#484 - variable
“Niu Tou Mountain”
With both hands on the desk, his eyes were fixed on a small mountain range on the map.
After Li Huaizhong pointed out the army's route, Ning Yongnian noticed the Niu Tou Mountain area immediately.
“Your Majesty, the Niu Tou Mountain line is the shortest route to Shu Prefecture City. Taking other routes would delay us by at least five days.”
Li Huaizhong, who was beside him, guessed what Ning Yongnian was worried about and explained in a low voice, “Moreover, although Niu Tou Mountain is a mountainous area, there are not many natural dangers within it. The southeast, northwest, and all directions can be considered unobstructed.”
“It seems the Shu army should not be setting up an ambush here.”
“…”
After briefly introducing the situation of Niu Tou Mountain, Li Huaizhong stopped talking.
His analysis was actually correct. Although Niu Tou Mountain was somewhat more dangerous compared to other places, it was far from being a "natural barrier". The difficulty of setting up an ambush within it was very high.
What's more, the Shu army now only has more than 30,000 people, which simply does not have the ability to ambush an army of 300,000.
Therefore, Li Huaizhong felt that the Shu army would definitely not do such a "death-seeking" thing, and they must retreat to Shu Prefecture City to defend the city together with the Great Li reinforcements.
The old eunuch's idea was reasonable, but in fact, this was exactly the "illusion" that Wei Changtian wanted to create.
After all, if they found a very dangerous area to set up an ambush, even a fool would be able to see that there was a trick, but this Niu Tou Mountain area, with its not-so-high "danger factor", would not easily cause such a problem.
Therefore, he chose to lay a trap in Niu Tou Mountain and formulated a complete battle plan based on this.
Of course, in the original plan, the imperial army should have immediately pursued towards Niu Tou Mountain after the Shu army broke through, without giving Ning Yongnian time to think and order.
But now, due to the appearance of the Zhenshan Camp and Qin Zhengqiu, the imperial army set off two days late, and the "pursuit" has become a "push forward", which has somewhat affected the smoothness of the entire plan.
Wei Changtian believed that this small "unexpected" problem was not a big deal and should not affect the overall situation.
But in fact, when the opponent is a figure like Ning Yongnian, any small flaw may be infinitely magnified.
“…”
Looking at the map, Ning Yongnian did not speak for a full hundred breaths.
He actually did not suspect Han Zhao as a person, nor did he question Han Zhao's decision to take the Niu Tou Mountain line, and he understood that he should interfere in the war as little as possible.
After all, Han Zhao was at the front line and knew the situation far better than himself.
However, Ning Yongnian always had a sense of unease in his heart.
Although there was nothing abnormal in the Shu Prefecture battle except for the master who "killed three thousand soldiers with one sword", it could even be said that the progress was very smooth.
But it was precisely because it was too smooth that he felt the crisis hidden in the darkness.
“Tell Han Zhao…”
Suddenly, Ning Yongnian finally stopped hesitating and pointed to another location on the map: “Let him change to the Jin Yuan line.”
“Jin Yuan?”
Li Huaizhong looked at the map with some surprise and reminded in a low voice: “Your Majesty, the army has already set off for half a day. If we turn around at this time, I am afraid it will greatly affect the marching speed.”
“In addition, the Jin Yuan line is already slightly further away. In this way, the army may have to arrive at Shu Prefecture City several days later.”
“A few days later is fine.”
Shaking his head, Ning Yongnian said in a calm tone: “I don’t want any accidents in Shu Prefecture.”
“This old servant understands.”
Since Ning Yongnian had already decided, Li Huaizhong naturally could not say anything more. After a pause, he asked again:
“Your Majesty, what should we do with Feng Yuan? Should we negotiate peace with Li Qi?”
“Negotiations must be held, but not peace talks.”
Ning Yongnian narrowed his eyes: “Order Wu Ding to escort Li Qi to Huailing Prefecture immediately.”
“Yes.”
Li Huaizhong lowered his head and responded upon hearing this, already understanding what Ning Yongnian was going to do.
Huailing Prefecture is located on the border of Great Feng, separated from Yuan Prefecture only by the Mang River and a stretch of the Western Desert.
Ning Yongnian clearly wanted to "negotiate" with Li Qi here.
Of course, now that Great Feng has surrendered and Li Qi has become a fool, this is just using the name of "negotiation" to "coerce and seize”.
But now Ning Yongnian was actually going to hang Li Qi on the city wall, which clearly meant to humiliate Great Feng.
After all, although Great Feng has surrendered, Li Qi is still the king of a country no matter what!
What's more, you still want to hang their emperor on their territory?
“Your Majesty, this…”
Li Huaizhong hesitated and opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to persuade Ning Yongnian to reconsider.
He was not pitying Li Qi or anything, but he felt that this approach would undoubtedly arouse public resentment in Great Feng, which would be very detrimental to taking over Great Feng's territory in the future.
However, Ning Yongnian directly interrupted:
“Do as I say, there is a reason for me to do this.”
“Yes.”
His Adam's apple bobbed, and Li Huaizhong said nothing more.
Because he suddenly understood who Ning Yongnian was doing this for.
Not the people of Great Feng, nor the Wei family.
But Li Wutong.
Zi time, fifty miles outside Guanghan City.
Setting off at night, more than four hours have passed, and the army of more than 200,000 has moved away from Guanghan County and is marching quickly towards Niu Tou Mountain.
The torches stretched for several miles like a fire dragon, illuminating the densely packed yellow armor on the road.
Of course, as the main general, Han Zhao would naturally not "run forward" with ordinary soldiers or ride a horse. Instead, he sat steadily in a large carriage and discussed with a group of deputy generals how to capture Shu Prefecture City at the fastest speed.
Although Han Zhao knew that he would most likely not even see the shadow of Shu Prefecture City, he still had to put on an act.
“Report!”
Suddenly, a messenger came galloping from behind, holding a small iron cylinder sealed with fire lacquer in his hand.
“Reporting to the general! Secret report from the capital!”
“Hmm.”
Han Zhao lifted the curtain of the carriage, reached out of the car window to take the iron cylinder, and saw the three dragon patterns printed on the fire lacquer at a glance.
Three patterns meant that this was the highest level of secret report. Except for him and the messenger who received the information, no one else would know the contents for the time being.
This was the first time he had received a three-pattern secret report since the start of the Shu Prefecture battle.
His pupils contracted slightly, and Han Zhao suddenly had a bad feeling.
He did not rush to open it, but first ordered all the deputy generals to leave the carriage. After only he was left in the carriage, he slowly unscrewed the small iron cylinder.
He shook out the paper inside and looked down.
Han Zhao's expression suddenly froze for a moment, and then he hurriedly put the paper back into the iron cylinder and took out a piece of matched jade from his arms to send a message to Wei Changtian.
[Ning Yongnian suddenly ordered the army to change to the Jin Yuan line. Only I know about this matter now.]
[My lord, what should I do?]
