Chapter 260 The Incompetent Teammate Has Arrived

In truth, the women had really underestimated Gao Yuan's ability to adjust himself.

Now, he was no longer that frail Third Young Master of the Grand General's Residence.

After more than a decade of tempering, he had become a qualified leader.

To be honest, when this news arrived, he was most worried about the Gao Family old guard, as well as Zheng Wan and Song Yao.

The Gao Family old guard brought from Luoyang, along with Ma Song's group who joined later, now held significant positions in the Nanyue Army.

Ma Song had even reached the position of Corps Governor; if they left, it would be a huge blow to the Nanyue Army.

As for the two women, Zheng Wan and Song Yao, Gao Yuan's biggest worry was the children losing their mothers.

However, as the women arrived, Gao Yuan knew his second concern had vanished.

Zheng Wan walked up to Gao Yuan, sat on his lap, and leaned her delicate body obediently into her Husband's embrace.

"Husband, no matter what, I will never leave you."

Song Yao's gaze was also exceptionally firm.

"The sentiment between Sister Wan and me and them was severed the moment they abandoned us; otherwise, we wouldn't have accepted the marriage bestowed by Emperor Wu."

Gao Yuan's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed a bit, showing his first smile of the day.

"It's good, it's good to have you here."

Zhao Xiyao sat down opposite Gao Yuan.

"Husband, are you worried about what Ma Song and the others are thinking?"

"Yes, they have become the backbone of the army. If they have second thoughts, I'm afraid..."

"In that case, why don't we test them?"

"How to test?"

Gao Yuan was somewhat worried about Zhao Xiyao's proposal, as the scale for testing human hearts is extremely difficult to gauge.

A slight mishap could backfire, instead pushing these people to the opposite side.

Zhao Xiyao smiled radiantly and explained her plan, which immediately received unanimous agreement from everyone.

The next day, Prince of Nanyue Zhao Xiyao and Grand General Gao Yuan issued a joint decree:

Allowing former Gao Family Army members to resign and leave the territory with their families, but they would never be employed again in the future.

This was essentially sending a signal: if you still care for those old ties, I won't stop you, but from now on, our relations are severed, and next time we meet, we will be enemies.

The first to state his position was Zhao Meng; he was a Gao Family general by origin and the commander of the Xiaoguo Army, holding a transcendent status.

Zhao Meng personally rushed back from Jia Prefecture and expressed his loyalty to Gao Yuan in person.

Ma Song was also very straightforward, sending his family to Panyu as hostages with great fanfare.

Gao Yuan responded positively, sending people with gifts to escort Ma Song's family back with the sounding of gongs and drums.

With the two highest-ranking individuals stating their stance, others stopped waiting and watching.

Soon, memorials expressing loyalty were sent from various regions.

Zhao Meng, Ma Song, and the others knew very well that they had reached their current status because of Gao Yuan.

To put it bluntly, the old ties with the Gao Family were far inferior to Gao Yuan's favor of recognizing their talent.

This crisis actually gave Gao Yuan a chance to communicate and exchange thoughts with them.

However, Gao Yuan also had to increase his level of attention toward the changes in his opponents.

Originally, he thought he only had to face Jiang Huaizhen and Meng Zhenshan's Jiannan Army and the Left Martial Guard.

In that case, relying on the Central Corps plus 10,000 Xuanjia Army drawn from various places would be enough.

But now, his ultimate opponent should be the former Great Gan Champion Grand General and Commandery Duke of Xiangyang, nicknamed the Flying Tiger, Gao Hu.

Although they hadn't met and he couldn't see Gao Hu's rank, Gao Yuan estimated it wouldn't be lower than A+.

Most importantly, if the Northern Liang Army invaded the Sichuan region, then in the entire Sichuan basin, the Nanyue Army could only fight head-on encounter battles with them.

Regarding Cavalry, although the Xiaoguo Army was elite and had brilliant battle records, there was still a significant gap compared to the powerful Xiliang Iron Cavalry.

The simplest point was that their numbers were too few.

"A pity, if I had drawn the Mo Dao Army last time, I wouldn't fear this Xiliang Cavalry!"

Now Gao Yuan only hoped that Jiang Huaizhen and Meng Zhenshan could be more capable and wear down Li Yuanlang and Gao Hu more.

One was the former Imperial Flying Tiger, and the other was a commander who could go toe-to-toe with the Northern Liang Army in the Western Regions with the Xikang Army.

To be honest, Gao Yuan didn't have much confidence in winning.

Since he might not necessarily win in a fight, he used the simplest trick: call for backup!

Liu Rengui, Gao Yang, plus Xue Linfeng—this trio of commanders was already a very powerful lineup.

Add to that Xia Luqi, Chen Dao, and Zhao Meng charging into battle, with Cao Xing following to pick up easy kills.

In terms of generals, the lineup Gao Yuan sent out this time could be called luxurious.

Two and a half divisions of the Beiwei Army, totaling 24,000 men, and 2,000 Xiaoguo Army.

Plus ten brigades of Xuanjia Army drawn from various places, totaling 25,000 men, as well as the 2,000 Baier Soldiers who would inevitably join the battlefield.

Although the troop strength couldn't compare to Northern Liang, these were the essence of the Nanyue Army.

Now that all the various forces had gathered, everyone spent their days together performing sand table simulations and sharing insights.

By mid-October, they had drafted a very complete operational plan.

With all preparations ready, Gao Yuan was waiting for the results of the two battlefields.

Gao Yuan didn't have to wait long; two months later, there was a result—the Battle of Song Prefecture had ended.

With top-tier commanders and the most elite troops, the Xikang Army's combat effectiveness rose by at least one level, and the Jiannan Army, primarily composed of militia and recruits, simply couldn't hold them back.

Song Prefecture held out for more than four months but finally fell in November of the fifth year of Shaoxing; Meng Zhenshan took over 3,000 remnants to reorganize the defensive line in the Long Prefecture and Mianzhou areas.

"Song Prefecture has fallen. As long as Mianzhu also fails to hold, Chengdu will be in imminent danger. My Lord, can we prepare to set out?"

"No rush. According to intelligence, The Emperor has already sent reinforcements, and they are estimated to enter the Sichuan region soon. If we get involved now, we might draw fire upon ourselves."

"My Lord is wise."

"Liu Rengui's courtesy name, when did you also learn to flatter?"

"Hahaha, My Lord, this subordinate is not flattering; it's completely telling the truth."

"Alright, alright, I'll take it as truth... Liu Rengui's courtesy name, I have a premonition that the court's reinforcements won't be many and likely won't stop the Xikang Army, so make preparations as soon as possible. I'm afraid everyone will have to spend New Year in the army this year."

"This subordinate understands. Please rest assured, My Lord, I will go and prepare now."

Just as Gao Yuan expected, with people causing friction, even though they knew the situation in the Jiannan Circuit had deteriorated, the court's reinforcements were still stingy.

In fact, their purpose in coming was not just to serve as reinforcements, but also to bring an order to change generals.

Ultimately, The Emperor still didn't trust Jiang Huaizhen, so he sent another of his trusted favorite generals, the Grand General of the Left Gate Guard, Zhou Kang.

Hearing that the person coming to replace Jiang Huaizhen was Zhou Kang, Zheng Wan asserted during dinner that the Jiannan Circuit could not be held.

"Wan'er, are you very familiar with this Zhou Kang?"

Zheng Wan shook her head.

"I don't know him! But previously my father-in-law... oh, no, Gao Wu and Gao Long said that this Zhou Kang's only merit is his loyalty."

"Understood!"

This feeling was like facing a woman who wasn't beautiful, where one could only praise her for being charismatic; for a subject, especially a general, praising his loyalty meant that the person had absolutely no highlights in terms of martial prowess.

This point was soon proven, because as winter began, the Xikang people temporarily halted their actions, but the Northern Liang Army did not stop their pace.

At such a time, anyone with even a little bit of a brain would choose to first help Jiang Huaizhen repel the powerful enemy before anything else.

And what about Zhou Kang? The first thing he did upon arriving at Jiameng Pass was to read the imperial decree and replace Jiang Huaizhen.