amaotonovel Chapter 734 Which side are you protecting?
Chapter 734 Which side are you protecting?
Using various bamboo skewer traps that slowed down Tian Yu's pursuit, Sun Lang successfully escaped into Queshan.
Queshan is an extension of the Tongbai and Funiu Mountains. Its terrain is not high and its mountains are not dangerous. It can only temporarily block the cavalry's charge, but cannot get rid of the long-term siege.
Therefore, after entering Queshan, Sun Lang did not dare to linger. After a short rest, he continued his journey, heading straight for Tongbai Mountain.
Unfortunately, his intentions were quickly seen through by Tian Yu. Tian Yu knew that once Sun Lang entered Tongbai Mountain, it would be difficult for him to catch him again. Therefore, he immediately summoned Lin Mahu to inquire about the terrain of Queshan. Then, relying on the speed advantage of the cavalry, he quickly blocked all the passages from Queshan into Tongbai Mountain and Funiu Mountain, determined to trap Sun Lang in Queshan and surround him to death.
Tian Yu's force was, after all, cavalry, while Sun Lang was an infantryman traveling through mountainous terrain, so their speed was naturally no match for Tian Yu's.
Therefore, when Sun Lang arrived at the place where the two mountains met and wanted to enter Tongbai Mountain, he tragically discovered that he could not enter.
Sun Yuan looked at the Wei army's sentry post in the distance and asked, "Brother, what do we do now? Should we attack?"
Sun Lang shook his head and said, "The Wei army has the advantage of terrain, and we don't have siege equipment or climbing equipment, so we can't get through."
Sun Yuan asked worriedly, "Then what should we do? We can't just stay in the mountains, can we?"
“Why not?” Sun Lang said confidently, “Didn’t we store some grain in the mountains before? If we use it sparingly, it should last for at least a month. My superior will definitely receive the news and try to rescue me in such a long time. So let’s stay in Queshan and wait it out with Tian Yu. Let’s see who can outlast whom.”
Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, let alone a seasoned bandit like Sun Lang. During this period, Sun Lang has built more than a dozen strongholds in Queshan, Tongbai Mountain and Funiu Mountain. With the help of Li Gousheng, he has stored up a lot of supplies and will not have to worry about food in the short term.
Therefore, Sun Lang appeared exceptionally calm and leisurely said, "Go back and set up defenses to prevent Tian Yu from attacking the mountain. Also, cut down the trees to clear a safe area to prevent Tian Yu from setting the mountain on fire. Let's move out."
Seeing that he could not escape into Tongbai Mountain, Sun Lang settled down in Queshan.
Meanwhile, Tian Yu was overjoyed to see that Sun Lang was trapped in Queshan, but he also knew that his mere thousand men could not do anything to Sun Lang, who had the advantage of terrain, so he continued to gather troops to besiege Queshan.
He believed that Sun Lang's supplies wouldn't be much, at most a month's worth. He could easily afford to wait a month or so, but could he really afford it?
Three days passed quickly amidst the standoff between the two sides. On the fourth day at noon, Gao Rou arrived with 5,000 troops, which further tightened the siege of Queshan.
While surrounding the area, Tian Yu sent troops to launch an attack, but naturally failed. After all, Sun Lang was entrenched on the mountain, which gave him a commanding advantage, and he had no shortage of defensive tools such as rolling stones and logs. The probability of taking him down by force was not high.
Therefore, Tian Yu chose a delaying tactic, intending to drag the situation out until Sun Lang ran out of supplies and surrendered. Little did he know that it was precisely this wishful thinking of not wanting to suffer casualties that led to his defeat.
At the same time that Gao Rou led his troops to arrive, Li Gousheng, who was far away in Xudu, also received news that Sun Lang was besieged in Queshan. His first thought upon receiving the news was naturally to rescue him, but how to do so became a problem.
After racking his brains, Li Gousheng tragically discovered that trying to resolve the issue through personal connections and favors was completely futile; the only solution was to launch a direct attack.
Therefore, Li Gousheng decisively ordered his teammates in the counties of Runan and Yingchuan to immediately raise troops to attack nearby villages, towns and county seats, and to create turmoil at all costs. Now that the governors of the two counties are besieging Sun Lang in Queshan, it is the perfect time to raise troops and cause trouble.
When the two prefectures and counties are engulfed in flames, let's see which side Tian Yu and Gao Rou will attend to first.
The Han spy network has been operating locally for more than half a year. Each of them can raise a team of at least a hundred people. A hundred people may not seem like much, but when dozens or hundreds of hundreds of people are gathered together, it becomes quite a lot.
With Li Gousheng's order, armies rose up in various counties and townships, robbing the clan elders and gentry's manors and fortresses outside the city. The largest of these was the Hu brothers.
The Hu brothers, named Hu Kun and Hu Lun, were full brothers. They were originally working undercover in Shenyang County. Hu Kun was in charge of interpersonal relationships in the county, while Hu Lun was in charge of propaganda in the countryside. During this time, they stood up for the wronged and helped many people get justice.
However, this also made Hu Lun resentful of the local gentry, who went to the government to report him as a spy for the Han dynasty.
The gentry's report against Hu Lun was originally just a simple act of retaliation, but when the Imperial Academy investigated, they found that the guy was indeed a spy for the Han people, and then the two brothers were arrested.
Fortunately, the county jail was in disrepair, and the two brothers managed to escape by crashing through the wall.
The Hu brothers, who had escaped the county town, grew increasingly angry and were pondering whether to retaliate when Li Gousheng's order arrived.
What else is there to say? The two brothers immediately perked up and, before their injuries had even fully healed, went to various villages to recruit soldiers and horses.
Thanks to Hu Lun's visits and propaganda over the past six months, the villagers in various villages were excited when they learned that they were going to rebel against Wei and return to Han, and follow the example of Jiangnan in fighting local tyrants and distributing land. They all chose to join and quickly gathered eight hundred people.
Then, the Hu brothers, now with troops in hand, set their sights on Shenyang County. The troops in Shenyang had all gone with Tian Yu to besiege Sun Lang and were currently all in Queshan. In other words, Shenyang was now a completely empty city, just like Wuyang, which Sun Lang had robbed. What else was there to say? Let's do it…
After confirming their target, the Hu brothers did not choose to launch a sneak attack. Instead, they swaggered into the county town with their goods during the hottest and most tiring time of the afternoon. Then, they coordinated with the army outside the town and easily captured it.
Then comes a series of familiar procedures, such as robbing the gentry, opening granaries to distribute grain, and writing slogans. Once that's done, they immediately head to the next target.
The same scenario played out in other counties. Within just twenty days, all the counties except for Pingyu, the capital of the prefecture, including Shenyang Ancheng, Langling Yang'an Shangcai, Xihua Ruyang, and Zhengqiang Zhaoling, were attacked to varying degrees. Seven counties were even captured, and all the wealth within the counties was distributed to the people.
At the foot of Mount Queshan, the Wei army camp.
Tian Yu and Gao Rou were leisurely enjoying tea. Gao Rou skillfully blew on the tea leaves and laughed, "It's been twenty days. Counting the time, Sun Lang's food supplies are almost exhausted. We're finally going to catch that bastard. Because of him, I haven't even been able to go to the capital."
Sun Lang's actions have prevented Gao Rou from leaving despite receiving her transfer order, which has fueled Gao Rou's deep resentment towards him.
But when she thought about her contribution in capturing Sun Lang, all of Gao Rou's frustration vanished instantly.
Because Sun Lang was not only a spy for the Han dynasty, but also a bandit leader who attacked Xiangfan with Guan Yu. He was one of the most wanted criminals that the Cao Wei court dreamed of capturing. Capturing him would be enough to offset the loss of Wuyang. So, in a way, he would actually make a profit.
Tian Yu, however, was not as optimistic as him. Instead, he said with concern, "That's true, but for some reason, my right eye is twitching badly today. I feel uneasy, as if something is about to happen. Could something bad have happened again?"
Gao Rou frowned and said, "No way, don't scare me."
Just as they finished speaking, the sound of rapid hoofbeats reached their ears. The two turned their heads and saw several messengers rushing towards them in a panic.
The messenger rushed forward, jumped off his horse, and knelt before Tian Yu, saying, "General, something terrible has happened! Xihua County has been captured by the Han army, and all the supplies in the county have been looted..."
"what?"
Tian Yu and Gao Rou stood up in surprise, and before they could come to their senses, another team of messengers rushed over.
"General, something terrible has happened! The Han army has captured Zhaoling County..."