Chapter 900 Meeting

Chapter 900 Meeting

Chapter 900 Meeting
Jin Zheng's decision to launch an attack in the direction of Mayi, cross Zhonglingchuan to attack Shanwu, and then leave the city and attack Shengle directly was naturally sent to the rear.

At this time, the large group of troops led by Shao Xun had just passed Guanjuejin, entered the territory of Wu County, and were advancing towards Jinyang.

When he stayed overnight at Guojiawu Fort, he summoned several military advisers who were accompanying the army, namely, Taibao Pan Tao, military counselor Zhang Bin, Longxiang attendant Zhonglang Xi Jian, and Shizhong Yang Man.

Following Shao Xun's temperament, the few of them walked and talked beside the fields outside the village.

"I summoned you here not only because of the situation in the north." Shao Xun looked at the bright moon above his head and said, "Someone from the west crossed the river and said that the counties in Guanzhong are collecting food and grass and recruiting men. It has been at least seven days since the tenth day of May, and more than ten days since then. Taiwei Wang Yifu and Shangshu Ling Pei Jingsheng went to Hedong in person to appease the people and recruit the troops of various families, as well as the Hu and Han soldiers, to train them for battle. You can discuss it. Is Liu Can going to harass or to fight a decisive battle?"

The night was beautiful at that time, but no one was in the mood to appreciate it.

Yang Man, the imperial attendant, was rarely recruited as an army counselor, so he was eager to try. After thinking for a while, he said, "The enemy troops may be quite a few, more than 100,000. This is a golden opportunity for Liu Can, and he must be thinking of doing something."

After Yang Man finished speaking, Xi Jian immediately said, "Your Majesty, I heard that the Xiongnu's victorious army is no more than 20,000 to 30,000. If there are really 100,000, most of them must be weak soldiers, and the bravest ones should not exceed 20,000. This army will not go out of Tongguan, but from Pujinguan. However, it must break through the camp of Hou Fu's army before it can go north to Anyi and Pingyang. Our army has won battles one after another, and even the young and strong troops are in high spirits. Your Majesty can order General Hou to stay in the fortress and not come out to dampen the enemy's spirit. When they retreat, we can suddenly attack and kill them, and perhaps we can gain something."

Shao Xun nodded slightly, then looked at Zhang Bin and asked, "What does Mengsun think?"

Zhang Bin clasped his hands and said, "It is useless even if Your Majesty returns. Once our army returns, Liu Can will leave. Once our army leaves, Liu Can will surely come."

Shao Xun couldn't help laughing.

Zhang Bin was like this. He spoke directly to the point and pointed out the essence of the Huns' courage to mobilize on a large scale, that is, when your main force leaves, they come to steal the chicken.

"Yang Zhong, what do you think?" Shao Xun looked at Pan Tao again and asked.

"We are not returning to the capital, but we are just sending more troops." Pan Tao said seriously.

"Where do the soldiers come from?"

"There are still powerful tribes in Taishan and Yingchuan. After years of fighting, they are no longer a mob." Pan Tao said, "The mule army is also being trained in Runan. Maybe they can be transferred north. They are the soldiers of Taiyuan Prefecture--"

"The soldiers of Taiyuan Prefecture cannot move. They have to guard the pass." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "Yang Zhong, you have the same idea as the Prime Minister, the Military Commander and others. The Xiongnu haven't even set out yet, but you're already thinking about sending more troops. Aren't you being too cowardly?"

Pan Tao disagreed and said, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister and the Military Commander are not worried about the war outside Pujin Pass, but they are used to seeing the evil in people's hearts and are worried that someone will take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos and cut off General Hou's food supply, causing the army to collapse without a fight. Today, there are more than one or two people in the world who hope that Your Majesty will fail."

Shao Xun was silent.

If we compare the world to a company, when he first started in Liang County, the company was small and he had absolute control. But as the business grew bigger and more investors came, his stake was greatly diluted and is now probably less than 50%.

Liang's officials, both big and small, and local nobles were all shareholders, each holding 1% to 1/1000 of the shares. The shares were relatively dispersed, but the total amount far exceeded that of the major shareholder who was the chairman.

Moreover, many of these small shareholders also hold various positions from general manager down, and are both shareholders and employees.

You have infringed upon the rights of small shareholders. They are temporarily unable to unite and remove you, but is it possible for them to teach you a lesson?

The defeat at Puzhou Pass and the fall of Pingyang may not be a bad thing for small shareholders, because the chairman who led the company to forge ahead is still there and may need them even more.

"The Taishan troops will not move, but will look after the direction of Xuzhou." Shao Xun made a decision: "Yingchuan will gather the troops of the nobles and head north to Hedong, and the Mule Army will also head north, under the command of Hou Feihu, to look after the rear."

"As for this place——" Shao Xun put his hands behind his back and said without question: "Go north at full speed. I want to see if we can afford to fight two wars with dozens of counties in Guandong in our hands."

"Jin Zheng is in front, and I am behind. I believe what he said! There is no need to reject his strategy. Let him fight as he wishes."

Seeing that Shao Xun was so determined, everyone had no more objections, and then they started to discuss the details one by one.

Shao Xun stood alone by the river.

The night in Wu County is very quiet.

After the bright moon was blocked, fog gradually rose up, making it look like a dream and confusing.

******
On May 15th, more than 2,000 horse-drawn carriages arrived in Mayi, bringing 150,000 hu of millet and wheat.

At this time, the herdsmen in Liu Runzhong's area were already grazing their cattle, sheep and other livestock in the desolate Yanmen County to fatten them up.

Another large group of shepherds from Puyang Mountain and other places also drove hundreds of thousands of livestock and entered Yanmen County from Pingxingkou.

The remaining 6,000 troops of Zuo Feilong Guard arrived in Mayi on the same day, along with 9,000 troops. They were called over as soon as they arrived at Yanmen.

On the 17th, more than 20,000 horses were sent from Yanmen County.

Jin Zheng seized the grain transport team's carriage.

Thousands of people were conscripted from Mayi County to serve as drivers and grooms, and followed the army northward.

At this point, this army included 6,000 cavalry from Shangdang, 9,000 soldiers from the Zuo Feilong Guard from Dongping and Gaoping, and a total of 15,000 combat troops.

In terms of auxiliary troops, there were 9,000 soldiers from the Zuo Feilong Guard and 5,000 strong men from the Mayi Wuhuan, a total of 14,000 people.

Carrying more than 2,000 baggage carts, 150,000 hu of grain, and more than 40,000 horses, they marched northward in a mighty force, heading straight for Shanwu.

On May 18th, Helan Aitou finished offering sacrifices to heaven outside Shanwu City, and then led 30,000 cavalry drawn from Helan, Hedouling, Yiluo, Qiudun, Yizhan, Chekun and other tribes southward, marching south along Zhonglingchuan and heading straight for Mayi.

……

As an old hand in the caravan and a former Xianbei scout, Tuoba Liugou was recruited to follow a small team of five or six people northward, about thirty miles away from the main force, to investigate the enemy situation.

After more than a day in the mountains, the vanguard of the army had reached the source of Zhongling River, and they were searching and advancing northeast along the Zhongling River.

That day was May 19th. The weather was not very good. A thin mist rose at night and did not dissipate until morning.

The group of six found a small forest to rest for a while. The leader of the group was a big man named Xu Yi, from Xiangcheng. Everyone knew that he was the son of Xu Meng, the governor of the Fubingbu. He had practiced martial arts since he was young and was skilled in archery and horse riding.

He first assigned two people to stand guard at a distance, and then ordered the horses to be fed.

The woods were wet and even the grass was covered with dew. The horse lowered its head and licked it a few times, then turned away and stopped eating.

A scout took out some cooked black beans from his bag, mixed them with salt water and fed them to the horse.

Tuoba Liugou sat on a stone, took out a corner of a dry and hard biscuit, and chewed it slowly.

The fog had not yet dissipated and there was only a slight breeze in the mountains, whispering softly in Liu Gou's ears.

While eating, the six dogs looked around, trying to see the mountains, forests and rivers hidden in the heavy fog.

I can't see clearly; the fog is too thick.

Liu Gou swallowed the last bite of biscuit and tightened the bow and sword at his waist with some uneasiness.

The tranquility of the forest could not calm the warrior's restless heart. Liu Gou turned his head again, and he seemed to hear the sound of dead branches being stepped on.

"Swoosh!" Just as he turned his head, a sharp arrow flew past his ear and pierced into the tree trunk.

Liu Gou didn't have time to think, he just rolled over and rolled behind the rock.

"Ah!" A scream was heard from quite far away, and it seemed to be from one of the two people sent out to guard.

Liu Gou's scalp tingled, as someone was approaching him.

Looking up, I saw shadowy figures in the fog, as if some evil spirits were running towards me.

He subconsciously took out the bow and just pulled out an arrow, he heard footsteps behind him. Without thinking, he shot the arrow behind him.

The man had a ferocious face and a bowstring in his hand, as if he was going to strangle Liu Gou by the neck and capture him alive. When he saw the arrow coming, he stepped sideways and kicked out.

Liu Gou barely dodged the attack, but felt pain in his ribs and staggered backwards.

The man rushed forward without saying a word and punched Liu Gou on the head.

Liu Gou moved sideways to avoid the iron fist that was coming straight at his face, then lowered his head to avoid the iron arm that was sweeping across. He punched out with his right fist, hitting the opponent in the chest. Then he rushed forward, and taking advantage of the opponent's confusion, he swiftly thrust the arrow in his left hand into his face.

Screams of pain were heard immediately.

Liu Gou was relentless and endured the kick from the opponent. He grabbed the opponent's braid tightly with his right hand to prevent him from escaping, and used his left hand to push the arrow deeply into his eye socket.

The other party was in so much pain that his screams were earth-shaking.

Liu Gou got angry and pulled the arrow out again, taking out the eyeball and a large piece of meat.

"Puff!" The arrow pierced into the enemy's wide-open mouth again.

The opponent struggled desperately and reached for Liu Gou's face with his right hand. Liu Gou tilted his head to avoid it and was only grabbed by his chin.

The opponent's left hand was grabbing and hitting him randomly. Liu Gou did his best to dodge, but he did not loosen his left hand until the enemy stopped struggling.

"Wow!" A puff of blood rushed towards him, covering the head and face of Liu Gou who had just stood up. The fishy smell was nauseating.
"Let's go!" Xu Yi held the bloody sword and pulled Liu Gou.

Liu Gou endured the pain all over his body and stumbled after him.

"Bang!" A corpse behind him fell to the ground with a loud bang. It turned out to be another person who was preparing to launch a sneak attack on Liu Gou.

The sounds of footsteps and shouts continued.

Xu and Liu Gou grabbed the reins, jumped onto the horses, and squeezed the horses' bellies, trying to rush out.

"Swoosh!" An arrow flew towards him. Xu Yi staggered, endured the pain, and ran away first.

The six dogs lay on the horse's back, and while running wildly, they turned sideways and shot two or three arrows backwards.

The fog was very heavy and I didn't know whether the bullet hit the target or not. I only heard a scream.

The two of them walked one after the other and soon disappeared into the vast mountains.

Less than half an hour later, the sound of dense horse hooves was heard on the mountain road. More than a thousand riders came from the northeast and galloped away without any pause.

On a mountain road more than 20 miles southwest of them, a large army was marching towards them and suddenly stopped.

Soon, commands were heard all over the mountains.

Amid the drumbeats, weapons and armor were taken down and distributed one by one.

A large group of infantry rushed to the mountains on both sides, raised their flags, and formed their battle formations.

The baggage wagons were quickly surrounded, blocking the road.

Shieldmen, archers, and gunners all took their positions, ready for battle.

The whole mountain suddenly came alive.

(End of this chapter)