Chapter 264: Attacking the enemy must save you
The front hall of the county government office in Ganlingling County was silent.

Zhu Ling personally checked the seal first, and after confirming that it was a letter from a senior official asking for help, he opened the document and took a closer look, his brows furrowed as he read.

Then he asked in a deep voice: “How many Qingzhou troops have arrived?”

The messenger who came to deliver the letter held his breath back into his chest, trying to keep his voice from trembling, and said steadily: “I’m afraid, I’m afraid there are no less than 50,000 troops. I hope the general will rescue Dian County as soon as possible.”

The messenger never expected that Zhu Ling would sneer when he heard it.

He directly refuted: “Lord Yuan is coming with his army. Doesn’t Liu Xuande need to defend Pingyuan County? How can he transfer so many troops to Ganling County? If the Jizhou army attacks from the north, how can the enemy stop it?”

“Jizhou currently has Wuhuan cavalry to help it, as well as elite cavalry led by Chunyu Qiong, and armored cavalry. Liu Xuande is an expert in military operations, how dare he be so arrogant?”

“Moreover, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Dong Zhao and other generals in Bohai County will certainly not remain unmoved when they see Liu Xuande withdraw his troops.”

“In my opinion, the Qingzhou troops in Du County are just decoys. There is no need to worry about them. When Lord Yuan leads his troops to Pingyuan County, the decoys will surely retreat.”

“Come here, take the messenger to the inn and entertain him for a few days, then let him go back.”

Zhu Ling waved his hand and asked the soldiers guarding nearby to carry the high-ranking messenger down to rest first.

“General, what I said is true. There are indeed tens of thousands of Qingzhou troops coming to attack us. If I hadn’t been lucky, I would have been killed by Qingzhou scouts on the way.”

“Military affairs are urgent and cannot be delayed…”

The messenger who came from Du County was carried out by several soldiers. The messenger sent by Gao Gan tried his best. Even though his limbs were lifted up, he could still raise his head and spoke excitedly.

The sound became smaller and smaller until it could no longer be heard.

In front of the hall, there was a military officer with a short beard wearing a military cap. He couldn’t help but look worried and said, “General, you treated General Gao’s messenger like this today. Aren’t you afraid that he will remember it and blame you in the future?”

“General Gao is the commander of Ganling and the nephew of Lord Yuan. He must not be looked down upon.”

Zhu Ling closed the wooden slips from Gao Gan’s request for help and threw them heavily on the table, sneering, “A general is not bound by his sovereign’s orders when he is away from home. Moreover, this man has a vicious mind and intends to harm me. I must not obey him.”

“Besides, the walls of Du County are thick and high. Even if Liu Xuande personally leads his army to attack, he should not be able to break through in a short period of time.”

“And Gao Yuancai has the military supervisor Xu Ziyuan as his assistant, who gives him advice and helps him fill in the gaps. He also has Jiang Yiqu as his deputy general, and he has 20,000 soldiers under his command. Even if he is defeated, he can still turn around and fight with Liu Xuande for more than a month. How could he lose so easily?”

Even if there was a Tunshuan as the commander, he could defend the county with the help of his military officers. Even though Gao Yuancai was far inferior to Qu Yi, it was just a defense, and 20,000 people were enough to repel the enemy.

Not to mention that there are 50,000 people coming to Qingzhou, there is no need to be afraid even if there are 100,000 people.

The strategy in military books is to surround the enemy ten times and attack five times, and then you can fight the enemy.

Zhu Ling simply didn’t believe that Gao Gan, Xu You, Jiang Qi and the others would be defeated so easily. They were not actively attacking, and they still had strong camps and city walls to defend themselves.

Why should we rush to ask for help? Wouldn’t that put the reinforcements at a disadvantage?
Why did Sun Bin, a famous general of Qi State, become famous? Even the common people don’t know, so how could the high officials not know? !
Isn’t it just using the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao, attacking the enemy where they must rescue, waiting for Pang Juan to withdraw his troops to Daliang, leading his troops to attack from halfway, defeating the Wei army twice, and finally capturing and killing General Pang Juan in one battle. Even the famous generals of the Warring States Period ended up like this because of the rescue, how could Zhu Wenbo dare to send troops easily.

Pang Juan still controls the most elite Wei Wuzu troops of Wei State, while Zhu Ling does not have the most elite troops in Hebei under his command. If they meet the Qingzhou army on the way, they will just follow in the footsteps of Qu Yi.

He didn’t want to use his own life to help Liu Xuande become famous.

Even so, the short-bearded officer still had concerns. He clasped his hands and said, “General, no matter what, we must send troops to rescue them. If we sit back and do nothing, not to mention that the military supervisor has the power to supervise Ganling’s military affairs, Lord Yuan will probably feel resentful when he hears about it.”

“Gao Yuancai is the nephew of Lord Yuan after all, and the relationship between them cannot be ignored. General, have you ever seen what happened to those who offended Lord Yuan in Jizhou? You should take this as a warning.”

The military officer glanced around and lowered his voice.

The implication is obvious. You still have to serve under Mr. Yuan, and Mr. Yuan values ​​his nephew very much. In his heart, you are probably not as important as his nephew.

If you stand aside and watch in Ling County, or deliberately fail to provide effective rescue, there will be many gossips among the army. Once word gets out, you will appear to have offended senior officials, but in fact you will have offended Lord Yuan.

Zhu Ling pondered for a long time and finally let out a long sigh.

Gritting his teeth, he sighed, “To attack the enemy, one must rescue him, and to control him without attacking him, is the best way to use troops.”

“In that case, order the four thousand auxiliary soldiers to roll up their armor, wrap it in sackcloth and put it on the backs of pack horses, and advance steadily during the day, leaving no room for us to take advantage.

I will lead another 3,000 troops to march behind them at night with their mouths sealed. “

“If the Qingzhou army suddenly leads an ambush to attack the vanguard, I will lead 3,000 brave soldiers, all armed with powerful crossbows and arrows, and circle behind the enemy and shout in unison. The powerful crossbows will surely defeat the ambush army and turn defeat into victory. Then we can slowly withdraw to Ling County to make plans.”

“In this way, with military merits in hand, I’m sure Gao Yuancai and Xu Ziyuan won’t dare to blame me, and Lord Yuan has also explained it.”

Zhu Ling pondered for a while and then said.

This method of dividing the army is undoubtedly an extremely risky move, and letting the auxiliary soldiers go in front to lure the enemy, but there is no other choice at the moment. Even if facing a strong enemy and there is the risk of advancing without retreat, they must attack and achieve success.

I just hope that Liu Xuande will not take the Ling County garrison seriously and simply send out part of his troops to ambush them. This way, he will have a great chance of winning.

Zhu Ling thought to himself, and then asked the military officers to pass the order to the army, ordering 300 strong soldiers to mix with 4,000 auxiliary soldiers, and immediately beat the drums to organize the army, preparing to march to Dian County.

The short-bearded officer stood up and said, “General, why don’t you let me be the vanguard? I am a guest of your mansion. I have been with the army for more than 20 battles. I have defeated the Black Mountain bandits and Gongsun Zan with you. In terms of courage and wisdom, the people of Jizhou are no less than those of Qingzhou. I am willing to be the vanguard and help you defeat the enemy.”

Zhu Ling nodded and said, “You have followed me in battle for many years, so why should I worry about you? Wu Ziyun said: If the wind is favorable, follow the call; if the wind is unfavorable, stand firm and wait for the enemy. If you encounter an ambush by the Qingzhou army, hold your ground and wait for help. I will lead the army to rescue you, and together we can defeat the enemy and achieve great success.”

Zhu Ling patted the other man’s shoulder sincerely. He had to show such confidence and instill firm belief in his confidants. Otherwise, the vanguard would be defeated before they even reached the battlefield, and sending troops would undoubtedly be sending lives.

It would be better to stay in Ling County and do nothing. At least your life will not be in danger. At most, your career will be bumpy in the future.

(End of this chapter)