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Chapter 196
Chapter 196 - Shangdang Taken
October 19th.
The march to Jinyang was slow and arduous. They had to trek through valleys, mountain paths, and forest on the mountains. Moreover, the weather was torturing the soldiers. The cold temperature of 0 degrees Celsius and the raining snow hampered the speed of the march.
Contrary to the freezing weather, forest games that Lu Zhi had tricked Liu Ping could be found as they had proceeded further. Wild wolves and bears roamed around these mountains at this time, searching for preys. This month was like the last chance for these animals to stock up food before December when snowstorm or blizzard was frequent in these areas.
To the wolves, a large army of Liu Ping did not intimidate them. Instead, they saw it as a large pack of preys that could be hunted as food. Several large groups of wolves stalked the trail of the troops, waiting for the stragglers to isolate themselves.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Army utilized Lu Zhi's contribution system. They searched and hunted these animals as their extra food as they marched into the wilderness.
Because of the interest of the Imperial troops and the wild predators, they hunted each other. Small battles broke out everywhere as the soldiers proceed to the north.
In the aftermath, Liu Ping Army prevailed in the fight of the fittest. The inexperienced soldiers had baptism from this fight and gained some insight from it, but a dozen reckless soldiers left their lives here forever as they became the food for the beasts.
However, as Liu Ping had suspected, the natural resources were limited. After four days of marching and hunting, they could not find any wild animal.
"That Lu Zhi really tricked me! I'll fOOking kill his entire family!"
Liu Ping was furious once he heard that they could not find any animal in the surrounding areas. He ignored his bootlickers and galloped his horse back to the caravans where Lu Zhi's family members were imprisoned.
Before he could reach the cages of the hostages, an urgent report came from a panic messenger.
"URGENT REPORT! DONG ZHUO HAS BETRAYED US. HENEI CITY HAS FALLEN! THEY HAD TAKEN THE CITY!!"
"WHAT!?"
Liu Ping paused and glared at the messenger. He jumped down from his horse and grabbed the forehead of the panicked messenger and gave a light squeeze.
"Say that again! What has happened!?"
"Y-Y-Your Majesty! Henei City has fallen! Dong Zhuo colluded with the rebels and attacked Henei City!"
Hearing the sudden shocking news, the brain of the young Emperor stopped processing for a whole minute. He had never expected Dong Zhuo to be this gutsy by betraying him at the first opportunity he had.
'What's the point of rebelling against me right now? His political influence is not even solid. By taking over the Capital, he will suffer backlashes from the people and the nobles... Damn it! I forgot about his character!'
Liu Ping also learned about the historical events in the Three Kingdoms Period, and he was meticulous when he was using Dong Zhuo. He deliberately sent this fat tyrant with the two loyalists of the previous Emperor so that Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song could keep Dong Zhuo in check.
Yet, Dong Zhuo still managed to return and bared fangs at Liu Ping.
Liu Ping let go of the messenger, and ordered him, "Summon Wang Kuang and Zhang Yang. I have important tasks for them."
Half hours later after Liu Ping had summoned the men, the two governors showed up before Liu Ping.
"Dong Zhuo has betrayed us and took over Henei City. I think he's trying to isolate us from our supply line from the Capital. I want both of you to dispatch your men and reclaim the city as soon as possible."
The face of Wang Kuang paled as a white sheet. Henei City was under his jurisdiction. If the city fell into the enemy's hand, his position as the governor of Henei would mean nothing, and his noble status would be only in name.
"I'll take all of my men and reclaim my city at once!" Wang Kuang shouted in a panic.
"I'll also go!" Zhang Yang also followed suit.
Both governors were about back to their army as they planned to take all their men to Henei City, However...
"Hold it!" Liu Ping stopped them.
"Your Majesty?"
"Each of you is only allowed to take a week of provisions from the main support unit! Leave the rest of the food with the main army!"
"Your Majesty, but it takes half a month to go back to Henei..." Wang Kuang protested.
"There are still grains inside Shangdang City and the nearby villages! I don't care how you procure your resources. It's your business, not mine! The food in the main support unit is for the main army!"
The two governors sucked in cold air as they regretted following this tyrant Emperor. Most of Liu Ping's current provision was from theirs, but this young dictator stole it and shamelessly claimed it his own.
Feeling helpless, they bowed down and accepted their short-sighted and returned to their men with a sullen expression of their faces.
Meanwhile, Liu Ping was so infuriated that he forgot about Lu Zhi's matter. He rode toward Wang Yun and ordered him.
"You take a few trustworthy men and a battalion. Go back to Luo Yang and protect the Capital from Dong Zhuo!"
Wang Yun gazed at the Emperor in confusion.
"Dong Zhuo backstabbed us. He sieged Henei city and cut our supply line!" Liu Ping passed over the news.
"Wha-!?"
"You're the only one I can trust right now. I've told those greedy governors to reclaim Henei with their army, but the Capital was still vulnerable to the uprising from the within. I want you to return there and take care of our logistic supply lines."
Liu Ping passed his Imperial Seal and the royalty's golden sword to Wang Yun.
"From now on, you'll be my representative during the time I'm away. Go and announce to the public that Diao Chan will be the next Empress once she comes of age."
Hearing he would be the father-in-law for the Emperor, Wang Yun was elated. He bowed and swore that he would meet Liu Ping expectation before he left.
Wang Kuang and Zhang Yang took 100, 000 men back, and Wang Yun took 20, 000 to Luo Yang. Currently, Liu Ping had 130, 000 soldiers with his main army.
"Move out! We want to reach Jinyang in a week! If I find anyone slacking, I'll execute that bastard's nine generations!"
...
...
October 20th.
Shangdang City.
The massive army of Liu Ping left along with all soldiers from nobles and mercenaries, leaving only a thousand garrison militias behind. The city became quiet and tranquil after the army left as it was winter, and most farmers did not have a side-job. The unemployment issues were common in this era.
Unlike the usual military mobilization where Governors usually conscripted peasants to save budgets and military funds, all nobles and Zhang Yang took their private soldiers away with them.
Because of Liu Ping and his crusade, these nobles seized this chance to contribute to the Han Court in this war to gain achievements and promotions. Therefore, they did not like the idea of having peasants in this royal armies, so they did not conscript the militias.
As a result, unemployed farmers and peasants roamed the streets, begging for food. A few lucky peasants managed to store food for the winter. They shut themselves in their home, waiting for the winter to pass.
Everything changed today.
...
An army of ten thousand men with the flags of "Wang" approached the Shangdang from the south of the city. All thousand militias were panicked as they thought they were attacked, and most civil officials ran back to their residents, getting ready to evacuate from the city.
A lone rider rushed from the army while he was waving his white flags.
"Who goes there!? Identify yourself!" The guard captain on the wall shouted.
"Zhang He of Henei! We're the logistic troops from Henei City. We're delivering our food to the Imperial Army on the frontline, but we wish to rest in this city before we continue our journey. Please let us enter!"
"Why haven't I heard about this schedule? Let me see your command token!"
"Is this the one?" Zhang He flashed an engraved token which he stole from Henei government hall. He tossed it to the guard captain on top of the wall.
The guard caught it and examined the token. A dozen brave officials were also there to see the situation and helped the guards checking the token authenticity.
"Yeah, good work! Open the gate!" An official confirmed the token.
The gate opened slowly, but the guards still wield their bows and arrows, getting ready to shoot if necessary.
"Thank you, sir! We shall enter the city peacefully. Please don't shoot at us!" Zhang He shouted at them which made the militia guards taken aback.
"They're probably legit. Look at his manner." The guards gossiped while they were watching the incoming army.
Everything was good as they had expected. The ten thousand men did not show a sign of aggression as they marched into the city peacefully. In addition, they brought supplies, coins, and gold along with them.
The guards on the wall let their guard down as they thought Zhang He and his men were the supply convoys which were parts of Wang Kuang's men.
Zhang He and Ju Shou led this army into the inner city without anyone stopping them.
While they were passing through the city, the soldiers of Zhang He gave food to the beggars and smiled at the citizens, giving them a good impression. The peasants who saw the military parade and their deeds praised them.
The townspeople gazed at these soldiers in admiration. A few scholars and literate merchants looked at the flags of this army to see who the leader was.
Instead of seeing "Wang" character on the flags, they saw the yellow flags of "Zhang" and "Ju."
The guard captains who protected the gate were confused. When they saw this army approaching, the flags were "Wang." However, once they got inside, the flags changed to "Zhang" and "Ju."
Although it was unusual and they felt something was wrong, they did not stop or resist this army since they had not drawn their weapons or shown a sign of aggression. They were merely conscripted militias who accepted this job to leech the government's salary, so they did not care about the politics or who would be their new lord.
"The city is probably taken. But who cares, right?"
"They didn't kill us. That's a good point."
"Yup, I don't think they are bad guys. Just leave this headache to the higher up."
"Yup, yup!"
On the other hand, the officials on the wall sweat bullets as they realized that they had been tricked.
"C-Can you fight them." An official nervously asked the gate captain.
"Nope. We have a thousand men while they have more. Do you think we're stupid? We won't suicide for you lots! Go deal with it yourself."
"B-Bastard! You're fired! All of you are fired! Guards arrest him! Wait, arrest yourselves, all of you!"
The guards were stunned for a moment before they snickered.
"What are you laughing at!?"
"We're laughing at you. You're the one who's fired, idiot!"
The guards proceeded to behead all officials on the wall and hid their corpses to conceal their crimes.
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