Chapter 486 – Final Battle?
Zhang Liao: "Urgent report! Remnants of Liu Bei's soldiers are fleeing toward the east."
Zhang Liao: "Expecting that they will move toward Cao Cao's territory."
Zhang Liao: "@Xun Yu"
Xun Yu: "Acknowledged! I'll move Cao Cao's forces to intercept!"
Zhang Liao: "What's the location of Lu Bu and Zhang He's legions?"
Lu Bu: "Wan County."
Zhang He: "Xinye County."
Zhang Liao: "You're not coming together?"
Zhang He: "My units are acting as rearguards. We don't need to cram together, or we won't have enough space for camping."
Lu Bu: "^As he said."
Tong: "@Lu Bu, @Zhang He. Ignore Liu Bei's remnant units. Focus on regrouping at Hongnong and annex Liang and Yong Province."
Tong: "@Xun Yu. I'll leave the clean up to Cao Cao's forces. Tell him that I'll invite him and his mates into our clan next year."
Xun Yu: "Yes, your majesty."
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Xuchang, Cao Cao's headquarters
After Xun Yu had received the order, he relayed the intelligence to Cao Cao right away.
Beside Cao Cao, all elite generals were there with him, including his favorite bodyguards, Xu Chu and Dian Wei. His cousins and clan members, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Xiu, and many others were also present.
Cao Cao's officer distribution was different than Tong's system. His government system still relied on noble hierarchies, private forces, and delegation. As such, Cao Cao's officers had more freedom, and they did not have to manage their affiliate counties themselves. Everything was delegated to minor civil officers and the local nobles.
As for the military organizations, Cao Cao did not make his armies into legions like Tong. He spread all elite soldiers to every city, so they could enlist local militias and mercenaries, who were interested in being professional soldiers, and turned them into permanent soldiers of that region.
Whenever Cao Cao deployed troops, he would send his generals there. Then, those generals could take over the local forces and fight independently.
However, there were disadvantages. If Cao Cao ever needed to assemble forces into a large army, it would take months to gather 100,000 soldiers, whereas, Tong could mobilize his legions on the spot, taking less time to assemble a massive army.
Meanwhile, Tong relied on his central government to manage all officers. All civil officers in each county were assigned by Te Langpu, Lu Zhi, and Sima Fang, so local nobles had no authority. Because of the tight security, the three ministers and the assigned officers had no free time. The tree ministers had to keep exchanging reports and orders to their secret agents, who they had sent to monitor the local mayors and governors in each city. As for the assigned governors and mayors, they were always busy dealing with the local nobles and officials.
For the important commanderies, only clan members were sent to manage those territories. As a result, not many talented civil officers stayed in Ye or Julu for a very long time.
By sacrificing the convenience of his officers, Tong's government system was more stable and rarely suffered from embezzlement or corruption.
Still, the noble suppression and property confiscation bred resentment among old nobles. Many old factions migrated toward Cao Cao's lands and reformed their military forces.
Little did they know, Cao Cao secretly converted these hidden powers into professional soldiers, serving under his name. These nobles thought that Cao Cao would eventually fight against Tong in the future, so they invested everything in Cao Cao's territories. By the time that they realized it, Cao Cao already plundered their resources into his armies, making these nobles powerless.
In the end, both forces coincidentally coordinated to weed out the hidden powers, becoming yin and yang and stabilizing the balance of the country.
"My lord, the Monster Legion has fought against Liu Bei's main forces at Hongnong."
Cao Cao stood up in delight, "Finally! I was dying of anticipation! Holy shit, Zhang Tong took too much time preparing!"
He thought that Tong finally decided to finish this farce and end the civil war for good.
"… I haven't finished, my lord."
"Oh? Continue, then," Cao Cao laughed off the embarrassment.
"A remnant force of Liu Bei is moving toward Luoyang. I think they will reach Xinan in a few days."
Cao Cao paused and rolled his eyes, "Has Zhang Liao let them slip?"
"… I don't know the details, but from Zhang Liao's tone, the legion wasn't thorough with their jobs."
"Eh, he's capable, but he is bad at dealing with loose ends. Well, Miaocai, head to Xinan and set up the defense. Yuanrang, fly to Luoyang and gather an army. Take the local troops and reinforce Xinan."
Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan nodded. They spread their wings and flew toward their destinations.
Cao Cao turned back to Xun Yu, "Any other info in the clan chat?"
Xun Yu nodded, "His majesty said that he will invite everyone here to his clan next year."
"Ah, fucking finally! What about my daughters? How about Zixiu? Any news?"
"… His majesty rarely mentioned his concubines. The empress and the prime consort also refuse to reveal their status. As for Lord Cao Ang, he's with your family members."
"… I guess I'll visit them once Zhang Tong unified the country."
The day of his dream came earlier than he had expected. Cao Cao might have failed to unite everyone under his rules, but he did not mind being a "Number Two" or "Number Three." Once Tong ended the civil war, Cao Cao could always battle the other civil officers and slowly raise his ranks through politics and hard work.
"I'm still mad that Zhang Tong stole Du Shi and Cai Wenji from me. Wenruo, can you trick Zhang Tong, so I can visit his concubines?"
Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and everyone panicked, "Don't do it, Mengde! Zhang Tong is going to kill you."
"Bah! Cheapskate!" Cao Cao pouted as he sat down on his throne.
Cao Cao lost interest in Tong's affairs. He changed the subjects and continued reading the scrolls, correcting the documents of his officers.
Civil works never ended in this era.
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Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, and Chen Qun observed their lord with a sigh.
They had done everything they could, but the pressure from the immortals and the difference in technologies disheartened Cao Cao to continue fighting.
In the end, everyone prepared to merge their forces with Tong.
"I guess, this should be the last campaign," Muttered Chen Qun.
Guo Jia shook his head, "No. Sun Fang and Sun Ce are still around. They haven't confirmed their stance in this yet."
"What's there to decide? Are they stupid? Their mother is Zhang Tong's concubine now. All her sons are practically princes! They should bow their heads to Zhang Tong now and accept the new statuses."
Cheng Yu chuckled, "It's not that simple. Zhang Tong still wants Sun Fang dead, and Sun Ce is probably too immature to handle politics. They will eventually come back for more war."
"Are you sure?" Chen Qun still could not buy it.
"We have many years to figure it out," Cheng Yu burst into laughter, "The moment we enter Zhang Tong's clan, we'll be immortals as well. It won't be so bad serving two lords at once!"
"…"
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A couple days had passed since the urban combat in Hongnong.
Since Liao Hua retreated without taking any provision wagon with them, the army marched eastward without food. Many of Liao Hua's soldiers deserted his army because of the food shortage and their collapsed morale.
Some threw away their uniforms and disguised themselves as peasants. A few smart guys hid their weapons and armors, pretending to be wandering merchants, so they could sell their weaponry for money. But the majority of them kept the weapons and transformed themselves into a band of bandits, planning to rob any local village they could find.
This was the nature of deserters. Either they returned to being a peasant or they became a bandit.
Still, the mindless cataphracts followed after Liao Hua without complaints. Thirty thousand horsemen remained with the army.
The general looked at the starving mindless soldiers with a smile.
"It doesn't matter. I can just plunder a town for riches and food, right guys?"
"…"
The cataphracts did not answer.
"Che! Boring."
Liao Hua continued to lead the men toward the east. Soon, they reached a large county with a high wall, Xin'an County.
This county located between Hongnong and Luoyang. Although it served as a checkpoint during this age, it used to be the capital of the Zhou Dynasty (1049-256 BCE). Traces of prosperity, developed roads, and remnants of sophisticated architectures could be seen.
Moreover, the Silk Road expanded to this county as well. Many western merchants and local merchants expanded their markets from Wuwei and reached the inner territories, including Xinan.
This city had been sacked by Khan and Dong Zhuo. However, the local population and their city geography favored trade, so it restored itself faster than other cities. Combined with the influence of Cao Cao, the county owner at the moment, Xinan became a trade hub, which gathered merchants from various cultures and backgrounds here, just like Julu or Ye.
Looking at the caravans before the county gate, Liao Hua drooled.
"Rich people! Rich people are everywhere! Rejoice, men! Today, we dine in that city! Kill everyone and loot everything!!"
The former bandit cheered and ordered all horsemen to attack the county right away.
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On top of the Xinan stone wall, Xiahou Yuan was observing the peasants in front of the gate. His four wings spread wide without caring if ordinary peasants would gossip or make up a story of his white wings.
He glared toward the west in anticipation.
"Last battle… I hope I don't have to fight again. A shame that we will lose everything to Zhang Tong, though."
Xiahou Yuan warmed up his arms and fingers before he took his bow-shooting stance.
He aimed at the oncoming deserters, targeting the leader of the group.
The four white wings behind Xiahou Yuan's back glowed in silver light. The aura covered his longbow and his arrow.
"Goodbye!"
Xiahou Yuan released his arrow.
*WHOOSH!*
The arrowhead broke the wind. Sharp whistling noise was audible to all peasants and soldiers nearby.
The arrow punctured through the head of the chargers. The guy with the odd yellow clothing fell down from his horse.
Xiahou Yuan did not know that he had just killed Liao Hua, the only sane person among the chargers.
"Next…"
The archer general continued shooting.
