Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 1389 - 1341: Fa Zheng’s Deduction
[What exactly is the human heart?] Fa Zheng forced a bitter smile as he pushed this rhetorical question out of his mind, for he truly couldn’t understand what Xuu You wanted to do.
Fa Zheng could see Xuu You’s hesitation in many details, his greed, his wavering, and even clearly feel the behavioral changes caused by Xuu You’s shifting thoughts. Fa Zheng understood all of this.
However, despite this, Fa Zheng still had doubts about the current situation. Could the purpose of sending these five thousand soldiers, who risked being annihilated by him, simply be to satisfy Xuu You’s momentary kindness?
What a joke, Fa Zheng would never believe this deduction. Although Xuu Ziyuan may be greedy, he had established himself through wisdom and cunning, clearly able to distinguish the weight of matters. Additionally, Jiangh Qi’s decisive retreat with the troops to Xinbei further confirmed this fact to Fa Zheng—Xuu You wasn’t acting irrationally.
"Fa Zheng is indeed a remarkable person." Xuu You sighed as he watched Jiangh Qi lead all the soldiers to retreat unscathed.
Of course, Jiangh Qi’s actions also greatly satisfied Xuu You. In the moment when Gao Fan was instantaneously slain, whether it was retreating without hesitation, or charging forward without hesitation, both were expressions of wisdom. However, normally, most people would pause at that moment.
"Seal the city gate hole with the large stones prepared earlier. Before our reinforcements arrive, no one is allowed in or out of Xinbei." Xuu You said calmly to Jiangh Qi. He had already shown what was necessary; the rest depended on Sheni Pei.
"Understood!" Although Jiangh Qi felt somewhat disappointed for not recapturing their routed troops, Xuu You had already clearly explained to him what needed to be explained.
Soon after, Huang Zhong, who was passing far off from Beixin City, heard the rumbling from within the city gate, and could tell just from the sound that Beixin City was sealing its gates.
"Feiyan, send people to the other directions to ascertain whether Xuu You has sealed all four city gates." Huang Zhong turned to Zhang Yan and said, and Zhang Yan immediately dispatched dozens of scouts to investigate.
When Fa Zheng woke up after a sleep upon returning to camp, Huang Zhong had already taken care of all the necessary matters.
"So during my sleep, Xuu You blocked all the gates of Xinbei City?" Fa Zheng, holding a cup of tea, was a bit stunned. He had merely slept, and such a significant event had occurred.
"That’s right, all four gates are sealed. It seems Xuu You doesn’t intend to come out of the city to confront us after this bout." Huang Zhong said helplessly. Last night, they had just gained such a huge advantage, only to receive such unwelcome news today.
"That’s also good. Since he sealed the gates, I don’t need to worry about sabotage while building the earth mound." Fa Zheng stroked his chin, indicating it was good news. "What about the prisoners we captured earlier? Any information from them?"
"Not much, this group was Xuu You’s reserve force, always training in the city camp. A total of eight thousand, Gao Fan took five thousand, and over three thousand remain. Beixin City has quite a sufficient force." Huang Zhong said helplessly. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"It didn’t exceed my expectations. After all, Xuu You is a brilliant strategist, keeping eight thousand in reserve and training them without deploying, probably waiting for the right moment." Fa Zheng nodded, finding this reasonable still.
"These eight thousand were probably intended to deliver the final blow when we and they were both heavily wounded in battle. But, now without this decisive force, even winning wouldn’t allow them to completely rout us and free their hands, so Xuu You doesn’t want to drag it out further." Fa Zheng thought for a moment and said, understanding Xuu You’s actions.
[It seems Xuu You had planned from the beginning. This portion of forces might be for silencing other voices in the military. It would be best to retreat via the Yishui if possible, but if not, a defeat here wouldn’t affect the current situation much.] Fa Zheng somewhat understood Xuu You’s actions.
With this realization, Fa Zheng completely grasped Xuu You’s motives. [It seems the forces at Beixin are greater than I estimated. However, Ziyuan isn’t the absolute Commander-in-chief, and many might want to aid the Northern Frontier.]
"So that’s how it is." Although Huang Zhong did not thoroughly understand, he realized that Xuu You wanted to maintain a stalemate with them and avoid further losses.
"It’s not that simple. I’m afraid Xuu You always intended to hold Xinbei with minimal loss, while others in the military wanted to return north to aid. Perhaps Xuu You’s actions this time completely quashed their hopes." Fa Zheng said, clasping his hands to support his head.
"Hmm?" Huang Zhong was somewhat unclear.
"The forces in Beixin City are likely more than we expected, but unlike Xuu You, who prefers to drag it out and wait for the right moment to strike, some in the city likely aim to quickly rout us to aid the north." Fa Zheng said with a sneer.
"But Xuu You’s capability is stronger. This dispatch was likely a compromise to the opposition, yet essentially, it’s a way to completely extinguish such thoughts due to intellectual superiority." Fa Zheng said with a cold smile.
"Xuu You probably also gauged that the northern ice cap’s melting time was near. His aim might be to completely seal off the Yishui, cutting off those people’s thoughts of returning north and uniting everyone against the enemy!" Fa Zheng said with a cold smile.
"If that’s the case, capturing Beixin City has become difficult for us!" Huang Zhong was taken aback after listening, not expecting such intricate scheming involved.
"Difficulty doesn’t make much difference to us." Fa Zheng shrugged indifferently.
"That they could obtain manpower from Xuu You to aid the north only proves one thing: even Xuu You couldn’t refute the amount of forces stationed in Beixin, likely far exceeding what’s needed to defend Xinbei." Fa Zheng said with a bitter smile.
"Only such a fact would silence someone like Xuu You into conceding part of his forces to the opposition for dispatch." Fa Zheng shrugged, "But we had already speculated on this; their forces have been replenished several times, giving them a significant advantage over us."
"Sealing off the Yishui leaves those people with no chance of returning north, allowing Xuu You to completely grip military power—truly a double-edged strategy." Fa Zheng said with admiration, as he detested such sharp intellect combined with a malicious mind.
The more Huang Zhong listened, the more his expression darkened. Xuu You’s play on this hand left him with no response, and now with the city sealed, both sides had fully entered a stalemate.
"Xiaoo Zhi, in that case, what should we do?" Huang Zhong asked, turning to Fa Zheng.
"Our aim is to hold off the enemy itself, so it’s fine. Xuu You wishes to minimize casualties, and we equally do not want excessive losses." Fa Zheng said nonchalantly, "Moreover, having gained substantially last time, I’m already content. Once the Xianbei come south, results will naturally emerge."
