Chapter 48 Preparing to Strike

When Yang Xi returned to Tongguan, he received a report from the special operations team, stating that their main force had already crossed the Wei River and was preparing to cross the Yellow River to approach Shan Commandery, where they would seek ways to gather intelligence. If an opportunity arose to infiltrate the city, they would resort to various means to carry out assassinations or sabotage.

During the training of the special operations team, Yang Xi had simultaneously trained a batch of homing pigeons for intelligence transmission.

Birds flew much faster than horses, making the relay of information via pigeons far more convenient, allowing him to receive updates from the special operations team in a timely manner.

At present, the special operations team was still undergoing training and could not yet be considered a fully formed military unit.

If they could achieve results and temper themselves through actual combat training, Yang Xi would be immensely pleased.

Having arrived in an ancient era where human life was exceedingly cheap, and in the midst of a war, Yang Xi did not care about the loss of a few lives; wars always involved casualties. The special operations team was established precisely to fight, and Yang Xi had never imagined that these men would be immune to sacrifice, so long as the team did not suffer heavy losses or total annihilation. He merely instructed the team to avoid meaningless sacrifices.

What he hoped for most was that the special operations team would perform brilliantly in their very first operation, achieve great merits, and suffer minimal casualties. In that case, the reputation of the special operations team would soar, giving him even greater justification to increase various investments in them, grant them special status, and petition the imperial court for a special military organization structure.

However, no good news followed from the special operations team shortly after; their plan to infiltrate the city of Shan Commandery could not be realized.

The defenses of Shan Commandery were extremely strict, with constant patrols even at night, leaving no opportunity to scale the city walls. After paying the price of three injured members, the special operations team decisively aborted the plan to infiltrate the city.

Instead, they shifted their training to another plan formulated by Yang Xi: hunting down the rebel scouts.

This task was relatively much simpler. After the initial three attacks yielded less-than-ideal results, their subsequent operations achieved commendable records. They annihilated several squads of rebel scouts and cleared out the mountain passes near Lingbao, reporting the situation back to Tongguan via dispatches.

The rebels had completely retreated to defend Shan Commandery and had not set up major ambushes along the way—this was the conclusion drawn by the special operations team after meticulous reconnaissance.

Earlier intelligence reports had indicated that the rebels were stationing troops at strategic locations to guard against potential attacks from government forces. Analyzing this change, Yang Xi concluded that there was a real possibility the rebels intended to retreat entirely to Luoyang, or even fall back directly to Fanyang.

He immediately ordered all officers and soldiers of the army to prepare for real combat so that they could sally forth from the pass at any moment.

A report that arrived ten days after Yang Xi returned from Chang'an to Tongguan acted like a shot of adrenaline, exciting him to the core.

He immediately summoned the generals to deliberate on military affairs.

"Gentlemen, I have just received news from the Shan Commandery front. Cui Qianyou has been summoned back to Luoyang by An Qingxu and has already left Shan Commandery. The military affairs of Shan Commandery are now solely commanded by a deputy general named Li Ling!" Yang Xi said, glancing around at the generals under his command with overflowing ambition. "Gentlemen, with Cui Qianyou leaving Tongguan and the rebels completely retreating to defend Shan Commandery city, I believe this is an excellent opportunity for us to launch an offensive. I plan to leave fifty thousand troops to garrison Tongguan, while I personally lead the remaining forces in a rapid assault on Shan Commandery, striving to capture it in a single battle. I wonder what your opinions are?"

Cui Qianyou's departure had been carried out covertly without any news leaking out, yet it was still detected by the special operations team, who transmitted the information back at the very first instance. In the encrypted message sent back, Li Han also passionately assured Yang Xi that he would lead half of the soldiers to follow closely behind Cui Qianyou's entourage, seeking an opportunity to assassinate Cui Qianyou.

Hearing Yang Xi's words, the generals were stunned. No one expected that the time for a proactive offensive would arrive so soon, and some were astonished that Yang Xi had already made this decision without first petitioning the imperial court or consulting the generals. The Army Monitor, Li Fuguo, was one such person. He stepped forward immediately to voice his doubts: "Marshal, this subordinate believes this matter requires careful deliberation. We do not yet know whether Cui Qianyou's departure from Shan Commandery is genuine or a ruse to lure us into an attack. What should we do if they have laid an ambush halfway?"

Upon hearing Li Fuguo's words, Yang Xi did not feel displeased. Li Fuguo's concerns were very logical, but Yang Xi had already resolved that issue. He immediately replied, "Army Monitor Li's words are reasonable, but you need not worry. The news of Cui Qianyou leaving Shan Commandery has been confirmed, and there are no rebel ambushes along the route from Tongguan to Shan Commandery! Cui Qianyou certainly did not expect our forces to discover his departure from Shan Commandery so quickly. We should take advantage of this opportunity to rapidly assault the city and capture Shan Commandery while the rebels are unprepared."

At this moment, Wang Sili stepped forward, likewise expressing his doubts: "Marshal, this subordinate agrees that we should seize the opportunity of Cui Qianyou leaving Shan Commandery to launch a rapid attack and catch the rebels off guard. However, the garrison in Shan Commandery still numbers over one hundred thousand men, all of them battle-hardened elite troops. Capturing it with ease is simply impossible. This subordinate believes we must plan in detail and not rush into an attack blindly, lest the tragic defeat at Lingbao repeat itself!"

The disastrous defeat at Lingbao had left a heavy shadow over Wang Sili.

"Marshal, this subordinate disagrees with General Wang and Army Monitor Li," Gao Shi stepped forward to support Yang Xi's proposal. "Military texts state that speed is the essence of war. With the rebel commander leaving the army and the dragon left without a head, we should naturally seize this opportunity to smash Shan Commandery in one go and strive to annihilate the rebel forces entirely, ushering in the prelude to a counter-offensive. The Marshal has already made meticulous deployments and verified that the rebels have set up no ambushes along the route. The rebels will certainly not anticipate our forces suddenly launching an attack from Tongguan. Even if Cui Qianyou receives the report, it will be too late for him to return to Shan Commandery. We must not miss this opportunity!"

Today, Yang Xi did not intend to let the generals bicker. After listening to Gao Shi, he stopped Pang Zhong, who was eager to step forward and express his views, and said to the generals with a stern expression, "General officers, you surely know that I have established a special operations detachment. They have already arrived near Shan Commandery and are preparing to assassinate Cui Qianyou as he travels to Luoyang. Perhaps in a few days, news will arrive that Cui Qianyou has been assassinated by the special operations detachment. Furthermore, I have developed gunpowder. Many of you have already witnessed the terrifying power of this weapon. Right now, a certain quantity of gunpowder is stockpiled in the Tongguan army, which can be used to assault the city. None of the rebels have ever witnessed the might of such a weapon. I believe that its first deployment in combat will yield exceptional results!"

Yang Xi paused for a moment, then emphasized his tone: "Therefore, I have decided that taking advantage of Cui Qianyou's departure from the army toward Luoyang, we shall immediately muster our forces and prepare to attack Shan Commandery. The last time I returned to Chang'an, His Majesty already agreed to my request: whenever the opportunity arises, we are to raise troops to attack Shan Commandery and open the gateway to Luoyang!"

It was common for a commanding general to leave his defended stronghold. Just a few days ago, he, the deputy marshal of horse and foot, had left Tongguan to go to Chang'an; had the rebels scouted the situation, they likely would have sent troops to attack as well. It remained unclear why Cui Qianyou had left Shan Commandery for Luoyang, but Yang Xi believed it was certainly because An Qingxu had summoned Cui Qianyou to discuss critical matters. Now that intelligence of this had been gathered, he would definitely make the most of it.

Hearing Yang Xi speak thus, the generals realized that his decision was irrevocable, and no one else stepped forward to voice opposition.

"Next, I shall announce the assignments for the generals!"