Chinese New Year

Chapter 508: Rapid Advancement (Part )
Shao Xun's troops never entered Liyang City at all because they were not on the marching route.

The vanguard took the city because they were worried about the threat from the flank, so they made a test. As a result, they directly entered the city.

There were no regular soldiers in Liyang. The city seemed to have been abandoned by Taobao. It was empty and there was not much food. The remaining people were trembling with fear, fearing that the same fate as the sinking river would befall them again.

A temporary floating bridge was built across the river.

Shao Xun formally ordered: Liu Qia led an army of 5,000 to cross the Yellow River to the north and station in Liyang.

Liyang City is adjacent to the river in the south and is an important river defense town that can directly receive supplies from the south bank of the river. Therefore, Liu Qia has an even more important task, which is to rebuild Liyang City and use it as a stronghold. From now on, the Luming Old City near Baimajin will no longer need to be defended, and the garrison will be moved to Liyang on the north bank of the river.

On the ninth day of June, the army left the northern border of Liyang County and headed towards Neihuang.

During the march, Shao Xun received envoys from far and near in a manor.

The Western Pavilion Chief Academician Hu Wufuzhi, the Right Sima Yang Chen, the Attendant General Liu Anzhi, Xi Jian, the Inspector of the Imperial Capital Yu Chen and others followed the army and stood quietly behind him.

After passing Liyang, it is not far from Neihuang, and to the east is Dunqiu. The location is very critical and delicate.

Li Shou was standing at the innermost, his eyes made contact with Yu Chen, then he looked away instantly, thinking silently about his own things.

Shao Xun noticed Li Shou.

The man was wearing rough linen clothes, which made him somewhat suspicious of the economic situation of Hebei Fort Commander. But considering that his fort provided a lot of food and grass during the last thousand-mile raid on Gou Xi, he was not that poor, so this man might have done it on purpose.

At the same time, it can also be seen from the side that Hebei is indeed in some difficulties this year.

"You are here because you are loyal to the court. This is commendable." Shao Xun said, "We have brought 200,000 people here, so we don't plan to withdraw so easily. Do you have anything to teach me? Tell me one by one."

Shao Xun looked at Li Shou and motioned him to go first.

Li Shou was the commander of the fortress and also a scholar. He was from the Li family of Dongqiu.

He hesitated for a while, then said, "Your Excellency has the plan to save the country and the strategy to wipe out the invaders. Your story has spread in Santai and your reputation has remained in Jiwei. The righteous army has arrived, and we are so happy that we cannot wait. Now we are willing to offer you food and supplies to help with the military needs."

"How many soldiers does Dongqiu have?" Shao Xun asked.

"Only a few thousand people."

"Are there any of your people?"

“Most of them.”

"Maybe it's Guiyi anyway?"

Li Shou paused for a moment and did not answer immediately.

"Don't worry, I won't leave until I have a showdown with Shi Le." Shao Xun said firmly, "You don't have to worry too much."

Having said that, he glanced at the commander named Yin Fang who was standing next to Li Shou.

This man's ancestors were from Chiping. They moved to Fanyang, Dunqiu three generations ago and were considered local tyrants.

"Mingsir, Shi Le led a large army to the north. There are not many soldiers in Ji, Wei, Dunqiu and other places. We have to rely on each household to help defend the city. Some counties don't even have a single soldier. It is not difficult for you to take it." Yin Fang said: "If there is no other way, who would be willing to surrender to the Hu? But we have elderly and children to take care of, and we have people from various counties who depend on us. Every move is of great importance. If you can't--"

Shao Xun waved his hand and called out, "Shunling."

"Ming sir." Cai Chengying said.

"The heroes of Hebei are worried about my retreat to the south, and dare not look north. I want to go north to Yecheng, do you dare to follow me?"

"As your close general, I will follow you even if I have to go through fire and water. Even if I die, I would rather die in front of you." Cai Cheng responded calmly.

"King Kong slave. When you were young, you often stroked your chest and sighed, saying that the world had not yet been in chaos and there was no chance for you to make a breakthrough. Now that the opportunity has come, do you dare to go to Yecheng?" Shao Xun looked at Liu Ling and asked.

"Why not?" Liu Ling raised his eyebrows and said, "There are tens of thousands of people in the world, but few know me, Liu Ling. My lord, if I capture and kill Shi Le, my name will spread all over the world, right?"

Shao Xun laughed and said, "We are still a little short. If we can capture Liu Cong, we will be famous all over the world."

"Then capture Shi Le first, and then kill Liu Cong." Liu Ling said loudly.

After saying that, he glanced at the Hebei Wubao commanders provocatively.

"Wang Que'er."

"The end will be here."

"You have followed me in battles for many years. Have you ever been afraid?" Shao Xun asked.

"There is no hero under the silver spear." Wang Que'er replied: "No matter how strong the Hu horse is, it is no match for the man with the silver spear."

"Kim Jong."

"The end will be here."

"How many scars do you have on your body?" Jin Zheng didn't say anything. He unbuttoned his armor and counted them. He said, "Less than ten."

After saying that, he pointed to the scar near his chest and sneered, "The Huns are not very skilled. If they were a little more off target, they would have killed me."

"You are my favorite general, how can you let the Xiongnu thieves earn the reputation of killing your general?" Shao Xun smiled and asked, "If we lead our troops to attack Yecheng today, do you dare to climb the city wall and fight bravely?"

Jin Zheng raised his head and said loudly: "In the past ten years of Xingshuang, I have fought countless battles and killed so many people that I can't even remember how many people I have. Now that we have enough food and grass, how difficult will it be to kill our way through Hebei?"

"Hao Chang."

"The end will be here."

"When you were a general in Ye Prefecture, have you ever thought about returning to Hebei?"

"If you hadn't taken me in during these difficult times, we would have died a long time ago." Hao Chang was filled with emotion and said, "I am old now. I don't worry about the hardships of the past, but I only lament that my ambitions have not been fulfilled. If you let me defend Yecheng, I will die to repay your kindness."

Shao Xun patted him on the shoulder, looked at the commanders of the forts, and said, "I have heard that the people of Yan and Zhao are loyal and honest, and they value righteousness and bravery. Now we are here with the Han Dynasty's seal, and we want to recover the old land of China. If you can bring food and follow us, raise your weapons and fight bravely, we can reward you for your merits in the future, and you will bring honor to our family."

Li Shou and others hesitated to speak.

"You can speak freely without any hesitation." Shao Xun glanced at him and said.

Li Shou calmed down and said, "We are in Hebei, and we are eager to see the king's army. Unfortunately, in the past few years, we have only heard that the people of honor have fled south, which makes us sad and sigh. We have no choice but to surrender to the Hu. My lord——"

"They have moved south with their clothes and hats, but I have thoughts of the north wind," said Shao Xun.

Upon hearing this, Li Shou said in a deep voice, "Since you have such a wish, it would be inappropriate for me to be shy and act like a woman. I am willing to follow your will. Even if you are killed tomorrow, I will not regret it."

Shao Xun looked at the others again.

Li Shou turned his head to look at them and shouted, "Mr. Chen has raised a large army of righteous men and is planning to eliminate the bandits. What are you worried about? Do you have the nerve to speak out about what you did in the past? If you don't turn over a new leaf and serve the country, it will be too late to regret it!"

"My lord is magnanimous and benevolent, and does not bear grudges. I am willing to lead an army and follow you to cleanse the stains. In the future, when I meet our ancestors in the netherworld, I will have something to say." As soon as Li Shou finished speaking, someone stood up and responded loudly.

"I have strayed far away from the teachings of my father and brothers. I also followed the Huns and invaded and ravaged the prefectures and counties. Thinking about it today, I realize how much I have abandoned myself! I am willing to serve you and atone for my sins." Someone else said.

"I will follow you, sir."

……

Having said that, everyone in the group expressed their opinions.

Shao Xun was overjoyed and said, "I have heard that the deer tails in Ye are very beautiful. This time I am heading north, I want to hunt for deer in Ye. I will set up a banquet at Santai to taste them. I was still a little hesitant, but now with your help, I will succeed."

After that, he led everyone out of the manor, pointed to the brave warriors marching on the south bank of Baigou, and said: "Two hundred thousand troops marching to Neihuang, it will be easy to capture it. Dunqiu and other places are waiting for your good news."

"We will follow your orders, sir." Everyone responded in unison.

******
After seeing off the local tyrants in Hebei, Shao Xun returned to the manor to discuss the war situation with his staff.

"Li Chong has stationed troops on both sides of the Qishui Stone Bridge, set up camps and built a city. What do you think?" Shao Xun asked.

"This is a mature and prudent strategy." Everyone was a little humble, and in the end it was Yu Chen who spoke first: "Stationing troops at Shiqiao, with two cities in the north and south flanking the river, can store military supplies and station a large army. There is no worry of looting, and there is also the opportunity to advance. This is not wrong."

Li Chong had been camping on both sides of the Qi River north of Chaoge for more than ten days and had never headed north again.

He even built a city, two cities in the north and south, standing on both sides of the river. The northern one was a place for stationing troops, and the southern one was a warehouse.

Some people think that this means taking every step carefully and being mature and prudent.

Some people think that this is because they are afraid of the enemy and hesitate to advance.

Others believed that Li Chong’s repeated requests for reinforcements showed that he was not up to the task and that the army might be overthrown if handed over to him.

There are different opinions and no consensus.

"There is nothing wrong with Commander Li's strategy." Xi Jian, a staff officer in the Longxiang shogunate, rarely spoke up. "The army has been marching north for more than half a month, but has not actually encountered the Xiongnu army. If we ignore this and march deep into the enemy territory alone, you should be careful and must recall them. Now the grain from Chaoge can be transported to Shiqiao via the Qi River. Once the warehouse city is built, we can store grain and equipment for the advance. In this way, Shi Le's soldiers will be incompetent in looting and their morale will be low, while our army will have no worries about food supply and will be in high spirits. With this balance, we can increase our chances of success if we march north again."

"Besides, since you have entrusted me with an important task, I should believe it." Xi Jian continued, "Rumors are just nonsense spread by people who are ignorant of military affairs and jealous of others' talents."

At this point, Xi Jian stood up and bowed to Shao Xun, saying, "Li Zhong's generals Yang Dan and Liang Su have been criticized by many in the army, some for their brutality, some for their backgrounds, and the criticisms are bound to spread outside. Wouldn't the two generals be worried when they heard about it? I ask the Master to calm their hearts."

"Daohui is truly a pillar of the country," Shao Xun praised.

Xi Jian bowed again and sat back down.

"Yan Guo, you go on a trip for me and give some gold and silk to General Li Chongsan. Also tell the three others that as long as they can attract Shi Le's army, they will be credited regardless of fighting or not." Shao Xun ordered.

"Yes." Hu Wu Fuzhi agreed.

"The western route is done, now only the eastern route is left." Shao Xun looked at everyone and said, "Pass the order down, ignore the enemy troops harassing along the way, go straight to Neihuang, and conquer it within a few days."

(End of this chapter)