Chapter 780 A Dangerous Situation, a Standoff

"Mad, mad, mad!"

Gou Moli roared in a low voice inside his military tent.

The commander's orders had already been issued. Aside from Gongsun Zhi and Gong Wang who had led troops to catch the "turtle," the remaining units were preparing rapidly.

Unlike the previous preparations, this was a direct order to set off and advance.

As a true "high-level" figure, Gou Moli naturally received the notification, and he immediately became restless. Yet, even in his own tent, he didn't dare raise his voice.

After venting,

the former Barbarian King washed his face,

carefully straightened his clothes, walked out of the tent, faced the direction of the commander's tent, and sighed heavily.

Fine, fine, fine,

it's your family fortune, your business, you can squander it as you please.

You son of a bitch,

if you lose everything, I'll just open an inn and sleep in the stables, and count the stars every night!

Praise the damn stars!

At this moment,

Gou Moli had a different level of understanding of the so-called "opening an inn."

He even suspected that the lord and those advisors had long wanted to open an inn, so they deliberately didn't take the family fortune seriously, hoping to squander it all as soon as possible to fulfill that dream.

That night,

by order of the Marquis of Pingxi, Gou Moli personally led five thousand cavalry as the vanguard, leaving Zhennan Pass and entering Shanggu Prefecture.

…

"Lights out, back to camp, back to camp."

The Chu people carried their tools and left the river, heading back to camp.

Qian Miao, the local county clerk, watched the scene of the people returning from work, feeling helpless and angry.

The people resisted the labor of "ice breaking" from the bottom of their hearts, and in recent days, this resistance had become more and more obvious, eventually evolving into "passive resistance."

He originally wanted to urge the yamen runners in the county office to punish them, but the magistrate, Jing, did not allow it.

"Sir."

"Sir."

Two minor officials saluted Qian Miao. Qian Miao nodded, lifted the curtain, and walked into the simply built house.

In the camp, other places were either shacks or caves, which were very uncomfortable in the freezing weather. This house was already the best place in the camp.

Of course, it was still not as comfortable as the warm kang at home in the county seat.

Jing Minren, the magistrate of Xiawei County, was sitting inside, brewing tea.

He personally added firewood. It wasn't good tea. The magistrate, who came from the Jing family, lived a little better than the ordinary Chu people drafted into the camp in terms of daily life, but it was truly impeccable.

Seeing this scene, Qian Miao had nowhere to vent his complaints and had no choice but to sit down.

"Here, drink tea."

Jing Minren handed the cup to Qian Miao.

Qian Miao picked up the teacup, blew on it, and took two sips, immediately feeling warmer.

After the last Yan invasion of Chu, the foundation of the Chu aristocracy was severely impacted. Then, the Regent began to accept the Shan Yue people while suppressing the aristocracy as much as possible, curbing the resurgence of these aristocrats in local power.

The Jing family was one of the four great aristocratic families of Chu, but the Jing family had always focused on cultural matters. They were large in size but not in power, so they were able to preserve themselves in this change and even develop to a certain extent.

It was under this background that Jing Minren was appointed to Xiawei County.

"Sir, the effectiveness of today's ice breaking is only 30% of what it was at the beginning, and perhaps even less."

"I know," Jing Minren nodded. "I saw it too."

"Sir, the Grand General's mansion has issued a strict order that we must…"

"The Grand General's mansion is the Grand General's mansion, and this county is this county. Xiawei County used to be a rich county, but since Qu, the Pillar of the State, sent troops to Jin a few years ago, after several years of continuous wars, my county, adjacent to the Wei River, has been the most affected, providing men, grain, and labor. The people are already exhausted.

We finally hoped for a truce between the two countries, but who would have thought that last year, the garrisons along the Wei River began to build fortresses and embankments. The court's relief was pitifully small, but the labor was so heavy that everyone could hardly breathe.

Now, with spring approaching, my yamen should be preparing for spring plowing, but we are being forced to stay here. It's not just that the people's strength is not being taken care of, but delaying the spring plowing. How are we going to survive the new year?

Let the people catch their breath, let them catch their breath."

Hearing these frank words, Qian Miao sighed helplessly.

Jing Minren smiled and said, "Does Qian think I'm being sentimental? Or that I'm trying to gain fame and reputation?"

"Your subordinate wouldn't dare."

"There's nothing to dare or not dare. Since winter began, in the vicinity of my Xiawei County alone, several surrounding counties have seen famished people storming the county yamen and rioting. The people can no longer bear the burden.

It's not that I don't understand the greater good, but as for the ice breaking, Qian, I'll just ask you, do you really think that if we clear all the ice on this Wei River, then the Yan people will really be unable to cross south?

Do the Yan people only fight in winter?"

"It can, at least, cause some trouble for the Yan people."

"If the front shore is guarded, and the Yan people are stalemated there, the General's mansion has an order, no, even if the General's mansion doesn't issue any orders, I, Jing Minren, will definitely mobilize the people under the county's jurisdiction to help the royal army defend against the Yan people."

"Sir…"

"The court is not wrong, and the General's mansion is not wrong, but are these people wrong? Am I wrong? The people's resentment has been accumulating for a long time, and we can't push them any further. If we do, we won't need the Yan people to attack, we'll start fighting each other first."

Qian Miao was speechless.

"Qian, drink tea."

…

"Splash… splash… splash…"

One by one, the Barbarian soldiers, with knives in their mouths and almost naked, hugged inflated sheepskins and began to swim to the other side of the river.

The north of Chu was very cold at this time, but everything was relative. Just as the Qian people thought that the Three Borders were a bitterly cold place, in fact, the Silver Wave Prefecture, further north of the Three Borders, was called their "Little Jiangnan" by the Yan people.

Similarly, the Chu people thought that the current season was bitterly cold, but for the Barbarians who grew up in the snowfields across the Jin territory, this climate was really nothing.

If General Nian could use the advantage of the Shan Yue tribe's speed to launch a large-scale rear-flanking raid, then the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion could also use the Barbarians' ability to withstand the cold to give Chu a winter swim.

The Blind Man stood on the shore, watching this scene, feeling a bit emotional. The ability of people to adapt was indeed the strongest.

Those winter swimming enthusiasts in later generations, jumping into water with ice shards wearing only swimming trunks in the eyes of ordinary people was already an amazing thing, but it should be clear that the endurance that burst out for survival under harsh natural environments was truly terrifying.

"Don't you have anything else to do?"

Gou Moli stood beside the Blind Man, somewhat helplessly.

"There's a war, what else can I do? This war doesn't need logistics. Don't worry, you do your thing, and I'll just watch from the side and learn a thing or two from you."

"What about the boats and planks?" Gou Moli asked.

"Prepared long ago," the Blind Man replied.

Gou Moli twisted his neck and said, "Crossing the river isn't difficult, and charging over isn't difficult either, but the most difficult part is encountering resistance when we head west after crossing this Wei River.

Once the army is delayed, we will be stranded in Chu on the basis of cutting off our own logistics, just like I did when the lord took Xuehai Pass."

"This is just the worst-case scenario, isn't it?"

"Fine, fine, fine."

Gou Moli didn't want to say anything more.

At this time, the first batch of Barbarians who had sneaked across had landed.

The Wei River was too long, it encompassed most of Shanggu Prefecture. Unless the Chu people were truly ruthless and spent a lot of manpower and resources to build a Great Wall here, they would not be able to defend it in all directions.

The value of a defense line was that you either stayed to grind and pull out nails, fighting a war of attrition, or you could just突袭 past, and after you passed, I would block your retreat and become an isolated army.

So, simply wanting to pass was not difficult. Doing things without thinking of the consequences was always easy.

The sentry post on the other side was cleared, and the Barbarians who landed later began to set up a cordon. At the same time, the small boats and ships that had been hidden were pulled out from their hiding places.

The Marquis's mansion had never formed its own navy because it was too extravagant. Money was easy to say, but forming a navy required a lot of manpower. The Marquis's mansion didn't have that much energy, so it had to be put aside for now.

But when they attacked Chu in the early years, they seized and collected a lot. The Blind Man was thrifty and had opened up a place to store them long ago.

They hadn't done much maintenance, and no one used them to train. Now, they were taking them all out and using them as materials to build a pontoon bridge.

The simple pontoon bridge was quickly built. Before dawn, Gou Moli and the Blind Man had arrived on the other side. The subsequent construction was still in progress. Gou Moli ordered several troops to patrol upstream and downstream, swallowing up those nearby sentry posts and delaying the Chu people from learning about the movements here as much as possible.

When the sun had just risen, the subsequent troops set off, and the Marquis of Pingxi's banner was also there. The pontoon bridge began to be expanded and consolidated to supply more troops to cross the river at a faster speed.

Gou Moli looked at the Barbarian soldiers who had built the pontoon bridge overnight and crossed the river in a hurry,

and roared:

"Do you want your wives to not have to queue up last when they worship Buddha next time!"

The surrounding Barbarians all looked at Gou Moli.

"Do you want yourselves and your families to truly be people in Fengxin City!"

The Barbarians stood up one after another.

This town of Barbarians was not a temporary auxiliary army transferred from outside Xuehai Pass, but was personally trained and cultivated by Gou Moli.

Gou Moli raised his whip and lashed it into the air,

shouting;

"I know you are thirsty, tired, and sleepy;

But if you want to be people, you must first learn to be beasts!

Listen to my orders,

put on your armor and mount your horses,

follow me forward,

and pave the way for the army!"

The meaning of the vanguard was to open roads through mountains and build bridges over water. The bridge had been built, and now it was time to pave the way.

…

The Yan people are here,

yes,

the Yan people are here.

Because the purpose of the Yan people this time was to cross the Wei River and head west, Xiawei County was the first to bear the brunt.

There was no point in talking about defending or not defending the city. The civilians, yamen runners, and local soldiers were all in the camp outside the county seat.

When a part of the Yan army and Yan people charged in, the entire camp was almost unable to put up any effective resistance and collapsed at the first touch.

Jing Minren walked out of his house in the camp. When he saw the Barbarian cavalry wearing Yan army armor charging across the camp, there was no remorse on his face.

He didn't think he did anything wrong;

In fact, he hadn't done anything wrong. The effect of conscripting the people to break the ice in winter was that the Barbarians suffered a little cold, experienced a winter swim, and spent one night building a pontoon bridge, that was all.

Jing Minren drew his sword. The Chu people liked to wear swords, and the Chu scholars also had their own swords.

Then,

a Barbarian knight galloped past him, wielding his saber and knocking him to the ground. Blood flowed out, and then the hooves of the horses behind him trampled over his body.

The Xiawei County registrar got up early in the morning to urge the civilians to go to work on the river surface, so he got up early. He was also outside the camp. When he saw the Barbarian troops charging over, he immediately ran away.

Not fleeing, but running towards the county seat.

He ran and shouted to close the city gate.

Then,

an arrow shot into his back from behind. The force of the arrow was strong. Qian, the registrar, had no armor on his body. After being shot, he fell to the ground. He raised his head and looked forward;

The city gate had not been closed in time, and the Barbarian knights charged into the city.

Xiawei County was breached. The Barbarian vanguard did not delay. Under the control of Gou Moli, they did not even have time to burn, kill, or loot. Instead, they reorganized their troops and continued to advance.

The sudden attack of the Yan army caused beacon fires to rise in the major military fortresses along the Wei River.

The first reaction of the major military fortresses was to gather their troops and defend the fortresses, while sending messages to the rear to prevent the Yan people from trying to rush towards Yingdu again like last time.

But on the other side, the main force of the Yan people, after crossing the river, did not linger to the south at all, but instead focused on heading west, west, and west again.

The horses' hooves were like thunder, and the wind and clouds moved, but the Chu people and the Yan people seemed to have reached a strange tacit understanding at this time.

This was not a matter-of-course battle, because it had no logic to follow.

In fact, it was more like a clash of wills.

One person picked up the head, another person took the pole, and they started butting heads.

…

At the same time, General Nian finally led his army onto the ship.

The Fan family had big ambitions, and coupled with their familiarity with the smuggling routes in the past, they actually wanted to build their own "navy."

Of course, the "navy" was definitely not qualified, but it greatly expanded the size of their fleet.

Then, when the Great Chu Navy officially sailed in, facing this pressure, coupled with the nails that the Phoenix Nest Inner Guard had planted in the Fan family, it caused two of the Fan family's water villages to rebel and turn into Chu insiders.

Fan Zhengwen was a hero, there was no doubt about that, and the Fan family's foundation was also deep, there was no doubt about that either.

But it was unrealistic to transform from a merchant family into a warlord and separatist regime in just a few years and do it flawlessly.

The result of massively recruiting soldiers and expanding their power was that inevitably a lot of sand was mixed in, and coupled with the fact that the Fan family was rooted in Chu, although Jin Dong of the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion was only separated by the Meng Mountains, it was this separation that made many people under the Fan family still think that they were Chu people, not Yan people.

The ships sailed down the waterway, and after a few days, they docked.

General Nian took the Shan Yue tribesmen he had personally trained as the center army, and gathered the rebellious Fan family 'water bandits' as auxiliary soldiers, entered the Meng Mountains, and launched an offensive towards the Fan family's rear.

Originally, the Meng Mountains, towards the north, were the focus of defense, and they were easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Back then, Marquis Zheng had personally walked through it when he first entered Chu, thanks to the Fan family members acting as insiders and opening the door for convenience.

Now, because the Meng Mountains were backed by the power of the Yan people, the so-called defense had long become a formality. The Fan family's true energy had long been placed on the south.

Even some people who had lost out in family struggles and power struggles were placed here to settle down, as a marginal arrangement.

Therefore,

when General Nian, wearing the Fire Phoenix Armor, stood in front of the formation with the Grand General's flag behind him, most of the garrison soldiers at those passes that were supposed to be "easy to defend and difficult to attack" either opened the gates and surrendered directly or fled at the first sign of trouble.

A small number who were loyal to the Fan family wanted to choose to defend to the death, but they were quickly broken through by the Shan Yue soldiers' ability to climb mountains and cliffs.

Many mountain villages and bandits in the Meng Mountains also came down the mountains and gathered under General Nian's banner.

Nian Yao led this army, which was a "motley crew" but was highly motivated, all the way south.

Fan Zhengwen in Fan City had just received news from Qu Peiluo that the Dugu family's old patriarch had personally led his army and pressed forward. Qu Peiluo knew he could not resist and began to retreat, requesting the Fan family to respond and provide relief.

Immediately after, new news came that the old county town where the Fan family had started, which was located on the northern side of Fan City adjacent to the Meng Mountains, which was actually at the foot of the Meng Mountains, had been breached by a Chu army of unknown origin.

The Fan family's grain and military supplies were stored there for use when Fan City was defended, and now, they were all gone.

The next day,

news came that Qu Peiluo had been defeated in the front, and the Dugu family's army was pressing down on the border;

In the rear, General Nian's banner was also raised, and old Fan family members who had been deliberately released from there fled into Fan City and were accepted, spreading this news.

For a time,

Fan City, which was not impregnable but was still a strong city with strong walls, instantly fell into a state of panic.

These past two years, with the Yan invasion of Chu resulting in a great victory and the arrival of the princess last year creating a thriving atmosphere like the sun at its zenith, the Fan family was instantly drenched in a basin of ice water, thoroughly chilled.

…

While everyone in the Fan mansion was in a state of panic,

the Fan family's old ancestor sent someone to call Fan Zhengwen, the head of the Fan family.

Inside the warm greenhouse courtyard, the grass was still beautiful and the flowers were blooming in winter.

The old ancestor was even older than when Marquis Zheng had seen her back then.

She was still holding a small shovel, squatting in front of the flower bed, looked at her direct descendant who was walking in, and snorted coldly,

said;

"Alright, are you satisfied now? Now you've really pushed my Fan family to the brink of extinction. You're so capable."

Fan Zhengwen was not overwhelmed, nor was he panic-stricken, nor did he burst into tears of regret.

Instead, he took the initiative to walk over, picked up the watering can, and watered the newly planted flowers for the old ancestor,

and smiled:

"Look at what you're saying, Old Ancestor. My wife and children have already been sent to Yanjing. What does the extinction of the Fan family have to do with me, Fan Zhengwen?"