Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 266, Overseeing the Grasslands

"Halt! Who are you?"

"A herdsman from the grasslands asked."

"I am Zhou Shuan, the newly appointed General of the Northern Garrison! Get out of my way!"

Zhou Shuan whipped the grassland man who was blocking his way to the ground, then continued walking towards the camp without stopping. His eyes were bloodshot and he was exhausted, but his momentum was not diminished at all.

The Huaiyin soldiers inside recognized Zhou Shuan's appearance and hurriedly invited him in.

Gao Li's injuries were almost too much to bear, but when he saw Zhou Shuan, he was overjoyed and could finally relax.

The two exchanged talismans, and Zhou Shuan took command of the troops, becoming the new commander.

Gao Li was sent back to the capital to recuperate from his injuries.

"Mobilize the troops immediately!"

Zhou Shuan gave the order.

His troops were quickly mustered and brought out.

Currently, there are 40,000 Huaiyin troops and 4,000 heavy cavalry here, while the steppe troops of the Adil tribe number less than 10,000.

The total number of troops was over 54,000, which was more than 20,000 more than Tuolei's troops, almost twice that of Tuolei. This is why Tuolei never dared to launch a decisive battle easily.

In addition, there are more than 20,000 garrison troops in Datong. However, Datong is in a very important position, and the troops there cannot be moved lightly until the very last moment.

After hearing the news of the troop mobilization, the grassland people arrived somewhat reluctantly.

The fighting situation was unfavorable during this period, and the Adil tribe lost territory, so their morale was naturally low, and some of them even had thoughts of rebellion.

However, they weren't foolish enough to be late in public; they were just slow to act.

Once everyone had arrived, Zhou Shuan drew his longsword in front of everyone and gave the order:

"In three days, we will officially begin our battle against the traitor Tuolei and settle the score!"

Upon hearing this, the officers and generals of Huaiyin Army cheered. They had long been impatient and were ready to fight a major battle against the grasslands to avenge their previous defeat. Zhou Shuan's order was exactly what they wanted.

The generals from the grasslands were not very enthusiastic and only responded with a few low voices.

Zhou Shuan took in the emotions of his men, encouraged them, and ordered them to remain vigilant and hold the line for the next two days.

The troops were then dismissed, and the generals returned to their camp.

Before long, the Huaiyin army officer came to Zhou Shuan alone and asked him about the specific details of the battle that would begin in three days, including where the battle would take place, what formation to use, how much military supplies to prepare, who would be in front and who would be behind, and so on.

Faced with these questions, Zhou Shuan replied:

"I am new to this place. I know nothing about the enemy, nothing about our own army, and nothing about the weather and terrain. How can I make any plans?"

The officers exchanged bewildered glances: "What?"

Zhou Shuan simply said, "Let's talk again tomorrow, I need to rest!"

The officers had no choice but to take their leave.

After the group retreated, the grassland generals came over again, including Bazan and Gaozhi.

The questions they asked were similar to those asked to the generals of Huaiyin Army before.

Zhou Shuan glared and said:

"This matter will be decided by myself; you are not allowed to ask any further questions!"

The grassland generals looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward and said:

"General, it's best to clarify this matter. If the soldiers know the deployment, they can do their best, right?"

Seeing this, Zhou Shuan stepped forward, grabbed the man by the collar, and said in a deep voice, "Do your best? This is a military secret. I will inform you in three days. What are you trying to do by spying on us now!" Upon hearing this, the grassland generals dared not say anything more and hurriedly fled.

Afterwards, the group split into two groups to discuss the matter.

One group consisted of ordinary grassland generals who were simply indignant. Dao Zhoushuan's suspicion of them was truly disheartening.

The other group consisted of people with ulterior motives who intended to surrender. They secretly thought Zhou Shuan was cunning and not to be underestimated, and thus they became more restrained.

After these people left, Dore and Adil E came over to sound out Zhou Shuan's chances of winning the battle.

Zhou Shuanhai declared, "A 100% chance of victory!"

The two were shocked to hear this and neither believed it.

In any war, there is never a 100% chance of victory.

Even if they outnumbered the enemy tenfold, the wrath of heaven is unpredictable; a meteor might fall. Moreover, although there is a disparity in troop strength between the two sides, it is not as great as imagined. The enemy's generals are no mediocre men either; according to Dore's own estimation, he has at most a 60-70% chance of winning, certainly not a 100%.

Adil E's estimate was roughly the same, even lower than Doré's.

Zhou Shuan could tell that the two did not believe him, and said:

"If we're talking about the battle three days from now, I only have a 60% chance of winning. But if we're talking about the battle to wipe out the traitor Tuolei, I have a 100% chance of winning."

Dore didn't understand and asked, "What do you mean by that, General?"

Zhou Shuan said, "We will fight the traitor Tuolei in three days. If we win, we will capture Tuolei alive and support Dorei Khan as the ruler of the grasslands. If we lose, we will regroup. Our king has already stationed 100,000 troops in Datong. If we lose 1,000, we will replace them with 1,000. If we lose 10,000, we will replace them with 10,000. Even if we exhaust all 100,000 troops, there are still 400,000 heavenly soldiers in the capital who are eager to move. I wonder if you two can calculate our chances of victory?"

Upon hearing this, Dore and Adil E were deeply shocked and both prostrated themselves on the ground, daring not to harbor the slightest dissent.

In particular, Adil E originally intended to form an alliance with Tuolei, but because Duolei defected to the Han people in time, Gao Li arrived at Adil's tribe with 5,000 heavy cavalry, which interrupted Adil E's alliance plan.

Adil E saw that the Han people were well-equipped and well-trained, and that he had a blood feud with Chen Zheng, a general under Tuolei, for killing his son. That's why he agreed to cooperate and ambush Tuolei together.

Unexpectedly, the news leaked, and Gao Li suffered a major defeat.

Adil E suddenly harbored rebellious intentions. If Zhou Shuan hadn't arrived in time, Adil E might have rebelled in a few days.

Now that Zhou Shuan has arrived, his attitude is incredibly assertive, and the grassland people are actually swayed by it, which has calmed them down.

After hearing Zhou Shuan's words, Adil E felt even more at ease and no longer harbored any rebellious intentions.

He immediately knelt down and pledged his loyalty to Zhou Shuan.

Zhou Shuan sat arrogantly, not even glancing at Adil E. However, the more arrogant Zhou Shuan was, the more Adil E believed that Zhou Shuan was confident and became even more respectful.

Zhou Shuan looked at Dore, who was kneeling beside Adil E, and went forward to help Dore up, saying:
"Khan Dore, there's no need for such formalities. You and my king are brothers, so you should only bow to my king. I am a subject of my king; how can you bow to me? Please rise! Please rise!"

Zhou Shuan's address of "Khan Dorei" made Dorei overjoyed, his mouth stretching to his ears. Hearing Zhou Shuan's respectful words, Dorei quickly got up, feeling extremely pleased.

Zhou Shuan then seized the opportunity to say:

"Leave the task of annihilating the traitor Tuolei to me, but there is another matter I would like to ask the Khan for his assistance with."

Dorrey patted his chest and said:
"Please give your orders, General."

Zhou Shuandao:
"Khan, please prepare three thousand cattle and sheep tomorrow, slaughter and cook them for my army to enjoy, so as to bolster our military might!"

Dore: "Well... okay!"

Dore hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

Three thousand cattle and sheep is a lot, and it's really a bit painful to use them all at once to reward the army. However, it is only right to slaughter cattle and sheep to reward soldiers before marching into battle. Once Tuolei is wiped out, he will be the Dorei Khan, the ruler of the grasslands. Why should he care about a few cattle and sheep?

Adil E, who was kneeling to the side, cursed inwardly upon seeing this.

"Damn it, that idiot nephew Dorei, he wasn't using your cattle and sheep!"

(End of this chapter)