My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 388 The whole army attacks!

April 20th.

The rain lasted for three or four days, which slightly eased the tense atmosphere, but the sky cleared up again.

The war, which had been temporarily suspended, had to continue.

Every day, a large number of scouts and rangers return to camp, bringing the latest news.

The accumulated information was overwhelming. As the commander-in-chief, Hou Yuan had to deduce Gao Yu's next move from the information he had gathered and make corresponding adjustments.

Hou Yuan frowned and couldn't help but sigh.

Gao Yu's two armies marched north, and there were also two supply routes.

Mulan and her army marched north from Wusui to Lecheng, but their logistical supplies still came from Jizhou.

Even if Hou Yuan wanted to harass their supply lines, he couldn't.

Erzhu Rong never extended his reach into Ji Province, and Hou Yuan himself never went to Ji Province. Even if he had, none of his soldiers had gone there.

Harassing supply lines sounds simple; it seems like all you have to do is send cavalry to designated areas, sabotage any supply wagons you see, and increase the enemy's logistical burden.

But it can be put into practice.

Did the cavalrymen know the way?
I only know a general direction, heading south, but where to?
How to bypass the large army surrounding Lecheng?

Harassing supply lines is actually a rather difficult technical task.

That is why Hou Yuan attacked another grain route.

However, the news that came back was not optimistic. The cavalrymen who went to harass the supply route had almost no success and generally suffered some losses. According to their description, these Shandong soldiers who were responsible for escorting the grain supplies had suffered heavy losses.

They were all well-trained and valiant men.

Not only should they remain calm in the face of a cavalry attack, but they should also quickly form ranks. Usually, at this point, the cavalry will retreat on their own.

But the Shandong soldiers were different; they would actively pursue and kill the cavalry.

Among the dispatched cavalry were many formidable Youzhou Iron Cavalry, but even the Youzhou Iron Cavalry couldn't gain any advantage against the grain transport troops from Shandong, and instead suffered repeated setbacks.

The news spread throughout the military camp, causing morale to plummet.

Hou Yuan sighed and frowned in distress.

"General, what troubles you?"

Heba Yun walked into his tent and saw him looking worried, so he asked him with concern.

How could he not know?

As one of the commanders of the allied forces, Hou Yuan did not notice anything amiss with him, and he would basically share all the first-hand information he received with Heba Yun.

Hou Yuan then composed himself, saying, "I just received news that the enemy is preparing to march north."

"Isn't this just right?"

Heba Yun advised, "We were originally planning to head south. If the enemy also leaves the city, open battle will be advantageous for our army."

The troops of the three provinces had a large number of cavalry, and in open field battles, cavalry had the advantage of mobility.

"However, morale in the army is currently low."

"That's right... We should take the initiative and strike quickly. We have a large army, but we are hesitant to act when facing an enemy with a smaller army. This will inevitably cause the morale of our soldiers to waver."

If you are not in your position, you will not seek your government.

You can't expect a bunch of ordinary soldiers to think about the big picture from the position of General Hou Yuan.

The thoughts of the lower-ranking soldiers are very simple.

Why are you afraid to attack when you clearly outnumber the enemy? Why not take advantage of your numerical superiority and launch a preemptive strike?

What kind of arrogant tactic is this? What kind of delaying tactic is this?

They don't understand.

This really tests the commander's prestige in the army. If the prestige is high enough, like Erfeng, the soldiers will not doubt the entire army's ability to hold out in the city for more than half a year. Instead, they will still firmly believe that following Erfeng will lead to the final victory. Even if the prestige is as high as Erfeng's, the commander still has to take the initiative to say some polite words from time to time to encourage the soldiers to maintain high morale.

If one's prestige is not high enough, then morale in the army will be low, and once morale is low, the troops will be difficult to lead.

Clearly, Hou Yuan's prestige has not yet reached that level.

He could manage the soldiers in his Yingzhou headquarters, but he couldn't control the soldiers from Yanzhou and Youzhou. He couldn't count on Heba Yun and Liu Lingzhu to help him.

At least Liu Lingzhu didn't accept him.

Who isn't a trusted confidant of Erzhu Rong?
Who hasn’t made great contributions to the Erzhu clan? Why should they be assigned to the remote Youzhou, while Hou Yuan is stationed in the prosperous Yingzhou?
Why should Hou Yuan be the leader of this allied forces?

Moreover, Liu Lingzhu advocated taking the initiative to fight Gao Yu to the death, rather than hiding in the city.

Such a situation is bound to occur if one lacks prestige.

"But morale is low right now..."

"I have a plan."

Heba Yun chuckled and said, "Please, Lord Liu, use your supernatural powers once again to pray to Heaven and beg the Eternal Heaven to issue a decree."

Hou Yuan hesitated for a moment.

Does it work?
When Liu Lingzhu cast the golden statue, the morale of the entire army was indeed high. It was because he did not launch a full-scale attack immediately that the situation we are in today has come to this.

"This is the only way to proceed."

After some deliberation, Hou Yuan finally hardened his heart.

Actually, he also has another aspect of pressure.

It comes from Xiangzhou.

In Xiangzhou, Erzhu Rong's army advanced triumphantly, pushing the battle line to Guangping in just one month and easily capturing Yecheng, thus gaining control of the Zhangshui River's convenient water transport.

It's bustling and lively over there.

He also had to find a way to win one or two major victories to destroy the morale of the Gao brothers' army, force Gao Yu to lead his troops back to Shandong, and completely annihilate Gao Huan in Hebei.

At that time, Erzhu Rong's territory will be connected into one.

Even Gao Yu, who occupied Shandong, couldn't stir up any trouble.

"Then I will go find Lord Liu."

Hou Yuan was, after all, the commander-in-chief of an army. Once he made up his mind, he acted swiftly and decisively!
They soon arrived at Liu Lingzhu's tent, found him, and explained their purpose.

Whether it was a ritual or the casting of a golden statue, success or failure was entirely in their own hands.

The next day!

Hou Yuan set up an altar in the military camp again to worship Heaven.

The result was, of course, exactly as expected.

The successful casting of the golden statue once again slightly improved the morale of the soldiers!
Hou Yuan also decided to add fuel to the fire himself!
“Soldiers!!”

Hou Yuan announced loudly, "The Prime Minister has already sent word that the army he personally led has been invincible and has captured Ye City. They are now marching north!"

"If our army can march south and defeat the enemy, and then reunite with the Prime Minister in Yinzhou, that would be a great achievement!"

"The Prime Minister stated in his letter that if we win, everyone will be richly rewarded, and the opportunity for promotion and titles is right before our eyes!"

"Victory is assured in this battle!!"

It certainly boosted the morale of his soldiers.

His soldiers also shouted excitedly.

"Victory is certain! Victory is certain! Victory is certain!!"

After the pre-battle mobilization was completed, Hou Yuan issued a military order, and the entire army marched out of Wuyuan and headed south to Lecheng, determined to fight Gao Yu to the death.

(End of this chapter)