Chapter 286 Sending Troops

"System, you're messing with me again. My main army hasn't even returned yet, and you're asking me to complete an event objective within a time limit?"

"Host, rest assured. The System is not that unreasonable. The time will be calculated starting from the moment your army leaves Jianmen Pass."

"So that's how it is. That's a relief, that's a relief!"

Gao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. After comforting himself slightly, he felt a headache coming on again.

Taking Hanzhong in half a year was difficult, but manageable; however, taking Chang'an within a year was just too hard.

As soon as he made a move on Hanzhong, Gao Wu would react immediately.

Even if the Northern Liang reinforcements were slow, re-fortifying the Guanzhong within half a year shouldn't be a problem.

Facing an enemy that was well-prepared, even someone as capable as Martial Marquis Zhuge, after his six campaigns from Qishan, could only meet the end of falling stars and autumn winds at Wuzhang Plains.

Aside from being better at one-on-one duels, he couldn't compare to Zhuge Liang in any other aspect.

"Forget it. If I die, I die; if I live, I live. At least I'll get the key first."

The Chu Family's assets had already been exchanged by the System for over five billion Mall Coins.

Now, Gao Yuan was practically a tycoon in the System Mall; it was just a pity he didn't have the key to enter.

In Panyu, the day after holding the victory banquet for the army, Gao Yuan summoned Gao Yang, Xia Luqi, and Zhao Meng.

The three of them saw the serious expression on Gao Yuan's face and knew there was a new plan; each of them felt a surge of joy.

Walking closer and seeing the map of Hanzhong on the desk, the three of them understood.

"Big Brother, are you planning to make a move on Hanzhong?"

Gao Yuan had summoned them to assign tasks, so naturally, he wouldn't hide anything.

"With the gateway to the Sichuan region in someone else's hands, I never feel at ease when I sleep."

Xia Luqi immediately patted his chest.

"Rest assured, my Lord. As long as you give the order, the brothers of the First and Third Division of the Beiwei Army can flatten Hanzhong."

"That's right. The soldiers of the Xiaoguo Army have been waiting with their weapons ready. We will certainly capture Gao Geng alive for you, my Lord."

Gao Yuan was very satisfied with their fighting spirit, but he calmly waved his hand.

"Let the soldiers rest first. I still need to make some preparations."

As the capital of the Southern Yue Kingdom, there must be spies from all sides in Panyu.

It was not an easy task to deceive the enemy's eyes and ears and create the most favorable conditions for the army to attack Hanzhong.

The first thing Gao Yuan had to do was order the Central Corps and the Baier Soldiers to disband and rest for a month.

At the same time, Gao Yuan sent personnel to investigate the Wuling and Yuzhou directions, publicly claiming that they were going to build concrete roads to these two places.

Privately, Gao Yuan had already ordered Mu Sheng to begin secretly transferring supplies toward Chengdu.

There was plenty of grain and fodder in the Jiannan Circuit; it could be directly procured locally and stockpiled in Jianzhou.

As for weapons and armor, with the warrants from Gao Yuan and Zhao Xiyao, Mu Sheng directly ordered the arsenal to transport them from the Diannan Circuit to Jianzhou.

Everything was carried out very secretly, which led many spies to believe that Gao Yuan was planning to make a move on the Jiangnan West Circuit.

This also made the monarchs and ministers of the Great Qian Imperial Court nervous, and they worked through the night to dispatch the newly appointed Left Guard General, Wang Bao, to lead troops into the Jiangnan West Circuit.

Regarding the reactions of all parties, the Secret Guards quickly transmitted the information to Panyu via carrier pigeons.

"My Lord, apart from Da Qian strengthening the Jiangnan West Circuit, especially the defense in the direction of Wuling, the other factions seem to have no movement."

After listening to Gao Zhong's report, Gao Yuan nodded with satisfaction.

"No movement is the best news. Tell the Secret Guards to intensify their intelligence gathering; they must not miss any clues."

"Understood!"

"Wait!"

Gao Zhong had just turned to leave when Gao Yuan called him back. Gao Zhong quickly turned around and continued to respectfully bow to Gao Yuan, waiting for instructions.

Gao Yuan hesitated for a moment but decided to take a gamble.

"Send people to the Chang'an area to spread a rumor that I am preparing to send troops to attack Hanzhong and the Guanzhong."

"Uh..."

Gao Zhong was stunned; he really wanted to touch Gao Yuan's forehead to see if he had a fever and was delirious.

"Head of the Family, what are you..."

Gao Yuan smiled and explained to Gao Zhong.

"Whether they believe it or not, it won't do Northern Liang any good."

Gao Zhong was a smart man; he immediately understood the key point and immediately bowed.

"This subordinate understands."

Soon, a piece of news spread across the lands of Hanzhong and the Guanzhong: The Great General of the Southern Yue Kingdom had appointed Gao Yang as commander and Zhao Meng as vanguard, raising an army of 80,000 to prepare to attack Hanzhong and the Guanzhong.

This news quickly caught the attention of the Gao Bing stationed in Chang'an. He quickly relayed the news to Luoyang, to the desk of the Northern Liang King, Gao Wu.

Gao Wu finished reading the report and passed it to the confidants beside him to read.

"What do you all think?"

"My King, in my opinion, this matter must be guarded against."

"That's right. The Guanzhong and Hanzhong are extremely important and cannot be lost. I believe we should immediately reinforce Hanzhong."

Immediately, someone stood up to object.

"Currently, our main forces are expanding territory in Hebei and Shandong, and the situation is excellent; if we recall the Longxiang or the Flying Tiger main armies at this time, I fear that Lu Kuan will be able to catch his breath."

Gao Wu couldn't make a decision for a moment, so he turned his gaze to Wei Yu.

"Official Wei, what is your opinion?"

Wei Yu had already made up his mind, and upon hearing Gao Wu's inquiry, he spoke up.

"My King, in my view, this is a conspiracy by Gao Yuan. You must not be deceived."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"According to what I know, the main force of the Southern Yue Kingdom just crushed over 100,000 enemy troops in the Southwest; I imagine the Nanyue Army has suffered heavy casualties and will find it difficult to regain combat capability without a considerable period of rest; by a rough calculation, the Nanyue Army will have no time to launch an offensive within a year."

Gao Wu nodded slightly, but still continued to ask.

"But this rumor..."

"In my humble opinion, I fear it is because Gao Yuan does not want to see us defeat Lu Kuan, but is unable to dispatch troops to distract us, so he came up with this ruse; I ask the King to think carefully: if Gao Yuan were truly planning to take Hanzhong, how would he let the news spread throughout the Guanzhong?"

Gao Wu felt enlightened.

"Hahaha, this third boy of mine is quite good at playing schemes and tricks..."

Just like that, the matter of reinforcing Hanzhong was left unsettled.

Soon, the news about Gao Yuan planning to take Hanzhong and the Guanzhong quieted down.

It felt as if the rumor hadn't worked, and those spreading it gradually felt it was pointless.

No one knew that at this moment, the Beiwei Army, the Xiaoguo Army, and the Baier Soldiers, having finished their leave, had already completed their assembly in Jianzhou.

That's right. To conceal the information, Gao Yuan had chosen a strategy of breaking up the whole into parts.

He had let the main army leave the camp under the guise of leave, but in reality, he had them assemble at various places unit by unit, finally converging at Jianzhou.

Although this couldn't be kept completely secret, at least it could deceive the spies in Panyu.

And various military supplies and grain had also been allocated from the Diannan Circuit and the Jiannan Circuit.

As for Gao Yuan, he took his women out of the city for an excursion, then secretly slipped away from the group and took Mu Qing to the front line to take command.

Everything had been quietly prepared.

At the end of the sixth month of the second year of the Da Qian Jian'an era, just as it was about to enter the height of summer, Gao Yuan arrived at Zhaohua City.

Following his order, the Baier Soldiers were the first to step out of the city gates, advancing along the Jinniu Road toward Yangping Pass.

Following closely behind were the Beiwei Army led by Xia Luqi and Zhao Meng.

Finally, there was the Xiaoguo Army led by Gao Yuan himself, and the Xuanjia Army led by Wu Ban.

As for Gao Yang, Gao Yuan was considerate of him and let him stay behind to guard the Jiannan Circuit for the time being.

As for the Gao Family Army, to be honest, Gao Yuan didn't have much affection for them, but Gao Yang was different.

He had grown up by the side of Gao Jia and had an extremely close relationship with the other eleven Taibao.

It would be too cruel to make him fight against these people.