Chapter 365: The Fall of Jiuyuan County
Chapter 365: The Fall of Jiuyuan County
September 25, 2017
The situation was most challenging for Ding Yuan in the confrontation between Lu HaiKong and him.
In the battle yesterday, Lu HaiKong had indeed exhausted two of his trump cards, but Ding Yuan had also played all his cards.
Initially, he thought that a mere mountain fort would be a significant investment of over a million gold, but after spending that amount, the walls were barely breached when Lu Bu and his forces charged in. By the time they emerged, Lu Bu was critically injured, and his son was also severely wounded.
Ding Yuan had exhausted all his options at this point, and his county troops had suffered over ten thousand casualties in the previous day's battle, including two thousand of Lu Bu's unfinished Flying Wolf Cavalry. Moreover, Lu Bu's severe injury dealt a heavy blow to the morale of Ding Yuan's forces. Ding Yuan was well aware that this battle was far more challenging than he had anticipated.
Gazing at the five-meter-high walls, Ding Yuan's face was filled with helplessness.
What Ding Yuan didn't know at that moment was that his mood would soon change from helplessness to something else.
Lu HaiKong had always been a docile individual, but that didn't mean he was easy to bully. If provoked, the unleashed Lu HaiKong possessed an energy that was beyond what ordinary people could withstand.
This was something Ding Yuan wasn't aware of, but he would soon find out.
...
Wuyuan Prefecture, Jiuyuan County.
As Ding Yuan's stronghold, even though Lu HaiKong's forces were attacking the mountain fort, Jiuyuan County still had three thousand troops remaining.
Of course, no one believed that anyone would be idle enough to attack Jiuyuan County at this time. Therefore, despite having three thousand troops, the defenses at Jiuyuan County were not particularly stringent.
Especially for the Phantom Guards, the defenses of Jiuyuan County were as flimsy as paper.
As night fell, the Phantom Guards easily tore through the county's defenses and opened its gates.
Almost simultaneously with the opening of the county's gates, a cavalry unit charged in directly. Although Ding Yuan's troops responded promptly, the outcome was sealed the moment the gates were breached.
The three thousand infantry had no chance against the ten thousand cavalry and were annihilated in an instant.
The cavalry unit charged towards the Prefect's Mansion, and the situation was identical to what happened in Dingxiang Prefecture. With Ding Yuan absent, all the defenses at the mansion were useless and were breached instantly.
In less than an hour, the entire county fell.
Unlike Lu HaiKong's capture of Dingxiang County, this cavalry unit was far from gentle. After taking Jiuyuan County, they immediately unleashed chaos within it.
This cavalry unit was clearly composed of Xiongnu warriors. Although it was rare for them not to kill or plunder, they took everything they could lay their hands on.
They seized money, supplies, and food. Among this cavalry unit, the Phantom Guards subtly guided them, leading them to capture all the skilled individuals within Jiuyuan County.
The cavalry unit continued their rampage until the latter half of the night, finally leaving with hundreds of carts filled with supplies and driving away a thousand captives.
Throughout the entire process, they faced virtually no resistance.
Ding Yuan had only been in Wuyuan Prefecture for five months, and to deal with Lu HaiKong, he had taken all his available forces with him. As a result, there was no military power in Wuyuan Prefecture to stop this cavalry unit.
In this situation, they could only watch as the Hun cavalry paraded away with hundreds of carts filled with supplies and over a thousand men, disappearing into the vast grasslands.
After the cavalry's departure, the Phantom Guards set a massive fire, burning down the places that had been ravaged by the Huns, leaving half of Jiuyuan County in ashes.
This incident occurred in the early hours of the night, and by the next morning, the news had reached Ding Yuan's hands.
Upon reading the message, Ding Yuan was stunned.
He couldn't quite grasp the current situation. What had happened? How could Jiuyuan County suddenly be invaded by the Huns?
"The damned Huns! Are there any Huns this bold these days?"
After a long while, Ding Yuan snapped out of his daze and kicked the table in front of him. His instincts told him that this incident was connected to Lu HaiKong.
But it wasn't just his instincts; even if the truth were laid out before him, what could he do? Lu Bu was severely injured and near death, and Ding Yuan had exhausted all his options. How could he deal with Lu HaiKong now?
Moreover, he feared that he couldn't continue this battle. As the Prefect of Wuyuan Prefecture, it was neither reasonable nor emotionally feasible for him to stay at this time, given the situation in Jiuyuan County.
However, after calming down and thinking it through, Ding Yuan realized that this incident wasn't necessarily a bad thing for him. Although Jiuyuan County had been conquered, he did have official duties to attend to, so he couldn't be blamed for this.
Furthermore, he could use this opportunity to extricate himself from the war vortex he was currently in.
Lu HaiKong's strength far exceeded his imagination, and staying at this point wouldn't allow him to achieve much. Instead, he might be dragged into the war vortex and pay an even heavier price.
With the incident in Jiuyuan County, he now had a legitimate reason to leave and could even blame the Zhang family for it.
Calculating this, it seemed that the incident wouldn't have a significant impact on Ding Yuan.
However, Jiuyuan County had been under Ding Yuan's governance for five months, and he had invested a lot of effort into it. Seeing it destroyed didn't sit well with him.
Additionally, he couldn't help but feel a sense of resentment towards Lu HaiKong for the loss he had suffered. But upon further reflection, Ding Yuan, as the leader of a prefecture, had the backing of He Jin and the formidable general Lu Bu.
Lu HaiKong was just a bandit, and his fort was already on the court's blacklist.
Once Ding Yuan withdrew, the Zhang family, no matter how stubborn, would have to face Lu HaiKong head-on.
In this situation, Lu HaiKong's fort was essentially at a dead end. When Lu Bu recovered, Ding Yuan would train his troops and horses, make thorough preparations, and then return to conquer the fort, avenging today's humiliation.
Therefore, on the day Ding Yuan received the news, he made simple preparations and immediately retreated with his legion.
A few days later, when the news of Jiuyuan County reached Chancellor Zhang's manor in Luoyang through special channels, a smile appeared on the old eunuch's face.
Originally, Ding Yuan and the Zhang family's mission to eliminate Lu HaiKong was none of Zhang Ran's business. But with the fall of Jiuyuan County, Zhang Ran now had a say in the matter...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
