My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 130 There's no way to retreat, so let's fight!
After Li Chong led his army into Baidao, he successfully attracted the attention of the rebels in the east, forcing them to move south.

They even dispatched elite cavalry to form multiple detachments to break through from various directions in an attempt to send messages into Wuchuan City.

Regardless of whether they can join forces with the people of Wuchuan to attack the rebels.

At the very least, we must let the soldiers and civilians in Wuchuan City know that His Majesty has not abandoned them, the court has not abandoned them, and the Great Wei has not abandoned them, so as to help them stabilize their morale.

As long as we hold firm, there is a way!
Li Chong personally donned his armor and, accompanied by his personal guards, rode to the front army's camp to inspect the situation. After leaving Baidao, the direction towards Wuchuan City stretched out to an endless grassland.

Such terrain was extremely advantageous to the rebels, who were skilled in mounted archery and open-field warfare.

"Tomorrow, advance further, feigning a strong attack to draw the rebels' attention."

The forces led by Li Chong were not entirely cavalry, but a combination of infantry and cavalry. He deployed a large number of elite infantry to the vanguard, allowing the vanguard to stand out, while the cavalry served as a mobile force on both sides, ready to provide support, cover, and even launch surprise attacks.

When elite infantry face cavalry, as long as their morale doesn't collapse and they form ranks to meet the enemy, they are not afraid of cavalry charges. In fact, they are quite effective at countering cavalry charges because shock cavalry are much more valuable than heavy infantry. Trading shock cavalry for heavy infantry is extremely uneconomical.

Shock cavalry, as the decisive force in offensive operations on the battlefield, should not be wasted on such meaningless losses.

Once the enemy's attention is drawn, he can send someone to deliver a military order to Cui Xian, who is stationed in Wuyuan, instructing him to quickly head north to relieve the siege of Huai Shuo.

After the siege of Huai Shuo was lifted, the imperial court was powerful and the rebel army was weak, so it was able to send envoys to persuade the Rouran people who had been watching from the sidelines.

In the best-case scenario, the rebels could be attacked from three sides and defeated in one fell swoop, completely eliminating the threat to the Six Garrisons. Even if we were to take a step back and still be unable to defeat the rebels from the Four Garrisons, we could still make peace and surrender, which would be better than the current situation.

Two more days passed.

The vanguard has completely left Baidao and entered the grasslands of northern China, and under Li Chong's orders, they have advanced very aggressively.

You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub; how can you get fish to bite if you don't put enough bait in the baited area?
Scouts returned to camp daily, bringing a steady stream of the latest news. Based on the intelligence gathered, Li Chong stood before the map, deducing the rebels' movements in order to prepare a response.

Pointing to the location of the rebels marked on the map, Li Chong was extremely satisfied; his deployment was beginning to show results.

"Tomorrow we can send a messenger on horseback to Ji Lun, ordering him to head north."

Sitting back down at his desk, Li Chong picked up his pen and began to write a personal letter.

After graduating from the Imperial Academy, Cui Xian entered the Ministry of Personnel as a junior official.

It was the position that Zhang Yi's eldest son, Zhang Shijun, held. It was a "respectable position" specifically prepared for sons of high-ranking families, and it belonged to the category of civil service.

The court appointed Cui Xian as General of the Army, a high-ranking position, but he was subject to Li Chong's control. To put it bluntly, he was to follow Li Chong north to accumulate military merits. After gaining military merits, he would wait a few more years to accumulate experience and then be appointed to a powerful official position such as governor or promoted to a high-ranking official in the court.

It is actually very dangerous to appoint someone like Cui Xian, who has never set foot in a military camp, to a high-ranking position and command troops right away.

But who can blame them when they come from the Cui clan of Boling?
As early as the amniotic fluid stage, a watershed moment in life, they had already outpaced 99.9999% of their contemporaries.

Therefore, Li Chong specially dispatched his trusted confidants and personal guards to accompany Cui Xian on his journey north, and personally wrote down every detail, including all the points that could be considered, and gave detailed instructions.

If Cui Xian's surprise attack succeeds, it will be a great achievement.

Li Chong wrote half of it.

But then he heard hurried, chaotic footsteps outside his tent, and soon... a familiar figure rushed into the tent in a panic.

This man, named Li Zhiyu, was the grandson of one of Li Chong's former bodyguards. He was quite intelligent and had accompanied Li Chong on many campaigns, which made Li Chong feel very at ease. Therefore, Li Chong specially sent him to assist Cui Xian.

But now?
Li Zhiyu was disheveled, covered in dirt, and extremely disheveled, with multiple wounds on his body.

It’s over.

Before Li Zhiyu could even speak, Li Chong had already guessed the answer with a high degree of accuracy.

"Grand Commander...this humble general is guilty!"

Li Chong quickly got up, went to him, and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Li Zhiyu, looking guilty and extremely distressed, replied, "Our army had originally set up camp in Wuyuan according to the Grand Commander's orders, but three days ago, the General of the Army received news from scouts that the rebel camp was empty. The General of the Army then ordered the entire army to attack, only to find that it was a trap set by the rebel leader, Po Liu Han Baling. Our army was ambushed by the rebels during the march, and our entire army was wiped out..."

Upon hearing this devastating news, Li Chong nearly fainted, a surge of anger rising in his chest, and he almost vomited a mouthful of blood.

He angrily grabbed Li Zhiyu and shouted, "Didn't I make it clear long ago that the army cannot march north without my order? Why didn't you dissuade the General? Why didn't you stop him!"

Li Zhiyu was in a difficult situation and opened his mouth but didn't know how to start speaking.

"The last general, the last general..."

Li Chong angrily shoved him away, but after his initial outburst, he quickly calmed down. As a veteran general, he knew how problematic his words had been. Battlefield situations change rapidly; how could things possibly proceed exactly as planned? The saying "a general in the field may disobey orders" applies here. But he had repeatedly given Cui Xian instructions before his departure, believing everything would be foolproof…

He shouldn't have thought that everything would be foolproof.

Turning back to look at Li Zhiyu, who was lying on the ground in a disheveled state, a hint of pity flashed in her eyes, and her tone softened considerably, "Where is the General of the Army?"

"General Cui said he had no face to face the Grand Commander and was currently in the clouds."

"I understand." Li Chong nodded, relieved that he wasn't dead. "Someone, take him away to treat his wounds."

He quickly returned to the map and looked at the west side, which he had been ignoring.

"Po Liu Hanbaling... he actually saw through my plan, three days ago..."

Li Chong looked at the distance between Wuchuan and Huaishuo towns on the map, and then at the location of the rebel army to the east that he had marked.

"not good!"

"Guards! Quickly, quickly convey my military order: order the vanguard to retreat immediately."

Li Chong's military order came a step too late. The vanguard was surrounded by the rebels from the east from three directions. The elite troops in his central army were only slightly better than the peasant soldiers that Yuan Yu had temporarily recruited from the prefectures and counties.

Perhaps when they were in the Luoyang training ground, they could quickly form ranks by looking at the flags.

But when they arrived on the real battlefield and witnessed thousands of cavalry charging towards them, they were terrified and had no mind to form ranks and remain in disarray.
Once the army formation is disrupted and cut off by the charge, the infantry become lambs to the slaughter for the cavalry, with no ability to resist.

Whoever runs the fastest gets to be in the front row.

The rebels abandoned their armor and weapons, and captured large quantities of grain and supplies. Having been besieged for half a year and already running low on food, the rebels were relieved when Li Chong, as the transport captain, delivered the much-needed supplies.

Looking at the military reports sent back from the front, Li Chong's expression changed several times. In the end, he could only look at the location of the northern rebels and sigh heavily.

"This brat is not worth discussing things with! He has ruined all my efforts!"

"Pass on my order: retreat immediately!"

Li Chong hurriedly led his army to retreat back to Yunzhong, abandoning Baidao.

After returning to Yunzhong.

Li Chong summoned all the generals in the army to discuss countermeasures. Cui Xian arrived, but Prince Yuan Yu of Linhuai was nowhere to be seen. Finally, news came that Cui Xian and Li Chong had been defeated.

Yuan Yu then left the city that very night, saying that he was ill and needed to go to Luoyang to see His Majesty.

Upon hearing this news, Li Chong was so angry he laughed.

Apparently...

Yuan Yu felt that the imperial army had suffered repeated defeats and that Wuchuan and Huaishuo would definitely not be able to be held. When the rebel army marched south, he would be the first to suffer.

After all, Li Chong and others could lead their army away, but he, as the governor, couldn't run away.

So, before the rebels marched south, he made an excuse to slip away, letting whoever wanted the governorship take it.

Li Chong was so angry he laughed.

"Yunzhong is a crucial passage for southward travel. If Yunzhong is lost, Fenzhou, Bingzhou, and Sizhou will all be threatened."

"However, the rebels are currently very powerful, and our army needs to avoid their sharp edge. We need to leave one person here to guard the area. Who do you all think is the most suitable?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Isn't this just staying behind to wait for death?

Ultimately, Li Chong made the final decision.

"General Fei Mu, you are a veteran of many battles. I will recommend you to personally lead the army to garrison Yunzhong. I will submit a memorial to the court to appoint you as the governor of Shuozhou."

Fei Mu became the unlucky one, but he couldn't refuse, so he had to grit his teeth and accept the appointment, and he even had to thank Li Chong.

"Thank you for your promotion, Grand Commander."

Leaving 20,000 infantry and cavalry to Fei Mu, Li Chong led his army southeast to Pingcheng, the former capital of the Great Wei, to meet up with Yuan Shen (also known as Yuan Yuan), the governor of Hengzhou and the Prince of Guangyang.

He then personally submitted a memorial explaining the situation and sent Cui Xian back to Luoyang with the official documents.

On the rebel side.

The rebels, whose morale was low, regained their strength with the help of the imperial court, which acted as a source of energy and recovery.

Having previously inflicted a major defeat on Li Shuren, they have now successively defeated the armies of Cui Xian and Li Chong, almost annihilating Cui Xian's army!
They also captured a large amount of grain and supplies.

The rebels, their morale greatly boosted, immediately surrounded Wuchuan City and shouted outside, announcing that the imperial army's suppression force had been defeated.

At first, the people in Wuchuan City didn't take it seriously.

The news that Li Chong had brought a large army had indeed reached Wuchuan City, but after more than half a month, there was no further news and no word. In addition, the rebels brought cartloads of what they claimed to be the heads of the central army.

Not to mention the soldiers and civilians inside the city.

Even the garrison commander Zhang Boyao and others knew that... the rebels were most likely not lying to them, and the imperial army's suppression force had probably really been defeated.

The morale of the people in Wuchuan City was low.

Zhang Boyao couldn't sit still, so he ordered that Gao Yu be summoned to his residence.

"The patrol team has killed nearly a hundred people who were disturbing the peace in the past few days. Does anyone have any ideas?"

In just a few days, he killed nearly a hundred people.

What is this concept?
This means that the people in the city are restless, and killing is no longer able to deter them. Once the people are in chaos, the soldiers in the city will also be affected.

Everyone shook their heads; they didn't have any good solutions.

"The city's food supplies are almost gone. We can only hold out for another twenty days at most before we run out of the city's remaining food."

Seeing this, Hebasheng stood up and said, "Then let's abandon the city and break out to the south, and fight the rebels to the death!"

This is not a good solution; it's more of a last resort when forced into a corner.

Zhang Boyao sighed, "The rebels are riding high on their momentum after defeating the imperial army, and they outnumber us. We are outnumbered, and a forced breakout might be..."

Hebasheng retorted, "We have no food left, and the imperial army has just been defeated. It is impossible for them to come to our aid in a short time. Are we just going to wait to die in this city? There is still a chance of survival if we break out of the city."

There's some truth to that, but even if they managed to break through, they would suffer enormous losses, and might even die during the breakout.

Gradually, many people began to agree with Hebasheng's proposal.

"Break out! Breaking out is the only option right now."

"Instead of waiting to die, let's go out of the city and fight the rebels!"

"........."

Dugu Xin, Hou Mochen Chong, and the others fixed their gazes on Gao Yu, all wanting to see if he would offer any suggestions.

Gao Yu actually spoke up.

"I think forcing a breakout is inappropriate..."

(End of this chapter)