Overthrowing Wei: Starting with Cao Cao's "I'd rather betray the world than surrender

Guo Jia stood on the hillside, watching all this, and suddenly said, "Young Master."

Lu Ding turned to look at him. By this time, the valley had gradually quieted down, and the soldiers were busy cleaning up the battlefield, dragging away the corpses, and gathering the prisoners. Occasionally, a few low groans could be heard.

After the sun had sunk below the hills, the sky gradually darkened, and a faint smell of blood permeated the valley.

Guo Jia's gaze, however, did not fall on the battlefield, but rather looked towards the mountains further south.

The area is hilly and covered with forests. The official road appears and disappears among the mountains, leading all the way to the territory of the State of Chen.

Guo Jia said softly, "These few bandit groups from Liang seem to be just the outer perimeter."

Lü Ding was slightly taken aback: "Outer edge?"

Guo Jia nodded, casually pointing with his riding whip to the distant mountains, and said, "According to the scouts' reports over the past two days, although the bandits between Liangnan and Yangcheng are numerous, their banners are mixed and they operate independently. The people who can truly command them are mostly not here, but further south."

Following his gaze, Lü Ding said in a deep voice, "Chen State?"

Guo Jia smiled slightly: "Most likely so."

Xu Huang also approached at this moment, his armor still stained with blood. Hearing their conversation, he frowned and said, "If the bandit leader is truly in Chen territory, then this battle is probably not over yet."

Guo Jia nodded and said, "Exactly." As he said this, his gaze returned to the prisoners being held captive, his tone still calm, "However, these people may be able to give us the answer."

Lu Ding nodded and then ordered, "Bring the bandit leader up."

Before long, several bound Yellow Turban rebels were brought to the front of the formation. One of them was burly and had a yellow turban wrapped around his head; he seemed to be a minor leader. Xu Chu stood to the side with his sword in hand. Just by standing in front of that man, the man turned pale with fright.

Without wasting words, Lü Ding asked directly, "Where did you come from?"

The bandit hesitated for a moment, about to give an ambiguous answer, but Xu Chu stuck his sword into the ground and said calmly, "Speak."

The man shuddered and hurriedly said, "I...we were originally from Liangnan Mountain."

Guo Jia suddenly asked, "Whom do you take orders from?"

The bandit soldier was taken aback, and subconsciously replied, "Commander..."

A glint flashed in Guo Jia's eyes: "Who?"

The bandit gritted his teeth and finally whispered, "Commander Liu."

Xu Huang and Li Tong both looked at Guo Jia, who, as if he had expected this, simply nodded slightly and continued to ask, "Where is he?"

The bandit dared not conceal the truth any longer and hurriedly said, "In...in the northern mountains of Chen State."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of several generals subtly changed. Xu Huang said in a deep voice, "As expected, it's in Chen territory."

Guo Jia merely smiled and said, "The northern mountains of Chen State stretch for dozens of miles. If we establish a stronghold there, these bandits from Liangnan will merely be our eyes and ears on the periphery. If we don't take down the northern mountains, these bandits will only gather in greater numbers."

Lu Ding pondered for a moment, then asked, "How many people are there in Beishan?"

The prisoner quickly replied, "The commander has... about five or six thousand men."

Li Tong frowned and said, "If there really were that many people, the Chen Kingdom's troops would probably have already suffered losses."

Guo Jia said softly, "That's right." He looked at Lü Ding and said, "The reason why the State of Chen has not dared to make any moves in recent years is mostly because of this band of thieves."

Lü Ding asked, "Then, in your opinion, what do you think of the meeting between the Prime Minister of Chen and the Chancellor?"

Guo Jia smiled and said, "Let's wait and see." He paused, then added, "Let's attack first."

Xu Huang couldn't help but snort coldly: "They do know how to keep accounts, don't they?"

Lu Ding said nothing, but remained silent for a while before looking again at the undulating mountains to the south. That was the direction of the northern mountains of Chen State, and the true root of this purge.

After a moment, he slowly said, "Since that's the case, then let's fight."

He spoke calmly, without the slightest hesitation.

Guo Jia looked at him, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes, and then said, "Since you've decided to act, young master, you must act quickly. The Liangnan bandits have been defeated in the two battles today, and the news will soon reach Beishan. If they manage to gather their forces in advance and hold their positions, this battle will be difficult to win."

Xu Huang nodded: "Not bad."

Guo Jia continued, "So we must cut off their food supply before they fully realize what's happening. Although the Beishan stronghold is dangerous, it still needs to feed thousands of people, and the food must be transported from outside. As long as we block their supply route, they will naturally come out on their own."

Lu Ding pondered for a moment, then asked, "Where is the grain route?"

Guo Jia smiled and said, "Ask them." He then looked at the prisoners.

Sure enough, one of them turned pale with fright. Before Xu Chu could speak, he hurriedly said, "The grain... the grain is transported from the northern fortified village. Grain convoys come into the mountains every few days."

Guo Jia nodded, as if he had expected it, and said, "As expected." He stood up, looked at Lü Ding, and said in a calm tone, but with a hint of sharpness in his voice, "Young master, if this battle is fought well, there will be no more Yellow Turbans in the southern border of Yuzhou."

The sun had completely set, and the valley was gradually swallowed by night. Lü Ding gazed at the continuous mountain range to the south, remained silent for a long time, and finally said, "Issue the order: tomorrow we will muster the troops and march south into Chen territory."

The mountain wind blew through the valley, stirring up dust and the stench of blood. In the distance, the official road stretched southward in the night, and at its end lay the northern mountains of the Chen Kingdom.

Meanwhile, news of this battle had spread to various places along with the fleeing bandits and passing merchants—the Runan army had defeated Liangnan, and the name of Lü Dingzhi had begun to quietly spread among the counties of Yuzhou.

Several days later, Chen Guobei Mountain.

Night fell, and the mountains were shrouded in darkness.

Deep in the mountains, a huge mountain stronghold was built against the mountain. The walls of the stronghold were made of rough wood and rubble. Torches were lit in rows along the walls, swaying in the night wind.

The village was noisy with thousands of Yellow Turban rebels gathered in the open space. Swords and spears were scattered everywhere, and flags stood in a forest. Some were sharpening their knives, some were carrying grain sacks, and others were talking loudly around the campfire.

On a wooden platform in the center of the village, a tall man was standing.

This man had a yellow turban wrapped around his head, was burly, and had a rugged face.

It was Liu Pi, the leader of the bandits in Beishan.

He held a long sword in his hand, its blade gleaming coldly in the firelight.

Just then, a henchman rushed onto the wooden platform, panting, and said, "Commander!"

Liu Pi looked up at him and said, "Speak."

The man quickly said, "Something happened in Liangnan."

Liu Pi frowned: "What is it?"

"Huang Sheng and his men... were scattered by the government troops."

The surrounding bandits immediately stirred, with one exclaiming in surprise, "How is this possible? Doesn't Liang Nan have two or three thousand men?"

The henchman swallowed hard and whispered, "I heard... they're soldiers from Runan."

"Runan?" Liu Pi's gaze darkened slightly. He had certainly heard of this name before. Recently, news had been circulating from the Liangnan area that a young general had emerged in Runan Commandery and was suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but he hadn't paid much attention to it initially. Those people in Liangnan were merely peripheral informants.

Liu Pi slowly walked to the edge of the stockade, looking out at the dark mountains beyond the North Mountain, the mountain wind blowing his yellow turban.

After a while, he suddenly asked, "Is Huang Sheng dead?"