amaotonovel Chapter 265 No mistakes allowed, life is the most important thing.
Chapter 265 No mistakes allowed, life is the most important thing.
Upon receiving Guan Xing's order, Shen Yi immediately led his troops across the Gu River to Yuhan, attempting to arrive and occupy Yuhan before the Wu army, keeping the Wu army outside the corridor, and then slowly retreating and blocking them layer by layer.
However, Shen Yi was also afraid that Wu Jun would enter the corridor first and set up an ambush for him, so he sent out scouts to find out Wu Jun's movements in advance during the march to prevent accidentally stepping into Wu Jun's ambush.
After three days of trekking, Shen Yi successfully crossed Yushan County and entered Yiyang County. He is now less than 30 li away from the scout camp led by Li Gousheng and is still advancing.
As darkness approached, Shen Yi walked along, pondering where to camp and rest for the night. Suddenly, a commotion arose ahead, and someone shouted in the chaos, "Commander Li of the Scout Battalion is back! Many of them are wounded."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yi's expression changed slightly. He exchanged a glance with Deng Hongning and Huan and hurriedly shouted, "Tell Li Gousheng to come see me immediately."
Soon, Li Gousheng dragged Li Gouyan to Shen Yi and bowed, saying, "Commander Ning, General Deng, General Shen, this is my brother Li Gouyan. I never expected him to be a scout under Xu Sheng. We just bumped into each other and I almost killed him with one stroke."
After saying that, he kicked Li Gouyan and cursed, "You just answer whatever the generals ask, do you hear me?"
Li Gouyan had been beaten by his older brother a lot since he was a child, and he shrank back in fear, saying aggrievedly, "I know, brother."
Shen Yi, Deng Hong, and the other two were all taken aback. They were able to reunite as brothers on the battlefield. The two of you were quite destined for each other.
Shen Yi had also done ideological work with surrendered soldiers. Upon hearing this, he did not immediately ask questions but instead rebuked Li Gousheng, saying, "Li Gousheng, who told you to beat and scold surrendered soldiers? Have you forgotten the discipline of the Han army?"
"Go back and copy the military discipline three times tonight. You're not allowed to sleep until you finish copying it."
Li Gousheng: "..."
I hit my brother. What kind of surrendered soldier is he? Why are you meddling in our family affairs?
Li Gousheng dared not object and reluctantly agreed, but Li Gouyan almost burst out laughing. Copying military discipline is just writing, right? His brother can't read a single word, how can he copy it?
Shen Yi then turned his gaze to Li Gouyan, and gently comforted him with a smile: "Li Gouyan, right? When you return to the Han Army, treat it as if you're back home. Say whatever you want without any worries. If your brother hits you again, just tell me, and I'll stand up for you."
Upon hearing this, Li Gouyan nodded happily, but when he saw Li Gousheng glaring at him, he quickly suppressed his smile and subconsciously turned to the side to distance himself from Li Gousheng.
Shen Yi then asked, "Can you tell me how many people you have, and who is leading the army?"
Li Gouyan hesitated. As a scout for Wu's army, he had some basic principles as a soldier and was reluctant to betray military secrets and become a traitor.
Li Gousheng was so angry at his whining that he wanted to hit him, but remembering military discipline, he had no choice but to hold back and gently persuade him: "Gouyan, now you're the only one in our family without any land. Don't come begging me when your wife doesn't support you when you go home in the future."
“Uh…” Li Gouyan was stunned. He never dreamed that he would go from being the pillar of his family to a freeloader after only a few days away from home.
If he really went home, would he still have any dignity in front of his wife and children who controlled the land?
Thinking of the consequences of not being able to stand up straight at home, Li Gouyan hurriedly asked, "Can I still get land if I say so?"
His so-called bottom line for soldiers is worth only the money of two acres of land.
Shen Yi nodded and said, "Of course, if you don't want to follow your brother, you can take my letter home to your village head tomorrow morning. The village head will allocate land to you, but the land has already been allocated almost completely, and there's definitely no good land left. If it's any later, even if your village head wants to allocate land, there probably won't be any left for you."
Li Gouyan, who grew up in the village, knew his own situation well and was quite clear about how much land his village had. Upon hearing this, he quickly said, "I separated from the main force yesterday and followed General Xu Sheng to Yuhan. This morning, Generals Xu Sheng and Lü Ju led us out of the city, saying that we should occupy the corridor in advance and block the Han army at the exit of the corridor. Our scouts' mission is to explore the mountains on both sides to prevent the Han army from ambushing us on the mountains."
Shen Yi frowned and asked, "Is Lü Ju the son of General Lü Fan, the Deputy Commandant Lü Ju?"
Li Gouyan nodded hurriedly, and Shen Yi asked again, "How many men did Xu Sheng bring, and how far away are they from Lu Xun's main force?"
Li Gouyan was a scout. Scouts all have certain professional skills and are relatively sensitive to things like speed, distance, and terrain. Upon hearing this, he answered without thinking, "General Xu Sheng probably brought five or six thousand men, and left some for Yu Han. The number of those who entered the corridor with us is at most five thousand."
"Furthermore, after General Xu separated from the main force yesterday, he led us about 150 li before reaching Yuhan. We didn't bring any supplies, so we were able to travel faster. For the main force, it would take about two and a half days to travel 150 li. That means that Grand Commander Lu is still at least two days away from here."
Shen Yi smiled with satisfaction: "Thank you, Gousheng. Take your brother to eat and rest. We'll decide whether to stay or leave after he wakes up."
After seeing the two brothers off, Shen Yi summoned Deng Hong and Ning Huan and said, "This place is still eighty or ninety miles away from Yu Han, occupying one-fifth of the corridor. Xu Sheng only has five thousand men and is unprepared since he just arrived. So, shall we fight or not?"
Xu Sheng's occupation of the 90-mile corridor meant that the Han army lost 90 miles of strategic depth, which greatly displeased Shen Yi.
Deng Hong was also very unhappy and said angrily, "Of course we have to fight! We have 15,000 men, three times the strength of Xu Sheng's forces. How can we avoid battle?"
Ning Huan calmly replied, "That's true, but the corridor is only so wide. The passage is narrow, so the army can't be deployed in large numbers. Only a small number of troops can be deployed at a time. More people are useless."
"Furthermore, Xu Sheng is a renowned fierce general with many years of experience in battle, while the Wu army has just arrived and is in high spirits. If we rashly confront them head-on, we are likely to suffer losses. If we are forced to retreat, it will be a bad deal."
"Therefore, my suggestion is to play it safe and abandon Yu Han as General Guan instructed. We should dig pits and set traps here and slowly retreat, using the traps to put pressure on the Wu army and wear down their morale."
This is the safest way, but...
Shen Yi frowned and said, "Our goal is to wear down Lu Xun's morale, but Li Gousheng's brother just said that Lu Xun's main force will not arrive for another two days. That means Lu Xun will not see the trap for another two days. Isn't that a waste of two days?"
"Besides, Xu Sheng only has five thousand men in front of us. If we don't dare to fight, I'm afraid it will affect our morale."
A cowardly soldier is a cowardly individual, and a cowardly general leads to a cowardly army. If you dare not fight when the enemy is only one-third of its strength, what will your soldiers think of you?
When your soldiers think you, the commander, are too cowardly, do you think you can still command a large army?
Deng Hong added, "Moreover, Ning Huan and I are going to infiltrate behind Wu's army. The entrance we originally agreed on to enter the mountains is Guixi, which is located west of Yiyang, behind Xu Sheng. It's still forty or fifty li away from here. How can I get in without driving Xu Sheng back?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Yi's heart began to tip in favor of attacking, but he didn't rush to speak and instead looked at Ning Huan.
Ning Huan said, "There are many entrances into the mountains, but while we're considering whether to attack or not, shouldn't we also consider Xu Sheng's thoughts? Xu Sheng might be thinking about how to launch a night raid on our camp right now. If we only think about attacking and not about defending, what if Xu Sheng succeeds in a sneak attack? Wouldn't we be in a bind?"
He was the commander of the scout battalion. When scouts went out to explore, their primary responsibility was to ensure safety; they couldn't do anything risky.
Because scouts need to send the information back to the rear while gathering it. If you only focus on gathering information without considering your own safety, and you get discovered and killed by the enemy as soon as you get the intelligence, wouldn't that be a waste of your efforts?
Scouts often venture deep behind enemy lines, and any small mistake could cost them their lives. Death itself is not the problem, but if you are killed before you can send the hard-won information back to the rear, wouldn't that be a pointless death?
Therefore, Ning Huan is becoming increasingly cautious, preferring not to achieve anything rather than make a mistake, as his life is the most important thing.