To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 883: Chapter 374 Half of Jiangdong

In the Ning Army’s camp, Bai Yian was observing the movements of the Chu Army with his subordinates.

By now, the knight who had gone to issue a challenge had been back for quite some time, yet there was still no reaction from the Chus’ camp after most of an hour had passed.

Seeing this, one of the Ning Army’s generals could not help but speak out, “Commander, it seems the Chu people are unwilling to fight.”

“Yes, Commander, the Chu thieves seem to want to avoid battle.”

“If the Chu thieves won’t fight, what shall we do, launch a hard attack?”

Listening to the clamor around him, Bai Yian also felt some irritation and snorted coldly.

...

“Enough!”

The sudden outburst silenced everyone, and they turned to look at their commander, none daring to make another sound.

As the Commander, and having approached a series of victories in recent days, Bai Yian’s authority had already reached a peak within the army.

No one dared to touch a hair on the head of such a figure when he was angry.

“It seems the Chu army won’t fight,” he observed, seeing that he had intimidated the others.

Having quelled his own anger, Bai Yian calmed down and then said somewhat helplessly, “It must be that they see our soldiers are sharp and high in morale, so they do not wish to confront us head-on.

Also, knowing that we are short on grain, they hope to trap us with this and wait until we run out, then easily defeat us.”

Bai Yian, as the appointed Wuan Marquis and personally trained by Bai Mengyang, had many years of experience leading troops and could easily discern the Chu people’s intentions.

Having realized this, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly to himself.

A couple of days ago, Bai Yian led the Ning Army to break out in order to return to their country safely, and it was a time of employing every effort and using every tactic at their disposal.

The end result was quite remarkable.

Not only did they continuously defeat and break through the Chu Army’s interception lines, but the Ning Army, under his command, had also successfully escaped the encirclement near Jiangxia and returned to Ning Country Territory.

Under such military successes, anyone with clear eyes could see that although this Ning Army had suffered a dire defeat, their morale remained extremely high and their combat strength was well-preserved, worthy of being called an elite force.

Facing such a powerful army in battle, especially one enhanced by the ‘home ground advantage’ buff, any commander leading their troops would dread them by three parts.

The Chu Army was no exception.

So now, even if the Chu people’s forces were three to four times greater than the Ning Army’s, they still refused to engage the Ning directly in order to minimize losses.

Instead, they chose siege—a tactic that requires less expenditure and is not overly time-consuming.

It must be said that this move hit the Ning Army’s weak point precisely.

Since Luo Kou Du had been lost, the Ning Army Camp, which was now devoid of logistical support, only had enough food to last for ten days.

Moreover, over the past few days in the main camp, the one hundred thousand Ning soldiers had delayed for several days, consuming a lot of grain.

In the following days, to save their lives, they had no choice but to abandon some of their supplies.

Plus the consumption during travel, as of now, the grain remaining in the Ning Army’s camp was only enough for one day’s use.

After today, the Ning Army would be out of grain.

Of course, Bai Yian could choose to reduce the food distribution, which would naturally sustain them for another two or three days.

But doing so would mean that the Ning soldiers, not fully sated, would lack the strength to exert their full combat capabilities. The morale they had so hard earned could also significantly drop due to hunger.

At that time, if the Ning Army could retain two or three parts of their combat capability, it would be considered fortunate indeed.

But with just that fraction of their strength, what could they achieve with the fifty thousand troops they currently had?

Not to mention, this meager fraction of their combat power could not be maintained for more than a few days.

Therefore, Bai Yian would absolutely refuse to implement such a strategy akin to waiting for death.

He had chosen to fight the Chu people to the death here, even at the risk of sacrificing fifty thousand soldiers, all to inflict the greatest possible losses on the Chu Army, to diminish Chu State’s fighting strength, and to gain time for Ning Country.

If he couldn’t achieve this, then his death and the death of his fifty thousand troops would be utterly meaningless.

‘I must not let the Chu people succeed,’ Bai Yian thought, and this turned into determination.

He surveyed the room with his gaze, looking at the many generals watching him, and spoke out, “The Chu Army is cowardly, surrounding us with several times their number, yet they are too frightened to fight.

It seems that our repeated victories over the Chu Army when we broke through before have utterly crushed their courage.

They now fear us like a tiger, and dare not confront us.”

Bai Yian, in an effort to boost morale and stabilize hearts, deliberately mentioned their previous victories at this time.

Everyone also remembered the glorious feat of repeatedly defeating the Chu people over the past couple of days, and their originally somewhat panic-stricken hearts immediately started to stabilize significantly.

Seeing the Wuan Marquis speak humorously, many couldn’t help but join in, laughing a few times.

“The general is right; the Chu people are nothing to fear.”

“In my view, the Chu people only know how to use schemes and plots. When it comes to head-to-head combat on the battlefield, they are nothing special.”

“Correct, our retreat to this point today is not due to defeat in combat but rather the excessive cunning of the Chu people.”

Some, remembering the wretched past few days, whether out of indignant anger or trying to mask their inner turmoil with words, started to belittle the Chu people.

And, it worked.

Regardless of how this behavior was viewed, the openly displayed morale of the Ning’s many generals indeed increased significantly.

At least it seemed no one feared the Chu Army any longer.

Bai Yian didn’t care if these people truly despised the enemy or just pretended not to be afraid; seeing that morale was usable, he seized the moment and ordered, “You are right, gentlemen, the Chu thieves are not terrible. As long as we are fearless and the three armies are dedicated, we will break through them.