Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 162 Eight or nine out of ten are willing to capture Ohno.

Yecheng.

On the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, Yuan Shen and his ministers were discussing the war.

Yuan Shen, the Prince of Guangyang of the Northern Wei Dynasty, also visited the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, but at that time he mostly visited to discuss the past and present, which was considered a literary pleasure.

But now, standing on this Bronze Sparrow Terrace, looking at the flowing Zhang River, my mood is quite different. I feel more ambitious, but also a little apprehensive.

He has now declared himself emperor, but unless it is a formal occasion, he still wears nomadic clothing and has his hair loose.

Yuan Shen himself did not like this kind of attire, but the soldiers under his command liked it.

These northerners, as described by the powerful and influential people of Luoyang, despised the Han people and everything that came with Sinicization.

In their view, this is the root of their suffering.

The Six Garrisons were the most capable troops under Yuan Shen's command, and Yuan Shen knew this, so he had to follow their preferences.

Yuan Shen understood that while the Han Chinese powerful clans in Hebei had temporarily submitted, they had not truly pledged allegiance. Irreconcilable conflicts also existed between these Han Chinese and the Xianbei people of the Six Garrisons.

All these contradictions can only be resolved by going to Shangluo.

Only after capturing Luoyang could Yuan Shen turn his promise of an official position into reality.

Despite the urgency of the war, Yuan Shen acted with great caution.

Yuan Shen knew that Erzhu Rong was not someone to be trifled with, so he took advantage of the opportunity when Erzhu Rong led his troops south to send troops to attack Shanxi, hoping to disrupt the rear and force Erzhu Rong to retreat.

However, the results were not good.

Standing next to Yuan Shen was Yuwen Luosheng, who was also an acquaintance of Yuan Shen.

Back then, the Yuwen and Heba clans were the most renowned military nobles in Wuchuan Town. Later, the Yuwen clan moved to Zhongshan and joined Xianyu Xiuli in his uprising.

Under the attack of the government troops, Yuwen Gong, Yuwen Hao, and Yuwen Lian were killed in battle one after another, leaving only Yuwen Luosheng and Yuwen Tai.

After Yuan Shen declared himself emperor, Du Luozhou and Ge Rong successively submitted to him, and the Yuwen clan was also put to his use.

Yuan Shen thought highly of Yuwen Luosheng and promoted him to his side as a trusted advisor.

However, the military intelligence brought by Yuwen Luosheng at this time was not good.

"You mean the battles at Jingxing and Fukouxing are going badly?"

Yuwen Luosheng briefed everyone on the battle situation at the front.

"The general guarding Jingxing was Houmochen Yue, a general under Erzhu Rong. His general Li Bi led a thousand men and repelled our army of several thousand. As for Fukou Pass, Yuan Tianmu personally led troops with Heba Yue and repeatedly thwarted our army's advance."

Yuan Shen was astonished upon hearing this.

Although the attack on Shanxi was just a minor undertaking for Yuan Shen, and he hadn't really planned to invest much manpower and resources in it beforehand, the performance of Erzhu Rong's generals still far exceeded his expectations.

To some extent, both he and Erzhu Rong benefited from the Six Garrisons Rebellion.

However, Erzhu Rong mostly obtained military nobles from the upper echelons of the Dai region and the Six Garrisons, while he now has most of the soldiers of the Six Garrisons.

"I asked you to write a letter to the Heba brothers. What did they say?"

"Their letter only reminisced about their old friendship, and made no mention of their surrender."

Yuan Shen nodded. Clearly, words alone wouldn't win the Heba brothers' loyalty before they even reached Luoyang.

"So, how do you all plan to march on Luoyang?"

There are many routes and options available for advancing into Luoyang.

Yuan Shen discussed with everyone to determine the most suitable route. After all, launching a military campaign in autumn and winter meant that morale, supplies, and other necessities all needed to be considered.

In other words, even though Yuan Shen had declared himself emperor, he still needed skill to command his group of warriors.

Just then, a burly man rushed in, looking excited.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Shen asked:
"Peng Le, why is that?"

"I've found out!"

"What did you find out?"

"Da Ye Shuang, he's guarding Hulao Pass!"

After these words were spoken, the officers from the northern region in the Bronze Sparrow Terrace were all excited.

"Your Majesty, let's attack Hulao Pass!" Before Yuan Shen could even speak, a group of officers volunteered to fight.

The morale of the troops had already soared even without Yuan Shen offering official positions, titles, money, or beautiful women as promises.

Yuan Shen glanced at them briefly and found that about 80% or 90% of his generals were denouncing Da Ye Shuang.

"Ohno Sawa, you really deserve to die!"

Having decided on their route and strategy, the group departed.

Yuan Shen stood alone, leaning on the railing, gazing at the bright, clear moon in the sky.

A bright moon once illuminated the spirit of the Jian'an era, and also witnessed Ran Min's slaughter of the Hu people.

Centuries of chaos, countless passersby, only the Bronze Sparrow Terrace remains, where time flows on.

Yuan Shen was somewhat tired, and slowly said:

"Would I end up like those barbarian chieftains?"
-

Hulao Pass!
"My lord, have you heard? Yuan Shen's group of barbarians are threatening to capture you alive and take you back to make you dance for them."

As Hou Jing, Ang Gao, and Yang Kan accompanied Li Shuang on an inspection tour of the pass, they discussed the situation on the other side.

After entering Hulao Pass, Li Shuang took over the defense of the pass.

Hulao Pass is located at the northern entrance of the Hulao Pass, bordered by the Yellow River to the west and the cliffs of Mangshan Mountain to the east.

Beyond the Great Wall, the wide Hulao Road was an important passage connecting Hebei to Henan and Luoyang.

Who are they?

"They are all the Hu people who were driven to the other side when we were carrying out the imperial court's strategy in Hengzhou and Shuozhou, as well as the soldiers of the Six Garrisons who were bullied by us. Now they are all clamoring for revenge!"

Li Shuang turned around and looked at Hou Jing.

"So what did they say they were going to do to you?"

Hou Jing was speechless upon hearing this. Gao Ang, standing nearby, laughed loudly:
"I heard they're going to capture Hou Jing, chop him up, and feed him to the dogs!"

Hou Jing was somewhat annoyed upon hearing this. However, he quickly composed himself, looked at Li Shuang, and a worried expression appeared on his face.

"My lord, my life is not important, I am only worried about you!"

Li Shuang didn't seem to care at all, and laughed:

"What do I have to worry about? The Hu people on the other side are quite nice to me. They only want me to dance."

Li Shuang laughed loudly, but Hou Jing became even more worried.

"But what about that old fellow Yuan Shen?"

Li Shuang looked at Hou Jing and asked:
"what do you want to say in the end?"

Hou Jing looked around and, seeing no one was there, whispered:

"My idea is that the other side reportedly has 200,000 men. We shouldn't fight them head-on. If the situation becomes unfavorable, we should retreat!"

Li Shuang glanced at Gao Ang and Yang Kan and asked:
What do you say?

"I will obey your orders, my lord!"

"This battle is a must!"

After Li Shuang finished speaking, the expressions of the three of them became serious.

"If Yuan Shen enters Luoyang, he will surely command the entire realm. Once he gains power, we will inevitably be captured by him sooner or later. If we don't fight now, when will we?"

Yang Kan and Gao Ang exchanged a glance and were about to bow when Hou Jing spoke first:
"My lord is far-sighted. I was short-sighted. My lord, just tell me what to do. I will follow you through thick and thin."

"We must first blunt their initial momentum!"

After speaking, Li Shuang looked at Hou Jing, only to see the other man swallow hard, touch his own body, and look very insecure.

"My lord, please don't look at me like that, I'm afraid!"

……

(End of this chapter)