Chapter Thirty-Eight: Another Wave Rises

  As Lin Qing said, Zhang Yu's infantry battalion did not stay in Ping'an Town, waiting passively for Tao Ying's instructions. After sending scouts to confirm the whereabouts of the Junzi Army, when they found that the Junzi Army had arrived at Gaoyou City, which was also abandoned due to war, Zhang Yu immediately led his infantry battalion southward, rushing to the Guangling battlefield to support the Junzi Army and prevent Tao Ying from being killed by Zong Feng.

  It's okay, the Junzi army's advance speed is far above that of ordinary infantry. Tao Ying also left a heart eye and didn't dare to lead the rebels to run in the direction of Zhengbei, choosing the open area in the northwest direction instead. The rebel army, which had an absolute advantage in military strength, did not meet Zhang Zhuo's 2,000 infantry head-on, and the Junzi army, which still hadn't solved the problem of coordinated combat between infantry and cavalry, was able to avoid being dragged down. Relying on its leading-edge cavalry tactics and revolutionary horse equipment, it defeated the rebel army and even beheaded Xu Zhou's number one traitor, Tao Ying.

  Although disobeying military orders is absolutely not worth encouraging, Zhang Yi's disobedience this time gained a great advantage. After Tao Ying was beheaded on the battlefield, the news was brought back to the infantry by the defeated rebel cavalry, and the complex rebel army of Tao Ying immediately scattered. Some of the rebel troops who followed Tao Ying fled to the city of Guangling, preparing to escape across the river; the new recruits recently recruited by Tao Ying's rebels were at a loss, scattering in all directions; the original soldiers of Zhao Yu, the former governor of Guangling, simply looked for regular troops from Xuzhou to surrender and defect. As a result, when Zhang Yi's army arrived on the battlefield with torches, they immediately surrendered thousands of rebel infantrymen and captured countless weapons, flags, and supplies.

  Although Zhang Fei had been through many battles for decades, he had rarely encountered situations where the enemy surrendered without a fight when outnumbered. Moreover, he didn't believe that the 800-strong Junzi army could defeat the tens of thousands of Qiang rebels, so when he saw large groups of rebel soldiers surrendering before him, not only were Zhang Fei's soldiers and generals confused, but Zhang Fei himself was also bewildered. He hastily summoned a rebel commander who had surrendered and asked him face-to-face what had happened on the battlefield.

  "Did the Second Young Master really behead that despicable traitor, Lian Rong?" After hearing the report from the surrendered General of the Tooth Gate, poor Zhang Yi's eyes nearly bulged out in shock, his face filled with incredulity as he asked: "Is this true or false? How did the Second Young Master manage to behead Lian Rong? This is impossible!"

  "The crime will also not know whether it is true or false, the crime will also listen to what others say." The surrendered general answered honestly: "In fact, the crime was also very confused. At the beginning, the young master just started fighting and fled in defeat. The Meng Rong bandit has been chasing and killing the young master all the way, not even knowing how far he chased him. The infantry battalion led by the crime couldn't keep up with the chase, so they had no choice but to stay on the spot and wait for news. Later, Meng Rong's bandits sent people several times to issue orders, ordering our infantry to continue pursuing, saying that the young master's army had already dispersed. If we didn't cut off the young master's head today, we wouldn't stop fighting. The crime and others chased for another seven or eight miles, then there were Meng Rong's accomplices who escaped from the front line, saying that Meng Rong had been beheaded by the young master, we lost, and then we also dispersed."

  "How can it be possible to suddenly win after losing? " Zhang Yi became more and more confused as he listened. After decades of fighting, no one knew better than Zhang Yi how difficult it was for a defeated army to turn the tide of battle, unless there were reinforcements or ambushes, otherwise relying solely on the defeated troops to reverse the situation, Zhang Yi had never heard of it in his life, let alone seen it.

  "General Zhang, it seems that the young master has an ambush to respond." A Xuzhou general interjected: "Just now, I also interrogated a surrendered rebel cavalryman. He said that after Huang Fu's defeat, three of our army's ambush troops suddenly emerged from both sides of the road, surrounding Huang Fu's defeated soldiers in all directions."

  "I see." Zhang Heng suddenly enlightened, patted his thigh and said: "I finally understand, the lord must have sent reinforcements to the prince, secretly marching through Xuyi (盱眙) and ambushing in the northwest of Guangling. Then the prince deliberately lured the enemy with 800 light cavalry going south, and lured Ruan Yu's dog thief into the ambush circle, winning the battle!"

  The Xuzhou generals finally understood and said: "No wonder the young master said we would drag his legs, it turns out that we still have reinforcements!"

  "Indeed, our infantry is too slow and it's easy to be caught up when luring the enemy into pursuit. Unlike cavalry, which can retreat more flexibly when luring the enemy, we will indeed drag down the young master's plan."

  "I knew it, the young master's 800 cavalrymen, how could they possibly defeat tens of thousands of rebel troops and behead the traitor Zong Ruo? It turns out there were ambush troops all along, no wonder the young master was so confident."

  "Our lord is really something. Even if he wanted to help the young master gain merit in battle, he should have told us ahead of time that there were reinforcements coming. He made us worry for several days and we didn't even dare sleep well."

  Upon hearing the discussions of his subordinates, Zhang Yu's last bit of doubt was dispelled. He thought to himself: "It must be like this - our lord is helping the young master gain merit, so he secretly dispatched a supporting army to aid him and devised a plan to lure the enemy in. As long as the young master can entice the rebel forces into the ambush, victory will be assured." I said it before, how could 800 cavalrymen possibly defeat tens of thousands of rebels? Are those 800 cavalrymen all heavenly soldiers and generals?

  "Enough of the blame, since our army has already won, let's seize the time to expand our victory, capture as many defeated soldiers as we can, and collect as much spoils as possible. When the young master and our other reinforcement troops arrive, we'll have something to show for it."

  "Yes." The Xuzhou generals responded, dispersed and scattered to clean up the battlefield and capture the defeated soldiers. Zhang Yu's heart was filled with doubts again, thinking: "Who did the lord send to lead the army to intercept the two princes? Old Cao? But why didn't Old Cao give me a hint beforehand? And does the lord have any spare troops that can be deployed? It's unclear, really unclear."

  In a short night, by the time it was fully daylight, Zhang Fei's army had captured over 3,000 rebel prisoners and beheaded more than 200 rebel soldiers who refused to surrender. They also seized countless supplies and equipment, making it a very fruitful victory. It was at this moment that the ridiculous "Gentlemen's Army" banner and two even more ridiculous deputy banners of the enemy finally appeared within Zhang Fei's line of sight.

  Along with the transmission of Chapter 11 into the ears of the great army, there is also a military song with a bad taste that Vice Director Tao personally approved, which is the theme song of the TV series "Eastern Zhou Dynasty: Warring States" broadcast on CCTV at the end of the 20th century. "Guan Guan Ju Que, in the river's continent, elegant and virtuous girl, gentleman loves - Jiao! Guan Guan Ju Que, in the river's continent, elegant and virtuous girl, gentleman loves Jiao. Gentleman loves Jiao oh, ah gentleman loves Jiao, elegant and virtuous girl, gentleman loves Jiao, gentleman loves Jiao!"

  It's not bad to say that Deputy Director Tao's taste is poor, but this song is sung in a relatively tragic tone, and it really has a bit of the flavor of gold armor and iron horses, which is very suitable for this battlefield where corpses are scattered all over and smoke is billowing. However, when this military song reached the ears of Zhang You and other Xuzhou generals, it became one of Tao Ying's major crimes - almost every Xuzhou general was secretly scolding in his heart, "Bookworm! Indeed a bookworm!"

  The Junzi army got closer and closer, and Zhang Yi and others finally found something wrong. They found that except for the large number of prisoners and war horses with heavy loads, there was no flag that did not belong to the Junzi army. With doubts in his heart, Zhang Yi quickly ordered the infantry to line up to welcome them, and led the generals to greet them. When Tao Ying and Tao Ji brothers rode up, Zhang Yi quickly led the generals to bow and salute, "General Zhang Yi and others, respectfully welcoming the young master's triumphant return."

  Tao Ying, who had always been very polite, did not return the courtesy this time. Instead, he drank directly from his horse and said: "General Zhang, do you know your crime?"

  "What crime have I committed?" Zhang Yi was shocked and looked up.

  "What crime do you have?" Tao Ying's face turned angry, and he shouted: "What is my military order? Let you lead the infantry to garrison Ping'an, wait for my command, why don't you follow the military order, and lead the army south privately?"

  "You will know your fault." Zhang Zuo finally reacted and quickly knelt down to apologize, and explained: "However, young master, I also had good intentions..."

  "You know you're well-intentioned." Tao Ying cut off Zhang Zuo's excuses, coldly snorting: "But do you know, our army's victory that was within grasp almost got ruined by your hands! If it wasn't for my cautious actions, luring the Qunrong bandits to the northwest, otherwise, once your troops encountered the main force of the Qunrong bandits, the 800 gentlemen soldiers would have been dragged down by you, disrupting my overall strategy. I'd have had to fight to protect you, wasting precious military strength!"

  The infantry battalion of the Xuzhou army, if they encountered the main force of Yuan Rong, would inevitably fall into a bitter battle with their small numbers against the majority. This logic was naturally understood by the old battlefield veteran Zhang Rao, so he didn't argue further and honestly confessed: "This general knows his crime, please punish me, sir."

  "It's good that you know your mistake." Tao Ying nodded and ordered, "Considering you are acting out of goodwill and voluntarily pleading guilty, the death penalty for disobeying military orders can be waived, but corporal punishment is unavoidable! Guards, take Zhang Yi away and publicly flog him with 40 military rods to uphold military discipline!"

  "What?" Zhang Fei and the Xu Zhou generals all jumped in fright.

  "Promise!"

  Tao Ying's personal soldiers didn't care about that much, they rushed up and pressed Zhang Yi down, dragging him forward to the crowd. The Xu state generals behind Zhang Yi were shocked and quickly begged for mercy. Tao Ji also dismounted his horse and bowed to Tao Ying, saying: "Second brother, General Zhang Yi is indeed guilty, but I think he was acting out of good intentions because he didn't understand our army's tactics and was worried about our safety, so he led the troops south without permission. Fortunately, no great disaster occurred. Please spare his life for the sake of his loyalty to our father."

  "Yes, please spare him, young master." The Xuzhou generals also pleaded for mercy.

  Tao Ying could not have really beaten Zhang Yi forty military clubs for his loyalty to the old Tao family, and only when all the generals begged for mercy did Tao Ying reluctantly say: "Alright, I'll spare your life this time, but next time you dare disobey orders, you will be beheaded!"

  Having said that, Tao Ying nodded to the several personal soldiers who were holding down Zhang Zuo. The several personal soldiers understood and immediately let go of Zhang Zuo. Zhang Zuo was both angry and resentful, feeling suffocated and helpless, and again knelt down on one knee in front of Tao Ying, clasped his hands together and said: "Thank you, young master, for sparing my life. I, the inferior general, will never dare to do it again."

  Tao Ying finally dismounted and walked quickly to Zhang's side, his dog-like face flipping faster than a book page, with a smile all over his face, personally helping Zhang up and repeatedly apologizing: "Military law is heartless, General, please don't blame me. Actually, I'm still very moved by your disobedience this time, because I know you didn't do it for yourself, but to support me at the critical moment."

  "It's good that you know, you little yellow-mouthed kid!" Zhang Yi snorted inwardly, his anger slightly dissipating. He let Tao Ying pull him up and looked around, but didn't see any more troops coming from the direction of the Junzi army. Zhang Yi couldn't help but curiously ask Tao Ying again: "Young master, where are our reinforcements? Why can't I see their troops?"

  "Reinforcements? Our reinforcements?" Tao Yibei was even more confused and exclaimed: "Now all the troops in Xuzhou add up to less than 20,000 people. We have to garrison five counties and guard against Cao Ze and Yuan Shu. The military strength is already strained, how can we possibly send reinforcements to you?"

  "Isn't there any reinforcement?" Zhang Fei and all the Xuzhou generals were stunned, asking together: "But didn't we hear that we had ambushed troops surrounding Lü Bu's bandits, and then you beheaded Lü Bu's bandit leader?"

  "Oh, so that's it." Tao Ying suddenly realized and laughed, pulling Tao Ji to the front, laughing: "I do have an ambush, but the ambush is not a reinforcement army, it's just the light cavalry of the Junzi Army led by my third brother."

  "General Zhang, now you know the prowess of my second brother?" Tao Ji said with a complacent smile: "My second brother's unique cavalry tactics not only can encircle the many with the few, but also in mobile warfare, can temporarily set up ambushes with existing troops, making it impossible for the enemy to defend against!"

  "Surround the many with the few? Set up an ambush in a mobile war with the existing troops?" Zhang Fei and the Xu state generals looked at each other, all of them somewhat disbelieving their ears. How can a small number of troops surround the enemy who has a numerical advantage? On the battlefield where life and death are at stake, how can we set up an ambush with the existing troops? Is there such an unreasonable thing in the world?

  The basic tactics of the Junzi Army have been exposed. In order to make the Xu State generals surrender, and also to prevent Zhang Yu and others from doing good deeds in vain, Tao Ying did not hide his private thoughts this time. He exceptionally allowed Tao Ji to explain the essence of the Junzi Army's tactics to Zhang Yu and others. After Tao Ji finished explaining yesterday's battle with flying eyebrows and colorful language, Zhang Yu and other Xu State generals were also thoroughly stunned.

  "General, please get up quickly." Tao Ying hurriedly helped Zhang Shun up again and modestly said: "General, you are overpraising me. I, Tao Ying, am born dull-witted, how dare I be called a genius?"

  "Gongzi, you're being too modest." Zhang Yi hastily shook his head and said sincerely: "This humble general has also experienced many battles, but the cavalry tactics of Gongzi, I've never seen before, nor have I ever heard of them! In my opinion, such ingenious cavalry tactics are probably beyond even Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry or Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteers."

  "A tactic that only appeared a thousand years later, you must have heard of it to be strange." Tao Ying muttered proudly in his heart, and humbly said on the surface: "General, let's talk about other things slowly, we should hurry up and go south, taking advantage of the fact that the late-born dog thief has been beheaded by the younger generation, the Guangling rebel army is headless, and take down Guangling with one effort, recover this Xu state stronghold."

  "Right!" Zhang Fei led the way, clasping his fist in response. The rest of the Xu Zhou troops also clasped their fists and responded in unison: "Right!"

  ……………

  The cohesion of the rebel army was actually several times stronger than Tao Ying's estimate. When the pacification army approached Guangling City, more than half of the rebels inside had already escaped, and the remaining 1,000 or so rebels did not resist stubbornly, but directly opened the city gate to surrender. The important and rich city of Guangling was finally back in the hands of the Xuzhou army. However, Guangling City, which was once more prosperous than Xiapi, had been severely damaged by the rebel army and could no longer show its former glory. Nevertheless, the pacification army led by Tao Ying still captured a batch of grain and money left behind by the rebels, which was a small consolation for the Xuzhou army that had suffered heavy losses.

  Immediately following, Tao Ying simultaneously placarded the city of Guangling to pacify the people while dispatching troops to attack Jiangdu and Hailing. However, just as the army was about to depart, the county officials of Jiangdu and Hailing voluntarily submitted their surrender. It turned out that they had already driven out the rebel forces of Qian Feng with the support of Zhao Yue's former subordinates, redeeming themselves by recovering the two counties for Tao Ying, while also preserving some of the naval warships at Jiangdu Port. Although Tao Ying was somewhat disappointed that his troops had nowhere to test their mettle, he was very pleased that Zhao Yue's former subordinates were loyal and generously accepted these former rebels from Xuzhou.

  At the same time, the casualties and kills of Junzi Army's first battle were finally basically counted. In a major battle with the main force of Zong Rong, less than 30 people from Junzi Army died in battle, more than 50 people were injured, directly killing over 2,000 enemies, not including the nearly 1,000 prisoners captured by Zhang You's army, separately capturing nearly 1,000 enemy soldiers, seizing over 1,100 war horses, and wounding over 500 horses. The amount of money, grain, and supplies seized was countless.

  Facing such a terrible casualty ratio, Zhang Ou and other Xuzhou generals could only stare in shock and amazement, while Lin Qing's little girl couldn't stop making a scene, begging Tao Ying to let her return to the Junzi Army. Tao Ji was so excited that his nostrils were almost pointing towards the sky, feeling extremely proud and satisfied. However, no one expected that after reading the battle report, Tao Ying not only didn't show any joy but also scolded Zhang Ou and others in front of everyone, especially Tao Ji and other Junzi Army generals, saying: "I always thought you had learned at least 30% of my tactics' essence, now I have to admit I was wrong, you've only learned 25% at most! That is, you've only learned the surface!"

  "Prince, aren't you being too harsh?" Zhang Yu sighed and said: "If such a victory is not considered glorious, then the generals should just go buy a block of tofu and knock themselves to death."

  "Second brother, what's wrong with our place again?" Tao Ji asked, also confused.

  "Calculate the consumption and kill count of our bows and arrows!" Tao Ying shouted, slapping the war report: "Eight hundred gentlemen's army, in a big battle, we shot a total of 46,982 arrows, and as a result, only 1,363 enemies died directly from our arrows. This means that on average, we need to consume about 35 arrows to kill one enemy! You tell me, is this kind of bow and arrow kill ratio something to be proud of?!"

  Taoyi and Nianbin, the gentlemanly army generals, were all speechless, while Zhangyi and other Xuzhou generals were sweating profusely. Only then did they realize that the gentlemanly army's arrow consumption was indeed too terrifying, and their killing efficiency was also too low. Thirty-five arrows were needed to kill just one enemy, an efficiency that couldn't even compare to the second-rate infantry archers under Zhangyi's command.

  "Let it go, young master." Nian Bin took the lead in admitting his mistake and said honestly: "Actually, there's no need for you to teach us, General Mo and the brothers have also discovered this problem. In our first big battle, everyone was very nervous and didn't shoot accurately enough, wasting a lot of arrows."

  "I was too tense." Tao Ji also softened and said: "Now recalling the battle at that time, I also found my own mistakes. There were many times when I drew my bow and shot arrows, but the bowstring wasn't fully drawn before releasing them. As a result, the arrowheads didn't have enough power and fell to the ground without hitting the enemy, wasting countless precious bows and arrows."

  Tao sighed and said sincerely, "Third brother, generals, don't blame me for being strict with you. You all understand the essence of our tactics, which is horse archery. The bow and arrow do not have enough lethality to effectively kill the enemy, so how can we exert the power of horse archery? This time in the battle, to be honest, we won without much effort. We won because the enemy was too careless and underestimated us, and their army was disorganized and lacked unity. As soon as the leader died, they immediately collapsed completely, and we won easily. But what about next time? Can we still have such good luck and encounter an enemy who is so weak and reckless?"

  "Now, our Junzi Army's tactics will eventually be renowned throughout the world and studied by our enemies, who will try every means to break through and learn from us. When that time comes, if we still stick to old ways, don't strive for progress, and rest on our laurels, what will happen when we encounter an enemy who has thoroughly researched and even learned from us?"

  "The end will know the crime." Tao Ji and others were convinced in their hearts and mouths, and they all made a fist to plead guilty.

  "I don't mean to blame you, I just don't want you to become complacent." Tao Ying waved his hand and ordered: "After returning to the camp, tell every gentleman soldier what I said. From today on, comprehensively strengthen archery training. Time is not waiting for us. After this battle, it's unlikely that the enemy will underestimate our Gentleman Army again. The time left for our daily training is also limited."

  "Yes!" Taoyi and the others responded in unison, bowed their fists, and bid farewell to return to their camps to train their soldiers. Zhang Yu and the other Xuzhou generals wiped away cold sweat, grateful that they were not part of Tao Ying's faction - otherwise, they would have been scolded even more severely.

  "Report!" Just as Taoyi and others had just stepped out of the door, a messenger suddenly rushed in from outside, knelt down on one knee in front of Tao, and saluted with his fists: "I have come to report to you, sir. Outside the gate, there is someone holding a Xu state governor's token who wants to see you. He claims to be General Cao Hong's subordinate, coming from Shouchun, and has extremely urgent military information to report to you!"

  "Subordinate of Cao Hong?" Tao Ying's eyebrows furrowed - Cao Hong was in charge of intelligence for Tao Qian, and his subordinates came from Shouchun. It must be that Cao Hong had sent this spy to infiltrate Xuzhou. Now that this spy said there were military affairs of utmost urgency, it was certain that something earth-shattering had occurred!

  Thinking of this, Tao Ying hastily ordered to meet him. A moment later, a middle-aged man dressed as a merchant rushed in with dust all over his body. He first made a single-knee salute in front of Tao Ying and then presented a Xu State Governor's token that proved his identity. With a hoarse voice, he said: "I am Lu Xiang, a secret scout under General Cao Hong, the commander of the vanguard of the Xu State Governor's mansion. I have seen you, young master. This is my identity token, please take a look."

  The guard held the iron token in front of Tao Ying, who checked it carefully before turning to Lu Xue and saying: "General Lu, please rise. Come, let General Lu take a seat and have some tea."

  "Thank you, sir." Lu Xu said with gratitude, wiping the sweat from his face and continued: "Sir, military news is urgent, I must report to you immediately. On August 25th, after Yuan Shu, who led the Yangzhou prefecture, received the news of your southern expedition to Guangling, he took the advice of strategist Lü Fan and decided to send an army of 8,000 soldiers to attack Guangling, taking advantage of the situation to seize the strategic town. I discovered this information and immediately set sail from Shouchun to report to you, but didn't expect your army to advance so quickly, already crossing the river at Huaiyin. Afraid that returning to Xuzhou would delay military operations, I took a risk and did not return to Xuzhou to report. I pursued southward to Guangling and directly reported to you."

  "Thank you, Chen Jun School. You have won me at least five precious days. After returning to Xuzhou, I will definitely report to my father and ask for credit for you." Tao Ying was calm and not too tense - after all, it was just Yuan Shu. Those stinky eggs under his command were nothing in the eyes of Deputy Director Tao.

  "Eight thousand Huaibei troops?" Zhang Yu's face changed color, now the Xuzhou army had expanded to over six thousand through capturing and recruiting prisoners of war, but these new recruits were very poor in morale and combat effectiveness, how could they resist the eight thousand regular troops of Yuan Shu?

  "Army school, when will Yuan Shu send troops? Who is the commander?" Tao Ying asked Lu Xuan again.

  Lu Xue's answer made Tao Ying and Zhang Song jump up at the same time. Lu Xue replied: "Report to the young master, Yuan Daoguang will lead his troops on August 27th, with Sun Ce, the eldest son of the former governor of Changsha, as the commander-in-chief, and Cheng Pu, Han Dang, and Huang Gai as his deputies, all of whom are old subordinates of Sun Jian!"

  "Sun Ce's little kid?" Zhang Liao couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "He is one of Yuan Shu's most trusted and fierce generals, and also the arch-nemesis of our Xuzhou army. This time we're in for a real fight!"

  "Little Overlord Sun Ce? Cheng Pu? Han Dang? Huang Gai?!" This time, it was finally our turn to see Deputy Director Tao's eyes widen in surprise. In Deputy Director Tao's mind, two images involuntarily emerged: one of a man with a goat-like beard holding dual short clubs, and another of a super muscular man wielding a large iron whip - although the remaining Cheng Pu and Han Dang were both common-looking soy sauce men, our Deputy Director Tao couldn't even get a spot as a common face or soy sauce man.

  "Alright." Standing still for a moment, Tao Ying finally let out a bitter laugh, "This time Lezi has gone too far."

  Of course, if our Deputy Director Tao knew what was happening in the Jiucheng District at the same time, then Deputy Director Tao would definitely be even more excited.

  Around the same time, in the Jianning Commandery, Sun Ce, the commander of the Eastern Expeditionary Army led by Yuanshu, suddenly appeared on the road ahead with over a hundred militiamen armed with crude weapons. They formed a line to block the army's path. The leader was only eighteen or nineteen years old, tall and slender, with handsome eyebrows and eyes, beautiful features, and a loud voice that called out: "Bobo, do you still remember your old friend from childhood?"

  Sun Ce galloped forward on horseback, jumped off the warhorse and rushed towards the handsome young man. From a distance, he opened his arms wide and shouted: "Gongjin, you can die for me!"