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

After a night of difficult travel, the Gu Family’s army finally arrived near Lingguan City.

At this time, the heavy snow had not stopped, and the army was resting in a forest in the mountains.

Gu Changqing ordered down, instructing the troops to rest on site.

Lingguan City lay to the east of the mountain, while they were to the west, and the thick wind and snow provided cover, so even if they lit fires, they would not be discovered.

Gu Jiao was ready to go find Little Shitou.

The siblings had discussed the details of this matter long ago. Considering the bigger picture, Gu Changqing could not leave the unit before a major battle, but he had secret guards with him, all six of whom he entrusted to Gu Jiao.

Even before setting out, Gu Jiao had selected several women skilled in sewing in Yuegu City and took them to make several sets of isolation gowns from oiled paper.

Gloves and masks were readily available in surplus in the first-aid kit, so they did not trouble the women.

There was only one pair of goggles, which belonged to her, but in a moment she would put masks on the plague patients, so the problem was not too big.

Gu Changqing looked at Gu Jiao, who was carrying the first-aid kit and the Red-Tasseled Spear, “Are you leaving?”

Gu Jiao nodded, “After I take them to a safe place, I will meet up with you.”

“Good,” Gu Changqing said firmly, his eyes filled with a brother’s concern and reluctance, but he also understood Gu Jiao’s capabilities. He straightened her hair for her and said, “Take care of yourself.”

“I will.”

If she did not take care of herself, she would have no small benefits.

Since they had to pass checkpoints, they did not ride horses, and the secret guards used their lightfoot skills to carry Gu Jiao through the night.

About an hour later, the group arrived at their destination.

Gu Jiao stopped outside the wooden bridge, took out gloves, masks, and temporary isolation gowns from her small backpack, and helped them put everything on neatly; she also fully equipped herself.

A secret guard offered to scout ahead.

Gu Jiao stopped him, “I’ll go first, you wait here for me.”

The secret guards nodded together.

Gu Jiao first went to the small cabin of the dead soldiers, and knocked on the door lightly.

Movement from inside the cabin suggested someone getting up quickly, and it sounded very alert.

Gu Jiao nodded silently; Little Shitou’s vigilance was still good.

“It’s me,” she whispered.

“Doctor Gu!” Shen Xuan hurried to open the door for her.

Gu Jiao slipped inside, leaving the door ajar, using the thin moonlight coming through the crack to ask him, “Have you been taking your medicine on time these past two days?”

“Yes, yes!” Shen Xuan nodded hurriedly, “I feel much better!”

“And the others?” Gu Jiao asked.

Shen Xuan said, “They also took the medicine on time. Most are improving like me, but some haven’t shown any change.”

“No effect?” Gu Jiao frowned peculiarly, “Drug efficacy varies among individuals. Observe for another two days, and if it really doesn’t work, I’ll switch their medication.”

She had left behind Streptomycin and a sulfonamide drug last time. She would check the first-aid kit later to see if there were Tetracycline or Chloramphenicol.

Gu Jiao said to Shen Xuan, “Let’s not talk about this right now. Lingguan City is about to see battle, and I need to take you away first.”

Shen Xuan waved his hand, “Doctor Gu, you should hurry away. I’ll lead them to hide deep in the mountains; no one will be able to find us for sure!”

Gu Jiao looked at him, “They have hunting dogs. It would be easy for them to find you.”

“Ah!” Shen Xuan was astonished.

Gu Jiao said seriously, “We don’t have much time, hurry and leave this place!”

Shen Xuan dared not delay any longer and woke the patients one by one.

They had not expected Gu Jiao to truly come back to save them. Having held only a faint hope in their hearts, now it grew to a substantial one.

Gu Jiao put masks on each person, leading them across the bridge.

But Gu Jiao herself did not leave; instead, she said to the secret guards, “Escort them to safety.”

“Aren’t you leaving?” Shen Xuan asked.

Gu Jiao responded indifferently, “Hmm, I’ll leave later.”

Dawn was approaching; soldiers from the Chen kingdom would come to deliver breakfast. Someone needed to pretend to be a dead warrior and knock on the panel, otherwise, once they discovered that everyone in the camp was gone, they would guess that the Gu Family army might have arrived.

The movements of the Gu Family army could not be exposed in advance.