My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 754

In Liaoxi County, Mo Ran read the reports from the scouts. There seemed to be no movements from Yangzhou’s troops. The enemy that previously showed the resolve to defeat Liaodong had been eerily quiet.

One must understand that Yangzhou showed relentless advance in the past, forcing Liaodong into a defensive stance. It was to the extent that they had to evacuate the civillians from outside the city walls into the city. As a result, they were suffering from massive food consumption. These civillians needed to eat and they would not have been able to take much with them during evacuation. Those with relatives could stay with their relatives but Mo Ran could not just leave the ones without to sleep on the streets. After all, the North was cold. If it rains, those without houses would freeze to death on the streets. He also had to provide food for all of them.

All of these necessary arrangements kept Mo Ran busy.

Even then, Mo Ran remained resolute while Yangzhou eyed Liaodong’s territory like a tiger. He was determined to do his best to defend Liaoxi County. Yangzhou was powerful but they lacked numbers. Mo Ran already has a plan to seize the opportunity and attack Zhangyi City once Yangzhou decide to attack another city. This could cut off Yangzhou’s line of supplies and leave them homeless. Unfortunately, his strategy does not seem to be of use.

The scouts Mo Ran sent out constantly monitored both the important roads and even the smaller ones in fear of a surprise attack. But yet, there were no movement from Yangzhou. The silence made Mo Ran uncomfortable. He was afraid that Yangzhou found a lesser known path that even he did not know of.

Mo Ran quickly asked his men and sure enough, such roads exist. He then ordered these roads to be monitored as well. Even then, there were still no sign of Yangzhou’s troops. Just as Mo Ran was feeling restless, an urgent report came from Zhangyi.

“What!” Mo Ran stared at the letter in his hands and then double checked if there were any signs of tampering. After he found none, he immediately called for a meeting.

“Yangzhou’s troops have withdrawn from Zhangyi?” The deputy general Yue Peng and the others were also in disbelief. “Impossible! This must be one of Yangzhou’s tricks! They want us to let our guard down so that they can strike at us!” The other generals nod at Yue Peng’s words.

To put it in another way, Yangzhou were unstoppable. Several famous generals of Liaodong were defeated. For such an army, they should continue attacking rather than retreat.

When Yangzhou remained silent, they thought that Yangzhou was waiting for reinforcements. Something was wrong here.

While Mo Ran agreed with Yue Peng’s analysis, the intelligence coming from the frontlines could not be false. Everyone argued that they should keep waiting for the enemy’s response and observe Zhangyi County again in a few days. Mo Ran agreed.

***

Outside Zhangyi City, thousands of soldiers were marching in formation. Their direction was Liaodong Port. Ling Cao sighed as he was reluctant to part with the city he conquered with such great difficulty.

“Lord Yang Chen. Can’t we stay? I will definitely not let Milord and Lord Yang Chen down.” Ling Cao asked.

“That is enough, General Ling Cao.” Yang Chen consoled Ling Cao. “There will be more battles ahead.” Ling Cao’s men were all from the South. They were unskilled in cavalry. But Yang Chen now required cavalry so Ling Cao and the others were to board the transport ship while someone else replaces them.

It was not possible to keep staying in Liaodong. Mo Ran had burned all the food before leaving Zhangyi. Although a lot of it was salvaged, it was still not enough for prolonged stay. Besides that, the Monarch-class warship also could not stay for very long.

“Are we leaving?” An Yixuan and Dongfang Ming said as they looked back at Liaodong with a sense of regret. They would be leaving with the main army and they would only be able to return once they conquered the world.

“Let’s go!” An Yixuan said as he waved his hand.

“Lord Yang Chen. Do you think they will pursue us?” Ling Cao’s deputy general asked.

“Don’t worry. Mo Ran is an extremely cautious man. He would not send troops.” An Yixuan shook his head.

“We should leave a few troops behind to cover our rear.” Retreating was not as easy as attacking. Many things such as the cannons even require specialist to escort. Because of this, the presence of a rearguard was extremely important.

“Let’s go. We will come back next time!”

***

It has been several days since Mo Ran sent out additional scouts. Despite that, there were no news. It was as if Yangzhou’s troops did not exist.

Mo Ran could not help but ask. “Yue Peng! How many horses do we still have left?”

“General. We have less than two thousand!” Liaodong is located in the North and have a lot of pastures. However, not all of the horses were immediately suitable for war. That was why the reserves of warhorses were reduced after Tuoba Hai was defeated.

“That is enough! Gather two thousand soldiers and follow me to Zhangyi County!”

“General! It’s dangerous to go! We may fall into a trap if we rush in without knowing what Yangzhou is doing!” Yue Peng hurried to dissuade Mo Ran.

“No!” Mo Ran could not sit still any longer. He had to go regardless of the danger. Yangzhou was acting too strangely. Even Mo Ran was taught a lesson after so many years on the battlefield such as the existence of those huge warships. Because of this, he did not dare to wait around forever. Just look at how Zhangyi County was captured in the past.

“But…!” Yue Peng was still worried.

“Don’t worry. I have horses. Even if we are ambushed, we can still escape!” Mo Ran was going with just the cavalry and no infantry so they could escape immediately.

“General. I will go with you!” Yue Peng was still worried about Mo Ran going.

“If you go as well, who will manage Liaoxi?” Mo Ran asked. Yue Peng was a good deputy general. With Yue Peng around, Mo Ran did not need to deal with many things by himself.

“These are just small matters. The county magistrates can handle it. As for the army, the troops also have their own generals so there is no need to worry about them!” Yue Peng waved his hand.

“Alright. Then finish up what needs to be done and come with me!” Mo Ran replied. They still needed to arrange the city defenses.

“Understood!” Yue Peng’s face lit up as he hurried off.

Mo Ran then rushed to Zhangyi City with two thousand cavalrymen. Due to his cautious nature, they retreat thirty miles for every fifty miles they advanced. Because of this, they were exhausted the moment they reached Zhangyi City.

“General. Let us go straight ahead!” Yue Peng complained. Most people could not handle this kind of travelling back and forth.

“No.” Mo Ran shook his head. “Yue Peng. Have you not noticed yet?”

“Noticed what?” Yue Peng was puzzled.

“It is too quiet here.” Zhangyi City was silent like a dead city.

“Hm?” Yue Peng nodded after Mo Ran reminded him. This really seemed to be the case. Then what should we do?

“We should send scouts first.” Mo Ran replied.

Yue Peng nodded. After half an hour, the dispatched scout returned with a strange expression.

“General. The gates of the city are wide open!”

“It is open? This must be a trap!” Mo Ran immediately suspected. “Yue Peng. Send your scouts all over! I want reports within every hundred miles and I want it reported every hour!”

“General. The city gates are open and there are no soldiers inside!”

“What?” Mo Ran then led his cavalry into the city. The place felt desolate and the civillians were afraid to come out.

“Where are the Yangzhou soldiers?”

“General. I heard from the people that they left several days ago!” Yue Peng reported.

“They left?” Mo Ran was shocked. This coincided with the intelligence he had received. It would seem that the intelligence was correct.

“Impossible!” Mo Ran shook his head. Yangzhou held a deep grudge towards Liaodong as Gongsun Kang had robbed Yangzhou just to curry favor with Cao Cao. Yangzhou lost millions of gold worth of weapons and armor from this. It is no wonder Yangzhou was attacking them.

But even if Yangzhou destroyed the whole of Liaoxi, it would not be worth the million gold slight. Yangzhou was determined to take Gongsun Kang’s head. They would not leave like this.

“General. Maybe they have fully vented now that they have defeated us and decided to leave?” Yue Peng cautiously suggested. An Yixuan, Mo Ran and Tuoba Hai. One surrendered and one died. The only one left was Mo Ran and even he lost the Zhendong Army. It can be said that the Liaodong Army had been turned into a joke by Yangzhou. Yue Peng wondered if Yangzhou had vented and decided it was no longer worth fighting considering Gongsun Du’s attitude.

“Hm?” Mo Ran frowned. Yue Peng’s words made sense logically but Mo Ran still did not feel that way. He pondered on this question for a long time but was unable to reach an answer. With no other choice, he suppressed his unease and took things one step at a time.

“Yue Peng. Go and post notice to reassure the people.” Mo Ran ordered. Of the surrounding area, only Zhangyi City was properly preserved. Despite being occupied, Yangzhou did not pillage and even paid for the supplies obtained from the city. On the other hand, the nearby areas were all pillaged by Tuoba Hai and his men. Countless homes and lives were lost. Some Liaodong men even wanted to join Yangzhou to take revenge on Tuoba Hai. It is only when Tuoba Hai is dead when their grievances were appeased.

“General. What about the border troops?” Yue Peng asked. Since Yangzhou is gone, these troops should return to guard the borders.

“Keep them here for another half a month.” Mo Ran replied. He wanted to guard against unexpected scenarios. There were no radars in this era and the ocean is vast. Without any way to track Yangzhou Army, he had to be cautious of a surprise attack.

Yue Peng passed the order down and the border troops were relocated to Zhangyi City. Everyone was on high alert and even the ocean was being sealed off. But it was soon clear that Mo Ran’s actions were unnecessary as Ling Cao’s troops had truly left.

***

“Urk!” A large army arrived on a desolate beach near Youzhou.

“General Zilong. Are you alright?” Yang Chen asked Zhao Yun.

“I’m alright! Urp!” Zhao Yun replied before vomitting again.

“Haha!” Yang Chen laughed bitterly. Zhao Yun was one of the Lord’s most trusted subordinate. He was almost like a brother even. Yet this powerful warrior was seasick.

Zhao Yun’s injuries were healed and Lady Mi was pregnant with his child. It was at this moment when Zhao Yun asked to fight again. Liu Mang sent Zhao Yun here with the White Horses. They have expanded from their original three thousand and now had five thousand men. Each of them have two horses which totalled up to ten thousand horses. The White Horses required an entire fleet just to transport.

“General Zilong. Should we rest a day before heading out?” Yang Chen asked kindly.

“No need.” Zhao Yun waved it off. His men weren’t affected as badly as him. They were Southerners and so they had experience sailing on rivers and coped better.

“The Lord’s cause comes first! Lord Yang Chen. If you have any orders, I will carry them out!” Zhao Yun added.

“That would be best!” Yang Chen nodded. Since Zhao Yun already said so, he did not insist for Zhao Yun to rest.

“General Zhao Yun. This is General Dongfang Ming. I am sure you have heard of him.” Yang Chen introduced Dongfang Ming to Zhao Yun.

“General Dongfang Ming.” Zhao Yun nodded with respect. He already heard the story that Dongfang Ming’s family was slaughtered by Gongsun Kang and wants revenge. This was a true man.

“General Zhao Yun. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Liaodong borders Youzhou, who was once Gongsun Zan’s territory. In the past, Gongsun Zan’s White Horses struck fear in the hearts of his enemies. Zhao Yun was also the commander of the White Horses then. Dongfang Ming naturally have heard of Zhao Yun before.

“General Zilong. General Dongfang Ming will serve as your deputy general.” This is because Dongfang Ming knew the terrain.

Zhao Yun nodded. “It’s late. Let’s move.” The White Horses were already prepared.

“Alright. General, I will wait for the news of your victory.” Yang Chen said to Zhao Yun.

“White Horses, let’s go!” Zhao Yun nodded and mounted his horse. He now looked completely fine despite the fact that he had been vommitting a while ago. The White Horses soon disappeared from Yang Chen’s view.

“Youzhou…” Zhao Yun had mixed emotions as he set foot on this land. He thought of many things such as his former Lord, Gongsun Zan. Zhao Yun learned the meaning of righteousness and how to lead cavalry from Gongsun Zan. Unfortunately, Gongsun Zan is now gone. That man was fit to be a general but not a Lord.

“General. I am back.” Zhao Yun cried in his heart. He wanted to announce his return but he held back.

There was actually no need for Dongfang Ming to show them the way as Zhao Yun was also familiar with the route. Soon, they arrived at Nanpi. Zhao Yun raised his hand. The command flag waved, signalling for the cavalry to stop. This cavalry of five thousand was a clearly a massive elite force.

“Change your equipment!” Zhao Yun’s voice echoed.

“Understood!” The soldiers all changed horses and changed their armor. A different banner was also raised. “Liaodong Heavy Cavalry.”