knife

Chapter 331 Full Mobilization
The invaders, who had come from afar, built a fortified stronghold, while the defenders, who had secured the natural defenses, ventured out of their fortress and launched an attack.

This is not a normal mode of warfare.

As the saying goes, when things go wrong, there must be a monster.

Linghu Zhishu shook his head and sighed as he watched Tang Xiaofeng send out only three thousand men for a probing attack.

Fighting in such perilous terrain, one's initial momentum wanes with each attack, and eventually, exhaustion ensues.

If the vanguard suffers a setback and a crushing defeat, the morale of an army like those in Shu, which has not heard the sound of drums and gongs for hundreds of years, will likely be dealt a devastating blow.

People from outside the Great Wall, who grew up amidst continuous border wars, have seen many such scenes.

The resilience of an army cannot be trained.

No matter how good the training is, once you're on the battlefield, you never know when you might suddenly break down.

Only those warriors who have been through countless battles and have become indifferent to life and death can face all the cruelty head-on.

They don't treat themselves like human beings.

They don't treat others like human beings either.

Wu De, who was waiting for news from Li Dachui at Jiguanyan, was overjoyed to see that Tang Xiaofeng of Jianmen Pass had sent troops to attack.

The fact that the two sides are facing off in such a place is quite simple and clear.

Whoever attacks is in a passive position.

They will inevitably have to pay a higher price than the defenders.

Normally, expeditionary forces like Wu De, burdened by supplies and provisions, would be the first to attack, hoping to break the stalemate and achieve victory as soon as possible, thus crossing Jianmen Pass into the plains behind the front lines and solving the problem of supply difficulties in one fell swoop.

But now Wu De's task has become to contain Tang Xiaofeng's troops at Jianmen Pass.

He was happy to have some peace and quiet since the other side wasn't attacking.

If the enemy attacks, he can use the terrain to inflict massive casualties on them.

Once Chengdu falls and supplies to Jianmen Pass become a major problem, that will be the time for him to launch a full-scale attack.

Moreover, in order to keep the artisans who came with the army from getting bored and causing trouble, a large number of offensive and defensive weapons have been made in recent days, which can be put to good use.

Therefore, Linghu Zhishu, who was watching the battle, witnessed a one-sided offensive and defensive battle.

The thousands of attacking troops were utterly routed, failing to even reach the edge of Jiguanyan Village, losing hundreds of lives, and retreating in disarray.

After this battle, the Shu army at Jianmen Pass actually paused and did not carry out any further military operations, but instead waited in silence for news from Yinping and Jiangyou Pass.

Only then did Linghu Zhishu realize that it was utterly pointless and unnecessary.

The enemy's behavior clearly indicates that they are waiting for news from another battlefield.

Otherwise, why would 10,000 or 20,000 people stop at Jiguanyan?
We don't just eat the wind and dew every day; we need to consume energy.

The daily consumption of 10,000 to 20,000 people is an astonishing figure.

Even if Wu De brought enough provisions, there was a limit. Replenishing supplies from Chang'an and Hanzhong was much more difficult than replenishing supplies from the vast plains behind Jianmen Pass.

Is Wu De out of his mind? Why would he inexplicably fight against the Shu army?

It's obvious that they have something to rely on.

At this point, the options are either to devote all efforts to annihilating Wu De's forces in one fell swoop, or to immediately withdraw most of the elite troops towards Mianzhu and Chengdu, hoping to block the enemy.

Doing nothing is the worst option.

Tang Xiaofeng chose the most unwise approach.

The so-called pearl of Sichuan is nothing but a beautiful exterior with a rotten interior!

What follows is likely to be bad news.

Regardless, Linghu Zhishu could only wait here. He could only return after the situation in Shu had completely stabilized.

The situation in Shu will profoundly influence the Linghu clan's future strategic direction and implementation methods!
Chen Changhui, the garrison commander of Mianzhu, was stunned.

Looking at the disheveled messenger in front of him, he could hardly believe his ears.

An army of ten thousand men is advancing towards Mianzhu, and the banners they are flying are none other than those of the imperial guards.

How can this be?

The above-mentioned imperial guards, controlled by the Wei clan, were plotting to seize Sichuan and were marching towards Jianmen Pass.

Jianmen still stands today; did this imperial guard unit fly in from the sky?

But the messenger was his own cousin, and the Chen family's manor in the countryside had been completely destroyed, with countless family members dead and wounded. "Brother, along the way, their army is still growing. They've destroyed almost all the wealthy and powerful families along the way, except for a very few. Then they've gathered their bandits and are marching here in a grand procession!"

Jiangyou Pass, Motianling.

Chen Changhui couldn't imagine how an army could appear from this direction.

But facts speak louder than words, and it's pointless to dwell on these things now. Mianzhu must be defended, otherwise Chengdu Prefecture will be opening its doors wide to the enemy.

"You, go to Chengdu immediately and inform the Prince!" Chen Changhui made the decision right away.

"Brother, you only have three thousand garrison troops in Mianzhu, while there are too many enemies. Moreover, the man leading them who wields a knife is probably a ninth-rank Xuan Yuan!"

"It's alright, I should at least put up a fight. If all else fails, I can still escape!" Chen Changhui said confidently. "I am also a master of the eighth rank of Xuan Yuan. If I can't win, can't I at least run away? If I flee without a fight, the prince will not let me off the hook."

Alarm bells rang throughout Mianzhu City.

For countless years, the alarm bell on the city wall of Mianzhu only rang on major holidays. Today, neither a holiday nor a festival, the bell suddenly rang, and unlike in the past, it was not calm and leisurely, but extremely urgent.

Most of the people in the city were stunned and looked at each other in bewilderment.

It wasn't until some people finally realized that this wasn't a celebratory bell, but a warning bell, an alarm bell signaling an impending enemy attack.

Such urgency, such prolonged duration, and such continuous action were simply telling everyone one thing: martial law was declared throughout the city, and the entire city was mobilized.

When the news finally reached the city, it caused a great stir.

The real war has been far from Sichuan for a long time.

When war actually broke out, everyone was bewildered and at a loss.

The city gates were locked.

Soldiers rushed up the city walls and began frantically setting up defensive measures. Officials rushed into the streets, stopping any man indiscriminately and gathering them outside the armory to collect weapons in preparation for battle.

The only advantage is that over the years, Li Shen has painstakingly prepared weapons, armor, and provisions. There are several armories in Mianzhu, and they are all fully stocked.

When the officials of Chengdu Prefecture came down to inspect, they didn't care much about the people's livelihood. What they cared about most was whether the granaries were full and how well the weapons in the armory were maintained. As long as there were no major problems with these two things, then even if there were some minor mistakes in other areas, it wouldn't be a big deal.

When Chen Changhui walked up the city wall fully armed, he saw the soldiers on the wall wearing brand-new armor, the crossbows whose leather covers had just been removed gleaming with a bluish light, and bundles of arrows piled up like mountains. Below the city, the young men and strong men in the city who had just been gathered as reserves were also fully armed and ready to fight. His confidence surged again.

With three thousand elite troops, plus several thousand able-bodied men in the city, and an inexhaustible supply of weapons, why couldn't Mianzhu be defended?
Every man has the ambition to achieve great things. Sometimes he lamented that he was born at the wrong time and could only stay in Mianzhu as a peaceful prefect. Now that the opportunity has come, he naturally wants to make a good impression so that when the prince steps out of Jianmen Pass, he can also show his skills.

"Defend our homeland and protect Shu!" Chen Changhui shouted from the city tower.

However, few responded. Everyone turned to look at Chen Changhui, their fear and dread impossible to conceal.

Li Dachui now has a vast army behind him.

When he came down from Motianling, he only had three thousand men. If you include those who were unlucky enough to get injured on the way, there were not enough men.

This road is too difficult to travel. Even though the inspection team of 3,000 people all have martial arts skills, and the worst one is a solid third-grade cultivator, quite a few people were still injured.

This also explains, from another perspective, why it was not without reason that the people of Sichuan neglected this route.

Furthermore, given that they hadn't experienced the threat of war for centuries, negligence is understandable.

Of course, such negligence would certainly pose a fatal threat.

However, when they left Jiangyou Pass and Fengchi Mountain, the force was reduced to 5,000 men.

While the Black Ice Platform was being used as a scout, Wu Hou, the local tyrant of Phoenix Wing Mountain, mobilized all his elite troops and incited the surrounding people to join the ranks.

Li Dachui discovered that Wuhou, this mountain bandit king, had an extraordinary ability to incite others. Along the way, he was sometimes impassioned and sometimes tearful, but he always managed to hit the sore spots of the local poor people at just the right time. Then, taking advantage of everyone's grief and indignation, he would encourage them to take up arms to resist the oppression of powerful families like the Tang family and to overthrow the rule of the fat pig, Prince Ji.

Look how thin everyone else has become, but Li Shen is so fat he can barely walk.

This is not fair!
If we want fairness, then everyone has to fight for it themselves.

In Li Dachui's opinion, if this guy were more educated, he could definitely shout out lofty slogans like "Down with the local tyrants, distribute the land, and equalize wealth."

From Jiangyou Pass all the way to Mianzhu, the wealthy families along the way naturally escaped unscathed. The few who did escape were mostly those with unclear or ambiguous relationships with the Marquis of Wu. When the army arrived, their entire clans mobilized, took up arms, and joined the fight. Moreover, the weapons hidden in these people's homes left Li Dachui speechless.

It seems that the Shu region is truly full of martial spirit; is it ready to fight at any time?

They continued on their way, and by the time Li Dachui saw the city walls of Mianzhu, the number of followers behind him had grown to more than 20,000.

Knowing how to recognize and appoint capable people, Li Dachui has now sent Wuhou to the surrounding villages to mobilize the people to join the cause of resisting the tyrannical rule of Prince Ji, Li Shen.

Outstanding results!

We don't expect these ordinary people to have much fighting power; the important thing is to create a powerful and impressive atmosphere.

Of course, when the number of people reaches a certain level, it can be enough to determine the course of a war.

(End of this chapter)