Chapter 310

Chapter 310: Securing Liaodong

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 9: The Calamity of Drought and Locusts, Flying Troops to Liaodong, Chapter 310: Securing Liaodong

The word “again” was used so bluntly that Gongsun Du’s expression froze on the spot.

He couldn’t even refute Lu Lingju.

If the previous battle on the East Sea was due to his own carelessness, then what should this one be considered?

Perhaps he thought he could stage a beautiful counterattack, but instead, he kept smashing his face into the enemy’s iron fists.

Even his retreat route towards Xiangping was predicted in advance by Qiao Yan’s people, resulting in an ambush halfway.

Can this be called the enemy lacking martial virtue? Probably not.

He should blame himself for not understanding the enemy’s background and overestimating his dominance in Liaodong, thinking these outsiders would eventually fall into his hands.

Now, he might have to pay a ransom again.

But this time, his treatment won’t be as comfortable as before.

Lu Lingju planted her halberd on the ground and asked, “Governor Gongsun, you haven’t even paid off your previous debts, yet you’re already thinking of a counterattack. No wonder we had to act without giving you face. Now, how much do you think you’re worth? Let’s discuss your release after you’ve paid up.”

Gongsun Du frowned, not answering the question of his worth, but instead asked, “What exactly do you want?”

This wasn’t about fear of death.

He genuinely couldn’t understand why these young people would go through such trouble.

After learning their identities, his confusion only deepened.

If Liaodong were as fertile as Shu, as commercially connected as Liangzhou, or as talented as Yingchuan, their repeated probing, capturing him, and demanding compensation might make sense.

But clearly, it isn’t.

So their choice to probe Liaodong during this natural disaster is particularly intriguing.

If Qiao Yan wanted to seize land and people, there are more suitable places than Liaodong.

Unless they’re using this remote area as a training ground for these youngsters.

If so, that would be too insulting!

Lu Lingju mocked him, but she knew that if she replied like that, Gongsun Du would rather die than cooperate with their plan to attack Liaodong.

She replied, “The Marquis wishes to recruit you, Governor Gongsun, but your pride and desire for independence forced us to take drastic measures.”

“Indeed,” Zhuge Liang added, “The Marquis admires your talent but worries about your loyalty, hence our presence.”

“Talent?” Gongsun Du sneered, “What talent? The talent to be easily manipulated by you?”

“Governor Gongsun, you underestimate yourself,” Zhuge Liang replied, “Liaodong is known for its fierce people, with Goguryeo rising from Xuantu, Fuyu lurking outside, and Wuhuan raiding Youzhou. Since your arrival, despite strict laws and local grievances, Liaodong has become a refuge for Qingzhou people. You may not be a sage, but you are a capable official. In these troubled times, talents like you are invaluable to the Grand Marshal.”

Gongsun Du, captured by Zhuge Liang, found this praise surprisingly effective coming from him.

Zhuge Liang continued, “Moreover, while you see us as young, do you think the Grand Marshal didn’t take capturing you seriously? General Lu here is the daughter of General Lü Bu, inheriting his martial arts and educated at the Leping Academy. The Marquis hopes she surpasses her father. General Lü Bu once followed the Marquis to defeat Dong Zhuo, killing him in Chang’an. If General Lu defeats you, it would be a significant achievement.”

Gongsun Du: “…No need to inflate my worth.”

Comparing him to Dong Zhuo was too much.

No matter how much he thought the Han Dynasty was declining, he never considered himself on par with Dong Zhuo.

Zhuge Liang didn’t respond but smiled, “As for General Guo, his father is the Governor of Yanmen in Bingzhou, battling the Xianbei for years. Young Master Lu’s ancestor was the Governor of Lujiang, who confronted Yuan Shu in Yangzhou.”

Gongsun Du’s mouth twitched, realizing these youngsters were all second-generation officials under Qiao Yan, each with significant backgrounds and real skills.

Zhuge Liang didn’t mention himself but turned to Gan Ning and Taishi Ci, “If you think only young people are challenging you, you wrong the Grand Marshal.”

“Our ships were built by experts from Yangzhou, with equipment designed by Ma Deheng and navigation tools from the Leping Academy. General Gan, originally under Liu Yizhou, was recruited for his naval skills. General Taishi, once a Qingzhou official, now serves our Chang’an court.”

“Thus, this maritime campaign mobilizes multiple provinces to defeat you. How can this be called an insult?”

Gongsun Du wondered if he hit his head during capture, as Zhuge Liang’s words made sense.

If so, Qiao Yan truly values him.

But realizing this was pointless in his current state, he asked, “After defeating me and securing my allegiance, what next?”

“Naturally, we ask for your help in quelling bandits,” Lu Yi interjected, signaling Guo Huai.

Guo Huai, the youngest but sharpest, caught the signal and added, “You likely guessed who we mean.”

Gongsun Du’s eyes flickered.

Given Liaodong’s location, it could only be Gongsun Zan.

But he was curious why, two years ago, when Qiao Yan brought Liu Yu from Youzhou to Chang’an to ascend the throne, Zhang Liao and Gongsun Zan were already in a standoff. Why wait until now to act?

Undeniably, if Zhang Liao attacked Gongsun Zan while he attacked from the rear, the effect would be far greater.

Before Gongsun Du could ponder further, Guo Huai added, “I know why you hesitate. You think defeating you at sea isn’t enough to convince you to join us on land.”

Gongsun Du looked at him, surprised.

As a prisoner, why did this kid seem so competitive, as if eager to prove land battles were their true strength?

But… this might be good news.

Because Guo Huai then said, “We’ll just have a third match. If we win on land, you’ll follow the Grand Marshal’s orders. Deal?”

Gongsun Du asked, “How will you fight me on land? You came by sea, lacking land battle resources.”

“That’s easy,” Guo Huai replied without hesitation, “We’ll release you to Xiangping. You defend the city; we attack. No cavalry needed. If you stop our assault, you win. Otherwise…”

“Boji!” Zhuge Liang cut him off sharply.

Guo Huai, realizing he’d given too much advantage, covered his mouth, looking regretful.

But Gongsun Du saw this as a guaranteed win and quickly agreed, “Deal. I’ll await you at Xiangping.”

The terms were their offer; he was just accepting, not bullying the young.








He tried hard not to show any gloating expression on his face, watching as Lu Lingju tapped Guo Huai on the head with a reproachful look while he was being untied.

But the words had already been spoken, and taking them back now would only make them seem petty, so they had to grit their teeth and go through with it.

When Gongsun Du left this place to return to Xiangping, his mind was filled with thoughts of making these young people realize that attacking and defending a city was not as simple as the games they usually played.

Although due to their backgrounds, Gongsun Du couldn’t go overboard in defending the city, he still had to teach them a lesson and regain his dignity.

“Has the Prefect thought about whether to accept the recruitment from Chang’an?” Liu Yi, who was also released, asked.

Gongsun Du waved his hand, not planning to answer this question at the moment, and said, “Let’s wait until we win this battle.”

It couldn’t be just them being beaten by the enemy; that wouldn’t be called recruitment, it would be called taming.

Asking for terms from Chang’an was almost impossible.

Although Gongsun Du knew well that choosing between Qiao Yan and Gongsun Zan as enemy or friend was easy, he had once thought of declaring himself king, and now transitioning to being a subject so quickly was hard for his pride.

First, defeat those young people with significant backgrounds!

However, to Gongsun Du’s surprise, when Zhuge Liang, Lu Lingju, and others brought their troops to the foot of Xiangping city, none of them appeared within the range of the city’s archers.

They formed a force of nearly seven thousand people, including those plundered from Zhangzi Island and other islands, soldiers robbed from Gongsun Du’s forces, Liaodong people recruited with wealth looted from Tashi and Xi’anping’s government storehouses, along with the original two thousand people who came with the fleet, and surrounded Xiangping county city.

Gongsun Du looked down at the city in confusion, completely unaware of what these people were up to.

“With just this small number of people, they want to try to besiege the city?” He sneered, looking at the young generals in the distance, thinking they were still too young.

With such a thin defense, he could easily gather a team from the city to break through.

But Liu Yi beside him was not as optimistic as Gongsun Du.

He carefully observed the distribution of the Divine Bow team below the city, finding that these archers had already covered all the city gates.

Regardless of whether these people could stop their team from exiting the city, they could at least cause significant casualties.

Then, he saw a heavy crossbow being dragged out from the opposing team, shooting a heavy arrow towards their city wall without any warning.

Gongsun Du’s originally proud expression froze on the spot, as the arrow shot by the crossbow came with lightning speed and hit the center of the city tower!

If that thing could shoot the city tower with such accuracy, who knows if it could have the same effect if aimed at him.

He pointed a trembling finger at the arrow, “Go, bring me the document on that arrow.”

The white cloth hanging on the arrow made him vaguely recall hearing about it somewhere, but in the sudden shock, he didn’t have time to think carefully whether these young people heading to Liaodong had learned eighty percent of their lord’s behavior.

After Liu Yi handed him the white cloth, Gongsun Du quickly unfolded it, and the first line read: Prefect Gongsun, you have imprisoned yourself.

“Prison…?” Gongsun Du murmured, frowning.

What prison?

The following lines simply explained that Gongsun Du’s decision to accept this so-called third decisive battle to regain his dignity was actually a very foolish decision.

Being besieged in Xiangping for one or two days was not a big problem.

But being besieged for three days, some changes would be hard to guarantee.

Since Xiangping is located in the northern part of Liaodong Commandery, close to Xuantu Commandery, Liaodong Dependency, Goguryeo, and Buyeo, how could he ensure that these parties would not decide to attack him together upon hearing the news of his siege?

Goguryeo, once threatened by him, had to be driven by him when he sent troops to suppress bandits, and now they no longer needed to be restrained by him.

The Buyeo king, Weichoutai, married a woman from his clan, making them relatives, but who knows if Weichoutai was sincerely cooperating with his actions.

These foreign forces needed Gongsun Du to always maintain enough prestige to ensure they would submit to him out of fear.

As for the local forces within Liaodong, in the case of Xiangping County, did the relatives and friends of Gongsun Zhao and Tian Shao, whom he killed years ago, really not survive?

If Gongsun Du could no longer exert his authority internally, he would also face great pressure.

Then there were the Liaodong Dependency and even Liaoxi Commandery to the west.

Gongsun Zan and Tadun, while facing the threat of Zhang Liao, always kept an eye on Liaodong.

People like Zhuge Liang, who came from afar, could leave at any time, as they had already confirmed the feasibility of sailing to Youzhou, and the absence of Gongsun Du’s support would not affect them much.

But Gongsun Du couldn’t; once he showed any weakness, he would face fatal danger.

Like now, locking himself in Xiangping city, wasn’t it a self-imprisonment?

“Damn it, can’t I just mobilize the city’s people to fight out now?” Gongsun Du suppressed his urge to kill after being tricked into this position and read the letter shot onto the city wall to the end.

But when his troops really went out of the city according to his order, he saw a scene he would never forget.

The archers at the four corners of the city gate, originally holding long-range Divine Bows, suddenly switched to crossbows hanging at their waists, using their waist strength to assist in drawing.

As the city gate opened, the crossbows were all loaded in unison.

Gongsun Du originally wanted to laugh at these people for using crossbows, which were cumbersome to load, as the number of people he sent out was enough to make strong bows and crossbows useless.

The slow loading speed of crossbows made them mostly defensive tools rather than offensive weapons.

But just as his cavalry charged into the range of the crossbows, every soldier in the Divine Bow camp used their crossbow mechanisms to continuously shoot armor-piercing bolts.

The whistling sound of bolts filled the buffer zone outside the city.

Only after more than ten bolts were shot did these people stop shooting and start reloading.

More than ten!

Gongsun Du gasped at the sight.

He couldn’t be mistaken in such an offensive scene; those were not single-shot waist-drawn crossbows, but repeating crossbows!

Although repeating crossbows had existed for a long time, there had never been a terrifying existence of a crossbow shooting ten bolts.

Now… now he had indeed seen this new weapon that had suddenly appeared, but unfortunately, he was the one proving its power!

After this fierce and continuous shooting, Gongsun Du’s cavalry trying to break through were all shot down a hundred steps out of the city.

Those who survived this round of shooting were then intercepted by Lu Lingju and Guo Huai’s cavalry patrolling outside the city.

When the last cavalryman fell, Gongsun Du saw from afar the young General Lu raising her blood-stained halberd towards him.

This gesture seemed to silently declare one meaning—

Do you still think this isn’t called “capture”?

Gongsun Du took a step back in despair.

In this self-imprisoned situation, he suddenly realized that the difference between him and these distant troublemakers was not just in a bolt, a Paiguan, or a Divine Bow.

The difference was that his thinking was fixed on the land of Liaodong Commandery, while these young people’s thoughts were alive!

Perhaps, even if this battle didn’t happen here, but somewhere else, they could still trap him with their intelligence.

Now he was still in the city, temporarily safe, and still respected by his subordinates.

But after being captured three times, he knew he no longer needed to struggle.

A message arrived in Donglai via a regular sea voyage along the Changshan Islands, and was quickly sent by the intelligence department in Qingzhou using carrier pigeons to Chang’an.

Unfortunately, Qiao Yan was not in Chang’an but in Luoyang, so after some twists and turns, it finally reached her hands.

Qiao Yan unfolded the translated message, which read eight words—

Liaodong is secured, mission accomplished.