In Guangzhou, Hao Shao prepared two days worth of provision and cooked food for Liu Mang’s Army. Initially, he also wanted to prepare a place to stay for the White Horses but Liu Mang refused this as he did not want to delay. They were light cavalries. Liu Mang had planned for them to travel for thousands of kilometres. If they already needed rest, they don’t deserve to be soldiers.
Each person move with two horses and by constantly switching horses, the horses remain at good condition. However, the cavalry was dispirited. This is because the one thousand new recruits needed to be taken care of. Fortunately, they had saddles and stirrups. Otherwise, the new recruits would have already been thrown off. They only got used to this after two days of travelling. Taking a rest now would waste their efforts.
“Replenish the provisions and take a rest! We will move out again in an hour!” Liu Mang gave his command to Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun had experience in commanding the soldiers while Liu Mang had tactics. The two of them working together allowed their skills to shine.
Guangzhou was no longer a small town that Liu Mang cared little about. It was now fortified together with Yiyang and Zaoyang. As Hao Shao was good at defending, the West side of Yangzhou became well fortified.
“Is Wenchang still in Yiyang?” As Liu Mang had arrived, Wei Yan should have come out to greet him. However, Wei Yan had not yet appeared.
“Yes. Wei Yan is commanding the Yiyang Troops.” Hao Shao replied. He had not worked together with Wei Yan before this but he had already seen Wei Yan’s skills. The Yiyang Troops were like fugitives, unafraid of death. Such people were extremely powerful. As Wei Yan had skill, Hao Shao respected the man. Hao Shao, like the other men who were part of the Wolf Cavalry respected those with strength. After working together for a bit, their relationship with each other was quite intimate. “Should I go and call Wei Yan back?”
“No need. I will eventually need to past by Yiyang.” Liu Mang waved his hand and then asked. “Will you have enough troops? The troops here along with the Yiyang troops only amount to ten thousand men!”
Although it looks like there were a lot of soldiers in the three cities, that was actually not true. When divided, each city would only have about three thousand troops. On top of that, five thousand out of this ten thousand troops have not formed an army. Hao Shao would also need to defend against Liu Bei’s army of forty thousand or Liu Biao’s army of fifteen thousand.
“Don’t worry Milord. Although I am not adept in sieges, I will not allow any enemy to set foot in Yangzhou for as long as I live!” Hao Shao could say this as he managed to stop Liu Bei’s army of twenty thousand for three days with only two thousand men. Now, Hao Shao had three cities and ten thousand men.
“Bodao. You and Wenyuan are my two gatekeeper generals!” Hao Shao’s skils at defending was clear for all to see. The only one that could rival him was Huo Jun. The only reason the Xiliang Cavalry managed to enter Yangzhou was because Hao Shao had no cavalry. Their common horses was not able to outrun the Xiliang Cavalry’s elite. This was why Liu Mang had also brought hundreds of reserve horses for Hao Shao.
An hour quickly passed. During this period there are horses that were fed and horses that were not fed. The ones that were not fed are the ones that would follow the White Horses to the next destination. The reason for this is because a fed horse would feel full and run much slower.
After a day and a half, Liu Mang reached Yiyang. Wei Yan was already there to greet Liu Mang alongside his five thousand Yiyang Troops. Although these men did not have the killing intent of elites, they were all very spirited. Liu Mang felt pleased looking at this. Although Wei Yan was arrogant, he had the ability to get things done. An arrogant person who is talented are called arrogant people. An arrogant person who is not talented are called criminals.
“Let’s go in.” Liu Mang did not choose to rest at Guangzhou to toughen up the White Horses. He wanted to make the new recruits get used to long distance travel. Resting at Yiyang was because they have already travelled for four days. It could already be considered part of training. Now that they have completed their training. This time, he decided to let them take proper rest as continuing to strain themselves would cause them to collapse. Besides that, Liu Mang also had important things to do at Yiyang.
The whole cavalry cheered when they heard that they could rest. Even the veterans were tired from riding horses for four days. They had pretty much been on the horses the entire time and the ones riding at the back suffered even more from the smell when the horses defecate.
Those who have not learned how to ride properly by then would just die. They haven’t gone to war yet but five men had already died while three more were injured. These were the people that fell off their horses and then got trampled by other horses.
Even the veterans did not fare much better. The Xiliang Cavalry may have changed out of their heavy armors but even they have not journeyed for four days straight. When they got off their horses, they could feel their butts drenched with sweat and blood.
“What are you guys doing? Form up and enter the city!” Liu Mang frowned and the officers immediately reprimanded the other White Horses. If this was all they amounted to, there would be no difference between them and an average light cavalry. Seeing this sight, Liu Mang laughed. Now was the time to restrain the men. That way, they could direct all the hatred from their suffering to Liu Bei. After all, this long march would not have happened if Liu Bei didn’t kill Liu Mang’s envoy. Even if they were fated to do the same thing, it would be much later in the future after they have trained more. Their hatred would accumulate the more they trained which would one day used on their enemies.
Wei Yan felt jealousy and envy as he watched the White Horses enter the city. The White Horses had two horses per person. They carried both swords and bows while wearing silk clothing. This was extremely luxurious. The one leading them was Zhao Yun, a man that had fought against Wei Yan previously. They had joined the same time but Zhao Yun was promoted quickly while he only became a soldier.
However, even though Wei Yan was envious, he was a proud person. So what if the White Horses had luxurious equipment? It is not going to help them find food to eat when they haven’t fought before. There was no way the White Horses could outperform his own troops. Thinking this, he shouted at his own troops, “Do you not know how to march? Form up! I will personally teach those that don’t know how to do it!” The soldiers then started to line up and the sight of it all made Liu Mang laugh bitterly.
The two armies entered the city and prepared their meals. Yiyang was unlike the other places in the fact that it was originally Liu Biao’s territory. Not wanting to bother the people, the army set up tents. Fortunately, the people had helped, allowing them to finish before the sky turned dark.
Once Liu Mang entered the county residence, everyone sat down and the feast began. It was a joyous occasion where they ate and drank to their heart’s content even though there were no dancers. Wei Yan approached Liu Mang and cupped his fist. “Milord. Are we attacking Nanyang?”
“What else if not that?” Liu Mang asked back. Liu Bei killing Liu Mang’s envoy meant that they had shed all pretense cordiality. Liu Mang had not yet taken interest for Liu Bei’s actions at Yangzhou yet.
“Is General Cheng Yu and General Xu Sheng coming later?”
Liu Mang shook his head. “Cheng Yu is protecting Shouchun. As for Xu Sheng, he should be accompanying Wenyuan to Linhuai.
“Milord is going to attack Nanyang with just these three thousand White Horses?” Wei Yan could not understand why Liu Mang would want to send them to their deaths. Might as well give Wei Yang the White Horses.
“Three thousand is enough!” Liu Mang replied.
“Milord?” If it was not because of the difference in ranking, Wei Yang would have immediately checked if Liu Mang had gone mad from a high fever. If the White Horses were so formidable, Liu Bei and Zhang Xiu would not have managed to enter Yangzhou.
“Wenchang. You look as though you think I have gone mad.” Liu Mang gave a strange smile1 to Wei Yan.
“This Wei Yan doesn’t dare!” Wei Yan immediately lowered his head. He had already received a profound impression of Liu Mang from all the restraining he had received. He no longer dared to go against Liu Mang.
“Wenchang. Who would be able to catch me when I have two horses per person?”
Wei Yan was stunned when he heard those words. There are not many cavalry that is able to afford the luxury of assigning two horses per person. On top of that, the Xiliang Cavalry were initially heavy cavalry. Their speed really could not be compared to the others. “Nobody!”
“But Milord. Although the soldiers in Nanyang would not be able to catch you, you also would not be able to deal with Liu Bei!” It costs a lot of provisions to dispatch troops. Liu Bei could simply shut the doors and Liu Mang would only be able to wander around while being open to ambush. It was a task that had no gains.
“Haha. I don’t believe in the Nanyang Eighteen County! His cities are all tightly closed but as long as one of them is open, my army would be able to enter and cut open the city. If it is a battle on the field, it would be even better! Zilong. Tell Wenchang about our chant!” Liu Mang ordered. Zhao Yun and Wei Yan had good fighting spirit but should never compete with each other. It would be disastrous if they don’t get along well. Only through conversation would the two be able to ease up against each other.
Zhao Yun nodded and cupped his fist towards Wei Yan. “General Wei Yan. Milord gave us a chant that says, “When the enemy advances, we retreat! When the enemy retreats, we advance! When the enemy rests, we provoke! When the enemy becomes tired, we strike!”2
“That is…” Wei Yan was no longer calm after hearing those words. It sounded simple but even Wei Yan did not dare think about how to implement it. There were many ways things could go wrong such as not being able to chase the enemy or not being able to defeat the enemy. Although fighting against weak enemies would result in less casualties, the casualties could also accumulate. Morale could fall and the chances of being completely routed was high.
Wei Yan thought to himself. If he were the one commanding the army at Nanyang, he would simply shut the gate and not come out.
But this was what Liu Mang wanted. This way, Nanyang would never have peace. Liu Mang would also be able to train the troops and take Liu Bei’s provisions.
Liu Bei should also be lacking in provisions because of Jia Xu. If Liu Bei doesn’t come out of the city, all he would be able to do is starve in Nanyang. If he comes out of Nanyang, he would become prey for the White Horses. Since Liu Bei tried to make Liu Mang’s life miserable, Liu Mang would return the favour. It was a battle to see who had crueller strategies.
“Milord is a genius. This Wei Yan cannot compare!” Wei Yan lowered his head and cupped his fist.