Chapter 332 Know When to Stop

Mei County was located on a plain with no defensible terrain, and with the Yuzhou gates destroyed and unable to be repaired in the short term, Gao Yuan had no intention of holding the Yuzhou against the impending arrival of Gao Hu and the Western Liang reinforcements.

Therefore, he decided to leave an empty Yuzhou for Gao Hu, while he withdrew to regroup as quickly as possible and then intercept the reinforcements.

As for whether to strike the Western Liang army or Gao Hu first, it would depend on who arrived first; if they arrived simultaneously, then knowing when to quit and retreating directly was also an option.

Annihilating over ten thousand Northern Liang elites, capturing tens of thousands of warhorses, seizing massive amounts of military supplies and provisions, and relocating over twenty thousand residents of Mei County—this battle was already a huge profit.

However, it was clear that the heavens did not want Gao Yuan to leave just yet; just five days after the main army had withdrawn to the Qishan area to rest, a reinforcement force from Western Liang arrived first.

"Reporting to the Lord, a reinforcement force from Western Liang has reached the Changwu area, with a strength of over twenty thousand men, including more than three thousand Cavalry."

Gao Yuan couldn't fathom why these warlords and Powerful Families entrenched in the Western Liang region were so eager to come, but this was a good thing for him.

As long as he could wipe out this reinforcement force, his efforts this time would be a massive windfall, and he assumed the system wouldn't give him too low of a rating.

"Pass down the order: leave five thousand Xuanjia Army soldiers to guard Qishan and transport the spoils of war. The main army is to end its rest immediately; cook meals at the third watch and depart at the fifth watch tomorrow."

"Understood!"

Perhaps driven by an intense desire for the rewards of armor promised by Gao Wu, these minor warlords, led by the Ma and Fa families of Fufeng, did not go to Chang'an to rendezvous with Gao Bing.

Led by Ma Shun, the second legitimate son of the Ma family, and Fa Ming, the second legitimate son of the Fa family, they headed straight for Qishan County via Linyou, which gave Gao Yuan ample time to calmly set up an ambush.

Although located on the Guanzhong, the area near Chencang still had numerous mountains and hills, making it practically everywhere a perfect place for an ambush.

Gao Yuan naturally couldn't miss such an opportunity; he split the twenty thousand-plus Beiwei Army troops into two groups to set up an ambush south of Linyou County, while he personally led the Xiaoguo Army to hide in the valley, ready to strike at any moment.

Ma Shun and Fa Ming were also leading troops for the first time and lacked experience. Coupled with the urging of their elders, they traveled very hastily and paid absolutely no attention to the changes in terrain and landscape after entering Linyou.

Their lack of experience and impatience soon taught them a harsh lesson.

After entering a relatively wide mountain road, the soldiers, who had little military discipline to begin with, became even more relaxed; some took out dry rations and water skins to eat and drink, while others jumped onto supply wagons to slack off and doze.

Ma Shun and his group were chatting and laughing while admiring the scenery on both sides, with no one noticing anything unusual.

Danger arrived at that very moment. A sharp bamboo whistle suddenly sounded from the forests on both sides, and before the people on the mountain road could react, a swift rain of arrows shot toward them.

Many, caught completely off guard, were immediately turned into hedgehogs, their eyes wide open, staring blankly at the sky, revealing deep resentment.

It wasn't until the second volley of arrows struck that these people finally reacted, shrieking in misery as they scrambled to dodge or raised their weapons in a panic to parry.

As for the commanders, they were targeted in the first volley, suffering over fifty percent casualties. Fa Ming, dressed in luxurious Shu brocade robes, had his throat pierced by an arrow from Gao Yuan and was dead beyond a doubt.

Three volleys of arrows suppressed the rabble below so thoroughly that they dared not show their heads, and all their courage had been shot to the ends of the earth.

Consequently, as the heavily armed Beiwei Army soldiers charged out of the forest, most of the men chose to kneel and surrender immediately.

Ma Shun was clear-headed; he had just come to tag along and pick up some benefits. Facing such a formidable army and being caught in an ambush, resistance would surely lead to death.

The battle proceeded surprisingly smoothly, ending in less than an afternoon. They captured Ma Shun and thirteen other descendants of Powerful Families, over twenty thousand soldiers and laborers, more than three thousand warhorses, and countless other military supplies and provisions.

In this battle, neither Xia Luqi nor Zhao Meng had drawn their blades, clearly not having had their fill of fighting. Gao Yuan simply ordered the two of them to take the Xiaoguo Army and, under the guise of Ma Shun's name, launch a surprise attack on the nearby Linyou County.

The two killers accepted the order and left happily, while Gao Yuan led the infantry to escort the prisoners and captured loot back to Qishan County.

Within three days, the two killers returned, bringing back not only a large amount of supplies but also over ten thousand residents of Linyou County; one could say they returned fully loaded.

The annihilation of the Ma and Fa families' reinforcements directly intimidated those restless Western Liang Powerful Families. They suddenly became cautious, often needing several families to band together before they dared to continue their march.

Such caution gave Gao Yuan quite a headache; he had hoped to fight two more annihilation battles before leaving, but he hadn't expected the others not to give him the chance.

There was no other way; he could only trade Ma Shun and the other captured Powerful Families' descendants, along with Fa Ming's corpse, for some population and wealth, then immediately retreated to Chencang and Qishan.

By the time Gao Hu arrived in Chang'an, it was already the end of November. After listening to Gao Bing's report, he really didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

The power of the Ma and Fa families entrenched in Fufeng had been damaged, which allowed him to further encroach upon their territories, but this all came at a price.

Not to mention the compensation for the tens of thousands of Western Liang reinforcements outside the Yuzhou, the replenishment for the Ma and Fa families would certainly not be a small sum.

Yet this time, he had traveled here with great difficulty, only to not even catch a glimpse of Gao Yuan, not fight a single battle, which meant he had gained nothing.

He was truly losing enough to vomit blood.

Meanwhile, Gao Yuan had already embarked on his victorious return journey. According to intelligence, Zhu Song and the others over in the Jiangnan West Circuit had indeed become restless; they were gathering troops, preparing to make a move on Jiangzhou and Hongzhou.

Currently, the Beiwei Army Fourth Division had already entered Ezhou to set up defenses, and the Imperial Guard Division had also crossed the Qitian Mountains and entered Jizhou, ready to provide reinforcements at any time.

Gao Yuan's orders to Chen Dao and Ma Song were to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements, awaiting the return of the main army.

In an era with underdeveloped transportation, information transmission was extremely slow, especially when it concerned hostile nations. Therefore, even though Gao Yuan had led his main army back to Yuzhou to rest, people here still didn't know that the war in Guangzhong had already ended.

Ma Song and Chen Dao also firmly executed Gao Yuan's orders, showing weakness everywhere, holding the cities, and putting on a facade of being easy to bully.

Furthermore, because the Beiwei Army and the Imperial Guard Division had not appeared, this gave Zhu Song and the others the illusion that Gao Yuan's main force was still in Guangzhong and wouldn't be able to return anytime soon.

The most experienced and prudent Jiang Huaizhen was in Xu Prefecture and didn't know about this major war planned by Zhu Song. General Ma Zhiyuan, having been captured after a miserable defeat last time, was eager to perform meritorious service to wash away the shame he bore.

As for Song Ren, he was also envious of his companions' rewards and wanted to seize the opportunity to gain some merit, so the few of them hit it off and prepared to take advantage of Gao Yuan's Western Expedition to recover Jiangzhou and Hongzhou.

This time, with the tacit approval of Xiao Yu, Cui You, and others, Zhu Song mobilized the troops of five prefectures—Jizhou, Shuzhou, Xuanzhou, Raozhou, and Fuzhou—totaling over fifty thousand men, and launched an attack on Jiangzhou and Hongzhou simultaneously in two prongs.

In fact, if it were only of this scale, Gao Yuan wouldn't need to lead his main force back; as long as the Beiwei Army and the Imperial Guard Division were deployed, Zhu Song and the others would retreat in the face of difficulties.

However, Gao Yuan's ambition did not stop there; his goal was to fight a major annihilation battle and, along the way, seize one or two of their prefectures as compensation.

With Gao Yuan's cooperation, Zhu Song and the others naturally advanced triumphantly, sailing smoothly, and marched into the hinterlands of the two prefectures without shedding a drop of blood.

What they didn't know was that the Beiwei Army had already wedged itself into the border between Jiangzhou and Shuzhou, and the Imperial Guard Division had already bypassed the front, cutting off the Qian Army's path of retreat toward Fuzhou and Jizhou.