mtl008 Chapter 693 We Have the Imperial Court Behind Us
Chapter 693 We Have the Imperial Court Behind Us
In a valley somewhere in the Yanshan Mountains, Gongsun Yuan looked at the two thousand remaining soldiers beside him and felt like dying.
He originally planned to use the fortress to fight and retreat, wear down Sima Yi for a while, and then return to the city to defend it until the spring of next year before abandoning the city and going into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare. Who would have thought that he would be betrayed by his own uncle? The army had just started fighting when his despicable uncle Gongsun Gong surrendered the city and sold him out. He was simply despicable and hateful.
His wife and children were still in the city; now everything was ruined.
If I had known this would happen, I should have killed that bastard Gongsun Gong back then.
Of course, this was just said in anger. Given the circumstances at the time, even if he hated Gongsun Gong, he wouldn't have dared to do it.
First of all, even if Gongsun Gong was incompetent, he had served as governor for many years. How could he not have a few trusted confidants?
Secondly, Gongsun Gong had just passed the position of governor to him. If he were to kill someone, what would the officials in Liaodong think, and what would his generals think? It was estimated that the Liaodong officials would rebel and surrender to Cao Cao as soon as he finished killing someone. Therefore, there was no solution to Gongsun Gong's rebellion.
But it's pointless to talk about this now. Let's think about how to stabilize morale and hold out until Liu Bei's Northern Expedition.
Gongsun Yuan, who had the potential to become a hero, was naturally not defeated by this difficulty. He quickly composed himself and went to stabilize the morale of the army.
Gongsun Yuan walked to the middle of the army and looked at the soldiers' mournful faces, then laughed and said, "Cheer up! It's just a defeat, what's the big deal? We haven't been completely defeated yet."
His trusted general, Jia Fan, asked worriedly, "Do we still have any hope of winning?"
Gongsun Yuan laughed and said, "Of course we will. The Wei army is on a long and arduous expedition and cannot stay for long. Moreover, the cold climate in Liaodong may not be suitable for the Wei army. As long as we persevere, the Wei army will surely be defeated."
"Of course, this idea is a bit far-fetched, but we don't need to defeat the Wei army. Just keep resisting."
Jia Fan asked curiously, "Why is that?"
Gongsun Yuan laughed and said, "Because we are Han officials, as you all know, I recently went to Jiangling to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor of Han. His Majesty provided us with a lot of grain and weapons."
"Although these weapons have all fallen into Sima Yi's hands, His Majesty's attitude towards us has not changed. In other words, as long as we continue to resist, His Majesty will surely remember our contributions and reward us accordingly after the Northern Expedition is successful. So please remember, we are not fighting alone; we have the court behind us."
The soldiers were invigorated upon hearing this. Yes, they had the imperial court behind them, so what did they have to fear?
Seeing that his words had an effect, Gongsun Yuan continued, "Our ancestors have been Han officials for generations. We were born of the Han and died with the Han spirit. Cao Pi, however, plotted to usurp the Han throne, which is intolerable to Heaven and Earth. As Han officials, if we do not serve the court, should we serve that traitor Cao Pi?"
The soldiers were even more excited upon hearing this. Unlike the Central Plains, their position as governor of Liaodong was bestowed by Dong Zhuo, the Grand Tutor of the Han Dynasty. Liaodong had always been part of the Han Dynasty's territory, and Cao Pi's imperial throne had never been recognized by Liaodong.
Moreover, the Han Dynasty is not yet over. Liu Bei has already unified the south of the Yangtze River and is ready to launch a northern expedition at any time. In other words, these Han Dynasty survivors have not been abandoned by the Han Dynasty. As long as they persevere, they will definitely be able to wait for the Han Dynasty to return.
Given this, what reason is there not to persist?
Upon realizing this, the soldiers' disappointment vanished, and they all raised their hands and shouted, "We are willing to follow the general to the death!"
Jia Fan, equally invigorated, rubbed his hands together with great enthusiasm and asked, "General, what should we do now?"
With a unified understanding, the next step is to confront the problem head-on. The biggest problem at the moment is how to evade Sima Yi's search and capture and hold out until the day Liu Bei's northern expedition succeeds.
Gongsun Yuan had already planned for this, and said directly, "We can't stay in Yanshan. If Sima Yi blocks the mountain range, we're finished. Besides, the Xianbei leader Kebineng is right across from Yanshan. We've had a lot of trouble with Kebineng in recent years. If Kebineng joins forces with Sima Yi to besiege Yanshan, we'll be useless even if we have wings. So I plan to cross Liaodong to the Gaima Plateau and deal with Sima Yi there."
"There are three advantages to going to the Gaima Plateau. First, the Gaima Plateau is located in Lelang County, which is east of Liaodong. It is too far from Liaodong for Sima Yi to reach us with his full force, which will give us a chance to catch our breath."
"Secondly, once we reach the Gaima Plateau, we can obtain supplies of food and manpower from the three counties of Lelang, Zhenfan, and Lintun, so that we won't starve to death."
"Before I returned from Jiangling, I made an agreement with General Ji Jie, the Admiral of the Great Han Navy, that we could obtain supplies along the coastline of Zhenfan and Lintun counties, and even take a boat to Japan for temporary refuge. So brothers, we have a way out. The court has not abandoned us, understand?"
Upon hearing that there was still a way out, the soldiers' gloom vanished instantly, and they erupted in thunderous cheers.
Gongsun Yuan said, "Eat and sleep, rest immediately after a hearty meal, and set off early tomorrow morning. Try to break out of the Wei army's encirclement before Sima Yi closes the mountain, and secretly head to the Gaima Plateau. Let Sima Yi play around in the Yanshan Mountains by himself."
He had prepared a lot of food and various cold-weather supplies such as dog skins, tiger skins, and bear skins in advance, so he didn't have to worry about freezing to death in the short term.
The soldiers rested for a night and immediately set off, trudging through snow and over mountains and ridges all the way north. After several days of trekking, they finally arrived at Xuantu County. They then traveled by day and night, passing through Xuantu County and entering Goguryeo territory, preparing to enter the Gaema Plateau from Goguryeo.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered Goguryeo, they received news that Sima Yi had killed his ally, King Go Yeon-woo of Goguryeo. Not only that, he also sent the newly appointed governor of Liaodong, Gongsun Huang, to attack Goguryeo.
Gongsun Yuan felt a pang of unease upon hearing his brother Gongsun Huang's name. He did not have a good relationship with his brother. He was an ambitious man and was very dissatisfied with Gongsun Huang's ability to suppress him simply because he was the eldest son. "You were just born a few years earlier than me, so why do you get all the good things?"
With Gongsun Huang being sent to Cao Wei as a hostage, the two brothers were separated for many years, and their already weak relationship became even more distant. Now, Gongsun Yuan could hardly remember what Gongsun Huang looked like.
Therefore, he was very unhappy to learn that Gongsun Huang had taken his position as governor, and wished he could go to Wandu Mountain City right now and give Gongsun Huang a good beating.
Fortunately, he remained rational and did not turn back north. Instead, he looked in the direction of Wandu Mountain City and muttered to himself, "Gongsun Huang, we'll meet again after His Majesty's northern expedition is successful. I'll definitely see your true colors then."
The two brothers are no longer fighting alone, but belong to different camps. Therefore, who wins no longer depends on themselves, but on the monarch behind them.
Gongsun Yuan ignored the fate of Goguryeo and continued his journey. After several days of trekking, he finally arrived in Lelang County. Upon learning that Sima Yi's reach had not yet extended here, he did not rush into the mountains. Instead, he directly stormed into the capital of Lelang County, Joseon City. While resting in the city, he plundered and transferred supplies to prepare for his future entry into the Gaima Plateau. At the same time, he sent people to the seaside to wait for Ji Jie's fleet and try to make contact with Ji Jie.
Meanwhile, after dealing with the political affairs in Liaodong, Sima Yi immediately led his troops to block the mountains, attempting to find Gongsun Yuan or surround and kill him in the mountains. Unfortunately, it was too late. After only a few days in the mountains, he received a secret report that Gongsun Yuan had gone to Lelang County. Helpless, he had no choice but to withdraw his troops and return to camp to wait for news from Gongsun Huang.
After only about twenty days, Gongsun Huang escorted the princes, concubines, and ministers of Goguryeo back to Xiangping.
Goguryeo was thus completely destroyed.
Sima Yi immediately sent someone to report the victory to the court, then pulled Gongsun Huang aside and instructed him: "According to the scouts, Gongsun Yuan has fled to Lelang. It is not worthwhile to send a large army to attack him, as it will be time-consuming and laborious. So he is entrusted to you. I have other matters to attend to."
Gongsun Huang asked in surprise, "Is the general going to return to the capital?"
Sima Yi shook his head and laughed, "No, I'm going to meet the Xianbei leader Kebineng!"