Chapter 462: Chapter 233: Let’s Run Away_3
Translator: 549690339
Bring all the troops we recruited from the rear to Yuzhong Prefecture.”
Lu Yuan had recruited righteous armies from the rear and contacted people in various places to incite uprisings, all in order to obtain cannon fodder for himself.
Now, with the prospect of a great victory, these arrangements had finally paid off, and he naturally wanted to make use of them.
However, Zhou Qing was somewhat worried about this: “These local uprisers are largely from unsophisticated backgrounds, so they may not obey orders obediently and follow military orders.”
Lu Yuan said coldly, “If they don’t obey orders, then they are colluding with the enemy and rebelling. They are enemies who are causing chaos in the local areas. Of course, we must suppress them.”
Having said that, he looked at his disciple and said, “Xiaoqing, I’ll leave 10,000 troops to you. Stay here in Anyue Prefecture. Whoever doesn’t obey orders, lead your troops to suppress them.
The favorable situation I, Lu Yuan, have fought for is not for these people to take advantage of me and refuse to work. There is no such good thing in the world.”
For Lu Yuan, if a force cannot be used for his benefit, it’s better to destroy it.
In order to prevent others from following suit, one by one disobeying military orders and not following his command, Lu Yuan didn’t mind making an example by killing to deter those local righteous armies who had taken advantage of his tailwind and emerged.
Let them understand who the real shot-caller is.
As Zhou Qing was already in charge of this matter, he naturally had no objections to this order and accepted the task directly: “Yes, disciple obeys the order. I will make sure to supervise the righteous armies in various places and have them head to Yuzhong Prefecture.”
Lu Yuan nodded, “Master is reassured with you handling the matter.”
Thus, the matter of gathering cannon fodder was settled.
Afterwards, Lu Yuan left troops for Zhou Qing to station in Anyue Prefecture as deterrence to various places in Xichuan before continuing to lead the troops eastward.
On the 17th day of the second month in the eighth year of Hongdao, Lu Yuan’s army captured Panshi Prefecture.
On the 19th day, several local uprisers in Nanchong Prefecture jointly captured the counties within the prefecture, liberating Nanchong.
On the 21st day, Lu Yuan reached Yuzhong Prefecture City and then captured it after a battle. More than 1,000 of the 5,000 defenders in the city were killed in the battle, and the remaining troops surrendered.
On the 23rd day, the Zhou Shu United Army from Wushan Prefecture finally reacted and sent a fire-fighting army of 50,000 people to Yuzhong Prefecture in a hurry.
By this time, Lu Yuan was already garrisoning the city with more than 20,000 troops, and behind him, a steady stream of large armies were rushing over.
Outside Yuzhong Prefecture City, at the foot of the mountain, rows upon rows of tents were being newly built, and banners fluttering, and cooking smoke filled the entire mountain ridge.
Li Xiong came to a hillside and looked up at the majestic mountain city in the distance. He couldn’t help but sigh, “In the end, I came one step too late and let someone take control of Yuzhong Prefecture City.”
Yuzhong Prefecture is a mountain city. Although the road into the city has been leveled and is relatively wide, it’s still a mountain road and difficult to traverse.
Attacking from the foot of the mountain to the top, not only consumes a great deal of physical strength but also exposes oneself completely to the range of attacks from the defenders, making the siege much more difficult.
Moreover, Yuzhong Prefecture City is near the water, with the Yangtze River to the south. It’s easy to get water, so the city’s water supply cannot be cut off.
Especially at this time, the city is stocked with military food originally supplied for their 100,000-strong army, and food is not lacking.
Under these adverse conditions and with tens of thousands of defenders in the city, especially with an Innate among them, it is almost impossible to break through the city’s defenses.
After observing the city’s defenses for a while, Li Xiong couldn’t think of a strategy for attacking the city.
Frustrated, he turned his head and asked his subordinates, “Who is the Yue commander who suddenly rose up and attacked our rear? Did you find out?”
Someone answered, “According to the scouts’ information, the Yue army that came from the rear claims to be from Changsha Kingdom. They are Changsha people. Based on this, the one leading the troops should be King of Changsha, Lu Yuan.”
“Lu Yuan——”
Upon hearing the name, Li Xiong involuntarily lengthened his tone, and his expression suddenly darkened. His voice trembled involuntarily, “How could it be him?”
By this time, Lu Yuan’s reputation had become well-known throughout the Northern Expedition front line.
Among both camps, whether it was leading generals or rank-and-file soldiers, almost everyone had heard of the King of Changsha who had defeated a hundred thousand troops with his surprise attack and killed two Pillar State Grand Generals on the way.
To the Zhou army soldiers, Lu Yuan was an invincible military god and an extremely powerful commander.
But for Innate Grandmasters like Li Xiong, Lu Yuan was an undoubted harbinger of death.
How formidable must a killing god be to kill two Innates in just a month’s time?
Does such a person even exist?
Even if they do, how did they grow so powerful?
He heard that it had only been a little over a year since Lu Yuan broke through to Innate.
This was a doubt that many Innate Grandmasters couldn’t help but think of, and then they were unable to figure it out.
But no matter how they couldn’t comprehend it, when Li Xiong heard that Lu Yuan was on the other side, his heart immediately began to feel uneasy.
“Facing this killing god, it’s hard this time.” Li Xiong felt bitter in his heart.
If he had been holding out some hope of capturing the city and retaking the rear earlier, it disappeared the moment he learned that Lu Yuan was the one defending the city.
Not only did the thought vanish, but Li Xiong even felt some fear.
Gui Lianyun and Zhang Chanyi were both people he had seen, and either of them was much stronger than him.
Yet such formidable people had died at Lu Yuan’s hands.
As a newly promoted Innate who was much weaker than the previous two, he was naturally afraid when facing such a killing god.
Now, Li Xiong was somewhat apprehensive.
Even because of this fear, he wavered a bit.
‘Maybe I should just abandon the army and run away.’
He looked at the surrounding mountains and suddenly felt that the once beautiful mountains and rivers he was proud of were no longer as pleasing as before.
At this moment, the layers of mountains seemed like a cage, tightly binding him within.
Outside the cage, danger was closing in step by step.
This place had become a dead end.