Chapter 430: The War's Imminent Conclusion
Chapter 430: The War's Imminent Conclusion
September 25, 2017
Lu Hai Kong wasn't just sitting idle; he was simultaneously recuperating his forces in Jiuyuan County and sending out the Black Wind Legion to scout the situation.
While Lu Hai Kong was making his preparations, on the other side, Wu Yan Yong was putting on a show that others might find exciting, but for him, it was an utterly frustrating spectacle.
His mood was similar to Lu Hai Kong's initial state, or rather, he felt even more stifled than Lu Hai Kong. The duck, which was almost cooked, had escaped.
Just as Jiuyuan County was about to be conquered, Ding Yuan slipped away. He fled, and that was that. Wu Yan Yong thought that if he could kill Lu Bu, Ding Yuan would be like a toothless tiger. He wouldn't have to worry too much about Lu Bu's revenge, and there was also Jiuyuan County on the other side. In the past period, Jiuyuan County had become prosperous, and he had heard about the wealth within. Killing Lu Bu, capturing Jiuyuan County, and then taking the opportunity to plunder southward was an acceptable plan.
But while Wu Yan Yong could accept this, the two Xianbei tribal leaders couldn't.
If Ding Yuan wasn't dead, how would they decide who would become the leader? Because of this issue, these two guys were itching to take their armies and go after Ding Yuan immediately, and no amount of persuasion from Wu Yan Yong could stop them.
Wu Yan Yong was also a ruthless man, and no amount of persuasion could change his mind. In the end, one of the Xianbei tribal leaders joined forces with him and killed the other, putting an end to their dispute with this extreme method.
Only then did the army stabilize again. Undoubtedly, this approach would result in the loss of some men. When the loyal subordinates of the unlucky leader who was killed learned of this situation, they directly took away tens of thousands of men, reducing the number of the Wu Xian Alliance Army to less than 150,000.
Whether it was 150,000 or not, there were still 100,000 troops in Jiuyuan County. The grand plan could still be carried out, but by the time they dealt with the dispute between the Xianbei tribes and prepared to eliminate Lu Bu, Lu Bu had already broken through the encirclement and escaped, and there was no trace of him.
This was such a frustrating situation that Wu Yan Yong was about to explode with anger. He dispatched a large number of troops to search for Lu Bu's whereabouts.
However, before he could find Lu Bu, news of the defeat in Jiuyuan County reached him. When Wu Yan Yong learned that Lu Hai Kong had defeated the 100,000-strong army in Jiuyuan County, he spat out a mouthful of old blood.
He couldn't quite understand why the situation had suddenly turned so drastically in the blink of an eye. In less than half a month, the 400,000-strong army that had set out had been reduced to less than 170,000, with more than half of their forces lost. How could they continue the battle?
Moreover, due to Wu Yan Yong's intervention in the Xianbei tribe, one of their leaders was killed. At this point, the alliance between the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes was already on the verge of collapse.
After enduring these consecutive blows, Wu Yan Yong sat alone for several hours before making a difficult decision. He decided to retreat.
There was no way to continue the battle. To persist would be to court death, and with both Ding Yuan and Lu Bu having escaped, there was no point in fighting on.
However, it was no longer realistic for Wu Yan Yong to propose a retreat at this point. After half a month, they had already started fighting, and with tens of thousands of their comrades dead, how could they just leave now? Who could accept that?
At this moment, the men below started to stir, and Wu Yan Yong, who had already lost some of his authority, had no way to stop them.
In this situation, the emotions of the men below were rising, and if he couldn't soothe them, the outcome would be dire. Under these circumstances, Wu Yan Yong was almost forced to attack Xianyang.
He really didn't want to fight in Jiuyuan anymore. That bone was too hard to chew. After more than half a month, they still hadn't conquered it, and Lu Hai Kong had already lifted the siege of Jiuyuan. At this point, Jiuyuan should have been well-prepared, and it would likely be difficult to capture it in a short time even if he attacked.
With their camp in Jiuyuan taken and their last bit of provisions gone, these tens of thousands of troops would collapse if they couldn't capture Jiuyuan County within a day.
In this situation, Wu Yan Yong had no choice but to lead his men to attack Xianyang.
This move was something he had learned from Ding Yuan. Now, Lu Hai Kong would certainly think he was going to attack Jiuyuan, but he deliberately chose not to and instead headed for Xianyang.
Since Lu Hai Kong had already made his move, the defenses in Xianyang would undoubtedly be weak. With their hearts not fully in it, it would be easy to capture Xianyang.
With this in mind, Wu Yan Yong used the last bit of his authority to persuade and cajole, and finally led the remaining 160,000-strong army toward Xianyang without a second thought.
As this large army headed for Xianyang, news quickly reached Lu Hai Kong from the Black Wind Legion.
"You're saying the Wu Xian rebels aren't coming to Jiuyuan but are going to attack Xianyang instead?"
When Lu Hai Kong heard this news, he was genuinely taken aback, feeling it was quite unbelievable.
In the 1619 version!
"Oh my, should I praise the commander of this rebel army for being smart, or should I call him an idiot?"
Lu Hai Kong thought for a moment and quickly understood the other party's reasoning.
Their idea was relatively correct, considering the intelligence they had and the fact that attacking Jiuyuan was relatively easier.
However, they couldn't possibly know that in Xianyang, Lu Hai Kong had stationed several tens of thousands of troops, including the strongest commander under Lu Hai Kong's command. With him there, not to mention tens of thousands of nomads without any siege equipment, even a well-prepared army of tens of thousands would find it difficult to capture Xianyang in a short time. That place was even more challenging to conquer than Jiuyuan County.
"Damn, you had me worried for nothing. If you wanted to attack Xianyang, you should have said so earlier. It seems this rebellion will be over soon, and it's much easier than I expected. I even specially arranged for Wang Ti and Zhao Er to lead the seven tribes to ambush in the grasslands. It seems they won't have much chance to participate in the battle."
In reality, Lu Hai Kong's true trump card for this three-month-long war wasn't the remaining less than 10,000-strong elite bandit raiders he had now, but the seven tribes of Xiongnu led by Wang Ti.
They had 4,000 elite-level bandit raiders and nearly 50,000 Xiongnu from the seven tribes. Lu Hai Kong planned to use them to deliver the decisive blow.
Zhao Er had even begged to go there, hoping to establish a great achievement and earn a name from Lu Hai Kong. But now, it seems he'll have to bear that name for a while..."
Chapter end
Report
