Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 893 – Di Chen Removing Traitors
To settle down the 370 thousand army was not an easy matter. Even if the East Jin side had made preparations beforehand and built a huge camp, to really settle everyone down would need a long period of time.
Luckily, each Lord brought their own generals, so they could handle it.
After settling down, the Lords all went to Ouyang Shuo’s tent to greet him. Amongst these Lords, there were hidden chess pieces of the Great Xia Dynasty but also their enemies.
On the surface, everyone seemed united, and no one could tell if something was off.
Out of the 13 Lords in the East Jin camp, apart from the four of Shanhai Alliance, the biggest Lord was West Gate Big Official. As the head of the Chuanbei City-State, his appearance in the East Jin camp gave others much to talk about.
West Gate Big Official did not care about the looks of others.
The atmosphere in the tent was a little weird.
Before Ouyang Shuo made a statement, the other Lords interacted with one another, carefully trying to probe.
As the battle situation was not certain, Ouyang Shuo did not make any promises, only saying, “Everything will wait till after I meet Xie Shi and Xie Xuan.”
When the Lords heard that, they were all delighted. Didn’t they rush over here to hear these words from Ouyang Shuo?
The Battle Map had just begun. The important part now was not to kill their way across but to get intel. As the player representative, Ouyang Shuo naturally had a huge advantage.
“Since that’s the case, we will not disturb you.”
The Lords all got up and left one by one.
“What a bunch of snobs.”
Looking at the back views of the Lords, Feng Qiuhuang voiced her annoyance.
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “We are just using one another. Why do you mind so much?”
“I just cannot get used to it.”
Ouyang Shuo did not argue. Seeing that it was close to noon, it was not a good time to visit the commanders. As such, he could only wait.
A morning passed just like that.
…
At 3 PM, Ouyang Shuo brought his Personal Guards toward the middle tent to meet Xie Shi and Xie Xuan.
This meeting was to get familiar with them and to report the player situation. Additionally, he aimed to probe which stage of the battle the war was at.
Ouyang Shuo wanted to know whether Xie Xuan had sent the letter to Fu Jian. That was a crucial moment in the battle, and it was their retreat that caused their collapse.
On the way there, Ouyang Shuo recalled the situation between Xie Shi and Xie Xuan.
Xie Shi, the brother of Xie An.
When Fu Jian led his troops down south, the Imperial Court appointed Xie Shi as the commander of Xie Yan, Xie Huan, and Huan Yi’s forces.
Apart from Xi Shi’s high rank and personal ability, part of why he obtained the role was because of his background. The East Jin Imperial Court was basically controlled by the Langya Wang family and the Chen Prefecture Xie family.
As the brother of Xie An, Xie Shi’s road to power was naturally no accident.
Hence, in terms of commanding ability, he could not compare to other famous generals and was even far from them.
Of course, he was not totally useless.
If not, how could he stand out from all the other men in his family?
During the Battle of Fei River, the main force of East Jin was the 70 thousand north house army. The current Xie Shi led 10 thousand sailors through the river to block the road down south of the former Qin army.
Xie Shi’s plan made sense. Fu Rong being stuck in Shouyang was because he had to cross the Fei River.
However, due to Xie Shi’s navy already being there, he was unable to obtain the navy advantage. Although the Xie Shi navy could not pose a threat, blocking up the river created an unsolvable problem for Fu Jian. Xie Xuan rushed his troops, and in less than 20 days, they reached Shouyang and completed the standoff between the two sides.
Hence, the obstruction of the Xie Shi navy was still really successful. However, his use in the battle was overlooked because Xie Xuan’s glow overshadowed everyone else.
Xie Xuan, nephew of Xie An, good at commanding.
In the early years, Xie Xuan helped block the assault and disturbance of the former Qin in the 2nd year of Taiyuan. As a result, he was awarded the position of Jianwu general and Yanzhou Governor, being in charge of military matters north of the river.
Xie Xuan recruited many strong and valiant warriors and formed an elite force known as the north house army. In the 4th year of Taiyuan, he led his troops and defeated the former Qin army and was given the title of champion general as well as Yuzhou Governor.
Xie Xuan also had one sister who was really famous. Her name was Xie Daoyun, and she was the wife of Wang Ningzhi.
During the Battle of Fei River, Xie Xuan was the commander of the vanguard forces. First, he ordered general Liu Laozhi to attack Luo Jian. He used the chance to force the Qin army back, and in turn, he obtained the victory.
One could foresee that as compared to his uncle, Xie Xuan was the real deal, a true genius. Hence, he was the only person Ouyang Shuo cared about.
Similarly, Xie Xuan’s rise was also related to his background.
In ancient times, those people without strong families were unable to get famous.
…
Within the tent, Ouyang Shuo saw Xie Shu and Xie Xuan.
The current Xie Shi was already 56, and he had a head full of white hair. Six years later, he would die because of an illness.
Xie Xuan was just 40. Ironically, he died a year earlier than Xie Shi. In olden days, a person who fought many wars was riddled with many diseases, so it was hard for one to live long.
“Player Qiyue Euyi greets the commander.” Ouyang Shuo bowed.
“There’s no need.” Xie Shi asked, “What’s the combat strength of the player troops?”
Ouyang Shuo briefly introduced the situation.
When Xie Shi and Xie Xuan heard that, they exchanged glances in shock. With those numbers, the player army could suppress the north house army.
After all, no matter how strong the north house army was, they were still not as good as the elite troops from the various territories.
A weak regiment leader and a strong army, what an awkward situation.
Luckily, Xie Shi was experienced, and he was also really shameless, “What are your thoughts on this battle?”
Ouyang Shuo analyzed the pros and cons of both sides before saying, “Without their 400 thousand players, if we attack now, we would win. But with the players, we cannot move randomly.”
“Also, the enemy has a navy helping them, so if we forcefully cross the river, it would be hard too. Whoever attacks first would be at a disadvantage.”
When Xie Shi and Xie Xuan heard his words, they exchanged glances, speechless.
Xie Xuan was even looking a little depressed. He was just feeling gleeful about his victory in Luo Jian, “So your suggestion for them to retreat would not be accepted?”
Ouyang Shuo shook his head, “if I’m Fu Jian, I would.”
“Oh?” Xie Xuan did not understand.
Ouyang Shuo said, “Even if they agree, do we dare to cross?”
“….” Xie Xuan was speechless.
“Our advantage is that we are fighting on home ground and have logistical resources. On the other hand, they have 400 thousand more troops so resources are a problem to them.”
It was mentioned that in ancient times, for a large amount of troops to camp in an area, logistics was a huge challenge. 550 thousand troops on the west shore of the Fei River; this number had exceeded the ability of the Qin army.
Xie Shi asked, “So you mean we just continue like this.” To drag the Qin army down slowly was his original idea. He only chose to attack because of Zhu Xu’s persuasion.
Who knew that the player forces’ appearance would bring him back to his original plan?
Ouyang Shuo nodded, “Currently, it’s the best way.”
Xie Shi took a glance at his nephew and said, “I’ll consider your suggestion.”
“Ok, I’ll take my leave.”
Ouyang Shuo did not hope that they would agree immediately. After all, military matters were not a joke.
************
At the same time, former Qin camp, middle tent.
Di Chen was visiting Fu Jian and Fu Rong to describe his views on the battle.
If one said that Xie Shi was speechless when he heard Ouyang Shuo’s analysis, then Fu Jian and Fu Rong were terrified.
Fu Jian even broke out into cold sweat.
Based on Di Chen’s analysis, without the help of the players, the former Qin army would collapse.
Thinking back to the sudden collapse of the 50 thousand Qin forces in Luo Jian, even if Fu Jian did not want to believe it, he rationally did.
A man’s confidence was often destroyed step by step like that.
Fu Jian was obviously not as confident as he was at the start. He also looked at Di Chen differently. Luckily, Fu Jian had control over a million troops and was not afraid of the 400 thousand player army.
Fu Jian said, “Since that’s the case, what suggestion do you have?”
Di Chen smiled; he was obviously prepared, “My first suggestion would be to kill the traitor Zhu Xu and send his head across the river to threaten them and reduce their morale.”
During the Battle of Fei River, Zhu Xu exposed the weakness of the former Qin to Xie Shi.
When the Qin army retreated, he suddenly shouted, “The Qin army has lost!” His words caused the Qin army to panic.
Hence, Zhu Xu was really a huge problem and a time bomb. Looking at the situation, Di Chen was going to kill this person who was crucial in the battle.