47: Strategy

"Follow me!" As soon as he finished speaking, Li Tian Ce put on a ghost mask and, taking the lead, charged towards the Tubo cavalry wandering ahead.

Seeing this, the three hundred heavy cavalry behind him all put on their ghost masks, each radiating a soul-stirring Killing Intent.

This three-hundred-man heavy cavalry unit was granted from a previous personal staged experience and was one hundred percent loyal.

Of course, they didn't just appear out of thin air.

Instead, they appeared in a reasonable manner below Jialing Pass and were 'fortuitously' incorporated by Li Tian Ce.

During these days of insufficient rations, Li Tian Ce personally led small teams into the vast grasslands to raid Tubo tribes.

Cows, sheep, and horses, none were spared.

This was also the reason why Li Tian Ce had grown from a scrawny, frail youth to his current state over the past three months.

As for why he sought help from everyone in the Chat Group, wanting to get some rations...

That was naturally because such days wouldn't last long.

As time passed, the tribes near Jialing Pass had all been driven deep into the grasslands.

To obtain more cattle, sheep, and horses, he would need to go deeper, which also meant greater danger.

If he encountered an ambush set by the Tubo people, he might be able to escape, but the soldiers around him would not be able to leave alive.

"It's the Ghost-Faced Cavalry!"

"The Ghost-Faced Cavalry of Jialing Pass, they're here again!"

"Run! Run!"

These wandering Tubo cavalry, upon encountering the three hundred Ghost-Faced Cavalry, didn't even think of resisting and immediately turned and fled.

Over the past three months, how many tribes had become vengeful spirits under the iron hooves of the Ghost-Faced Cavalry's spears?

They certainly didn't want to follow in their footsteps.

"Want to run? How could it be that easy?"

Li Tian Ce spurred his horse to pursue, simultaneously taking down the strong bow from his back and drawing five arrows from his quiver.

Bending the bow and notching the arrows, his movements were fluid and seamless.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Five sounds of arrows cutting through the air rang out.

Ahead, five Tubo cavalrymen, who were fleeing on horseback, fell to the ground in response, but they were not dead.

Because Li Tian Ce shot their horses.

If the people were shot dead but the horses kept running, that wouldn't be a good thing for him!

The Tubo cavalryman who had fallen to the ground had just gotten up when a black shadow flashed past, and his head exploded like a watermelon.

Li Tian Ce used the Overlord Spear, weighing two hundred and forty catties, but without a good horse, he couldn't keep up with the Tubo cavalry in terms of speed.

Fortunately, his archery skills were good, and he used a twelve-stone strong bow, whose effective range was almost comparable to a sniper rifle.

Soon, all the Tubo cavalry fleeing ahead were shot off their horses, and those who were still alive were all captured by Li Tian Ce and his men.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me! I... I have an eighty-year-old mother above and a three-year-old child below..."

Li Tian Ce's face darkened. If he believed such a common plea for mercy, he would be a fool.

The tip of his Overlord Spear pointed at the man's neck, and the chilling aura made his hair stand on end.

"How many people are in your tribe? How many combat personnel? Tell me truthfully!"

"This..." The captured Tubo cavalrymen stammered. Their wives and children were all in the tribe.

If they told, would they still have a way to live?

"If you don't say, then..."

Li Tian Ce was about to kill these Tubo cavalrymen when he saw someone send him a message in the Chat Group.

He glanced at these Tubo people and said to the Ghost-Faced Cavalry who were cleaning up the battlefield behind him: "A few of you watch them, don't let them run away. As for interrogating information, try to get it out if you can, but it doesn't matter if you can't..."

In the past, he would definitely have pressed for it, but now, with the rations promised by Chu Mo, he didn't need to be so eager for quick success.

[Rookie Cannon Fodder A: @Emperor and Royal Relative Number One, all the grain in this border city has been bought by me. A total of three hundred and fifty thousand dan, which should be enough for you to last for a while.]

[Emperor and Royal Relative Number One: The total population of Jialing Pass is only two hundred thousand. Three hundred and fifty thousand dan is enough to last for a month and a half.]

Only when one has to feed an entire city does one realize how terrifying the daily consumption of grain is.

However, relying solely on aid was not a long-term solution.

He needed to find another way out!

In fact, the best way was to march to the capital and confront the Great Wu Empress at Xuanwu Gate.

But Jialing Pass had no grain.

If he led an army, he wouldn't be able to go far at all.

Could he plunder the common people along the way? That was simply impossible to consider!

[Rookie Cannon Fodder A: The most crucial thing now is to help you gather grain, but I have other strategies, it just depends on whether you'll use them.]

Seeing that there were other strategies, Li Tian Ce thought of his current situation and couldn't help but ask for solutions in the group.

[Emperor and Royal Relative Number One: Chu Ge, what strategies do you have? Just speak your mind, I trust you very much, Chu Ge.]

[Rookie Cannon Fodder A: The first is to send someone on an eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch to the imperial city while the Female Emperor is unaware of the news from Jialing Pass, saying that the border has been invaded by foreign tribes, and then demand money, grain, and soldiers.]

[Emperor and Royal Relative Number One: If the Female Emperor sends troops to support Jialing Pass, what if the supporting general learns that her nephew was killed by me?]

[Rookie Cannon Fodder A: The merit of following the Dragon, no fool would refuse. If they refuse, you kill the supporting general and frame the grassland tribes, publicly announcing that there are spies in the general's mansion, and that countless supporting generals and people in the general's mansion died or were injured.

The remaining reinforcements, you can naturally take over with the Jialing Pass garrison token, and then reward the three armies. Then, gather those centurions and chiliarchs into the military tent, using the same rhetoric: the merit of following the Dragon. Few common soldiers can resist that.]

Hiss!

It actually seems feasible!

Moreover, this path is very stable, and he can even use this method to continuously get the imperial court to dispatch troops.

Then, using the same tactics, expand the number of border troops.

However, this requires considering the intelligence of the current ruler, because repeating the same trick over and over again is easy to expose.

However, considering the Female Emperor's intelligence...

He personally felt there would be no problem.

By then, he would have eight hundred thousand troops in Jialing Pass, and all the money and grain would be allocated by the imperial court.

He would raise the banner of Li Tang orthodoxy.

He wouldn't even need to act himself; the civil and military officials in the imperial court would help him eliminate the Great Wu Empress under the pretext of 'cleansing the ruler's side', all to gain the merit of following the Dragon.

However, this was only the first part.

Which meant there was more to come.

So, Li Tian Ce asked again in the group.

[Emperor and Royal Relative Number One: Chu Ge, what else? What other brilliant strategies do you have? I'm already a bit impatient!]

[Rookie Cannon Fodder A: The later strategies aren't that great; they just require a certain level of martial prowess and a strong heart.]

Martial prowess?

Strong heart?

Li Tian Ce was slightly stunned.

He possessed martial prowess.

With just a two-hundred-and-forty-jin Overlord Spear, he could be unrivaled in one-on-one combat in this world.

If his horse were better and had stronger carrying capacity, he could even switch to a heavier, more convenient weapon.

His combat power would soar even more.

As for a strong heart...

Daring to venture deep into the grasslands with three hundred cavalry to raid the grassland tribes, did that count as a strong heart?

Since both conditions were met, he was eager to see what kind of strategy this was.