Chapter 622

The gatekeeper at a different gate at Xinye were afraid as there were plenty of troops outside. These troops approached quickly and the gatekeeper could not close the gate in time.

The gatekeeper believed that his life was over. To allow an unknown force to break into the city was a dereliction of duty. At worse, he would be executed.

“It’s over! It’s over!” He wailed in despair. Xinye was at Jingzhou’s borders. It can be said it is Jingzhou’s territory but was given to Liu Mang in exchange for Nanyang. Initially, they were more cautious but started to slack off a little because of the huge victory Yangzhou had at the Yangtze River. Is it possible that these approaching troops were from Jingzhou?

“Officer. No need to panic! These are not enemies!” One person reminded.

“Not enemies?”

“Yes! Look at their banner! It is our black military banner!” One soldier reminded.

“They are our troops?” The gatekeeper saw the black banner and realized that this wasn’t only Yangzhou’s troops. They were also Xinye defenders. The gatekeeper was about to relax when he was suddenly made nervous again.

“Not good! It is a disaster!” The defeated soldiers rushed into Xinye while shouting, causing an uproar. What could have happened for the Xinye defenders to look like defeated soldiers?

“The refugees has rebelled!” One defeated soldier explained when the gatekeeper grabbed him.

“The refugees has rebelled?” The gatekeeper had cold sweat. Xinye have many refugees because of Liu Mang’s policies. There were even refugees from Yuzhou that migrated here after Liu Bei was attacked. There were so many refugees here that it would be terrible if they rebelled.

“Quick! Go the camp and tell General Guo Yi!” The gatekeeper said to his subordinates. Guo Yi was the commander while he is only a captain so he had to defer to Guo Yi.

“Yes!” The nearby soldiers nodded and left. However, they quickly returned.

“What did General Guo Yi say?” The gatekeeper asked. He needed orders to know what to do.

“General Guo Yi is not at the camp!” The soldiers replied as they gasped for breath.

“Not at the camp? What about the Guo residence?” The gatekeeper asked. Maybe Guo Yi was at home.

“Captain. There is no need to go. These defeated troops are the ones General Guo Yi had brought out with him.” One soldier replied.

“What? Then where is General Guo Yi?”

“He is probably no longer around!”

“Quickly! Go to the Governor’s residence and look for the Governor!” Unable to find his direct superior, the gatekeeper could only look for a higher authority. He did not look for the Governor earlier because it was taboo to bypass your direct superior to look for an even higher authority.

Soon his subordinates came back reporting that the Governor was also not around.

“Where did he go?”

“According to the housekeeper, the Governor had left a few months ago to avoid suspicion.”

“Avoid suspicion?” The gatekeeper raised his eyebrows.

“Captain. Our Governor is the other side’s eldest child.” One soldier reminded and the gatekeeper finally remembered. Their Governor was not only Yangzhou’s official but also Liu Biao’s eldest son.

Liu Qi could work at ease when Yangzhou and Jingzhou were allies but when the two sides had a falling out, Liu Qi was placed in an awkward position. If he helped Yangzhou, he would be unfilial. If he helped Jingzhou, he would be disloyal. So Liu Qi decided to just leave and hide somewhere.

“Then go gather the other captains of the city gate to gather and discuss this!” Without a leader, they needed to make a decision together.

“Captain, there is no need for that! Those captains all left with General Guo Yi!” The soldier replied with a mixed expression of admiration and fortunate. The captain here was named Yang Chao. He guards the North Gate and he was not called over by Guo Yi because he was not one of Guo Yi’s subordinates. Yang Chao was strict and stubborn. He refused to follow in Guo Yi’s bad example so he struggled with his own meager salary. For this reason, Guo Yi did not call for him which result in him being the only captain left guarding the gates.

“General. You are probably the highest ranked person in Xinye right now.” His soldier added.

“What is this situation?” Yang Chao laughed bitterly. While there may be higher ranked people in Xinye, these people would be civil officials. They could not deal with military matters. So the highest ranked military official now was just a small captain.

“Captain. There is no other way! If we lose Xinye, you won’t be able to be punished enough even if they execute you ten times!” If they lost Xinye, everyone would be responsible. Liu Qi was already out of luck, Guo Yi and the other captains has disappeared. So the one to receive all the punishment would be Yang Chao.

“There is no choice!” Yang Chao laughed bitterly and got to work. He first needed to find out how many troops he could move out of Xinye. He found out that he could only move two thousand men.

“Two thousand? Did you count correctly?” Yang Chao’s eyes grew wide. As the captain, his own troops alone numbered around one thousand five hundred. How could it be two thousand after adding the troops from the other three gates? That was saying that the other three gates were only guarded by five hundred men.

“Captain. The South gate has one hundred and fifty two people. The West gate has a hundred people and the South gate has ninety eight people. Altogether there are only three hundred and fifty people.

Yang Chao realized that he overestimated them. They did not even have five hundred men.

“Where did they all go?” Yang Chao shouted. Why is there suddenly a disorder in the army? Why is there suddenly a rebellion? They don’t even have enough to guard the gates.

“Captain. This might have something to do with General Guo Yi!” One soldier reminded.

“Guo Yi?” Yang Chao finally understood after he was reminded of Guo Yi as he knew that Guo Yi has been embezzling money.

Each gate should have about two thousand men. This meant that Xinye should have eight thousand troops.

Originally, the North gate had about five thousand men because it faced the enemy. After Xinye changed owners, it was the South that faced the enemy. So many of the troops were transferred to guard the South gate.

The South gate should have about five thousand men while the other three gates should have about one thousand five hundred men. Even if Guo Yi were to take out his troops, the three gates should not have less than five hundred men. This was Xinye and Jingzhou was just next door. Even if General Hao Shao was guarding the riverbank, they could not do this.

In fact, at least half of that eight thousand men were lazy and worthless. Yang Chao did not know what to say about Guo Yi.

“What about the provisions and the equipment?”

“Captain. We do not lack either.” Food was still being distributed. Also it was not like two thousand men could eat a lot of food.

“Report! Captain! The refugees are advancing towards Xinye!” One soldier said to Yang Chao.

“How many refugees are there? How far away are they from Xinye?”

“They are about ten li away! As for the numbers, I do not know! But there are a lot!”

“Pass down my orders. Close the gates and prepare to fight!” Yang Chao gave his order.

“Captain. Can we win?” One soldier voiced his doubts.

Yang Chao simply asked back. “Do we have any other options?” The soldier turned silent. There were many old people and children in Xinye. If the rebels managed to captured Xinye, then the people will suffer. They have already seen such a case during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

“Send someone to the naval barracks. Have General Hao Shao send us reinforcements.” Yang Chao made his preparations to ask for reinforcements and to hold his ground.

“Yes!”

“Wait!” Yang Chao suddenly shouted. “Take my horse.” Yang Chao added. His horse was a good horse but it was already old. Even this horse cost Yang Chao a lot, to the point that Yang Chao was reluctant to ride it. For him to allow his subordinate to use it showed how serious the matter is.

****

“The refugees are rebelling?” Hao Shao asked. He was in a barracks about ten li away from Xinye. The barracks was beside the river, making full use of the terrain as was taught by Liu Mang.

Xinye had flat plains and was meant to defend the North. As a result, it was hard to defend the South.

Hao Shao placed his barracks beside the river so that it would be easier to patrol the riverbank. He also dispatched scouts to prevent soldiers from coming ashore nearby. It was also to prepare for the event that Jingzhou decided to attack Yangzhou. The Yangtze River may be a natural barrier preventing those from the North to attack Jingzhou. However, it was also a natural barrier preventing those from the South to attack the Central Plains.

If there is such a helpful river, why not use it? Hao Shao did what needs to be done without delay. He allocated provisions and materials from Shouchun, and had a large building made at the riverbank. Though there were less than ten thousand men at the barracks, Hao Shao was confident he could stop Jingzhou’s army of a hundred thousand men.

Hao Shao was studying military matters when a messenger approached Hao Shao requesting for reinforcements. Hao Shao felt that the script was wrong. As the one on the frontlines, he should be the first one requesting for reinforcements in the event that Jingzhou attacked.

It was only after hearing the messenger’s explanation when he found out that the refugees at Xinye had rebelled.

“Isn’t there supposed to be eight thousand men at Xinye? Even if there are a hundred thousand refugees, you could beat back the refugees from the city walls!” The deputy general asked. The refugees rebelling was a problem but it was not something that could not be solved. Refugees feared besieging cities as they had no equipment. They had no weapon or armor. One simply needs to defend the city. The Yellow Turbans were only successful enough to capture a few cities due to their large numbers. Even then, the rebellion ended quickly. Xinye should have had eight thousand men. They could guard the city for a long time. Why would they ask for reinforcements?

“Why is it a captain that is giving the report? Where is your Governor?” The deputy general asked again.

“General. Our Governor has already disappeared for a few months!” The messenger replied.

Hao Shao nodded. He already knew about Liu Qi’s disappearance. Liu Qi himself had informed Hao Shao. Hao Shao also sent a letter to Shouchun and the advisors there replied saying that things will be decided after the matter has settled. They have also agreed to send more personnel but unfortunately, they lacked people. As a result, Xinye did not have Governor.

“What about the commanding officer?” Normally, this was above the pay grade of a mere captain.

“Our General Guo Yi has disappeared.” Yang Chao did not say that Guo Yi disappeared in battle to prevent morale from falling.

Hao Shao furrowed his brows. How can the commanding officer also disappear like this?

“Go back first. We will write a letter to Shouchun asking for reinforcements.” Hao Shao and the deputy general said to the messenger. Although Hao Shao had the authority to move the troops, he had to protect the place from Jingzhou instead of sending help to quell rebellions. He only had ten thousand men and could not afford to send anyone to Xinye.

“General! Please quickly send help to Xinye! Our city only has less than two thousand men!” The messenger shouted. That was only five hundred men for each gate. It was definitely too small a number for a small county.

“Two thousand men? What happened?” Hao Shao and the deputy general were in shock. The standard for Xinye should be eight thousand men. It can even hold up to fifteen thousand men if needed. When Liu Biao controlled Xinye, there were over ten thousand men stations there.

Finally, the matter of the embezzlement by adding fake soldiers was told.

“Preposterous!” Hao Shao angrily slammed the table. Having soldiers that only exist in name was something generals should never tolerate. This is especially true for Hao Shao, who worked his way up from the ground. What’s worse is the army shrunk by three quarters. Hao Shao wanted to condemn Guo Yi but the man have already disappeared.

“Pass down my orders! Quickly sent troops to pacify the rebellion at Xinye!” Hao Shao stood up. There is no time to lose. They had to settle this matter as quickly as possible.

“General! If you go to Xinye, what do we do about the barracks at the Yangtze River?” The deputy general asked. They were supposed to protect Xinye from Jingzhou. It would be bad if Jingzhou were to act while they were gone.

“I will take five thousand men with me! You are to stay here and guard the Yangtze River with the other five thousand men!”

“General. Five thousand men is hardly enough!” The deputy general added. It was not enough to defend the place from Jingzhou, nor was it enough to pacify the rebellion. If they had ten thousand men, they could dispatch scouts to monitor Jingzhou. However, with five thousand men, they could only wait for the enemy to attack.

“Send a state runner1 to Shouchun and request for reinforcements! I will first take five thousand men to Xinye’s!” Hao Shao compromised. Five thousand will guard the Yangtze River while the other five thousand would prevent the siege. On top of that, reinforcements from Shouchun is requested. The reinforcements will then pacify the rebellion while Hao Shao will take his men back to the Yangtze River.

“There is no other choice!” The messenger quickly rode out towards Shouchun. It would only take about a day for him to reach Shouchun. The people at Yangzhou quickly found out about the rebellion. Lu Bu immediately dispatched together with the Wolf Cavalry. A bloody storm was inevitable.

****

There is a… messaging service called the 八百里 (eight hundred li). Messages are generally delivered through post stations every twenty li (Reminder: each li is about 500m). When a message needs to be delivered, horses are changed at every twenty li, allowing the horses to ride as fast as possible. At its fastest, it could reach about eight hundred li in a day.

The Romans called it the cursus publicus, or state runner service. Though it would seem that their horses can run longer.

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