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With news of reinforcements, the soldiers under Han Xian and Li Le felt a slight easing of their own pressure. Led by their respective minor commanders, they slowly returned to the camp...
Having quarreled with Han Xian just that afternoon, Li Le couldn't bring himself to go ask for clarification immediately. But as night fell, Li Le tossed and turned in his tent, unable to hold back any longer. He took a few personal guards and went to Han Xian's large tent, wanting to get a clear answer.
After walking a distance, he saw Han Xian's tent. Li Le suddenly felt something was off. He stopped and sent a guard ahead to announce his arrival. Unexpectedly, the guard reported at the tent entrance, but for a long while, there was no response...
A chill ran through Li Le's heart. He rushed forward a few steps and threw open the tent flap. Inside, Han Xian's large tent was completely empty, not a soul in sight. Within the tent, only the clumsy tables and mats remained; everything else had been packed up and clearly taken away.
"That motherf---!" Li Le instantly realized: Han Xian had abandoned him, abandoned the main force, and fled!
Although the Lüliang Mountains blocked the path east, there were still some areas that weren't sheer cliffs or extremely treacherous terrain. Small groups could still manage to traverse them. For a dozen or twenty men, even the hardest climb could be crossed in roughly the time it took for one stick of incense to burn. However, if the entire force tried to pass, thousands of soldiers stuck at the base of a cliff, or too many people stepping on a rock that could originally support a person, causing it to give way and tumble down the ravine—then the entire column would be split in two...
Li Le guessed that tomorrow's so-called reinforcements were empty talk, just something Han Xian used to temporarily steady morale. They absolutely weren't coming!
Now, three choices lay before him: One, continue attacking Xiangling here, trying to rally the utterly demoralized troops, hoping to crack Xiangling's hard shell. Two, retreat towards Yong'an, clear away the blocked mountain path barricaded by Fei Qian, and fight a way out through the Yong'an defenders. Three, like Han Xian, abandon the forces he had painstakingly built up over the years, and flee over the Lüliang Mountains with a small number of soldiers...
What to do?
For Li Le to make a decisive choice like Han Xian, fleeing with only a dozen or twenty personal guards—he thought it over and simply couldn't bring himself to give up his accumulated forces. He couldn't do it. But to continue attacking Xiangling to the south, Li Le himself also knew it was an impossible task. He weighed the options left and right, hesitating repeatedly...
Li Le called over one of his personal guards, whispered a few instructions, and the guard departed to carry out the order.
If they were to flee, it had to be now!
Although many couldn't see well at night, if they waited until dawn, the situation would undoubtedly worsen!
Therefore, Li Le decided to immediately have his guards quietly rouse his own troops. He would take his remaining forces to clear the stones blocking the mountain path towards Yong'an. He might not avoid detection by the Yong'an county soldiers, but at least he could try to take as many troops as possible...
Li Le could only console himself this way. If it came to it, he could always follow Han Xian's example and escape over the mountains!
×××××××××××××××
Yong'an County Town.
Inside the county government office, Fei Qian, Huang Cheng, and Zhang Lie, who were discussing strategy, suddenly received intelligence brought by scouts from the north of the city.
"Reinforcements arrive tomorrow!" Fei Qian leaned closer to the lamp, carefully examining the wooden slip delivered by the scout. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled broadly, sharing the good news with Huang Cheng and Zhang Lie present.
Huang Cheng was naturally overjoyed, scratching the back of his head and grinning foolishly, his spirits visibly lifting.
Zhang Lie beside him stood up completely, waving his fists excitedly...
At that moment, all three completely disregarded etiquette and formalities, genuinely happy and excited!
Fei Qian laughed heartily and ordered someone to brew some tea for them to drink, as a form of celebration.
Over these past few days, although capturing Yong'an City counted as a major achievement, they were clearly overstretched at Xiangling City. A lack of troops had become their biggest weakness.
Pingyang City needed troops for rescue; Xiangling City also needed troops. But with only this handful of men on hand, how could they possibly rescue both places simultaneously?
The shortage of troops had become a heavy stone weighing on the hearts of Fei Qian and the others, almost suffocating them. They felt somewhat adrift about the future...
Now, with reinforcements coming, all problems could be solved!
Though it was still nighttime, the three men in the county office felt as if they could already see the dawn's light breaking!
This was something worth celebrating. So when the tea was brewed and served, the three men drank a bowl in lieu of wine...
After drinking the tea, their excitement gradually settled. Zhang Lie couldn't help but ask, "May I ask Lord Fei, how many reinforcements are there, and where are they coming from?"
Fei Qian smiled without answering, clearly in good spirits. Instead of speaking, he took out the written report and passed it for Huang Cheng and Zhang Lie to read.
Back when Fei Qian was adamant about using the forces from Puzi County to take Yong'an City, besides the previously mentioned strategic objectives, there was an additional benefit—
Yong'an County Town was located at the mountain path exit of the Lüliang Mountains, at the foot of Mount Huo. South of the valley pass were the Fen River and the main road along the Lüliang Range. Its position was extremely important; whether one wanted to enter or exit the Lüliang Mountains, or travel south or north, one needed to pass through this county town.
Therefore, Yong'an County Town was also the fastest, shortest route to Xihe Commandery!
The current Grand Administrator of Xihe Commandery was Cui Jun, who was Cui Hou's elder cousin...
Back when Fei Qian set out from Beiqu towards Pingyang, he had Cui Hou, who had just returned to Beiqu, take some men and detour north to Xihe Commandery to seek aid from Cui Jun.
Though Xihe Commandery wasn't as prosperous as Hedong Commandery, it was still a frontier commandery with a significant number of regular border troops.
While Cui Jun had never met Fei Qian, because of the Cui family affair, he felt grateful towards Fei Qian. Before assuming his post, when he was in Jingxiang, Cui Jun had specifically visited Fei Qian and left correspondence.
Later, with the cooperation between the Cui and Cai families in transporting the Cai family's book collection, the relationships between the Cui, Fei, and Cai families grew even closer.
Therefore, upon receiving Cui Hou's plea for aid, Cui Jun didn't hesitate or make excuses. He straightforwardly drew some troops from three counties, forming a regiment, and dispatched a Commandant from Xihe Commandery to lead them south along with Cui Hou.
Four hundred cavalry, two thousand infantry, plus three thousand support troops—they marched from Zishi through Zhongyang, following the Fen River south, and finally arrived north of Yong'an City today...