Chapter 280

Chapter 280

On the twenty-ninth day of the first lunar month, Tong Rong set out with his army of forty thousand.

Those outside referred to them as bandits, but apart from defying the officials, they hadn't harmed the people outside the mountains. The only deaths had occurred within the mountains due to power struggles.

Before setting out, Tong Rong had made it clear to the forty thousand able-bodied mountain folk that those lucky enough might earn wealth, while the unlucky could die on the battlefield. He left the decision to follow him up to each individual.

The mountain folk knew that a war had broken out between the Wei Kingdom and the Ling Kingdom. If the Ling Kingdom won, they could follow their mountain leader to Jiaozhou to live in luxury. If the Wei Kingdom won, staying in the mountains would lead to certain death. Therefore, all forty thousand were willing to follow Tong Rong.

As for bringing family members along, the soldiers didn't have the privilege. After all, the Ling Kingdom only supplied rations for the imperial troops. The five deputy mountain leaders and their families, all local residents, preferred to stay in the secure mountain enclave to await news. Only Tong Rong's wife, Zhong Li, and their son, Xiao Shan, chose to accompany the army.

"Wu Rong" was a pseudonym. Since they lived in the mountains, Tong Rong hadn't rushed to give his son a formal name, instead borrowing his cousin's nickname, which felt affectionate to him. When he had left home, Tong Shan was six years old, and now his son was also six.

Mountain-raised children found the mule cart journey easy. Whenever the army halted, Xiao Shan would explore the nearby areas. When the army moved again, he would return to the cart to keep his mother company.

With rations supplied by the officials along the way, Tong Rong wasn't in a hurry, resting every two days. According to Magistrate Ji's estimate, by the time Tong Rong was supposed to reach Chenzhou on the eighteenth of the second month, he still had four days of travel left. However, if he didn't rest again, he could make it in two days.

Tong Rong wasn't in a rush, but an urgent 600-mile war report from Guizhou reached Chenzhou first. The Chenzhou prefect nearly collapsed when he learned that the Guizhou garrison had surrendered. He immediately sent people to urge Tong Rong to speed up his march. His side had rations, weapons, and armor ready; all they needed were those forty thousand elite soldiers!

Upon receiving the war report from the Chenzhou prefect, Tong Rong called the five deputy mountain leaders and informed them of this defeat.

Two of the five deputy mountain leaders frowned. "Guizhou had twenty thousand troops. Logically, they should have been able to hold the city until we arrived. How could they just surrender like that?"

"Absolutely useless!"

"With their surrender, the six thousand Qianzhou army has become eighty thousand. Our eleven thousand have become ninety thousand, but five thousand of ours are useless. Can we still win in a real fight?"

"Back in the mountains, we didn't know much, but we've picked up a lot on our journey. It's said that these six thousand Qianzhou troops are mostly the Wei Kingdom's imperial army. They were the ones who destroyed the Liang Kingdom. Among the five great generals, two have the Xiao surname—one is a prince, and another is the Prince of Wu Commandery. The prince, in particular, is incredibly strong. General Meng Jingye from the previous emperor's time died at his hands!"

"And they’re not even the main general. The main general's flag bears the name 'Qi.' Could it be General Qi, who forced the Ling army back to the south of the Yangtze River from Hezhou?"

Someone picked up the Chenzhou prefect's letter and reviewed it, finding no mention of the Qianzhou army's generals, only that Guizhou had been lost.

Tong Rong said, "No matter what, we'll go to Chenzhou first to get the rations and weapons."

They had brought their own crafted weapons, but they certainly weren't as fine as those supplied by the imperial court.

The five deputy mountain leaders chuckled. Whether they fight or not, they should take advantage first!

On the evening of the twenty-first day of the second month, the army of forty thousand finally reached Chenzhou.

The Chenzhou prefect appeared deeply troubled. "The Qianzhou army from Guizhou is still resting, but in just a few days, another Qianzhou army has taken Liuzhou."

One deputy mountain leader asked, "Did they take it by force, or did the Liuzhou garrison also surrender?"

The Chenzhou prefect replied, "They would have had to fight, but upon hearing of Guizhou's surrender, they surrendered as well."

Deputy mountain leader: "...How many troops were there in Liuzhou?"

Chenzhou prefect: "Twenty thousand, with another twenty thousand in Yong City."

Guizhou and Liuzhou are two major towns to the west of Jiaozhou. Thus, the seventy thousand Jiaozhou troops had been deployed there early on, only to surrender both cities.

At this, all five deputy mountain leaders with Tong Rong frowned. "So, the Qianzhou army now has one hundred thousand troops, while our Jiaozhou forces, including us, only have seventy thousand?"

Chenzhou prefect: "That's right, but of the surrendered forty thousand, they are weak troops. The real fighting force is still only the sixty thousand Qianzhou troops. Prince and everyone are all heroes. With the advantage of city defenses, you should still be able to hold them off."

The five deputy mountain leaders: “……”

Tong Rong looked at the prefect of Chenzhou. "The prefects of both prefectures have surrendered, but your resolve to defend the city remains unshaken. That is truly commendable."

Flattered for his integrity, the prefect of Chenzhou smiled faintly and, turning towards the direction of Qiantang, his eyes filled with nostalgia and determination, said, "I was once a royal companion to the Emperor. He trusted and appointed me as the prefect of Chenzhou. So unless I die, the Qianzhou army will not set foot in Chenzhou."

Chenzhou and Yongzhou were the southern gateways of Jingnan, each garrisoned by ten thousand elite soldiers.

At this moment, the prefect of Chenzhou and his two deputies stood before Tong Rong and his six companions.

Tong Rong gave a subtle signal to the deputy mountain leader standing opposite him.

In the next moment, both men struck simultaneously. Tong Rong stabbed the prefect of Chenzhou in the chest, while the deputy mountain leader held a blade to the neck of another deputy.

The other deputy quickly drew his sword to defend himself.

The four deputy mountain leaders who hadn’t received Tong Rong’s signal were puzzled but instinctively moved to encircle the opponents alongside Tong Rong.

Tong Rong spoke to the two deputies from Chenzhou, "Guizhou and Liuzhou have surrendered. Jiaozhou can't be defended anymore, and this King of Jiaozhou has become a joke. We’re fighting for the emperor to gain wealth and glory. Instead of remaining loyal to the beleaguered Ling Emperor, it’s better to pledge ourselves to the Wei Emperor. If you two agree, we’ll march on Hengyang together. Jingnan is a tough nut to crack, and helping the Wei Emperor will surely earn us great rewards."

The two deputies, held at sword points from all directions, looked at each other.

Tong Rong: "Of course, if you wish to follow this prefect and die loyally for the Ling Emperor, I wouldn’t mind granting you that wish."

At these words, the deputy with a blade to his neck immediately dropped his weapon. "I’m willing to follow you, Sir—"

Tong Rong: "You may call me Mountain Leader."

"Yes, I’m willing to follow the Mountain Leader!"

"Yes, I’m willing too!"

The two deputies, pragmatic as they were, quickly submitted. The five deputy mountain leaders, who had already lost confidence in holding Jiaozhou, decided to seek rewards from the Wei Emperor after hearing Tong Rong’s analysis.

On the morning of the twenty-fourth, a deputy from Chenzhou, following Tong Rong’s orders, rode swiftly to Guizhou with the prefect of Chenzhou’s severed head.

Qi Yun and Tong Gui were overseeing Guizhou, while Xiao Ye and Sun Dian were in Liuzhou with Xiao She.

After the surrender of both prefectures, apart from Xiao She, who was tasked with maintaining discipline among the surrendered troops, the other four were busy with civilian and administrative affairs.

When Emperor Lu founded the dynasty, he had distributed land to the poor farmers to win their support. However, in just over a decade, corrupt officials and powerful local bullies had re-emerged. Fortunately, executing corrupt officials and redistributing land had become routine, as they had practiced it during the capture of Jinzhou. Although busy, everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

When the deputy from Chenzhou requested an audience, Qi Yun was listening to the Guizhou prefect report the number of fields in the prefecture.

Military affairs were equally important, so Qi Yun asked the prefect of Guizhou to wait and had his personal guards bring the Chenzhou deputy inside.

Seeing the severed head of the Chenzhou prefect, the Guizhou prefect shuddered. Fortunately, he had planned to surrender from the start; otherwise, would his head have been chopped off too?

Qi Yun was more concerned about another matter. "Leader Wu?"

This was information they hadn’t discovered before launching their attack.

The Chenzhou deputy said, "Leader Wu was originally the leader of a bandit group in Fuzhou, with forty thousand able-bodied bandits under his command. The Ling Emperor only recently persuaded him to surrender. Upon arriving in Chenzhou and learning that both Guizhou and Liuzhou had fallen, Leader Wu killed the prefect and rallied us, five thousand troops, to pledge ourselves to the Wei Emperor. I request General to report this to the Wei Emperor."

Qi Yun smiled. "A clever man indeed."

Chenzhou deputy: "Leader Wu also mentioned that he plans to sneak attack Hengyang. Does General have any other orders?"

Qi Yun: "Hengyang is currently lacking in troops and isn’t a concern. You can lead two thousand men, pretending to be remnants of a defeated force, claiming you were betrayed by Leader Wu. The prefect of Hengyang will surely not suspect you. Once he lets you in, you can seize the city. As for Leader Wu, you can have him leave two thousand villagers to guard Chenzhou while he leads over forty thousand troops to attack Yongzhou. Once he takes Yongzhou, I will report to the Emperor and request a grand reward for him."

Deputy General of Chenzhou: "General Qi is brilliant!"

General Qi Yun said, "Go, capturing Hengyang will also be a great achievement."

The deputy general of Chenzhou quickly returned to Chenzhou on horseback.

The five deputy mountain leaders muttered, "This General Qi is quite cunning!"

Tong Rong said, "War is deception. Moreover, he's afraid we're feigning surrender and will only believe our sincerity if we fight to the death with the Yongzhou garrison. He'll slow down his advance, waiting for us to strike from both sides. Once I arrive, I'll become the reinforcement for the Ling army in Jinnan. If Xie Jian is defeated and Jingbei falls, the Ling Emperor’s trap will be foiled."

"Ah, why are we still feigning surrender after killing the Chenzhou prefect?"

Tong Rong replied, "Killing a scholar to gain the trust of the Qianzhou army, and then pretending to attack Hengyang—if General Xie Jian anticipates our pincer attack, he will definitely slow down his offensive. Once I'm there, I'll become the reinforcement for the Ling army in Jinnan. If Xie Jian is defeated and Jingbei falls, the Ling Emperor’s trap will be foiled."

The five deputy mountain leaders looked at each other.

Is this what fighting between armies looks like? They were battling to the death in the mountains, but on the battlefield, it was becoming a joke.

Tong Rong said, "Give the order, we'll depart tomorrow to attack Yongzhou."

After learning from the scouts that the Chenzhou forces had split to capture Hengyang and Yongzhou, General Qi Yun called Tong Gui and said, "Lead 2,000 cavalry to Yongzhou and keep your distance to observe. Once the so-called Wu Mountain Leader really takes Yongzhou, you will join forces with him to attack the Ling army in Jinnan, and assist General Xie."

Tong Gui accepted the order.

General Qi Yun reminded him, "The Wu Mountain Leader is a former bandit leader, and his character is uncertain. Since he betrayed the Ling Kingdom, he might switch sides again for profit. Be vigilant and never let your guard down."

Tong Gui said, "Don't worry about that. I can smell anyone who wants to harm me from a mile away."

He hadn't read many books, and his military strategies were learned while fighting alongside Second Master, but when it came to dealing with people, no one could trick him.

General Qi Yun trusted Tong Gui enough to assign him this task, gave him a couple more instructions, and sent him to prepare.

On the sixth day of the second month, Tong Rong's army of 44,000 troops arrived at the gates of Yongzhou.

Since Hengyang was closer to Chenzhou, by this time, the Chenzhou deputy general, who had pretended to be defeated, had already captured Hengyang.

Tong Gui's 2,000 cavalry also arrived outside Yongzhou and chose a hillside to observe the battle from a high position.

The siege weapons used by Tong Rong were provided by the Ling Emperor. Facing the stubborn defense of the Yongzhou garrison, Tong Rong deployed the 4,000 surrendered Chenzhou soldiers as the vanguard. Firstly, he had no camaraderie with these surrendered soldiers, and secondly, his mountain bandits had never fought a siege battle before and had to learn on the spot.

By the end of the day, 2,000 out of the 4,000 surrendered Chenzhou soldiers were dead, and 800 were injured.

Tong Rong called the five deputy mountain leaders and said, "Tomorrow, each of the six mountains will send 800 men to attack the city."

One deputy mountain leader asked, "Aren't there still over 1,000 surrendered Chenzhou soldiers who can fight?"

Tong Rong replied, "In the past, we were two separate groups, but from today onwards, you are all my troops. If you want military merit, you have to earn it with blood and life. Those who are afraid of death can step forward now, and I'll give you supplies to return to Fuzhou."

The five deputy mountain leaders looked at each other. Although they were not very happy, going back would be too disgraceful. Even if they returned, they would eventually be suppressed by the Ling Emperor's troops. It was better to risk it all.

The next day, 5,000 mountain bandits went to attack the city. When it came to life and death, everyone had seen it clearly the day before and knew to carefully dodge the arrows, hot oil, and rolling logs from the walls.

The mountain bandits, who had trained in climbing in the mountains for years, were physically stronger than ordinary soldiers and climbed the ladders more agilely and swiftly.

The over 1,000 surrendered Chenzhou soldiers watching from a distance shed tears, realizing they were no longer being sent to their deaths. It seemed the Wu Mountain Leader now saw them as part of his own force.

On the second day of the attack, the mountain bandits seized Yongzhou with their fierce determination and hunger for glory.

At this point, Tong Gui was certain that Mountain Leader Wu was truly seeking refuge with the Wei Kingdom. After the mountain folk finished cleaning up outside the city gates, Tong Gui appeared with his 2,000 cavalry.

Tong Rong was still on the city wall. Noticing the 'Tong' banner among the cavalry, he focused on the leading general.

They were wearing battle armor from the northern regions, which Tong Rong had worn before as well. Even though the northern regions had seen two changes of emperor, the old battle armor was still in use.

"Mountain Leader, should we close the gates?"

"No need. Archers, get into position and wait for my command."

"Yes, sir!"

Before long, the 2,000 cavalry came closer, but Tong Gui also noticed the archers on the city wall drawing their bows. He stopped just outside their range and shouted towards the person in the middle whose face wasn’t very clear, "I am General Tong Gui, sent by Duke Qi to join forces with Mountain Leader Wu!"

From over two hundred steps away, Tong Rong couldn’t clearly see him, but he heard a familiar name, a voice...

When he left home, his younger brother was just fourteen and still going through puberty.

Tong Gui frowned and shouted again when Tong Rong remained silent, "If you genuinely wish to join the Wei Kingdom, why do your archers remain at the ready?"

The five deputy mountain leaders also looked at Tong Rong in confusion.

Only then did Tong Rong say, "Hearing your name brings back memories of an old friend named Tong Rong. I wonder, General, do you happen to know him?"

This time, it was Tong Gui's turn to stay silent for a long while.

As both sides on the city wall and below were puzzled about what was happening, Tong Gui rode towards the city gate alone.

An archer hesitated.

Tong Rong gave him a cold look.

In moments, Tong Gui reached the base of the city gate, and when he looked up again, finally recognizing the face he had nearly forgotten, tears of joy welled up, and his voice choked with emotion. "Brother!"