I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 267 Zhuge's Northern Expedition
"..."

"The Marquis of Ji was defeated and seriously wounded."

"Please return immediately, Chief Secretary."

"..."

A brief oral message left Guan Jing, who was talking with Liu Miao in Qingzhou, completely dumbfounded.

Guan Jing grabbed the scout by the collar, his ten knuckles turning white from the force.

"What did you say?"

"Yuan Shao suddenly marched north, and the Marquis of Ji rallied his old troops and led the White Horse Cavalry to meet him in battle, but they were utterly defeated by Yuan Shao!"

"impossible!"

Guan Jing glared at the scout: "When it comes to decisiveness on the battlefield and the deployment of cavalry, no one can compare to our lord!"

"Even if Yuan Shao had his elite crossbowmen... after the Battle of Jieqiao, our lord has been constantly thinking about how to defeat the enemy. How could he possibly suffer a crushing defeat against Yuan Shao?"

The scout was being choked by Guan Jing to the point of almost rolling his eyes back, but Liu Miao saw that things were not going well and decisively stepped forward to save him.

"Tell me slowly, what happened?"

Liu Miao then handed the milk tea on the table to the scout, who immediately gave Liu Miao a grateful look.

"The ones who defeated the Marquis of Ji this time were not as good as the first crossbowmen."

"It would be more accurate to say that the vanguard crossbowmen were no match for the Marquis of Ji. They were directly overwhelmed by the Marquis of Ji's White Horse Cavalry as they stormed into the enemy ranks and suffered a crushing defeat."

"But……"

The scout still shuddered when he thought about the scene.

"A cavalry unit suddenly appeared behind those crossbowmen who were the first to charge!"

"That cavalry force, with both men and horses clad in armor, was incredibly imposing! Though numbering only three hundred, their charge possessed a destructive force!"

"Now that I think about it, those crossbowmen who were the first to charge were probably not defeated by the Marquis of Ji, but rather were bait deliberately released by Yuan Shao, who deliberately let the Marquis of Ji lead his troops into that military camp, unable to maneuver or turn, and could only collide head-on with those iron cavalry... The Marquis of Ji was brave and was charging at the very front. If it weren't for the other generals risking their lives to save him, the Marquis of Ji would probably have been trapped there and unable to get out!"

"absurd!"

Guan Jing didn't believe it!

"What kind of cavalry could possibly break through the Marquis of Ji's White Horse Cavalry with just three hundred men! Don't say things like that and disturb the morale of the army!"

But Liu Miao, who was standing to the side, remained silent.

Clearly, he realized what it was—

Heavy cavalry!
Yuan Shao was the originator of heavy cavalry tactics. Later, Cao Cao, envious, imitated Yuan Shao and formed heavy cavalry such as the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, which completely drove the enemy out of the Central Plains.

Those heavy cavalry might not be invincible, but if it were just a frontal charge, no army in the world could be a match for them!
Especially from the scouts' descriptions.

Yuan Shao took advantage of Gongsun Zan's emphasis on the vanguard crossbowmen, deliberately allowing Gongsun Zan to take advantage of his own.

Once Gongsun Zan was face to face, they immediately tore off the disguise and swarmed the heavy cavalry that had been lying in ambush behind them. In the narrow formation, they trampled on Gongsun Zan and his White Horse Cavalry in every way.

It's incredibly lucky that Gongsun Zan was able to escape with his life under those circumstances!

Liu Miao remained silent for a while, clearly having thought about many things.

such as--

What if those heavy cavalry are used against us?
What if Yuan Shao had more than three hundred heavy cavalry, but five hundred, eight hundred, or even a thousand?
An unexpected event in the north made Liu Miao no longer dare to underestimate Yuan Shao, and instead he began to seriously consider how to truly defeat this ridiculously powerful warlord!
Guan Jing was also in a state of panic: "Let's go, let's go, I'll go with you to Liaodong right now! Back to Youzhou!"

"Sir, please be patient."

Liu Miao gestured to Guan Jing to remain calm.

"Going through Liaodong is still too slow."

"Traveling directly from Qingzhou to Youzhou is actually faster."

Taking a long detour around the Bohai Bay is naturally not as quick as going directly through it.

The only difficulty might be getting lost when you can't see land on the vast ocean.

Fortunately, Liu Miao had a human-shaped astrolabe on his side—

"Kongming, you will lead the troops to Youzhou this time!"

------

Gongsun Zan suffered a truly devastating defeat.

When he was rescued, his ankle had been completely broken, and two toes on his right foot were missing.

The arm was broken into three pieces, and even the ears had turned black.

Even though a doctor had already treated his injuries, Gongsun Zan stared blankly at the floorboards the whole time.

The White Horse Cavalry, once again on a campaign, was easily annihilated by Yuan Shao.

As the heavy cavalry rolled in, the nightmare from the past once again flooded Gongsun Zan's ears, leaving him utterly powerless to fight back.

Even now, Gongsun Zan can still see and hear those wails and screams!

After standing there in a daze for a long, long time, Gongsun Zan finally heard a familiar voice in his ear.

Chief Secretary Guan Jing.

After days at sea, Guan Jing was ragged and haggard, but Gongsun Zan still recognized him at a glance. "Shi Qi, Shi Qi..."

After muttering two sentences, Gongsun Zan, who had been completely numb, suddenly burst into tears!
"Rise! I've lost again! It's all gone! Everything's gone!!!"

The once mighty overlord was now disregarding all decorum and weeping bitterly!
Guan Jing also stepped forward and hugged Gongsun Zan, tears streaming down his face as well.

"My lord, I'm back, I'm back."

The emperor and his minister wept bitterly, completely oblivious to everything else.

Her eyes were red, swollen, and sore from crying, but she still had no intention of stopping.

Zhuge Liang and Gongsun Zan, who had come together, bowed and greeted each other, saying, "Greetings, Marquis of Ji!"

Gongsun Zan only then noticed that there was an unfamiliar face next to Guan Jing, and suddenly became wary, asking, "Who are you?"

"Marquis Ji, he is an envoy of General Liu, and is from Langya, just like General Liu. His surname is Zhuge, his given name is Liang, and his courtesy name is Kongming."

Upon hearing that he was Liu Miao's envoy and also a fellow townsman of Liu Miao, the wariness in Gongsun Zan's eyes lessened somewhat.

Only then did he remember why he had sent Guan Jing out earlier.

However, Gongsun Zan is currently showing little interest in this matter.

"Now that Baima is gone and Yuan Shao's army is just outside the city, what use is Liu Miao, who is far away?"

"..."

Seeing Gongsun Zan's dejected appearance, Zhuge Liang felt somewhat helpless.

Having grown accustomed to Liu Miao's lawless behavior, Zhuge Liang simply could not tolerate that a lord could be so decadent!

Even if the White Horse Cavalry were completely wiped out, Yijing still exists! The Hundred-Foot Tower still exists! The tens of thousands of soldiers still exist! Isn't that right?

Zhuge Liang took a deep breath: "Does Marquis Ji really want to die of illness on this bed?"

It had been a long time since anyone had dared to reprimand Gongsun Zan like that, so Gongsun Zan was taken aback.

"Now, as long as we can hold off Yuan Shao with Yijing City, and then send troops from the south with Liu Biaoqi, can't we relieve the siege of the Marquis of Ji?"

But even Guan Jing shook his head and said, "Now, is there really anyone who can save the collapsing edifice?"

"If you don't try, you'll never succeed! But if you do try, there's always a glimmer of hope!"

It's funny to say.

Gongsun Zan is clearly facing a life-or-death crisis, but the only one holding onto hope is actually Zhuge Liang, an outsider!
"Lord Ji! Chief Clerk! Are you two really not even willing to give it a try?"

Zhuge Liang's figure was free and unrestrained, but his aura was like a rock on the coast, which would not budge no matter how the wind and waves blew!
Perhaps it was Zhuge Liang's imposing aura and unwavering gaze that caused Gongsun Zan and Guan Jing to freeze in place and stop crying.

"Kongming...does he really have a way to resist Yuan Shao?"

"It all depends on man!"

Zhuge Liang requested the inventory list of the Yi Jing government treasury. Even though he was prepared, he was still taken aback by the amount of inventory!
With such a large amount of money, food, and military equipment, how could Gongsun Zan only know how to hold onto one place?
If these supplies had been kept in Langya at that time, Zhuge Liang had no doubt that Liu Miao would have fought Yuan Shao's army to the death! A single battle would have decided the fate of the world!

Zhuge Liang disregarded the fact that he was merely an envoy and immediately began to take the initiative to make arrangements.

Ironically, no one seemed to think there was anything wrong with it.

After all, as an envoy of the Han Dynasty, it doesn't seem wrong for him to be a bit domineering!
"All those who died in this battle will be given ten bushels of rice as compensation."

The first priority was to appease the demoralized remnants of the defeated troops, whose morale was low due to the war.

"Afterwards, all the wealth must be distributed to the generals guarding the high tower!"

Nowadays, empty slogans are no longer enough to motivate soldiers.

Only by using money can we unite the soldiers in all places to resist Yuan Shao!
Gongsun Zan's accumulated wealth, which he had kept hidden for who knows how long, flowed rapidly into the hands of the other soldiers like water.

Although the speed at which money and grain were being depleted was heartbreaking for Guan Jing, the effects were immediate.

The morale in Yijing City, which had been low, began to recover at a visible speed. The most obvious sign was that the sounds of soldiers training could be heard coming from the surrounding buildings!

"And there's one more crucial point!"

Zhuge Liang pointed to these tall buildings.

"Although these high-rise buildings are easy to defend and difficult to attack, they are isolated and lack a complete defense system, making it inconvenient to coordinate operations."

Zhuge Liang originally intended to add plank roads to connect these tall buildings, but with Yuan Shao's attack on the city imminent, there was clearly not enough time for Zhuge Liang to slowly repair the plank roads.

But Zhuge Liang only pondered for a moment before coming up with a solution.

"The technique of using a chuck recorded in the Mo Jing might actually work!"

Since Chen Yu's shocking proposal to "revive the Hundred Schools of Thought" in Jingzhou, the teachings of the Hundred Schools of Thought have no longer been taboo in the South.

Zhuge Liang had also just read a few fragments of the Mo Jing and was very familiar with the techniques recorded on it.

The term "pulley" is the same as "pulley".

By installing pulleys between the two tall buildings to serve as a means of communication, the problem of inconvenient communication among the thousands of tall buildings in Yijing City was solved!
When Yuan Shao had reorganized his troops and leisurely arrived at the city of Yijing, countless pulleys and ropes had already been set up in the air, with soldiers and supplies being constantly moved around, which amazed Yuan Shao's soldiers.

"It seems that Gongsun Zan has quite a few extraordinary individuals under his command!"

　Sorry, while checking the information yesterday, I found that Gongsun Zan's title was "Marquis of Ji" instead of "Marquis of Yan". The previous text has now been completely corrected.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)