“Can strategists not ascend the throne?”
This chapter is all about different motives.
After taking a beating and unable to retaliate, if I could get my big brother to help me regain some face, of course, I’d want to pay him a visit.
At the very least, I need to find someone who has my back.
Li Le was caught off guard by the surprise attack before dawn and thought this way.
Regardless of whether this big brother was the nominal one, Guo Tai, or the real powerhouse among the four of them, Yang Feng, he was headed to the same place either way.
He pondered that he couldn’t just run off in such a disgraceful manner.
In a competitive situation, appearing all shabby could just give them a reason to swallow him whole.
He quickly straightened his slightly crooked clothes and got his subordinates, who had also retreated through the tunnel, to tidy themselves up a bit, especially brushing off the dust to make the over a thousand of them appear a bit more respectable before heading to Yang Feng’s camp.
Luckily, their internal messages weren’t as troublesome as when Qiao Yan was snooping around. They’d let each other know whenever they moved camps; otherwise, finding someone would be quite the hassle.
This mutual assistance and necessary intel obviously left no room for lies.
Having spent quite some time in the mountains, Li Le could navigate the hills around Xiangfen with his eyes closed, so he arrived at the outskirts of Yang Feng’s location well before noon.
As expected, he was stopped by the patrol officer, Xu Huang.
Unlike Li Le, who was focused on hiding, Yang Feng had a subordinate that even made Li Le envious, giving him a solid foothold here.
To Li Le, Xu Huang was clearly smart about defenses and also had some serious fighting skills. Had it not been for Yang Feng’s early kind treatment, Xu Huang could have easily been the leader of a faction himself.
But talking about that now had no meaning; this guy was loyal to Yang Feng and had set up camp in a position that was easy to defend, guarding it very well.
Moreover, it was likely that he could intercept the approaching forces before they reached them, ensuring his own safety.
Having been forced to flee until now, Li Le finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Why has General Li come this time?”
Xu Huang looked at Li Le’s followers with suspicion.
Even if Li Le had tidied himself and his men up a bit before coming, Xu Huang wasn’t fool enough to think they were top-notch troops; this clumsy attempt to disguise their panicked state was clearly visible.
This was a picture of someone forced to run after losing their base, chasing tail between their legs.
His gaze was sharp, and following a moment of silence, he said, “General Li has brought a thousand men; we dare not entertain you. If you’re just looking for General Yang, you only need to bring along ten guards.”
Li Le choked for a while before he finally revealed the truth.
But upon further reflection, he felt there was no need to cower.
These guys lost to Leping’s forces at Xinkou without gaining much of an advantage, and it wasn’t just him who had encountered this situation.
Now that Leping’s Marquis had come in person, it made sense that he wouldn’t fare well.
At least, he had managed to leave himself a path of retreat and save more than half of his combat effectiveness.
As he desperately justified himself, Xu Huang latched onto a key phrase: “Are you saying Marquis of Leping has personally arrived?”
He then assessed Li Le and his group’s situation and, unlike Li Le, did not seem overly optimistic. After getting a confirmation, he arranged for them to stay at the camp’s outskirts and immediately went to report to Yang Feng.
But before he could finish, they received news that Han Xian had also arrived.
Compared to Li Le, his situation was even more miserable.
In Qiao Yan’s attack on Li Le, she didn’t even let Dian Wei lift a finger and had him play the part of a competent bodyguard. However, Zhao Yun, who was responsible for attacking Han Xian’s base, had no intentions of going easy.
He and Xu Fu decided to inform Han Xian first.
Unfortunately, Han Xian believed that his power was merely subordinate to Yang Feng’s and, unlike Li Le, he wasn’t hiding away but had a solid camp. If anyone attacked, he could afford to fight and wasn’t too worried.
Had it not been for the messenger’s clear affirmations, he wouldn’t have bothered setting up more defenses.
But after coordinating with Zhao Yun and Xu Fu, they decided to strike while the other side was having breakfast, which was quite unexpected!
In the earlier scuffles with the opponent, Zhao Yun was already a seasoned warrior leading the charge, and this defense turned out to be practically useless, only buying Han Xian a little time to escape.
While Han Xian lamented his failure to heed advice, he gathered his remnants and fled toward Yang Feng.
Since he hadn’t maintained the best relationship with Yang Feng, he dressed up his appearance to look more pitiful so that if Yang Feng refused to take him in, he had a good reason for it.
Who knew that upon arriving, the first person he saw was not Yang Feng, but Li Le, who was busy setting up camp with his subordinates.
They exchanged glances for quite a while, as if sharing a secret code, and simultaneously asked, “Leping?”
Seeing each other’s plight, they immediately guessed that they were truly comrades in suffering.
However, they quickly realized that despite their losses and the near-death experiences, they had still fared better than they could have.
When another group of remnant troops arrived, they learned some shocking news—
Hu Cai had died at the hands of Chu Yan.
After Hu Cai’s death, the remnants of the White Wave bandits, barely escaping the chaos, chose to come here under the lead of a minor head.
“Thank goodness I dug an extra tunnel…” Li Le couldn’t help but exclaim, feeling extremely lucky that both of his adversaries were quite young and less capable.
“Thank goodness I had informants among my recruits…” Han Xian chimed in almost simultaneously.
The two exchanged glances again, both relieved to see the fortune in each other’s eyes.
With three of the four commanders of the White Wave facing attacks from Leping, the pressure was undoubtedly on Yang Feng.
Differing in their experiences, Yang Feng was completely unaware that the arrival of Han Xian and Li Le was a trap set by Qiao Yan. He simply asked Xu Huang, “In your honest opinion, do you think the Marquis of Leping will launch an attack on us?”
Xu Huang thought for a moment and replied, “I don’t think so.”
“We have more than four thousand men, but due to the inconvenient mountain paths, our numbers have been repeatedly limited by the opponent. However, to break through our camp, even with us entirely unprepared, they would need over five thousand men. Does the Rebel Leader think Leping can muster that many?”
Yang Feng shook his head.
Leping was just a small county with tens of thousands of households; even if they took in the Black Mountain Bandits, their actual battle capability maxed out at about three thousand.
Moreover, a good number of them would surely be stripped of their weapons to prevent them from regrouping and posing a threat to Leping’s safety.
And any rational person wouldn’t deploy too many of one faction of bandits while clearing out another.
After all, in these times, being a bandit is often better than being a commoner, and you can’t rule out the possibility of the two factions uniting.
“So, the number has reached a staggering three thousand.”
This was a difficult number for anyone to launch an attack against.
Yang Feng felt a bit more at ease and turned to Xu Huang, asking, “So, do you think we should shelter Han Xian and Li Le, or should we let them split off and set up their own camps?”
Xu Huang didn’t answer directly.
He simply said, “Such important decisions should be made by the Rebel Leader himself.”
Yang Feng’s previous attitude had already revealed his inclinations.
Xu Huang saw it clearly; when Hu Cai’s unit arrived, rather than sympathizing with the other leader’s plight, Yang Feng seemed more interested in these manpower resources.
At this moment, Xu Huang instinctively felt that keeping everyone here wasn’t the best choice, and it wasn’t really appropriate to say that out loud.
All he could do was strengthen the camp’s defenses; on one hand, he needed to guard against Li Le and Han Xian, and on the other, ensure his judgment about the Marquis of Leping wasn’t mistaken, especially if the opposing force was truly coming with their troops now.
When Yang Feng heard Xu Huang’s response, he chuckled, patting Xu Huang on the shoulder and saying, “You’re being too formal, my friend.”
But despite the banter, he was quite pleased with Xu Huang’s sensible attitude.
He was confident he could swallow Hu Cai’s unit, maybe even take in Li Le and Han Xian as well; thus, it wouldn’t hurt to keep the troops around since he had absolute numerical superiority.
Not to mention, the location Xu Huang picked to settle the troops was also a shield for their camp.
If the Marquis of Leping decided to attack, bolstered by the confidence from previous victories, these troops would serve as his “backup.”
To borrow Qiao Yan’s words, they would be better off described as cannon fodder.
In this alliance, which leaned more towards a mutual benefit rather than bonds of friendship, did he really think only he harbored designs on Hu Cai’s people? Surely others thought the same!
Li Le and Han Xian had just gone through some serious losses and were keen on replenishing their dwindling numbers.
They knew all too well that recruiting new folks right after a defeat isn’t exactly a walk in the park.
So naturally, they both set their sights on Hu Cai’s subordinates.
One side was leaderless, while the other wanted to boost its manpower; it was a perfect match for business.
But they were also aware that their current situation made them somewhat dependent on others, and with competitors lurking, they couldn’t just blurt out their intentions.
Aside from these two, there was another who had his eyes on these folks—Gao Tai, the nominal leader.
How did he even get this leader title? At first, when everyone had just come together, they all had around a thousand people, and no one wanted to admit defeat, so they just shoved him to the front.
Yet, Gao Tai was able to command a few hundred people; he wasn’t completely useless.
It’s just that these folks clearly didn’t want a strong leader sitting above them, which is why for the past two years they limited his growth, merely giving him a “leader” title on paper.
And now, as these groups developed into thousands, he was still stuck with his pathetic little thousand.
Now that Hu Cai was dead, didn’t his subordinates rightfully belong under him, the commander of the White Waves?
Gao Tai couldn’t help but think a little scheming thought.
What if he gathered the forces of himself, Li Le, and Han Xian, along with Hu Cai’s men? Then they would have the upper hand against Yang Feng, and at such close range, even Xu Huang’s skills might not be able to counteract it.
He didn’t expect to swallow everyone whole, but if he could become a real leader after Hu Cai’s demise, and even take down the not-so-respectful Yang Feng—how incredible would that be!
Yet, before reaching that target, these schemers had to face a more pressing issue.
Their food supply was insufficient.
If it were just Yang Feng’s people stationed there, given their food and resource planning, there wouldn’t have been a problem. With Xu Huang handling security, Yang Feng could even afford to focus a bit more on logistics, fearing the impending winter would bring about famine.
But now, with two more factions—no, three!—the situation was getting sticky.
If they distributed supplies, Yang Feng would surely feel the pinch, even risking a danger for his side, but if they didn’t?
Everyone here was a brigand!
Once food got scarce, the typical course of action would be to plunder, and they might even throw some blame at Yang Feng, claiming it was unfair for them to be starving while he and his crew were cozy.
Logically, if they were short, they’d just go down the mountain to snatch food.
But then they received word.
The Marquis of Leping didn’t retreat after achieving partial victory from their three-pronged attack; rather, she stationed her troops outside Pingzhou County.
Though there was still some distance, she was perfectly positioned to attack at any moment.
In this case, casting their eyes upon Zhi Guan Pass seemed a bit off.
So, they had to look towards the River East County?
Compared to the tangled concerns of these factions, Qiao Yan had a far more comfortable position.
Pingzhou fell under Xihe Commandery, and due to the Protector-General of the Southern Xiongnu, the military authority of the Xihe Commandery’s Prefect was greatly restrained. At least Qiao Yan, the Marquis of Leping, could openly garrison troops here without worry.
Complaining to higher-ups was out of the question; after all, didn’t she just go after the regional Governor and face minimal repercussions? Zhang Yi had to relocate to Xuzhou! What would happen if she decided to act against him again?
Last time, it was about the locust plague and people’s livelihoods; this time, it was to suppress the White Waves’ bandits! What a perfectly valid reason!
He could only pretend not to see her overstepping this time.
With this tacit approval, plus the ease of Qiao Yan bringing in supplies from Leping, it wouldn’t even touch Pingzhou’s grain reserves. In fact, she had just been acting as an outside bodyguard. If it weren’t for estimating the Xihe Prefect’s poor mood, the Pingzhou County magistrate would’ve loved to bring some gifts over to treat the troops!
Meanwhile, totally unaware of what her “neighbor” was pondering, Qiao Yan stared blankly at the paper and brush in front of her.
This three-pronged attack, although entirely executed per her plan and yielding the expected results, always came at a cost in battle.
That was totally unavoidable.
Plus, the casualties on all three sides were now higher than the people she dispatched—they were facing a balance of advantages due to sheer numbers…
In short, each route lost over a hundred men.
Though they managed to kill around four hundred and capture six or seven hundred, marking a clear victory, any budding force couldn’t afford to downplay the loss of life incurred during those skirmishes.
But perhaps this was also a good opportunity for her.
She could use this battle to establish criteria for military merit rewards and compensations for casualties.
However, as she was mulling over the regulations, she suddenly heard Xu Fu’s voice from outside the military tent.
“My Lady, the Wei clan from the River East County has sent someone to see you.”
