Chapter 242 Breaking Out of the Encirclement

The terrain on the plateau can only be described as boundless.

Therefore, for Gao Yuan and his men, there was nowhere to hold a defensive position or set an ambush.

As for marching speed, although they had seized many warhorses, everyone could ride.

However, these men were all infantry; even if they knew how to ride, their skills were generally poor, incomparable to the Xikang people who herded daily.

Considering everything, without terrain advantage or marching speed advantage, guerrilla warfare was almost impossible.

A terrible thought flashed through Gao Yuan's mind: a head-on confrontation.

It seemed this was the only way out.

As he was thinking, a system prompt appeared in his mind.

"Detecting Host at a critical juncture of life and death, Temporary Event: Break Through Encirclement triggered;

As an Overlord, even when facing a ten-sided ambush, one should be fearless and face it calmly, only then can the Overlord's prestige be displayed;

Event Objective: Lead your soldiers to break out of the encirclement and rendezvous with reinforcements or retreat into Lijiang City;

Event Reward: Reward level will be determined based on the number of soldiers remaining at the end, lowest C, highest S."

The system didn't mention any penalties, but Gao Yuan knew clearly that if he failed, he would become a prisoner, or even fertilizer.

Gritting his teeth, Gao Yuan unfolded the simple map that the Scout had just delivered.

After a while, Gao Yuan finally found a gap, and he immediately gave the order.

"Pass down the order: discard all supplies except food and weapons. The entire army will depart immediately, lightly equipped."

Although reluctant, the soldiers knew that now was not the time to be sentimental about these odds and ends.

Everyone immediately packed their gear, placed their dry rations and water skins on another horse's back, and then mounted their warhorses.

Gao Yuan swung onto his horse, reconfirmed the direction, and then waved his hand.

"Move out!"

The Nine Tribes of Dangxiang, though ostensibly a single entity, actually had internal disagreements and conflicts.

It was only because the Tuoba Tribe was powerful that it could suppress the other clans with its strength, thereby maintaining domestic balance.

The various tribes were united in appearance but disunited in heart, occasionally having small skirmishes.

This situation led to some inevitable discoordination when the tribal armies converged.

And the gap Gao Yuan found was precisely a space between the Pochao Tribe and the Fangdang Tribe in the northeast.

The general leading the Pochao Tribe was named Pochao Yong, the Young Patriarch of the Pochao Tribe. This man was belligerent and reckless, a typical brave but foolish individual.

However, this man always believed himself to be superior to Tuoba Tao, Tuoba Rui, and others.

He felt very much like a talent unrecognized.

Having accepted this mission, he was among the most proactive, marching very quickly.

On the Fangdang Tribe's side, their strength was inherently weak, and coming here was purely out of compulsion.

So, seeing that the turtle was already in the jar, they were no longer as enthusiastic as at the beginning, and their marching speed also slowed down.

This led to the gap between the two armies growing wider and wider, which was the space Gao Yuan needed.

Night fell, and all was silent. On the plateau, Gao Yuan led his horse, walking first.

To maintain silence, each horse bit its bit, and their hooves were muffled.

After confirming there were no patrols, Gao Yuan quickened his pace, swiftly passing through this open area.

Though called a gap, the two tribes were actually only about ten li apart.

Making too much noise here could easily alert both sides, so extreme caution was necessary.

Just as the fifth watch arrived, Gao Yuan had already led his men out of the encirclement from the junction of the two tribes.

However, even though they had broken out of the encirclement, they were now even further from home.

"My Lord, should we retreat south immediately?"

However, to Chen Dao's surprise, Gao Yuan shook his head.

"They will surely think we're retreating south. If we do, it'll be like walking into a trap. So, we should do the opposite."

"Then, My Lord means..."

"We'll head northwest, visit their old lair, and then look for an opportunity to return home."

Although the others didn't understand, no one objected.

Here, the encirclement continued to shrink, but soon someone discovered something was amiss:

Gao Yuan's camp had been silent for an entire day.

When they sent people to investigate, they found that the camp had long been deserted.

These people were dumbfounded. Who wouldn't be dumbfounded when a cooked duck flew away right under their noses?

The people of the Nine Tribes grew anxious and began searching for Gao Yuan's traces in various directions.

Soon, they found traces in the northeast, a discovery that instantly enraged Pochao Yong.

"It's all your Fangdang Tribe's fault, dawdling around, which gave Gao Yuan the space to escape."

The Fangdang Tribe's people were not to be outdone. They slammed the table, stood up, and pointed at Pochao Yong's nose, retorting,

"Hmph, it's clearly your Pochao Tribe that disregarded cooperation, which gave the enemy an opportunity."

"It's clearly your laziness that created such a large gap..."

Seeing that no resolution would come from arguing, someone quickly stepped forward to mediate.

"Alright, alright, discussing whose responsibility it is now is meaningless. If Gao Yuan escapes, we'll all be in deep trouble. Let's quickly discuss how to pursue him."

There wasn't much to discuss; it was to search separately, with each tribe assigned a direction.

At this time, the internal disunity of the various tribes was fully revealed; they weren't truly searching according to the agreement.

Everyone assumed Gao Yuan had gone south, so they all focused their attention southward. Some tribes would search for a while in the agreed direction before turning south, while others, like Pochao Yong, didn't even bother to pretend and directly led his troops south.

Only the Xifeng Tribe searched in the agreed northwest direction. It wasn't that they were obedient; it was purely because they didn't want to encounter Gao Yuan.

In their view, the Qian Army's combat strength was formidable, and even fighting with superior numbers, they might still suffer significant losses.

As for the benefits of capturing Gao Yuan? Those belonged to the Xikang court, to the Tuoba Tribe. For their Xifeng Tribe, even getting a sip of the soup would be incredibly lucky.

After effortlessly swallowing another small tribe of a few hundred, Gao Yuan decided to halt for now. After days of continuous marching, the entire army and horses were exhausted and desperately needed rest.

Conveniently, there was water, cattle, sheep, and Xikang people's felt tents here, so Gao Yuan decided to slaughter cattle and sheep on the spot and rest for two days.

Having marched, fought, and won all the way, the soldiers' morale was high and their spirits were excited, but their physical exhaustion was still undeniable.

Hearing that they could rest for two days on the spot, everyone was also very happy. They immediately got busy, slaughtering cattle and sheep to prepare for grilling and stewing.

While Gao Yuan was leisurely enjoying himself, the Diannan Circuit was in chaos.

The sudden appearance of the Xikang Army in Gao Yuan's direction, coupled with Gao Yuan's disappearance, immediately made Lijiang's garrison Commander realize something. He immediately sent someone to report to Wen Pin.

Hearing that Gao Yuan might be surrounded, Wen Pin also panicked. He immediately led his men back to Lijiang City, while dispatching a large number of Scouts to Western Kang to gather information, and also sending someone to Zhongnan Circuit for reinforcements.

As for Panyu, Wen Pin hesitated for a moment but decided not to inform the several Madame's for now.

Mainly because the several Madame's did not understand military matters, and Lingnan Circuit didn't have many troops. Informing them would only add more people to worry.

Soon, a large amount of news from the plateau reached Lijiang.

Hearing that the Xikang Army was still searching everywhere, Wen Pin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, good. Still searching means My Lord has not been surrounded."

"Commander, should we still search?"

"Nonsense, of course we must search, until he is found! Also, order the Lijiang border patrol to advance fifty li. We must draw the Xikang Army south to relieve pressure on My Lord."