CHAPTER 1108: CHAPTER 1064: THE DEFEAT AND DEATH OF GONGSUN DU

After Gongsun Du’s hometown was attacked by the Foreign Clan, he indeed sent back part of his troops to defend his hometown, but most of his forces still galloped across the lands of Youzhou.

At that time, Gongsun Du was clearly uneasy and even contemplated a full withdrawal. However, it’s important to know that retreating is far more difficult than advancing. If a full retreat was announced and news that Liaodong was besieged was spread by the Yuan Family, there was a real risk that the entire army could collapse before making it back.

Gongsun Du’s plan at that moment was to withdraw in batches, retreating eight thousand men the first time while he stayed to block and defend against a possible large-scale offensive from the Yuan Family, then withdraw more men the second time to prevent the Yuan Family from pressing down on him and forcing him to abandon the hard-won territories.

And just as Gongsun Du predicted, shortly after his hometown was attacked and he had withdrawn eight thousand men, the Yuan Family launched a major surprise attack. However, judging by their level of warfare, they were no more than untrained conscripts.

Although the scale was large and the morale of the Liaodong Army was not very high due to rumors, they relied on an absolute strength disparity to repel the Yuan Family’s large-scale counterattack and even pushed the battle line forward by a significant distance, acquiring quite a bit of provisions and supplies in the process.

This strong counterattack left Gongsun Du surprised and delighted. Recalling his previous conquests of Changli and Yangy Le, he noticed a "fact": it seemed the Yuan Tan Army in Youzhou had the combat power of mere conscripts!

Thinking of the intelligence passed on by Liu Bei’s army, Gongsun Du realized that Yuan Tan’s true elite forces were stationed at the southern front of Youzhou to defend against Liu Bei, leaving the interior of Youzhou incredibly hollow and defenseless. Gongsun Du suddenly realized that he might have overestimated the Yuan Family while living under Yuan Shao’s pressure for so long. Now Yuan Shao was dead!

With this realization, Gongsun Du naturally took the opportunity to explore. The facts spoke for themselves; in Youzhou, the Yuan Family seemed to have nothing but face left, and everything else could very well be a joke!

Hoping to capitalize on this idea, Gongsun Du once again began his campaigns. Although there were no major battles thereafter, frequent skirmishes helped Gongsun Du’s army boost their morale once more. Nothing bolsters morale quite like continuous victories!

However, this extremely high morale and disdain for Yuan Shao’s army ultimately led them to their downfall. They relied on raiding Yuan Shao’s army for supplies, and the Yuan Shao forces that appeared intermittently allowed Gongsun Du to easily seize food supplies, which, while not substantial, were enough for Gongsun Du to maintain his string of victories.

Using this method, Gongsun Du quickly advanced to Youbeiping. His entire army was in high spirits, bolstered by excellent news from the rear that the defenders of Liaodong had defeated the Coalition Army of Foreign Nations.

The Liaodong Army’s morale was through the roof at this time, strong enough to face Yuan Shao’s elite forces without suffering a disadvantage.

However, at that moment, Gongsun Du’s army found themselves running low on provisions. After Liaodong was besieged, Gongsun Du mainly survived by raiding Yuan Shao’s military supplies. Recently, due to an unfortunate heavy snowfall, no Yuan Shao forces were encountered, leading to insufficient supplies for Gongsun Du.

Nonetheless, Gongsun Du was not worried; after all, Youbeiping was not far ahead. Given the non-existent combat power of Yuan Tan’s conscript-level army, Gongsun Du was completely unconcerned about a lack of provisions.

On this particular day, Gongsun Du’s scouts encountered Yuan Shao’s supply convoy. As usual, they routed it; though part of the supplies were destroyed as before, the difference this time was that the black smoke from the burning grain attracted Yuan Shao’s forces.

Naturally, Gongsun Du’s troops easily defeated Yuan Shao’s forces, but the problem was that during their retreat, the routed Yuan Shao soldiers added more fire to the almost-extinguished supplies, burning a majority of the provisions to ashes.

Furious, Gongsun Du chased the routed soldiers for more than ten miles, and then there was nothing. Gongsun Du’s army, always assuming the Yuan Shao forces were subordinates while they were superior, didn’t pay attention to maintaining formation during the chase. Previous successes had convinced them they could defeat ten enemies for every one of theirs...

Needless to say, without maintaining their formation, Gongsun Du’s army encountered Yuan Shao’s battle-hardened elite troops and was crushed without even causing a ripple.

Originally ambushed at the rear, Gao Gan delivered a ruthless blow during Gongsun Du’s army’s retreat, completely shattering the already scattered and fleeing forces. The entire army disbanded and fled in all directions.

This region, unlike the Jin and Yanzhou border back in the day, offered no respite once escaped; a lack of supplies would also lead to freezing to death. By the time Gongsun Du escaped alive, less than ten percent of his forces remained, he had lost a large number of supplies, and his entire being was in shock.

Following this, reports came that Liaodong had been captured by Goguryeo, the Three Hann States, and others. Gongsun Du flew into a rage, almost to the point of fainting. While his life was saved, the power of Gongsun Du of Liaodong had effectively vanished.

"This tactic?" Guan Yu frowned. Such seemingly simple strategies are the trickiest, leaving no room for countermeasures. Even if you, as a commander, realize it, your soldiers will have developed a contempt for the enemy; moreover, with unbroken victories, marching from Liaodong straight to Yuyang without losing a single battle across hundreds of miles, anyone would think the enemy is weak.

"It was likely Sheni Pei’s tactics. He’s adept at identifying and attacking weaknesses, and his means are ruthless. He likely intended to deter all dissenters. Out of over fifty thousand men, perhaps only a handful survived under those conditions north of Yuyang with no supplies in the icy wasteland..." Li Youu didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone understood the implication.

"No matter how badly Gongsun Shengji was defeated, find a way to rescue him. After all, he did a decent job in Liaodong." At this point, Liu Bei had no illusions; even a fool knew what it meant to be routed on the snowy plains with no supplies.

"We will sail across to Liaodong. As for our banner—how about ’Rescue Liaodong’? After all, Liaodong is currently being attacked by the Three Hann States, Fuyu, Goguryeo, Cenmok, and even Foreign Clans like the Wuhuan." Chen Xi thought briefly before speaking. In this era, legitimacy was paramount.

"But to do so, we need passage through Youzhou. How can Yuan Tan allow that?" Wu Dun asked, puzzled.

"You have misunderstood; having lived in the south for so long, you’ve forgotten one thing: in the north, during winter, the sea serves as roads." Liu Ye shook his head and then hesitated slightly. "If we travel near the sea, we don’t need to pass through Youzhou; but the quantity of our winter clothing and felt tents is guaranteed, although their quality isn’t certain."

Saying this, Liu Ye glanced at the cotton coat on Lub Su, to be honest, this clothing was intended for combat on the Northern Icefield. But the issue was that Qu Qi’s large-scale cultivation of suitable materials hadn’t yet commenced; it’s estimated that scaling up won’t happen until next year. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)