Chapter 392 Sneak Away (1/2)
Chapter 392 – Sneak Away
November 10th.
The weather got colder each day as the cold wind from the north reached the center of China.
Cao Ren and Yue Jin traveled along with their men, searching for a trail of Sun Jian and his crews. After ten days of tracking, they became depressed and frustrated.
Although they could not find any trace on the outskirt, they found the eunuch's carriage, which was sold to a local noble in Zeng County. Upon questioning, they discovered that the eunuch and Sun Jian disguised as merchants and traveled to Langye many days ago.
Both generals rushed back with their men, returning to Langye at full speed. On the way home, he made a cruel order.
”KILL EVERY MERCHANT YOU FIND ON THE ROAD, NO EXCEPTION!”
All 20,000 soldiers rushed back to Langye using all roads, killing every civilian they found.
.
Meanwhile, Sun Jian, Wei You, Taishi Ci, and others hid inside Langye County. As the local official forbade anyone from leaving, they had to rest in a local inn, waiting for their reinforcement to arrive.
November 15th.
Kong Rong arrived at Langye as promised.
When Chen Gui and Chen Deng saw an army approaching, they were in a panic that they almost wet their pants. All of their garrison soldiers also trembled in fright.
”We're doomed! That Cao Ren probably knew about this. Is this why they left our county in a hurry!?”
Chen Gui sighed, ”Let's surrender. We can't fight that army.”
”We don't even know what we did wrong. Why is his majesty invading us? Isn't Cao Cao his majesty's subordinate?”
”I don't know. For now, let's get down and welcome them. We don't want them to siege the city.”
People's loyalty toward their lord was always dubious. They might swear allegiance to one liege, but they could also serve another warlord if the situation demanded it.
The Chen Family was the same. Ever since their former lord, Tao Qian, had passed away without a successor, they had to serve Yuan Shao, who came out of nowhere to take their cities.
Then, Cao Cao appeared. Because they thought that Yuan Shao was an opportunist lord that stole Tao Qian's territory, every former Tao Qian's official agreed to switch sides.
And now, Tong's subordinates appeared before them, and they did not even hesitate to betray Cao Cao to save their hides.
Kong Rong was also surprised that the Chen Family opened the gates to receive him. He had thought that he had to scam his way into the city. Fortunately, these prefects were too cowardice to stand their ground.
”Welcome to Langye! We'll cooperate with you and his majesty.”
Although Kong Rong ridiculed these men, he wore his façade mask and greeted Chen Gui.
”Thank you. You don't have to be modest. We've come here to inspect the city since Sir Cao Cao has completed his acquisition from that traitor Yuan Shao.”
”Yes, yes. Please come inside. We'll hold a banquette to welcome you.”
.
Kong Rong: ”Sir Taishi Ci, we've arrived in the city.”
Taishi Ci: ”I saw your army. I can see the commotion from here.”
Kong Rong: ”We'll enter the inner city for a banquette. Please guide everybody to our army camp and show them Sir Wei You's token. I've informed my men about your circumstances. They will shelter all of you.”
Taishi Ci: ”Thank you.”
Kong Rong: ”It's my job.”
.
Taishi Ci relayed the good news to Sun Jian and Wei You.
”Our reinforcement has arrived. The prefect has surrendered the city, so we can head home now.”
Wei You revealed a bright smile, ”Bless his majesty! May he live a thousand years!”
Taishi Ci shook his head, giving up explaining to this fanatic that it was actually Kong Rong that helped them.
Meanwhile, Sun Jian was astonished by the efficiency of Tong's subordinates. Seeing how they coordinated with the others, Sun Jian's awareness of the clan chat usage rose.
'Will we be able to utilize this clan chat to this level?'
Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Cheng Pu also had the same thought. With instant long-range communication, their military tactics and schemes would increase their efficiency by many folds. As veteran generals, they knew how vital information relaying was.
'We need more people in our clan!'
They gritted their teeth in frustration. The limit of clan recruitment was one person a year, and all members could not quit until their clan leader died.
Also, if their clan leader died, their clan would be disbanded, and this feature would disappear like smoke.
Everyone sighed in resignation. None of them wanted to kill Sun Fang, so they had to do their best for their clan to thrive.
Later that day, Taishi Ci and everyone regrouped with Kong Rong inside the latter's military camp.