My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 269: Is there anyone among the seven thousand who can break through two hundred thousand?
September 1st.

Zhukou Ferry Crossing, north bank of the Yellow River.

The eastern expeditionary army led by Yuan Tianmu, Gao Huan and others had arrived here and stationed themselves several days ago, looking towards the opposite bank of the river.

Fei Mu crossed the Yellow River at this ferry crossing. Hulao Pass is to its southwest, and Xingyang is to its southeast. This important ferry crossing had long been heavily guarded by the Southern Liang army.

The two sides remained locked in a standoff for several days.

Of course...

This morning, however, the patrol team sent back a message.

The barracks on the opposite bank of the river were empty.

Yuan Tianmu immediately summoned everyone.

"empty?"

Erzhu Zhao was taken aback. "Could it be that you're luring us across the river so you can ambush the enemy halfway across?"

Yuan Tianmu shook his head. "That's possible. We don't know the current situation in Luoyang. What do you all think we should do?"

Gao Huan immediately advised, "Whether it's true or false, we'll find out by sending a vanguard across the river first. The enemy has been facing off against our army for several days, and their main force is besieging Luoyang. These defenders only need to block our army on the north bank of the Yellow River so that it can't move south. Why would they think of luring our army to cross the river on their own initiative?"

"Unless something happened in Luoyang."

Yuan Tianmu and the others felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

The incident in Luoyang simply means the city has fallen.

As for winning?
They really hadn't thought of it that way.

no way……

They had already gathered ample information on their way here.

This army of Southern Liang won all of the more than forty battles, large and small, that took place over two months, capturing more than thirty cities along the way. They were known as an army of 300,000!

With such numbers and such a valiant and fierce record, how could Luoyang possibly withstand them?

"In any case, it's better to send someone across the river first than for us to just guess here."

"Yes, send people across the river."

Yuan Tianmu immediately ordered several hundred people to cross the river by boat to gather information. It wasn't until noon that someone returned with news, and the news that came back astonished them, leaving them dumbfounded.

"General, the enemy troops on the other side of the river have all fled!"

"Furthermore... I have also learned that the enemy forces that went to besiege Luoyang were defeated. General Gao Yu of Chariots and Cavalry inflicted a great defeat on the Southern Liang coalition outside Luoyang, beheading thousands and capturing tens of thousands, and capturing three enemy kings alive in one battle!"

"What? Say it again?"

Yuan Tianmu was so shocked that he stood up abruptly. Erzhu Zhao and the others also stood up and kept asking, "Say it again?"

"General Gao Yu of Chariots and Cavalry decisively defeated the Southern Liang allied forces outside Luoyang, beheading thousands, capturing tens of thousands, and capturing three rebel kings alive in one battle!"

Everyone stared at each other in astonishment. Yuan Tianmu even stammered, "Won...won? The enemy was routed?"

Erzhu Zhao burst into laughter, "Hahahaha! As expected of Erlang! I've said it before, with Erlang in Luoyang, even if the Southern Liang army has thousands of troops, Erlang can still hold them off!"

Even Gao Huan, who was usually unsmiling, was astonished upon hearing this news, his face showing surprise.

He knew Gao Yu was brave and had seen it with his own eyes.

He had imagined the situation a million times in his mind, and in his view, the best outcome for Luoyang would be for Gao Yu to lead his men to defend the city.

A slightly more dire situation would be to lead the emperor and his officials to hide inside Jinyong City, continue to hold their ground, and wait for reinforcements to arrive before launching a counterattack.

Can……

Erlang of his own family.

They always find ways to create surprises for themselves, and even constantly refresh their understanding of the word "bravery" on the battlefield.

The Xuanjia Army has three thousand men, which is common knowledge and is Gao Yu's most relied-upon core force.

Three thousand people defeated three hundred thousand?

Even if the figure of 300,000 is inflated, it's still too alarming, isn't it?
Is that human being?
Erzhu Zhao had a smug look on his face, as if he and Erlang were killing each other indiscriminately, with Erlang responsible for the indiscriminate killing outside Luoyang City, while he was responsible for 'ga ga'ing for Erlang in front of everyone!
He was grinning from ear to ear, wanting everyone to know!
Gao Yu!

Moheduo!
Erlang Gao!

He is my son-in-law, Erzhu Zhao's son-in-law!

Gao Huan reacted quickly, "Let's go! Quickly cross the river and recapture Hulao Pass and Xingyang; that would be a great achievement!"

Yuan Tianmu belatedly realized what was happening and hurriedly led his troops across the river.

It's more accurate to say they went to take over Hulao Pass and Xingyang City than to attack them.

After news of the defeat at the front came back, the garrison commanders in Hulao Pass and Xingyang City were all in a state of panic and had already fled.

The news relayed back by the defeated soldiers only became more and more outrageous.

The claim that three thousand broke three hundred thousand was even given a mythical aura.

Some say that at the time, a strong wind was blowing, and countless golden lights could be vaguely seen flowing into the bodies of the Xuanjia Army, which was the Buddha in the sky protecting the Xuanjia Army.

In short, all sorts of myths and legends only exacerbated the fear in the hearts of the defending troops. The fact that Chen Qingzhi, Yuan Hao, Yuwen Luosheng, Xing Gao and others did not appear for a long time further confirmed the news that they had been captured alive. Without someone with enough prestige to step forward and take charge of the situation, the scattered and fleeing soldiers either continued to flee.

They either gather together to become bandits in the mountains, how could they possibly have the will to defend the city?
On the contrary, Gao Huan and his men captured nearly 30,000 soldiers of the Southern Liang army without losing a single soldier.

Yuan Tianmu couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache.

Gao Huan approached him and asked, "Your Majesty... what do you intend to do with the prisoners?"

"I'm having a headache over this matter. I wonder if He Liuhun has any brilliant ideas?"

"I have no brilliant idea, but I just wanted to remind Your Majesty that with 30,000 defeated soldiers at your disposal, the daily consumption of food and fodder is enormous and difficult to manage. If we send them to Hebei, the Prime Minister will also have many prisoners after his great victory. If we bring them back to Luoyang... I'm afraid the Prime Minister will be displeased."

"for……"

Yuan Tianmu was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly looked at Gao Huan. How could he not understand what Gao Huan meant?
If we send it to Hebei, Hebei won't have much grain either.

Send it to Luoyang?

This is a proactive way of sending Yuan Ziyou usable soldiers. They know that Yuan Ziyou has no army, so they specially sent him a batch.
"Let them disperse over there."

Gao Huan nodded, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Gao Huan knew that after this battle, Gao Yu's outstanding achievements would surely arouse Erzhu Rong's suspicion, and Yuan Ziyou would try his best to win Gao Yu over, so that these prisoners could not be allowed to return to Luoyang.

For the Gao family...

The best outcome would be to release these prisoners and continue spreading the word about Takahata's bravery.

The goal is to make everyone in the entire northern border region, and even the southern dynasty, from the emperor and high officials to ordinary people, know that Gao Yu is the overlord of this era, and that no one can rival his bravery!

As for what happens next?

Then we'll have to go back to Luoyang first.

"Your Majesty, we must also write a letter to the Prime Minister explaining the truth about our army's food shortage."

Yuan Tianmu nodded, "He Liuhun is indeed meticulous."

Gao Huan simply smiled.

………………

September 3rd.

Outside Yecheng.

"Hahaha! I've captured Ge Rong alive!"

Hou Jing laughed triumphantly, while Ge Rong was held across the horse like a dead dog, looking extremely disheveled!
"Ge Rong has been captured alive!"

"Ge Rong has been captured alive!"

The elite Qihu cavalry following behind Hou Jing shouted loudly in response!

The already one-sided battle situation was accelerated even further!
Ge Rong's face turned ashen. He never imagined that his 200,000-strong army would actually be defeated by Erzhu Rong's 7,000 elite Qihu cavalry!

He closed his eyes in despair.

He lost.

A complete and utter defeat!
The organization of Ge Rong's army was not much better than that of the Southern Liang army. The main problem was that their commander was captured, which would have caused any large army to collapse.

They even dropped their weapons and knelt down to beg for mercy.

Erzhu Rong personally rode up to Hou Jing and couldn't help but laugh loudly, "Ge Rong, look up! Didn't you say you were going to tie up all my Qihu elite cavalry with ropes?"

"I'm right in front of you, how did you become my prisoner?"

Ge Rong remained silent.

Erzhu Rong also suppressed his smile and shouted, "Pass on my order: those who surrender will not be killed! Anyone who dares to resist will be killed on the spot!!"

The surrender of tens of thousands of soldiers in organized units was a terrible situation!

Looking at the scene before him, Erzhu Rong felt a surge of pride, "Throughout history, has anyone ever defeated two hundred thousand with only seven thousand?"

Xi Yi quickly flattered, "Unprecedented in history! Even if the ancient overlord were resurrected, he would not be a match for the Prime Minister's bravery!"

The others also chimed in with their praise.

Erzhu Rong was very pleased, and the smile on his face never stopped!
He is very clear.

The pacification of the rebels in Hebei brings him one step closer to replacing the Yuan dynasty as king!
He has made such outstanding military achievements!

He could then silence the powerful families, silence the gossips of the world, and establish unparalleled prestige!

No one dared to say that he had not accomplished anything yet dared to dream of ruling the world!
Ge Rong ascended the throne and became emperor!

Then what he accomplished was the feat of destroying a country!
Why can't I rule the world?

Erzhu Rong's gaze was fixed on the direction of Luoyang.

His Majesty.

Once I head south to Luoyang, you won't have a say in anything anymore!
(End of this chapter)