Chapter 296
Chapter 297 – Pressure From Xiongnu
In the clan chat, Lu Zhi reported, "Gongsun Zan accepted me as his helper . I'm in their ranks . "
Tong: "Thank you, master . "
Tong planted Lu Zhi as an agent inside of Gongsun Zan's ranks, so he could recruit promising officers and even coax Gongsun Zan to join him in the future .
With Lu Zhi in Gongsun Zan's forces, the tension between the border of Zhongshan and Ji would decrease a bit .
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At the same month of December, the Ghost Legion of Zhang He reached Jinyang along with Ju Shou and Li Feihong . They joined forces with the Mountaineer Legion of Zhang Liao and Ding Yuan .
The combined forces of 70,000 could finally threaten the Xiongnu Army .
Li Feihong and Ju Shou devised several schemes on top of other stratagems to exterminate these nomads .
Li Feihong deployed the same gate tactic again with Zhang Liao, who burnt the granaries of these nomads, cutting off all of their supplies .
Ju Shou employed traps and pitfalls, which caught and killed thousands of Xiongnu warhorses and riders .
Zhang He and his subordinates did not have a chance to join the fight . It was not because they were incompetence or lazy, but the Xiongnu kept running away from his legion .
Ding Yuan and Lu Bu also could not get into the direct confrontation as before as the Xiongnu avoided to fight, yet they did not retreat from the border, which frustrated everybody .
For the entire month, both legions did not get a chance to get into a melee fight at all .
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January 10th, 185 A . D .
Xiongnu Army in Jinyang withdrew from the area as they completed their objectives . They had distracted both Jinyang forces and the Ghost Legion of Zhang He, which they failed to notice or assist Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng .
Ding Yuan, Li Feihong, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Ju Shou, and Lu Bu watched the retreating Xiongnu in solemn . Both legions failed to eliminate these horse archers even though they had superior gears and weapons .
"Sir Li, what do you think we're lacking . "
The frowning Ju Shou contemplated what they were their weaknesses that the Xiongnu exploited .
"It's not us . They are the abnormal ones . We burnt their granaries . We slaughtered all of their horses . But how did they persist without the supplies? How did they come back with more warhorses?"
For two months, they lost count how many supply camps they burnt and the warhorses they killed, yet the Xiongnu cavalries did not seem to be damaged at all .
"Is this the work of an immortal like you, sir Li?"
"Definitely . How can ordinary nomads procure so many warhorses and food for us to burn while they have the luxury to attack Anding, Tianshui, and Wuwei? My guess is on a similar ability that our young master has . The immortal on the Xiongnu side should be able to create warhorses and food for these guys somehow . Or else, they won't be able to use this kind of tactic . "
Zhang He, who had been listening to the conversation, recalled his photographic memories . He closed his eyes .
The vivid images of warhorses appeared in his mind . He checked the characteristic of each horse and found the irregularity in an instant .
The majority of warhorses looked the same!
Half of the Xiongnu soldiers had the same faces as well!
"The warhorses looked the same . Some of the soldiers also had a similar face . I thought they were twins, or they were a part of the same family, but it's odd . "
Li Feihong widened his eyes as he had a theory about this otherworlder's skill, "A cloning ability?"
"Cloning?"
"It should be an ability to copy living beings! Think about this hypothetically as an example . An immortal that can copy your existence and give birth to another Ju Shou or Lu Bu!"
"WHAT!?"
The eyes of all officers who heard it almost popped out of its socket . Even Lu Bu stared at Li Feihong in disbelieved .
"It's just a theory . For now, let's report our battle result to Tong and other strategists . "
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Li Feihong, Ju Shou, and Zhang Liao reported everything to the clan chat .
Jia Xu: "That actually made sense . If they can copy everything in the world, copying elite soldiers and sending them all to invade us would be easy . "
Tong: "But that will be costly . All immortal spells and abilities have a strict condition of usage . We have to pay with our lifespans for each use, and we can't use it repeatedly . "
Dong Bai: "What if he has awakened a wing?"
Jia Xu: "Wing? Miss Xiao Wu, can you elaborate?"
Dong Bai: "Wait, how did you know I'm Xiao Wu?"
Tong: "It's obvious to everyone else here . You're the only one who thinks that none of them knew . "
Dong Bai: "…"
Jia Xu: "Back to the topic, please tell us about the wing . "
Tong: "I'll explain . Any immortal with a wing can summon a guardian spirit . With a guardian spirit, we can use our skills multiple times a day, but it also consumes 10 times the normal lifespans we usually spend for each use of a spell . For example, currently, I can create 10,000 tons of food each day by paying one year of my lifespans . But I can create as many foods as I like with my guardian spirit while I have to pay 10 years lifespan instead of one for each use . "
Tong proceeded to explain about the wings of immortals and the difference between angelic wings and devil wings in detail . Since they would also experience the awakening of wings in less than twenty years, they should be prepared .
Everyone was awestruck by another secret of immortals . But when they heard that they would get those wings as well, the chat was in chaos .
Tong had to spend a week, answering barrages of questions from Jia Xu, Xun Yu, Ju Shou, and even his father, Zhang Jiao .
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Meanwhile
Chang'An City, southeast of Anding and east of Hongnong .
Dong Zhuo and his 200,000 soldiers gathered here in preparation for retaking Anding and Tianshui as both cities were occupied by the Xiongnu .
The fat tyrant was infuriated that all of his saving and treasures in those cities were robbed by the nomads . He mobilized all of his armies and personals, planning to settle the score .
No soldier was left behind in Henei, Luo Yang, Hongnong, or other checkpoints such as Hulao Gate or the Wu Pass, which Huo Xiong used to fend off the alliance of Yuan Shu and Liu Biao .
Li Ru was helpless at this . He was afraid that the other forces might use this chance to occupy Hongnong and Luo Yang if the news were to leak .
Dong Zhuo could also guess what Li Ru was thinking, "Ignore those cities . We have sucked them dried, so leave those to the hyenas!"
"Very well . Your Majesty, we should request help from your grandson-in-law . Since this is a threat of Xiongnu, we can give them some bribes and titles so they can borrow us their troops . "
"FOOk, no! All the treasures and women are mine! I won't give them shit!"
Li Ru sighed and shook his head . He gave up trying to give a piece of advice to this stubborn black pig .
'Well, I still have the Imperial Seal in my hands . Maybe it's time to bail . First, I need to gather allies . '
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Wuwei County, Liang Province .
Ma Teng was still isolated in Liang Province . At the border, the King of Xiongnu and his main forces kept them occupied while the other troops in Tian Shui planned to strike Ma Teng at Wuwei County .
Both Han Sui and Ma Teng were helpless . With hesitation, they sent SOS request to Dong Zhuo, Liu Yan, Cao Cao, and Tong, asking for reinforcements . As long as their families could be saved from this crisis, they were willing to pledge allegiance to anyone .
In the city hall, the atmosphere gloomed as no one had a way to break out from this invasion of Xiongnu .
The silence lasted for hours, but it was broken by a certain boy .
"Dad! Let's head out and get rid of those fools! I'll go with you . "
The bratty voice of an 8-year-old boy made the officers in the city hall cringed .
"Mengqi! War is not something that can be won by strength alone . Go back and learn from your uncle!"
The eldest son of Ma Teng, Ma Chao, wanted to go to war . Despite being only 8-year-old, he was a head taller than his peers . His courageous and boldness also surpassed elite soldiers within Ma Teng's ranks .
"But if we stay here, our food supplies will run out in a few months! Did you see their surrounding armies? They are waiting for us to run out of food!"
At this moment, the Wuwei County was surrounded by the main army of Xiongnu King . The initial army of 100,000 Xiongnu suddenly increased to 200,000, which overwhelmed Ma Teng's puny forces .
"Get out of the city to get slaughtered? Mengqi, do you know what they use to kill us? Archers and arrows! We can't just simply charge at them and expect them to meet us with their charge! They had always used their horse archers to decimate us!"
Han Sui stopped his sworn brother and appeased Ma Chao, "Mengqi, there's more to see than meet the eyes . Xiongnu is probably not the only one out there . We believe that the Qiang Tribes from the west joined forces with them, and that makes the situation complicated . We have to wait for the reinforcement . "
All officers looked at Ma Chao with complicated emotion . They pitied him for being born in the border county, and he was not old enough to take arms to battle . At the same time, they were also annoyed to be ordered by a little brat . Had it not because of Ma Teng, Ma Chao would have been kicked out already .
In the end, Ma Chao stomped away in anger . He still did not understand the concept of real warfare .
"I'll get a proper mentor for him after we get through this . People, please forgive my son . "
"No harm, Protector Ma!"
"That's right . He's only a child . "
Ma Teng had a wry smile on his face . There was not a single second that he did not pray for Ma Chao's future .
'Please . Anything . At least let that child get through this . '
Ma Teng hid his teary eyes as he dismissed the gathering . He wanted them to be with their families, just in case, it might be their last chance .
