Marching North, Crossing the Yellow River Three Times

Marching North, Crossing the Yellow River Three Times

[In the great battle at Hulao Pass, you proved yourself.]

[Your father trusted you more and more, and Wang Yang even personally requested merit awards for the three of you, father and sons.]

[But unexpectedly, after the Lu Family Army's great victory and the slaying of thirty thousand enemies, Lu Jiaxuan, the supreme commander of the Lu Family Army, was only granted the post of Martial Merit Grand Master and Defense Commissioner of Chang Prefecture by the court.]

[Lu Yu and Lu Chen were actually only appointed as assistant generals in the army.]

[By contrast, Wang Yang was promoted to Military Commissioner of the Divine Martial Rear Army, commanding three provinces, and was appointed Grand Commandant, Principal Second Rank.]

[After Wang Yang learned of this, he submitted memorials several more times, speaking with utmost sincerity that the Lu family had achieved great merit and should not be treated this way, but the court rejected them one by one.]

[Wang Yang went to find your father, his face full of helplessness. Lu Jiaxuan's foundation was still too thin, and there was no one in court to speak up for him. Still, he comforted him, saying, "Jiaxuan, you have already gained the sage's favor. His Majesty mentioned you many times in the decree. Your promotion afterward is only a matter of time. You must not lose heart."]

["The current emperor devotes himself to governance and strives for order. He is a rare enlightened ruler, a lord of restoration."]

[Wang Yang held the authority over promotions, so he raised Lu Chen and Lu Yu to the fifty-seventh step of the first grade and appointed them deputy generals in the army. Otherwise, it would truly have been hard to calm the army's morale—after such enormous military merit, they had actually only received an unranked military post.]

[Your father, however, did not care.]

[Lu Yu said softly, "The emperor really is stingy to the bone."]

[Over the following year, the Lu Family Army entered a true period of rest and reorganization. With the assistance of Wang Yang, this superior officer, many affairs were handled quite smoothly.]

[This year, you were twenty-two. After two years of training troops, the Lu Family Army's numbers had reached twenty thousand.]

[Although North Wind often harassed the border, they were all small-scale battles. Every battle you took part in ended in victory.]

[You gained a bit of fame among the armies of the northern lands.]

[And Wang Yang's words, "a belly holding a thousand troops and ten thousand horses," had already become widely known.]

[The north welcomed a long-lost peace.]

[You possessed the talent of Insight into People, and among refugees and soldiers, your discerning eyes could always spot hidden talents and select shrewd, capable people.]

[Wang Yang saw that you handled matters steadily, acted in perfect order, and had never made a mistake in two years, and he praised your abilities highly.]

[Wang Yang was, after all, born a civil official and did not like military generals. Seeing your refined scholarly and Daoist air, he often discussed affairs of state with you, and your words always scratched right at his sore spot.]

[He liked you more and more.]

[In the third year, Wang Yang decided to betroth his beloved daughter to you, which was undoubtedly an acknowledgment of your talent and character.]

[Most voices within the Wang Clan opposed it. The Wang Clan was a great clan through the generations, and his grandfather and great-grandfather were even great Confucian scholars known throughout the land. They had served as Grand Tutors of two reigns and were pure-stream nobles of the court.]

[The Lu family was nothing more than a fallen poor family of the north. The difference in family status was enormous.]

[But Wang Yang ignored his family's obstruction and only replied with one sentence: "This child is absolutely no thing of the pond."]

[However, at the end of this year, the North Wind army invaded again, and this matter was delayed.]

[North Wind's four-hundred-thousand-strong army came attacking with menacing momentum, intent on annihilating Great Qing.]

[This year, the Lu Family Army also expanded to thirty thousand troops, and its strength increased greatly.]

[Hearing the news, therefore... you decided.]

1. Advise leading the army north.

2. Hold the city fast.

3. Personally participate (1/3)

Yu Ke looked at the three options and pondered for a while.

After three years of development, they had even fought eight thousand against forty thousand at Hulao Pass. What was there to be afraid of?

Besides, if they held fast at Hulao Pass, Tuoba Shuyi, who had most likely learned from his loss, would split his forces and head south along two routes.

They might as well march the army north.

Yu Ke directly chose 1, advise leading the army north.

[Your father learned of your suggestion, and his chest surged with emotion.]

[For twenty years, Great Qing had only defended cities, lost cities, and fled in sorry disarray. There had never been a time they marched north to meet the enemy.]

[When news of North Wind's invasion spread back to the south, hearts once again trembled in panic.]

[After all, twenty years of defeats had bent Great Qing's spine, and the only great victory had been at Hulao Pass.]

[News that the Lu Family Army was marching north began to thunder across the world. Most scholars of the south did not think well of it, feeling that the Lu Family Army was acting rashly, seeking fame, rank, wealth, and honor while disregarding Great Qing's mountains, rivers, state, and altars.]

[Memorials drifted like snowflakes into that prosperous yet heavy capital. The war faction and the surrender faction each argued with reason, and above the court, the disputes did not cease.]

[Finally, in the same year, an imperial decree came down from the court. One portion of the forces would hold Hulao Pass, while another portion would follow the Lu Family Army north.]

[In the spring of the next year, the Lu Family Army marched north.]

[After crossing the Yellow River, you encountered Tuoba Shuyi again.]

[After three years of tempering, you had already fully proven your ability. Your father entrusted all command authority to you, and you took your seat at the center.]

[The Lu Family Army was disciplined and strict, and all the generals had been promoted by your own hand. You knew their strengths and weaknesses like the back of your hand.]

[As for your father, he stood aside and filled in gaps and checked for omissions.]

[When Tuoba Shuyi learned that the true commander of the Lu Family Army was actually a youth of only twenty-odd years, his heart filled with contempt.]

[When he then heard that the exquisite planning at Hulao Pass had also come from the mouth of this twenty-year-old youth, he scoffed even more and thought inwardly, When an age has no heroes, it lets a brat make his name.]

[Tuoba Shuyi could not help sneering, "Lu Jiaxuan, that old fox, is most likely advanced in years, muddleheaded and incompetent, yet unwilling to hand power over to another. He can only pass it to his son and pave the road for him."]

[Most of the North Wind Profound Kingdom's generals echoed him.]

[The contempt in Tuoba Shuyi's heart toward the Lu family grew even deeper, and flames of revenge burned fiercely in his chest.]

[His crushing defeat at Hulao Pass last time had not been his true strength. It was only because of a moment of carelessness.]

[This time, he would wash away his former shame and cleanse the humiliation of Hulao Pass.]

[Tuoba Shuyi led an army of one hundred thousand and encountered the Lu Family Army you led.]

[The two armies faced off.]

[You sat upright in the military tent, your bearing composed, issuing orders in an orderly fashion. Every command was like a sharp arrow aimed straight at the vital point, swiftly spreading through the whole army, with none disobeying.]

[In the first clash, Tuoba Shuyi deeply sensed that you were extraordinary. Though you were young, your use of troops was seasoned.]

[After several clashes, Tuoba Shuyi tried to use stratagems, deliberately exposing flaws to lure you deep in.]

[However, you saw through the first move, turned his own trick against him, and counterattacked cleverly, ultimately winning a small victory.]

[Within that month, you clashed dozens of times.]

[Your deployment of troops and formations was steady, yet not lacking in decisive action at the critical moment, making Tuoba Shuyi see you with new eyes. Several times, he moved your name forward on the roster, and his regard for you grew with each passing day.]

[In the battle of Chan County, you made use of the advantage of terrain and, at the cost of three thousand soldiers lost, slew more than ten thousand enemies.]

[After this battle, Tuoba Shuyi became even more wary of you by three parts. In using troops, you knew the timing of Heaven, understood the advantage of terrain, and were skilled in the harmony of men.]

[In only three months, his view of you had become as different as Heaven and earth. Many times in the military tent, he called you "a famed commander of the present age, a master of military law."]

[He deeply understood that even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit, so he gathered an army of three hundred thousand, intending to crush you in one stroke on the frontal battlefield.]

[However, you did not choose to fight him head-on, nor did you choose to flee south.]

[You led the army across the Yellow River, feigning a march north, while in truth secretly crossing at Chencang.]

[Tuoba Shuyi pursued relentlessly, but he did not expect that you would cross the Yellow River again, split your army into three routes, and make Tuoba Shuyi pounce on empty air.]

[Thus, Tuoba Shuyi hurriedly split his forces to encircle you, intending to capture you in one stroke.]

[Tuoba Shuyi was furious. He had not expected that you would cross the Yellow River yet again and vanish.]

[While Tuoba Shuyi's forces were split, you descended like divine soldiers from the heavens, slew more than twenty thousand enemies, and shook the entire army with awe.]

[By the time he encircled you again, you had crossed the Yellow River and gone.]