Supply lines cut off

It could be said that Gao Yuan voluntarily ceded the Wumeng territory, all to let Ma Chaoen taste some sweetness and encourage him to enter Dian Prefecture with confidence.

Most of the Wumeng territory lies within the Wumeng Mountains, where the roads are rugged and narrow, making the transport of supplies extremely difficult.

All grain and supply transport for the Left and Right Martial Guards had to enter the mountain paths from Zhenxiong County in Bo Prefecture, pass through Bijie Post, reach Zhuti County, and finally arrive at Guchang County.

The entire route was filled with locations suitable for ambushes, but Gao Yuan's ambition did not stop there; if he was going to play, he wanted to play big.

"My Lord, we have investigated clearly. There are only one thousand troops stationed at Bijie Post, and counting the personnel stopping there to transport supplies, there are fewer than three thousand people."

"What about Zhuti County?"

"The situation is about the same; there are only one thousand troops stationed there as well. However, the walls of Zhuti County are built of rammed earth, so attacking it will be much more difficult."

"Who said I was going to launch a frontal assault?"

"What does My Lord mean?"

Gao Yuan smiled mysteriously.

"Follow me!"

Gao Yuan led his men into the forest beside the mountain path and pointed down at the road below.

"A grain transport team passes through here every day."

"Does My Lord intend to plunder the grain supplies?"

"How much grain can we plunder? I am planning to pass off a fish eye for a pearl. Go back and let the brothers get some good rest; we will plunder the grain tomorrow."

The night passed without incident. The next day at noon, a grain transport team was walking along the mountain path when suddenly, the sound of bamboo whistles erupted, and the Nanzhou Army charged out from the forest.

The battle ended quickly; there were only five hundred soldiers responsible for transporting the grain, and the rest were civilians.

To prevent news from leaking, Gao Yuan had these civilians temporarily taken into custody.

"Bang Jie, have the soldiers all switch into the equipment of the Qian Army. The rest will disguise themselves as civilians. Hide the weapons on the wagons; we are going to pay a visit to Bijie Post."

"Hehe, as expected of My Lord's brilliant plan."

At dusk, more than an hour later than scheduled, a grain transport team slowly arrived at the entrance of Bijie Post.

"Why are you all so late? Any later and you would have missed dinner."

A person dressed as a junior officer walked up to Xia Luqi, grumbling.

Gao Yuan pretended to look helpless and replied,

"Cough, don't mention it. We ran into a band of mountain bandits and had to deal with them."

"Is the grain alright?"

"It's fine, it's fine. Just a small group of bandits; we wiped them out with a wave of our hands."

"You look a bit unfamiliar, brother. Wasn't Old Niu in charge of this team before?"

"Oh, you mean him? He has already gone to meet his great-grandmother."

"Meet his great-grandmother? What does that mean?"

"You will see your own great-grandmother very soon."

The smiling expression on Gao Yuan's face suddenly turned cold. The officer clearly sensed something was wrong, and just as he was about to ask a question, the answer he received was a swinging horizontal blade.

The sound of a metal blade cutting through flesh rang out, and a spray of blood flew into the air.

"Those who lay down their weapons will be spared!"

Gao Yuan shouted and charged toward the completely unprepared soldiers of the Left Martial Guard.

The battle began very suddenly. Most of the garrison troops were eating and were caught off guard. In less than half an hour, the battle was over.

Except for a few dozen who were killed, the rest were all surrounded in the mess hall, becoming prisoners while still holding their rice bowls.

Also taken prisoner were thousands of civilians, and the more than twenty thousand shi of grain prepared for the front line all became Gao Yuan's spoils of war.

After a quick meal, Gao Yuan began his next plan.

"Bang Jie, have you learned this trick? Take the First Division to Zhuti County tomorrow and take it down."

"Understood!"

Over the next few days, Gao Yuan led the Second Division, disguised as Left Martial Guard garrison troops, and successively wiped out four grain transport teams. Not only did they harvest a large number of prisoners, but they also captured over eighty thousand shi of grain and over one hundred thousand arrows.

This was no small harvest; when the Left and Right Martial Guards turned back to attack, these would be the best defensive weapons.

Outside Guchang County, the two successive shipments of grain made Jiang Huaizhen and General Ma Zhiyuan feel much more at ease.

One must know that with over fifty thousand troops, plus more than ten thousand civilians and auxiliary soldiers, they consumed one hundred and thirty thousand jin of grain a day. The grain delivered by one transport team was only enough for the army to eat for two days.

Most of the army's supplies had to rely on being transported from the distant Jiannan Circuit via Bo Prefecture and Wumeng. Not to mention the consumption along the way, if there were any accidents, the army would go hungry.

After working for nearly ten days, various engineering equipment was ready. Just as they were about to attack the Region the next day, bad news arrived.

That night, Ma Chaoen was happily drinking wine and eating the game meat the soldiers had hunted. The curtain of the commanders tent was lifted, and General Ma Zhiyuan rushed in recklessly. Just as he was about to speak, Ma Chaoen stood up and shouted sternly in his duck-like voice,

"How bold! Why did you not report before entering the commanders tent? And you are carrying a blade—are you trying to rebel? They say you soldiers have no manners, and seeing it today, it is indeed true!"

Looking at Ma Chaoen's trembling orchid finger and that nauseating duck-like voice, General Ma Zhiyuan suppressed the urge to chop this eunuch in half with one stroke.

"Supervisor Ma, Commander Ma, Junior Supervisor Ma, do you still have the heart to care about these things? Do you know that something major has happened?"

Ma Chaoen shook his robes, sat back down, and leisurely took a sip of wine.

"My foster father once said that those who accomplish great things should remain calm even if a mountain collapses before them. What could be so urgent to make you act so rashly!"

"The grain transport team did not arrive; the army will be out of grain tomorrow!"

"Pfft... cough, cough, cough..."

Ma Chaoen sprayed out a mouthful of wine and coughed uncontrollably. It took a long while for him to recover.

"What did you say? These damned soldiers, they can't even transport grain properly. When I return to report to His Majesty, they will all be stripped of their ranks and imprisoned."

General Ma Zhiyuan was very unhappy with this eunuch's behavior of constantly calling them soldiers. Unfortunately, a higher rank crushes you, especially when that superior is such a petty person.

"General Jiang has already personally taken men to investigate. There should be results soon, so please, Commander Ma, remain calm."

"You come to me without having investigated clearly? Hurry up and go find out!"

General Ma Zhiyuan felt as if he had been granted amnesty and practically fled in a panic.

The next day, the original plan to attack the Region was canceled. The army ran out of grain after breakfast, and since Jiang Huaizhen, who had gone to investigate, had not returned, General Ma Zhiyuan dared not act rashly.

Jiang Huaizhen investigated along the Wumeng mountain road all the way toward Bo Prefecture. Along the way, let alone a grain transport team, he didn't even see a single person, and his heart gradually sank.

Until he arrived at Zhuti County, one of the most important county towns in the Wumeng mountain road, his suspended heart finally died.

"The Nanzhou Army flag; I knew it!"

Seeing this scene, the deputy general's face turned pale. The supply line was severed, which meant they were finished.

"Great General, this... what should we do?"

Jiang Huaizhen sighed.

"Go back and discuss it with them first!"

Riding fast to return to the main camp, Jiang Huaizhen didn't even have time to drink a sip of water before telling General Ma Zhiyuan and Ma Chaoen the news, which was like a bolt from the blue.

Ma Chaoen had been hungry for a day and no longer had the strength to throw a tantrum; he sat there slumped and powerless.

It was he who, at the beginning, felt that his strength was in a position of absolute crushing dominance and was unwilling to leave more troops to defend the retreat route.

Jiang Huaizhen didn't even look at this eunuch and only addressed General Ma Zhiyuan.

"Brother Ma, what do you think we should do?"

"What else can we do? The only plan for now is to retreat first and then make other arrangements."

"Retreat? Now that the Wumeng road is severed, where can we retreat to?"

Jiang Huaizhen had already planned it out on his way back. He walked to the map and gestured.

"Go this way, pass through Qian Prefecture and enter Sicheng. That side is under the control of Governor Wang Chuan. Then detour through Region, Zhenyuan Prefecture, and Tongren to return to Jiannan Circuit."