Chapter 1046: "Mobilizing Troops"

"Hmm, a few days ago, we received intelligence that Ma Mengqi (Ma Chao) has taken the position of Qiang King. Additionally, due to his accomplishments in pacifying the Qiang, he was promoted to a second-rank official and granted the title of Marquis," Jia Xu remarked, seemingly talking to himself, though it was clear whom he was addressing in this context.

"Second-rank? I thought all second-rank positions were already filled. Who stepped down?" Fa Zheng asked curiously, showing no signs of concern. It seemed that, even with Ma Chao reaching such heights, Fa Zheng didn’t consider him a threat. After all, Ma Chao had only two possible paths in the future.

"The Emperor granted him a special position. It didn’t exist before, but in light of his merits, a decree was issued to bestow this unique title," Jia Xu explained, still watching to see if this would pique Fa Zheng’s interest. However, Fa Zheng just stared at him, unperturbed.

"It seems your patience has grown as well. Ma Chao was also bestowed the title of ‘General of Divine Might,’ though this was mainly to appease the Qiang people. The original title should have been ‘General Who Supports the State,’" Guo Jia interrupted, cutting off Jia Xu’s next words, leaving Jia Xu momentarily speechless.

"Do we have any information on how he won the battle?" Fa Zheng wasn’t particularly interested in what titles Ma Chao had received. He was more curious about Ma Chao’s abilities, especially since someone so young could fight so well.

"There’s no detailed intelligence. We only know that he killed a Qiang elder who had achieved the ‘Internal Energy Separation’ level, defeated two other ordinary Internal Energy Separation fighters, and even faced one at the pinnacle of that level," Jia Xu replied, shaking his head.

His intelligence network hadn’t yet reached a point of fine detail in Liangzhou. The information they did have came from the network Li You had set up, which hadn’t been completely dismantled yet. Without that, his situation would have been even worse.

"Alright, let’s put that aside for now. Gongsun Shengji (Gongsun Du) has deployed his troops, and we need to make some internal adjustments in Jizhou. Even though the truce agreement states that no one will initiate hostilities, it doesn’t say we can’t conduct exercises within our own borders," Chen Xi said, cutting off the conversation about Ma Chao and bringing the discussion back to the main topic.

The fate of the Western Xianbei had already been sealed. The Qiang and Hu who were supposed to support them had been subdued by Ma Chao. With some coordination, combined with an alliance with Cao Cao—having the Qiang and Hu attack from behind while Cao Cao struck from the front—if they could stall the Xianbei long enough to break their morale, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Xianbei would be wiped out. If any managed to return alive, it would be miraculous.

This battle was essentially a foregone conclusion. The Xianbei were doomed from the moment they invaded Bingzhou. If it weren’t for the need to use hundreds of thousands of civilians as bait, the battle would have become a textbook encirclement campaign.

However, this situation made Chen Xi somewhat disgusted. Using civilians as bait without being able to protect them was disgraceful, even if they were short on veteran soldiers.

"Leave this matter to me. Among us, only I and Xiaozhi have the time to handle it," Guo Jia immediately volunteered without a second thought.

The others nodded in agreement. It was true—aside from Guo Jia and Fa Zheng, everyone else was occupied with important matters. While Chen Xi was technically free at the moment, once the central treasury was moved to Taishan, he would be overwhelmed with work, and only Chen Xi could handle that task.

"If that’s the case, then I’ll leave it to Fengxiao..." Liu Bei began to formally appoint Guo Jia, preparing to assign him the military role necessary to head to the Jizhou-Youzhou border.

"I don’t think Fengxiao should go," Chen Xi interrupted, tugging at his lips. Guo Jia might look fine now, but his health wasn’t great. While he could handle normal conditions, sending him to such a harsh environment might be fatal.

"Why not?" Guo Jia frowned, about to ask for an explanation when Liu Bei spoke on his behalf.

"His health is not in the best shape. That region is already part of the northern territories. Summer would be fine, but come winter, even with adequate heating and caretakers, Fengxiao’s frail body... Well, let’s not talk further. It would be like cursing someone," Chen Xi said, stopping himself from saying more.

Cough, cough, cough. "Fengxiao, perhaps you should reconsider," Liu Bei said after coughing twice, unwilling to risk Guo Jia’s life. With so few people available, there was no need to send Guo Jia into a situation where his body might fail him.

Ignoring Guo Jia’s resigned expression, Liu Bei looked at the group of senior officials in front of him. It seemed that almost all of them needed some level of care. Even the most pathetic of them, Lu Su, was still wrapped in a heavy blanket. Fortunately, Liu Bei wasn’t the type to get caught up in such small details.

"I think all of you need to see Physician Hua (Hua Tuo) for another checkup," Liu Bei said, recalling the health reports Hua Tuo had given after examining this group of officials last time.

Among his top advisors, the healthiest were actually Jia Xu, who looked almost ethereal, and Man Chong, who wasn’t present. The rest were either suffering from one ailment or another, exhausted from overwork, or consuming all sorts of strange things. Not one of them was free of worry.

Scanning the room, Liu Bei found that none of them were suitable for the task. Then, one person came to mind, followed by another, and then a whole group of potential candidates.

[It seems I need to mobilize the military doctors quickly. I wouldn’t have remembered if Zichuan hadn’t reminded me. More than half of these people aren’t in great health,] Liu Bei thought to himself, making a mental note.

"How about we send Yuan Zhi (Xu Shu) to the Jizhou-Youzhou border to conduct military intimidation?" Liu Bei suggested after some thought. Among his officials, Xu Shu was probably the healthiest, and he could even serve as a general if needed.

"That seems like the best option," Li You immediately agreed. It was clear that none of the others were suitable. Fa Zheng was already entering the marriage phase and had taken leave, though he was still present out of duty. The rest weren’t in any position to leave either.

"Deploy Wei Wenchang (Wei Yan) and Huang Hansheng’s (Huang Zhong’s) legions to the north for pressure," Liu Bei said after some further consideration.

"Agreed," Lu Su responded, calculating their available military forces. "But we’ll need to select new generals to guard the western parts of Yanzhou and Yuzhou. Also, we’ll need to replace the provincial governor and military commanders in Yuzhou."

Liu Bei nodded lightly. Currently, Yanzhou was being garrisoned by Yu Jin’s Qingzhou army, with Chen Zhi assisting in the defense. However, with Chen Zhi being reassigned following Wang Xiu’s appointment as the governor of Fenggao and Jiang Wan becoming the governor of Bohai, it was inevitable that Chen Zhi would return to his original position. Likewise, Yu Jin, being a master at training troops, couldn’t remain in Yanzhou for too long.

The original plan was to send Wei Yan to Yanzhou to defend Chenliu against Cao Cao and to station Huang Zhong near Yuzhou to suppress Jingzhou. Huang Zhong’s reputation in Jingzhou was well known, and deploying him there could save some troops. After all, with their rapid territorial expansion, Taishan was starting to face a shortage of manpower.

Previous Chapter | | Next Chapter