Noble's Woman Guide

Chapter 99 - Breach the Pass

Yue Ting's death had caught everyone by surprise but it also reignited the fire in their hearts. With a mixture of anger and grief, Chu Jinglan immediately decided to speed up the attack on Bailing Pass.

The Lushan's mountain range stretches boundlessly and guards the surrounding sixteen cities including Wangdu in the center with its mountain horns. Bailing Pass, which is located at the foothill of Lushan, is the only way to enter Wangdu which is so tightly guarded that even one man can hold up against a thousand that the Yi tribe and Northern-west tribe had difficulty breaking in.

This unique geographical advantage used to make Chu Country invincible but has now become the biggest obstacle in front of Chu Jinglan. Hence, he and Ye Huaili chose to meet right now. Under the circumstances that all of Chu Sanghuai's troop are ultimately stationed in Bailing Pass, only the combined forces from both sides can breach this strong fortress.

Chu Zhenghe has been studying the military tactics during the army recoupment but has yet to find a way to break the enemy defense. Since it so happened that everyone is here tonight, he just left this task to them.

"Wasn't Chu Sanghuai said to have taken all the silver for pleasure indulgences? This Bailing Pass was actually sturdily built! The imperial army is so well-equipped that even a passing rabbit will be whizzed out by the flying steel arrow. I'm out of ideas. You guys take a look at it, since hard force tactics are definitely not possible."

"The total number of the imperial army and Xiaoqi Battalion are about 300,000 which are evenly matched against ours, hence we naturally can't use hard force tactics." Ye Huaili picked up the bronze pole to point at the surrounding mountains and queried them, "I have been away from the capital for many years, so I am not familiar with the topography here. Is there not even a path that can pass through this mountainous area?"

Chu Zhenghe shook his head with an expression you are just too young.

"With rows of mountains covering the sun and torrential waves below, how can we pass through?"

"It's not that there is no way." Chu Jinglan pointed to the only section of the long mountain pass next to the river and spoke to them with certainty, "As long as we can cross here, we will surely break through the defense line."

Widening his eyes, Chu Zhenghe exclaimed, "Are you crazy? The waterway in this section is notorious for going but no return. I'm afraid the ship will be sunk by the submerged reefs below before it even reaches halfway!"

Ye Huaili coincidentally thought the same too. Although he is not familiar with this, he has always heard people say there are innumerable reefs hidden in this section of the great river. Even the experienced old fishermen dare not go fishing in this river during the rainy season, just because the reefs will not surface on the water at this time which make it hard to guard against them. And because of this, the security at this section of Bailing Pass is relatively relaxed. In the event that they successfully go ashore, this will indeed turn into a breach.

Confronting with their queries, Chu Jinglan seemed prepared as he spoke unhurriedly, "Meng Xuan had brought over stands of cannons that can be mounted on the warships to break the reefs but we do not have that many ships meeting these conditions which is about ten ."

"Ten ships?" Chu Zhenghe calculated silently and frowned all of a sudden, "At the very most these can only carry 8000 people over. If it's to carry out a nighttime sneak attack, there is not enough time to transport back and forth ... "

"Only 5000 people." Chu Jinglan concluded directly.

Ye Huaili pursed the corners of his lips tightly and thought about it carefully before saying, "It is enough for 8000 elite soldiers to fight alone but aids from within the Pass will be swift. It's very likely for them to quickly make it up once their defense is broken and in the end, not only will we suffer heavy casualties but the other party will be alerted too."