The sound of cannon fire outside Youzhou City never stopped, and the whole city was in a state of shock. There was no one on the street, and the huge city seemed to have become a dead city, with only the army moving in groups from time to time.
The top of the city was filled with smoke and fog, and many of the parapets had collapsed, leaving a mess. In the air, a pigeon swooped down into the city in panic.
Coo, coo, coo! A Khitan man with untied hair reached into the pigeon cage and grabbed a gray pigeon that had just flown in. Seeing something tied to its leg, he hurriedly and carefully untied it, turned around and said, "Feed it. I'm going to report the news."
Xiao Siwen was standing on a pavilion, watching the rocks rolling down from the sky to the city wall in the distance. On his left and right stood Xiao Abudi, Fan Zhongyi and other civil and military officials, and below him stood a group of infantry and cavalry guarding the pavilion.
A Khitan man in plain clothes rode over on horseback and said a few words in a mumbled voice below. Then a general led him up the narrow wooden stairs to the platform.
Xiao Siwen took the things and looked at them, then said: Both battalions of Zhou army's cavalry have moved south, and a large number of infantry outside Youzhou have also evacuated southward.
It seems that Yelu Xiu'ge has made some trouble in the south, and our threat has suddenly become much smaller, Fan Zhongyi said.
Xiao Siwen nodded without saying anything.
The principle of pigeons delivering messages is that they will fly back home. Xiao Siwen had already prepared for this. In order to deliver messages during the siege, he mainly fed pigeons in two places, Youzhou City and Danzhou. Needless to say, Youzhou City is important, and Danzhou is also a key place because it controls the northern entrance.
Now that Youzhou City was under siege, the Liao army scouts outside could still send messages back via carrier pigeons. Xiao Siwen could also send messages to Danzhou, but he could not send messages directly to Yelu Xiu'ge from the air. After all, carrier pigeons were not airplanes.
Xiao Siwen pondered for a moment and said: Send a letter by pigeon from Danzhou to inform Xiu Ge that the main force of Zhou army is advancing southward.
"Yes, sir." The man who just came upstairs bowed.
Fan Zhongyi said: The Zhou army has transferred a large number of infantry and cavalry from Youzhou, and a large gap has been opened in the east where the city is besieged. Our cavalry can go out from Youzhou to support Yelu Xiu'ge.
Abudi said coldly: There are not many soldiers in Youzhou. Yelu Xiuguo acts like he is the best in the world and calls himself the best general of Liao. How powerful is he and does he need our support
We must put the overall situation first. Xiao Siwen glanced at Abudi.
After the two cavalry battalions of the Zhou army were transferred, the Youzhou army's exit from the east was indeed not a big threat; but Yelu Xiu'ge suddenly set out early this morning, and time was too urgent. Xiao Siwen still hadn't figured out the specific situation of the Liao and Zhou armies. If he rashly left the city, he didn't know how to support Yelu Xiu'ge.
Yelu Xiuguo is young and famous, arrogant, but he is really good at using troops. I still trust him very much, and the Zhou army is not easy to deal with. Xiao Siwen breathed a sigh of relief, but since there is an opportunity, he can order the cavalry to go out from the east gate and harass the Zhou army besieging the city.
Abudi agreed: Our most important thing is to defend Youzhou City.
Xiao Siwen did not comment.
After hearing that Yelu Xiu'ge went south, Guo Shao returned to Xuanren City yesterday and was no longer in Youzhou.
This place is located in the middle of the Caoqu, north of Youzhou and south of Caoqu. But at this time, it is very quiet, no sound of artillery can be heard from Youzhou, and no sound of horse hooves and fighting near Caoqu can be heard.
In the silence, Guo Shao looked up into the sky, but could imagine fighting and bloodshed all around.
In the signing room, there were more than 20 maps in a row. Some of the maps were very detailed, with a small hill, a forest, and a village marked on them. There were also two sets of intelligence system structure diagrams and an organizational diagram for the transmission of military orders.
The room was not big, with dozens of people standing or sitting. Some were writing in the sand, while others were facing Guo Shao silently.
In the courtyard outside, two or three hundred messengers and officials from the front camp military office stood in a line. The emperor was inside. They were all very quiet. Everyone was ready at all times. Once there was a military order, the order in the small signing room could be transmitted to the front in the most rigorous way and at the fastest speed. It could be specific to every hundred people.
Amidst the silence, the atmosphere was inexplicably tense.
At this moment, an official walked into the signing room with a bent back, bowed to his superior, and then walked to Wei Renpu and whispered something to him.
Wei Renpu immediately stood up and bowed: Your Majesty, all of Yelu Xiu's troops are still in the northern section of the canal.
Very good, Guo Shao said in a deep voice.
Wei Renpu said: Yelu Xiuguo must think that the Great Zhou cavalry in the two southern parts of Guizhou Province are all mounted infantry. Now he is really kept in the dark and made a fool of himself. As long as we can deceive him for one day, he will be in trouble.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a little lively, and everyone said: Your Majesty is so good at predicting the enemy, congratulations to Your Majesty!
Guo Shao said calmly: It's too early to celebrate now. Yelu Xiu'ge has 30,000 cavalrymen, and the Liao cavalrymen are not vegetarians. Even if Li Chuyun's 50,000 cavalrymen were to fight him, there is no guarantee that they can win a complete victory. Let's wait.
His bright eyes revealed nervous concern, but his face showed no joy or anger. He just paced slowly on the spot, as if thinking about something.
At this point, Guo Shao didn't have to do anything but wait. But this wait was indeed a bit difficult.
He wanted to go back and calm down, but he was reluctant to leave because he wanted to hear the result in the front yard as soon as possible.
After a long while, Guo Shao heaved a long sigh of relief and consoled himself: The worst outcome would be to let Yelu Xiuge go.
Originally, today's battle was not in the plan, but Yelu Xiuguo fought very aggressively and took risky actions, which led to unexpected opportunities.
The original strategy was to keep attacking Youzhou to exert pressure until the main force of the Liao army moved south; and then retreat to two lines of defense to continue to consume the enemy's resources when the main force of the Liao army moved south for the second time.
Until the Liao army can no longer afford it.
It was impossible for Yelu Xiu's men to cut off the Zhou army's grain supply line. At most, they would cause some losses. Guo Shao had invested heavily this time. A large amount of grain and grass was stored in the frontline cities. Even if the rear did not transport grain for two or three months, the short-distance supply line from Xuanren City to Youzhou alone could guarantee the frontline siege.
The only way for Yelu Xiu'ge to relieve Xiao Siwen's pressure was to harass the siege army. But that was too difficult, as the Zhou cavalry was sufficient to protect the surroundings; even if Yelu Xiu'ge succeeded in a sneak attack occasionally, it would not cause any real damage to the army.
Guo Shao thought: This battle, if I win, I am lucky, if I lose, I will die. That's all.
Guo Shao suddenly smiled, looked around and said: What we are doing now will be passed down for thousands of years in the future. I will never forget the fact that I was able to accomplish this great task with you all.
Everyone said: "We are very aware that we are very lucky to be able to serve under your majesty, to share the same hatred and to avenge the country.