Coming and going like the wind

Gao Yuan disliked the practice of speaking in riddles and leaving everything unsaid for others to guess.

Therefore, he wrote very clearly in his letter to Liu Rengui, telling him to use his own discretion.

Unless absolutely necessary, he should avoid siege warfare; as long as he could get some meat, it didn't matter if it was fat or lean.

Gao Yuan's attitude significantly reduced the pressure on Liu Rengui.

After all, leading a large army deep into enemy territory during the New Year was a risk; a bountiful harvest was one thing.

But if the gains were meager, or if they gained nothing at all, his position as the chief clerk of the Nanzhou Governor's Office would likely be in jeopardy.

Gao Yuan might even be criticized as a consequence.

Now that Gao Yuan had eased his burden, his heart felt much lighter, and he immediately summoned everyone to assign tasks.

“This strike will be divided into east and west routes. The West Route Army will be led by General Huo Jun with two thousand troops to create a diversion and draw the attention of the East Pass defenders.”

“The East Route Army will be led by General Xia Luqi and me, consisting of the First Division and five brigades of the City Defense Forces, to penetrate deep into the enemy's rear from the border between East Pass and Cao Bang.”

As he spoke, he pointed to East Pass City and Cao Bang City on the map.

“The areas near these two cities are densely populated and contain the granaries of the Dongjing Kingdom;”

“Because of the war with Lan Xang, these places have weak defenses, which is perfect for us to show what we can do.”

A Brigade Commander raised a question at this point.

“chief clerk Liu, what if the enemy's northern line defenders return to reinforce?”

“That would be for the best; we can then besiege a point to strike their reinforcements and find an opportunity to annihilate the enemy.”

Liu Rengui drew a circle on the map with his baton and gave a confident smile.

“Alright, everyone go and prepare. Today is New Year's Eve; everyone eat your fill, and we set out tomorrow.”

The crowd cupped their fists and responded with full vigor.

“Understood!”

In Thanh Hoa City, Wu Quan was unaware that disaster was about to strike and was enjoying a lavish banquet.

Although he was the Lord of the Dongjing Kingdom, he was a descendant of the Han people and still maintained some Han traditions.

Watching the graceful movements of the dancing girls, Wu Quan showed a lewd smile.

“These newly purchased Han dancing girls are truly excellent. Look at that supple skin... tsk tsk tsk...”

“Once I have destroyed Lan Xang and unified the peninsula, I must march into the Central Plains.”

The Eunuch beside him timely offered a pleasing bit of flattery.

“The Lord has great talent and bold vision; in the future, you will surely contend for the Central Plains and establish an eternal legacy.”

“Hahaha! When that day comes, I will surely enfeoff you as a Marquis and give you a few clever sons to adopt.”

“This servant thanks the Lord.”

The pleasant music continued, forming a sharp contrast to the tension on the front lines less than a hundred miles away.

In the fourteenth year of Taichu, on the fifth day of the first month, inside East Pass City.

At the residence of Yang Sange, a sworn brother of Wu Quan and a great general of Dongjing, a scout rushed in.

In his haste, he even knocked over a maid carrying dishes before reaching the main hall.

Anger appeared on Third Brother Yang's face.

“Do you know you just knocked over a bowl of my blood bird's nest? If it isn't something important, I will certainly have your head.”

The scout was scared out of his wits upon hearing this and fell to his knees with a thud, trembling violently.

“Re... Report, General, the general's flags of 'Gao' and 'Xia' have appeared in Hung... Hung Hoa...”

Third Brother Yang drained the soup in his hand and looked at the scout with a murderous glint in his eyes.

“Are you certain?”

“This subordinate confirmed it repeatedly; they are indeed the general's flags of Gao Yuan and Xia Luqi.”

“They've come at last, I knew it!”

Third Brother Yang slammed the table.

“Someone! Pass my orders: command the entire army to be on alert and concentrate to the west, and have the Cao Bang defenders move south.”

“Understood!”

“Also, drag this reckless fellow down and give him a hundred strokes with the military staff...”

The scout looked up in shock, staring at Third Brother Yang in disbelief as he let out a shrill plea for mercy.

“Ah, General, spare my life! General, spare my life!”

But Third Brother Yang remained unmoved, waving his hand impatiently for his personal guards to carry out the punishment.

After all, ancient times were not like the modern era where you could just make a phone call to convey orders; messengers had to be dispatched.

A squad of messengers wearing Dongjing military uniforms was galloping on the road to Cao Bang.

“General Xia, they're really coming, there are five of them!”

“Make it clean and quick!”

“Don't worry!”

A moment later, accompanied by a series of whistling sounds, dozens of arrows accurately struck the five Dongjing messengers.

“Ah!”

They only had time to let out a single scream before they turned from living men into corpses.

Third Brother Yang was still very cautious and had sent out two waves of messengers.

As it turned out, both were intercepted and killed by Xia Luqi. Not only were the messages not delivered, but ten warhorses were lost for nothing.

The defenders on the northern border of East Pass moved west according to orders, guarding key transportation routes and cities.

Because the Cao Bang defenders did not receive the orders, they did not move south as Third Brother Yang had planned.

As a result, a massive gap of over fifty miles appeared between the defenders of the two locations.

In just one day, Liu Rengui led his army through the Dongjing defense line and entered the heart of East Pass.

There were eight thousand defenders in the entire East Pass region, nearly half of whom were elites, and five thousand troops stationed in Nanping.

Over seventy percent of these troops were stationed at the border with Nanzhou, while in the interior, only the provincial capital had troops stationed.

It could be said that Wu Quan had put a lot of effort into this defense line, yet he never expected it to be breached just like that.

Upon entering the interior, Liu Rengui ignored the villages and towns along the way and headed straight for a county town north of East Pass City.

If he hadn't been prepared, how could he have rashly written to Gao Yuan?

He brought over four thousand troops, with no laborers and no pack horses.

If he only snatched some grain, it would be too much of a loss; if he was going to snatch something, it naturally had to be something valuable.

This county town was not large, but it was the site of Dongjing's largest weapons factory and temporary armory.

Originally, there were over a thousand defenders, but because of the stalemate with Lan Xang, most of the defenders here had been reassigned.

If they could sack this place, then this trip would not be in vain.

The plan proceeded exceptionally smoothly, thanks in no small part to those ten messengers of Third Brother Yang.

Xia Luqi led his men disguised as messengers and charged directly into the fortress on horseback.

They then quickly took control of the city gates, and the main army arrived shortly after; most of the three hundred defenders were killed.

In less than an hour, this military fortress of the Dongjing people and the vast amount of equipment inside became Liu Rengui's spoils of war.

“Reporting to the chief clerk, a total of one hundred and thirty-seven blacksmiths, eighty-five Armorers, and over fifty other craftsmen were captured, along with nearly two thousand women and children;”

“We seized six hundred and seventy sets of leather armor, one thousand two hundred and thirty ring-pommel sabers, over thirty thousand spearheads, over one thousand powerful bows, and over ten thousand arrows;”

“Additionally, there are over ten thousand catties of pig iron, over two thousand ox hides, and over one thousand ox tendons.”

“Are there ox carts or horse carriages?”

“Yes, there are over two hundred carts and over three hundred pack horses, which is enough.”

Liu Rengui clapped his hands excitedly.

“Excellent! Have the brothers load the carts immediately. Take all the spoils, as well as these craftsmen and their families, and let's go.”

“Understood!”

Coming and going like the wind, in just two days all the spoils were loaded onto the carts, and they began to withdraw north under the escort of the army.

Along the way, Liu Rengui also raided a granary and three towns, taking away over three thousand civilians and over twenty thousand dan of grain, burning the rest to the ground.

It was not until three days after Liu Rengui had left that Third Brother Yang learned the news.

Shocked and furious, combined with a hangover, he made a foolish decision—to withdraw defenders from various places to pursue Liu Rengui.

The local garrison commanders, eager to claim credit and fearing that Liu Rengui would escape if they were late, did not gather at the designated location as ordered but instead led their troops from various directions to pursue him.

Upon receiving the intelligence, Liu Rengui showed a look of joy and said to Xia Luqi,

“Bang Jie, the opportunity has come!”