Chapter 194: Chapter 139: Invincible
Translator: 549690339
When Lu Yuan led the troops to the outskirts of Changning City, a fierce battle was underway.
In the open fields outside the city, the vanguard of three thousand soldiers from the large army had already formed a battle formation, and they were fiercely fighting with the five thousand enemy soldiers sent to intercept them.
The county town of Changning had been surrounded by the enemy forces. If their reinforcements wanted to enter the city or even reach the city wall, they had to pass through the enemy’s encirclement.
However, seeing that they had surrounded the city and were about to capture it, how could the rebel army of the Seven Star Sect allow reinforcements to enter the city?
Therefore, as soon as they noticed the approach of the government troops, the Seven Star Sect sent a large army of five thousand men to stop them.
So, one side wanted to enter the city, and the other wanted to block them. Naturally, there was nothing to discuss, and the two sides started fighting immediately.
But how about the outcome of this battle?
Inside the Seven Star Sect’s rebel army camp, on a tall watchtower, Sect Leader Qiao Xiuyuan looked at the distant battlefield and saw his own troops retreating. His face instantly became gloomy.
“Where did these troops come from? Whose military officer is this? So brave and skillful?”
Qiao Xiuyuan pointed at the distant troops and at a blue-robed officer riding back and forth among the army, asking somewhat angrily.
Several people stood beside him, dressed differently. There were both martial artists from Jianghu dressed in warrior clothes and generals in armor, as well as scholars in elegant robes.
Upon hearing the Sect Leader’s question, they couldn’t help but exchange glances.
After some hesitation, a middle-aged scholar with a mustache finally spoke: “General, I observe that these government soldiers move with discipline and are well-versed in formations and efficient with their weapons, clearly a highly trained elite force.
In the Dongting region today, there are only three places where such troops can be found.
First, the Army of Pacifying Shu sent by the court. But most of those elite forces from the Northern Border have already entered Shu to reinforce the Wuan Marquis. Only fifty thousand remain in the Dongting region.
However, in Zhou Country’s Xiangyang Prefecture, which borders the north of the Dongting region, Zhou People have stationed a hundred and fifty thousand troops, pressing on Dongting.
Thus, the fifty thousand elite troops from the Northern Border are stuck in Tianmen Prefecture, guarding against the Zhou soldiers in Xiangyang Prefecture, and dare not move at all.
Therefore, those elite forces from the Northern Border cannot be touched.
The second place where such elite forces can be found is the county soldiers in Baling City of Yueyang Prefecture.
There are five thousand county soldiers in the prefecture city, all of them veterans who have been through many battles. However, these elite troops are responsible for suppressing the local populace of Yueyang Prefecture and guarding the safety of the prefecture city, so they cannot be mobilized either. So in the end, the most likely possibility is just one place.”
The scholar analyzed and then said with a slightly uncomfortable expression: “Last year in March, more than thirty thousand invaders attacked Shaoyang Prefecture. They were defeated by the prefecture’s commander, Lu Yuan, who led his troops to victory. Over ten thousand Miao People were beheaded, and countless others were captured.
The court subsequently appointed Lu Yuan as the valiant general, commanding him to take charge of all the local county troops in the prefecture and be responsible for suppressing the rebellion.
Although this Lu Fenwu was slack in suppressing the rebellion after taking office, he was never proactive in dealing with the continuous local uprisings.
However, his slackness in suppressing the rebellion was not reflected in his eagerness to recruit and train troops.
I heard that during the past year, Lu Yuan has been staying and eating in the barracks every day in Shaoyang Prefecture, and has trained a powerful army of fifteen thousand elite soldiers.
This army has always been idle and has the duty to suppress the rebellion. Now that our army is attacking Hengyang Prefecture, the major grain-producing area in the region, the prefecture administration would definitely not stand idly by and would have to send troops to rescue.
The troops that have arrived this time are most likely General Lu Fenwu’s army. ”
His analysis was well-reasoned, and everyone present listened quietly, their faces becoming solemn.
Lu Yuan’s reputation was already well-known throughout the Dongting region.
After all, during the Miao rebellion, when several prefectures had fallen and the court’s defeats were piling up, his forces had risen against the tide, achieving two victories in a row, and directly crushing the momentum of the thirty thousand Miao rebel army. Naturally, he was highly visible.
If we factor in Lu Yuan’s deeds in Wugang County, then this General Lu Fenwu has three consecutive victories and a brilliant record of accomplishment, all without defeat.
Facing such an undefeated general leading his troops, who among their opponents would not feel apprehensive?
Moreover, looking at the current battlefield situation, this Lu Fenwu indeed had great capabilities, and the troops he trained were elite and skilled in warfare.
It was a matter of three thousand against five thousand, and the enemy was a tired army from afar. However, they fought against their own five thousand seasoned troops easily, like a hot knife cutting through butter.
It had been only half an hour since the battle began, and the soldiers sent to intercept the enemy showed signs of collapse.
The gap between the two sides’ troops in terms of quality was blatantly clear.
These were just three thousand men.
If all fifteen thousand soldiers under Lu Fenwu were so elite, then there would be no point in them fighting with their twenty thousand troops, right?
“I heard that during the suppression of the Miao rebellion, General Lu Fenwu personally took action, killing two second-rate masters from the Five Poisons Sect in the Miao Rebel Army on the battlefield. Has his strength already reached the first-rate level?”
Next to him, a general in red armor spoke, his gaze turning towards Qiao Xiuyuan.
In a world with extraordinary martial arts, powerful martial artists can affect the outcome of battles.
After all, a second-rate master can take on a hundred enemies, a first-rate master can withstand a thousand, and an Inborn master can suppress tens of thousands.
If Lu Yuan was a first-rate master, in addition to the elite soldiers under his command, they simply wouldn’t be able to stop him..