svetikya Chapter 131 Night Raid Unravels the Thieves' Scheme, Leveraging External Forces to Resolve the
Chapter 131 Night Raid Unravels the Thieves' Scheme, Leveraging External Forces to Resolve the
Chapter 131 Night Raid Unravels the Thieves' Scheme, Leveraging External Forces to Resolve the Crisis
After returning, Gu Yu gathered seven or eight people, including Wu Zhuo, Cheng Xu, Shang Ziji, and Xiang Shaolong, to discuss the next course of action.
Wu Zhuo pointed to the map and said, "After entering Wei territory, from here to Dangyin, the Wei people originally set up passes, camps, and beacon towers. But according to our reconnaissance, there is not a single person at these passes."
Cheng Xu said angrily, "It must be that the King of Wei deliberately withdrew his men so that even if we were ambushed by bandits, he could deny everything."
"good!"
Gu Yu nodded.
He then looked at Xiang Shaolong and said with a smile, "Shaolong, you've been staring at the map the whole time. Do you have any ideas?"
Xiang Shaolong hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the map and said, "According to the map, this route is the shortest. Should we take this route?"
"That's right, that's how it's planned."
Xiang Shaolong said, "If that's the case, the bandits will also think of this. If we take this route, we'll have to cross the river. I see on the map that this place is quite open. If the bandits launch an attack while we're crossing the river, there's no natural defense on the river, and the consequences will be unimaginable."
Cheng Xu couldn't help but pat Xiang Shaolong on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to know about the art of war, brother."
"No, no, not at all—"
Xiang Shaolong said modestly.
He had received rigorous military training, so these things were child's play for him.
Gu Yu also wanted to give him a chance to prove himself, so that she could relax a bit in the future and not have to do everything herself.
After some discussion, it was finally decided not to cross the river first, but to travel east along the Huan River, while increasing the number of scouts in order to further ascertain the enemy's whereabouts and deployment.
Moreover, the team's progress was very slow, covering only a dozen or so miles each day.
This completely disrupted the bandits' plans.
Even if they were incredibly foolish, they knew their opponents must already know their plan. They originally intended to wait in comfort and launch a surprise attack while their opponents were crossing the river, catching them completely off guard.
But now, the enemy is not crossing the river, but going with it. If they want to launch a surprise attack, they will have to cross the river. In this way, the advantage has turned into a disadvantage.
Left with no other choice, they had to break camp and proceed.
A few days later, Gu Yu and his group set up camp in a river valley, and a group of guards began to cut down a lot of trees, seemingly preparing to cross the river there.
The bandits were overjoyed and quickly began to deploy their forces along the river.
Three days later, rows of tied-up wooden rafts of all sizes were placed on the riverbank.
The bandits were so focused on the situation on the opposite bank that they didn't realize a mysterious group had quietly slipped behind them.
late at night.
A dozen or so figures quietly crept up to one of the bandits' outermost camps.
This is the bandits' supply camp, with more than thirty tents of various sizes, specifically used to store supplies.
The camp was arranged in a "square formation" with five layers from the inside out. The outermost layer had three large fences, inside which thousands of warhorses were kept.
These bandits had no idea that someone would come to raid them at night. More than ten bandits were sitting together, gambling with great interest.
These dozen or so figures were led by Wu Zhuo and his dozen or so elite men, with Xiang Shaolong also accompanying them.
After all, he also wanted to use his skills to make a contribution.
"superior!"
With a soft shout from Wu Zhuo, several of his men rushed forward like a whirlwind. With swift strokes of their knives, the dozen or so bandits fell one by one into pools of blood before they even had time to warn him.
Soon after, a raging fire broke out in the grain camp, its flames illuminating the night sky.
"Something's wrong! The camp is under attack!"
"Quickly, put out the fire!"
The bandits were thrown into chaos.
At this moment, Wu Zhuo's three hundred men also launched a surprise attack.
First, several volleys of arrows felled a large group of bandits in an instant. Then, they charged out from several directions and began to hack and slash.
At the same time, Gu Yu led more than two hundred men to appear in another direction and took advantage of the chaos to start a massacre.
It turned out that his plan to have everyone build rafts was just a smokescreen; in reality, he had a portion of his men lightly armed to cross the river and coordinate with the troops brought by Wu Zhuo to launch a night raid on the bandit camp.
These bandits were not originally a group, and in the ensuing chaos, they scattered like headless flies.
By the time they finally managed to regain their footing, Gu Yu and the others had already retreated.
This wave wiped out at least a thousand bandits and burned their supply depot, completely disrupting their plans.
Left with no other choice, these bandits could only gather their remaining forces and flee forward, intending to first obtain some food and supplies.
Unexpectedly, at dawn they encountered an elite army from the State of Wei, which surrounded and intercepted them, resulting in their near annihilation.
The appearance of this army was a key part of Gu Yu's plan.
He didn't want his men to fight those bandits head-on, so he discussed it with Lady Pingyuan early on and had her write a personal letter, which was then sent to Lord Xinling as quickly as possible.
When Lord Xinling received his sister's letter, one can imagine the anger he felt.
He was determined to unify the three states of Jin, and the marriage of the Zhao princess to the state of Wei was part of that plan.
However, King Anli was far too ruthless. Not only did he want to ruin the marriage, but he also targeted his sister and nephew.
How could Lord Xinling possibly tolerate this?
However, he couldn't directly turn against King Anli, so he simply told all the court officials that bandits were ambushing the wedding procession on the border of Wei and that reinforcements had to be sent.
As a result, King Anli dared not fail to send troops.
After all, the matter has been laid bare. If he doesn't send troops, wouldn't that be an admission of guilt?
Not only did he have to send troops, but he also had to harden his heart and silence the bandits, wiping them out completely. It was truly a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.
With the threat eliminated, Gu Yu and the others were finally able to resume their normal schedule.
That evening, Lady Pingyuan summoned him to her tent, where they finally had a frank and open conversation.
"General Gu, I did indeed intend to scheme against you before, but now, can we put aside our prejudices and have a proper talk?"
Gu Yu smiled and asked, "How would you like to discuss this, Madam?"
Lady Pingyuan said, "I believe you know in your heart that Qin is currently the strongest of the seven kingdoms."
"good!"
"But I'm giving you a piece of advice: if you decide to go and seek refuge in the Qin state, you will definitely regret it."
Why?
Lady Pingyuan said, "Have you forgotten what happened to Shang Yang? You are from Zhao. If you go to Qin, the greater your achievements, the more you will arouse the Qin people's suspicion."
"So, Madam's intention is to win me over and have me join you in surrendering to the State of Wei?"
Lady Pingyuan did not answer directly, but said, "If the Qin people want to invade the east, the first to bear the brunt will be Wei, one of the Three Jin states."
Zhao and Han.
Gu Yu nodded: "That's right, I dare say that none of the states of Wei, Zhao, and Han can rival Qin."
"My brother realized this, which is why he actively promoted the unification of the three states of Jin. Only in this way could we have a chance to defeat Qin and become the true hegemon of the Central Plains."
"this----"
Gu Yu was about to say something.
Lady Pingyuan continued, "Back then, the reason I married Lord Pingyuan was actually to cooperate with my younger brother's plan, but unfortunately—"
Gu Yu continued, "It's a pity that Lord Pingyuan ultimately failed to ascend the throne and died too young, causing Lord Xinling's plans to fall through."
"Ugh!"
Lady Pingyuan let out a long sigh.
Clearly, Gu Yu had hit the nail on the head.