Chapter 263: North-South Joint Attack, Front-Back Advance

The Qingzhou army came in overwhelming numbers, and with only 5,000 soldiers they quickly broke into the sturdy Yuan camp, pulled down the Yuan flag and raised the red Han flag. They were like an overwhelming force, destroying everything in their path, and were unstoppable.

It was like a sharp knife in the hands of a hunter, easily cutting open the soft belly of the prey, instantly destroying its intestines and lungs with great force, and blood gushed out.

It is like swallowing a red leopard with its fierceness and suppressing a wolf with its majestic power.

A layer of gloom cast over the hearts of Yuan soldiers from Du County who were watching from the sidelines. They saw the sound of drums and horns outside the city, soldiers with swords and spears, open flags fluttering in the wind, bows, swords, spears, and armor shining brightly, and the clanging sound of drums resounding through the sky.

The soldiers, with their heads held high and their chests puffed out, began to set up camp. The camp stretched for miles with no end in sight.

Thousands of auxiliary soldiers surrounded the east, south, west and north gates of Du County, and then dug a trench several feet wide to prevent anyone from escaping.

Even though the weather was slightly colder at the moment, when the Jizhou soldiers saw this scene, beads of sweat appeared on their hands that were holding their weapons tightly. They could not help but clench their spears tightly, just to comfort themselves that the Qingzhou army would definitely not be able to capture the thick city wall.

When I lived in the countryside before, I had only seen tens of thousands of people gathered together, but I had never seen so many people and horses. Looking around, people were surging like the tide, and they were all here to take their lives and to make a name for themselves by beheading them.

Even when they heard that they would be rewarded with silk, Yuan Bing could not be happy. They were not in the least bit motivated and their morale remained low.

However, the military officers such as the village chief, team leader, squad leader, and sergeant finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The military inspector finally agreed to distribute money to the soldiers, so they no longer had to worry about being forced by their subordinates to use their names to gain merit.

When Gao Gan saw that many soldiers on the city wall were disheartened and looked listless, he was startled and knew that if he continued to let things go like this, he might not be able to defend Du County. Given his relationship with Lord Yuan, he would surely die if he fell into Liu Xuande’s hands.

So he quickly walked down the tower and glanced at everyone. Gao Gan suddenly raised his head and laughed loudly to attract attention. Facing many puzzled faces, he smiled mysteriously and said, “When Yuan Gong appointed me as the commander, he had already guessed that Liu Xuande would lead a large army to besiege Du County, so he asked me to bring money, food, silk, gold and jade items to appease the morale of my comrades in the city.”

“At that time, Lord Yuan will personally lead an army of 200,000 and march in a mighty force to defeat Liu Bei and establish his capital in Hebei. Success or failure will depend on this one move.”

“Dui County is of great importance and has a bearing on the overall situation. If we can resist the Qingzhou army and wait for Lord Yuan to attack us, Hebei will surely win a great victory. You have made great contributions, so why should we not reward you? Otherwise, how can we convince the people?”

“Why worry that Yuan Gong has no land and houses to reward him? Moreover, a man of high ideals does not drink water from a stolen spring, and a real man does not accept food given out of pity. Why should Liu Xuande give him leftovers and accept begging for food?”

“Liu Bei led an army of 100,000 soldiers, but he failed to capture a city all day. It must be that his generals were old and his soldiers were lazy. We can attack him with our fresh troops and capture him in one battle. This is the key to military strategy, which is beyond your understanding, so I have never told you.”

Gao Gan nodded and talked nonstop. No matter what, he had to stabilize the morale first, and the rewards of land and houses could be discussed later. After conquering Qingzhou and Yanzhou, he was afraid that there would be no vacant land and houses.

As long as Jizhou wins, everything will be fine.

Seeing that the Jizhou soldiers were still a little hesitant, he only needed one final word to cheer their comrades up again.

Gao Gan smiled and said in high spirits, “Liu Xuande has become arrogant due to his repeated victories. His generals and soldiers have long looked down on us in Hebei. The key to this battle is to attack from both the north and the south, and to defeat Liu Bei in one battle. The safety of the country depends on this one move.”

“General, are you really not lying to me? Did Lord Yuan really lead an army of 200,000 to rush to Du County?”

A soldier asked in disbelief.

This is more than the Qingzhou army. Can Jizhou and Youzhou recruit so many soldiers to come to support?
He is not lying to them. Gao Gan heard this and immediately said solemnly: “Gan is the nephew of Yuan Gong, how could he not know this? The army is coming in an instant, it is absolutely true, and you can gain wealth and honor right now.”

When Yuan Bing heard the commander’s solemn words and thought of his different status, he felt relieved and shouted, “Long live Hebei! Jizhou will win!”

Many people followed suit and stood up, shouting loudly.

The shouts spread wider and wider, until they became distorted into: “Long live the Han Dynasty! The Han army will surely win!”

The shouts of nearly 10,000 people in the city echoed for miles outside the city. Even Liu Bei, who was inspecting the camping arrangements, turned back in shock and looked towards the top of the city wall of Dian County, wondering what Xu You and Gao Gan were up to.

Judging from the excited posture of Yuan’s army, it doesn’t look like they are going to surrender the city.

Liu Bei subconsciously looked at the red “Han” and “Liu” flags fluttering in the wind in his own military camp, and then looked at the scattered flags on the city walls in the distance. The words “Yuan” and “Gao” appeared more frequently.

Liu Bei couldn’t help laughing for a moment.

Dian Wei, who was standing next to him, suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted, “Gao Gan is such a bold villain. The two camps outside the city have already been defeated, yet he still dares to provoke our Han army like this.”

“Sir, how about letting me lead others to shout loudly as well, so as to overwhelm the Jizhou bandits’ momentum?”

Dian Wei grinned and pointed at the city wall of Du County.

Before Liu Bei could say anything, Guo Jia immediately bowed and said with a smile: “Sir, I think this strategy is feasible. War is about courage. The main thing in war is spirit. If the spirit is strong, you will win. If the spirit is weak, you will lose. Since the warriors under your command are generous and have the ambition to dominate the world, why don’t you use it?”

Dian Wei looked at Guo Jia with gratitude, and said in his heart: “I didn’t expect to know today that General Guo is not only capable of handling complicated military affairs, but also has a good sense of judging people and knows the generosity of knights and warriors.”

He was thinking that after he pacified Hebei, he would go find General Guo to drink with him when he had some free time. It would depend on whether the general was willing to do him the favor.

When Liu Bei heard Guo Jia’s suggestion, he clapped his hands and laughed, “To be honest with what Feng Xiao said, I have the same idea.”

“When I fight the enemy, I like to use selected brave generals and elite soldiers as the vanguard to attack the enemy. This is to boost our army’s fighting spirit, dampen the enemy’s prestige, and make them terrified.”

“Since Yuan’s army is shouting to boost their courage, I can do the same.”

“Dianjun, Zhongkang, you two should pick the sharp ones with loud voices and shout at them.”

Dian Wei scratched his head and reminded quietly: “Sir, there are only a few soldiers in the Ruichong Camp. How can their voices be heard louder than the Yuan army in the city? I’m afraid we need more manpower.”

Liu Bei smiled and shook his head, saying, “Don’t worry, Mr. Dian. Just shout first. After three shouts, our Han army will surely follow suit and shout in unison. This will be enough to wake up the deaf and frighten the Yuan army.”

After giving orders to Dian Wei and Xu Chu, Liu Bei looked at Guo Jia and said jokingly, “Feng Xiao, Jiang Yiqu alone is not enough to fill your stomach. Should it be Zhu Wenbo’s turn next?”

(End of this chapter)