The deployment plan showed the movement of the Guoqiang's army and where they were stationed. His troops were placed at the Bianjing drum tower and at an old remnants of a fortification of the previous dynasty, of Shenzhou empire. Guoqiang made such a plan that prince Wu Liang's army would be divided in several locations. And for the final battle, Guoqiang will face the central army with his full might. As suspected prince did place his army according to Guoqiang's false deployment plan. A leak in the Tianxia royal court was now evident, a proof of the same will get rid of the rat. That is what Guoqiang wants and he was hoping prime minister Xu had an hand in this.
Prince did not calculate a different strategy, he went along with the deployment plan he received from general Wang. He was leading the central army in the front, that he did not realise his army at the back were decreasing mysteriously. Shenzhou's 200,000 men were reduced. At the Dai county when the army marched through, the back flank of foot soldiers were mislead into following a different track and when isolated they were ambushed and captured. The flank of calvary and infantry that was send to Biajing drum tower were tackled even before they reached tower. They were also captured and locked at the tower. The flank that was departed to the fortification were given false information that the Tianxia army were hiding at the pagoda. They followed the trail only to be ambushed at the gates of the pagoda and captured. Thus the strength of temple 200,000 was reduced to 100,000. And the main central army faced Guoqiang's army at the Yanmen pass. Water based warfare was also part of this battle. Both sides had boats docked on the rivers going through Yanmen pass.
Guoqiang got extra assistance when superintendent Wan came to aid. After Wan had secured the Zijin pass with his subordinate and together secured the Juyong pass. They consolidated Tianxia rule over these regions. And only after which Wan come to show his support to Guoqiang, as a form of gratitude for aiding him at Juyong pass. The news about the reduced army reached late in Wu Liang's ears. Because the flanks are lead by different heads and units their disappearances was only noted when they did not make it to the main grounds. Scouts were send check trails but they came back with empty news. Wu Liang's confidence started to rattle. He had everything to lose if he did not place himself right in this battle. And thus the warfare began.
The gates of the Yanmen pass were not shut tight, on purpose. Shenzhou army forced it open with logs only for it to open so easily. And hoards of soldiers flooded in just to fall into a pit of ash mixed with gun powder. A fiery arrow struck the ground and set the intruding soldiers into flames. Many men escape out the very gates they entered and trampled each other. Wu Liang ordered catapults, crossbows and arrow trebuchets to break through the cover. Despite his desperate efforts he could not seem to dent Guoqiang's army. Until when one of his commanders noticed that they're attacking their own men. Commander in chief saw gagged and tied up soldiers standing in the towers, and he sported a soldier with their insignia on armour. He commanded to hold fire. Wu Liang could not understand the why a mere soldier is going against a prince's commander. He forced towards his direction demanded an explanation. "Prince, those are our men, who we are killing." He did not understand it first, but Wu Liang looked up at the towers and saw Shenzhou crest on the soldier, who had his hands tied behind his back and was gagged. He realised that every time they killed a soldier new one would pop up right in the place of the fallen, as if never-ending but they were not Guoqiang's men but solders of Shenzhou!
Few days ago, Commander Yuan of Tianxia, was busy making a meticulous plan about this siege. He is a commander himself, therefore possessed excellent foresight. And could tell that that this was a battle they could not win, with what they have. Guoqiang entered his tent, "Could you spare me few hundred men?" Asked Guoqiang.
Commander Yuan : "What for?"
General Guoqiang : "It an expedition."
Commander Yuan : "General you will have to give me more details. How do you expect me to trust you when you are not imparting information?"
General Guoqiang : "At this moment i can only tell you this much that it is for an expedition. I will explain everything in detail soon, I can only ask for your trust."
Yuan decided to trust Guoqiang for this. It wasn't easy for him to trust Guoqiang because he was always the one with the most unconventional plans. But maybe that is exactly what they wanted to win. To Yuan's surprise he brought prisoners of war. He realised that they were soldiers of Shenzhou. Guoqiang did not give a clear explanation nor did he mention how he captured the enemy army. But this could be the turning point for them. And therefore he did not pursue Guoqiang for answers but for followed his directions.
Despite this discovery, Wu Liang ordered to continue firing. He was not fit for ruling, hime winning was all that mattered to him, even at the cost of his own subjects. Commander did not retract his order. Soldiers of the other units also became aware of their men being scapegoats. They too refused to fire. This halt in firing resulted in different approach adopted by Guoqiang's army. They began attacking the two flanks of Shenzhou simultaneously with charging calvary, showers of arrows and wild infantry at full force. This caught them off guard and their formation of the central army broke. Everyone was helter-skelter, The prince ordered for his own protection, rather than charging into battle himself. In his frenzy, Prince ordered general Gu, "Bring me Guoqiang's head!" With that general Gu charged into battle, but prince did not stay to see what unfolded at the battle field. He made an escape and retreated to Dai county. Seeing their leader abandon the battle field, dropped the moral of the soldier. Gu and Guoqiang were looked in brutal close range combat. And the next moment, a head detected from the body, rolls over on ground. It was general Gu's, thus the Shenzhou army was defeated at their pass. This came to an end. But Guoqiang had unfinished business to pursue. Celebration of the victory halted when news of superintendent Wan's death was confirmed. Nobody rejoiced it was a bitter battle with no real winnings. The bodies of the fallen were accumulated, they perfumed their own funeral rites and burned the bodies. This was to prevent the bodies of the fallen, to be mutilated by vultures and wild animals of the forest. Like of a militant is not glamours, when you d not even get buried in your own nations soil, when your loved one dod not get to preform last rites. And still many join with hopes and aspirations each year. Their death is what makes a nation victorious, its bargain with no pleasure.