amaotonovel Chapter 739 Li Gousheng Saves Sun Lang Again
Chapter 739 Li Gousheng Saves Sun Lang Again
When Sun Lang realized that Tian Yu neither attacked nor left, but instead clung to him like a leech, he knew he was in big trouble.
However, there is no other way. If we don't get rid of Tian Yu and instead go directly to attack Pingyu, Tian Yu will definitely intercept us on the way or launch a surprise attack when we are besieging the city. So if we want to attack Pingyu or other cities and conquer territories safely, we can only deal with Tian Yu as a threat first.
Unfortunately, Tian Yu was too cunning and took precautions in advance, which put Sun Lang in a dilemma.
More importantly, Xiahou Chong is in Dingying and will probably arrive by dawn. Once Xiahou Chong arrives, Sun Lang will be completely finished. What should we do?
Sun Lang's mind raced. After a moment's thought, he decisively decided to retreat south. With Xiahou Chong there, Yingchuan County was definitely out of the question, so he could only retreat south to Jiangxia.
Sun Lang summoned his generals for a discussion and immediately ordered the troops to adjust their deployment. He instructed them to escort the grain carts to the middle of the column, and send the spearmen and archers to the front to retreat slowly. If Tian Yu did not attack, they were to continue retreating; if he did attack, they were to fire arrows at him. Tian Yu only had so many men; let's see if he could wear them down.
In addition, Sun Lang also assigned 1,000 elite troops to Hu Kun to form a mobile team, ready to launch a surprise attack at any time. A prolonged defense will inevitably lead to defeat; defense must be combined with offense to be perfect.
After doing all this, Sun Lang sent three more people to act as messengers, who secretly left the group under the cover of night and headed to Jiangxia to contact their brothers in Jiangxia to prepare for their rescue.
Under Sun Lang's command, the army began to retreat in an orderly manner, at a speed comparable to that of a tortoise.
Seeing that the Han army's deployment was perfect and there was no chance for a sneak attack, Tian Yu was unwilling to give up and followed from a distance. Steel cannot last forever. He did not believe that the Han army could maintain such a high state of vigilance for too long. After a while, they would inevitably relax, and that would be his opportunity.
This is exactly how the nomadic tribes of the grasslands robbed Han Chinese caravans: they would harass them from time to time as they traveled, exhausting them before finally reaping their spoils. This tactic never failed them.
Moreover, Tian Yu has Xiahou Chong as a strong ally. Once Xiahou Chong arrives, he will be completely free.
The question is whether Xiahou Chong will arrive on time.
On his way back to Xuchang, Li Gousheng passed through Dingying and was stunned when he saw Xiahou Chong. Knowing that Xiahou Chong was after Sun Lang, he immediately sent someone to deliver a message to Sun Lang.
However, Li Gousheng knew that simply sending a message was not enough. Xiahou Chong was leading cavalry, and if they were to meet up with Tian Yu on time, Sun Lang would be in trouble. Therefore, he had to find a way to delay Xiahou Chong.
However, the Han army in Dingying had all gone to join Sun Lang. Li Gousheng had no one else to use except for the few hundred men who had gone with him to Queshan to rescue Sun Lang. Moreover, these few hundred men had already met Xiahou Chong as caravan guards. If they were captured or killed in battle, he would be exposed immediately. What should he do?
Li Gousheng was worried about being exposed, so he didn't dare to send anyone to ambush Xiahou Chong. After thinking it over, he had no choice but to send half of his troops to secretly leave the county town and plant bamboo sticks on the road that Xiahou Chong and Tian Yu would have to meet.
There were many wheat fields along the way, and the wheat had all been harvested, but the land had not yet been plowed. The fields were full of stubble of varying heights, and it was difficult to spot bamboo skewers stuck in the stubble even during the day, let alone at night.
Xiahou Chong was unaware of the trap ahead. Upon receiving Tian Yu's battle report, he immediately set out with his troops. However, as they traveled, many fell into the trap, forcing him to slow down.
Inserting bamboo skewers into the wheat field was a huge undertaking, requiring a large workforce. Li Gousheng only sent about a hundred men, making it impossible for them to complete this arduous task in a short time. The bamboo skewers were sparsely inserted, far from enough to slow down the army's advance. But the problem was that Xiahou Chong didn't know this.
He wouldn't care if only one or two people got infected, but the fact that people were getting infected from time to time made him uneasy.
Xiahou Chong, mounted on his horse, stared into the darkness ahead, unsure of the density and length of the traps, or whether enemy troops were lying in ambush around them. What if the enemy suddenly attacked while he was advancing and falling into the traps...
The unknown is the most frightening thing, so Xiahou Chong did not dare to run wildly. Instead, he ordered the army to advance slowly while setting up traps. Although this was cautious, it greatly delayed the time for him to meet up with Tian Yu.
At Xiahou Chong's current speed, it will take at least a day longer for him to reach Tian Yu's side.
This was Li Gousheng's plan. He could only buy Sun Lang one day, which was a huge risk. If Xiahou Chong investigated afterwards, he would most likely be exposed.
Meanwhile, Sun Lang led his troops in a cautious retreat. By daybreak, he had not seen Xiahou Chong and knew that Li Gousheng had used his power against him. He felt much calmer at that moment.
In contrast, Tian Yu had a completely different feeling. He was getting annoyed when Xiahou Chong was late. Couldn't these second-generation members of the Xiahou family be a little more reliable? Didn't they know that time was of the essence?
He cursed as much as he wanted, but there was nothing he could do since the man hadn't arrived. So he continued to keep an eye on Sun Lang while sending people to urge Xiahou Chong to come.
Unfortunately, it won't last long, because Sun Lang has retreated to the banks of the Ru River.
The Ru River flows through Jia County, Xiangcheng, Wuyang, Xiping, Shangcai, Runan, Pingyu, Xincai and other counties, and finally flows into the Huai River. It is the second largest tributary of the Huai River and is far superior to ordinary rivers. Once it crosses the river, Tianyu's cavalry will be rendered useless.
Unfortunately, Tian Yu was also wary of Sun Lang crossing the river. While sticking close to Sun Lang, he sent a small group of cavalry ahead to destroy the wooden bridge and all the boats that could be found nearby.
Sun Lang's army still had supplies, and without a wooden bridge, how would he cross the river? If he couldn't cross, he would have to stay on the riverbank until Xiahou Chong arrived, and Sun Lang would still be finished.
So, Tian Yu, who had driven Sun Lang to the riverbank, wore a confident smile.
Although the riverbank may trigger the "fight to the death" mentality, the prerequisite for such a strategy is that the enemy has to fight you. If you're not going to attack or fight, you can just keep them at bay and see what they do.
Tian Yu was filled with excitement, and Sun Lang, looking at the rushing river, also laughed out loud, saying excitedly, "We've finally reached the riverbank. As long as we cross the river, we'll be safe."
My cousin, Sun Yuan, looked worried and said, "The bridge is destroyed, how are we going to cross the river?"
Sun Lang laughed and said, "You don't understand. Marquis Shence taught us how to build bridges quickly. If we can't build a bridge that can withstand a hundred years of rain, can't we build a shoddy bridge that only lasts three days or even half a day? Besides, although the bridge surface was burned down by Tian Yu, the piers underwater are still there. This saves us so much effort!"
“Li Kuan, Yang’an County, which you are in charge of, is right across the river. You should swim across the river immediately and mobilize the people to cut down trees and build a bridge from the other side. I will build a bridge from this side. We will work on both sides at the same time and try to build the bridge within an hour.”
Li Kuan accepted the order and led his troops, armed with weapons and tools, across the river.
Almost all the people living along the river can swim, and Li Kuan had participated in the Nanzhang River Swimming Competition, so the Ru River posed no challenge for him.
Sun Lang quickly adjusted his formation, arranging his army in a fan shape with the Ru River as the diameter to prevent Tian Yu from launching a surprise attack. Unfortunately, he had no wood and dared not cut down trees in front of Tian Yu, so he couldn't help much with building the bridge. It was mainly up to Li Kuan.
But Sun Lang didn't sit idle either. After setting up the defenses, he immediately ordered the cooking camp to boil water and cook. Everyone had been hungry all night and needed to eat something, otherwise they wouldn't have the strength to continue their journey.
Tian Yu's nose was crooked when he saw the smoke rising from Sun Lang's camp. "You're really taking me for granted."
Although he was angry, there was nothing he could do. Sun Lang's defenses were too perfect, and his forces were too small to launch an attack. He had no choice but to retreat several miles to let his army cook and rest.
The two armies, who had been chasing each other all night, experienced a brief respite.
The main reason was that Tian Yu's view was blocked by Sun Lang's army, so he didn't see Li Kuan who had secretly crossed the river. If he had seen him, he probably wouldn't have been in the mood to eat.