Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Yan Xing certainly couldn't abandon his troops; they were all soldiers from Jincheng, his fellow villagers.

Yan Xing was indeed out of options, and his army had no food left, so he had no choice but to follow Xu Shu towards Huaili.

Having already fallen out with Ma Chao, there was no going back, regardless of whether Yan Xing was willing to accept the appointment as Right Fufeng.

But what about the family members?
Yan Xing frowned, his face showing great distress.

Xu Shu seemed to have seen through Yan Xing's thoughts and asked, "Is Yan Ming worried about his family? Why don't you quickly send a letter to Han Wenyue? If Han Wenyue also accepts the court's appointment, then Yan Ming won't have to worry anymore, right?"

Yan Xing was taken aback: "What... what does Minister Xu mean? Could it be that the court..."

"Haha... The Prime Minister has never regarded your brother as a traitor, and has already sent a letter to your brother."

Xu Shu laughed and said, "Your uprising to purge the court of corrupt officials is also for the sake of serving the emperor and punishing the traitors who are causing chaos in the capital..."

"However, the treacherous villains Feng Xun, Liu Ai, Huangfu Song, Xia Yu and others who successively wreaked havoc in the capital region have all been executed, and there are no more bandits in the capital. But the son of the Yuan family is on the run, and there are still bandits causing trouble in Longxi, Yizhou and other places."

"The court knows that you and your father-in-law are both loyal to the king, so they have specially appointed Han Wenyue and Yan Yanming to each guard a region and fight against the rebels for the country."

"Yanming is in charge of Fufeng, and Hanwen is in charge of Liangzhou... You and your father-in-law, together with the court, will eliminate the son of the Yuan family, suppress the heretical sect in Longxi, eliminate the rebels in Guanzhong, and eradicate the evil cult in Hanzhong, so that the capital will not be disturbed..."

"The Qiang and Di tribes of Liangzhou and Yizhou are difficult to tame. If you, father-in-law and son-in-law, can win their respect, there is no need to worry about the court discarding you once you've used your birds."

This statement essentially portrays Han Sui and Yan Xing as loyal ministers who were entrusted with their mission in times of crisis...

Although Xu Shu may seem to be talking nonsense with a straight face, he is now an envoy of the emperor—Han envoys do not speak carelessly, and what a Han envoy says represents the court.

In other words, as long as Yan Xing and Han Sui are willing to accept this statement, then this statement can be valid.

Yan Xing was stunned for a while before he came to his senses: "Is this the Prime Minister's intention?"

"This is a consensus reached by the imperial court..."

Xu Shu looked up at the already dark sky: "If Han Wenyue and Yan Yanming both disagree with this proposal... then the court can have another public opinion."

Yan Xing's lips twitched: "What do you mean by 'it is possible to have' another one?"

"Another consensus is that Ma Shoucheng should govern Liangzhou, and Pang Lingming should lead Youfufeng. Ma Shoucheng can also fight for the country and suppress bandits, and he can also earn the respect of the Qiang and Di tribes..."

Xu Shu spread his hands: "As far as the court is concerned, it doesn't matter which side it chooses... It's just that the Prime Minister and Lord Jia chose you and your son-in-law—that's what the Prime Minister meant."

This was indeed Liu Bei's idea: to try both sides and pull whichever side he could.

Now that Yan Xing has nowhere else to go, Xu Shu will definitely prioritize winning him over.

This is blatantly creating division.

With the Han and Ma families allied, it was indeed troublesome for Liu Bei to deal with them.

But if Liu Bei were to unite one faction against another, things would be much simpler.

Now, Ma Chao and Yan Xing have clashed. For Yan Xing, the best choice is indeed to align himself with Liu Bei, otherwise Liu Bei will join forces with the Ma family—the result will be the same.

There are no truly unbreakable allies in this world; that's just human nature.

Yan Xing was still somewhat conflicted—Liu Bei was openly using a scheme, but he couldn't resolve it, which naturally made Yan Xing very unhappy.

But he didn't dwell on it for too long.

As they talked along the way, they gradually reached the front line of the Huaili camp, where lights were appearing ahead.

Chen Dao had already run back to the Huaili camp to report the news. Upon learning that Xu Shu had brought Yan Xing back, Liu Bei and Jia Xu came out to greet him.

This is the front line of the Huaili defense line. It was already late at night when we arrived here, but a large area of ​​firelight illuminated this wasteland.

"Yanming, the Prime Minister is ahead."

Xu Shu reminded him.

Yan Xing sighed, dismounted, and walked forward, bowing respectfully a few dozen steps in front of Liu Bei.

"Yanming, come and eat."

Jia Xu waved to Liu Bei, as if greeting a relative's child.

Upon hearing this, Yan Xing noticed a group of soldiers cooking.

Yan Xing's troops were already starving, and the aroma of millet made their stomachs rumble loudly.

"Is it already past dawn?"

Yan Xing thought it was Liu Bei's troops making breakfast. He looked up at the sky but didn't see the morning star rise.

"It's just past midnight... I learned that your army has no food. This meal is specially made for your troops. The court will not let any soldiers go hungry. Eat first, and we can talk about other things after you finish eating."

Liu Bei walked straight towards Yan Xing and pulled him toward the aroma of food.

Actually, the food wasn't very good.

Chen Dao originally left with Xu Shu, but after leaving Xiaohuaili, Xu Shu sent him back to report the news first. He returned not long after that.

Liu Bei learned that Yan Xing's army had no food and had not eaten for a day and a night, so he specially ordered people to cook for them at the front line.

Due to the short notice, the millet rice was still undercooked when Yan Xing arrived.

However, Yan Xing found all sorts of delicious flavors in this half-cooked rice.

……

After the meal, Liu Bei no longer needed to persuade Yan Xing, who took the initiative to express his willingness to obey the court's orders and planned to send his family to Chang'an.

This is a common practice; handing over a hostage makes everyone feel more at ease.

But Liu Bei shook his head: "I never take people hostage. Yanming will be serving in Huaili from now on. You only need to send someone to bring your father and mother to Huaili to take good care of them. As for your father-in-law, Han Wenyue, Yanming might as well invite him to meet me."

"Does the Prime Minister want me to persuade my father-in-law?"

When Yan Xing heard Liu Bei say that he didn't want hostages, he felt relieved, but he still hesitated.

Although Xu Shu had explained things to him very clearly, Yan Xing was still unsure what Han Sui would think.

Han Sui's thoughts were indeed hard to fathom; no one knew what he would do.

"There is no need to persuade him. As long as we defeat Pang De, Ma Chao, and Pang Xi, Han Wenyue will surely negotiate peace with me... Then we can invite Han Wenyue to come and talk with me."

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "If you go back now, you will surely be harmed by Ma Chao, and I do not intend to make things difficult for you. However, since Ma Chao, Pang De and other troops are short of food, it is only right to defeat them before they get supplies. This can be considered your first achievement since you took office as the Right Governor."

Liu Bei was indeed kind to people. He neither made things difficult for Yan Xing nor coerced or threatened anyone. He only fought the battles that needed to be fought.

Yan Xing also needed to show his attitude, at least as a pledge of allegiance, since Xiao Huai Li only had Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Xi, not Han Sui's troops.

After comparing the two, Yan Xing bowed with heartfelt admiration: "I am willing to lead the vanguard to defeat Ma Chao."

The following day, Yan Xing received the seal of Right Fufeng and officially became a subject of the Han Dynasty.

His troops remained in Huaili and camped out at the place where he ate half-cooked rice.

……

Five days later.

War drums sounded.

Yan Xing led his troops back to Xiaohuaili once again.

This time, Liu Bei is going to take the initiative to attack.

Judging by the timeline, Ma Chao and Pang De's troops were completely out of food at this point, and supplies should not have arrived yet. This attack was a two-pronged attack, with Yan Xing as the vanguard, Guo Si and Fan Chou as the left and right wings, Zhao Yun leading the central army, and Zhang Ji in the rear to manage supplies.

Liu Bei was the commander-in-chief, leading Li Heng, Zhang Xiu, and others as a mobile force.

Jia Xu and Duan Wei were responsible for controlling Chang'an to prevent chaos.

Li Jue, as another separate force, led the two armies of Li Meng and Wang Fang to attack Pang Xi's Dongzhou troops, because Pang Xi's camp was on the south bank of the Wei River, separated from Pang De and Ma Chao by a river.

Both routes advanced simultaneously and launched a direct, forceful attack without any feints or elaborate maneuvers.

After receiving the scouts' report, Pang De, Ma Chao, and Pang Xi gathered on the north bank of the Wei River for an urgent meeting, but each held their own opinion.

Pang De seemed unwilling to fight this battle: "The army is currently out of food. For the past few days, we have only had one meal a day. Morale is low. Liu Bei attacked when we were out of food. Yan Xing must have already leaked our plans. It is no longer feasible to fight. We should retreat to Beiyuan."

Ma Chao, however, saw it differently: "It is precisely because we are out of food that we should take the initiative to fight, win a small victory to boost morale, and then retreat. Otherwise, the pursuit may lead to a major defeat... Especially that traitor Yan Xing, he thinks that we are afraid to fight because we have no food. I will take this opportunity to lure him into attacking and kill him here!"

Both men had valid points, and without arguing, they both looked at Pang Xi.

Pang Xi, however, chose the third option out of the two: "Right now, we should hold our ground and wait for reinforcements. Our lord's reinforcements are on their way day and night. If we hold out for just two days, the supplies and reinforcements will arrive!"

Ma Chao was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Really?!"

"Indeed, our lord was worried that we would run out of food, so he had thousands of people working day and night to repair the plank road. He even had soldiers build human bridges to transport food. I only received the news last night."

Pang Xi nodded, and it really did seem like the case.

Meanwhile, Pang De looked at Pang Xi, whose face was covered in oil, and felt a little uneasy.

Is it such a coincidence?
If Liu Bei hadn't come, the plank road would have been cut off and there would have been no food. But as soon as Liu Bei launched his attack, the plank road was repaired?!

Pang De always felt that Pang Xi wasn't telling the truth... but he had indeed visited Pang Xi's military camp on the south bank of the Wei River before, and at that time, Pang Xi's camp only had three days' worth of rations.

But in any case, now that reinforcements are arriving soon, things will be much easier.

The three decided to retreat completely from the defensive line, still relying on the two main camps north and south of the Wei River to hold their ground and await reinforcements.

If given the opportunity, as Ma Chao suggested, lure Yan Xing into attacking and killing him.

After returning to his camp, Pang Xi did not organize defenses in the main camp. Instead, he immediately took most of the Dongzhou soldiers and detoured from the southeast to the south of Chang'an.

Meanwhile, Pang Xi's personal guards also went to the Luoshui River Valley south of Xiaohuaili.

……

"Liu Bei has launched a full-scale attack on Xiaohuaili, while Ma Chao and Pang De are both holding their ground. Chang'an is now vulnerable... My lord, should we launch a swift attack on Chang'an or ambush Liu Bei?"

The military commander Wu Yi is reporting to Liu Yan.

Wu Yi was Wu Kuang's cousin, but he had not served in Wu Kuang's army before. Instead, he followed his father to Shu to follow Liu Yan and married his sister to Liu Yan's third son, Liu Mao.

"Of course, we should besiege Chang'an immediately! Let Sun Zhao lead the old soldiers to support Xiaohuaili and hold Liu Bei back. If we can hold him off for five to ten days, by the time Han Sui and Ma Teng's main forces arrive, Chang'an should have surrendered!"

Liu Yan had actually arrived in Guanzhong long ago, but he had been stationed in Luoshui Valley and had not shown his face—his main force did not take the Xiegu Valley route, but rather the Tangluo Ancient Road.

Only Pang Xi led the Dongzhou troops along the Baoxie Road.

The exit of Tangluo Road is located south of Xiaohuaili, and Liu Yan has been building siege equipment at the mouth of Luoshui Valley.

Upon receiving Pang Xi's message, Liu Yan immediately led his army to Chang'an, only sending the old soldiers, who were not skilled in siege warfare, to transport grain to support Xiaohuaili.

The previous claim that the grain supplies hadn't arrived was simply because Liu Yan didn't want them delivered immediately.

Liu Yan only intended to use provisions to control Han Sui and Ma Teng's troops, and did not want to fight Liu Bei head-on, nor did he intend to let Pang De and Ma Chao eat too much.

Ma Chao and Pang De wouldn't take any further action if they ran out of food. Once they were completely out of food, even if nothing else happened, Pang Xi would try to leak the news of Pang De's food shortage to Liu Bei's army, thus luring Liu Bei's entire army to attack.

As long as Liu Bei launches a large-scale military campaign, Liu Yan's supplies will "arrive in time." In this way, wherever the supplies are, Ma Chao and Pang De's troops can only hold off Liu Bei's main force—by using them to hinder Liu Bei's troops, Liu Yan can then take Chang'an completely.

Once Chang'an is captured and the initiative is in hand, Liu Yan will still be able to continue to control Han Sui and Ma Teng's troops with provisions.

Having too many troops is not necessarily a good thing. As long as Liu Yan has food supplies and controls fortified cities, Han Sui and Ma Teng's large armies will only serve Liu Yan...

This was Liu Yan's plan; it wasn't complicated, nor was it a conspiracy, but it was very effective.

Liu Yan didn't have that many troops at his disposal.

Pang Xi led more than 10,000 soldiers from Dongzhou, who were also Liu Yan's main force.

Wu Yi led 4,000 Wolf Valley Di soldiers, Colonel Sun Zhao led 5,000 old soldiers, and Ling Bao led more than 4,000 Qing Qiang.

The entire army numbered 23,000, most of whom were foreign tribes accustomed to mountain warfare. The 10,000 Dongzhou soldiers were the main force in the siege.

……

Xiaohuaili.

Yan Xing's troops are currently engaged in battle with Ma Chao.

However, this battle seemed a little strange...

The shouts of battle between the two armies were deafening, but when the blades actually clashed, it was mostly just a show of force.

Because Yan Xing also had many Qiang and Di soldiers under his command, and even if they weren't Qiang and Di, they were from Liangzhou and had the same accent and tactics as the soldiers in Ma Chao's army.

The Qiang and Di peoples were skilled with spears, engaging in close combat with long spears and launching long-range attacks with thrown spears; both sides employed this tactic.

However, when Yan Xing and Ma Chao's armies faced off, they would often deliberately deflect their spears by three points when their spears touched—many people on both sides were from the same clan, and they would meet as uncles and brothers, so there was really no need to risk their lives to fight each other.

Ma Chao was galloping back and forth on the front lines, boosting morale. Wherever he went, the Qiang and Di tribesmen behind him roared, but Yan Xing's Qiang and Di tribesmen did not attack Ma Chao.

"It seems that if Ma Chao isn't killed, the soldiers won't be able to win back their hearts..."

Zhao Yun whispered.

Yan Xing nodded: "The Qiang and Di people worship gods, and they believe that Ma Chao is protected by the gods... But if we can defeat Ma Chao on the battlefield, the Qiang and Di people will be convinced."

Yan Xing held an old spear in his hand, the hemp wrapped around the shaft soaked with blood and sweat. It was his old companion for many years and his most familiar and best weapon.

The best weapon is the one you are most comfortable using.

"Ma Mengqi! Do you dare to fight me one-on-one!"

Yan Xing spurred his horse forward to fulfill his duty as the vanguard.

Ma Chao turned his head and saw Yan Xing's banner.

Seeing Yan Xing enter the fray, Ma Chao snorted, "Perfect timing! I've been looking for you... Traitor, prepare to die!"

Yan Xing's attire was indeed rather unremarkable... a grayish-brown dappled horse, worn-out lamellar armor, and an old spear; he didn't look imposing at all.

In fact, these equipment are the best for Yan Xing because he is most familiar with them.

Ma Chao was different. He wore a suit of iron armor over his worn soft armor. The iron armor retained its metallic color and was polished to a bright silver shine. He still had the sun-patterned breastplate on his chest, which glittered in the sunlight.

The helmet looks even cooler, also gleaming silver, with flame patterns on the forehead and cheek guards.

He was indeed a sitting duck, but the problem was that Yan Xing's Qiang and Di troops were unwilling to shoot him with javelins...

Zhao Yun didn't order anyone to fire arrows either. He also wanted to see if Yan Xing could defeat Ma Chao head-on and win over the Qiang and Di tribes.

Yan Xing and Ma Chao faced each other at the front of the battle.

The sounds of fighting all around suddenly subsided. (End of Chapter)