Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2159 An army of 100,000 marches out of Tianjing, approaching Liangguan Pass to fight against the Song Dynasty.

The 15th day of the fifth month in the fourth year of the Yuanshi era.

Five miles east of Liangguan in Henan Province, the commotion of an army of 100,000 setting up camp was as if the entire land had been plowed.

The endless camp stretched out towards the dark gray walls of Liangguan Pass, like a ferocious beast, covered in mud, that had just awakened from the frozen earth, coiled in the huge shadow cast by the city walls.

The air was filled with a strong, pungent odor, along with the indelible aura of steeliness accumulated on countless people. Stirred by the gentle spring breeze, it pressed heavily on everyone.

Above the towering Liangguan Pass, the city wall built of huge stone blocks appeared particularly lofty and chilling in the twilight.

The cracks in the wall bricks are covered with black grime accumulated over the years, marks left by countless battles fought with blood and fire.

At this moment, shadowy figures loomed behind the battlements, countless eyes hidden behind the crenellations and arrow slits, staring intently at the suddenly descending steel army below.

That gaze, like a cold snake's tongue, was full of vigilance.

Wang Yu comes from a family with a long tradition of learning, and now he is even more experienced in battle, so setting up camp would naturally not be a problem for him.

The outer perimeter was a deep trench with sharpened wooden stakes driven into the bottom and freshly dug frozen soil piled up along the edges, gleaming with a damp, cold light in the twilight.

Behind the trenches were continuous chevaux-de-frise, with thick, sharp logs intertwined and bound together, resembling the bared fangs of a giant beast.

Further in, there were countless military tents, spread across the field like gray mushrooms.

The tents were divided by camp and team, and the flags fluttered in the cold wind, marking their respective territories.

Countless supply wagons were pushed to the inner side of the camp, forming a series of simple barriers.

The campfire was lit, and the dry branches crackled in the fire, sending up wisps of smoke with the smell of pine resin, which were quickly dispersed by the breeze.

The firelight illuminated only a few tired, rough faces around the fire, and the frozen, hard coarse grain cakes roasting over the fire.

"Your Majesty, Zhao Yong and Zhao She, who are stationed at Liang Pass, are both veteran generals of the Song Dynasty. I'm afraid they won't fall for the trap easily!"

Inside the entire camp, in the very center and tallest imperial tent, Zhang Liang sat upright behind the tables on either side of the center of the camp.

On the side table, there was simply a plate of cold meat, a plate of vegetables, and two freshly baked potatoes that were still steaming hot.

"It doesn't matter!"

"This battle isn't important to us!"

"If we don't want to fight, then we don't want to fight!"

"If the Song dynasty could just behave themselves, we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble!" Wang Yu said, picking at a roasted potato, completely unconcerned about the Song troops inside Liang Pass refusing to fight.

Since the introduction of potatoes, along with corn, their grain production has increased significantly, far surpassing previous levels.

However, when it's time to save money, they still do.

Even corn stalks and potato vines are not wasted; they are used as feed for warhorses and cattle.

Fresh potato vines can be used directly as feed for warhorses for a short period of time, since potato vines are quite nutritious.

In addition, any excess sweet potato vines are crushed, salted, and sealed for preservation, also to be used as animal feed.

In fact, not only warhorses, but ordinary people would also collect potato vines as a daily supplementary food.

Furthermore, Wang Yu once issued an edict supporting this practice among the people. Anything that the people could not consume would be purchased by the government, whether it was used as horse feed or processed and sold to the Northern Di, in order to squeeze out as much value as possible from it.

Starting in the second year of the Yuanshi era, the Battle of Henan had just ended in the early third year of the Yuanshi era, and Wang Yu launched this great war in the fourth year of the Yuanshi era.

During this period, he even traded grain with the Northern Di for cattle and sheep, partly due to the confidence he gained from high-yield grains like corn and potatoes.

The grain saved through this method of thrift was also his source of confidence. During the conquest phase, careful budgeting was essential; waste was unacceptable.

At this very moment, although they set up camp in a grand manner and even appeared to be completely unprepared, it was all in order to lure the other side out.

However, it was just a trial anyway, and I didn't think there was much of a chance of success from the start.

The journey from Tianjing to Liangguan by troop transport vehicle, without sleep or rest, took less than three days, much faster than Zhao Kuangyin's journey here.

Moreover, they are on their own soil, and Henan Province is a major grain-producing area, so the troops can come directly without worrying about the supply of provisions.

Zhao Kuangyin's side was different; if their army were to mobilize, they would definitely need to prepare enough provisions in advance.

Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin was not in Liangguan at this time, and the entire Liangguan Pass only had 40,000 garrison troops.

Zhao Yong and Zhao She were not incompetent; why would they dare to come out at this time?
Before Zhao Kuangyin's main force arrived, even if they exposed a major flaw, these few people would not dare to come out easily!
After all, they couldn't afford the consequences of rashly going into battle and losing.

"Zhao Gao, keep an eye on the battle between Da Wu and Su Dingfang!"

"Keep an eye on the situation over the Zhongxing Mountains!"

"I am not worried about Zhao Kuangyin. The key to the success of this battle lies in the Dawu and Zhongxing Mountains!" After handing a plate of meat to Li Yuanba, who was stuffing himself beside him, Wang Yu instructed Zhao Gao, who was standing to the side.

Inside the entire tent, there were only four people: Wang Yu, Zhao Gao, Zhang Liang, and Li Yuanba.

In this battle, Wang Yu personally led the troops without bringing any generals. At least, apart from Bai Qi, who was still of low rank at the time, he didn't bring any god-level commanders.

Even the strategist only brought Zhang Liang with him. Zhang Bin and Yao Guangxiao, who usually fought alongside him, did not stay with Wang Yu in this battle, but instead followed the other two armies respectively.

As for the fierce generals, even the divine generals, they only brought Li Yuanba along.

Of course, those like Huang Tianxiang and Chang Mao, who haven't yet matured, are not included for the time being.

While they may reach the level of a god-general after reaching their peak, they are still far from reaching that peak.

In truth, Li Yuanba alone was more than enough for the Song Dynasty. He could single-handedly take on all of the Song's top-tier generals without losing. Wang Yu's goal along the way was not to conquer cities and seize territory, nor was their target the Song Dynasty.

Wang Yu's appearance here with 100,000 troops was merely to block Zhao Kuangyin and prevent him from interfering in their battle.

As for Da Wu, when the weather had just warmed up in March, they and Su Dingfang, unwilling to be idle, had already begun to engage in battles of varying sizes, testing each other little by little, waiting for the opportunity for a true decisive battle.

The war started much earlier on their end than it did here in Wang Yu's area.

However, neither Wu Bing'er from Da Wu nor Su Dingfang from Da Han are simple people. With the difference in troop strength not being that great, it will not be easy for either side to determine a winner so quickly.

Wang Yu's request to Su Dingfang was to maintain the situation, especially if Da Wu were to further reinforce its troops.

Of course, if Da Wu really reinforces its troops after receiving news of Da Han's expedition, as long as Su Dingfang can maintain the situation, even if it means giving up some interests to buy time, it would be worthwhile for Wang Yu's side, as long as it's not too outrageous.

As long as they can hold out until the end of the war on the eastern front and defeat Xuanyuan Huang's Great Yan, any price paid elsewhere is worthwhile.

"promise!"

"The Net will not disappoint Your Majesty!" Zhao Gao replied in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured!"

"The Golden Horde will definitely send troops. Even if the Tuoba tribe really invades Zhongxing, they certainly won't be able to go all out!"

“The Golden Horde now needs a powerful Han dynasty!” Zhang Liang said with a smile.

Zhang Liang dared to make this guarantee not because the two families were allies, but simply because of their respective interests.

Both sides have the Tuoba tribe and the Dawu as enemies, which is the strongest guarantee that their relationship is so harmonious now.

The stronger the Han Dynasty, the more firmly the Tuoba tribe's southward expansion would be blocked, and the power of the Great Wu would not grow too strong.

If these two are not powerful, the Golden Horde will have a chance to annex them.

In particular, since last year, taking advantage of the fact that the various forces that split off from the Murong tribe after Murong Yuan's death had fought each other to the point of exhaustion, the Golden Horde officially launched a western expedition, and the results were quite significant.

In just one year, nearly a third of the original Murong tribe's power had been taken over by the Golden Horde. Even Murong Tian, ​​one of the earliest generals on the Four Directions Fiends Ranking, led his tribe to join the Golden Horde.

Although the Tuoba tribe conquered the entire Shanyin region last year, the Golden Horde was not to be outdone, and its achievements were even more remarkable.

There was no way around it. After the Murong tribe split up, they fought each other for so many years that they were already exhausted and could not stop the Golden Horde.

Not only the Golden Horde, but also Temujin conquered a large amount of grassland.

As the Golden Horde grew stronger, all they needed to do was to completely take over the grasslands that originally belonged to Murong Yuan and digest them. At this point, the Tuoba tribe would be blocked from moving south by the Han Dynasty.

A few years later, the Golden Horde will be in a completely advantageous position when facing the Tuoba tribe.

It was precisely because of this interest that Zhang Liang was certain that the Golden Horde would not stand idly by.

Even if they still have battles on their western front, the Golden Horde will at least do its best to help them tie down a portion of the Tuoba tribe's forces.

Therefore, while the Tuoba tribe might invade the Zhongxing Mountains after receiving news of the Han army's deployment, it would be highly unlikely that they would go all out.

Furthermore, Zhang Liang had great confidence in Wang Yingkan's silver tongue.

Since Wang Yingkan entered Han, he first persuaded Huangfu Guyuan, thus facilitating a powerful alliance between the two, which led to Guan Zhong's successful strategy of pacifying Cang.

Afterwards, they went north to the Northern Di and, during the Battle of Henan in the Han Dynasty, instigated a major war between various forces in the Northern Di.

During this period, he even remotely directed his subordinates to facilitate the secret surrender of Dou Jiande's remaining forces to the Han Dynasty.

It can be said that Wang Yingkan is also an indispensable figure in the development of the Han Dynasty to this day.

"Send an edict to Wang Jian: not an inch of land in Shanyang can be lost. His 50,000 border troops, even if they die, can only die on the Zhongxing Mountains!"

"A further edict was issued to Gao Jiong, the governor of Shanyang, and Yang Ye, the general of the Shanyang Road Army, instructing them that if the Northern Di invaded, all manpower and resources must be devoted to ensuring that Wang Jian had no worries about his rear. The Shanyang Prefecture Army must also fully cooperate with Wang Jian."

When the topic of the Shanyang Road issue came up, Wang Yu's tone became noticeably sterner.

Regarding the major battle on Su Dingfang's side, if Da Wu really increases its troop deployment afterward, then as long as Su Dingfang can drag it out until the end of the Eastern Front, Wang Yu will allow it at a certain cost.

After all, Wang Yu knew that the support he could provide to Su Dingfang was limited, but that area had very few areas that were easy to defend; most of it was easy to attack but difficult to defend.

Moreover, to put it bluntly, even if Wang Yu loses all his bottom line regarding the four minor dynasties' territories, as long as he can take over the four territories of Xuanyuan Huangda Yan, he will still make a huge profit.

Of the four minor dynasties, only one and a half were in the hands of the Han Dynasty.

Moreover, even if the four minor dynasties were to suffer the worst-case scenario and lose all their territories, they could still retain control of the Hedong region and defend it along the great river.

Of the seven great dynasties, the navy of Great Wu was the weakest.

Therefore, this was the bottom line Wang Yu set for Su Dingfang.

However, it was a different story for the Tuoba tribe; they absolutely could not afford to lose even a single bit of it.

If the natural barrier of the Zhongxing Mountains were lost, it would suffer the same fate as Shanyin. After that, whether it was Shanyang or Hedong and Hebei, the land would be flat and open, a veritable cavalry playground.

By then, Wang Yuguang would have to exert all his strength to deal with the Tuoba tribe, so how could he possibly deal with the Zhao Song?
The great cause of the Han Dynasty, to put it bluntly, lies on this mountain range.

Do you really think that Guan Zhong's strategy of pacifying Cangzhou only locked down the Zhenbei Army, a military group?
This is the apparent purpose; what they really want to lock down is the vast grassland power north of the Zhenbei Army.

This was simply because Guan Zhong, when formulating his strategy, believed that he could not resolve the Zhenbei Army in a short period of time, or rather, he believed that it was almost impossible to ensure that none of the three passes of Zhenbei fell into the hands of the Northern Di while resolving the Zhenbei Army.

This led to a strategic compromise: using strategic passes to reduce the deployment of border defense forces and buy time for expansion to the south and west.

Zhang Liang was well aware that the defenses of Shanyang Wang Jian and Su Dingfang were indeed of paramount importance, but even more important was how long it would take Li Jing and Yue Fei to quell Xuanyuan Huang and take over the four regions of Donghai, Qingnan, Heyang, and Guangyang.