Time Travel: The Foolish Lady is Forced to Become a Female General

Chapter 161: Xia Qin's psychological warfare (2)

When Wang Chenggu arrived at the granary warehouse, Zhao Nande had already figured out the current situation before him.

"General Zhao, what happened here?" Wang Chenggu was almost fifty years old, of medium build and slightly fat. He was sweating profusely due to nervousness and haste.

Zhao Nande looked at the slightly fat governor, and said to Wang Chenggu with a sullen face: "Wang Shijun, someone must have drugged the soldiers and transported away the food and grass after they lost consciousness. They used our baggage vehicles, but the army arrived soon after the signal was sent. Let's chase them!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Jingzhou troops under his command arrived.

"General Zhao!" The general who came over dismounted and saluted. "This happened suddenly. I only brought 3,000 cavalrymen with me. The main army will be here soon! Do you want to wait a while?"

"No need to wait, that's enough! Whoever they are, they can only sneak past our sentries, so there won't be too many of them," Zhao Nande nimbly jumped onto his horse. "Chase them now, we'll catch up with them soon! Let's go!"

Speed ​​is of the essence in war, so Zhao Nande led his army eastward without any delay.

Indeed, if the signal was sent at the time and the speed of the baggage truck was correct, Zhao Nande would be able to intercept Xia Qin and his group within twenty miles.

But he didn't expect that Xia Qin deliberately sent out the signal when the baggage cart approached the boundary between the two states - Sangzi Bridge, in order to attract their attention.

Wang Chenggu had no choice but to follow behind with a few soldiers.

His heart was also full of resentment at this moment.

Zhao Nande is the cousin of Weiwei Zhao Buai. He came to Jingzhou from the capital last month and is responsible for commanding the Jingzhou army to deal with Xia Qin of Yangzhou.

Although Zhao Nande was quick-witted and had some military talent, he was arrogant and radical in his actions. After arriving in Jingzhou, he completely ignored Wang Chenggu's various suggestions.

As for Yangzhou, Wang Chenggu's idea was to blockade it together with the surrounding Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Jiaozhou, so as to prevent attack and focus on defense.

Yangzhou was only a state, and most of it had just been recaptured from Japanese pirates, so everything needed to be rebuilt.

At this time, if the circulation of food and other items could be banned, Xia Qin and other rebels would find it difficult to make a living and would inevitably be unable to resist taking the initiative to attack.

However, now the offensive and defensive dynamics have been reversed and the situation is very different.

If Zhao Nande had followed his advice and withdrawn his army early and prepared for battle, the situation today might not have occurred.

He was dissatisfied, but had no choice but to follow the crowd. After all, as the governor of a state, he could not stay out of it.

After only an incense stick of time, they arrived near Sangzi Bridge.

"Stop!" Zhao Nande suddenly noticed something unusual and quickly ordered the army to stop.

"General Zhao?" Wang Chenggu also realized that something was wrong and speculated suspiciously, "They are escorting supplies, so it is impossible for them to move so fast. Could it be that they are hiding somewhere else and did not transport the food and grass here?"

Zhao Nande glanced at Wang Chenggu sideways, not hiding his contempt.

"Governor Wang, there are many new wheel tracks and scattered food here. I think they were in a hurry and didn't notice these obvious details."

Zhao Nande responded coldly with a hint of meaning in his words, the implication being that Wang Chenggu did not pay attention to details and made rash judgments.

Wang Chenggu could naturally hear the sarcasm in the tone, but he didn't dare and couldn't show it in this situation.

He could only ask in return: "Then according to General Zhao, how could they arrive at the border between the two states so quickly while escorting the baggage carts?"

Zhao Nande simply analyzed: "It is obvious that they did not take action when the signal was sent, but sent the signal some time after the action. The purpose was just to attract our attention."

"So, they are trying to lure us here?" Wang Chenggu was shocked when he heard this. His face turned pale as paper in an instant and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He looked around nervously, as if he was worried that enemies would emerge from all directions at any time.

When Zhao Nande saw Wang Chenggu's panic-stricken look, he couldn't help but feel contempt in his heart.

He frowned and said with a somewhat mocking tone: "Governor Wang, the Huai River is ahead, and there is only this bridge within more than ten miles. If they really want to ambush, they should be across the bridge, not here. If they ambush here, wouldn't they be courting death?"

After hearing Zhao Nande's explanation, Wang Chenggu finally breathed a sigh of relief, but the look of fear on his face had not yet faded.

He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and asked, "Then why are they going to so much trouble?"

Zhao Nande narrowed his eyes, looked into the distance, and replied calmly: "Maybe they just want to lead us over, or they just want to see us."

Wang Chenggu looked suspicious and asked in confusion: "Meet us? General Zhao, what do you mean by this?"

Zhao Nande turned around, stared at Wang Chenggu sharply, and said coldly: "Just ask them and you'll know."

Wang Chenggu followed Zhao Nande's gaze and saw Xia Qin in the middle, with Mo Ye and Mu Jinyu following on the left and right as they walked onto the bridge.

"Governor Wang, General Zhao, you are in such a good mood that you come out to enjoy the moon together so late at night?" Xia Qin teased in a lighthearted manner, "Relax, we are not fighting today."

"You are Mu Jinyan, right?" Zhao Nande narrowed his eyes and looked at the three people carefully. "Mu Jinyu, Mo Ye, it's fine if you do some petty thefts, but why did you lead us here?"

Xia Qin looked at the middle-aged general. He had a burly build but a pale face and looked very unhealthy.

"These grains and fodders were used to pay the army's military expenditures and to help the people of Yangzhou who were affected by the Japanese invasion. Now they are simply being returned to their original owners."

"Okay, if Mu Shijun is here to explain these things, then there is no need for that," Zhao Nande said impatiently, "I advise you to surrender as soon as possible for the sake of the people of Yangzhou and for your own sake. Duke Qin might leave you with an intact body."

Xia Qin looked at Zhao Nande with interest, and said with a smile: "I am still waiting for you so late, of course I am not here to waste my breath, I just want to give you a gift."

"What do you mean?" Zhao Nande suddenly felt panicked, as if he sensed a huge threat.

Xia Qin didn't say anything else, but turned around and went back with Mo Ye and Mu Jinyu.

"What does it mean, General Zhao? What gift did she say? Did they just rob our food supplies?" Wang Chenggu was also extremely worried.

They stood there, not knowing whether to chase after them or retreat.

If we chase them, we might be ambushed.

The enemy is right before our eyes, and it doesn't seem right to just withdraw.

Just when they were in a dilemma, flames suddenly appeared under the bridge.

Although he didn't know what was going on, Zhao Nande's intuition told him that this was definitely not a good thing!

"Retreat! Everyone retreat!" he roared loudly, but his voice was quickly drowned out by the huge explosion.

In the dead of night when the tranquility was suddenly torn apart, the ancient and sturdy Sangzi Bridge, suddenly suffered an unprecedented catastrophe.

With a deafening roar, it seemed as if the heaven and earth were shaking at this moment, and the stone bridge that had stood here for decades was ruthlessly torn apart.

At the moment of the explosion, a pungent smell of gunpowder filled the air, mixed with dust and gravel, forming a turbid and heavy storm.

The main structure of the stone bridge was shattered by the huge impact force. Huge pieces of stone seemed to be thrown into the air by an invisible giant hand, and then continued to smash around without any direction.

These rocks vary in size, some are as huge as hills, and some are as small as fists. They fall near or far, stirring up clouds of dust.

After the roar, there was the neighing of war horses. Even though they were well-trained, many cavalrymen were thrown off their horses.

At this moment, Zhao Nande stood there in a daze as if he had lost his soul, while Wang Chenggu, who had already pulled several soldiers to block in front of him, was still trembling all over.