Chapter 263: Not Taking Advantage Is Losing

To withdraw or not to withdraw is the question.

After picking up the corpse, Yang Chang was in a troubled mood, so he stayed overnight in Guozhuang to rest and interrogated the prisoners he had just captured.

The Jin prisoners could hardly speak Chinese, and interrogating them was like "a dog biting a hedgehog, not knowing where to start."

Although Yang Chang had been listening in, he was distracted because of something on his mind until his personal soldier Cheng Wang woke him up.

"Captain, they don't understand, and we can't get any information from them. Instead of wasting food on them, why not behead them and sacrifice them?"

"Ok?"

After hearing this, Yang Chang was stunned at first, and then he looked accurately at the back row of the crowd and found that there was a guy who looked panicked and uneasy. It was because of his super perception that he noticed that this person's emotions were fluctuating.

There's something wrong with this guy.
"These people are strong and healthy. It would be a shame to kill them all. It would be better to send them to the mines to work until they die!"

"Be careful!"

When King Cheng responded cheerfully, Yang Chang pointed at the man and shouted, "You! Get out of line!"

"Ah I"

The captive with fluctuating emotions was one of the guides leading the Jin soldiers, that is, a Song soldier who surrendered from Gaoping, Zezhou. He had been hiding until now but could not hide. He was first caught by Yang Chang with a few words, and then left behind to be interrogated alone by Yang Chang.

Faced with Commander Yang's powerful aura, the puppet army prisoners quickly chose to surrender, answering questions like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube, and emphasizing that they had no choice but to surrender to the enemy.

The puppet army was not in a high position and had limited intelligence, but they knew the strength of the Jin army in Gaoping, namely, there were 20,000 Jin troops and more than 10,000 puppet troops. As for the main force of the Jin army that Yang Chang was worried about, it was indeed heard that it was returning from Bianliang and might be several days' walk from Zezhou.

Yang Chang's hope was shattered by the prisoners' confession.

It was really difficult for him to fight on an away field with inferior military strength, so he had no choice but to retreat to Luzhou as soon as possible to deploy defenses.

Although there are many points to defend, the defending side always has an advantage, at least the military supply line is shortened.

Shi Qian had just sneaked into Gaoping. Even if he could sneak into Gaoping City quietly with his super abilities, it would be a difficult task to take away all the hundreds of Night Owl Soldiers.

The most important thing is that this guy is unwilling to suffer any loss.

It was not in Yang Chang's usual style to mobilize a large army to enter Zezhou, but in the end, they left without gaining any advantage. Even if Lu Junyi took Lingchuan, he would not be able to defend it if he was isolated from the outside.

I have trouble sleeping on my head.

The next morning, Yang Chang arranged the reconnaissance mission.

Although a good countermeasure had not yet been thought of, the Jin army in Zezhou was concentrated in Gaoping, and the vigilance in the south should be slightly weaker, so a team of cavalry was arranged to split up and monitor the subsequent main force movements of Nianhan.

There are two passages to enter Zezhou from south to north: Taihangxing and Baixing.

Taihang Xing starts from Huaizhou in the south, goes up the Shuodan River to Jincheng, and then goes north to Gaoping. This road can be traveled by land and water by boat. It is the main passage to the Three Jins and the Central Plains. Baixing starts from Weizhou in the south and connects to Lingchuan in the north.

Huaizhou (now Jiaozuo) is west of Weizhou (now Xinxiang), a little far from Tokyo Bianliang, but Taihang Xing is easier to travel than Baixing, and the road from entering Zezhou to the north is flat, while there are many mountains when entering Zezhou from Baixing.

Lu Junyi had already captured Lingchuan. Yang Chang had a preconceived notion that Nianhan would take the Taihang Pass, so he ordered scouts to focus on investigating the enemy situation in Jincheng.

Cheng Wang, the personal soldier, came back with a message to report that the front troops of Wen Huanzhang and Lu Zhishen had just arrived at Yangcun for rest and recuperation, and Lin Chong's rear troops were expected to arrive tomorrow.

Yang Changzheng was undecided. When he heard that his think tank Wen Huanzhang had arrived, he ordered the rest of his troops to escort the prisoners slowly and rode alone to Yangcun to seek advice.

Guozhuang was only thirty miles away from Yangcun, and he arrived quickly on the back of the Jade Lion Zhaoye.

After listening to Yang Chang's introduction, Wen Huanzhang frowned and stroked his beard without saying anything for a long time.

Upon hearing this military intelligence, a normal person would directly retreat to his own territory to deploy defenses, but Yang Chang looked hesitant, which meant that he had other ideas.

"What is the commander's plan? Do you just want to let the Night Owl Army escape, or do you want to defeat the enemy with fewer troops?"

"To defeat the enemy with fewer troops?" Yang Chang shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It is important for a man to know himself. Although I have won many battles, the individual combat effectiveness of the Jin army is very strong. Nianhan and Gushe are not fools either. If I can't take advantage of the terrain, how can I defeat the enemy with fewer troops?"

"The soldiers all praised the general for being invincible, and they thought you were confident of victory."

"Invincible?"

Seeing Huanzhang still joking, Yang Chang responded seriously: "If it's a small-scale battle, I definitely deserve this word, but if it's a large-scale battle involving hundreds of thousands of people, the role of personal bravery will be greatly weakened. It will be enough if the Night Owl Army can withdraw completely. Of course, if you can kill rabbits by robbing grass and get some benefits by the way, that would be the most perfect ending and it would be worth your trip."

"Haha, the commander is still like this. He feels he has lost out when he doesn't make any money. Let me think about it again." Wen Huanzhang paced on the spot, twirling his beard. After walking a few circles, he suddenly stopped and said seriously, "Perhaps we can try to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"Luring the tiger away from the mountain? Why?"

"You can ask the surrendered generals from Lingchuan to go to Gaoping to ask for help, saying that Lingchuan is in imminent danger."

"Wait a minute."

Yang Chang interrupted Wen Huanzhang and reminded him, "It is feasible to detain the family members of the surrendered generals from Lingchuan and send them to Gaoping to lure the enemy, but I killed hundreds of Jin soldiers yesterday, which may have alerted the enemy. Jin General Gushe is an experienced person and may not necessarily send troops."

"Although the general captured the enemy yesterday, there were only a few hundred people fighting. The Jin army may not be scared off. You can write a letter of challenge and release the prisoners to confuse the enemy. The Jin general Gushe does not know that Lingchuan has been lost. What if he will send troops to rescue Lingchuan?"

"Does this work?"

Seeing that Yang Chang did not believe him, Wen Huanzhang added: "Nianhan's main force will arrive soon. If they can stop us in Zezhou, it should be better than fighting in Luzhou. Although Gushe has always been very good at using troops, he may be tempted by such a great temptation."

"That makes sense, please continue."

"If Gushe sends troops to rescue Lingchuan, we can ambush them halfway, then march west to Gaoping and find a way to cooperate with Shi Qian from inside and outside to burn the Jin army's food and grass, so as to delay the Jin army's advance northward."

"Burn the food? This is a good idea."

Yang Chang applauded when he heard this, thinking to himself that the turning point of the Battle of Guandu during the Three Kingdoms period was the burning of grain at Wuchao.

Wen Huanzhang added: "If Gushe remains unmoved, the Taiwei will take the initiative to attack. Our core goal is to burn food, but the main force of the Jin army remains in Gaoping, so it may not be easy to contact Shi Qian, and we are afraid that we will suffer casualties."

"Don't worry, sir, I know what's going on."

The plan to burn the grain suddenly enlightened Yang Chang. He thought that with his own skills, wouldn't it be easy to contact Shi Qian and capture him? Then he followed Wen Huanzhang's plan and vowed to withdraw his troops only when he had the upper hand.

July 22, Jin army camp in Gaoping.

Gao Shiyou, a surrendered general from Zezhou, rushed into the main tent of the Bone House, looking anxious: "General, Yang Chang is attacking Lingchuan very urgently and has just sent people to ask for help. Please see."

"How many people are there?" Gushe asked calmly.

"It should be about 10,000 or 20,000."

As soon as Gao Shiyou finished speaking, Gushe frowned and said to himself: "Yang Chang personally led the team to kill my scouts, but sent 10,000 or 20,000 people to take Lingchuan. Could it be that this guy wants to use siege to attack the reinforcements and ambush me halfway?"

"Is this Yang Chang's plan?"

"I'm not sure, but it's very likely." Gushe shook his head slightly.

Gao Shiyou said disdainfully: "Marshal Nianhan will be here soon. He should have received the intelligence. Instead of retreating from Zezhou in disgrace, he actually dared to plot? Who gave him the courage?"

"This man is both intelligent and courageous, and cannot be judged by common sense."

"If that's the case, then we should just sit back and do nothing?" "No!"

Gu She suddenly looked serious and said solemnly: "Yang Chang wants to use me as a fish, so I will take the initiative to bite the hook and see how he responds."

"Ah?" Gao Shiyou was completely puzzled and murmured, "Yang Chang is brave and resourceful. If the general has seen through it, why?"

"General Gao, please take a look."

Gushe pointed to the map beside him and explained earnestly, "There are high mountains on the east and west of Lingchuan. Yang Chang's troops must go from the north, and Gaoping's reinforcements are the closest, so they should go to the south. If I do the opposite, I can send a group of troops to pretend to go to the south, and then the main force will bypass Mishan and head northeast, cutting off Yang Chang's way back to Luzhou!"

"hiss"

Gao Shiyou sucked in a breath of cold air, clasped his fists and complimented, "General, this is indeed a brilliant plan. As long as we hold Lijialing, we don't need to fight to the death with Yang Chang. The troops surrounding Lingchuan will be cut off from returning. Even if they seize Lingchuan City, they can't stop Marshal Nianhan's rear army. It's brilliant."

"Yang Chang." Gu Shexu said to himself with his eyes wide open: "I want you to know that in terms of absolute comprehensive strength, a person's bravery is not enough!"

"When will you send troops to block the road? Do you want me to go with you?"

"I will make some preparations, and then the reinforcements will set out immediately, while the main force will leave at dusk. This way, we can conceal our whereabouts. As for your Zezhou garrison, you must stay in Gaoping to monitor the food and grass, so you don't have to follow us on horseback."

"okay."

Gao Shiyou was just being polite, and was not surprised by Gushe's reply, but the other party was still worried, and added: "Gaoping is an important place for food and grass for the army. Meng Ankun will stay to help. This place must not be lost."

"Uh yes."

Gushe's words sounded high-sounding, but in fact he was just worried about Gao Shiyou. However, he didn't dare to say a word against him. After all, Nianhan would be here soon, and he had to endure any grievance he suffered.

At dusk that day, Gushe led his troops to leave the Mishan camp, leaving Kunguo with a thousand elite soldiers to guard the food.

Although Gao Shiyou commanded 10,000 Han soldiers, he was only responsible for the defense and public security of Gaoping City. If there were any major events, Kun Guo had to make the decisions. It must be said that he felt very frustrated.

He got drunk with several generals at night. He was helped back to his room to rest in a daze. Soon he fell into a deep sleep with a loud snoring.

I don’t know how long it was before this guy suddenly felt the urge to pee in his dream. He wanted to find a secluded place to relieve himself, but there were people watching him everywhere. Just when he couldn’t hold it anymore, he opened his eyes with a start.

"This is... How can I..."

Gao Shiyou's eyes were completely dark, and his body seemed to be trapped on the couch, unable to move an inch. He thought he was dreaming, so he shouted, "Hey, where is this?"

"Where? It seems that this guy is still drunk. Lao Wu, give him a bowl of water!"

"Water? I can't drink it."

Gao Shiyou heard someone talking in the darkness, and before he could finish his words, he was poured with cold water in the face.

The feeling was so real and terrifying that it instantly made him realize that this was not a dream. He seemed to have really been kidnapped. Where had my guards gone?

"An honest man does not do shady things. Who dares to tease me? You are courting death!"

"Hold the lamp!"

The familiar voice sounded again, and soon a fire was lit in the room.

Gao Shiyou saw that he was indeed tied to the couch. There were two people standing on the left and right of the bed, and the voices came from the window diagonally in front of him.

Under the window, next to the small table.

Shi Qian was sitting by the table, drinking from a glass of wine. Under his black hat was a face with clear outlines.

Gao Shiyou saw his thick eyebrows and sharp eyes, and thought that this man was no ordinary person, so he put away his excitement and asked softly: "Why do you come here in the middle of the night? Are you trying to steal money? Are you trying to kill me?"

"For money? Do you have it? For murder? Can you survive till now?"

"That one."

"I want Gaoping!"

Shi Qian put down his wine glass, turned sideways to face the bed, turned his face away from the firelight, the outline of his facial features disappeared, only his eyes were shining, giving people a mysterious feeling.

Want Gaoping?
Gao Shiyou was stunned for a moment, thinking, "How dare you three thieves ask for the city? Is there something wrong with my ears?"

No, this guy is
Gao Shiyou swallowed his saliva and asked with a trembling voice: "Who are you?"

"Shi Qian is under the command of General Yang."

"turn out to be."

"You helped the tyrant to commit atrocities, I should have killed you with a single blow, but I thought that you are also a Han Chinese, if you turn from evil to good now, maybe you can be saved."

Shi Qian was originally a thief, but now he has been promoted to military commander. How can he not repay his loyalty with his death? He is not good at talking, but spying, assassination, and arson are not as good as directly conquering the city, so he is forced to do it.

As expected, Gao Shiyou was not easily persuaded. He fell on the couch and sighed, "I don't want to surrender to the Jin either. I also want to go to Yang Taiwei, but the Jin army came too fast, and you, the commander, arrived too late."

"What do you mean?"

"Gushe has seen through Taiwei Yang's plan and is leading 20,000 Jin troops to block the return route. Your troops in Lingchuan can't return."

"Twenty thousand Jin troops? You dare to cut off the retreat? And you even saw through the Taiwei's plan? I'm sure Gushe will be defeated!"

Hearing Shi Qian's contemptuous answer, Gao Shiyou quickly reminded him: "Even if General Yang defeats Gushe, Nianhan's follow-up army of 100,000 will enter Zezhou soon. Even if you take Gaoping City now, won't you still have to give it up? Even if General Yang is powerful, how many soldiers does he have?"

"How many soldiers does he have? You don't know how high the prestige of the general is. There are millions of people in Weisheng, Pingbei, Liaozhou, and Luzhou. As long as the general raises his arm, everyone will fight for him. What are a mere 100,000 Jin soldiers? If everyone pees on them, they will drown."

"pee."

Gao Shiyou couldn't help but feel a warm current between his buttocks when he heard this.

While Shi Qian was doing great things in Gaoping, Yang Chang, whom he praised highly, was also not idle. When he discovered that the main force of the Jin army had left Mishan, he tracked them at an extreme distance throughout the entire process and inferred the direction of Gushe's march.

On July 24th, the scorching sun shone on the earth, and waves of flames appeared before our eyes.

Gushe led his troops on a journey for another morning and arrived at the foot of Jinquan Mountain northwest of Yangcun to rest their horses, preparing to continue their journey after the sun sets.

The Jin army soldiers were so hot that they were soaked all over. They took off their armor to cool off. Many of them took a rest under the shade of trees. The cavalry responsible for guarding the periphery also relaxed due to the suppression of the heat.

With a whoosh, an arrow comes.

A cavalryman fell off his horse in response to the sound of the bowstring, but did not attract any attention.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, arrows shot out continuously.

The scouts on guard outside were shot and killed one after another by Yang Chang from a long distance, so when the Weisheng Army arrived in front of them, many Jin soldiers were just awakened and did not even have time to put on their pants.

Prepare for fatigue with ease, and defeat exhaustion with energy.

The long-awaited ambush began with a cannon shot.

(End of this chapter)