Looking at Tai'an from the full moon

Although the Cangyan Kingdom often sent people to harass the area near Beiguan, this was the first time that an army was led across the canyon on such a large scale, or it was the first time for Hu Cheng and Pang Hong.

"I've read about previous battles in books before, and I've heard about the Battle of Border Canyon many times. No matter who wins or loses, the casualties are always heavy."

Pang Hong stroked his mustache and carefully observed the situation on both sides of the canyon, fearing that there would be any mistakes. In comparison, Hu Cheng was much more casual, even self-righteous.

"After all, the canyon is like a natural barrier, but who uses this barrier depends on who seizes the opportunity first. Seizing the opportunity first means taking advantage of the time and place, and the harmony of people is not important."

"wrong!"

After hearing this, Pang Hong expressed his disapproval.

"In the Border Canyon Battle 200 years ago, Tai'an occupied the canyon first, but in the end it was our army that won!"

"Huh? Why is that?"

"Because the emperor at that time made plans in advance and sent many spies into Tai'an, and after years of planning, he successfully made the Emperor of Tai'an appoint someone from my Cangyan country as the general of the North Gate. Later, Cangyan pretended to fight with Tai'an to enhance the prestige of that general, and took advantage of his position to insert more people from Cangyan into Tai'an's army. So at that station, Cangyan had the support of the people!"

"So if we do this, will it also be..."

"Difficult! General, do you know how long it took the emperor to plan and win this battle?"

"Ten years? Twenty years?"

Pang Hong shook his head.

"It took a full forty years! And although we won the battle, when our army entered the North Gate, a group of mysterious people assassinated the general who had been undercover for many years. For a time, we were leaderless, and our army did not recruit new generals in time. In the end, we did not occupy even a single inch of Tai'an's territory, and the emperor left with hatred."

"This...forty years of hard work, destroyed in an instant?"

"So even if we win this time, we still have to be extra careful. There must be some mysterious existence inside the North Pass!"

The two chatted about battles in previous years along the way, and occasionally they could see flocks of birds flying in the sky.

"Wait! Something doesn't seem right!"

Pang Hong suddenly pulled the reins to stop the horse, and looked vigilantly at the canyons on both sides. The army behind him also stopped one after another because the military advisor stopped.

"what happened?"

Hu Cheng also pulled the reins, but he couldn't see anything wrong.

"The general is looking at the birds flying over the canyon!"

Hu Cheng looked up.

"What happened to the bird?"

"Eight this time."

"Ah? What happened to the eight?"

"There were nine of them when we first entered the canyon. Including this time, we saw them three times in total. The second time, there were eleven of them, and each time they flew from the same direction."

"So what?"

"If this group of birds lives in this canyon, they must have wandered around again and again. They can't just leave and not come back every time. If they are migratory birds, they should be in a large group. There won't be several groups in a short period of time."

"Military Advisor, do you think that this bird was released artificially?"

"It is very likely that if the enemy has already occupied the canyon, the birds in the canyon must have been frightened and flew away. In order to prevent us from suspecting anything, they deliberately released these birds to confuse us, so we must evacuate this place now!"

"But we are already halfway there. Wouldn't it be too time-consuming to evacuate now? Are you sure the enemy is lying in ambush here? Then why haven't they shown up to surround us yet?"

"I just used my common sense to infer that the enemy should have already ambushed them. Even if my inference is wrong, we should not rush in now."

"Why don't we send a scout to explore the way first? Time is very tight. If we retreat now and come back later, it will take us half a day. It's better to let the brothers rest here first."

"General..."

Pang Hong was speechless. Wasn’t it too dangerous to rest here?

"Look, we have been standing here for so long without any problems, which means they definitely didn't ambush here."

Pang Hong was also somewhat shaken by Hu Cheng's words. It really took them an hour to walk from the entrance to the middle of the canyon. He turned his head to look at the soldiers behind him, and each of them looked exhausted.

"Okay, let's do as the general says. But we can't let our guard down now. Stay alert and send people to survey the surrounding situation. If there is no problem, we can rest here and send scouts to explore the way."

"Okay! Then we must listen to the military advisor!"

Hu Cheng called a few soldiers.

"Did you hear what the military advisor said just now?"

"General, I heard you!"

"Then go investigate quickly, and be careful!"

"Yes!"

Several soldiers dispersed, and Hu Cheng also dismounted and paced back and forth, not forgetting to call Pang Hong.

"You should also get off and have a rest. Riding a horse is really exhausting."

Hu Cheng was not serious, but Pang Hong dared not. He and Hu Cheng were old friends. They knew each other when they were young and Hu Cheng was a little soldier. However, with Pang Hong's intelligence, he must want to assist capable generals. But those capable generals were arrogant and did not listen to him, a young and plain-looking man. At that time, there was a small battle between Cangyan Kingdom and Musi Kingdom. Pang Hong offered his own strategy, but the leading general did not listen at all and insisted on his own way. Pang Hong secretly organized several people to act according to his plan at the risk of being beheaded. But most people did not dare to disobey military orders. In the end, Hu Cheng listened to him and called his brothers to listen to Pang Hong's command. At that time, the leading general was killed in that battle, and Hu Cheng became famous in one battle and was known to everyone.

However, Hu Cheng did not take credit for himself. All the brothers who followed him were promoted, and Pang Hong also became Hu Cheng's military advisor.

Pang Hong once asked Hu Cheng why he trusted him so much at that time. Hu Cheng replied, "Because I felt that my life of mediocrity couldn't get any worse, so I just listened to your advice and maybe I could become successful!"

Hu Cheng also asked Pang Hong, who had no ability and became a general by chance through Pang Hong, why Pang Hong did not leave him and choose another wise leader. Pang Hong's answer was "Because you are the only one who trusts me enough!"

"We've fought together for so many years."

"Yeah, I remember you were still a young guy back then. Your skin looked quite elastic."

"You too, now you have a beard~"

"Time flies. I wish I could go back to my youth."

"Why? What do you want to do when you get back?"

"Let's go back. We won the battle back then. I want you to be the county magistrate, and I will continue to be your military advisor. We don't have to risk our lives for military merit like we do now."

Hu Cheng smiled without saying anything. He walked to Pang Hong and patted him. The two of them were silent for a while.