mtl008 Chapter 404 Lü Dai: Is Lu Xun finished?
Chapter 404 Lü Dai: Is Lu Xun finished?
Old Man Lü, having seen his share of storms, quickly regained his senses, biting his tongue hard to force himself to stay awake, then frowned and fell into deep thought.
Is this victory report real or fake? Could it be that Cheng Li deliberately released false information to undermine the morale of his own troops?
It's unlikely. The good news reports all have clear dates, and the paper and ink are obviously different in condition. The wear and tear on the paper basically matches the date on the report. It's impossible that it was written hastily to deceive oneself.
Secondly, even if you were to use fake news to deceive him, there would be no need to make it so fake. As we all know, scams are supposed to be 70% true and 30% false; if it's all lies, no one will believe it.
Therefore, if Cheng Li said that Han Dang and Xu Sheng were defeated and captured by one person, he might be lying to him. But if he said that the whole group was wiped out, that was not necessarily true. Even if Cheng Li was stupid, he would not lie to people with such an outrageous lie. Why don't you say that Lu Xun was captured?
So this good news is probably true. So the question is, what should I do? Should I advance or retreat?
Since Lu Xun is finished, there's no point in going over there anymore. Not only is it pointless, but it might also get me caught up in it. So the best thing for me right now is to turn back and make a quick getaway.
The problem is that he had traveled such a long distance by land and sea, and finally arrived in Lishui, only to be scared back by a few letters from Cheng Li. It was a bit too undignified for Governor Lü to do this. Did he not have any face?
More importantly, how do I explain this to my soldiers?
If we tell the soldiers that we should give up and go back, wouldn't they tear us apart after all the time they've been fighting and have been harboring resentment all the way?
After a fierce internal struggle, Lü Dai finally decided to fight. At least he could fight a battle to vent the soldiers' anger, and if things went smoothly, he might even be able to break through the defenses, enter Wushang, and seize that damn steel mill. After seizing the steel mill, he could return the way he came.
Just do it.
Thinking of this, Lü Dai laughed loudly, "Does Commander Cheng think I'm a fool? Do you think I'd believe such an outrageous battle report?"
After speaking, he decisively turned and left, while his personal guards slowly retreated with their shields raised to prevent the Han army from firing arrows at them.
Cheng Li watched him leave with his hands behind his back. Xiao Gui, the captain who had come from Shan County to provide support and was standing next to him, asked, "Commander Cheng, is it appropriate to strike at Lü Dai like this? What if we scare him away?"
He truly didn't understand Cheng Li's actions. Wasn't he afraid that Lü Dai would turn around and run away if he told such important information to Lü Dai?
Lü Dai wasn't stupid. He knew that once he knew Lu Xun was about to be finished, he would definitely pack his things and run away. If he didn't run away, would he just wait to get beaten up?
Whether Lü Dai runs away or not is irrelevant; the real problem is, if Lü Dai runs away, where will the brothers get credit?
Cheng Li calmly smiled and said, "The premise of scaring them away is that Lü Dai believes this intelligence is true. Do you think Lü Dai would believe it? Would his generals believe it?"
Xiao Gui: "..."
The intelligence is so shocking that it's hard to believe.
Cheng Li continued, "Besides, so what if Lü Dai ran away? Doesn't that save us trouble?"
One's position determines one's perspective. Cheng Li was a local official, not a frontline general. When facing the enemy, his first thought was not to kill the enemy and achieve merit, but to protect the territory and its people.
In other words, Cheng Li's task was to block the road and prevent Lü Dai from entering the Jinqu Basin under his jurisdiction and causing trouble. As long as Lü Dai did not enter the Jinqu Basin, he could go wherever he wanted.
Therefore, he was not afraid at all that Lü Dai would run away; in fact, it would be even better if Lü Dai did, as he could immediately go home and get some sleep.
The question is whether Lü Dai would run away; the answer is no.
Upon returning to the camp, Lü Dai immediately summoned his generals for a meeting. Once everyone was present, he unabashedly threw out the letter and asked, "This was just delivered by Cheng Li. I don't believe what's in it. What do you all think?"
The worst thing you can do with this is to hide it. The more you try to cover it up, the more likely people will start to overthink. So instead of keeping it a secret and letting everyone speculate, it's better to announce it openly and collectively to reach a consensus on whether to stay or leave.
The generals were stunned after reading it. After a long while, Qian Bo, the bandit leader of Gaoliang whom Lü Dai had recently recruited in Jiaozhou, was the first to refute: "Impossible. Although I am ignorant in Gaoliang, I have heard of the great names of Han Dang and Xu Sheng. General Han was a man who followed Lord Wentai in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. How could he be forced to death by Guan Xing, a mere child? Impossible, absolutely impossible. I don't believe it."
Lieutenant General Dai Liang chimed in, "I don't believe it either. This is clearly nonsense. Does Guan Xing think he's Huo Qubing?"
"In my opinion, we should still fight. We'll know if the battle report is true or false once we get to Wushang. If it's false after we take Wushang, we can join up with Grand Commander Lu. If it's true, we can retreat from Fujian according to the original plan."
They came from the sea but did not intend to return by sea. Instead, they set up supply points in various cities in Fujian, preparing to withdraw from Fujian to Jiaozhou if the war faltered.
Having a way out behind him gives him confidence to speak. Therefore, Dai Liang firmly advocated for war. He had finally made it here from Jiaozhou and could not be scared off by a few letters from Cheng Li. Otherwise, he would be laughed to death by his relatives and friends when he returned to Jiaozhou.
The other generals echoed this sentiment, saying that since they were already there, they had to fight their way into Wushang and take a look.
Seeing that the morale was high, Lü Dai was overjoyed and immediately said, "Then let's fight! There are seven mountain passes between here and Wushang that can be passed. Each of these passes has a Han army camp. We only need to break through one of the seven passes to win. So this time, there will be no feint attack, only a full-scale attack. We will launch an attack on all the Han army camps at the same time. Let's see how Cheng Li can hold out!"
All the generals bowed in unison and said, "Yes..."
Wu Jun acted swiftly, with his army splitting into seven routes to launch a simultaneous attack on the Han army's camp. Lü Dai personally led the main force to attack the main camp where Cheng Li was located.
Upon seeing Lü Dai charging towards him, Cheng Li's face darkened instantly. He cursed inwardly, "Damn Lü Dai, I've already told you the truth, why don't you run away? Why do you insist on fighting to the death?"
Xiao Gui, however, had a different feeling. Looking at Wu Jun coming, he excitedly said, "Lu Dai didn't run away. Cheng Sima is truly a prophet!"
With Lü Dai not running away, Xiao Gui's war merits were secured, and he excitedly rubbed his hands together, ready to fight a major battle with the Wu army.
Wu Jun shared the same idea, and the two sides quickly engaged in battle in the narrow gap between the two mountains, which was only two miles wide. The battle was extremely fierce.
Under the command of Cheng Li and Xiao Gui, the Han army took advantage of the terrain and successfully held out until nightfall and dawn. Just after breakfast, Hao Yu, who was ordered by Shen Yi to come to their aid, arrived with his troops.
When Cheng Li received news of Lü Dai's invasion, he simultaneously sent requests for help to Da Mo and Shan County. This means that Hao Yu and Xiao Gui set off almost at the same time. However, the distance from Da Mo to Wu Shang was longer than the distance from Shan County to Wu Shang, so Hao Yu arrived a day later. But he was only one day late; any later and he would have been subject to military law.
Hao Yu abandoned his army and rushed to report to Cheng Li alone. After exchanging pleasantries and intelligence, Cheng Li said impatiently, "Captain Hao, you've come just in time. Quickly disperse your troops to various camps to resist Lü Dai's fierce attack. Lü Dai can't maintain such a high intensity of attack indefinitely. If he can't take it down in three to five days, he might retreat."
Xiao Gui, however, had a different opinion and quickly reminded him, "Commander Cheng, don't be like that! The reinforcements have arrived, and Lu Xun is about to be finished. What are you afraid of? Take it slow."
"Lu Xun is already surrounded. It's only a matter of time before he's finished. Once that battle is over, our main force will arrive. Once the main force arrives, they can easily surround Lü Dai. So our top priority right now is not only to hold off Lü Dai, but also to keep him pinned down here and wait for the main force to come and surround him."
"If we want to keep Lü Dai here for a long time so that the main force can have an opportunity to encircle him, we can't defend too hard. On the contrary, we should reduce our defenses and give Lü Dai the illusion that our defenses are about to collapse and that we can break through with a little more effort. Only in this way will Lü Dai keep fighting until our main force arrives."
Cheng Li was dumbfounded, his face full of astonishment. He said, "You young people are too crazy! Aren't you afraid of messing things up?"