Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 643 - 608: Ambush Army

"Gong Youu’s road construction is impressive," Chen Xi commented while traveling on the road to Yanzhou. In contrast, the journey from Xiapi to Fenggao, then from Fenggao to Linyi, only took ten days.

"Chief Secretary Sunx is now quite a famous master builder," Hua An said with a smile. After Hua Xiong’s departure, his fellow townsman Hua An took over as Chen Xi’s bodyguard.

"Hmm, why don’t they dig on Lyu Fengxian’s side in Yanzhou?" Chen Xi pondered and then asked.

"They don’t dig. On the contrary, Chen Gongtai wants to purchase some materials from us for repairing and building the straight roads," Hua An explained, chuckling.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi nodded. It wasn’t that he couldn’t ride a horse, but he chose to travel by cart mainly because Pang Tong, the unfortunate fellow, had died from an arrow wound while riding. Such a tragedy was certainly something he preferred to avoid happening to him.

[Chen Gongtai has a keen eye. He’s very clear about the importance of these direct roads. However, it’s unknown whether he plans to build the main logistical route to either Mount Tai or Wei Commandery], Chen Xi silently contemplated.

In contrast with Yuan Shao’s lack of caution and Yuan Shu, whose heart wasn’t set on greater achievements, Chen Gong had much more to consider. Building a logistics route was a must to reduce food losses and increase the speed of troop movements. But once the logistics route was complete, it would need to be connected to a provincial route, which didn’t necessarily have to be constructed by them; it could be built by the other side.

Chen Xi was satisfied with the current situation. At least, Chen Gong hadn’t interfered with Sunx Qian’s road construction, indicating that Chen Gong was perhaps inclined to side with them. Of course, this new road to Linyii wasn’t a provincial route!

In fact, Chen Xi was unaware that Chen Gong not only turned a blind eye to Sunx Qian’s roadwork but also to Yuan Shao’s. Since he hadn’t explicitly sided with anyone, both Yuan Shao and Liu Bei were causing trouble on their own. Whatever happened wasn’t his concern. Put simply, he was shopping for a better alliance.

Of course, Yuan Shao’s road construction from Wei Commandery to Yanzhou was slower, given the inferior counterfeit cement was only produced on Liu Bei’s side. Yuan Shao indeed wanted the formula, but the Zhen Family bluntly stated they couldn’t get it. Yuan Shao’s scouts found no solution and had to comply with the rules. Luckily for him, Chen Xi never minded selling this material to Yuan Shao, so the output from the Zhen Family remained sufficient.

As for the inferior counterfeit cement, Yuan Shao always wanted as much as possible. He was confident his side wouldn’t lose to Liu Bei. Since Liu Bei dared to extend the prefecture roads to the borders of Qingzhou, naturally, Yuan Shao had the courage to do the same. Unfortunately, courage couldn’t substitute for cement, so Yuan Shao had to stockpile some and build the roads as best as he could.

Consequently, Jizhou’s roads needing construction were completed, as were those in Southern Youzhou. Bingzhou had only its main roads finished. Nevertheless, the improvement in food and material transport and the increased speed of marching troops greatly pleased Yuan Shao.

However, due to the increased speed of troop deployment and supply transport, Gongsun Zan’s hopes of launching a counterattack and reclaiming Southern Youzhou were dashed. Sheni Pei took up a defensive position in Youzhou, expressing great confidence in his defensive capabilities. Despite Gongsun Zan being a renowned White Horse General, taking a city defended by Sheni Pei would be far from easy.

Naturally, once Chen Xi heard that Youzhou’s Regional Inspector had been replaced by Sheni Pei, he had no hope for Gongsun Zan’s counteroffensive. It wasn’t that he underestimated Gongsun Zan, but Sheni Pei’s defensive record was simply too fearsome. In comparison to renowned generals like Cao Ren and Hao Zhao, considering Sheni Pei’s achievements, nearly everyone would concede defeat.

When Sheni Pei defended Ye City, Cao Cao was at the height of his power, personally leading his army, with all five of his adept advisors at his side, and an abundance of civil officials and military generals. Yet, Sheni Pei, isolated and unsupported, held out for half a year. In the end, it was only when his nephew betrayed him and opened the city gates that Cao Cao managed to capture Ye City...

His achievements, compared with those of generals like Hao Zhao and Cao Ren, were surely enough to terrify any opponent. Therefore, when Chen Xi learned that Sheni Pei had gone to Youzhou, he completely gave up any hope for Gongsun Zan to retake Youzhou. In contrast to the aggressiveness of Vanguard, Sheni Pei’s defense was absolutely in the league of a Copper Wall and Iron Bastion!

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Let’s not mention that Gongsun Zan is already half-finished now, even when he was at his peak, encountering such a situation would likely kill him with anger.

"Where are we at the moment?" Chen Xi asked. "How many days’ journey is it until we reach Linyi?"

"Replying to the Military Advisor, General Zhao was concerned that upon reaching the vicinity of Linyi, we might need to engage in battle immediately. Therefore, he ordered the troops to march slowly two days ago. Approximately by tomorrow, our forces should be able to rendezvous with General Guan’s troops!" Hua Yun explained. Because of the march, Zhao Yun was with the vanguard while Chen Xi took his position in the central army.

"Tomorrow, huh?" Chen Xi raised an eyebrow. "Have Zilong dispatch additional scouts. After all, we are not too far from the rendezvous, and we need to prevent giving the enemy any opportunity to exploit. While Zilong isn’t worried about getting ambushed, it is still better to avoid such situations. Loss of soldiers is not a good thing."

"Understood." Hua Yun handed over the coachman’s duties to a guard and then rode off to convey the message to Zhao Yun.

"Indeed, every advantage has its disadvantage. This route has sped up our march considerably, but it has also restricted where we can go, and it’s very easy for us to be ambushed," Chen Xi murmured to himself as he looked into the distance.

"Zhangming, you lead a thousand White Horse Righteous Followers and hang back on the left rear side. Huang Shao, you take command and strengthen the left-wing defense. The hills in this region are all on our left, dispatch more scouts," Zhao Yun instructed Xue Shao and Huang Shao, ordering the two, one to lead cavalry and the other infantry, to be prepared.

"Yes!" Both Huang Shao and Xue Shao saluted with a fist, then each led their private troops towards the left side.

Dozens of miles away from Chen Xi’s group, a hillock was stationed with a large number of cavalry and infantry wearing the leather and cloth armor of Lyu Bu’s Army, where a scout was currently reporting the situation to a military general.

"Report, General. Our army has encountered enemy scouts, and it has been confirmed that they belong to Zhao Yun of Mount Tai Army!" said a scout, responding to the tall general.

"Did we come face-to-face with them?" asked Zhang He, dressed in silver armor and holding a long spear, a slight smile on his face. "What’s my name?"

"The General is Yanmen Zhang Wenyuan!" the scout replied loudly.

"Good, let everyone remember that I am Yanmen Zhang Wenyuan!" Zhang He bellowed, and the troops under his command roared in response.

Zhang He’s men here didn’t need to disguise themselves; they were genuine Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry. Bringing them along increased Lyu Bu’s favorable impression. Whatever kind of person Lyu Bu might be, he still had an unrelenting sentiment for Bingzhou, and in the eyes of Xun Shen, who excelled at mind-reading, this was a good breaking point.

Similarly, Zhang He’s presence here with the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry was also to create a steel-hard fact: that Lyu Bu did not welcome Liu Bei. Once this fact was established, both Liu Bei and Lyu Bu would only have one choice. In such a situation, willing or not, Lyu Bu would have to join Yuan Shao!

(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)