Chapter 426 Beyond Jiameng Pass – The Chase (2/2)
*SWUA*
The glaive cut through the scale armor like soft butter, severing the victim's body in half with one swing.
Several colleagues of the dead cataphracts turned around to retaliate against Gao Lan.
*SWUA*
*SWUA*
*SWUA*
All soldiers that were coming for Gao Lan were cut down.
One swing, one dead cataphract.
His polearm mastery was not as showy as Lu Bu, Tong, or other great generals, but it still got the job done.
With Gao Lan being their spearhead, the heavy knights broke through the ranks of Han Sui's 10,000 flank battalions.
Before the rearguards had arrived, all cataphracts were dismounted by the blunt weapons. Now, they were sitting ducks.
*RUMBLE*
The fleeing rearguards appeared on the horizon, along with the chasing 7,000 horse gunners.
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
The chasers continued shooting at the backs of the cataphracts.
Without a proper commander, all of these clone soldiers could only follow orders of their superiors or signals. Qu Yi had it easy withering these groups with Medusa's guns.
*BANG*
*BANG*
The last of the rearguard went down.
The knights and the gunner cavalries regrouped as they surrounded the dismounted troopers.
”SURRENDER! YOU ARE SURROUNDED!” Gao Lan yelled, trying to end today's battle early.
The injured cataphracts glanced at the signal flags on top of Zitong's walls. Since their general, aka their puppeteer, was still alive, they would follow their orders to the death.
Upon seeing the signal, [Kill], they scraped any weapon they could find and charged at the nearest enemy.
”KILL!!”
Without a choice, Qu Yi and Gao Lan's soldiers did not leave anyone alive.
.
.
Han Sui watched his men dying helplessly in the middle of his enemy's encirclement from the top of the city wall.
Although it was vexing, he did not take it to heart as these soldiers were soulless drones. Khan could create new ones any time soon.
”Seal the gate. Do not let anybody in or out.”
Han Sui opened his clan chat and reported the current situation to Khan and Ma Chao, hoping to contribute to something.
.
Khan glanced at his clan chat feeds. Upon seeing Han Sui's reports, he clicked his tongue.
'Useless bastard! I thought he was more talented than this. The last life, I heard he was a brave general that stopped the Qiang from invading the Liang Province. How come he is so weak here!?'
Khan did not reply or leave a word to Han Sui. Instead, he kept it to himself.
.
As Khan never communicated with Han Sui, the latter did not know what he should do next.
Protecting Zitong with 35,000 soldiers were possible. Thus, he conscripted the local population into militias to help them defend the walls.
Han Sui was tempted to burn this city down to the ground and retreat to Chengdu, so they could regroup and recuperate before their remaining army could fight against Zhang He's knights.
As he was pondering, Zhang He's main force, the infantries, arrived in front of the Zitong County's walls.
.
Looking at the corpses of the cataphract clones, Zhang He sighed.
”We had surrounded them, but they didn't even surrender?”
Qu Yi shook his head, ”No. They just suicide-charged at us.”
Zhang He grumbled. Fighting against ordinary humans would have been a lot easier than fighting emotionless soldiers since the latter did not fear death. With that kind of mindset, they could potentially be dangerous in siege warfare.
Zhang He sent his report to the clan chat and sought a bit of advice.
But before anyone could give Zhang He a good suggestion, Tong ordered him.
Tong: ”Send messengers to Liu Biao. Tell him that we're keeping the Xiongnu at Zitong. I want him to mobilize from Jing Province and invade Yi Province, starting from Yongan and Jiangzhou!”
Qu Yi and Gao Lan's face paled. They did not expect that Tong wanted to involve Liu Biao in this conflict.
Xun You: ”What are you thinking, your majesty!? Why are you giving up Yi Province!?”
Jia Xu: ”Are you nuts!? Dragging Liu Biao into this fight is going to complicate our Yi Province acquisition!”
All strategists objected to Tong's advice as it might harm them in the long run.
First, Liu Biao might have agreed to surrender to Tong. However, once he acquired a portion of the Yi Province during this campaign, this warlord would have a stronger negotiation power to bargain for titles in Tong's court, making it harder to tame him.
Secondly, there was no guarantee that Liu Biao might backstab them in the future. Therefore, letting an outsider obtain more territories was a bad idea, even if they could drive the Xiongnu faster.
Tong: ”Y'all are overthinking. Do you think I'm giving Liu Biao a chance to rebel or something?”
Jia Xu: ”Unfortunately, I do.”
Xun Yu: ”Me, too.”
Tong: ”You think we can defend all new territories with our current officers?”
Tong explained his reason in the clan chat.
Currently, Tong's empire lacked personals to govern all those territories. Since Lu Bu had conquered the Liang Province, they required more time to train and send more officers to manage this region. Also, they had to invest in the cities and counties in Liang Province to ensure their safety and prosperity.
Therefore, Yi Province would become their burden had they occupied it now! They could take it, but they did not have enough men to defend it!
After the extermination of the Xiongnu, the next target would be Cao Cao and Liu Bei. However, those two would attack their kingdom first whenever they heard that Tong was too busy digesting Liang Province and Yi Province.
In summary, Tong wanted to give away Yi Province to Liu Biao, so this warlord would clean up the mess in their stead while Tong's forces digested the Liang Province. Once Liang Province was secured, they would devour other lord's territory later.
Although Tong explained everything, all strategists still refused his idea.
Tong's pace was slow and steady, but all strategists wanted Tong to have the absolute rule.
Reading all the critics from their kingdom's strategists, Zhang He was saddened.
”Damn politics. His majesty is trying to eliminate the Xiongnu here. Why are they overstepping their boundaries?”
However, a new guy, whom Tong had invited this year, voiced his thought in the chat for the first time.
Sima Yi: ”Do it, general Zhang. Don't give an F about the politics and the theorists' bullcrap. Wipe the Xiongnu ASAP, and we'll clean up your mess later!”