such a cold attitude.

That is, the Zhennan Zhongwu Army traveled for several days and marched quickly to Jieting before they received the news that Huangling Pass had been lost.

A soldier's duty is to defend his country. Faced with the man who had suffered a defeat and ordered the Yang family army to withdraw in batches to the capital, Zhang Shunfei and the other two naturally did not look at him in a good mood, and they had no awe in their hearts.

"Marquis Guangping was injured at Huangling Pass and is currently recuperating... Besides, Marquis Guangping doesn't have much experience, so why not let me take over the command temporarily."

If the two wanted to bring Xu Qing back to the capital, Yang Xianning would not stop them. After all, Xu Qing's current condition required rest.

But Yang Xianning knew very well the situation of the army camping, and she was not very reassured about leaving Xu Qing in the hands of the Zhennan Zhongwu Army.

"That's unreasonable!"

A deputy general standing next to Zhang Shunfei glared and roared.

He had been silent before, but now his neck was red, and he seemed to be holding back all his strength to rebuke, "You hid the Marquis of Guangping. Are you trying to secretly take control of our army?"

Yang Xianning's pretty face changed color. She never expected that she would be viewed like this, but this slight change became the basis for the two deputy generals' identification.

Zhang Shunfei even threatened: "General Yang has been acting recklessly. Don't blame me, the Zhennan Zhongwu Army, for being ruthless and welcoming back Lord Xu."

He had a loud voice and his roar could be heard in all directions.

How could the guards around Yang Xianning allow two lieutenant generals of his army to act so recklessly here? In addition, they had long been resentful of the court, so they drew their sharp weapons from their sheaths and surrounded the house.

As the situation became increasingly tense, a weak voice suddenly rang out.

"General Yang is right. This Marquis is indeed staying here to recuperate because of an injury."

Zhang Shunfei looked back upon hearing this and suddenly saw a young man with a pale face and no blood at the gate of the courtyard.

The other person had delicate eyebrows and fine features, and was indeed 80% similar to the portrait he had seen. It was undoubtedly the Marquis of Guangping himself.

The two men from the Zhennan Zhongwu Army looked at each other, then knelt on one knee. One of them raised his arms high and presented the tiger talisman and the yellow imperial edict from the palace eunuch.

Xu Qingqiang propped himself up and walked over, taking the tiger talisman and the imperial edict, officially incorporating this army into his command.

But he didn't say anything in a hurry. Instead, he staggered to a chair next to him and sat down.

"As you know, I am a playboy from an aristocratic family and have no experience in leading troops. It just so happens that General Yang is here, so why not let her take over the command temporarily?"

Xu Qing knew his own limitations, and even if he was forced to do so, he did not have the strength to command these troops. Zhang Shunfei and the other two complained bitterly, they thought Xu Qing was temporarily detained in the Yang family army, that was why he was so tough, but now that there was a mistake, it was hard to imagine how Yang Xianning would dispatch them.

Most generals would withdraw their own troops to the rear and give priority to destroying other troops.

But what was unexpected to everyone present was that Yang Xianning, who had previously wanted to have command, rejected the proposal.

"Since this is His Majesty's will, let's do it according to His Majesty's will."

The reason why Yang Xianning said this was because she discovered that the Zhennan Zhongwu Army had a subtle attitude towards herself and the Yang Family Army. At this critical juncture, if something went wrong due to miscellaneous matters, no one would be able to take responsibility.

Although it was not a very wise choice for Xu Qing to command the support troops, this battle was not impossible to fight.

She turned to face Xu Qing and said calmly, "My Lord, now that Huangling Pass has been lost, the frontier positions are in danger. We need to build a new line of defense in the Qinling Mountains. What do you think?"

Xu Qing blinked, not quite understanding.

Yang Xianning nodded towards the door, and after a while, several female guards came carrying a large table.

There was a sand table on the table with a clear terrain and flags marking the battle lines and approximate strength of the two armies.

With this easy-to-understand thing, even if Xu Qing was a military idiot who knew nothing beforehand, he had a general understanding of the situation on the battlefield.

"This is the Qinling Mountains. This is the news sent back from the front line that the Liao army has entered the Huangling Pass."

Xu Qing did not speak, but Zhang Shunfei at the side could not help but ask: "How could the scouts at the front be so powerful that they knew exactly how many troops the Liao army had sent in?"

"When marching or camping, each unit likes to hang up the flag of its own camp. By comparing this, we can infer something... Of course, the enemy can also use this to deceive us."

Yang Xianning said: "However, based on the various intelligence collected in the past two days, the general deployment of the Liao army should be true, and it is all marked here."

The two deputy generals of the Zhennan Zhongwu Army looked at each other, both shocked by this scene.

It seems that being away from the front line of battle for a long time and relying solely on daily military training will make it difficult to maintain high combat effectiveness and experienced command.

Thinking of this, their attitude towards Yang Xianning softened and they dared not look down on this woman anymore.

"Except for Li Fu, the first batch of Liao troops to enter the pass to rest and station there were Shi Mi Ming'an and Wan Yan Yuan Yi. These two served as the vanguard under Xiao Chong and were good at attacking cities and seizing territories."

Over the years, the Yang family had already gained a thorough understanding of the Liao army's generals and reached the level of knowing both themselves and the enemy.

I believe Xiao Chong is the same in this regard.

"Xiao Chong ordered the two to enter the pass first, while the central army he led was in the rear and has not yet entered the pass. This means that he wants to fight a quick victory and quickly advance the front line to the Qinling Mountains so that it will be convenient to launch a decisive battle near the capital."

As a top military general, Yang Xianning has calmly understood Xiao Chong's intentions and plans.

Xu Qing saw that the terrain on the sand table was undulating in the capital, and asked, "Then if we do as the enemy wishes, burn down the towns along the way, and retreat here, can't we also fight the enemy?"

Although Xu Qing didn't understand military affairs, he had watched some popular science videos in his previous life and knew what the scorched earth plan was.

Moreover, Xu Qing's idea coincided with the response in the minds of Zhang Shunfei and the others. They all felt that they were forced to meet the enemy head-on, and it would be most effective to adopt this tactic of hurting the enemy by a thousand and losing eight hundred of their own.

"Regardless of other factors, it's the right thing to do. After all, the enemy outnumbers us."

Yang Xianning stretched out her slender jade finger and pointed to the Qinling Mountains on the sand table, saying, "But the Qinling Mountains are different from the Huangling Pass. From the Qinling Mountains to the capital, it is from top to bottom. In order to prevent the Liao army from occupying the high ground and harassing the capital with rockets and catapults, we must fight the enemy in the mountains protruding from the Qinling Mountains."

The capital was the most prosperous and wealthy city in Qi State, and also the center of economy and culture.

If we really let the enemy in according to the conventional tactics and fight them here for a year or two, Qi would be destroyed.

"Then... General Yang, how can we break the impasse?"

Unconsciously, Zhang Shunfei's way of addressing Yang Xianning had also changed. Even though he was much older than her, the two of them no longer had any objection to the command that Xu Qing had previously proposed.

Previously they were somewhat arrogant, thinking that they could win the battles that the Yang army could not win by themselves. However, after a few words of communication, they realized that the situation on the front line was extremely serious and everything was not as they thought.

The Liao Kingdom came prepared, and the army leader Xiao Chong was extremely cunning. Conventional battles would fall into the hands of the enemy, putting them in an extremely passive position.

"The Liao army's main attack direction is southeast, but the appearance of two vanguards shows that they have plans to split their forces and prepare to quickly attack the three cities of Jieting, Yuexiubao, and Aigang."

The towns that Yang Xianning just mentioned are all cities in the area from the capital to Huangling Pass.

She calmly analyzed, "Xiao Chong is in charge of the central army tent, so he won't reveal any flaws in his control of the general direction, but he also has shortcomings... He can't react on the spot to the situation faced by the vanguard army. Instead, our main enemies are Shi Mi Ming'an and Wanyan Yuanyi."

"I see."

After this awakening, Zhang Shunfei and the other man were convinced by Yang Xianning and no longer had any second thoughts about her.

They had been thinking about the confrontation between the two armies, how to consume the energy, and where to set up the main battlefield. However, Yang Xianning's idea directly reduced the entire battlefield and transformed it into a battle between the two vanguard armies and the Yang Family Army and the Zhennan Zhongwu Army.

In this way, our side has a chance of winning.

"Jieting has a flat terrain and is the target that the Liao army's vanguard must attack. However... relying on just one fulcrum is not enough to annex and cross the three cities and pose a threat to the defense line of the capital."

Yang Xianning moved the flag of the Liao vanguard army on the sand table forward and placed it in a small place that no one cared about and had never had any sense of existence.

"In fact, this is where the Liao army's vanguard will attack from."

The people in the room were slightly stunned after seeing this, and they had no idea that there could be any meaning here.

The deputy general next to Zhang Shunfei tried to raise an objection, "General Yang, this Changpo Bridge is just a stone bridge near a low hill, but there is no river there, it is just a shallow depression, it has no value at all."

"At first glance, Changpo Bridge may not attract attention, but the real purpose of this stone bridge is to allow cavalry to pass through."

Yang Xianning's simple explanation was like a wake-up call and a lesson for everyone present.

"If we concentrate the cavalry here, we can pass through the shallow muddy ground and reach the rear of the low hill. If the cavalry here does not attack the low hill, but marches eastward, they can go around to the rear of Jieting and form an encirclement that just covers the three cities."

Zhang Shunfei took a deep breath. He had never expected that the route of advance would be so tricky.

(End of this chapter)