Chapter 689

Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang were right.

Lu Su Lu Zijing had already left Huiji but it was not yet time to return to Liu Mang’s side.

“Yang Chen. Give the order for the men to wrap the horses’ hooves and put cloths in their mouths.”

“Yes, Brother.” Yang Chen nodded. Soon, the order was transmitted. The three thousand troops all began to act. However, only five hundred of them were elites. The others were just civilians. As a result, they were very slow. Lu Su could not help but furrow his brows when he saw them.

“Yang Chen. Has the scouts return?” Lu Su asked.

“Not yet!” Yang Chen shook his head.

“General! The scouts are back!” The report arrived at the right time.

“General. We have already scouted the area. At Sun Ce’s Army’s camp, only the fourth camp is guarded. The other places are empty.” The scout explained.

“What about the locations of the hidden sentries?” Lu Su asked again.

“We are not sure about this yet.” The scout shook his head. There was not much time so they could not scout out everything.

Lu Su was about to get angry when he remembered who these people were. He realized that he was holding them to Yangzhou’s standards. These inferior group could definitely not compete against Yangzhou.

“Yang Chen. Follow me with two groups of soldiers.” Lu Su prepared to set off personally.

“Understood!” Yang Chen nodded.

Lu Su became more cautious as he approached the camp. However, he soon realized that it was pointless. This is because he found out that all the hidden sentry posts seemed to be empty.

“Are Sun Ce’s troops that lazy?” Yang Chen asked with disdain. Could the Little Conqueror’s men only amount to this much?

“No!” Lu Su shook his head. He had met with Jiangdong’s troops before. Both the elites and the regular troops would not be so lazy. On top of that, they were currently being led by Sun Ce, Lu Meng and Ling Cao. These three were all experts in military affairs, so it was unlikely for their men to slack off.

“Withdraw!” Lu Su suddenly said.

“Hm?” Yang Chen could not understand.

“We need to go back to the hidden sentry’s posts earlier.” Lu Su said to Yang Chen.

After returning there, Lu Su looked at the ground for a long time before smiling bitterly. “So Marquis Wu and his subordinates were this vigilant!”

“What’s wrong brother?” Yang Chen asked.

“Yang Chen. Look at this hidden sentry post and tell me if you see something wrong.” Lu Su pointed at a location.

“Is there something wrong with it? It doesn’t look any different.” Yang Chen looked and did not see anything besides the grass that had been trampled on.

“Yes. It is this grass!” Lu Su replied. The grass formed a circle with the hidden sentry posts as landmarks. All the grass outside have already been cut. Once someone crosses the sentry posts, they would need to step on the grass. The sentries only needed to check if the grass had been stepped on.

“But Brother. What about other things like rabbits?” Yang Chen asked.

“Rabbits? Haha. Rabbit can step on the grass but they would not be able to trample all over the place!” Lu Su shook his head. They had already trampled on the grass with groups of soldiers. It would be difficult to restore everything to its original conditions.

“Then what should we do?” Yang Chen asked anxiously.

“Now we can only hope that the time taken for the scouts to scout out these hidden sentry posts is enough to launch a sneak attack.” Lu Su said.

“Quick. Yang Chen, go back and take all three thousand men here!” Lu Su ordered.

“Brother. You are ready to do this?” Yang Chen looked at Lu Su.

“Yang Chen. Have you read Zuo Zhuan before?” Lu Su asked and Yang Chen nodded. Zuo Zhuan was regarded as a heavenly book to those from humble families as it was difficult to obtain. However, to Lu Su and Yang Chen who come from noble families, it was an essential book that could be found in every home. That was why Yang Chen had also read it before.

“Then you must have read about Duke Zhuang’s ten years.”

“Are you referring to the Battle of Changshao1?” Yang Chen thought.

“The sages of the past debated.” Lu Su explained to Yang Chen. “The first time they were full of energy and the third time they was exhausted.” Lu Su wanted to explain that they were the Qi Army while their opponents were Duke Zhuang and his men. Of course, referring themselves as similar to the Qi Army was a vast overstatement since they only had five hundred elites.

“There is about a thousand paces from here to the enemy camp. We need to approach about five hundred paces before we rush in. Once we get in, the initiative will be ours!” Lu Su only had five hundred elites. The others could only fight properly if they had the advantage. If they were at the disadvantage, they were more likely to kill each other instead of the enemies.

If Lu Su could not accomplish this charge, then he would die.

By the time Yang Chen gathered the troops, the sky turned even darker. The moon could not be seen at all, making things convenient for Lu Su. They then sneaked until they were about five hundred paces away.

“Brother look! Sun Ce’s scouts!” Yang Chen pointed at a direction.

“Yes.” Lu Su nodded. Fortunately, he had made prompt decisions. If their movements were detected, then soldiers in Sun Ce’s camp would become vigilant.

“Yang Chen. Take a group of soldiers with you and get rid of those scouts.” Lu Su said to Yang Chen.

“Yes!” Yang Chen nodded before leaving.

Meanwhile, one of Sun Ce’s scouts told his superior. “Boss. I need to urinate!” The scouts had two teams of five. When it comes to scouting, there was no reason to have so many people.

“Go! Go! Lazy people have a lot to urinate!” The leader said impatiently.

“You can’t blame me for this. We have been eating and drinking a lot the past few days.” The scout replied. The fighting was fierce but the supplies given was also a lot.

In the past, Jiangdong was poor so Sun Ce would not be so generous. But now, they were all being supported by Liu Mang. Their army of fifty thousand received a hundred thousand provisions. Naturally, they all ate their fill.

“After this battle, won’t we will all become part of Yangzhou’s army?” One of the scouts asked yearningly.

“Yes. General Sun Ce already surrendered to His Highness the King of Shu. Didn’t you notice that our banners have already changed?” One person replied.

“If we become part of the Yangzhou Army, does that mean we will also get land and provisions? Also, will our children be able to go to school? Won’t we also enter the some Hall of Heroes thing after we die?” The scouts asked, not knowing what a monument was. They thought that entering the Hall of Heroes meant becoming an immortal to be worshipped.

“Of course? Did you not see His Highness’ men? Their armor is truly admirable!” A few of the scouts started to daydream until their leader woke them up.

“If you want to be part of the Yangzhou Army and obtain all those, first you must survive! If you die here at Huiji, then you won’t gain anything!”

The soldiers all turned silent after hearing their leader’s words. The battle in the past few days were fierce and many of their fellow soldiers have died.

Even their corpses have piled up. Since no one had the time to deal with it, the corpses were just burned. The moat was also full of blood. Someday, it would be their turn to attack the city walls directly. Would they have a chance of surviving?

“If only there were no wars in this world.” The leader could not help but sigh.

“If you don’t want wars, then first there must be a winner!” Someone interrupted.

“Who is it?” The leader of the scouts suddenly became alert.

“The one who will kill you!” Lu Su’s replied coldly while feeling his heart ache. Not only were these scouts also from Jiangdong. They were also potentially officers for the Yangzhou Army in the future. They were Lu Su’s fellow soldiers. However, Lu Su had no choice but to kill them.

“Brother?” Yang Chen hesitated a little. Hearing the scout’s words, these people were all going to be part of Yangzhou. Should they have just killed them like this?

“We kill them to prevent more sacrifices in the future. Attack!” Lu Su said coldly.

“Yes!” Yang Chen gritted his teeth and started to act alongside the hundred people behind him.

“An enemy attack? Gou Zi! Quickly go and tell General Lu Meng that there is an enemy!” The leader of the scouts roared out.

“Leader. What about you?” The man named Gou Zi asked back.

“We will guard your back! Go! Quickly!” The leader shouted.

“Oh!” The man named Gou Zi quickly ran towards Lu Meng’s camp.

“You cannot escape!” Lu Su shook his head and took out a bow before aiming at Gou Zi.

“Damn it! I cannot let you harm Gou Zi!” The leader of the scouts shouted. He was already covered in blood and the subordinates around him were all bleeding out on the floor. Gou Zi was their hope. As long as Gou Zi brought the message back, their deaths would not be in vain. That was why the leader of the scouts charged towards Lu Su the moment he saw Lu Su aim at Gou Zi.

“Protect the general!” The leader of the scouts was quickly overwhelmed. However, he managed to prevent Lu Su from killing Gou Zi.

“Ah! Why bother!” Lu Su shook his head. “Yang Chen. Give the order for the whole army to attack!”

“Yes!” Yang Chen nodded. “Brothers! We attack now! With me!” Thre thousand men then majestically charged towards Lu Meng’s camp, following right behind Gou Zi.

“Quick! Close the camp’s gates! The enemy is here!” Gou Zi ran into the camp and shouted.

“An enemy attack?” The other soldiers became alert. They wanted to sound the alarm but it was already too late. The three thousand men from the rebel army was already in front of them. Due to repeated battles, the guards were pathetic. They were supposed to rest so that they could fight at full energy the next day. The sneak attack here caught them unprepared.

The five hundred elites led the way, followed by two thousand five hundred regular troops.

As Lu Su said, these inferior troops were good if the situation was advantageous and useless when the situation was disadvantageous.

“Enemy attack!” When Lu Meng heard the vibration, he became alarmed. Such large movements could not be hidden. During war, Lu Meng slept with his armor on. As a result, his response was fast.

“What happened?” Lu Meng furrowed his brows and asked one of his guards.

“General! The enemies are inside the camp right now! They attacked while it was dark!” The bodyguard explained.

“What? Say that again!” Lu Meng asked as he grabbed onto the guard.

“General! The enemy is here!” The guard replied feeling terrified.

“Impossible!” Lu Meng could not believe it at first since he knew that the opponent was Zuo Li. Zuo Li was an old and conservative man. He could guard a city but it was impossible for him to launch a night raid. He was not a person who could do such schemes. Meanwhile, Zuo Li’s son Zuo Jie was completely ignored. That person was absolutely useless.

“Did the South Gate change commanders?” Lu Meng could only think to himself. “What about the scouts? Why did they only sound the alarm after the enemy approached?” Lu Meng continued to ask.

“The scouts were ambushed!” The guard replied mournfully.

“Useless!” Lu Meng shouted before taking his sword out to fight. The camp was already in flames. As it was a sneak attack at night, Lu Su’s men was able to fight at full strength.

Lu Meng cut down two in a single swing. After a while, he realized that the enemy was just a disorderly band. For such people to manage to launch a sneak attack on his camp was just a joke. His own men were caught unprepared and did not count the number of enemies. So they already started to get fall back and show their backs to the enemy. It would be weird if they did not lose.

“Stand your ground!” Lu Meng shouted loudly but it was no use. He looked around and saw a large banner in his camp.

“Men! Follow me!” Lu Meng threw away his sword and carried the banner to use as a weapon. “Soldiers of Jiangdong! Do not panic! Follow me and kill the enemy!” Lu Meng’s shout earlier was of no use because his voice could not overpower the sound of killing. However, now that he had a banner, he was able to rouse his men.

“Look at that banner over there! General Lu Meng is here!” Some people saw Lu Meng while others could only see the banner. They then started to fight their way to the banner.

Meanwhile, Zuo Jie who had been waiting was about to fall asleep when one of his subordinates shouted. “They have started to fight!”

Zuo Jie cursed as he woke up. His mood was bad as his sleep was interrupted and he slapped his visitor.

The subordinate felt wronged. “Young Master. You told me to call you when they start fighting!”

Only then did Zuo Jie see that Sun Ce’s camp was in flames.

“Brother! This Lu Meng is truly heroic!” Yang Chen said as he watched the battle. Lu Meng had managed get the troops to regroup and launch a counterattack.

“Lu Meng? Haha. This person’s talent is no less than mine.” Lu Su nodded. He knew of Lu Su’s ability. When Lu Su still worked under Sun Quan, he wanted Sun Quan to subdue Lu Meng first before attacking. However, Sun Quan refused to listen. Though Lu Meng had lost to Zhang Liao, Zhang Liao was a seasoned general who had been fighting the foreigners in the North. Zhang Liao had plenty of experience. Despite that, Lu Meng was able to persist for quite some time. This showed Lu Meng’s talent.

“Today, the Jiangdong Army must have lost a few thousand soldiers.” Yang Chen said to Lu Su. The Jiangdong Army was caught unprepared and quickly loss several hundred soldiers. If they add in the casualties caused by the flames and trampling, the number of casualties would hit a thousand.

“Brother. They would be Yangzhou’s men in the future. Is what we are doing…?” Yang Chen could not bear it. It would be one matter if the night raid caused a few deaths. However, the number of casualties here was almost three thousand.

“Haha. If we don’t do this much, will Zuo Jie take the bait?” Lu Su also felt his heart ache as Jiangdong had already surrendered to Yangzhou. However, Lu Su had no choice if he wanted Zuo Jie’s trust.

“Report! We caught a spy!” One scout reported while Lu Su and Yang Chen were watching the battle.

“A spy?” Lu Su was skeptical. They were here to launch a night raid. How could there be a spy?

Once the man was brought over, Lu Su realized that this was the scout that went to urinate.”

“Don’t kill me! I will tell you everything you want to know! Don’t kill me!” The man panicked. He saw his companions get killed and stayed hidden in the bush. He wouldn’t have been caught if it was not because of the smell.

“Hmph! Trash!” Yang Chen said with disdain. The previous scouts were all willing to die if it meant bringing news back. However, this guy was not like them. He instead revealed everything he knew. Nobody liked these kinds of traitors.

“Brother. Let’s just kill him!” Yang Chen said to Lu Su. It was better to just kill this traitor. “Men! Take him away!”

“Don’t kill me! Please! I beg you!”

“Wait!” Lu Su stretched one his hand to stop his subordinates.

“Brother. Leaving such a person can only bring harm.” Yang Chen was confused.

“What is your name?” Lu Su asked the lone scout.

“I… I am Gao De.” The scout replied while trembling. Lu Su smelled something foul as he approached and frowned.

“Gao De(High in virtues)? Don’t you mean Que De(Lacking in virtues)?” Yang Chen sneered.

“Yes yes! Just call me Que De!”

“Gao De right? Do you want to live?” Lu Su smiled as he asked the scout.

“I do!” Gao De quickly replied. Who would want to die?

“Do you want a high post and generous salary? Do you want to be promoted and gain wealth?” Lu Su continued to ask.

“No! I don’t!” Gao De shook his head. He believed that Lu Su was just testing him.

“You don’t? Men, drag him away and execute him!” Lu Su immediately turned to his subordinates.

“Don’t! I want! I want to be promoted!” Gao De quickly changed his opinion.

“Now there is an opportunity for you to get promoted and keep your life. Do you want it?” Lu Su asked.

“I do!” Gao De replied after thinking.

“This is a letter. Once we leave, go back to your camp and give it to your general. Then you can get promoted.” Lu Su took out a letter and gave it to the scout.

“Yes! Yes!” Gao De took the letter and kept it as though he would not deliver it to the general.

Give this letter to the General? Gao De was not so stupid. He would not be able to explain being the last surviving scout and now even needed to give the enemy’s letter to his superior officer. If he does that, he would just get himself killed. So, Gao De was determined to burn the letter. As Gao De thought of this, he felt a stare.

“Are you thinking of burning the letter?” Lu Su asked with a smile.

“Yes! I mean no!” Gao De subconsciously nodded before he quickly realized his mistake.

“You better deliver my letter to Lu Meng. Otherwise, I wouldn’t need to kill you. Your general will kill you! Remember my words. My letter will save your life!” Lu Su said to Gao De. “Men, pass down my orders. Sound the retreat!” Lu Su said after seeing that the battle lasted long enough. Lu Meng already got a foothold. If the battle were to continue, they would be at a deadlock. At that time, the sky would turn bright and Lu Su would miss his chance to escape.

“Yes!” Lu Su’s subordinate quickly sounded the retreat and the soldiers started to withdraw.

“Brother. What about this coward?” Yang Chen asked as he looked at Gao De.

“Leave him somewhere near Lu Meng’s camp.”

“Understood!” Yang Chen nodded. “Trash. Come with me!” Yang Chen then said and dragged Gao De with him. Once he was near Lu Meng’s camp, he simply left Gao De there.

Once Lu Su’s army had left and his safety was guaranteed, Gao De stood up and spat. “Hmph! Who do you think you are?” Gao De was arrogant when he was in power. He took out the letter he kept. “I would have died if I was not so quick witted! You want this Grandfather Gao to deliver a letter for you? Keep dreaming!” Gao De said and was about to throw the letter into a fire.

Before he could do that, Lu Su’s army suddenly shouted. “Thank you General Gao De for showing us the way!” Gao De was so surprised he fell down. His face covered in dirt.

Lu Meng may have chased Lu Su’s army away but he was not happy at all. Several thousand of his elites died from this attack while the enemy only loss a few hundred. “Gao De?” Lu Meng heard the name while he was still fidgety.

“Good! We even have a spy showing them the way!” Lu Meng said angrily before asking. “Who is this Gao De?”

“Gao De?” The 1000-men commanders under Lu Meng all stared at each other. None of them had the surname Gao. Not even their subordinates had the surname Gao.

“No one will speak up? Fine! Bring the roster here! I want to see who this Gao De is!” Lu Meng said angrily. He wanted to know Gao De was whose subordinate.

They soon found out that Gao De was a veteran in the Jiangdong Army who had gone through many battles. However, this person was just a small soldier who never got promoted since the start. It was not because this person was weak in combat. However, Gao De knew how to avoid situations where he would die. He was around during the battle at Sanjiangkou. However, he did not get onto Han Dang’s fleet because his stomach ached. He was around during the battle at the Yangtze River. However, he lost his footing and fell into the river. Once he managed to climb ashore, Sun Ce’s army was already in flames. Now he worked as a scout and was about to work when he got another stomach ache.

“A scout?” Lu Meng was stunned.

“Report! General! A scout named Gao De wants to meet the General!”

___

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Changshao

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