Chapter 331 Po Mei County

In the imperial palace of Luoyang, at Linde Hall, Gao Wu was absolutely furious upon seeing the news of Gao Yuan's massive invasion.

"Gao Yuan, Gao Yuan, you rebellious son, you rebellious son! Do you truly have no regard for familial bonds, and are you determined to oppose me to the very end?"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and Gao Wu slammed his hand onto his desk.

"Pass down the order: the Dragon Soaring and Flying Tiger armies are to cease resting immediately and march for the Guanzhong. I will annihilate this rebellious son in one fell swoop!"

Hearing Gao Wu's harsh declaration, Cai Jing hurriedly stepped forward to advise him.

"I implore the Great King to temporarily suppress your thunderous rage."

Gao Wu's tiger-like eyes widened as he looked at this newly promoted power player.

"Yuanzhang, do you perhaps think that I should not teach this rebellious son a lesson?"

Cai Jing hurriedly explained.

"Great King, the Guanzhong is the foundation of our Great Liang and must be saved. However, if both the Dragon Soaring and Flying Tiger armies attack simultaneously, who will remain to guard against Southern Qian and Northern Yan?"

Gao Wu had just been blinded by rage, but now, upon hearing Cai Jing's perspective, he immediately calmed down.

In Xu Prefecture, Southern Qian still occupied the stronghold of Pengcheng, ready to cross the river north and launch an attack at any time.

Northern Yan was an even greater mortal enemy, always waiting for an opportunity to take a bite out of him.

Therefore, in any case, a main army must remain stationed on the eastern front.

Otherwise, if both main armies were transferred to the Guanzhong, and those two initiated an attack, the territory in Hebei would be finished.

Gao Wu was becoming increasingly satisfied with Cai Jing.

"Yuanzhang, you truly are my right-hand man. If not for you, I would have sacrificed the greater good for a minor concern."

Cai Jing hurriedly replied with humility.

"The Great King was merely angry for a moment. I believe that once the Great King calms down, you will immediately be able to see the logic."

"Sigh..."

With a clear head, Gao Wu began to struggle with the problem again.

"I fear that relying on only one of the Dragon Soaring or Flying Tiger armies will hardly be enough to resolve the crisis in the Guanzhong..."

Cai Jing hurriedly began to offer his plans and strategies.

"The Western Liang army is strong and well-equipped. The Great King can dispatch the Western Liang troops to go, and with the support of one main army, the crisis in the Guanzhong will surely be resolved."

Speaking of this, Gao Wu's headache only worsened. He sighed helplessly and said.

"Yuanzhang, it is not as if you do not know; of the Western Liang troops, I can currently mobilize fewer than twenty thousand. The remaining forces, although they nominally rely on our Great Liang, in reality, most only listen to orders but do not follow summons..."

In order to manage the Guanzhong and the Central Plains, Gao Wu had taken away the majority of his core troops.

Currently, in the Western Liang region, aside from a small number of troops, the majority relied on cooperation with local powerful clans, warlords, and the qiang people.

"I believe that as long as you promise them great benefits, those people will still be willing to send troops. This would not only keep Gao Yuan in check but also weaken their own strength—truly killing two birds with one stone, a double gain!"

Gao Wu remained silent for a long time before finally making up his mind.

"Yuanzhang, I will dictate, and you will draft the letters..."

"Understood!"

In order to deal a head-on blow to that rebellious son Gao Yuan, Gao Wu was willing to pay a heavy price.

He not only promised to share half of the spoils of war but also pledged to provide three hundred thousand shi of grain and distribute five thousand women among them.

At the same time, Gao Wu ordered Gao Hu to serve as commander-in-chief, leading the thirty-thousand-strong Flying Tiger army along with the garrison troops from Hongnong and other areas, totaling forty thousand troops, to rescue the Guanzhong.

What Gao Wu did not know was that on the very day he made these arrangements, the news was already passed out through his secret guards.

On the third day, Gao Yuan learned of Gao Wu's arrangements and immediately made his own countermeasures.

The previously leisurely siege preparations immediately accelerated; the work originally planned for half a month was compressed and completed in just ten days.

On the other side, because of Cai Jing's ingenious plan, Gao Hu's preparations for the expedition proceeded very slowly, and even after setting out, they moved at a snail's pace. The goal was to let those warlords and powerful clans clash with Gao Yuan first.

To this end, Gao Wu even added more stakes for these people: the side that defeated Gao Yuan first would receive additional armor as a reward. For these forces living year-round on the northwestern frontier, this temptation was lethal.

On the morning of the 20th day of the 10th month, in the third year of the Qiande era of the Great Qian, the Guanzhong was already very cold. After enjoying a delicious breakfast of meat soup and meat buns, the Yue Army soldiers marched out of their camp in a vast, imposing manner.

Three linchong siege towers, resembling giant beasts, advanced slowly as they were pulled by oxen and horses, while over a dozen scaling ladder carts also gradually approached the walls of Mei County.

The soldiers of the Northern Liang Army on the city walls stood ready, prepared to face the most severe trial.

Everyone stared fixedly at those slowly moving mechanical beasts, and no one noticed the hundreds of soldiers carrying burlap sacks. They would not know that these men were Gao Yuan's true killer move.

As the linchong siege towers and scaling ladder carts entered bowshot range, arrows fell from the city walls like dense raindrops. However, under the cover of the heavy armored infantry, these arrows were all in vain.

"Clang, clang, clatter..."

The dense arrows struck the large iron shields, emitting crisp sounds, without hindering the advance in the slightest.

Seeing that the bows and arrows were ineffective, Gao Chou put a stop to this wasteful behavior, letting the soldiers conserve their energy to prepare for the upcoming hand-to-hand combat.

At this time, those hundreds of soldiers had already carried the explosive packs to the city gate, stacking them one on top of another, pulling out the fuses and twisting them all together, then quickly running away.

"Ssssss..."

Pungent smoke ignited on the battlefield. The knowledgeable Beiwei Army soldiers all consciously avoided the area, while only the Northern Liang Army soldiers on the city walls remained unaware.

"Boom!"

Following a deafening roar, under the immense impact, the thick wooden city gate could not withstand such a heavy blow and simply collapsed.

Seeing this scene, Gao Yuan could not help but sigh inwardly; these ancient city gates were built with such solid materials that even thousands of catties of explosives only managed to blow the gate down, failing to completely destroy such a gate.

One had to know that this was only the gate of Mei County; if it were the giant iron-clad wooden gates of Chang'an, this trick would be completely ineffective.

There was no time to lament. Xia Luqi took the lead and had already charged toward the blown-open gate with the soldiers of the Beiwei Army.

Gao Chou and the Northern Liang Army soldiers, who had been dazed by the tremendous noise and impact, finally regained their senses from the chaos. They looked on in terror as the Beiwei Army charged into the city.

"Soldiers, follow me! Drive the enemy out!"

Gao Chou was, after all, a seasoned and fierce general. Regardless of what had happened, at this moment, he had only one thought in his mind: to drive the enemy out.

Unfortunately, they were facing the golden combination of Xia Luqi and the Beiwei Army of the Yue Army. Without a complete formation and given the absolute gap in combat power, Gao Chou and his subordinates could not block such a powerful charge.

Gao Chou led his men, fighting while retreating. As more and more Yue Army soldiers entered the city, four words emerged in Gao Chou's mind: "The situation is lost."

Although very unwilling, Gao Chou's mind remained clear, and he immediately gave the order.

"Retreat! Abandon Mei County and retreat toward Chang'an."

At this moment, he no longer held any hope for the overall battle, only wishing to lead as many of these soldiers out as possible to accumulate strength for the defense of Chang'an.

It was a pity that although he retreated decisively, they were infantry after all. During the retreat, Gao Yuan and Zhao Meng led the Xiaoguo Army to follow and pursue them, constantly cutting off parts of his troops and slowly devouring them.

Gao Chou watched with eyes splitting from rage, yet he was helpless; he could only constantly urge his soldiers to flee eastward with all their might.

This two-hundred-plus-li journey became a place of sorrow for Gao Chou. He watched helplessly as his soldiers were wiped out wave after wave; by the time he retreated to Chang'an, of the eight thousand soldiers, fewer than one thousand remained.

The battle within the city of Mei County ended one hour after the city was breached. Next was the time to clean up the battlefield and reap the rewards.

Gao Yuan, upon returning to Mei County, immediately gave the order.

"Relocate all the commoners of Mei County. Take all supplies that can be moved, and burn whatever cannot be taken on the spot. The army will immediately retreat to the Chencang and Qishan areas to rest."