Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 350: Deep into Enemy Territory
When the main force arrived, Ren Yuan briefly explained the situation to them and finally said, "This type of teleportation array has a maximum range of fifty miles. Beyond that is the territory of the Northern Dynasty. I guess they can only set up one more at most."

"Well, the Yuanfa monk has just defected to Daliang, and Xiao Zong should not have enough time to have people set up the teleportation array again." Yu Tianmin nodded.

"The question is which direction are they going, north or northwest?" Song Jingxiu asked.

"Northwest," Zuan said confidently, "That's how the teleportation array is set up. It's fifty miles northwest."

"Let's go and take a look." Ren Yuan led the team and galloped towards the northwest.

Gou Chen Si's war horses were also extraordinary, and they rushed to the northwest fifty miles away at lightning speed.

Ren Yuan ordered everyone to disperse and search around with his spiritual sense. Sure enough, he found the destroyed teleportation array in an abandoned Taoist temple.

Yu Tianmin had a superhuman sense of smell. He took a deep breath and determined, "They have been walking for an hour. They also rode horses, not flew."

"Normal." Ren Yuan was not surprised. Although flying is cool, it is a heavy burden even for great supernatural powers, so practitioners below the level of demigods often only use it for short-distance travel or against enemies.

In fact, even if one has the ultimate magical power of the Nine Apertures, he still likes to travel with the Yang Spirit, because it is easy and comfortable, and can travel thousands of miles in an instant, while a heavy physical body is not so free and easy.

And there is another very important point, this is already the front line of the battle between the two armies. If a person flies in the sky, it is very easy to be discovered by scouts and suffer unexpected attacks.

Ren Yuan believed that Xiao Zong would definitely not want to be discovered, so he just rode on the ground...

~~
"It seems their destination is Luoyang." While chasing, Ren Yuan thought to himself while looking at the map: "This section of the road is not safe."

"Yes." Song Jingxiu nodded and said, "After the Six Garrisons Incident, the entire Guandong region was in chaos. The area east of Hulao Pass has become the rebels' territory."

"Who is the leader of the rebels now?" Ren Yuan had been in charge of cases in the capital before and didn't know much about the military situation in the Northern Dynasty.

"Ge Rong. He has a million subordinates and controls seven prefectures in Hebei. His strength has surpassed that of the Northern Dynasty." Song Jingxiu was in charge of the military intelligence in the north, so he replied, "Not long ago, he proclaimed himself the Son of Heaven, established the Qi Dynasty, and changed the era name to Guang'an. So the Northern Dynasty has become a situation of confrontation between the East and the West."

"My goodness, then Ge Rong's Great Qi will soon replace the Suolu Wei Dynasty, right?" Yu Tianmin exclaimed.

"Difficult." Song Jingxiu was not optimistic about their prospects and said, "Ge Rong is short-sighted. In fact, they are not suitable for establishing a country now. First, this will provoke a crazy counterattack from the Northern Dynasty. There are still many powerful Hu tribes in the Northern Dynasty who have been watching from the sidelines. As long as the Northern Dynasty is willing to pay, they will definitely help."

After a pause, he whispered, "After all, in the eyes of the Hu people, the Han people are the biggest threat."

"Secondly, there are still many factions within the rebel army. It is no exaggeration to say that they are a pile of loose sand. Before, they were able to maintain unity under the pressure of foreign enemies, but once the country is established, they will have to be in charge of conferring titles. Isn't this going to make them fight to the death?" Song Jingxiu continued:
"I just received intelligence a few days ago that his top general, or ally Du Luozhou, has split with him because of an uneven distribution of spoils. He led an army of 200,000 southward and occupied a large area east of Hulao Pass. Therefore, Xiao Zong and his party need to cross 700 miles of rebel territory and reach Hulao Pass before they can escape."

"This stretch of road is also the window period for catching him. Because there are rebels everywhere on the ground, and they have been fighting with the Northern Dynasty for so many years, they have already developed strong skills. Don't even think about passing through them quickly." Then Song Jingxiu gave his own judgment. "Xiao Zong has many talented people under his command, and there are also powerful monsters. Even if they don't need to fly, will there be a way to let them pass quickly?" Zuan interrupted and asked.

"Then you underestimate the rebel army of the Northern Dynasty. For three years, they have withstood wave after wave of rebellions by the Wei army, killing millions of soldiers and dozens of generals. There are three demigods who have died in their hands alone!" Song Jingxiu shook his head decisively.

"Is it so outrageous?" Everyone couldn't help but be shocked.

"That was really a bit hasty..." Ren Yuan smiled bitterly. The mission was indeed too hasty, and there was no time to prepare. He was about to chase into the enemy territory in the dark, which was really a taboo in military strategy.

"If they were not so powerful, how could they have accomplished something that our dynasties have never done before?" Song Jingxiu asked back.

"That's right." Everyone nodded. The entire Northern Dynasty had been destroyed, broken, and on the verge of collapse, which made the people of the Southern Dynasty feel that it would be a great sin not to march north at this time.

This kind of collapse is rare in history. Even if the Former Qin collapsed after the Battle of Feishui, the situation in the north would be better than it is today.

"Is there a god behind this?" Ren Yuan asked softly.

"That's for sure. But the main reason is that the soldiers from the Six Garrisons are too fierce. They were originally the Northern Dynasty border troops used by the Tuoba family to guard the ancestral home and resist the Rouran. They are tough and ferocious, and their combat effectiveness far exceeds those old soldiers in the mainland. It's not surprising that they were beaten like this." Song Jingxiu said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Ren Yuan looked at Yang Zhong, because he was from the Six Garrisons.

In the past, Yang Zhong was very reluctant to mention his background, for fear of being discriminated against by his colleagues and not being trusted by his superiors.

But now is different from the past, those worries are nothing. Now Yang Zhong has nothing to hide, so he sighed and said:

"That's right. Initially, the Six Garrisons were mostly inhabited by Tuoba nobles and their subordinates. Later, many sons of powerful clans from the Central Plains moved there. At that time, the Six Garrisons had a very high status and made great military achievements. All the sons of nobles had to go to the Six Garrisons for training before they could be promoted. Otherwise, even if they became prime ministers, they would never be able to hold their heads up high for the rest of their lives."

"But after the capital was moved to Luoyang, the soldiers of the Six Garrisons were divided. Those who followed Emperor Xiaowen to Henan became Yulin and Huben, and were ranked with the nobles and gentry. Those who stayed to continue guarding the Six Garrisons were gradually reduced from being the 'hearts and souls of the country' to town households and prefecture households. Their status declined day by day, and naturally everyone was generally resentful. As the court paid less and less attention to the Six Garrisons, which had become a frontier, the exploitation and oppression became more and more severe, and the men of the Six Garrisons were even reduced to slaves. Naturally, they were extremely dissatisfied, and finally this great change broke out."

"Over the years, although the banner has changed countless times and many leaders have died, the backbone of the rebel army is still the men of the Six Garrisons. Their military capabilities and magical powers have long been honed in brutal wars and are unprecedentedly powerful. We in the Southern Dynasty cannot imagine this." Song Jingxiu took over the conversation and said earnestly:

"So everyone must be careful. Anyone who dares to underestimate them will pay a heavy price!"

"Understood." Everyone responded loudly and completely put away their underestimation of the Northern Dynasty's rebel army.

(End of this chapter)