Chapter 864: Western Yanzhou

"You’re something else!" Fazheng rolled his eyes and said, "I can't believe you’ve planted such a significant piece inside Yuan Shao's camp."

"I recall that the Zhen family is now in Nanpi, Bohai, which means we still have a high-ranking official within Yuan Shao's ranks?" Liu Ye tugged at his mouth, realizing that this individual held even greater influence than the Zhen family.

"Yes, but don’t expect too much. I’ve instructed them to act only when the opportunity presents itself," Chen Xi said half-explaining, seeing the looks of surprise on Fazheng and Liu Ye's faces. "Rest assured, they won’t defect. It’s not because of any blackmail; in fact, the person is quite capable."

"Good, if the chance arises, I’ll try to make use of it. As for retreating, I’ll still need your support. It’ll be difficult to succeed on my own," Fazheng said.

"Yes, we’ll have both land and sea routes ready for you," Chen Xi nodded. While he wasn’t adept at warfare, he was confident in ensuring a safe retreat.

As Chen Xi answered Fazheng’s questions, he hesitated about whether or not to lend Fazheng his greatest asset. Though this hidden card had its issues, its significance within Yuan Shao's structure far surpassed that of Cui Jun.

Forget it, Chen Xi thought with a sigh. That guy isn't just our spy; he’s probably involved with both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in ways that are hard to explain. He decided not to tell Fazheng about this particular agent.

That day, Chen Xi mobilized a significant number of the agricultural soldiers from Ji Yin to start building simple beacon towers across the region. At each location, about a hundred soldiers were stationed, and whenever the Bingzhou Wolf Riders passed by, they would light the signal fire, prompting their forces to hunt them down.

Even though Xun Shen's troops included hastily assembled soldiers, the Bingzhou Wolf Riders were an elite force compared to Liu Bei’s agricultural soldiers. There were even cases where entire garrisons stationed at the beacon towers were wiped out.

However, this didn’t change the fact that the Wolf Riders' range of activity was being squeezed. Though some were nimble enough to escape the encirclement, their scattered numbers couldn’t withstand the second wave of infantry that soon surrounded and wiped them out. Fragmented cavalry were often less effective than infantry.

In this manner, over the course of ten days, Chen Xi's forces managed to drive all the Wolf Riders out of Ji Yin. Unfortunately, in this short period, tens of thousands of commoners saw their summer crops completely destroyed.

"That guy really is ruthless!" Chen Xi said angrily. "Xun Shen certainly doesn’t act like a gentleman!"

"There are no gentlemen on the battlefield," Liu Ye retorted, rolling his eyes. "Now that we’ve dealt with those riders, we’re finally free to move. We should quickly launch an assault on Qingfeng and push Xun Shen back to Puyang. I feel like we don’t have much time left."

"We may not have much time, but we have enough," Chen Xi replied, putting down the letter and calming his frustration. "Our purpose here is to buy more time, after all."

At this time, Fazheng had already left Puyang. After staging a grand show of a siege to force Li Shi, who was defending the city, to send out a plea for reinforcements, Fazheng and Zhang Fei changed course and left the area.

"Now we’re about to enter Cao Cao’s territory. General Zhang, I’ll be relying on you to stay vigilant. I haven’t married yet, so my future is in your hands," Fazheng said cautiously as they paused outside of Cao Cao’s domain.

"Don’t act like I’ve already gotten married!" Zhang Fei laughed heartily. Though he had many concubines, his position for an official wife remained vacant.

"So, both of our futures rest on your shoulders, General Zhang," Fazheng joked, and the banter between them made the distance between the two close instantly, with Zhang Fei laughing along.

"It’s a shame Cao Cao has relocated to Sili. Otherwise, I’d love to lead a sneak attack on his headquarters," Zhang Fei said after several days of marching, looking toward the south. He had once admired Cao Cao, but after the incident in Xuzhou, their relationship had soured completely.

"If Cao Cao hadn’t relocated, do you think his defenses would be this lax?" Fazheng said, slightly irritated. "Cao Cao is no easy foe. At the very least, his defenses at home are usually incredibly tight. However, his foundations are thin. His rapid rise before was due to plundering Nanyang, and now with his recent seizure of Guanzhong, it seems he’s looting his own territory."

"Hmph, that guy was never any good. I used to think he was as committed to restoring the Han dynasty as my elder brother!" Zhang Fei cast a cold glance around the desolate surroundings, clearly displeased.

"It’s likely that Cao Cao didn’t loot his own lands but instead relocated the population to Sili and Guanzhong to avoid getting caught in our war with Yuan Shao. Cao Cao is indeed a man of foresight," Fazheng thought carefully and realized his earlier statement might have been biased.

"Well, whatever. He’s still no good in my book!" Zhang Fei grumbled, clearly upset by the desolation of western Yanzhou.

"From a strategic perspective, his actions make sense, though from our viewpoint, it's certainly not ideal. He might have taken things too far with forced relocations!" Fazheng glanced at the ruins of a village, his expression calm. In his mind, strategies that strengthened one’s own side while weakening the enemy were perfectly legitimate in warfare.

"I can’t argue with you!" Zhang Fei said grumpily, before swinging his spear, sending a sharp wave of energy that tore up a large patch of grass and dirt, hurling part of the ruins into the air.

Fazheng shrugged. Chatting idly with Zhang Fei during the march was merely a way to pass the time. However, Cao Cao’s actions had indeed left western Yanzhou desolate, and many of those who hadn’t wanted to leave had no choice but to turn to banditry.

"How many times has this happened?" Fazheng asked, looking ahead at a group of ragged villagers wielding makeshift weapons like hoes, sickles, and spears surrounding a carriage.

"Who knows? Like you said, both sides are pitiful people," Zhang Fei said, charging forward with his snake spear. Along their journey, they had encountered five or six similar situations. This was the downside of forcing relocations without sufficient manpower—it pushed decent folk into desperate situations.

The first group that encountered Zhang Fei had been immediately dispatched by him, and the wealthy family they had surrounded was rescued. To ensure their safety, Fazheng had kept them within the army’s camp, not allowing them to leave.

By the second encounter, Zhang Fei had understood the reality of the situation and didn’t kill as mercilessly. It was the same each time: they saved the people, and Fazheng, enjoying the spectacle, didn’t bother to have scouts intervene in these incidents.

With just a few moves, Zhang Fei took down the ragtag group of refugees, who weren’t even qualified to be called bandits. As usual, he prepared to take the carriage back to camp, but this time, to his surprise, a calm and serene young woman emerged from the carriage.

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