Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chapter 628: Inspiring Generals

Hedong, Duan clan.

Pang De, who was out investigating the enemy, stepped into the county temple covered in dust and reported to Ma Chao, who was waiting for news in the county temple: "Fubo, the Yuan army that came to rescue Qu Yi has arrived. They are on the other side of the Qin River and are preparing to cross the river."

"Who is the general coming and how many troops does he have?" Ma Chao asked two important questions.

Pang De replied immediately: "Judging from the number of troops, there are about a brigade. As for the commander, judging from the name on his flag, it is Guo, who is most likely the rebel general Guo Yuan who came from Taiyuan County."

"Guo Yuan." Ma Chao nodded. He had already learned about the retreat of Gao Gan and Zhang He who attacked Taiyuan County, and that Guo Yuan rushed to Hedong as a vanguard from the military report handed over by Zhang Ren.

This is also the reason why Ma Chao came to Duanshi, instead of staying in Dongshan to besiege Qu Yi with Gan Ning and Shen Mi. He needed to block the Yuan army that was rescuing Qu Yi and buy time for Gan Ning and Shen Mi to capture Qu Yi.

In order for Gan Ning and Shen Mi to capture Qu Yi as soon as possible, Ma Chao only brought more than a thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry on this trip, leaving the majority of the troops to Gan Ning and Shen Mi to help them besiege Qu Yi.

After hearing that the coming general was Guo Yuan, Ma Chao smiled and said, "According to the spies, Guo Yuan is a stubborn and competitive man who refuses to be inferior to others. Now that he has arrived here, he will most likely cross the river as soon as possible. We can hide our troops in ambush and prepare to attack him when he is halfway across the river."

"Fu Bo's brilliant plan." Pang De nodded in praise. Attacking the enemy halfway across the river was the strategy with the greatest benefit and the least damage. He agreed with it very much.

As a result, after two or three days, the development of the situation was beyond Ma Chao's expectations. Guo Yuan, who arrived on the other side of Qinshui River, did not make any movement for two or three days. It seemed that he was not in a hurry to rescue Qu Yi and did not care about Qu Yi's life or death.

Ma Chao was very confused at first, but then he roughly deduced Guo Yuan's thoughts based on the information he collected from spies.

"He actually puts personal interests above public interest. What a coward." Ma Chao belittled Guo Yuan and looked down on his character.

Pang De on the side looked confused; he didn't understand what Ma Chao meant.

Ma Chao explained, "In the past, Qu Yi was arrogant and conceited, and was indifferent to others, including Guo Yuan. Therefore, Guo Yuan holds a grudge against Qu Yi, so he is not very concerned about rescuing Qu Yi. He has been here for several days and has no intention of crossing the river."

"Hmm?" Pang De raised his eyebrows and sneered, "If that's true, he doesn't take state affairs seriously, but thinks about personal feelings. He puts public affairs above personal interests. It's ridiculous."

Pang De said depressedly: "However, Guo Yuan has no intention of crossing the river due to personal feelings. We can only look at him across the river, but we cannot defeat Guo Yuan and eliminate the momentum of Yuan's army to rescue Qu Yi."

Ma Chao smiled, his face full of confidence, and declared: "In a few days, I will instruct Guo Yuan to cross the river."

"Oh, what's Fu Bo's brilliant plan?" Pang De asked.

……

Day two.

At the Yuan army camp on the other side of the Qin River, Guo Yuan waved his hand at the people who were trying to persuade him to cross the river and said, "As the old saying goes, attacking an enemy halfway across the river is a taboo in military strategy. Now the Qin army is on the other side. If we cross the river, we will be in danger. Please wait a moment while I think of a good strategy."

"General," a lieutenant said, "General Qu in Dongshan is in imminent danger, but we are just sitting here and watching without making any move to cross the river. This is like abandoning General Qu to death. Even if crossing the river is not auspicious this time, we must still try once or twice."

"Besides, we are the vanguard army and have not moved for several days. If anything happens to General Qu in the future, we will be heavily blamed and unable to escape." On the surface, the captain was making plans for Guo Yuan and predicting the future, but in fact, he was making plans for himself.

This is because Guo Yuan came from a prominent family and had many friends. Even if he failed to save Qu Yi this time, Guo Yuan would not be severely punished. The captains and commanders of a thousand men under him were just small fry. If there was any guilt, they would be the ones to bear the consequences.

Therefore, all the people in the tent who persuaded Guo Yuan to try to cross the river did so in order to have an excuse in the future to deal with the accusations from Yecheng. After all, if they did not cross the river, they would be extremely wrong, but if they tried to cross the river but failed, their guilt would be lighter.

But despite everyone's persuasion, Guo Yuan refused to give in.

At this time, a scout came and delivered a message: "General, the Qin army has let cattle and horses graze on the sand on the opposite bank, chewing river grass, and from time to time, leisurely flute sounds can be heard."

"What?" Guo Yuan didn't react at first, but soon, anger appeared on his face. The Qin army didn't take him seriously at all and actually released cattle and horses in front of him.

"The Qin army is despicable. How dare they treat you so lightly."

Guo Yuan was filled with anger, his fists clenched tightly, as if he was about to say cross the river, but after a while, the anger on his face dissipated, revealing a mocking expression, that is, even if the Qin army did not take him seriously, he also planned not to take the Qin army seriously.

He did whatever the Qin army did.

With this in mind, Guo Yuan immediately gave the order: "Let the horse herders drive the horses away and let them loose in front of the Qin army on the other side to embarrass them."

"I am a genius. I can give you a taste of your own medicine." After giving the order, Guo Yuan praised himself in his heart. He felt very happy to use his own methods to fight the enemy.

However, quarter of an hour after the military order was issued, the personal guard who delivered the message came to Guo Yuan. He opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out. It seemed that he had something to hide, and his expression was a little timid.

"Tell me quickly, how embarrassed were the Qin army when they saw me releasing the horses?" Guo Yuan asked with great interest.

The guard finally gritted his teeth and said, "General, the Qin army gathered all the mares to lure our stallions. When our stallions on the riverbank saw them, they were tempted and most of them swam across the river and were captured by the Qin army."

"I...you, what did you say?" Guo Yuan looked incredulous, his face twisted into a ball, filled with anger. He took a step forward and questioned the guard.

Facing the furious Guo Yuan, the guards' voice trembled, but they still had to speak: "The Qin army used mares to lure away hundreds of our stallions, and the Qin army loudly declared on the other side of the river, saying... saying..."

"What did you say?" Guo Yuan shouted.

"Speak." The guard unconsciously lowered his voice: "Qin Jun said, thank you General Guo for your horse."

"Ahhh." Guo Yuan shouted angrily, his hair standing on end. At first, the Qin army ignored him and let the cattle and horses roam free on the river beach. Then he followed the Qin army's example and let the cattle and horses roam free, but he lured hundreds of healthy horses away for the Qin army.

At that moment, Guo Yuan felt like a dwarf making an ugly scene, showing off his big face. It was his cleverness that made him be treated like a monkey and made fun of by others.

Shame on my ancestors!!!
(End of this chapter)