In the military camp, the Marshal of the Tianri clan, who had emerged from obscurity, listened to the frontline war reports with a grim expression.
"The Tianri cavalry are our elite. After a thousand years of systematic improvement, even when facing an enemy several times their number, they should not be annihilated. It's utterly inconceivable."
Dugu Qun sighed, "There are still five thousand cavalry within Luzhou city. Coupled with those new-model cavalry reinforcements from Jiangbei, they've cut off our cavalry's retreat..."
Silence fell over the hall.
The loss of ten thousand cavalry was an unbearable blow, severely impacting morale.
This was the cavalry reinforcement they had eagerly anticipated, having secretly rushed from the Peacock Dynasty to Jiaozhou not long ago, and then from Jiaozhou to Luzhou. They were said to be battle-hardened, invincible, and sweeping all before them.
And yet, in their very first engagement, an enemy force had annihilated their vanguard!
Fortunately, the Tianri Marshal remained calm and did not cast blame, as the unit had been deployed under his orders.
"Didn't you say the enemy cavalry had already gone to Jinling?" Alexander frowned.
"Da Qian must have captured a large number of warhorses from the Barbarians and the Xianbei. Over the past few years, with the help of the northern and northwestern horse farms, they've bred more warhorses and formed more cavalry. Now that Da Qian's population exceeds one hundred million, they can indeed afford to maintain over a hundred thousand cavalry..." He Wanli explained with a dejected look.
"It seems Mars hasn't posed much of a threat to the western front, perhaps not even worthy of Liang Xiao's attention." Alexander stroked his beard, his expression growing more somber. "For the enemy to annihilate ten thousand of our cavalry, they either possess over fifty thousand cavalry, or their commander is a master of cavalry warfare, adept at encirclement and decapitation strikes."
Jian Bei reminded, "There are still twenty thousand Tianri cavalry, and ten thousand regular cavalry, all dispatched by Marshal Alexander to Yuzhang and other areas. They cannot return in time. Should we continue to concentrate our forces to break through Luzhou..."
Alexander shook his head.
"Da Qian's ballistae and arrows have surpassed our Tianri clan's understanding. While concentrating our forces would give us a numerical advantage, if the enemy holds the city and defends resolutely, or even defeats us, our efforts will be in vain. With the provisions provided by Jiaozhou and the aristocratic families of Da Liang, we can engage them in a war of attrition for a year. Da Qian is fighting on multiple fronts and will surely collapse."
"At the same time, extending the front line is the correct strategy. Luzhou is a vital strategic town in Jiangnan, impregnable. Since we cannot take it after a prolonged siege, we must continuously seek out cities where the enemy's defenses are weak and strike them decisively, rather than being bogged down outside the city. After all, if Da Qian can hold out for half a year without collapsing, they might still have reserves."
Dugu Qun and the others hesitated to speak, eventually remaining silent.
The current Da Qian populace was united, and the Emperor was deeply supported by the people. However, they dared not utter words that boosted the enemy's morale and dampened their own.
In their view, the common people were merely impoverished ants. Even if they supported the court, they could not contribute much money or grain. The truly threatening force was the Da Qian soldiers.
King Nan, Xiao Chang, and King Jinpao, Xiao Che, listened quietly to the conversation, not uttering a word.
Liang Xiao had brought them too much humiliation and fear. They lacked the confidence to face him directly and could only place their hopes in Alexander and Hannibal, who was still directing operations in Jiaozhou. After all, these Tianri Marshals had no prior record of direct confrontation with Liang Xiao, yet they were renowned in the Peacock Dynasty.
It was said that over five million natives of the Peacock Dynasty had perished at their hands...
As they were discussing, a Tianri clansman rushed in from outside, whispered something to Alexander, and then presented a secret letter.
Alexander glanced at it and smiled, "Excellent. From today onwards, temporarily avoid deep cavalry incursions into enemy territory until Achilles returns."
"Wasn't he in the western frontier?" Jian Bei exclaimed in surprise.
Alexander explained, "The Yumenguan Pass in the western frontier makes it difficult for the Tianri cavalry to perform. He was also bored. Jiangnan, however, is different. It's full of flat terrain where he can lead cavalry and sweep across the entire Jiangnan region, becoming invincible! But his true purpose in coming from the western frontier is to personally defeat General Tian and avenge our ancestors."
The others were both surprised and delighted. "We've heard that Achilles can fight against ten thousand men, and his warhorse is as swift as lightning. Isn't Da Qian's General Tian also renowned throughout the land with his divine halberd and divine steed?"
"Achilles has surpassed his ancestors and is worthy of the name 'Invincible'. Even the mighty Heracles, blessed with innate divine strength and skilled in cavalry combat, would retreat in disgrace after a few dozen rounds against him," Alexander said proudly. "From now on, we must constantly probe for cities with weak defenses in Jiangnan and achieve victory in a single decisive battle!"
The allied forces of Jiaozhou continued to expand their front line, no longer confined to the vicinity of Luzhou.
However, Xiao Chang still stationed a hundred thousand troops outside Luzhou city to tie down the enemy and prevent Luzhou from coordinating with other regions.
In the Luzhou city military camp, Zhuo Ying and others reported the situation of the past six months to Liang Xiao.
"Our defense is adequate, but our offensive capabilities are lacking because the northern areas have many interconnected roads, while the south has almost no official roads."
Liang Xiao did not blame Zhuo Ying.
Years ago, Da Qian had foresightedly built many roads in the Jiangnan region north of Luzhou, while building almost none to the south, to prevent the roads from being exploited by the enemy.
For the enemy to bypass the cities of Jiangnan and destroy official roads, they would have to bear immense risks. Advancing past cities without a decisive numerical advantage was a grave military error.
Typical offensive wars are difficult to end in a short period. Wars that bypass cities rely on surprise and speed, and are not suitable for protracted engagements.
The southern part of Jiangnan, especially the southwest, is mountainous. The Sun Moon Army and the Spring Revival Sect also emerged from there in the past, using a few old official roads to easily reach Luzhou, almost causing its fall.
Those few official roads were built by aristocratic families for various reasons, such as facilitating trade with Jiaozhou.
To that end, the forests around these official roads had been completely cleared. Even if Da Qian destroyed the roads, they could not construct too many obstacles.
Even today, those roads are still being utilized by the Jiaozhou army, causing considerable harm.
However, yesterday, those ten thousand Tianri cavalry, leveraging their mobility, chose to take the risk of bypassing the city, directly targeting the supply depots and shipyards north of Luzhou. If they had succeeded, the Jiangnan army would have been put in a passive position.
Fortunately, there were many military camps to the north of Jiangnan that could respond at any time and dispatch troops to intercept them. It was by chance that Liang Xiao had led his troops to reinforce Luzhou, resulting in an accidental annihilation.
Next time, the enemy will surely be more cautious, and a complete annihilation will be impossible.
"The enemy seems intent on fighting a war of attrition with us, showing no fear of our defense of Jiangnan. Furthermore, they appear to be dividing their forces, clearly aiming to exhaust our troops and prevent us from defeating them piecemeal," Zhuo Ying sighed.
Liang Xiao nodded, "To be safe, I will immediately send someone to notify the infantry divisions in Zhongzhou to come to their aid."
Zhuo Ying reminded, "The real problem is that our army's grain reserves may only last for half a year."