lcionline Chapter 684 Diao Chan
Chapter 684 Diao Chan
Faced with Dong Zhuo's huge army moving the capital, the Liaodong troops had a clear division of labor. The cavalry constantly harassed and destroyed the formation in the front, the infantry advanced and harvested in the back, and the auxiliary troops were responsible for gathering the families of the scattered officials and cleaning up the scattered supplies along the way.
Although there were many soldiers and horses in Xiliang, most of them were used to protect Dong Zhuo, the emperor, and civil and military officials. Another part of the soldiers and horses were sent to garrison in the cities ahead to prepare for support.
Therefore, when Li Ru discovered that the pursuers from behind were fierce and defeated Lu Bu and Xu Rong in succession, he did not adopt the tactic of adding fuel to the fire to continue to increase his forces to cover the rear. Instead, he decisively chose to cut off the rear and survive, abandoning some property, supplies and officials' families, so that the troops in front could speed up and reach the next city.
Lu Cheng led his troops to attack the convoy again and defeated a group of Xiliang cavalry. Suddenly, he received a letter from a carrier pigeon in the front, saying that the vanguard troops including Dong Zhuo and the emperor had arrived in Hongnong County.
After reading the intelligence, Lu Cheng ordered to stop moving forward. He and Huang Zhong each led a team of cavalry to go in the same direction, gather the defeated soldiers of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, and meet up with the infantry in the rear, and hurry to complete the cleaning of the battlefield.
In the past two days, although Lu Cheng led his team to achieve considerable victories and defeated the Xiliang Army's rearguard troops many times, the casualties caused were not great and the main force of the Xiliang Army was still there.
Once Dong Zhuo and others enter the city, they can leave some troops to guard the city and free up more troops to fight against Lu Cheng.
With the 10,000 combat soldiers and 5,000 auxiliary soldiers under Lu Cheng, if they encounter the main force of the Xiliang Army, they will inevitably suffer considerable losses, which would be a loss.
Moreover, a lot of benefits have been gained this time, and the logistics troops' vehicles and horses are fully loaded. Even if they continue to pursue, the benefits gained will be difficult to transport.
Therefore, Lu Cheng ordered his troops to withdraw and stop while the going was good.
After a busy period and counting the harvest, Guo Jia reported to Lu Cheng: "Congratulations, my lord. The wealth we harvested this time is estimated to be worth at least 5 billion coins. The rest are some rare treasures and books that cannot be measured in money. There are also food, cloth, cattle, sheep, war horses... and more than 8,000 captured soldiers from Xiliang, including nearly 3,000 cavalry and more than 5,000 infantry..."
After saying this, Guo Jia paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Speaking of which, we were able to capture so many Xiliang soldiers thanks to Hua Xiong. If Hua Xiong hadn't stopped them in time, there wouldn't have been many of the 8,000 Xiliang soldiers left. If Xu Chu's Mo Dao Battalion had gone crazy, we wouldn't have been able to stop them."
Lu Cheng nodded slightly: "After all, Hua Xiong was the most powerful general in Xiliang in the past, and he still has some prestige in the Xiliang army. Let Hua Xiong take care of those captured Xiliang soldiers. Tell Hua Xiong to strictly follow military law and discipline to restrain the Xiliang soldiers, and those who violate the law will be severely punished."
After all, the Xiliang soldiers were a group of arrogant and brave generals, and were completely incomparable to the well-trained Liaodong soldiers, but they could still be used to deal with the troops of other princes.
At this moment, Xu Chu rushed back and saluted towards Lu Cheng: "My lord, I just led the troops to search the woods ahead and caught a group of escaped singing girls. The leader claimed that they were from the house of Prime Minister Wang Yun. Among them was a singing girl, only fifteen years old, and extremely beautiful. My lord, do you want to go and take a look?"
In this era, many aristocratic families and high-ranking officials would keep singing girls in their homes to entertain guests with singing and dancing. If a distinguished guest took a fancy to a certain singing girl, the host might even let the singing girl serve the guest, or even give her directly as a gift.
Some of these singing girls were girls bought from specialized prostitutes and raised from childhood. Some were daughters of officials whose families were confiscated and exterminated. They were all raised like commodities.
During the pursuit, many officials' family members and singing girls were indeed captured.
However, when Lu Cheng heard the name Situ Wang Yun, he became interested: "Bring the person over here, let me take a look."
"Yes, my lord."
Xu Chu immediately went forward to lead people, and soon he led a team of more than a dozen young women into the military tent.
Lu Cheng looked up and saw that these dozen women were the youngest only eleven or twelve years old, and the oldest was over twenty years old. They all looked a little disheveled, but they all had excellent looks.
Lu Cheng's eyes swept across the group of girls and soon stopped on one of them who had a slender figure, picturesque features, and skin as white as cream.
After being brought into the military tent, a group of more than a dozen women all looked flustered, their eyes were evasive, and their brows were drooping. Only this girl dared to look up at Lu Cheng. Although she looked calm, her eyes were full of love.
Lu Cheng pointed casually and said, "Miss, they all looked flustered when they came to my tent. Why are you so calm?"
The young girl bowed and said, "General, since I left Luoyang, I have been chased by the army and have been fleeing everywhere in fear. I have also seen my companions being taken away by the Xiliang soldiers and never returned.
Even if the general's soldiers caught us, they did not behave disrespectfully, which shows that the general has a good command of the army and a good way of governing his subordinates. He is a benevolent and righteous teacher. I was born a singer, like duckweed in the water, with no control over my own life. If I can be a singer in the general's mansion, it is better than dying in the mountains and forests and being eaten by wild beasts. "
"You are quite knowledgeable. Tell me your name and your specific origins."
"I am Diao Chan, sold to the mansion of Wang Situ when I was young, and taught singing and dancing, and learned etiquette."
Hearing the name, Lu Cheng nodded slightly and was not surprised.
When he saw her, Lu Cheng had already roughly guessed her identity.
Although this girl is young, she is already stunningly beautiful, and she is also quite knowledgeable and courageous. Even Lu Cheng, who is used to seeing stunning beauties, cannot help but admire her as a beauty.
Dong Zhuo was a local tyrant who had caused chaos in the imperial palace and had seen many beautiful women. How could an ordinary woman make him so infatuated?
Only a woman of such beauty and courage could carry out the beauty trap.
Lu Cheng nodded: "Diao Chan, have you ever learned poetry, literature and writing?"
"Learned some."
"Then stay. Xu Chu, have someone settle them down first."
"Yes, my lord."
Then, Lu Cheng looked at Guo Jia who was standing beside him: "Fengxiao, how is the progress of Zilong and Yuanhao? Is there any news in the past two days?"
"Yesterday, we received a report from Bingzhou that Zilong has led his army to occupy Yanmen County, and Zhang Liao has led the vanguard troops and has already entered Taiyuan County."
"Have the Xiongnu and Wuhuan made any unusual moves?"
"Many Wuhuan tribes voluntarily submitted, and the Xiongnu tribes have not made any unusual moves for the time being."
"Order the Flying Eagle Guard to keep a close eye on the Xiongnu and Wuhuan tribes."
"Yes, I'll make arrangements right away."
Bingzhou's location is quite special, with many Wuhuan people living there and many areas occupied by the Xiongnu. The territory that is truly completely controlled by the Han people is less than half.
Because of this, after the Liaodong army led by Zhao Yun entered Bingzhou, they encountered almost no decent resistance. They captured cities and strongholds along the way, occupied an entire county, and quickly stabilized people's livelihood.
Now, the Liaodong Army has made a name for itself throughout the north. The Wuhuan people dare not cause trouble at all, and even the Xiongnu people are very honest for the time being.
Lu Cheng asked Guo Jia to unfold the map, check it out, and then began to give orders: "Pass the order, mobilize the troops and move the camp, and head straight to Shangdang County."