The former Minister of War of the Great Gan Dynasty, Du Gu Yun Cheng, whose highest official post was Grand Tutor, fled to Jiao Zhou after the Du Gu family fell out with Xiao Qing, and was definitively branded a traitor by the Great Gan Dynasty.
Now, Du Gu Yun Cheng was disheveled, completely lacking his former arrogance, and could only force a smile.
If it had been anyone else from the Du Gu family, Su Wen Cheng would have offered him up as a sacrifice long ago.
As soon as Su Wen Cheng finished speaking, Du Gu Yun Cheng felt hostility from all directions.
The soldiers of Great Liang cast furious glances at him, as if they wished they could devour him alive.
This man from Great Gan was the culprit!
Du Gu Yun Cheng forced himself to remain calm and said loudly, "If killing me can stabilize the morale, the Marshal is welcome to do so. I will have no regrets!"
Su Wen Cheng said coldly, "This Marshal is well aware that you could not possibly have colluded with the Great Gan Dynasty. It is only that Han Zhong Yun was too cunning and did not know what was good for him!"
Only then did Du Gu Yun Cheng breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly approached Su Wen Cheng and whispered, "Marshal, the enemy's harassment and obstruction have caused our army's morale to become even more unsettled. With such slow progress, our military provisions will eventually run out."
"Must this Marshal abandon them and flee back to his own unit?" Su Wen Cheng asked angrily.
Du Gu Yun Cheng quickly reminded him, "Does the Marshal know about Cao Cao's incident of killing the grain officer?"
"How could I not know?" Su Wen Cheng retorted.
Du Gu Yun Cheng then said, "We need to emulate Cao Cao's actions now. Find a few Great Liang soldiers who harbor the deepest resentment and publicly execute them on charges of embezzling military provisions and colluding with the enemy, to strike fear into the hearts of the army!"
Su Wen Cheng's eyes lit up. He looked around at the distant Great Liang soldiers and asked, "Whom can we execute?"
"Send someone to investigate within the army. Whoever complains the loudest, then..." Du Gu Yun Cheng's eyes sharpened, and he made a beheading gesture with his right hand.
"That is also reasonable. Perhaps there are spies from the Great Gan Dynasty within the army," Su Wen Cheng smiled.
Taking advantage of the rest period, Su Wen Cheng sent his personal guards from the Hui Chun Sect to infiltrate the army and gather information.
A moment later, the personal guard reported, "Sect Master, there is almost universal discontent. We have no idea who harbors the deepest resentment..."
Su Wen Cheng's eyes turned fierce, "Then arrest some officers of status!"
As Su Wen Cheng's order was passed down, three hundred personal guards from the Hui Chun Sect immediately rushed into the rear army and apprehended three colonels.
"These three colluded with the enemy and embezzled military provisions for their own enrichment. Their crimes are unforgivable!"
As Su Wen Cheng pronounced his verdict, the three had their heads severed before they could even defend themselves.
Except for Su Wen Cheng and his faction, the entire Great Liang army was shocked into silence, enduring it in fear!
"Indeed, the morale has been stabilized. Liang Xiao probably never imagined that this Marshal would be able to use his methods!" After understanding the situation in the army, Su Wen Cheng could not help but laugh heartily.
Du Gu Yun Cheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and reminded him, "While this opportunity lasts, we should march quickly back to our base to avoid any further complications!"
"Lord Du Gu is absolutely correct!" The people from the Hui Chun Sect all agreed.
They could already feel the gazes of the soldiers around them. This feeling of being angry but unable to speak made them even more uneasy, and they could only choose to ignore it.
The Great Liang army resumed its march, with Su Wen Cheng merely hoping to return to camp as soon as possible and end this nightmare.
Meanwhile, the Jiao Zhou allied forces outside of Lu Zhou city quickly realized that Liang Xiao intended to sever their communication with the Great Liang army. They immediately dispatched troops to attack Zhuo Ying's camp.
Zhuo Ying personally commanded the combined forces of Zhong Zhou and Lu Zhou, totaling forty thousand men, who held the mountain pass and occupied the water source. A large number of Great Gan bows and a small number of longbows were prepared for battle.
"Your Highness! The enemy's new type of arrows is not weaker than longbows, but it is definitely not longbows!"
King Nan, Xiao Chang, and others were greatly astonished upon hearing the news. "What new type of longbow?"
They had already noticed the astonishing power of the arrows from Jiangnan and had assumed they were fired by longbows. Because the soldiers in Jiangnan were defending the city, shooting from high ground with the protection of the city walls, the Jiao Zhou allied forces could not clearly discern the model and quantity of the Great Gan bows.
Furthermore, the ten thousand Tian Ri cavalry, who had been annihilated, had failed to accurately describe the appearance of the Great Gan bows.
Today, they finally discovered the problem.
"Are we being led by the nose by Liang Xiao, focusing solely on developing longbows?" Xiao Che trembled with rage.
The people of Jiao Zhou were speechless.
The longbows of the Great Gan Dynasty were truly astonishing in their power, and various countries had rushed to emulate them. Yew wood was reserved as material for longbows.
Besides yew wood, they also attempted to use other types of wood as substitutes, but the results were unsatisfactory, although still勉强 usable, at least shooting further than the original bows and arrows.
For this reason, Jiao Zhou was mass-producing longbows...
And Great Gan was secretly manufacturing new types of arrows?
At this moment, they finally understood that Jiao Zhou had inadvertently fallen into a military arms race trap.
As the southernmost region of Great Gan, Jiao Zhou had been outside of central control since the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The Xiao family of Jiao Zhou were the true rulers of Jiao Zhou, later joined by the royal family of Nan Wang.
To enter the Central Plains, Jiao Zhou had accumulated wealth for a century, formed the Ri Yue Army, and funded the Hui Chun Sect...
The formation of these hundreds of thousands of troops and the large-scale purchase of military provisions consumed most of their wealth, yet they had still failed to conquer the heartland of Jiangnan.
Gongsun Ye in front, Zhuo Ying behind.
And now, even Liang Xiao had arrived!
And they, at this point, had no time to replicate the new type of arrows from the Great Gan Dynasty.
Alexander stood up abruptly, "The more you fear this person, the more I must capture and kill him, otherwise the Holy Cult will never have hope of returning to Great Gan!"
Everyone's dejection vanished, replaced by hatred for Liang Xiao. They rose with a surge, "Concentrate our forces and break through the mountain pass!"
The twelve thousand strong Jiao Zhou allied forces, carrying crossbows and imitations of longbows, charged towards the mountain pass east of Lu Zhou.
Even the Tian Ri cavalry was dispatched in full force.
Zhuo Ying's troops were under immense pressure, but with the combined volley of Great Gan bows and longbows, the Jiao Zhou allied forces could not get close for the time being.
"The enemy is wasting their arrows so recklessly. Their arrows will eventually run out. Accelerate your attack for this King!"
Xiao Che's face was contorted with madness, bordering on hysteria.
If they didn't capture Jiangnan soon, and with Great Gan's large-scale autumn harvest this year, their march into the Central Plains would be greatly delayed!
Liang Xiao, who was waiting in Lu Zhou city, also received news of the enemy's large-scale mobilization. He ordered Liu Feng and others to defend the city, and personally led the Zhong Zhou troops from the north of the city to the battlefield.
Ten thousand Zhong Zhou troops were all dispatched to Lu Zhou. Four thousand of them were sent by Liang Xiao to the west to reinforce Yuzhang.
Of the remaining sixty thousand, one thousand Zhong Zhou cavalry were led by Yue Yun to pursue the Great Liang army, two thousand were with Zhuo Ying to defend the mountain pass, and the remaining three thousand Zhong Zhou soldiers and one thousand Lu Zhou soldiers, accompanied Liang Xiao out of the city to provide support.
The two sides engaged in the first large-scale field battle in the mountain pass east of Lu Zhou.
The Jiao Zhou allied forces had already left over two thousand casualties under the combined volley of Great Gan bows and longbows.
"The inspectors are to attack fiercely! Can this mountain pass really be as impregnable as Lu Zhou city?"
The Prince of Brocade robes was in charge of commanding this battle. After obtaining the consent of Alexander, Xiao Chang, and others, he angrily issued the order.
Just as the Jiao Zhou allied forces were preparing to launch a fierce assault, a flying report arrived from afar, "Another enemy force is approaching from the north, flying the banner of the Great Gan An Guo Hou!"