Feng Xiyan calmly watched the bloody scene below as the Yuezhi Tribe’s soldiers desperately tried to avoid the arrows raining down on them.
When the first ray of sunlight finally broke through the eastern horizon, the ground was already covered with corpses, and the blood had formed a river.
Unlike the composed Feng Xiyan, Kai Mu’s expression was so dark it looked like someone could squeeze ink from his face.
Gritting his teeth, he asked the general standing behind him, "How many casualties have we suffered so far?"
The general hesitated for a moment before tremblingly reporting, "Reporting to the Supreme General. We have lost more than 30,000 soldiers in just two hours."
"And not a single soldier has managed to get close to the city wall?" Kai Mu asked, gnashing his teeth even harder.
The general lowered his head and replied, "Y–yes."
Hearing this, Kai Mu took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and asked, "Military Advisor, do you have another plan?"
After helplessly watching more than 30,000 soldiers die without even getting close to Xiqiang City’s walls, the military advisor’s confidence had been crushed to dust by the vast disparity in strength between the Feng Army and the Yuezhi Tribe’s forces.
After a moment of silence, he shook his head and said sincerely, "Supreme General, the difference between our strength and the Feng Army is like the difference between Heaven and mud. There is no way we can break through their defense with our current forces."
As the genius military advisor of the Yuezhi Tribe, his observation and decision-making skills far surpassed even Kai Mu’s.
When he declared there was no hope of taking Xiqiang City, Kai Mu knew continuing the assault would only send more men to their deaths.
Unfortunately, regardless of what decision he made—whether to continue the attack or retreat—only death awaited him and his army.
Seeing the unwillingness on Kai Mu’s face, the military advisor cautiously suggested, "Supreme General, what if we surrender to Feng Xiyan?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Kai Mu’s eyes flickered with murderous intent. In the next second, his sword was already pressed against the military advisor’s neck.
Narrowing his eyes, he dangerously said, "The warriors of the Yuezhi Tribe can only die on the battlefield. If this Supreme General hears those words again from your mouth, I will personally sever your head!"
Realizing he had chosen the wrong words, the military advisor quickly said, "Please calm down! Supreme General, please hear me out first."
Kai Mu glared at him for a moment before lowering his sword and coldly ordered, "Speak!"
Sensing the heavy pressure on his body had lessened, the military advisor explained, "Supreme General, what this subordinate meant was that we feign surrender. Once we gain entry into the city, we can investigate the source of Feng Xiyan’s supplies."
"If we can cut off his supply lines and seize them for ourselves, killing Feng Xiyan will be as easy as crushing an ant. Once Feng Xiyan is dead and the Feng Army is exterminated, no one will remember we ever surrendered."
Kai Mu pondered those words in silence for a while before finally sheathing his sword.
At this sight, the military advisor let out a quiet sigh of relief and patted his chest, feeling lucky to have escaped death.
While silently complaining about Kai Mu’s anger issue in his heart, the general then said, "Even if we surrender, Feng Xiyan won’t just let us into the city so easily."
The military advisor smiled and lowered his voice when he replied, "Supreme General, there is no need for you to take that risk yourself. Simply have some of the soldiers feign surrender while we pretend to be trying to kill them for desertion."
"Aren’t there many soldiers of mixed bloodlines in our ranks—half Central Region and half Yuezhi Tribe? Some of their parents are still alive and are even registered as citizens of the Yu Empire."
"If we send those soldiers to surrender, it will lower Feng Xiyan’s guard. Once they blend into the Feng Army, we will have spies with legitimate identities."
"With these soldiers working for us from inside the Feng Army, with one word from you, we can launch an attack from both inside and outside. By the time the Feng Army is gone, it will be easy to take down the entire Yu Empire."
Kai Mu’s eyes lit up after hearing the military advisor’s plan.
He sneered and said, "This is a good plan. Our rations are still enough for two days. If this plan works, then we won’t need to sacrifice our soldiers to forcefully break through the city. If the plan fails, then we can only bet everything on the battle two days later."
The military advisor nodded in agreement. "The Supreme General is wise."
Since dying now or two days later made little difference, Kai Mu decided to take a gamble. He raised his hand and commanded, "Retreat!"
With his command, the sound of the war drums changed.
Du~ Duru~ Dum! Du~ Duru~ Dum!
When the soldiers of the Yuezhi Tribe heard the retreat signal, they looked at each other in confusion.
Although they didn’t know why their Supreme General had ordered the retreat, none of them wanted to die under the Feng Army’s arrows. So, they quickly turned back and followed the main army to their barracks.
While the Yuezhi Tribe soldiers retreated from the battlefield, atop the city wall, Feng Xiyan frowned slightly.
Watching the scene below, Zhan Qi asked in confusion, "Why did they suddenly retreat? Didn’t our intel say the Yuezhi Tribe only has enough rations for a few more days? Won’t they starve to death if they retreat now?"
After thinking for a while, Feng Xiyan finally ordered, "Have the soldiers clean up the battlefield. Burn the corpses and collect the arrows. After cleaning the arrows, count how many can still be reused."
Zhan Qi clasped his fists and replied, "This subordinate accepts the order."