Chapter 16: Borrowing a Knife to Kill

  All the lords discussed and discussed, but they didn't come up with any good solution.

  The eight thousand Western Liang cavalrymen lived off the land, and did not bring any baggage or provisions with them. They were as swift as the wind in their movements. The soldiers from Guandong were almost all infantry, with very few cavalrymen. Even if they sent troops, it was estimated that they would only be able to follow behind the Western Liang cavalry and eat their dust.

  Moreover, at this time they were fiercely attacking Tiger Trap Pass and could not spare any troops to deal with that Western Liang cavalry.

  If you send too many, they can't be distinguished from the troops; if you send too few, it won't work.

  Governor of Beiping, Gongsun Zan, brought three thousand cavalrymen, but it was still a bit insufficient and might not be enough to make do.

  All the vassals were at a loss and greatly worried.

  Cao Cao sighed and said, "Who says that Dong Zhuo's camp has no capable people? This time, the Xiliang rebel army sent 8,000 cavalry to break into Guandong, which can be said to have truly hit the strategic weakness of our army's lack of cavalry. It is indeed brilliant."

  All the vassals were silent and did not speak, all of them were thinking about countermeasures.

  Although some people are delighted at the misfortune of others, they also fear that the Western Liang cavalry will invade their own territory.

  Sun Jian saw that no one spoke up, and immediately stepped forward loudly saying: "I am willing to lead a contingent of troops to go and annihilate the Western Liang rebel army."

  Yuan Shao said with a smile: "Wen Tai is brave and strong-willed, he is the best candidate to eliminate the Western Liang rebels."

  Cao Cao hastily said: "There are only three thousand infantrymen under Wen Tai's command, I'm afraid they won't be able to handle it!"

  Sun Jian heard the words and remained silent, also knowing that his own strength was insufficient. He wanted to rely on three thousand infantry to annihilate eight thousand Western Liang cavalry, which was indeed a foolish dream. Asking for orders to go out and fight only showed his attitude, and it wasn't about acting impulsively with hot-headed passion.

  Yuan Shao said: "The leader of this alliance is willing to lend two thousand infantrymen to Wen Tai, why don't you gentlemen lend troops to Wen Tai?"

  Many vassals immediately expressed their attitudes, some borrowed one thousand, some borrowed five hundred, and soon gathered an army of 15,000.

  Cao Cao calculated and said, "I'm afraid it's still not enough. Although the 15,000-strong army has a superior force, they are all infantrymen. The intention of the Xiliang rebels is very clear, that is to burn, kill, loot and plunder under your jurisdiction, forcing you to retreat and definitely not engaging in a decisive battle with our army. If there isn't a powerful cavalry, Wentai brother will have a hard time dealing with this Xiliang cavalry."

  Yuan Shao furrowed his brow and said: "What clever plan does Meng De have?"

  Cao Cao turned to Gongsun Zan, the governor of Ping Province in northern China, and said with a smile: "The cavalry under your command from Liaodong are feared by all in the north. They are even more powerful than the Western Liang cavalry. I wonder if you would be willing to serve the imperial court."

  Gongsun Zan's face suddenly scrunched up in a frown, but he said: "As an official of the Han, I should naturally do my best for the imperial court."

  Cao Cao sneered, "Since that's the case, why doesn't General Gongsun lend his 3,000 Youyan cavalry to Wentai? If he can wipe out the 8,000 Western Liang cavalry that have been causing trouble in Guandong, then when we attack Luoyang tomorrow, General Gongsun can take the lead in claiming merit."

  Yuan Shao expressed his agreement and said: "What Meng De said is extremely reasonable. I wonder what the honorable Gongsun thinks?"

  All the vassals also followed suit and looked towards Gongsun Zan.

  Gongsun Zan was extremely unwilling; the three thousand cavalry were his elite troops, how could he easily lend them to someone else.

  It's not good to refuse at this juncture, otherwise I will definitely be scolded for being disloyal to the imperial court.

  Gongsun Zan was also generous and bold, after a brief hesitation, he agreed and ordered his subordinates to go and hand over.

  Sun Jian left the central military tent and immediately went to each camp to receive soldiers and horses. At this time, another message came that 8,000 Western Liang cavalry had again invaded Yu Province, had already raided three county cities, and were burning, killing and looting.

  Kong Rong was worried and urged Sun Jian to quickly raise troops and go.

  The various lords also feared that the Western Liang rebels would advance into their own territories, and they dared not to drag their feet in supplying grain and mobilizing troops, giving great convenience. When the army was reorganized, Sun Jian immediately led his army eastward, rushing straight to Yuzhou.

  Yu State, Ru Yang

  Flames shot up into the sky, and the mournful wails and cries of "Kill!" continued unabated.

  This is the first city that the Western Liang army has forcibly broken through since they entered Guandong.

  The 8,000-strong Western Liang iron cavalry surrounded the city. Due to the previous breach of the city and the subsequent massacre, it triggered the determination of the Yu Province aristocracy to fight to the death. Therefore, no matter how the Western Liang army intimidated and threatened, the officials inside Ruyang City did not surrender.

  Hu Zhi had no choice but to order the army to hastily build simple cloud ladders to launch a strong attack on the city.

  Youyang was just a small city, with earthen walls that were not high, and the moat was only one zhang wide. Inside the city, there were only hundreds of new recruits who had never been to battle and private soldiers of the wealthy families. However, despite this, after the Western Liang army broke into the city, they also lost nearly two hundred men.

  Hu Zong burst into a great rage and ordered his troops to start killing, resulting in a bloodbath.

  By the time the 8,000 Western Liang cavalrymen left, Ruoyang had almost been reduced to rubble.

  "General, this can't go on like this. I think that from now on our army should try not to plunder innocent civilians as much as possible. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to take another step in the Guandong region. This time when we attacked the city, many civilians came to help with the defense. If things continue like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to capture another city."

  Hu Zhen disapprovingly said: "Those civilians were obviously forced to come and assist in the defense of the city, right?"

  Luo Zhen hastily said: "Although it is forced, if the people are not willing, they will definitely not work hard. If because our army's coercion is too severe and the people desperately resist, it will inevitably cause greater casualties for our army, please General think thrice."

  Hu Zhe hesitated and couldn't make a decision.

  "If our army treats the people well, there will be no obstacles ahead; on the other hand, if our army continues to plunder and loot the people, in the future wherever we go, the people will surely inform the government, which would be very unfavorable for us."

  Hu Zhuan nodded solemnly and said, "These words make sense."

  Luo Zheng took the opportunity to say: "Please, General, restrain your soldiers and stop slaughtering the civilians."

  Hu Zhi thought for a moment and finally issued a military order, commanding all soldiers that from now on they were not allowed to plunder the civilians again.

  Luo Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that this smooth talk hadn't been wasted after all.

  Eight thousand cavalrymen, without any baggage, marched lightly and swiftly, truly coming and going like the wind, their tracks difficult to discern.

  Having learned a lesson from the attack on Ruyang, Hu Zhi never again ordered his army to launch a strong attack on the city, but instead focused his main target on the fortresses and manors built by the powerful families of Yu Province, causing heavy losses for the local landlords.

  Three days later, the Western Liang army arrived twenty miles north of Qiao County.

  Hu Zhi originally wanted to launch a surprise attack on Qiao County, but Yu Zhou's deputy governor Xu Jing had made preparations and thwarted the Western Liang army's sudden raid.

  Qiao County is the seat of Yu Prefecture, not only are its walls high and its defenses solid, but it also has three thousand troops stationed there. It's not like Ruyang, a small county that can be taken by force at will; if we attack it head-on, we'll definitely suffer heavy casualties.

  Hu Zhong was helpless and could only turn to plundering the surrounding strongholds and manors of Xiao County.

  Yong River, Changsha.

  Sun Jian led three thousand Youyan cavalrymen rushing southward at full speed, raising a cloud of dust on the official road.

  Just then, a horseman galloped up from ahead, shouting and waving his whip.

  Sun Jian hastily reined in his warhorse and loudly asked: "Have you discovered any traces of the Western Liang rebels?"

  "Report to the general," said Xi Houbing loudly after taking two deep breaths, "the Western Liang rebel army is heading in the direction of Qiao County."

  Sun Jian's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he immediately ordered: "Pass the order to the rear army to march at night, and rest again when we reach Chen County."

  "Understood."

  There were already close guards loudly responding to orders, receiving the general's command and turning their horses' heads to rush back.

  Three thousand Xianbei cavalrymen advanced lightly and swiftly, their marching speed was naturally extremely fast, within one day they arrived at Changshe from the Tiger Pass.

  However, the 15,000 infantrymen of the rear army naturally didn't have the speed of the cavalry, and they also carried a large amount of grain and luggage, after all, Sun Jian couldn't fight like the Western Liang Army, and their marching speed was naturally slower than a tortoise.

  Three thousand Youyan cavalry have arrived at Changshe, but the rear infantry has not yet passed Guancheng.

  Sun Jian was as fierce as fire and couldn't wait for a moment. He prepared to rush day and night to Chen County, and then let the army rest.

  Zhe County, Western Liang Military Camp.

  This is a land of more than 30 acres, which was recently occupied by the Western Liang army as a temporary military camp.

  Luo Zhengjin walked around the vegetable garden and came out to bump into a young school teacher who rushed in hastily.

  "General, something bad has happened?"

  Xiao Xiao's face turned pale, his eyes filled with unconcealed anger, and he hastily said: "Just now, the brothers went out hunting, but unexpectedly suffered a great defeat in a manor, more than 20 brothers were killed by a thief. If I hadn't run fast, I'm afraid I wouldn't have come back either."

  Having said that, he wiped away a cold sweat from his forehead, with a lingering fear on his face.

  Luo Zheng furrowed his brow and asked: "How many people are in that manor?"

  Xiao Jiao's eyes darted around, hesitating before saying: "This... the brothers hadn't even entered the manor when they were chased out, so we didn't get to investigate how many people are inside. However, according to my estimate, there are at least no less than five hundred people."

  "By how many people were you defeated?" Luo Zheng asked.

  Xiao Xiao's eyes dodged even more, and she muttered: "One person, just one person."

  "What?"

  At that moment, Luo Zheng's eyes widened in anger and he cursed loudly: "A hundred of you were defeated by a single person, you are truly giving the Western Liang army a good reputation. Even if I were to compare you to pigs, I think they would be much stronger than all of you."

  The little general's face turned red, but he still distinguished: "The general doesn't know that the thief is really brave and can kill seven or eight people with one shot. He is absolutely not under General Feng Xian."

  "What?"

  This time it was Luo Zheng's turn to be surprised, and he asked incredulously: "Not under Lü Bu?"

  The little school hurriedly nodded, "Yes, General, that thief is invincible and absolutely not inferior to General Lü Bu. I dare not deceive the General."

  Luo Zheng saw Xiao Xiao's sincere oath and didn't seem to be shirking responsibility, his anger had dissipated a bit.

  There are indeed people even more fierce than Lü Bu, but most of them are exaggerated by small schools.

  Throughout the late Han dynasty, there were hardly a few who could rival Lü Bu's prowess. If someone claimed to be more powerful than him, that would be utter nonsense!

  However, no matter what, one person can defeat hundreds of Western cool cavalrymen, and it's absolutely a super fierce man.

  Such a fierce man, even if his martial arts are not as good as Lü Bu's, is absolutely on the same level as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Since they've met, there's no reason to let him go, and they must go see who this fierce warrior is.

  Luo Zheng's heart moved slightly, and he immediately called over Xiao Xiao, whispering instructions in his ear.

  The little schoolboy nodded repeatedly and took note of everything before running out.

  Luo Zhengmu saw Xiao Xiao leave, and a cold smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of his mouth.

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