Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 232 First

Lanling.

The warship is nearing completion; all that's missing now is the naval manpower.

It's a thousand miles from Lanling to Wuxing, and a round trip would take at least until next year. These things can't be rushed.

The Yan army in the north has amassed a large force on the border, but has not made any move, and no one knows what it means.

However, since they weren't coming, Liu Daogui didn't want to provoke them either.

After all, the Yan army is currently at its zenith.

However, some of the veteran soldiers from the Northern Army were getting restless, and several kept requesting orders to recapture Yanzhou...

The recapture of Yanzhou was a pretense; the real purpose was to burn, kill, and loot.

Having tasted success in their previous military campaigns, they were eager to make a fortune this time as well.

Liu Daogui ignored it and remained inactive. After a heavy snowfall, both banks of the Si River settled down, and he spent the entire winter with his family in Chengcheng, enjoying a rare period of peace and tranquility.

A year has passed by so quickly.

Before the first month of the lunar calendar was over, Meng Ganzhi led several members of the Shen family back, including Shen Yuehan's younger brother, Shen Qingzhi. The three siblings wept with joy.

Liu Daogui was also deeply moved, saying that finding one's relatives in this day and age is a stroke of luck.

Although the bandits retreated, the three Wu regions and eight counties did not find peace. They frequently landed in various places and plundered.

According to the news Meng Ganzhi just brought back, his elder brother Liu Yu is in Juzhang, holding off an attack by tens of thousands of demon bandits with less than a thousand soldiers.

The bandit leader had no choice but to turn north and attack Wu County...

At this time, the newly appointed governor of Xuzhou, Wang Yu, sent someone with an order, saying that bandits were rampaging in Jiangdong and that Liu Daogui should immediately lead his troops back to Guangling.

The wording in the transfer order was full of arrogance and reprimands.

"You are but a lowly military officer, how dare you head north without permission? If you fail to return by the appointed time, do not blame the merciless military law..."

Liu Daogui directly crushed the general's order and threw it into the brazier.

Sometimes I really don't know what these aristocratic families are thinking. I still think it's like a few years ago when aristocratic families dominated everything.

Having two thousand soldiers, they became arrogant and overconfident.

The general in the field was not bound by military orders. The transfer order had neither the seal of the Northern Commander nor the signature of the General Who Conquers the Barbarians. The governor of Xuzhou had no jurisdiction over the General Who Conquers the Barbarians' Army.

Liu Daogui initially didn't want to pay attention, but he wouldn't stop and sent two more military orders in succession.

One of the signs read, "What is the purpose of marching north with an army?"

Another sign reads, "Possessing military power and acting arrogantly, what are their true intentions?"

Of course, Liu Daogui wasn't the only one who suffered misfortune. Liu Yi, despite his best efforts to curry favor, was publicly humiliated and called a "lowly nobody" in front of all the officials and generals of Guangling.

Yuan He fared no better; he was impeached by Wang Yu, dismissed from his post as Commander of the Expeditionary Army, and replaced by someone from the Wang family.

Liu Huaizhen came from the Liu clan of Pengcheng and had Liu Laozhi behind him, which made Wang Yu wary of him. He was also low-key and did not cause trouble. He was conscientious in his duties and was not targeted by Wang Yu.

Guangling is now in the hands of Wang Yu, Gao Ya, and their gang. Huan Hong has been staying in Jingzhou and has not returned.

After Wang Yu gained control of Guangling, he set his sights on the Central Army under Liu Daogui's command...

A few days later, Liu Yi sent Zhuge Changmin to Chengcheng to meet Liu Daogui. "Guangling is ours. Wang Yu is a stray dog, yet he dares to bark at us. Panlong said that with just one word from the military advisor, we can join forces and make this man disappear without a trace."

With the successive deaths of Wang Gong, Wang Guobao, Wang Xu, and Wang Chen, the Wang family of Taiyuan was indeed not as powerful as before.

At this point, they should have kept a low profile and developed their business discreetly, but Wang Yu was incredibly arrogant.

However, I'd rather not cooperate with Liu Yi. Who knows what he's up to?
This person is fickle and scheming; he might betray you at any moment.

Assassinating Wang Yu would only require one or two assassins; Liu Yi wouldn't need to bother with him at all.

Liu Daogui rolled his eyes and said, "We are all loyal subjects of the court. Assassinating court officials is a crime punishable by the extermination of an entire family! I will pretend that I never said what I said today. The matter of Guangling has nothing to do with me. Don't come looking for me in the future."

“Canjun and Panlong both have the surname Liu and belong to the same clan…” Zhuge Changmin became anxious.

“I almost forgot if you hadn’t mentioned it. Then please go back and tell Brother Liu that if he can’t make a living, he can come and join me. I will definitely forgive and forget.”

Liu Daogui gave a forced smile.

They'd rather stay out of it than let it affect them; they held military power anyway, so they could just sit back and watch the show.

"join the army……"

"No need for further words, see the guest out." Liu Daogui waved his hand.

Zhuge Changmin could only turn and leave.

After the person left, Cao Ji finally spoke, "Wang Yu is a man of the Prince of Langya..."

He had been staying in Lanling and was unaware of the situation in the south. Liu Daogui explained, "So what if he is the heir of the Prince of Langya? Wang Yu is just the governor of Xuzhou. What right does he have to interfere with me?"

It's not that I'm afraid of him, but I don't want to waste my energy on deceit and treachery.

Liu Zhong, who was standing to the side, said, "Wang Yu has already issued three military orders. Sooner or later, an imperial edict will be issued. Brother, you should prepare as soon as possible."

Wang Yu could not control himself, but he could control the imperial edict.

Openly defying orders is not unacceptable, but it has a negative impact. After all, the Sima family has not fallen, and the imperial court is still in power. The first rafter to stick its neck out will rot first.

Just as they were pondering a solution, a commotion broke out outside. Several veterans shouted, "We followed our commander north to fight the enemy, not to live a life of luxury!"

"The enemy army is approaching; a battle is inevitable sooner or later. We might as well strike first!" "Yes, let's rob them!"

When Liu Daogui went out, besides the veterans of the Northern Army, there were also some soldiers.

In the past two years, the south has been engulfed in war, but there have been no major battles in the north, and the soldiers have not been on the battlefield for a long time.

Liu Daogui immediately had an idea. "I understand everyone's intentions. Please step down."

The group bowed and left.

"If Huaibei descends into chaos, Wang Yu will have no reason to recall me to Guangling."

"Provoke the Yan Kingdom?" Cao Ji's expression changed.

Liu Daogui retorted, "It's not like we haven't provoked them before. The Yan army is growing stronger on the border. Do you think they're all here for a spring outing?"

"of course not……"

"It's a good thing that the soldiers are actively seeking battle."

Liu Daogui stopped talking and immediately led his troops to Pingyang City, where Wang Yuande, Liu Guangzhi, Wang Zhongde, Mao Dezhu, and Liu Zhong gathered together.

There were also some mid-level generals promoted by Liu Daogui.

"Judging from the information gathered by our scouts over the past few months, if it weren't for the heavy snows last year, the Yan army would have already besieged Lu County!" Wang Yuande said, pointing to the map.

The text above indicates the troop strength and encampment locations of various Yan army units.

In addition to Gao Ping increasing his troops, Yan Junpingyou's troops entered Rencheng, Murong Shao's troops entered Taishan County, Duan Sugu's troops entered Xiaqiu, and Mu Yuteng's troops entered Yuancheng.

The combined forces of all sides numbered as many as 70,000 to 80,000, forming a semi-encirclement of Lu County.

Mao Dezhu said, "Since the founding of the state, Murong Chui has won every battle, except for the one he lost to us. Now that he has destroyed Western Yan, he will surely turn against us."

Wang Yuande said, "That's not entirely true. In the past two years, Jiangdong has been in turmoil. Rebels have risen up, Huan Xuan has seized control of Jingzhou and Xiangyang, and the Jin dynasty is on its last legs. Murong Chui is trying to take advantage of this situation."

Previously, the State of Yan was beset by internal and external troubles and had no time to provoke the Jin Dynasty, but after annexing the Western Yan, its strength increased greatly.

The entire war of annihilation was basically a piece of cake. Only one battle, the Battle of Taibi, was fought, and less than 10,000 people were killed. Western Yan collapsed, and various places surrendered voluntarily, allowing Murong Chui to annex Western Yan at a very low cost.

Looking around, the land of Wei is a harsh and cold place with little to no profit, and it is also quite difficult to conquer.

Meanwhile, the Jin dynasty was embroiled in internal strife. In the past two years, Lu County and Lanling County had been carefully governed by Liu Daogui. Although they were not extremely wealthy, they were considered relatively prosperous compared to the surrounding areas.

The neighboring counties of Langya and Dongguan also gradually recovered under Liu Muzhi's governance.

The Hu people are naturally fond of plundering.

After Murong Chui seized horses from Kangtai, he spent all his time fighting wars and neglected governance and agriculture. His country was actually very weak. How could a wolf not be moved when a piece of fat meat was placed in front of it?

Moreover, Murong Chui's most beloved grandson, Murong, would die at Liu Yu's hands.

With both old and new grudges combined, it was only natural that the Yan army would launch a large-scale southward offensive.

"If he doesn't come looking for me, I'll go looking for trouble with him! Two tigers cannot share one mountain. Gaoping and Rencheng counties are like knives pointed at our heads. It's painful to look at them. Only by taking these two counties can we occupy both sides of the Sishui River!"

Liu Daogui pointed to the two prefectures on the map.

Lu Commandery was too prominent, sandwiched between the surrounding commanderies of Gaoping, Rencheng, Taishan, and Dongping, making its defense extremely difficult.

Previously, it was due to insufficient strength, but now we have a strong and well-equipped force.

With his army of conquest and his troops combined, he had nearly seven thousand men. If he were to gather all the able-bodied men under his command, he could field an army of twenty thousand.

"Murong Chui recently defeated Murong Yong, and his morale is high. These two prefectures..." Wang Yuande didn't finish his sentence.

But all the generals knew what he meant.

Murong Chui had conquered two kingdoms in succession, and was at the height of his power, his prestige shaking the world. He was at the height of his power and invincible.

"If Murong Chui were to come in person, our army should indeed avoid a direct confrontation. But Murong Chui hasn't come yet, has he? Murong Long and Murong Shao have fought before and know their strengths and weaknesses. We were able to defeat them before, and we can do it again today. It's not that we want to provoke them; it's that they are sharpening their knives at our doorstep. The best defense is offense. Since this battle is unavoidable, we can only strike first."

Liu Daogui had thought it through long ago.

If we don't inflict a serious blow on the Yan Kingdom, they will always have their eyes on the south.

The system of the Eight Buildings was designed for war. If it did not expand outwards, it would slowly become corrupt and rusty, complacent and lacking ambition.

Like a knife, if it is left idle for too long, it will rust sooner or later.

In this day and age, being warlike doesn't necessarily lead to death, but forgetting war is definitely dangerous.

"I also think we should take the initiative. The Yan Kingdom seems to be at its zenith, but they are all acting independently and cannot be commanded in a unified manner. Only Murong Chui can command them. Without Murong Chui, the Yan army's combat power will drop by at least 30%. Secondly, the Yan army comes with the prestige of destroying the country, so they must be underestimating us. If our army concentrates its elite forces to break through one of their routes, the other Yan troops will not dare to act rashly!"

Mao Dezhu's analysis was even more thorough than Liu Daogui's.

The Yan army was scattered in several units north and west of the Si River. Their forces were too dispersed and not concentrated in one place. Judging from this arrangement, the Yan state did not take Liu Daogui seriously.

In fact, the internal strife within the Murong family was even more intense than that within the Sima family.

The Yan state's current prestige is entirely due to Murong Chui's influence.

This year, Murong Chui is already sixty-eight years old, and he may pass away at any time.

Liu Guangzhi said, "Since last year, the Yan army has been deploying troops on the border in large numbers. They are definitely not just doing this for fun. They could attack at any time."

"Then let's fight!" Liu Daogui made the final decision, ending the military discussion.

(End of this chapter)