The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 301 Dilemma
Wangwushan.

It's already a chaotic situation at this moment.

Wang Yuan sat in front of Guo Ze, his hands shaking constantly.

The two sat facing each other without speaking for a long time.

Suddenly, someone ran into the house and saluted the two of them.

"Why are you still being polite? Tell me, what's going on?"

Wang Yuan asked unhappily.

That man, one of Wang Yuan's closest confidants, said helplessly, "We can't find out anything. The enemy keeps coming. We estimate there are nearly a million men. Their army has been marching along the official roads for days and nights, but they haven't finished. Everywhere is swarming with their troops."

"All the roads are blocked by them, making it impossible to get through."

Wang Yuan almost collapsed after hearing what his confidant said.

"It's broken! It's broken!"

"How could defeating a few powerful people attract such a large army to attack us?!"

Wang Yuan, who was usually calm, was thrown into disarray at this moment, while Guo Ze, who was usually unreliable, became calmer. "There won't be that many people."

"All the troops of the Great Wei combined only have over 400,000 soldiers. There is no way they can have a million soldiers coming to attack us."

"If Sima Zhao came from Hebei, he must have gathered the Hebei army, which should number around 100,000."

Guo Ze's analysis was very rational, but after hearing these words, Wang Yuan became even more sad and angry.

Is there any difference between an army of 100,000 and an army of 1 million?

He now has more than 10,000 people under his command. Although it is a considerable scale, if he were to clash with the armored soldiers, there would be big problems. He might not be able to win even if the exchange rate was ten to one.

Wang Yuan dared to jump around before because he thought that the government would not summon a large army to punish a small bandit like him. If he had known that he would be treated like this for plundering the powerful people in Hanoi, he should not have come down the mountain.

Wang Yuan's previous robberies were not very successful because defenses were strengthened in various places. Only some small local tyrants were attacked by him.

When he ran back to the mountains with the things, he found that the army began to rush towards him in an endless stream.

At this moment, Wang Yuan thought of escaping again.

A few dozen people hiding in the mountains is completely different from ten thousand people hiding in the mountains.

Now that he has a big family and a big business, it is very difficult for him to hide in the mountains. He does not have the ability of Zhang Yan.
Thinking of the gathered army, Wang Yuan's face became worse and worse.

Looking at the depressed people, Guo Ze said, "This may not be a bad thing."

"Sima Shi is dead, and Sima Zhao is now the General of the Guards, but not the Grand General. This shows that Your Majesty has already gained a certain amount of power."

"Sima Zhao left Luoyang perhaps to gain more military power."

"If we can hold him back long enough in the mountains, we might even be able to defeat them."

Wang Yuan remained expressionless in the face of Guo Ze's words.

He didn't think he could defeat the 100,000-strong army. Let alone 100,000, even 1,000 fully armed soldiers could kill his 10,000-plus soldiers.

The disparity in strength is too great.

At this moment, Guo Ze continued to talk about his plan. He planned to take advantage of the favorable terrain, set up traps and obstacles everywhere, delay the enemy as much as possible, and then divide the army into small groups and send them to different places in the mountains to prevent the enemy from being wiped out together.

He even thought that elite troops should be sent down the mountain quietly to cause damage in various places near the mountains to increase the enemy's defense range.

Guo Ze spoke for a long time, then looked at Wang Yuan, who remained silent, and said seriously, "Could it be that Wang Jun wants to give up?"

"Now that things have come to this, is there any room for giving up?"

"Now, if I fail to accomplish my mission, I will die at the hands of these thieves. I have no other choice!"

Wang Yuan was able to achieve what he had today, so of course he was a ruthless man. He slowly put away the fear in his heart and had to find a way to save himself.

Wang Yuan thought about it for a long time. Judging from the current situation, it seemed that he could only follow Guo Ze's idea and delay as much as possible.

Even if I wanted to run, it would probably be difficult to escape successfully. I have too many people under my command, and they are not that loyal to me. If they knew that I was thinking of escaping, I am afraid they would start an internal conflict and die faster.

Wang Yuan quickly came up with his own ideas, and he hurriedly bowed deeply to Guo Ze.

"Mr. Guo's words make sense!"

"Your words have cleared the fog and opened my eyes to the sun!"

"Lord Guo, I have never dealt with General Wei before. I will leave the task of conquering General Wei to you!"

"I will certainly assist you with all my strength and help you defeat the powerful enemy."

Guo Ze was very pleased. He helped Wang Yuan up and said seriously, "I will definitely do my best."

Immediately, Wang Yuan summoned everyone and announced that they would obey Guo Ze's orders. Except for Wang Yuan's own confidants, those outsiders did not think there was anything wrong.

After all, they came here for refuge because of Guo Ze's reputation, a young man from a noble family who led them to rebel against the Sima family.

Guo Ze quickly began his own deployment and arrangements.

Wang Yuan said nothing and obeyed his orders completely.

When the negotiation ended, Wang Yuan's confidants hurriedly followed Wang Yuan back to their own house.

"Brother, what are you going to do?" "We were the ones who brought these people together. We were the ones who started the rebellion. How can we easily hand over power to him now?"

Wang Yuan's confidants all looked a little anxious.

Wang Yuan glanced at them and said, "How can you achieve great things if you only care about these petty gains?"

"When we started the rebellion, we gave up those interests and hid here. Our power has grown even more than before, and the same is true now."

"Sima Zhao has a hundred thousand troops surrounding us. How can we protect ourselves if we don't give up some of our own interests?"

"If we lose this battle, Guo Ze will be held responsible, and we can escape."

A confidant asked, "What if he succeeds?"

Wang Yuan glanced at him and said, "If he can really lead these ten thousand old and weak people to defeat Sima Zhao, then from now on I will take him as my leader and assist him wholeheartedly. What's wrong with that?"

The confidants gradually reacted and nodded.

Wang Yuan sighed again.

"Why did Sima Zhao target us?"

Hanoi.

Sima Zhao did not enter the city, but instead set up camp outside, acting as if he was ready to go out of the city to fight at any time.

At this moment, his three most trusted confidants were sitting in front of him.

These three confidants are Yin Damu, Cheng Chen, and Yang Zong.

This is why Cao Mao did not take Sima Zhao seriously at all.
Sima Zhao said solemnly with a stern face, "The real purpose of our coming here must not be known to outsiders."

"Captain Yin, tell these people to prepare to go into the mountains to quell the rebellion. Don't tell them the truth."

Yin Damu hurriedly bowed and said yes.

Sima Zhao looked at Cheng Chen again and said seriously, "Lord Cheng, you must continue to send people to investigate the situation in Luoyang. If possible, see if you can get in touch with Sima Gan and the others. We have our own confidants in the central army and will definitely not be controlled so easily by the ministers!"

Cheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Yes."

Sima Zhao has now brought the army from Hebei to the Sili area, and he is ready to attack Luoyang. At the moment, he really needs an opportunity.

He believed that Du Yu's trip to Luoyang would provide him with a good opportunity to capture Luoyang.

Yang Zong looked at the two captains beside him and felt something was wrong.

For some reason, he vaguely felt that the reactions of the two captains were not right.

Yin Damu seemed a little too enthusiastic. These days, he always seemed to be thinking about Sima Zhao, and took the initiative to take on many things, which made Sima Zhao trust him more.

Yang Zong thought this was a bit strange. When they were in Hebei, Yin Damu was quite aloof and seemed unwilling to get involved in too many things. Why did he become so fawning after arriving in Hanoi?
The same is true for Cheng Shi, who is the exact opposite of Yin Damu.

When he was in Hebei, Cheng was very enthusiastic and proactive whenever he encountered something, but when he arrived in Hanoi, he suddenly became silent and taciturn.

Yang Zong couldn't understand why this happened.

Cheng Ji was okay. After knowing that he had to deal with the ministers, he was frightened and did not dare to step forward. It was understandable.

But what about Yin Damu's reaction? Did he secretly submit to the ministers?
Yang Zong quickly dismissed this idea.

It was practically impossible for Yin Damu to be accepted by the ministers. He wasn't even from a humble family; he was a pariah with a two-character name, a family slave. The fact that the high-ranking families even looked at him was a favor, and they would actively try to win him over.

Moreover, he had previously betrayed Cao Shuang and was notorious.

What is his purpose?

When the negotiations ended, Yang Zong, Yin Damu and others left the tent at the same time.

"Captain Yin."

Yang Zong suddenly shouted.

Yin Damu turned around and looked at him, "Mr. Yang."

Yang Zong walked up to him with a smile, stared at his face seriously, and asked, "You have always wanted to take over General Wei's defense. What is your purpose?"

Yin Damu's heart trembled.

Yin Damu had no choice, and he didn't want to appear too hasty, but at this point, there were not many opportunities, so he could only try his best to gain Sima Zhao's trust.

Sima Zhao was now fully focused on how to deal with his ministers, and did not doubt his own position.

On the contrary, this Mr. Yang is just as that person said, difficult to deal with.

Yin Damu was not frightened. He replied in a low voice, "I just want a chance to make a contribution."

"Oh? Staying by General Wei's side, can I still get a chance to make meritorious service?"

"This is what a friend of mine told me. He said that staying here gives me many opportunities to make meritorious deeds."

Yang Zong narrowed his eyes. "Friend? Is his last name Gao or Wang?"

Yin Damu shook his head. "His last name is Liu."

"My name is Liu Lu."

(End of this chapter)