Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Just over half a month after the person who was sent to Liangzhou to inquire about the news left, someone from Juyi Village came to report that Du Fei had received an order from Zhang Yan and had returned to the village to mobilize troops. Zhang Mo then hurriedly took Xu Chu back to Taihang.

"What's going on? Why are you bringing people with you again? The work isn't finished yet?"

Du Fei explained, "It's done. This time we captured Lunu County, the seat of Zhongshan State, and gained a considerable amount of wealth. Zhang Yan, not wanting to overdo it, planned to lead his troops back to the mountains. Before they reached Shangai, they were overtaken by the elite cavalry Huangfu Song had left behind in Julu. A fierce battle ensued, and the Black Mountain Army suffered heavy casualties and retreated to Shangai. The officers and soldiers, unwilling to make unnecessary sacrifices, withdrew without intending to attack the city. However, Zhang Yan, enraged by the defeat, wanted to get rid of this elite force, which was like a thorn in his throat, and ordered the troops to return and recruit more."

Du Fei added, "I heard that Zhang Yan suffered losses twice at the hands of this army during his previous attack on Jizhou. I'm afraid this time it won't end well."

"How many of my men suffered casualties?" Zhang Mo asked.

"Not much. We had plenty of food, so we didn't risk our lives. Only about ten of us were killed or injured when Huangfu Song's elite troops caught up with us."

"How many more people do you need to take? He doesn't need us, does he?"

Zhang Yan himself has tens of thousands of soldiers, and there are many large villages nearby. Logically, her small village would not be short of a few people.

"Four hundred," Du Fei said. "Zhang Yan needs troops urgently, and we are close."

He further explained, "Before leaving, Zhang Yan warned the various commanders that if any tribe dared to seize the opportunity to annex our allies, they would be wiped out. Besides us, almost all the other tribes nearby have also come out in full force."

Disappear from the world, not from Taihang. The Black Mountain bandits have gathered a million people, including 200,000 to 300,000 young and strong men. If they really anger this big leader, even if they surrender to the government, he may still send troops to attack. Therefore, without a good place to go, the leaders of all parties dare not attack and annex friendly forces at this time.

Zhang Mo felt relieved and asked about other situations: Shang Ai now has 70,000 bandits gathered, and Huangfu Song has left behind 5,000 elite soldiers. In addition to Qu Yi's 3,000 troops and the soldiers from nearby counties and prefectures that can be mobilized, the total number of officers and soldiers is about 30,000.

Black Mountain had a great advantage in numbers, but after all, they were a collection of troops from various groups, so they definitely could not coordinate their operations. In addition, their weapons and armor were inferior to those of the officers and soldiers, and their combat effectiveness was weak. Zhang Yan planned to launch a surprise attack and let his deputy general Sun Qing lead the reinforcements to ambush near Zhongqiu of Zhao State. He would then lead his men to lure out the officers and soldiers and attack them from both sides.

"Are the elite officers and soldiers commanded by Qu Yi?"

Du Fei nodded.

Zhang Mo frowned. Qu Yi was not an easy guy to deal with. He had defeated Han Fu and Yufuluo, the Chanyu of Southern Xiongnu. After defecting to Yuan Shao, he fought against Gongsun Zan for him and defeated this northern hero several times. Later, because he was too arrogant, he was killed by Yuan Shao, and his subordinates were also annexed.

Although Qu Yi had not yet experienced many battles at this time, he should not be underestimated. Seeing that he could make Zhang Yan, a big bandit, suffer losses repeatedly, it can be seen that he is extraordinary.

Zhang Mo was not worried about Zhang Yan's defeat, but she valued her own troops and was afraid that they would be destroyed by Qu Yi if they were not careful. However, no matter how worried she was, she could not control the outcome of the battle and could only keep an eye on her own nest.

The old nest now has a weapons forging plant and other factories. No matter if it is attacked by bandits or government soldiers, it will be a huge loss. Zhang Mo did not dare to send anyone back to Jinyang to mobilize more people, for fear that the news would leak out and be known by Wang Yun. So he only asked someone to call Zhang Chang and others, so that one more person would mean more strength.

…………

Zhongqiu County of Zhao State is located at the western foot of Taihang Mountain. In recent years, the Black Mountain bandits have been rampant. Most of the county towns in Jizhou adjacent to Taihang have their gates closed. Officers and soldiers will not come out easily without absolute certainty.

Zhang Yan received a report that Sun Qing's 30,000 reinforcements had ambushed in the woods 20 miles outside Zhongqiu, so he led Ai's troops across the border, surrounded Zhongqiu County, and waited for the government troops to come and suppress them.

Zhongqiu was not far from Julu's seat of government, Fentao, separated only by the county town of Bairen. If they took Zhongqiu and Bairen, would Fentao be next? This was a blatant provocation.

After some discussion, Jizhou Deputy Governor Qu Yi and Julu Governor Guo Dian led their 30,000 troops towards Zhongqiu. Naturally wary of Zhang Yan's intention to encircle and attack the reinforcements, they sent scouts throughout the march, but found nothing amiss.

Three days later, when the officers and soldiers arrived outside Zhongqiu, the Black Mountain Army had already captured the small town.

It would certainly be difficult for all 70,000 troops to enter the city. Zhang Yan set up camp not far from the city gate, leaving 60,000 troops outside while the rest went in to plunder. This time, he not only robbed the rich, but also the common people's food, money, cloth, livestock, and even pots and pans.

The officers and soldiers were arguing outside. Seeing that the supplies were almost sorted out, Zhang Yan did not defend the city, but directly took the supplies out of the city to fight.

For a small town like this, the walls are only about two meters high, and the supplies for defending the city are limited. No matter how many people there are, it will be useless. If the government soldiers are allowed to break into the city, it will easily cause panic and collapse.

Nearly 100,000 troops from both armies were waiting outside the city. Everywhere you looked, there were dense crowds of people, stretching as far as the eye could see.

On the Black Mountain Army side, because different commanders held different flags, the army formation was filled with colorful flags covering the sky and the sun.

The war drums sounded, and the armies of both sides began to move. In a moment, they fought together. The dust raised during the charge was several feet high, and the battlefield was covered with gray.

The shouts of soldiers, the clashing of weapons, the rumble of horses' hooves, all kinds of notes mixed together, deafening.

After half a day of fighting, both sides suffered casualties, but judging from the lineup of both sides, the Black Mountain bandits suffered more casualties. Zhang Yan saw that the time was almost right, so he pretended to retreat and deliberately dropped the property he had looted from Zhongqiu along the way, creating the illusion of a hasty escape.

Guo Dian hated this group of Black Mountain bandits deeply. In recent years, except for Zhang Yan's hometown Changshan State, which was less harassed, other places such as Zhongshan, Julu, Zhao State, and Weijun were often targeted by the bandits. Now that he saw the other side fleeing, he led his troops to chase them.

Qu Yi chased after him for a while and saw that most of the things discarded on the road were flags, cloth, quilts, pottery, chickens, pigs and other items, with almost no weapons or armor. He realized that something was wrong and hurriedly sent someone to call Guo Dian back.

Guo Dian's vanguard had already caught up with some of the bandits who had fallen behind, but seeing that the enemy was right in front of them, they were unwilling to turn back.

Unable to call back Guo Dian, and not knowing what kind of ambush was ahead, Qu Yi could not lead his own troops and the elite troops given by Huangfu Song to die. He had no choice but to lead his troops to stop and rest, while sending scouts to check the situation.

About half a day later, scouts reported that there was indeed an ambush ahead. Guo Dian's 20,000 men were surrounded by nearly 100,000 bandits, and suffered heavy casualties.

"One hundred thousand bandit troops?" Qu Yi was slightly surprised.

"Zhang Yan must have returned to his old nest to mobilize troops. Fortunately, we didn't chase him, otherwise we would be surrounded by heavy troops. Even if we broke through, we would definitely suffer heavy casualties." Qu Heng, one of Qu Yi's deputy generals, said sympathetically.

Another deputy general, Qu Shu, nodded in agreement. "Although the enemy army is weak, they have a large number of men and horses. It will be difficult for Lord Guo to break through. Will you come to their rescue?"

"Of course we have to save him..."

Qu Yi frowned slightly, "It's just... we were tricked by the enemy army, and many of our men and horses were killed or wounded. If we don't make some contributions, it will be difficult to explain to our superiors."

He looked towards the endless mountain ranges in the distance, a sinister smile on his handsome yet sinister face. He turned to Qu Shu and said, "Lead the remaining elite troops of the imperial family to rescue Governor Guo. Once the siege is lifted, return. Do not linger in the battle."

Seeing that his master did not personally go to rescue him, Qu Shu could not help but ask, "General, where are you?"

Qu Yi pointed in the direction of Taihang Mountain and said, "I'm going to destroy his den of thieves."

Qu Shu disagreed, saying, "Zhang Yan's lair is near the Hutuo River, and it's a long way to go. If he gets the news and leads his troops back to rescue us, all of our forces will be destroyed."

"Who said I'm going to wipe out Zhang Yan's den of thieves?"

Qu Yi laughed heartily and said, "Zhang Yan must have summoned troops from the nearby villages to ambush us so quickly. The villages along Jingxing Road are now empty, so we can go and wipe out a few bandit dens, earn merit, and plunder some military supplies."