Chapter 267 Brothers Reunite

Having been played for fools, the Xiaoguo Army and Baier Soldiers were filled with pent-up frustration from top to bottom.

Coupled with having rested for over ten days, they began to march for their lives.

It was this sheer tenacity that actually allowed them to catch up with some of the slower-moving Western Kang people.

Tuoba Rui was also a ruthless man; if anyone moved too slowly, he would simply abandon them, leading over a thousand people back to Song Prefecture without a second thought.

No matter how strong the Xiaoguo Army was, they were still Cavalry; sieges were truly not their specialty.

No matter how unwilling they were, Zhao Meng and Chen Dao could only sigh as they looked at the Mianzhu.

The pursuit of the Western Kang people could only end here.

The reason was very simple: Gao Hu had broken through Jiameng Pass, and the Northern Liang Army had already arrived in Bazhong.

With a major enemy at hand, Gao Yuan could only order Liu Rengui to retreat quickly to rest, preparing to first wipe out Tuoba Tao, and then, after resting, deal with the approaching Northern Liang Army.

Hearing that Li Yuanlang had already retreated in defeat to Song Prefecture, Tuoba Tao knew he had no hope left.

In order to save the lives of these thousands of soldiers, Tuoba Tao led his troops out of the main camp to surrender to Gao Yuan.

This actually left Gao Yuan quite satisfied; with these Western Kang prisoners as bargaining chips, he would be able to trade them back for the commoners who had been abducted.

Inside Song Prefecture, Li Yuanlang had locked himself in his room for three days, constantly reviewing this crushing defeat.

He could not figure out how the more than fifty thousand of Western Kang's most elite troops had been reduced to just over four thousand remnants under his command.

While Song Prefecture was filled with gloom, Chengdu was abuzz with cheers.

Gao Yuan and Wang Mian slaughtered cattle and sheep to host a banquet for the triumphant soldiers.

In this battle, the Nanyue Army beheaded over eighteen thousand enemy troops, captured over thirty thousand, and recovered Mianzhou, Hanzhou, Pengzhou, Maozhou, and other regions, saving the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of commoners.

Such a great victory made The Emperor, who was far away in the Capital City, so excited that he nearly jumped up.

In a great mood, he found everyone he looked at to be pleasing to the eye.

The newly appointed Chief Eunuch, Liu Zhen, leaned into The Emperor's ear and said, "Your Majesty, regarding the memorial submitted by Commander Gao and Commander Wang concerning Meng Zhenshan..."

The Emperor was in a good mood and was much more lenient towards Meng Zhenshan.

He waved his hand and said, "Official Meng has served the country well. Although he is now retiring due to severe injuries, I must not chill the hearts of meritorious officials. Issue an imperial decree: confer upon Meng Zhenshan the title of Count of Nanchang, grant him a mansion in Nanchang County, three hundred mu of fertile land, and five servants and five maids each, so that he may enjoy his remaining years in peace."

Meng Zhenshan had not expected that after working hard for so long, the moment he finally received the title he had dreamed of, it would also be the end of his career.

He knew very well that all of this stemmed from the battles Gao Yuan had taken him on, as well as the joint memorial submitted by Gao Yuan and Wang Mian; it was impossible not to be moved.

Before leaving, he specifically sought out Gao Yuan and pointed to a chest behind him.

"This is some of the insight I have gained on Cavalry warfare after leading troops for many years. I hope the Commandery Duke will not find it lacking."

This was the experience of a Cavalry general who had fought nomadic tribes for years—something worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.

Gao Yuan hurriedly stood up and bowed to Meng Zhenshan.

"Thank you, General Meng. I will certainly cherish it."

"I hope the Commandery Duke will make good use of it, kill more barbarians, and expand the territory for our Great Qian."

"I certainly will!"

The two chatted for a while longer, and Gao Yuan noticed that Meng Zhenshan wanted to say something several times but kept changing the subject.

Finally, Gao Yuan spoke up first.

"General Meng, is there something you wish to say? There are no outsiders here, so feel free to speak."

Meng Zhenshan did not expect Gao Yuan to have noticed.

He hesitated for a moment but decided to speak.

"I have fought for many years, and some of the old comrades under my command are quite capable. It would be a real pity for them to just retire with me, so I would like to ask the Commandery Duke to take them in. I wonder..."

Meng Zhenshan's subordinates were the cream of the crop who had followed him through years of campaigning.

How could Gao Yuan refuse? He immediately patted his chest in assurance.

"Since General Meng is willing to part with them, I will not refuse. Please rest assured, General; I will certainly not let such pearls be covered in dust."

"Good, good. In that case, I can rest easy."

As for the officers under Meng Zhenshan, apart from a few who insisted on leaving with him, there were twelve or thirteen remaining.

Gao Yuan took a look and saw that they were basically C+ to B- rank Cavalry officers.

However, because they were all quite old and had little potential left to exploit, Gao Yuan incorporated them all into the Xiaoguo Army to serve as officers.

Meng Zhenshan departed, and a legendary general thus exited the stage, leaving people deeply moved and filled with sighs.

Just a few days after Meng Zhenshan left, outside the Mianzhu, the Northern Liang Army led by Gao Hu arrived.

With over ten thousand Cavalry, over thirty thousand infantry, plus over thirty thousand laborers, it was a vast and spectacular sight.

Gao Yuan stood on the Mianzhu wall, looking at the endless banners outside, and gave a cold laugh.

"Heh, my second brother certainly takes me seriously; he's really gone all out this time."

Beside him, Xue Linfeng spoke up.

"My Lord, who in the world does not know the fearsome reputation of the Jade-Faced Yama?"

Gao Yuan rolled his eyes at Xue Linfeng and said testily, "Lin Feng, you've started picking up their bad habits too."

"I am only speaking the truth; please do not wrong me."

Liu Rengui also chimed in, "Anyone who has ever underestimated my Lord is already pushing up daisies."

While they were chatting, they suddenly saw three riders charge out and stop within an arrow's shot of the Mianzhu wall.

Using his keen eyesight, Gao Yuan recognized the man in the middle as his cheap second brother, the Flying Tiger of Great Qian, Gao Hu.

Although he had been reincarnated into this body as an infant, Gao Yuan had spent very little time with his father and brothers, Gao Wu, Gao Long, and Gao Hu.

On the rare occasions they met, the three of them were always cold and sarcastic towards Gao Yuan.

To put it bluntly, there was simply not much affection to speak of between father, sons, and brothers.

Gao Yuan felt that perhaps it was precisely because of this lack of affection that they did not hesitate at all when they faked their deaths to escape.

Thinking of this, Gao Yuan reached out and took his Lingbao Bow from his Personal Guards, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and fired a shot directly at Gao Hu.

This arrow was powerful and heavy.

Accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, it plunged directly into the ground in front of Gao Hu.

The arrow shaft quivered slightly, warning Gao Hu like a rattlesnake.

Seeing this, the Nanyue Army soldiers on the Mianzhu wall could not help but cheer.

Gao Hu was also startled by this arrow, but fortunately, he was a veteran of many battles and did not lose his composure.

Steadying his nerves, he looked up and shouted at the Mianzhu wall, "Xiao Yuan, is this how you treat your elder brother?"

"Heh, elder brother. From the moment you disregarded my life and death, we were no longer brothers."

"Elder brother knows you have resentment towards us; I don't blame you..."

"Enough, don't play the emotional card. Just tell me directly: what is your business coming here today?"

Gao Hu did not expect Gao Yuan to be so tough.

He thought that the emotional card likely had no chance, but he still wanted to try one more time.

"Elder brother intends to host a banquet outside the Mianzhu today, just for the two of us brothers to reminisce about our bond. How about it?"

Although Gao Yuan did not want to reminisce about any brotherly bond with Gao Hu, he did not want to lose face either, so he immediately agreed.

"Fine. Have your men retreat twenty miles to set up camp, and each of us will bring one guard."

"Good!"

"Alright, you go arrange the troop withdrawal, and I will arrange the banquet."

Following Gao Hu's order, the Northern Liang Army withdrew twenty miles and set up camp.

The next day at noon, Gao Yuan, accompanied by Xia Luqi and two attendants carrying a table of food and wine, arrived at a spot five miles outside the Mianzhu.

The two attendants set down the food and wine and left.

After a while, Gao Hu arrived at the agreed-upon location on horseback with Gao Bing.

He first glanced at Gao Yuan, then looked at Xia Luqi behind him, mentally assessing whether he could launch a surprise attack to capture Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan also saw through his thoughts and let out a cold snort.

"Don't even think about it. This is my great general, Xia Luqi. Since I raised my army, he has never known defeat. If you don't believe it, you can try."