Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 284 Civil strife in the Cao family
As long as there are frequent wars, the emergence of refugees is inevitable.

When there is war in the east, refugees will automatically migrate to the south, west, or north.

If there's war on the left, the refugees will naturally go to the right.

This is a very simple question.

Therefore, when there is war south of the Great Wall, refugees will go to the north of the Great Wall. Although there are Guifang people north of the Great Wall, they have been blocked from going south by the Iron Enclosure Pass for thousands of years.
Seeing the increasing number of refugees around him, Yun Ce couldn't help but think of the migration to the west and the migration to the northeast in his ancestral homeland.

It sounds heroic when you talk about it, and it sounds beautiful when you sing it, but when you see it with your own eyes, you just can't feel heroic or beautiful at all.

This was merely a spontaneous act of self-preservation by the people, much like the migration to the west and the venture to the northeast in their ancestral homeland. Without leaving or venturing out, they could not survive; taking a gamble might save their lives.

The Tiger Warriors were tall and burly, and when they wore heavy armor, they gave off an invincible aura. In addition, they never robbed the refugees of their belongings, only requiring that food be collected and distributed uniformly. Despite their tall and burly appearance, they did not bully the women among the refugees. Even on the issue of food distribution, which was the biggest concern for the refugees, they tried their best to be fair and just.

Therefore, when Yun Ce led the refugees to Longshou Pass, the first pass of the Great Wall, the number of refugees around him had already exceeded 50,000.

After removing their armor, the Tiger Warriors blended into the large number of refugees and were effectively wiped out.

Entering Longshou Pass is essentially entering Qiuhe Prefecture, the stronghold of the Cao family. Yun Ce raised the banner of the King of Changsha in order to use this title to enter the area north of the Great Wall from Longshou Pass.

As a result, he was refused by Cao Zhen, the garrison commander of Longshou Pass.

He not only refused Yun Ce's request to pass through Longshou Pass to enter the area north of the Great Wall, but also arrogantly refused Yun Ce's request to continue eastward along the Great Wall and detour through his own Jingkou Pass to enter the area north of the Great Wall.

"I thought we were allies, friends!"

Yun Ce stood below the city wall and addressed Cao Zhen on the city wall.

Cao Zhen stood on the city wall and said mockingly, "You are not qualified to be an ally of the Cao family, let alone a friend."

Yun Ce sniffed and said, "Cao Kun and I are brothers, so you should be my brother too."

Cao Zhen laughed loudly: "Are you talking about that bastard son of my Cao family who watched his brothers die in battle without coming to their aid?"

Yun Ce looked at Cao Zhen seriously and said, "You don't know how powerful Cao Kun is. If you let me enter the area north of the Great Wall today, Cao Kun might spare your life in the future."

Cao Zhen laughed loudly and said, "You may not know, but that unfilial son has already been stripped of his title as the eldest son by the patriarch, and people have been sent to escort him back to Qiuhe City to open the ancestral hall and be punished."

Yun Ce looked at the overly honest Cao general and sighed, "I'm saving you, do you even know that?"

"Coughing and spitting out—"

Yun Ce saw a large clump of thick green phlegm fly out of Cao Zhen's mouth. After flying a distance of three zhang, it lost momentum and finally flew in an arc, landing less than two zhang away from the chestnut horse.

Yun Ce frowned slightly as he looked at the bubbling green phlegm.

The dog roared in Yun Ce's mind, "This is unbearable!"

Yun Ce said, "Judging from his spitting skills, this guy is just a stupid centurion. How could the Cao family entrust such an important pass to him for defense?"

The dog said, "I don't know. Don't ask me about things that concern people's hearts."

Yun Ce nodded and looked at Cao Zhen, who was already on the city wall with his sword drawn, and asked, "Is there enough food in the pass?"

Cao Zhen laughed and said, "That's enough for you to feed these beggars for a month."

Yun Ce looked back at the Tiger Army that had gathered together and sincerely said to Cao Zhen, "Actually, my family has a lot of grain. You only need ten days' worth of grain here."

Cao Zhen chuckled coldly and then ordered the arrows to be fired.

Seeing the arrows flying densely, Yun Ce felt he had enough reason to argue with Cao Kun. Braving the rain of arrows, he leaped from his chestnut horse, covering a distance of five zhang, and with his ten fingers like hooks, he pierced the stone wall and instantly climbed onto the city wall.

The black-haired eagle, sitting on the rump of the chestnut horse, took the opportunity to fly up, flapping its wings and blasting away all the arrows on the chestnut horse's head. And while Yun Ce was climbing the wall like a gecko, it flew up to the top of the city wall first.

If you ignore the city wall, Yun Ce and Cao Zhen are only five zhang apart. Even after Yun Ce climbed the city wall, he still couldn't understand why there would be a fool like Cao Zhen who thought that he couldn't do anything to him just because he was standing on the city wall.

The Tiger Warriors stood in the rain of arrows for a while, the arrows piercing their outer robes and landing on their heavy armor, making a clanging sound before falling to the ground.

Before Yun Ce leaped to grab Cao Zhen, he took a look at the Tiger Legion and found that from the height of the city wall, their obvious height advantage was not apparent. After all, from a high place, everything looks like ants.

Aside from being brainless and lacking in martial prowess, Cao Zhen was at least loyal. At least he dared to brandish his longsword and hack wildly at the black-feathered eagle, even as sparks flew from the clash of the blade against the eagle's wings, he fought to the death. Not only did Cao Zhen look down on Yun Ce, but his warriors also immediately attacked the seemingly imposing black-feathered eagle. In an instant, crossbow bolts flew from the eagle's side, and various weapons—swords, spears, halberds—were used in turn, preventing the eagle from having a chance to rescue Yun Ce, who was surrounded by soldiers.

Faced with a group of soldiers with fuzzy lips, Yun Ce felt that killing them would be against the natural order. Although they were eager to make a name for themselves, Yun Ce let them go. He jumped over their heads and landed below the city wall. He single-handedly pushed a group of shield soldiers into the city gate, and with a burst of strength, he overturned the turtle shells one by one.

While the shield bearers were in disarray, he seized the opportunity to open the city gates, allowing the Tiger Legion, who had already arrived at the city walls, to enter through the main gate.

As soon as the Tiger Warriors entered the city gate, the militiamen following behind them shouted and rushed into Longshou Pass.

Cao Zhen was knocked over by a black eagle's wing, half of his body hanging on the city wall. Only then did he realize that his pass had been breached by Yun Ce.

Everyone knows that the Great Wall passes of the Han Dynasty were for external use only, not for internal use.

That's right, the wall to the north of the Great Wall is very high and the terrain is very treacherous, but the wall to the south of the Great Wall is very low. Most importantly, according to the military law of the Han Dynasty, no moat can be dug under this side of the wall.

This meant that although Longshou Pass was the first pass of the Great Wall, it was easy to capture if attacked from the south to the north.

Cao Zhen immediately roared, urging the soldiers below the city who were being slaughtered by the Tiger Legion not to run away. However, the current Tiger Legion was far superior to the Tiger Legion of the past in terms of agility and intelligence. It was no match for a group of ordinary soldiers. In an instant, heads rolled and people fled in panic.

As more and more refugees rushed into Longshou Pass, even some strong women picked up knives and hurriedly rushed into the city, preparing to loot Longshou Pass.

In despair, Cao Zhen removed his helmet, closed his eyes, and fell straight down from the city wall.

Although the southern city wall is not high, it is still three zhang high. If one falls straight down, it would be no problem to die from the fall, especially if one is wearing heavy armor.

After waiting for a long time without feeling any impact on his body, Cao Zhen opened his eyes and saw Yun Ce's impatient face.

"I don't like hugging men."

As he spoke, he threw Cao Zhen to the ground.

Cao Zhen sat up, then knelt down, looked at the vagrants looting everywhere, and glared at Yun Ce, saying, "Can you call this an ally and friend of the Cao family?"

Yun Ce sat on a log opposite him and said helplessly, "That sounds like something I just said. You even spat on me. By the way, let me ask you something. You're just a guy who barely manages to be a hundred men general. What makes you think you're qualified to be the garrison commander of Longshou Pass?"

Cao Zhen said, "If the patriarch hadn't transferred a large number of warriors back to Qiuhe City, do you think you could have broken through the pass so easily?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Ce sighed and said, "It's all over. Why are you nobles all like this? In the Battle of Chang'an, tens of thousands of elite troops died. Now, will tens of thousands more elite troops die in Qiuhe City?"

Or do you think internal strife is far more important than defending important passes?

Seeing that Yun Ce didn't seem to intend to kill him, Cao Zhen quietly loosened his legs, changing from kneeling to sitting cross-legged, and looked up at Yun Ce, saying, "Young Master is in great danger this time. You'd better cut ties with him as soon as possible, otherwise, the patriarch will definitely cause you trouble in the future."

Yun Ce rolled his eyes at this peculiar person.

"After I clear the level, it shouldn't be a problem for me to rob someone for half a day, right?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhen immediately stood up and said, "Just half a day?"

Yun Ce nodded and said, "We'll leave after four more hours of fighting. Can you hold out?"

Cao Zhen said with a bitter face, "Just don't rob too much."

Yun Ce raised his hand and slapped Cao Zhen on the forehead, saying, "I didn't want to break through the city, but you said you had enough food to feed 50,000 to 60,000 people for a month."

Alright, enough of that. You covered up the robbery for me, and I'll cover up the city's fall for you. Let's just let this matter rest. Anyway, the Cao family will be in chaos for a while. As long as you can control your subordinates and prevent them from reporting it, I doubt anyone in the Cao family will have the extra energy to investigate you.

The chestnut horse finally strolled into the city. When it saw Cao Zhen, it chewed a clump of grass until it became sticky, then swallowed it and vomited it into its mouth. It tilted its head back and vomited it all over Cao Zhen's face.

Longshou Pass is not long, but it is very wide. There are no gates in the east and west directions, only two city gates in the north and south. At this time, the north city gate has also been opened by the Tiger Army. From the south gate, you can see all the way to the wasteland outside the north gate.

The stomach acid of the chestnut horse is corrosive. After Cao Zhen removed the grass balls that the chestnut horse had vomited on his face and thoroughly washed his face dozens of times with clean water, he barely managed to open his swollen red eyes and look around.

Only then did they realize that Yun Ce's men had already left Longshou Pass and were winding their way into the wilderness.

"We repelled the enemy and closed the city gates—"

Cao Zhen came to the city wall again and shouted at the fleeing soldiers who had just gathered.

(End of this chapter)