Chapter 1064: The Fall of Gongsun Du

After Gongsun Du's homeland was attacked by foreign forces, he indeed sent part of his forces back to defend it, but most of his troops continued to roam the lands of Youzhou.

At that time, Gongsun Du was clearly uneasy, even considering a full retreat. However, retreating is much harder than advancing. Once a retreat begins, and if the Yuan family spreads word that Liaodong is under siege, there's a risk that his entire army could collapse before making it back.

Gongsun Du's plan was to withdraw in phases. First, he sent back 8,000 troops while he remained to defend against any large-scale attacks from the Yuan family. His aim was to avoid losing the hard-won territories he had seized.

As Gongsun Du had anticipated, not long after withdrawing the 8,000 soldiers, the Yuan family launched a large-scale assault. However, judging by the level of their military skills, the attackers were little more than peasants.

Despite the large-scale assault and the fact that the morale of Gongsun Du's troops had suffered due to rumors, the superior strength of the Liaodong forces easily repelled the attack. In fact, they pushed the front line forward and seized a significant amount of food and supplies.

This unexpectedly strong counterattack surprised Gongsun Du and filled him with joy. Reflecting on his previous conquests of Changli and Yangle, he came to a realization: the Yuan Tan forces in Youzhou were essentially peasant-level combatants!

With this newfound confidence, Gongsun Du recalled the intelligence provided by Liu Bei’s forces, which indicated that Yuan Tan’s true elite troops were defending the southern part of Youzhou against Liu Bei, leaving the rest of Youzhou severely under-defended. Gongsun Du realized he might have overestimated the Yuan family, perhaps out of fear of Yuan Shao, but now Yuan Shao was dead!

With this in mind, Gongsun Du resumed his conquests. Although no major battles ensued, occasional skirmishes boosted the morale of his troops. Nothing raises morale more than continuous victories!

This high morale and disdain for Yuan Shao’s forces eventually led Gongsun Du’s army toward disaster. Their supplies came from plundering Yuan Shao’s forces, and each time they encountered small groups of enemy troops, they easily seized their food. Although the amount wasn't large, it was enough to sustain Gongsun Du’s army and maintain their streak of victories.

Riding on this momentum, Gongsun Du soon advanced to Youbeiping. His entire army was riding high on morale. At this point, good news arrived from the rear—his forces in Liaodong had successfully repelled the foreign coalition.

With morale soaring to unprecedented heights, Gongsun Du’s army was confident they could face even Yuan Shao’s elite troops without faltering.

However, at this critical juncture, Gongsun Du’s army began to run short of supplies. Since Liaodong had been under siege, Gongsun Du had relied on looting Yuan Shao’s forces for sustenance. Recently, they had been unlucky due to heavy snowfall and hadn’t encountered any Yuan troops. As a result, their supplies were dwindling.

Despite this, Gongsun Du wasn’t worried. After all, Youbeiping was just ahead, and with Yuan Tan’s forces being nothing more than peasants, Gongsun Du had no concerns about acquiring more provisions.

On that fateful day, Gongsun Du’s scouts discovered a Yuan Shao supply convoy. As usual, they easily overwhelmed the convoy. However, unlike previous encounters, this time the black smoke from the burning supplies attracted the attention of Yuan Shao’s forces.

As expected, Gongsun Du’s army easily routed Yuan Shao’s troops. But in their retreat, the fleeing Yuan soldiers set fire to what remained of the supplies, which had already been mostly destroyed by Gongsun Du’s forces.

Naturally, Gongsun Du was furious. He pursued the retreating forces for over ten miles, but then disaster struck. Having grown accustomed to thinking of Yuan Shao’s forces as nothing but fodder, Gongsun Du’s troops ignored proper formation during the chase, believing they could defeat ten men for every one of theirs.

The outcome was predictable. Gongsun Du’s army, lacking any semblance of formation, ran straight into a force of Yuan Shao’s battle-hardened elite troops. The result was a crushing defeat.

High-ranking officer Gao Gan had been lying in wait, and when Gongsun Du’s forces scattered in retreat, he launched a devastating ambush, completely routing the disorganized army.

Unlike the borderlands of Jizhou and Yanzhou, the region Gongsun Du was in had no resources for survival. With no supplies, soldiers fleeing into the wilderness would simply freeze to death. By the end of that day, after barely escaping with his life, Gongsun Du found that less than one-tenth of his forces remained. The loss of supplies left him in a daze.

Worse news soon followed—Liaodong had fallen to the combined forces of Goguryeo, the Three Han States, and Buyeo. Overcome with rage, Gongsun Du nearly died from the shock. Although his life was saved, his power in Liaodong was all but destroyed.

"This tactic..." Guan Yu frowned. The seemingly simple strategy was one of the most dangerous. There was no way to counter it. Even if a general realized the trap, his soldiers would have already grown overconfident after winning so many battles. After several victories, from Liaodong all the way to Yuyang, anyone would start thinking the enemy was weak.

"It must be Shen Pei’s doing," Li You said with a grim expression. "He’s skilled at exploiting vulnerabilities and striking decisively. He’s also ruthless. I’d wager he intended to send a message to intimidate any who would dare challenge him. Of Gongsun Du’s 50,000 men, I doubt even a handful survived. In those frozen plains north of Yuyang, without supplies..."

Li You didn’t need to finish. Everyone understood the implications.

"No matter how badly Gongsun Shengji was defeated, we must try to rescue him. After all, he did well in Liaodong," Liu Bei said, though without much hope. Everyone knew what it meant to lose supplies in the frozen wilderness.

"We could cross the sea to reach Liaodong. As for a legitimate reason, we can say it’s a mission to aid Liaodong. After all, they’re currently being attacked by the Three Han States, Goguryeo, Buyeo, and even the Wuhuan tribes," Chen Xi suggested after a brief moment of thought. In this era, acting with legitimate authority was important.

"But how can we pass through Youzhou? Yuan Tan would never allow it," Wu Dun asked, puzzled.

"You’ve missed the point," Liu Ye shook his head. "Living in the south for so long, you’ve forgotten that the sea freezes over in the north during winter."

Liu Ye hesitated for a moment before adding, "If we travel near the coast, we won’t need to pass through Youzhou. The only issue is whether we have enough winter clothing and tents of sufficient quality."

As he spoke, Liu Ye glanced at the cotton clothing Lu Su was wearing. Truthfully, this was the kind of gear needed for battles in the northern frozen plains. The problem was that Qu Qi’s large-scale cultivation efforts weren’t yet fully underway, and it would likely take until next year before they reached full production levels.

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