Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2689 Ren Gui's baiting thwarts Qian again; a three-sided encirclement is imminent.

Chapter 2689 Ren Gui's baiting thwarts Qian again; a three-sided encirclement is imminent.

Just as Wang Yu had arrived at the front line of Shenglan Road and the battle between Han Wu and Shuo was about to break out, Xue Rengui defeated Ji Chengfu again in Da Shuo, opening up a crucial situation for the battle of Da Qian once again.

Judging from the casualties in this battle, Xue Rengui did not actually win; in fact, he suffered more casualties.

However, Xue Rengui's goal in this battle was not simply to calculate the casualty ratio, but to take a holistic and strategic approach, thus depriving Ji Chengfu of his last chance to turn the tide of the war.

From the overall perspective, Xue Rengui made a great contribution in this battle. Even if the casualties were twice as high, he would still be credited and blameless.

Previously, Xue Rengui seized the window of opportunity presented by Ji Chengfu's recent major defeat, dividing his forces into four routes and advancing swiftly, aiming to completely seize these two routes in the shortest possible time before Ji Chengfu could regroup and recover his fighting strength, thus allowing the Han Dynasty to gain a complete strategic advantage.

This decision was quite risky. Even with Wang Yi and Gongsun Zan's cavalry following behind, it was still a risky decision.

After all, the further the battle progresses, the greater the distance between the four armies will be, and two cavalry units alone may not be able to cover them all.

It's important to understand that these four armies are targeting two entire routes, so it's inevitable that they'll stretch out their battle lines as the fighting progresses.

However, if the cavalry were also divided into four routes to form a combined infantry and cavalry force, the strength would be too weak. In the end, although Ji Chengfu suffered a great defeat in that battle, all the losses were to the infantry, while the main force of the cavalry was still effectively preserved.

The fact that the enemy's main cavalry force is still intact means that as long as they don't disperse their forces, any one of their troops poses a significant threat.

Furthermore, if the enemy does not disperse their cavalry but instead targets one of his four cavalry units, even if one of Wang Yi's or Gongsun Zan's cavalry units arrives in time to provide support, they will not be able to surpass the combined strength of the enemy's main cavalry force.

However, Xue Rengui outwardly ordered Wang Changluo, Guo Ziyi, Wang Zhongsi, and Hun Jian to lead troops in four directions towards Dongye Road and Jianye Road, intending to gain an absolute strategic advantage.

But in reality, the moment after these men set off, Xue Rengui pulled Zhang Liang aside, and the two of them held a small meeting, where Xue Rengui revealed his true plan.

Yes, Xue Rengui's plan to have these four men lead troops in a rapid advance was his next step in the battle plan, but it was not his complete battle plan.

His true battle plan was always kept secret, even from Wang Changluo, Guo Ziyi, Wang Zhongsi, and Hun Jian, who were in charge of leading the troops at the front.

After hearing Xue Rengui's plan, Zhang Liang's understanding of Xue Rengui was clearly refreshed.

Even Zhang Liang had to admit that Xue Rengui's next battle objective was quite ruthless. He was using one of the four armies at the front as bait to give him an opportunity to severely damage Ji Chengfu's main cavalry force.

However, it must be said that if Xue Rengui's plan succeeds, as long as he can severely damage Ji Chengfu's main cavalry force, and given that the enemy's main infantry force, after that major defeat, will not be able to regroup and reorganize so quickly, this means that for a period of time, Ji Chengfu will have no chance to turn the tide. In this way, Xue Rengui can confidently and rapidly conquer cities and territories in Dongye Road and Jianye Road. He doesn't need to completely capture both roads—it's not easy or realistic to completely capture them in just over a month—but controlling the most crucial cities will be enough for them to complete their strategic encirclement.

However, Xue Rengui also knew that if his plan succeeded, it would certainly give the Han Dynasty an absolute strategic advantage in the future.

But this plan is also risky. If it fails, it will be a complete disaster, a loss of both wife and army.

Therefore, he needs Zhang Liang's help to perfect this plan.

Xue Rengui's plan was actually very simple. As long as they launched attacks from four directions, Ji Chengfu, unless he was stupid, would not disperse his forces but would concentrate his superior forces to attack one place.

Xue Rengui's cavalry was not actually covering the four routes, but rather feigning one's strength while maintaining the other's strength. On the surface, they were divided into two groups, following behind the four infantry groups to provide alternating cover, but in reality, they had gathered their elite troops in one place to launch a surprise attack on Ji Chengfu's main cavalry force when it appeared.

In fact, in Xue Rengui's plan, after he secretly concentrated his main cavalry force, even when Ji Chengfu's main cavalry force appeared and attacked one of his four armies, Xue Rengui would not play the role of a rescuer, but rather a role of waiting in ambush.

In Xue Rengui's view, even with the 10,000 cavalrymen transferred from Bai Qi's army, plus the cavalrymen in his own troops, they would not have much of an advantage over the enemy if Ji Chengfu's main cavalry force remained unscathed.

Under these circumstances, it is unrealistic to expect to cripple the enemy's main cavalry force in a single battle.

The only solution lies with the bait he has laid out.

After Ji Chengfu's main cavalry force and one of his four armies had finished their fierce battle, even if the enemy won, their soldiers would inevitably be exhausted.

Especially for the most crucial and decisive heavy cavalry, how much stamina would they have left after a battle? They might even be completely exhausted on the spot.

After the enemy had fought a fierce battle and exhausted themselves, and when the enemy instinctively relaxed their vigilance after their victory, and even when they had ridden their warhorses to clean up the battlefield or rest, Xue Rengui led a hidden cavalry force to launch a surprise attack, which was the only time that he was able to truly cripple Ji Chengfu's main cavalry force.

But precisely because of this, the army that Ji Chengfu targeted was destined to suffer heavy losses, or even be completely wiped out.

Xue Rengui's goal was to use these 20,000 infantrymen as sacrificial pawns in exchange for Ji Chengfu's complete lack of power to interfere with the Han Dynasty's actions for the next month or so.

This would ensure that the Great Han could absolutely capture the major cities of Dongye Road and Jianye Road, directly overlook the wealthy eastern region of the Great Qian Dynasty to the south, and form a strategic semi-encirclement of Jiang Ziya and Yao Xiong to the west.

After these two routes are taken, if Jiang Ziya has the guts not to run, once the three-sided encirclement is fully formed, Yao Xiong might be able to escape, but Jiang Ziya will definitely not be able to.