The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 135 Flat Terrain

"General, a letter from Li Ji, commander of the Seventh Army, requesting reinforcements." That evening, Gao Shun received Li Ji's letter. By then, Gao Shun was very close to Rencheng. Li Ji's communications soldier quickly found Gao Shun's command post and delivered the letter to him.

"Why is it a request for reinforcements?" Gao Shun was a little puzzled, but he quickly took the letter, opened it, and saw that Li Ji's actions had disrupted the overall plan, but it was not a big deal. Moreover, eliminating 30,000 enemy troops with a single division was already a great victory, so Gao Shun had no complaints. He said to the messenger who came to deliver the letter, "Go back and tell your commander to hold off the enemy for three hours tomorrow. The main force of my First Army Corps will definitely arrive on time."

After Li Ji's communications soldier left, Gao Shun quickly summoned two army commanders, handed them the letter, and asked, "What do you think?"

"We will march through the night. At this point, we are only a little over a hundred li away from Rencheng. We can reach it in five hours by marching at full speed. Although marching at night is somewhat inconvenient, the road to Rencheng is clear and the terrain is flat, so there should be no problem with the march," said Chen Zhi, commander of the First Army.

"I agree."

"I agree."

The two army commanders, as well as the army chief of staff and corps chief of staff Guo Jia, also agreed. Gao Shun nodded: "Since everyone agrees, and Mr. Fengxiao also agrees, then immediately order the troops to break camp and set off. While the soldiers are still asleep, march at night, try not to expose your position, and sneak to a place more than 20 li north of Rencheng. Then let the soldiers rest and wait for dawn to launch an attack on the Yanzhou army."

"Yes, General!"

After Gao Shun issued his orders to each division, although the soldiers complained constantly, the soldiers of the First Army Corps did not have any real complaints. Everyone knew that marching and fighting were unpredictable. In order to save time, Gao Shun did not let the soldiers participate in breaking camp. Instead, he let all the soldiers take their own quilts, leave the camp to the supply troops to organize, and the rest of the soldiers set off immediately towards Rencheng.

When they heard this order, everyone understood that something significant must have happened in the war, otherwise they wouldn't be marching like this.

The First and Second Armies, along with an artillery battalion, a reinforced guard regiment, and a cavalry regiment directly under the corps, totaling 80,000 men, began a forced march towards Rencheng. However, to expedite the march and because night marching was somewhat inconvenient, Gao Shun ordered the heavy artillery to remain in place. A battalion from the guard regiment, along with supply troops, was drawn to protect the entire army, which carried only small General Type II cannons. Although small, they were still cannons, and even more powerful than the Shenwu cannons used by the Yanzhou army.

Thus, the main force of the First Army Corps marched rapidly toward Rencheng, illuminated by a few torches and guided by the way.

"Have the cavalry regiment move further east, circle around to the south, and block any possible routs of the Yanzhou army," Gao Shun ordered.

Guo Jia, who was standing to the side, remained silent. He increasingly felt that his presence was somewhat superfluous. He joked with Gao Shun, "Gongyi, when we return from this battle, I must suggest to our lord that I, as the chief of staff, may resign."

"Fengxiao, what are you saying?"

"There's nothing I can do. My strength lies in strategy. As for this position of Chief of Staff of the Legion, you see, I really can't do anything. I can't even drink while on campaign. It's better to kill me," Guo Jia said helplessly. Hearing Guo Jia's words, Gao Shun smiled slightly. Everyone knew that Guo Jia loved to drink, and Gao Shun was also helpless. However, he also knew that Guo Jia was very talented. The First Legion couldn't find a suitable Chief of Staff, so Guo Jia, who had nothing to do in Yuyang, was sent to the First Legion by Chen Er, ostensibly to train him.

"Fengxiao, just bear with it. Consider it a chance to relax." Gao Shun and Guo Jia were both early followers of Chen Er, and their relationship was quite good. It's strange, really, that despite their vastly different personalities, they became good friends.

The night passed quickly. Thanks to Chen Er's arrangement for Chen Qun and Yan Ming to supervise Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and the others in their daily physical training, Guo Jia's health was now quite good. He could even ride a horse for longer periods during night marches. Hopefully, this guy wouldn't die young like Chen Er did in his previous life.

This is why Chen Er often had Guo Jia accompany the army. Because the autonomous region's army had strict military regulations, Guo Jia, as the chief of staff, was also not allowed to violate military orders by drinking and seeking pleasure. In this way, it was also a way to train Guo Jia and protect his health.

At 4:00 AM on the 8th, the First Army Corps successfully arrived at a grove of trees more than 20 miles north of Rencheng. The entire army hid in the grove and rested, waiting for the arrival of the enemy.

According to Gao Shun's plan, the Seventh Army should launch an attack just before Ju Yi is about to break camp, disrupting Ju Yi's retreat plan and confusing the enemy's vision. Then, when the battle is halfway through, the main force of the First Army Corps, which has finished its rest, will suddenly attack from the left and right flanks, catching the Yanzhou army off guard and achieving the goal of annihilating the main force of the Yanzhou army.

At six o'clock in the morning, in Rencheng, the soldiers of the Seventh Army were ready for battle. There was no sign of battle from the city wall, but in fact, a rope had been prepared behind every battlement. Soon, the Seventh Army would launch an attack on the Yanzhou army from the city wall and gates as quickly as possible.

The artillery is all ready at the city gate, and all the cannons are loaded. The artillery is advised to keep up with the infantry as quickly as possible and reach the front line to support the infantry in combat.

At 6:30, the sky was already beginning to lighten. With a command from Li Ji, the entire 7th Army was mobilized, leaving only a reinforced battalion of the army headquarters in Rencheng as guards.

In an instant, countless ropes were dropped from the city walls, and tens of thousands of soldiers crossed the walls and gates, gathering on the flat ground outside the city. However, Rencheng was surrounded by a moat five meters wide, and a single drawbridge was not enough for the large army to travel across. What first emerged from the city gates were piles of wooden planks, nailed together, and soon, temporary wooden bridges were erected across the moat.

Everything was quiet. The Yanzhou army, which was about ten miles away from the city, had no idea what was happening here. Li Ji on the city wall was not in a bad mood at this time. He understood that even if Ju Yi wanted to leave, he would wait until dawn. Marching in poor visibility conditions could easily cause chaos, and even a stampede could occur if things went wrong, which would be a loss.

In fact, Li Ji was unaware that Ju Yi had learned about it the moment his Seventh Army left the city. The night before, after Ju Yi and Shen Pei learned that 30,000 men in the east had been annihilated, they had already anticipated that the Rencheng army would likely join the fray when they withdrew. Therefore, Shen Pei specifically advised Ju Yi to launch a counterattack against the enemy before withdrawing, to inflict heavy losses on them so that the withdrawal would be safe.