mesbooks Chapter 382 Lu Xun's Doomsday (1)
Chapter 382 Lu Xun's Doomsday (1)
Although Guan Xing did not believe in Taoism, he knew what the Celestial Masters Sect of Longhu Mountain meant, so he naturally would not hold Zhang Sheng back on this matter.
Not only would they not feel that way, but they would also feel gratified to be able to contribute to the Celestial Masters sect. Moreover, with this friendship, it would be easier to ask Zhang Sheng for favors in the future.
But he really didn't have time to waste with Zhang Sheng, so after giving instructions to Ning Huan, he left quickly.
Watching Guan Xing's departing figure, Zhang Sheng asked in astonishment, "Is General Guan always this decisive and efficient?"
Ning Huan touched his nose and chuckled, "Our General Guan always prioritizes official business. Daoist, please feel free to ask if you need anything, and I will do my best to cooperate."
Zhang Sheng: "..."
He thought he would have to deal with Guan Xing for a long time, and was even prepared to be extorted by Guan Xing, since Guan Xing had such a criminal record, it would be impossible to ask him for a favor without spending a lot of money.
Unexpectedly, Guan Xing was so straightforward. He didn't mention any conditions, and even before he could speak, he saw through his hesitation and fulfilled all his needs, and even got the Prefect of Yuzhang to cooperate fully. He was so considerate.
Zhang Sheng bowed somewhat unworthy of the honor and said, "Thank you very much, Prefect Ning. I will go to Longhu Mountain to choose a site first, and then I will consult you again after I have chosen one."
After saying that, he turned to leave, but Ning Huan quickly grabbed him and said, "Daoist, don't be in such a hurry. Let's at least have a meal before you go."
Guan Xing, why are you in such a hurry to deal with Lu Xun? Longhu Mountain is right there, it can't possibly run away.
Zhang Sheng smiled and said, "Prefect Ning is busy with official duties after the war. How could I dare to disturb you? It's not too late for me to have a heart-to-heart talk with you after you've finished your business."
He was a decisive person, and having just taken over Longhu Mountain from Guan Xing, he definitely wanted to see his new home first. He had no time to chat with Ning Huan.
Seeing this, Ning Huan did not try to stop him and personally saw him off from the camp. Then he turned around and returned to the county government office. Unexpectedly, he saw Li Tong leading people to move things into the county government office as soon as he arrived at the gate.
Li Tong, who was in charge of escorting the grain, arrived two days late. Upon seeing Ning Huan, he immediately stepped forward to pay his respects and inquired about Guan Xing's situation.
Ning Huan said, "General Guan has already set out on his campaign. Before he left, he appointed you as the Prefect of Yuzhang and ordered you to rebuild the military market. Are you willing?"
Li Tong was stunned for a moment before pointing to himself in astonishment and saying, "How can I be a prefectural magistrate if I don't even know how to read?"
The Prefectural Commander is responsible for border security and military training within the prefecture. Although it is a military position, it requires overall coordination and has strong administrative attributes. How can an illiterate man who can't read a single word and only knows how to fight with a knife be a Commander?
To put it bluntly, he has the most common inferiority complex among the poor. When he receives a new task, his first thought is not the joy of promotion and salary increase, but whether he has the ability to do it well. This is a typical manifestation of a lack of self-confidence.
Ning Huan laughed and said, "Whether you can take the position or not is up to you. General Guan trusts you and that's why he entrusted you with this important task. You can't let him down. As for not being able to read, that doesn't matter. It's not too late to start learning now. From now on, you can sing and write lyrics with the soldiers every morning. In two months, you should be able to write simple official documents."
"Ah..." Upon hearing this, Li Tong instantly showed a pained expression. How old was he? Wasn't it going to kill him to learn to read and write now?
Ning Huan didn't care about all that. After instructing Li Tong, he went to find Wei Hu and You Chong's bandit army. Wei Hu was a blacksmith and was in charge of building a steel plant, while You Chong's bandit army was familiar with the terrain around Linru and should know the location of coal and iron mines in Linru.
In the following days, Ning Huan quickly adapted to his role as governor and became busy as a result. Li Tong, the military commander, also tragically joined the ranks of learners. At first, he had a strong aversion to reading and writing, but when he saw that the squad leader, who was just as illiterate as him but had surrendered a few days earlier, had written more than a dozen characters, he broke down on the spot.
We're in the same boat, and I'm the section chief while you're just a junior section chief. Yet you've secretly improved so much in just a few days. How am I supposed to live?
Spurred on, Li Tongfei no longer resisted but actively joined the learning process and integrated into the learning environment, growing rapidly with the help of the platform provided by Guan Xing.
Meanwhile, after bidding farewell to Ning Huan and Zhang Sheng and leaving the military camp, Guan Xing sped up his journey and soon caught up with Deng Hong, taking over the army and heading to Damu to begin the final battle with Lu Xun.
Guan Xing's marching speed was not very fast. While traveling, he constantly sent scouts into the Huangwu Mountains and Wuyi Mountains on both sides of the corridor to survey the terrain, find transportation routes in advance and defend them. This time, he wanted to annihilate the enemy, not just defeat them. Therefore, he would not allow Lu Xun to escape into the mountains. He had to surround and annihilate him at the foot of Da Mo City by the Gushui River.
As for the military strategy of leaving an opening when besieging an enemy, screw that! What I want is complete annihilation, a complete encirclement so that not even a fly can escape Lu Xun's forces.
I've completely surrounded you, why bother with military tactics? Wouldn't it be better to just ambush you from all sides and kill you?
With this in mind, Guan Xing only advanced fifty li each day. As a result, after only a few days, he encountered the trap that had been dug to ambush Lu Xun and Han Dang, and he was so angry that he cursed on the spot.
Fortunately, most of the traps had been laid by Wu's army, and after so many days of wind and sun exposure, they were no longer as sharp as before. There was no Wu army blocking the way, so it was easy to pass through.
Furthermore, as the distance to Da Mo continued to close, the scouts sent into the mountains also made contact with the Wu Yue tribe defending the Huangwu Mountains and the Wang Tao tribe defending the Wuyi Mountains, thus learning about some of the frontline battle situations.
According to the garrison in the mountains, after shooting Xu Sheng and infiltrating Linru that day, Lu Xun took advantage of Wang Tao's retreat from the mountains with prisoners to launch a counterattack and gained a small advantage, even rescuing the captured Lü Ju.
Shen Yi then retreated steadily, while Lu Xun led his army in close pursuit, retreating all the way to the walls of Damo City, and then nothing more happened.
As early as when Shen Yi captured Zhang Cheng twice, he began to garrison Da Mo and build a new city. By the time Lu Xun reached Da Mo, the new city was already completed. Moreover, Shen Yi used the new city as a starting point to extend the defense line to Qianligang Mountain and Xianxia Ridge on both sides of the city.
It should be noted that Da Mo, like Yu Han, is located at the entrance to a corridor sandwiched between two mountains. The defensive line extends to the sides of the mountains, which is equivalent to completely blocking the corridor that is dozens of miles wide. If Lu Xun wants to break through, he can only go into the mountains.
But the mountains are not so easy to enter. Don't forget that the Han army is the best at infiltration. Do you think they don't know where to go? If they do know, do you think they won't send troops to defend them?
Therefore, while establishing the defensive line, Shen Yi continued to order Wu Yue King Tao to garrison the Huangwu Mountains and Wuyi Mountains on both sides of Da Mo, blocking all transportation routes and eliminating any possibility of Lu Xun infiltrating Da Mo from the mountains to the rear.
In other words, Lu Xun has no other option but to launch a direct assault on Damo City.
However, Shen Yi was too cowardly, only defending and not attacking. No matter how much Lu Xun provoked him, he stayed in his camp and refused to come out. Lu Xun had no choice but to launch a strong attack. In the last half month before the end of the campaign, he launched more than a dozen fierce attacks on the Han army's defense line, but all of them ended in failure.
The reason for the failure is simple: the defenders had too much of a geographical advantage. After Lu Xun entered the corridor, he suffered repeated losses, while Shen Yi kept taking Wu prisoners. With this disparity, Shen Yi's forces were now almost twice the size of Lu Xun's, and being in a defensive position, how could Lu Xun possibly attack?
Upon learning of the situation at Da Mo, Guan Xing was completely relieved. While leading his army to advance steadily, he sent scouts into the mountains again to contact Wu Yue, instructing them to relay orders to Shen Yi and Wu Yue, telling them not to play any tricks and to hold their ground until he could encircle them. He warned them not to have any sudden lapses in judgment when they saw the light of victory, which could ruin the excellent situation.
Furthermore, after learning that he had broken through Yu Han and was advancing towards Da Mo, Lu Xun was very likely to resort to desperate measures and use some unexpected underhanded tactics, such as sending Zhou Fang to stage a self-inflicted injury ruse.
Historically, Lu Xun and Zhou Fang used the same tactics against Cao Xiu during the Battle of Shiting. They not only nearly annihilated Cao Xiu's 100,000-strong army, but also used this battle to secure Sun Quan's right to become emperor.
Since Guan Xing knew that the two of them had such methods, he was bound to take precautions in advance. He did not want to repeat Cao Xiu's mistake, so he strictly ordered Shen Yi to stay put and not to try anything funny.