TO ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY, I CULTIVATE USING QI LUCK

Chapter 1097: Chapter 445: The Second Emperor of the Liang Country_3 Chapter 1097: Chapter 445: The Second Emperor of the Liang Country_3 At this moment, on the west side, in Jiaoxi Prefecture, another avatar named Qingyangzi, sent by the original self, was leading troops in attack.

Thus, the state of Liang lost yet another prefecture.

Even Donglai Prefecture, where the Imperial Capital Xian’an is located, has already been occupied by Chu State in both the south and the east.

The area under control of Liang Mingyu’s forces was now merely restricted to Xian’an City and the three or four prefectures behind it.

With such a small territory, it was undoubtedly wishful thinking to sustain the seven hundred thousand soldiers of Liang.

The opponent couldn’t endure a prolonged war, and if the conflict dragged on, Chu soldiers wouldn’t even need to take action, as the Liang army would starve to death first.

The dire circumstances faced by Nanyang and Henan Wei forces during the first Northern Expedition were now being played out by the Xian’an Liang forces.

On the other hand, looking at the Chu forces.

Backed by the entire Chu State, the Southern Route Army not only had an endless stream of troops, but also a continuous supply of food and fodder, with the convenience of both land and sea transport ensuring ample supplies without fear of shortage.

With such an advantage, Huang Xuan would be foolish to send forces to storm Xian’an City.

He didn’t have any intention of attacking; in fact, he was planning to continue dividing his forces, aiming to successively capture the remaining Liang prefectures and counties outside Xian’an City.

Huang Xuan intended to completely encircle Xian’an, turning it into an isolated city, cutting the Great Chu’s Imperial Capital off from the outside world, and severing any possibility of supplies entering the city.

In this way, a single city tasked with sustaining several hundred thousand inhabitants and a seven hundred thousand-strong army both inside and outside the city walls—a total of over a million people—would be enough to exhaust the opponent.

Given Liang’s strained internal affairs over the years, there was hardly any grain stored in Xian’an City.

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Just a siege of two to three months would plunge the enemy into a famine crisis.

By then, Huang Xuan would only need to dig deep moats and build high ramparts outside the city, thoroughly containing it.

Inside the city starved of grain, the Liang forces would have no choice but to break out to survive.

By that time, the Chu army would have already constructed camps, readied defenses, and held the defensive advantage, waiting for the enemy to attack.

With the roles of attacker and defender reversed, even the starving Liang forces would have to pay a price of two to three times, or even more casualties, to break through the Chu defense lines.

At that point, the Chu forces would only need to push a little to rout the Liang forces and secure victory in the battle for Xian’an.

It was precisely because of such a clear understanding of the situation.

So, when he received the news from Jiaoxi that Yan Yunqing was leading reinforcements.

Huang Xuan not only didn’t dispatch troops to prevent them but actually deliberately cleared the way, preparing to let this force enter Xian’an City.

The aim was to increase the population within Xian’an City as much as possible, to hasten the depletion of the enemy’s grain reserves.

For the Chu forces at this time, the more enemies inside the city, the better; not a disadvantage, but an advantage.

Forget seventy thousand enemies; Huang Xuan would not be afraid, even if there were a million.

‘Now, just wait for Yan Yunqing, that renowned general of Liang, to fall entirely into the trap.’

Huang Xuan went over his plans mentally, thinking to himself.

He intended to finish off Liang’s warfare once and for all with this campaign.

Now, the forces of Liang in Donglai and Yingling either had already joined Chu or been driven toward Xian’an.

What remained was only Yan Yunqing’s force in Jiaoxi still outside.

If the opponent didn’t come to Xian’an, then, after taking Xian’an City, more effort and resources would be wasted going to Jiaoxi Prefecture to encircle and destroy Yan Yunqing, which would require extra expenditures of money, grain, and time.

Therefore, it is always better to deal with all the enemies at once, rather than several times over.

At this time, the pretender Emperor Liang Mingyu’s decree to recall Yan Yunqing, far from being a problem, actually facilitated Chu’s efforts.

This emperor, who came to power through a military coup, turned out to be quite a benevolent figure.

Without him, Chu wouldn’t have been able to resolve the Liang affair so easily this year.

It’s a pity.

Because of a reached agreement with Liang’s old guard on their mutual interests, the execution of Liang Mingyu was an absolute necessity.

Otherwise, Huang Xuan wouldn’t have minded letting such a good person live, offering him a wealthy gentleman’s life to live out his days in the countryside.

“General, rest assured, I still have many clan members inside the city, which allows us to send messages and persuade them to surrender.”

“I also have many former subordinates and officials in the city serving as officers.

A letter from me might induce them to raise the banner and switch allegiance.”

“Among the clan, there must be many who do not submit to Liang Mingyu.

I can have someone make contact, which might bring others along.

If a member of the Great Liang royal family were to surrender, this news would seriously undermine the morale of the military and sway the hearts of people inside.”

While Huang Xuan was contemplating his strategy to capture Xian’an, the Liang Monarch and Ministers, upon his request, were also offering advice and actively responding.

“Excellent, excellent, excellent!”

Seeing this, Huang Xuan couldn’t help but express his joy: “With the assistance of you all, taking this city will be a breeze!”

The matter of Liang was thus on the verge of being settled.

…

At the same moment.

Yangzhou, Lingnan, South Sea Prefecture.

On the walls of Nanhai City, banners of the Chu soldiers fluttered while the sound of the war drums resonated, echoing between Heaven and Earth.

The elder Daoist Leader of Purple Cloud Dao in charge of the South Sea Prefecture was standing on the city tower with General Xuan Yu of Funa, looking at the gathering force of sea bandits outside the city with worried eyes.

“These pirates are growing in number; at this rate, I fear there might be over three hundred thousand of them outside the city.

If this is the situation with Nanhai City, I dread to think how dire things must be in the other areas of Lingnan.”

Looking out at the sea, where the piratical ships covered the bay like a dark cloud blocking the sun.

Even someone as composed as Xuan Yu couldn’t help but inhale sharply at the sight.

These bandits, who emerged from the Southern Sea Island Domain and wreaked havoc on the South Sea for the past several decades, had become increasingly frenzied with the advancing Southern Polar Poisonous Fire.

Especially in the past couple of years, as large numbers of troops and civilians began migrating from the south to the north with Chu’s Northern Expedition.

The entire region of Lingnan and the southwest had seen ninety-nine percent of their population relocate, leaving only residents near some of the fortified strongholds to produce grain and secure the food supply for the defending forces.

Buoyed by windfall news, the seafaring Barbarians, like sharks that had scented blood, came swarming.

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The sea bandits, who had previously been confined to the waters, now even dared to land and penetrate deep into the Lingnan Region, taking over abandoned towns and villages to settle in and start forming their own powers.

And now, they gathered their forces and began to make moves on strategic locations like Nanhai City.

The situation in Chu’s south had reached an extremely precarious state.

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