Chapter 828: Chapter 355: The Changing Nature of Offense and Defense_3
The Ning army on the other side, seeing the Chu army displaying its might outside the Camp, had nonetheless made up its mind. Despite the provocations, they were unwilling to co out no matter what.
Later, Lu Yuan even dispatched Chu Wei, leading the naval forces on the Yangtze River to seek a decisive battle with the Ning navy, but aside from the beginning, when part of the Ning naval forces was caught off guard and dozens of ships were destroyed,
The rest of the Ning naval forces that got the news returned to the nearby Xia Kou naval Camp, huddling within and unwilling to venture out again.
Faced with the Chu army’s challenge to battle from the Jiangxia direction, the Ning army adopted an extrely cautious strategy. They did not rashly strike but chose to hold their ground steadfastly.
It seed that the Ning side was also aware that in the Jiangxia region, their own strength was now at a disadvantage, and when compared to Chu State, there was already a gap.
If they acted rashly now, the result was very likely to be a crushing defeat.
And Ning now still had quite a few Hidden Cards unplayed; back in the holand, there were still a large number of troops and manpower that could be mobilized.
There was fundantally no need to launch a hasty expedition against Chu when their forces were not completely assembled.
On the contrary.
In Shen Qiu’s view, the Chu army’s slight advantage led them to hastily send out troops, which in turn indirectly proved Chu’s weakness.
Understanding this, he was even more averse to deploying troops hastily, thereby fulfilling Chu’s wishes.
The Ning army thus stayed within their Barracks and did not co out, and on the Chu side, Lu Yuan, seeing the Ning People turn into turtles in retreat, didn’t have any good solutions.
To conquer each Camp one by one would not only take a long ti but the losses would also be too great.
Even with the wealth of Chu State, they couldn’t sustain such a drain.
So after testing attacks on one or two Chu army Camps and confirming that the opponent’s defenses were tight and not sothing that could be easily breached, Lu Yuan left behind over a thousand corpses and also chose to withdraw his troops and not continue the struggle.
And after this disturbance of several days, the turn of the month had arrived and it was now the beginning of December, with the snow between Heaven and Earth falling even heavier.
The snow didn’t just cover the top of the foot but had reached midway up the calves, and it felt like it wouldn’t be long before it reached the knees of an adult.
In such heavy snow, forget about going out to fight; even moving about in the city was risky, facing the danger of freezing to death Outside the house.
Faced with this terrifying Natural Disaster, both the Chu and Ning armies dared not and could not continue their endeavors.
With the main forces of the two armies in Jiangxia lying dormant, this initial clash between Chu State and the four kingdoms to the east and south of Lingnan gradually drew to a close.
Taking advantage of this ti when the winds and snow froze the Earth, news from various battlefields in the North and south of Lingnan gradually reached Jiangxia.
The first to arrive, naturally, was from Xiangyang Prefecture, just across the river.
This was well before Lu Yuan sent out troops from the city to invite the Ning army to battle.
In Xiangyang Prefecture, located even further North where the cold wave and snow ca faster, the First clash between Chu and Ning was already decided.
As the thirty thousand navy n originally stationed in Ning’s Xiangyang Prefecture had been called to Jiangxia to join the main battle, reducing their own naval force considerably and no longer posing a Threat to Chu’s Xiangyang Prefecture waterways,
Zhou Qing took the opportunity, leaving behind thirty thousand local troops from the Prefectures and Counties in Xiangyang Prefecture stationed in various cities and major water channels. After securing against potential moves from the twenty thousand Ning navy and any possible action from Zhou Country in the North,
He led the four detachnts of the provincial army, totaling eighty thousand troops, on the offensive, preempting Ning from attacking by stepping up to Ning’s door first, leading the charge into Ning’s Jingn Prefecture in Xiangyang.
Aside from the twenty thousand navy of Ning’s Xiangyang Prefecture incapable of landing, there were only fifty thousand troops on land.
Forrly relying on their fifty thousand navy, the Ning army, thanks to their ability to strike along the Han River at any mont, greatly constrained the Chu army in Xiangyang Prefecture, containing a large number of Chu troops.
Even though the Chu army in Xiangyang Prefecture clearly outnumbered the Ning forces, they were spread thin guarding various locations, and the forces they could muster ended up being fewer than Ning’s.
However, with the recent defeat of the Ning navy in the main battlefield in Jiangxia, control of the Yangtze and Han rivers’ waterways also fell into the hands of the Chu navy.
And the Ning navy had also withdrawn to their naval Camp in Xia Kou of Ning’s Xiangyang Prefecture, blocked by the Chu navy, unable to leave the harbor.
With this, the Threat of the Ning navy effectively vanished, no longer posing a danger to Chu’s Xiangyang Prefecture.
Under these circumstances, Zhou Qing only needed to leave behind so local forces to assist the Chu navy in blockading the river, effectively isolating the threat from the North posed by Zhou Country.
With their rear secured, the Chu army in Xiangyang Prefecture naturally could mobilize their forces to join the main battle.
So after the mobilization, Zhou Qing ultimately gathered eighty thousand elite troops and boldly marched into Ning’s Xiangyang Prefecture.
And his opponent was none other than Ning State’s Martial Proclamation Marquis Yang Jing, commanding fifty thousand Ning defenders, with the dynamics of offense and defense thoroughly reversed.
At the sa ti, on the Inborn level, with Han Hua’s support, Zhou Qing was also undaunted by Yang Jing’s potential union with another Martial Marquis, with no disadvantage in the top-tier power dynamics.
And so, as soon as Chu’s Xiangyang army embarked on their expedition, they achieved victory after victory, not only defeating a main Ning force of ten thousand in the initial clashes,
But also, as Ning began to hold their cities, with the aid of Chu’s navy now in control of the waterways, allowed Han Hua to lead a Detached Army by boat, launching a surprise attack on an exposed Anlu Prefecture in Ning’s Xiangyang Prefecture, capturing the city in one stroke.
Thus, of the three prefectures in Ning’s Xiangyang Prefecture, one under guard by two Inborn, Jingn and Jingling Prefectures, one had already been seized by Chu.
And the remaining forces in Ning’s Xiangyang Prefecture were down to just over thirty thousand, and even with the abrupt conscription of civilian workers, the army numbers did not exceed one hundred thousand.
anwhile Zhou Qing, with eighty thousand main force troops unimpaired and any casualties quickly refilled from reserve county soldiers,
And Chu’s remaining forty thousand navy, while closely monitoring the Ning navy in Jingling Prefecture’s Xia Kou naval Camp, could still occasionally detach a force to join the combined battles.
In the North, due to Lu Yuan gaining the advantage on the battlefield in Jiangxia, Xiangyang’s own battlefield was influenced, with the situation for the Chu army looking remarkably promising.
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