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 f.o.o.king 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 n.o.bles … d.a.m.n 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 w.a.n.g 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 w.a.n.g 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 n.o.ble status would be only in name .
"I"ll take all of my men and reclaim my city at once!" w.a.n.g 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 …" w.a.n.g 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 w.a.n.g 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!"
w.a.n.g Yun gazed at the Emperor in confusion .
"Dong Zhuo backstabbed us . He sieged Henei city and cut our supply line!" Liu Ping pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed his Imperial Seal and the royalty"s golden sword to w.a.n.g 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, w.a.n.g Yun was elated . He bowed and swore that he would meet Liu Ping expectation before he left .
w.a.n.g Kuang and Zhang Yang took 100,000 men back, and w.a.n.g 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 b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s nine generations!"
…
…
October 20th .
Shangdang City .
The ma.s.sive army of Liu Ping left along with all soldiers from n.o.bles 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 n.o.bles and Zhang Yang took their private soldiers away with them .
Because of Liu Ping and his crusade, these n.o.bles 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 pa.s.s .
Everything changed today .
…
An army of ten thousand men with the flags of "w.a.n.g" 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 w.a.n.g Kuang"s men .
Zhang He and Ju Shou led this army into the inner city without anyone stopping them .
While they were pa.s.sing 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 "w.a.n.g" 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 "w.a.n.g . " 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-b.a.s.t.a.r.d! 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 .