My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 389 Wang Sizheng Seeks War
Hou Yuan's arrangements were quite cautious.

He did not send out all his troops; he left some forces to defend Wuyuan City, and also left enough manpower in Zhaodu Army City further back.

Make sure you have a safe escape route.

Even if the battle at the front goes badly, they won't be completely routed. Even if they lose in open battle, they can still come back, gather the defeated soldiers, and cooperate with the garrison left in the city to defend the city and keep Gao Yu tied down in Yingzhou as much as possible, making Gao Yu waste more time here.

"General, you should leave trusted confidants in Wuyuan and Zhaodu Army City as inside agents. In this way, you can cut off Hou Yuan's retreat and make it easier for my lord to control Ying, Yan, You and other places in the future."

Upon receiving the news, Liu Taozhi immediately came to meet Hebayun.

Heba Yun chuckled, "You think Mo Heduo will definitely win before the fight even starts?"

"That's natural."

Liu Taozhi was very certain, "My husband trains only the bravest and most skilled warriors."

Heba Yun didn't refute it. He had already boarded Gao Yu's pirate ship, so naturally he would do everything he could to help Gao Yu win.

The Gao brothers are currently at a disadvantage, so helping Gao Yu would be like providing charcoal in snowy weather, not adding flowers to brocade.

He knew Gao Yu's character very well.

The army is on the offensive.

Hou Yuan personally commanded the central army, Heba Yun led the left army, Liu Lingzhu led the right army, and the vanguard was led by Hou Yuan's elite troops and his most trusted and valiant confidants. The 100,000-strong army marched south in a grand procession.

………………

Gao Yu also received a secret letter from Liu Taozhi.

The news of the army marching south was not important...

An army of 100,000 men marching in a grand procession—such a large number of people would inevitably cause a great commotion and disturbance, making it easy for scouts and rangers to discover such news.

What is valuable is Hou Yuan's military deployment.

Heba Yun led the left army. Having successfully won him over, Hou Yuan personally led his elite troops to the side where Heba Yun was located to launch a fierce attack on Hou Yuan's central army. If the central army was in trouble, it would inevitably cause the enemy's formation to fall into chaos, and it would end up like the Southern Liang Northern Expeditionary Allied Army led by Chen Qingzhi.

They claimed to have 300,000 men, but in reality, once things got chaotic, they would just become a mob, running around like headless flies and breaking up their own formation.

"General, is Aju Ni trustworthy?"

Mulan raised her own questions, being quite cautious and also fearing that something might happen to Gao Yu.

The best chance to directly attack Hou Yuan's central army camp is for Gao Yu to personally lead the Xuanjia Army.

Extremely risky!

If Gao Yu is not careful, he will be surrounded. Even if he manages to break out, he will suffer a major defeat, which will affect the entire war situation. Once defeated, Gao Yu will definitely have to retreat to Jizhou. Then Hou Yuan can advance westward and cooperate with Erzhu Rong to attack Gao Huan from two sides.

Once Gao Huan is defeated, Gao Yu will be left to fend for himself in Shandong.

"Believable."

Gao Yu nodded.

He did not blindly trust Hebayun. You can't judge a book by its cover, so how could you believe a few words from others?

Liu Taozhi and Ashina Tumen are still under Heba Yun's command. Simply having someone imitate Liu Taozhi's handwriting is useless. He and Liu Taozhi had already made an agreement and had a secret code. Every time a letter was sent, the code in the letter matched, which proved that Liu Taozhi was currently safe and sound.

There is no doubt about Liu Taozhi's loyalty.

Secondly...

Hebayun voluntarily submitted his "pledge of allegiance".

The two messengers who came to deliver the messages later were Heba Yun's most trusted confidant, who had fought alongside him in numerous battles, and Heba Yun's eldest son, Heba Shiwen.

The trusted confidants and the eldest son were voluntarily sent to Gao Yu's side as 'hostages'.

Combined with Gao Yu's understanding of Heba Yun's character, he knew that Heba Yun was not the kind of person who would stop at nothing to climb the social ladder.

The country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change.

However, to prevent the news from leaking out, Gao Yu immediately arranged for Heba Shiwen and others to be stationed in Lecheng. After all, Gao Yu's troops were mostly pure Han Chinese, and the few Xianbei faces were quite familiar to the soldiers.

The sudden appearance of several unfamiliar Xianbei faces would inevitably lead to leaks of information.

"If that's the case... then the enemy's main attack must be on the left flank, and Liu Lingzhu's attack on the right flank is just a feint to mislead us."

Wang Sizheng shared his opinion.

"Oh?"

Gao Yu countered, "Go on, tell me more."

"Liu Lingzhu is nothing but a charlatan. How could he know anything about military strategy? His subordinates are mostly sycophants who love superstition and ghosts. Hou Yuan has fought on the battlefield for many years and naturally understands that such people have no fighting power to speak of when leading an army. Yet, the Youzhou Iron Cavalry is under Liu Lingzhu's command."

"If we were completely unaware, we would indeed be deceived."

The iron cavalry of Youzhou!
Given their renowned reputation, the logical approach would be to assume that whichever side the strongest Youzhou cavalry was on would be the enemy's main attack direction.

Gao Yu nodded, but added, "But we shouldn't underestimate them either."

"The Iron Cavalry of Youzhou is famous throughout the land. Although Liu Lingzhu is not good at marching and fighting, he has a lot of prestige in the army because of his belief in gods and ghosts. His soldiers will naturally be willing to fight for him."

"That's all I wanted to say!"

Wang Sizheng looked at Gao Yu, bowed slightly, and said through gritted teeth, "It would be a bit of a waste for the general to send a high-ranking general to defend the area. Our army is ultimately outnumbered, so we need to concentrate our strength on one point to defeat the enemy!"

"I pride myself on my defensive skills. If the general trusts me, please send several thousand troops to obey my orders, and I will guard the left flank of the army for the general!"

The two sides are in a North-South divide.

Liu Lingzhu was in the right wing, which corresponds to the left wing of Gao Yu's army.

Mulan, Peng Le, and others all looked at Wang Sizheng.

Wang Sizheng was Yuan Xiu's close associate on the surface, and it could even be said that he played a part in the succession.

To Gao Yu's subordinates, Wang Sizheng was an outsider.

It is quite intriguing that he is demanding troops at this critical juncture.

Gao Yu also sized him up.

Wang Sizheng is actually right.

Liu Lingzhu was not good at warfare, but his soldiers were fierce fighters, and this kind of charlatan was good at brainwashing his men, so he might be able to unleash amazing fighting power.

If Mulan and Peng Le were to be sent to guard the area, it would seem like a waste of their talents.

Wang Sizheng is a historically renowned defensive master.

Seeing that Gao Yu remained silent for a long time.

Wang Sizheng then gritted his teeth and said, "I am willing to sign a military pledge!"

"As long as I live, I will never allow the enemy to break through my left flank!!"

"it is good!"

Gao Yu did not refuse.

Whether Wang Sizheng intended to serve him is irrelevant.

Even though he is still Yuan Xiu's direct subordinate, he is still trustworthy.

Because Yuan Xiu was the emperor supported by both Gao Huan and Gao Yu, their interests were completely aligned in defeating Erzhu Rong.

Wang Sizheng had no reason to harm himself.

Having this defensive master with a small force to help him hold off the Youzhou cavalry would greatly increase his chances of winning this battle.

"

(End of this chapter)