Chapter 289 – Xu Shu’s Stratagem (3) (1/2)

Xu Shu’s Stratagem (3)

Liao Hua did not wait until noon as he is an infantry. He naturally had to go earlier and prepare. Liao Hua also did not bring too many people as it would be difficult to hide. So, he only took two thousand out of his five thousand men. Besides that, Liu Pi would follow from behind with a large force. If the enemy were small in numbers, they would be easy to handle. If the enemy were large in numbers, Liao Hua will stall the enemy while waiting for the arrival of the large number of troops behind him. They had already prepared their meals after midnight and got ready to set out and prepare the ambush on the road. Originally, Liu Pi wanted to inform Liu Bei. However, he was stopped by Liao Hua. If he told Liu Bei, would the merit still belong to Liu Pi? The news would spread from Liu Pi to Zhang Xiu. Zhang Xiu would then quickly go and plunder. At that time, Liu Pi would not even have soup to drink. All he would obtain is the merit of one report. Even Liu Pi would be like that. What about Liao Hua who was smaller in rank? His existence would not even be registered. So, Liao Hua decisively stopped him.

On top of that, they are not sure if this information was true. What would they do if it was false information? In the end, nothing would be achieved and they would become jokes. So, Liao Hua told Liu Pi to wait until everything became a reality before reporting. Liu Pi thought for a while and then agreed. The army then set out with Liu Pi personally sending them off.

Liao Hua was actually a good general. In history, he was a registrar under Guan Yu. After Guan Yu’s defeat, he faked his death to return to Shu. He was then appointed as a governor for Yidu. After Liu Bei pa.s.sed away, he joined the army, became military governor of Gudu and partic.i.p.ated in the Northern Expedition of Shu. He is later also promoted to Right General of Chariots. He was also appointed inspector of the Bing Province. After the demise of the Han Dynasty, he moved to Luoyang and died from illness during the journey. Liao Hua was known for being straightforward and was an important general during the late Han Dynasty.

After saying so much, one may still not know who Liao Hua is. However, there are also those that knew of Liao Hua’s reputation. That was his reputation as a vanguard. On the surface, it as though one is mocking Liao Hua. However, it is actually admiration. When Jiang Wei led the Northern Expedition, it was during 253 AD. At that time, Jiang Wei was already about fifty years old. At this point in time, only Liu Mang knew who was Jiang Wei. This is not because Jiang Wei was not famous. Even if Jiang Wei was a n.o.body, his parents would still know his name. The reason Jiang Wei was not known by anybody was because he had not yet been born. Right now, Liao Hua was already around his twenties. When Jiang Wei lead the Northern Expedition, Liao Hua would be around over seventy. For an old man to act as a vanguard, it could only be talent. He was an old man that obtained the position of a vanguard, the position that meets a lot of enemies. Even Huang Zhong would not dare to say he could do the same.

Right now, Liao Hua was only a military officer under Liu Pi but he was skilled. He travelled thirty miles to the location obtained with his soldiers and the army hid quietly. These were all Liao Hao’s contributions. Now, he only needed to wait for the s.h.i.+pment of provisions.

Time flew and the sun slowly rose from the east and eventually reached the middle of the sky. Noon quickly arrived.

“Why are they not here yet?” Liao Hua was in a bit of a hurry. He licked his cracked lips and took a drink offered to him by his deputy. The waiting time is usually the longest to the people.

“General. Could the information be false?” The deputy asked. This is because it was almost noon and yet not a single shadow could be seen. If the information was wrong then everyone would be busy waiting the whole day.

“It won’t be wrong!” Liao Hua said that without a foundation. “If it was false information, why would the scout hold on until near death before saying it? There was no need to do that.” Liao Hua was skilled in obtaining a confession using torture. On top of that, the darkness under the lamp strategy was not something an ordinary person could come up with. At the very least, if it was not because of the scout, Liao Hua would not be able to think of such a strategy. It was possible that Liu Bei’s Army did not notice the transportation of provisions here. This was because Liao Hua himself saw that Liu Bei did not send any troops to monitor the road. Everyone believed it was impossible for it to be used. They would also think that the generals would have dispatched someone there and would not dispatch anymore soldiers.

In fact, when Liao Hua found out not a single scout was dispatched to the roads, he noticed that there was a huge hole. When Liao Hua returned, he planned to tell Liu Pi to dispatch scouts. This is because it was not only possible for provisions to be delivered but it was also possible for the enemy to attack. If the enemy was in front of you and you did not notice, you would be finished. All this intuitively told Liao Hua that the information was correct. This stratagem was not something ordinary people could think of. A scout would not have such a level. However, he felt anxious as there was no movement in a long time.

When Liao Hua was hesitating, his deputy suddenly touched him. Liao Hua was about to become angry from having his thoughts interrupted but then he heard the deputy shout with a pleasant surprise. “General. Look over there.” The deputy shouted as he pointed towards a distance.

Looking at the place the deputy had pointed at, Liao Hua forgot his anger. Carts appeared one by one and the soldiers were moving slowly. From Liao Hua’s location, they could tell that the scale was quite big. There were a thousand soldiers. The carts carrying the provisions were also very slow to ill.u.s.trate that there were many kinds of food on the carriage.

“Hahaha.” Liao Hua laughed happily. He would really benefit when he took the provisions. Not only would he obtain ten thousand soldiers. He would even be recommended to Liu Bei by Liu Pi. Liao Hua had wors.h.i.+ped the Peach Brothers for many days and believed that he could be one of the more outstanding ones under Liu Bei, and even replace Liu Pi.

On top of that, the scale of the transport was great. There were not many soldiers defending it while he had five thousand under his command. Once they spring the ambush, the merits would be obtained.

“Get ready!” Liao Hua raised his arm. The commanders of one thousand and one hundred were on edge. They pa.s.sed down the orders one by one.

“One thousand paces.” Liao Hua estiamated in his heart. “Eight hundred. Six hundred. One hundred. They are here!”

“General. Let us go!” Liao Hua’s deputy couldn’t help but want to rush out. However, Liao Hua did not order the charge.

“Let’s wait!” Liao Hua said to his deputy. It was not yet time to rush out. If they rush out too early, some of the enemies would be able to escape. However, if they ambush from the center, it would become different.

“Five, four, three, two, one!” Liao Hua watch a group rush past. When the ones in the middle arrived, Liao Hua suddenly lowered his hand and stood up. He pulled out the sword on his waist. “Brothers. This is the time for us to get promoted and become rich. Rush towards them. Kill them and take their provisions. We can then get promoted and earn a fortune!” Liao Hua loudly shouted.

“Kill. Kill. Get promoted. Loot them all!” The deputy echoed and all the ambushers rushed out to kill.

“Not good! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” The one that obviously looked like a general shouted when he saw enemies rus.h.i.+ng out from the forests. He also pulled out his weapon and prepared for battle. However, if one were to look closely, they would find that the one being plundered did not look panicked. Instead, he had a smile in his eyes. The general then yelled and ran towards the forest.

“Kill. Kill them! Steal their provisions!” Everyone was excited. Their morale was high as they were the one ambus.h.i.+ng and taking the enemy by surprise.

One by one, Liao Hua’s soldiers killed quickly. This is because they found out that their opponent was very weak. There was no resistance at all. Not even from the ones that had died. Only a few of their own suffered minor injuries, mostly because they ran into their own companions.

Liao Hua was very suroprised and skeptical about the situation. He questioned the reason the soldiers immediately withdrew their troops the moment they saw him. It was as though they had achieved their objective. However, his doubts were soon vanquished because the carriage was loaded with provisions.

“General. It is all provisions!” The deputy opened up several bags in excitement. All of them were loaded with provisions. It was good as long as it was provisions. Liao Hua dismissed his concerns. As long as it was provisions, they would be a difference. He believed that it was a possibility that Lujiang could no longer dispatch troops and could only dispatch conscripted laborers.

The reason Liao Hua could convince himself this was because the reasoning was reliable. Sun Ce was looking at the Yangtze River, making Lu Bu afraid of dispatching troops, even if it was to save Shou Chun. He was afraid the Jiangdong Army would become tigers. At that time, having provisions would be useless. Liao Hua convinced himself that those were conscripted laborers wearing armor.

“Come. Let us bring these provisions back to the camp and have the leader reward us!” Liao Hua spoke boldly. Originally, they were Yellow Turbans. They Yellow Turbans murder and plunder. Now, they become part of an army. However, their nature would not change.

“Let’s go. Take it away!”

“Haha. This time, I think the leader would give us ten coins each!” One soldier shouted in excitement.

“Look at your interests. Only ten coins! Do you know what this is? It is provisions! It is not just meritorious service. With these provisions, the generals would give us eleven coins!” The soldier looking down on his friend only added one coin.

“With so much money here, I only need to wait until the end of the war. Once I have another twenty coins, I can go and marry Xiao Cui!” Another soldier thought as he drooled.

“Future prospects! This one will take responsibility. You do not need to wait until the end of the war. I will give you twenty coins once we go back so that you can marry Xiao Cui!” Everyone became happy as Liao Hua said these words. Now that he had provisions, he could obtain Liu Pi’s recommendation and his career would soar. Naturally, he would be happy. So, he also joined in with his soldiers.

Just as Liao Hua’s soldiers was about to pull the carriage away, there was a tragic cry from the front. “General. Not good! Cavalries appeared in front!”

The ground shook before Liao Hua could ask. “Cavalry? Where are they from?”