Northern border, Yanmen Pass.

Yanmen Pass, as the last border town in the north, also marks the boundary between the Central Plains and the northern barbarians.

It can be said that Yanmen Pass is the last line of defense of the Northern Barbarians. If even Yanmen Pass is captured by the rebel army, the Northern Barbarians’ resistance to the Central Plains will become extremely fragile.

Chagan Uli stood on a high place, overlooking the majestic Yanmen Pass. The walls of Yanmen Pass towered into the clouds, as if to declare its indestructibility to every enemy who tried to capture it.

On the city wall, the flags of the Northern Barbarians fluttered in the wind, as if declaring the Northern Barbarians' determination and tenacity to everyone.

Chagan Wuli looked at all this in front of him, feeling extremely heavy in his heart. He knew that Yanmen Pass was not only a city, but also the last barrier of the Northern Barbarians. If this barrier was lost, the Northern Barbarians would be completely exposed to the iron hoof of the rebel army.

At that time, it would not be a question of whether the Northern Barbarians could escape unscathed. In the end, it was even possible that the entire Northern Barbarians would be exterminated by the rebel army.

"No matter what, Yanmen Pass must be defended!"

He silently thought in his heart that once upon a time Yanmen Pass was the first natural barrier blocking the Northern Barbarians from entering the pass, but now Yanmen Pass has become the last line of defense for them.

When he first saw the magnificence of Yanmen Pass when he was full of lofty ambitions, he vowed that one day he would capture this city.

For him, Yanmen Pass is not only closely related to the fate of the Northern Barbarians, but also represents his lifelong dream.

Therefore, no matter what, he could not take a step back from this.

"Your Majesty, we have delivered the supplies the military advisor needs." The deputy general beside him interrupted Chagan Uli's thoughts.

"What are the movements of the rebels?"

Chagan Wuli had a gloomy face and said in an extremely cold voice: "You must carry out the plan of the rebel army to the end. The future of our Northern Barbarians depends on this!"

"Yes, Khan."

The deputy general continued, "According to the spies ahead, Lin Zhongyun has already led his army to the northern border, and Li Zhongwu has gone ahead, but he lost his trace after entering the northern border."

"Pass the order down, order everyone to be on high alert."

He pondered for a moment, his eyes flashing with a cold light, and said: "Send the Eagle Division out and have them search for traces of the rebels in the northern border. If there is any unusual movement, notify the military advisor immediately. Don't be negligent."

He put his hands behind his back, his tone filled with unquestionable authority.

After several battles with the rebels, he has become more and more aware of the importance of intelligence.

If they knew so little about the rebels, they would not have been led by the nose by the rebels all the time, and they would not have even realized that their plans had already been known to the rebels.

If he had known that the plan had been leaked early on, he would not have been so indecisive. He would have been determined to flood the rebel army in Hanzhou even if it meant bearing the blame.

If that were the case, his Northern Barbarians would have already taken control of the Central Plains and dominated the world by now, instead of ending up in the current situation.

The deputy general took the order and left, and Chagan Uli looked towards the northern barbarian grassland again.

The Northern Barbarians are the place where they rose up and where their roots are. Once they lose the grassland, they will lose everything.

If that happens, there will be no chance for Beiman to turn things around.

"The fate of the Northern Barbarians cannot be destroyed in my hands." Chagan Uli said to himself.

Now he could only pray silently in his heart that the middle-aged Confucian scholar's plan would work, otherwise he really didn't know what to do next.

Therefore, from now on he must prepare for the worst.

……

And at the same time.

Outside Yinshan City, the rebel army camp.

Li Zhongwu was also making intensive preparations. Now that the northern barbarians were firmly defending the city, he did not dare to act rashly for the time being.

"General, our supplies have been delivered and the army will be here soon." The deputy general said on the side.

Li Zhongwu did not show much excitement about the news, his expression remained gloomy and solemn.

Without even raising his head, he looked at the topographic map on the sand table, frowning. He pointed at the location of Oak City and asked, "How is it? Have you found out the situation in Oak City?"

He understood that the key now was not when their rebel army would arrive, but to investigate the conspiracy behind the Northern Barbarians.

A head-on attack on Yinshan City would be like hitting a rock with an egg. We must find another way.

It is more likely that their backs will be exposed to the Northern Barbarians, giving them an opportunity.

"We can't just attack head-on. We have to find their weaknesses." Li Zhongwu said in a deep voice, "Pass the order down. Order all troops to step up their guard. Send out more spies to find loopholes in Yinshan City's defenses."

The deputy general replied respectfully: "General, according to the spies' report, Oak City has recently sent a lot of troops, and the defense is much tighter than before.

According to preliminary observations, there are quite a few troops stationed in Oak City, about 40,000."

"Sure enough, the Northern Barbarians are planning to double-team us from the front and back."

Li Zhongwu nodded, frowned, and couldn't help but curse.

This new military advisor is indeed not one who seeks fame and reputation. The northern barbarians before him would never have thought of such an arrangement.

He even felt that the plan to flood Hanzhou was thought up by this so-called military advisor, otherwise how could the Northern Barbarians with their dull brains come up with such a plan.

And if that is true, it would further prove that this military advisor is not a good person, and they should not act rashly.

However, the deputy general standing beside him did not know the worries in Li Zhongwu's heart. He did not think as much as Li Zhongwu did.

In his opinion, it was all very simple, he said: "General, since the northern barbarians are planning to encircle us from the front and back, we just need to cut off their support.

Isn't it enough if we can cut off their message transmission? Then Oak City won't know what happened in Yinshan City at all."

In response to the deputy general's proposal, Li Zhongwu just smiled helplessly and sighed, "You are still too young after all. If war is as simple as you think, then everyone would be a military god or a military immortal, and there would not be so many famous generals."

He patted the deputy general on the shoulder and said in a deep voice: "First of all, we have already discussed this issue before. In the worst case scenario, it will take less than a day for the Northern Barbarians to support Yinshan City from Oak City."

"Secondly, we have no confidence in capturing Yinshan City in a short period of time. In this case, even if the commander of Yinshan City is a fool, he can light a signal fire to pass on the message."

In fact, his idea as a deputy general was a bit whimsical.

With the other side on high alert, they had no way to cut off the transmission of Beiman's message in the first place. Moreover, this was Beiman, not Hanzhou. The endless desert was not flat, but the sky and earth were vast, and the vision was much clearer than that of Hanzhou.

If Yinshan City lit a smoke signal, then Zhumu City would definitely be able to discover it immediately and rush to help, unless they could kill all the defenders in Yinshan City immediately.

Just is this possible?

If they really have that ability, then does it matter whether the news of Yinshan City can be passed on? Anyway, by the time the reinforcements from Oak City arrive, they will have already taken over Yinshan City.

As for the fact that they were able to cut off the news transmission of Miyun Reservoir in the first moment when they attacked Miyun Reservoir before, this was due to the huge risks they took and the advantages of both location and people.

First of all, in terms of human support, the Northern Barbarian army was stationed outside the dam at the time, and no one would have thought that they would take the initiative to attack the dam. The Northern Barbarians did not get the news in the first time, so they relaxed their vigilance, giving them an opportunity to take advantage of.

However, due to the special terrain of the Miyun Reservoir, a large number of troops could not be stationed there. In addition, they had enough Wudang Flying Army at that time, so it was almost like a few people were fighting against one Northern Barbarian Army. This was a geographical advantage.

It was with such favorable geographical conditions and favorable human relations that they were able to capture the Miyun Dam right under the noses of the Northern Barbarian Army, thus turning the tide of the battle in Hanzhou.

But here, the situation is completely different.

First of all, the defenders in Yinshan City were on high alert, so the first condition for harmony was not met.

Secondly, there are a large number of Northern Barbarian troops stationed in the city, not to mention the support of Oak City, making it even more difficult for them to capture Yinshan City.

Therefore, in this matter they must not act like they did in the previous attack on Miyun Dam, they must take a long-term view.

The deputy general nodded, a trace of shame on his face: "General, you are right. I was not thoughtful enough."

Li Zhongwu waved his hand, signaling the deputy general not to blame himself: "Every decision in a war is crucial, we need to be more cautious. We must find another way to find the weak link in the Beiman's defense."

He studied the sand table carefully, pointed to several key traffic arteries, and said, "Although they have made plans to defend the city, it will cost us a lot to capture the city, but what if we surround it without attacking?"

"General, do you mean to cut off their supply lines?" Li Zhongwu's words made the deputy general's eyes light up.

Li Zhongwu nodded and continued, "That's right. We can adopt a siege strategy. Cut off their supply lines and leave them isolated and helpless in the city. In this way, we can not only avoid huge losses in a head-on confrontation, but also put great psychological pressure on them."

After listening to Li Zhongwu's analysis, the deputy general's eyes flashed with admiration: "General, you are wise. In this way, all the impregnable cities encountered in ancient and modern times were broken by besieging them without attacking them."

"Ok!"

Li Zhongwu nodded, pointed to several important traffic routes, and continued: "In my opinion, these places are the communication and supply lines of Yinshan City. As long as we control these places, the defenders in Yinshan City will definitely not be able to sit still. That will be our chance."

The deputy general nodded and then asked, "General, how many men do we need?"

Li Zhongwu pondered for a moment and said, "This operation must be secretive and efficient, and we cannot mobilize too many troops. I will select an elite team of 100 people and you will lead it personally. You must complete the mission."

……

Yinshan City.

At this time, the middle-aged scholar was patrolling on the city wall, gazing into the distance. On the city wall, the wind was whistling, the battle flags were fluttering, and his eyes were looking through the distant desert, as if he was thinking about something.

At this moment, one of his men walked up to him and whispered, "Military Advisor, General Huyan is here."

"General Huyan? Huyan Leng?"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar was stunned for a moment, and then the sturdy general who was highly expected by Chagan Wuli during the retreat.

What puzzled him was why the general came here instead of defending the city.

"Come on, take me to see him!" the middle-aged Confucian scholar said in a deep voice, and then followed his men to meet Hu Yanleng.

Soon, they arrived at a tent in the city. Outside the tent, several soldiers were on guard, and when they saw the military advisor coming, they all saluted.

"The general is waiting inside," said a soldier.

The middle-aged scholar nodded and walked into the tent. Inside the tent, Hu Yan was studying the map carefully. When he saw the military advisor coming, he immediately stood up to greet him.

"Military Advisor." Hu Yanleng saluted with his fists clasped, without any arrogance on his face.

"General Huyan, why don't you stay at the front line to defend the city, but come here instead?" the middle-aged Confucian scholar asked straight to the point.

"Your Excellency the Military Advisor, the Khan is afraid that the commander of the Oak City will not cooperate with the Military Advisor's actions, so he specially sent me to cooperate with the Military Advisor's actions." Huyan Leng also said with his hands folded.

"Sweat!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged scholar was stunned and deeply moved, "I will definitely not let the Khan down."

"What is the current situation of the military advisor? Has he found any trace of the rebel army?" Hu Yan asked in a daze.

"The rebels have concealed their tracks very well, but I estimate that their primary target must be Yinshan City."

The middle-aged scholar looked at the map without raising his head and said in a deep voice: "But even so, we still found something wrong nearby."

"General, you came at the right time. I just wanted you to cooperate with me in a play."

Hu Yan listened to the middle-aged scholar's words in a daze, frowning slightly, and was obviously full of curiosity about this "play".

"Military Advisor, please tell me how we should cooperate?" Hu Yan asked in a daze.

The middle-aged scholar explained: "It's actually very simple. According to my guess, the reason why the rebels didn't attack Yinshan City is because they were unsure.

At this time, he saw that we were ready to defend the city, so they would definitely want to cut off our supply lines and starve us to death."

Hu Yan turned his head to look at the middle-aged scholar, frowned and said: "Then the military advisor means that we should use their own tricks against us, set a trap in advance, lure them to destroy it, and then catch them all in one fell swoop?"

"No, the rebels are extremely cautious. Even if they want to cut off our supply lines, they will definitely not send a large number of troops."

The middle-aged scholar shook his head and denied it: "What I mean is that we must not let the rebels cut off our supply lines. Once we are attacked, the general must provide support as soon as possible."

"We must create the illusion for the rebels that our Yinshan City and Oak City are one, connected by iron chains, to completely stop the rebels from thinking of besieging the city."

"Two cities are integrated, connected by iron chains?" Hu Yan was stunned and frowned even deeper, as this touched upon his blind spot in knowledge.

"Correct!"

The middle-aged scholar nodded heavily, a cold and sharp light flashed in his eyes, "After this, I have another plan. Wait until they jump in on their own initiative..." (End of this chapter)