Chapter 309 Chain Reaction

This night was naturally a satisfying return for Gao Yuan and his group, and even Mu Qing and the group of Female Soldiers all had looks of excitement on their faces.

But for Gao Bing and Gao Hu, it was a night of chaos; "camp riot"—this term was a nightmare for every general leading troops.

After Gao Yuan finished his surprise attack and left, a camp riot broke out within the Northern Liang Army's main camp. At first, it was fratricide caused by the inability to distinguish friend from foe, but in the end, the soldiers had completely lost their minds in the slaughter, and the entire situation spiraled out of control.

Out of necessity, Gao Hu and Gao Bing could only lead their Personal Guards to take up arms and execute the out-of-control soldiers on the spot; the turmoil continued until dawn before the situation was finally brought back under control.

When the statistics were tallied at dawn, Gao Hu almost spat blood; their casualties that night reached over five thousand, and the fires caused by the chaos destroyed hundreds of tents and a significant amount of grain and fodder.

Most crucially, they understood clearly in their hearts that Gao Yuan's appearance here meant that Chencang had already been lost.

Now, what they needed to consider was no longer how to recapture Chencang, but how to hold Chang'an and the Guanzhong.

With Gao Yuan occupying Chencang, he could send troops to roam anywhere on the Guanzhong at any time, attacking wherever he pleased and completely seizing the initiative.

The population, grain, and livestock in those rural areas essentially became a warehouse that Gao Yuan could draw from at any time.

Furthermore, against an army capable of taking Da San Pass in half a day and Chencang in another half, what other city could possibly be held?

At this moment, Gao Hu felt an immense headache, unable to make a decision that satisfied both ends unless Gao Wu transferred a large number of Cavalry to be stationed in Chang'an.

If that were the case, Northern Liang would lack a vital combat force in its quest to contend for the Central Plains, and its chances of victory would diminish.

Even as a veteran of the battlefield, Gao Bing was somewhat at a loss at this moment, and he could only turn his gaze toward Gao Hu.

"Second General, what should we do now?"

Gao Hu sighed and shook his head, saying,

"Report the truth to Father and ask him to send reinforcements as soon as possible; he must send more Cavalry."

How could Gao Wu not see that Gao Yuan was trying to help the Great Qian Imperial Court? He also understood why his third son was doing this, but he didn't know if Gao Yuan had any further moves planned.

All he could do now was quickly order Gao Long to suspend the offensive and redeploy five thousand Cavalry and five thousand infantry to return and reinforce Chang'an.

Without a force of Cavalry guarding Chang'an, Gao Yuan could turn his home base upside down, coming and going like the wind, and then his manpower and supplies would be completely unsecured.

The sudden halt of the fiercely attacking Northern Liang Army filled Zhu Song with pleasant surprise, but he feared it was a plot by Gao Long, so he remained sufficiently vigilant.

Soon, however, he received good news from the Capital City: it turned out that Gao Yuan had launched a surprise attack on Chencang, threatening Gao Wu's headquarters in Chang'an, forcing Gao Wu to suspend the offensive and redeploy troops to reinforce Chang'an.

Amidst his surprise, Zhu Song also began to wonder why Gao Yuan chose to act at this time, when he could have simply stood by and watched Great Qian be destroyed.

At that point, he could have appeared as a savior, raising the banner of Great Qian's restoration to gather a massive following and set things right; once successful, his prestige would reach its peak.

Then, even if he replaced the Zhao clan and ascended that throne which drove countless people mad, there would likely be very few voices of opposition.

"Why would he choose to act this way? What benefit does this actually have for him?"

Zhu Song did not believe Gao Yuan would do something with almost no benefit; this question lingered in his mind for a long time, and he tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep.

As the Northern Liang Army halted, the Northern Yan army on the other side also stopped their movements.

Lu Heng's thinking was simple; he had also learned of what happened in the Guanzhong through various channels.

He feared that Northern Liang might suddenly withdraw its troops, in which case his army of tens of thousands might immediately find themselves attacked from both front and back.

After much consideration, Lu Heng made a decision to first stabilize the two county seats they had already captured.

As for whether to continue southward, that would depend on the actions of Northern Liang.

As winter approached and the weather grew colder, the window for the two enemy armies to head south had passed, and Great Qian's northern defensive line was considered stabilized.

During the New Year festival, Zhu Song, who had returned to the Capital City to report on his duties, felt a different atmosphere.

Everywhere was filled with singing and dancing, a scene of celebration, yet he, the greatest contributor to this success, could not bring himself to be happy.

Arriving at Xuande Hall with a heavy heart, Zhu Song received unanimous praise from everyone in the imperial court.

Soon, he also received his rewards:

He was appointed General of the Cloud Banner, rank Upper Secondary Third Grade, and enfeoffed as the Count of Linhuai County.

General Ma Zhiyuan and Meng Zhenshan were also appointed as Deputy Jiedushi and Generals of Loyal Martial Virtue, as requested by Zhu Song.

After the palace banquet ended, Zhu Song returned home, and his face full of worry left the Zhu family members very confused.

Seeing this, Zhu Lin, who was sitting in the seat of honor, called out to him.

"Song'er, today is a day of great joy for our Zhu family. Why do you look so miserable?"

Zhu Song stopped his steps as he was about to withdraw and bowed again to Zhu Lin, saying,

"Father, isn't the imperial court's grand and ostentatious rewarding a bit too much?"

Zhu Lin hadn't expected his son to say this; he paused for a moment and asked,

"You have fought in the south and north and achieved great merit. Shouldn't you be rewarded?"

Hearing his father mention merit, Zhu Song's face couldn't help but flush, and he lowered his head.

"Father, I think anyone with clear eyes can see that whether it was the southern campaign or this resistance against Northern Yan and Northern Liang, they were all essentially defeats;"

"In the southern campaign, our army suffered heavy losses, and this time we even lost three county seats and thousands of soldiers;"

"Moreover, everyone should know in their hearts that what truly made Northern Liang and Northern Yan withdraw their troops was Gao Yuan's surprise attack on Chencang..."

"Alright, alright. It's fine to say these things at home, but don't go talking like that outside..."

Zhu Lin interrupted his son somewhat impatiently, but after a moment's hesitation, he decided to explain it to him.

"Do you know that the current court is plagued by internal troubles and external threats? It desperately needs a victory to boost morale."

"I understand, but is it not a bit too much?"

"If it can boost the confidence of Great Qian's military and civilians, what does it matter if it's a bit excessive?"

Zhu Song thought for a moment and finally showed a faint smile, bowing to his father.

"I understand. Thank you, Father, for clearing my confusion."

"Good, you may go now!"

In fact, what Zhu Song didn't know was that there was an even more important reason why everyone was praising and rewarding him so grandly.

Last time, the group of Powerful Families spearheaded the action to dismantle the Sixteen Guards, forcing many famous generals to retire, which led to much criticism in private.

They desperately needed an obedient one of their own to carry the banner of the military.

At this time, Zhu Song was the banner-carrier they had chosen, so naturally, he had to be vigorously promoted.

Only by establishing Zhu Song and even more children of Powerful Families could they make others forget about Jiang Huaizhen and his group.

Now, it had clearly already begun to have an effect.

Watching his son's departing back, Zhu Lin sighed.

"Never mind. In a few years, when you have grown into a chess player yourself, you will naturally understand everyone's well-intentioned efforts."

As a father, Zhu Lin knew his son all too well.

Zhu Song had a proud nature; if he were to find out that his rise was because he had become a qualified pawn, he would likely find it hard to accept.

On this side, Gao Yuan had already concluded the hostilities; he transferred Wu Ban to Chencang to lead five thousand troops in guarding the line from Chencang to Da San Pass.

At the same time, he was to shoulder the heavy responsibility of launching sorties to harass the Guanzhong at any time.