I summoned all the famous generals of history in another world.

Chapter 967 The Tacit Understanding Between the Two Commanders

At the third watch of the night, when the clapper sounded, 200,000 Yellow Turban soldiers surged out of Qiandu like a black torrent.

Meng Zhang stopped his horse outside the city gate, gazing at the long, winding dragon of torches, and suddenly recalled that snowy night three years ago when the uprising took place in Luzhou.

At that time, besides the small Azure Dragon Legion he brought with him, he only had three thousand starving people under his command. Now, the Yellow Turban Army under his command in Luzhou is capable of shaking the entire country.

Li Cunxiao led three thousand Flying Tiger Cavalry at the forefront, their dark torrent gleaming coldly in the moonlight. The central army formation stretched for miles, and supply wagons rolled over the official road, pressing down on the wild grass in the cracks of the stone slabs, causing it to ooze sap.

Meng Zhang rode alone at the back, gazing at the flames soaring into the sky in the direction of Qiandu.

"Commander-in-Chief, the vanguard has reached twenty li from Qianling County."

The scouts came to report the time; the sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

"Qiao Shefei, do you dare to make a bet with this general?"

Meng Zhang reined in his horse and looked into the distance. In the morning mist, he could vaguely see Gu Changqing's central army banner. The gold-embroidered character "Gu" was so bright that it hurt the eyes in the morning sun. He suddenly chuckled.

"What are we betting on?"

Qiao Shefei was wiping the pair of doomsday blades in his hands, their cold sharpness making the scar on his brow bone appear even more ferocious.

"I bet Gu Changqing dares to face me in a direct confrontation."

"I bet he wouldn't dare!"

Meng Zhang flicked his whip, pointing it straight ahead.

Why?

Qiao Shefei frowned, somewhat curious.

"Because he's old!"

"The veterans dared not gamble, dared not fight, and could only watch helplessly as their coach..."

Meng Zhang gazed at the large flag in the morning light, his eyes flickering slightly.

"Look at the Yellow Turban Army's battle flags, planted on every inch of the Great Qian land!"

He suddenly turned to his horse, and the black horse neighed and charged into the morning mist.

...

At the same time, the cliffs on both sides of Hulu Valley were as if cut by a knife and axe, and the thin mist in the valley had not yet dissipated. Fifty thousand elite Qinglong Army soldiers had already lurked like ghosts in the crevices and ravines.

The brothers Liang Fang and Liang Lin each led a unit, their black battle robes blending seamlessly with the rugged mountain rocks, with only the cold glint of their swords and halberds faintly visible in the mist.

"Brother, this Calabash Valley is truly a place where no one can survive."

"If that old scoundrel Gu Changqing dares to sneak in, he'll be taught a lesson for being trapped like a turtle in a jar."

Liang Fang squatted behind Eagle Beak Rock, looking at the official road at the bottom of the valley and sneering.

"Don't rush. Commander Meng said that this veteran is very good at observing subtle signs. We need to play our part perfectly."

Liang Lin wiped the lone silver hammer in his hand with a cloth, while the warhorse-Galaxy Beast stood silently to the side. The serrated notches on the surface of the silver hammer recorded more than ten hard battles.

"See those routed soldiers? Cry even more pitifully, make sure the scouts see it clearly."

He looked at the figures ahead and suddenly lowered his voice.

On the official road at the bottom of the valley, dozens of "desperate soldiers" were stumbling and fleeing northward. Their armor was tattered, their faces were stained with blood, and they were shouting incoherently, saying things like "Qiandu has fallen" and "The Yellow Turban Army is massacring the city."

These "shadow soldiers" carefully trained by the Taiping Cult could even convincingly portray the terror in their eyes.

Three hundred miles away, in Gu Changqing's central command tent, the terrain of Hulu Valley on the sand table had been marked with seventeen dangerous passes by cinnabar.

The old general's withered fingers traced the winding valley, and a corner of the secret report on his desk was lifted by the morning breeze, revealing the words "Meng Zhang personally leads an army of 200,000 to attack."

"Duke Su, what do you think?"

Gu Changqing suddenly looked up, his gaze sharp.

"Meng Zhang is luring us into a trap. The cliffs on both sides of Hulu Valley are steep. If we are ambushed, the heavy cavalry of Wuxiong Guard will not be able to maneuver effectively, and the mountain warfare tactics of Chongyan Guard will be useless."

Su Ye was leaning against the Azure Phoenix Screen, sipping her tea, when she heard this, she gently brushed away the floating leaves with the lid of her cup. The plot is heating up: Update, come and check it out!

"So, according to the Duke of Zhenguo, we shall take the detour?"

All the generals in the tent were startled, and Tan Mengjun's rough voice rang out first.

"Taking a detour will cost seven more days' worth of provisions, which will give the Yellow Turban Army a good opportunity to rest and recuperate."

Su Ye put down her teacup and tapped her jade thumb ring on the table with a crisp sound.

"not to mention……"

"Since Meng Zhang has used Ancestor Si Cangqiong as bait, wouldn't it be a waste of his elaborate plan if we didn't take the bait?"

He looked at the generals below, whose expressions varied, and suddenly smiled.

The sound of warhorses sneezing came from outside the tent, mixed with the distinctive neighing of the white horses belonging to Su Ye's White Horse Cavalry.

"But... does the Grand Tutor really intend to force his way into this trap?"

The Duke of Zhenguo strolled to the side of the sand table at some point, his black cloak sweeping across the uncollected map on the ground like a flowing mass of night.

"We have no choice but to drill!"

"The Crown Prince's fate is unknown, and the Tiger Seal of the Azure Sky Ancestor and the others is in Meng Zhang's hands—do you really think those defeated soldiers' cries are all lies?"

Gu Changqing suddenly smiled, his eyes crinkling with a hidden glint of steel.

"The fleeing soldiers constantly pouring into Qiandu say that when the Yellow Turban army breached Qiandu, Meng Zhang personally led Yellow Turban warriors to guard the Vermilion Bird Gate. Is this news true?"

He picked up the secret report from the table; the edges of the pages were stained with blood.

"It's a mix of truth and falsehood. If Meng Zhang were truly at the Vermilion Bird Gate, he should be in Qiandu rewarding his troops right now. Why bother coming all the way to Calabash Valley to stage an empty city ruse?"

Su Ye played with the jade toad pendant at his waist, the green jade gleaming faintly in his palm.

"To make the Empty City Stratagem sound convincing, you need a city in the first place."

"Meng Zhang has sung the praises of Qiandu for us; if we don't respond, wouldn't we be letting him down?"

Gu Changqing's sword suddenly drew three inches from its sheath, its cold light flashing across the valley terrain on the sand table.

The charcoal fire inside the tent crackled and popped, sparks flying onto Tan Mengjun's combat boots.

"This humble general is willing to lead the elite troops of my unit as the vanguard to tear open the gap in the Azure Dragon Legion!"

The general who had quelled the rebellion suddenly knelt on one knee.

"General Tan is indeed brave."

"But since Meng Zhang has set up an ambush, he must have laid an impenetrable defense at the valley entrance. No matter how fast the cavalry of Wuxiong Guard is, can they outrun the Flying Tiger Cavalry under Li Cunxiao?"

Su Ye strolled slowly to the tent entrance, the morning light casting a long shadow of him.

"Does the Duke of Su mean for me to set fire to Gourd Valley?"

Gu Changqing's gaze at the sand table suddenly sharpened like a knife.

"The mountain winds here are very strong; if we were to use fire..."

He reached out and sketched on the cliffs on both sides of Hulu Valley.

"I'm afraid it won't work."

"Last night, a scout reported that Hulu Valley has been experiencing continuous rain for days, and the mountain roads are extremely muddy. If kerosene were poured on it, it probably wouldn't even produce a spark."

Su Ye shook his head, the white frost between his brows gleaming silver in the morning light.

"Are we just going to let Meng Zhang run rampant?"

Tan Mengjun slammed his fist heavily on the table, sending the teacup flying half a foot into the air.

"furious?"

"Wasn't Meng Zhang's ambush at Calabash Valley a gamble? A gamble that I wouldn't dare send 400,000 troops to fill this pit!"

Gu Changqing suddenly burst into laughter, causing the dust on the beams to fall in a flurry. He stared at the red-marked official road on the sand table, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

Tan Mengjun was right; Hulu Valley was indeed a dead end—but if they didn't go, the whereabouts of Crown Prince Si Yunzhang would forever remain a mystery.

Moreover, Si Cangqiong's personal golden sword was lying on the general's desk, and the pearl on the tassel was still warm from his body.

"Order the entire army to accelerate their advance towards Calabash Valley."

"Wu Xiongwei is in the front, Chongyanwei is guarding the mountain paths on both sides, General Tan's pacification army is protecting the central army, and the main force of the Duke's Yulin Army is clearing out the Yellow Turban Army on both sides of Hulu Valley from the rear."

The old general suddenly straightened his hunched back, and the qilin pattern on his armor gleamed with a bluish light under the candlelight.