The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 1055

Chapter 1055: 510 Siblings Join the Battle (Second Update)

The Gu Family’s army had started preparing to besiege the city since yesterday, but aside from a few people like Gu Changqing, no one knew exactly which city they were going to attack.

According to the news brought back by the scouts of the Gu Family’s army, the Chen Kingdom’s army anticipated that Gu Changqing would first attack Beiyang City, and right now, Ye City had already begun to send reinforcements to Beiyang City.

"This is very good, Lingguan City with its thirty thousand troops, is not our match," said one of the commanders in the barracks. "Moreover, Beiyang City is farther from Lingguan City than Ye City is. If the Chen Kingdom’s forces really go to Beiyang City, even if they realize they have been deceived and want to turn back to reinforce Lingguan City, they might not make it in time."

Gu Changqing looked at the sand table map of the cities and estimated the distance between them in his mind.

Beiyang City, Lingguan City, Yuegu City, and Ye City, conveniently occupied the four cardinal directions: north, south, west, and east, respectively. Beiyang City was to the north, facing the distant Lingguan City to the south.

But Beiyang City was not so far from Yuegu City to the west.

If they realized they had been fooled, the first thing they would do would not be to reinforce Lingguan City, but to attack Yuegu City with their army.

After voicing his analysis, the commanders to his left and right had differing opinions on how many troops to deploy.

The right commander said, "We should move out with our entire force, quickly dispose of them, and then rush back. We might not necessarily be later than the Chen Kingdom’s army."

The left commander said, "Yuegu City is eighty miles from Lingguan City, and also eighty miles from Beiyang City. As soon as we lay siege, Beiyang City will receive the message by carrier pigeon. How long will the siege take? By the time we turn back, I’m afraid it might be too late."

The right commander spoke vehemently, "Then we’ll fight another battle! Take back Yuegu City!"

The left commander stated solemnly, "But the civilians in the city will suffer from the war, and the wounded and defenders will be slaughtered."

The right commander fell silent.

Although he favored aggressive tactics, he was not disregardful of the lives of the civilians and the soldiers at the border pass.

Gu Changqing remained silent.

Today, he had inquired about the terrain of this region from the officials at the Governor’s Mansion, learning that Yuegu City was indeed equidistant from Beiyang City and Lingguan City. However, compared to Yuegu City, Lingguan City was on higher ground, and Beiyang City was on lower ground. When they would return, it would be downhill, while the Chen Kingdom’s army would have to move uphill, which would first and foremost affect their speed.

As long as they besiege the city quickly enough, they could meet the Chen Kingdom’s army outside Yuegu City.

So now he faced two choices—whether to dispatch all troops to quickly capture Lingguan City and then rush back to confront the Chen Kingdom’s army, or to leave some forces in Yuegu City and begin battles on both fronts simultaneously.

If it were the second option, the problem would involve how many troops the Chen Kingdom’s army would actually deploy.

Thirty thousand or fifty thousand?

In the end, Gu Changqing chose to leave some forces in Yuegu City. After all, the soldiers, having traveled back and forth, might not be able to keep up with the fighting strength, and this might increase wastage and casualties. It would be better to engage in battles in both cities at the same time. The soldiers in Yuegu City could wait with ease, and although they might be outnumbered, they would certainly have the upper hand in combat strength.

Gu Changqing paused, then said, "Furthermore, we are not necessarily at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. Beiyang City and Ye City always need to have troops on guard; they too are afraid that once we capture Lingguan City, we might immediately attack Beiyang City or Ye City. Currently, the total number of troops in both cities is eighty thousand. Each city must leave at least twenty thousand troops, so the maximum number of troops they can send out is forty thousand."

After discussions with Tang Yueshan and his own grandfather, the three agreed to leave thirty thousand of the Gu Family’s army to deal with the Chen Kingdom’s forces, and the rest of the deployable troops would accompany Gu Changqing to attack Lingguan City.

In wartime, casualties are always possible, so it was essential to bring along doctors.

Although many of the doctors in the medical team this time were from the civilian population and highly skilled, given that the battlefield was fraught with danger, Gu Changqing still chose only twenty Medical Officers from the court.

Gu Jiao was part of the retinue, not in the capacity of a doctor; she needed to inform the patients in the stronghold to evacuate.

Although she had told Little Shitou that she would just send a message, and Little Shitou would lead people in the evacuation,

how could Gu Jiao possibly leave a group of sick people to flee through the snowy wilderness?

People could die.

Gu Chengfeng had just been officially appointed a member of the Gu Family’s army, and he was so excited it felt as if a million ants were crawling inside him. He tossed and turned in bed, occasionally bursting into foolish laughter, waking Tang Yueshan up in the process.

From the first time when seeing him made the steamed bread fall to now being able to stay completely calm,

Tang Yueshan thought the boy was out of his mind, having a fit seven or eight times a day.

Gu Chengfeng, too excited to even think about dinner, was fixated on the prospect of attacking Lingguan City. He felt that as a member of the Gu Family’s army, he couldn’t just stand by; he had to join the battle!

He decisively unwrapped the bandage on his arm and marched boldly outside, but before he could step out, he was stopped by Medical Officer Song.

Medical Officer Song said with impartiality, "Miss Gu said, no one is allowed to leave this room!"

"I’m not afraid of you. Do you want to give me an injection? Come on, come on, come on!" Gu Chengfeng directly presented his backside to him.

Medical Officer Song replied emotionlessly, "That will be one tael of Hair Growth Potion deducted from you."

Gu Chengfeng was struck by lightning!

He had been so busy with the war that he had forgotten about the Hair Growth Potion!

Gu Chengfeng, who was fearless about everything, even getting injections, eventually submitted over a bottle of Hair Growth Potion...

After dinner, Gu Changqing led the Gu Family’s army out, while the left commander and thirty thousand Gu Family’s troops stayed behind to defend Yuegu City.

The wind and snow filled the sky, and the roads were treacherous.

At this time, the heavy snow had not stopped, and the army was resting in a forest in the mountains. _{freewēbnoveℓ.com}