When Ding Kuang heard the news, it struck him like a thunderbolt, leaving him utterly at a loss.
He was not a particularly outstanding man. By some people's private assessment, his outlook was no broader than that of an ordinary Wubao Lord in the Huai River region.
The fundamental reason he had become the Army Provisioning Officer of Liu Cheng's General of the Vanguard Army's Office, standing in the way of staff officers such as Quan Yi, Jiang Gan, and Fu Jian, who had pedigree, ability, and experience in abundance, was that his family was the local tiger of Qiao Commandery.
Now that he had heard of such a blow to his family's core strength, he naturally lost his composure.
"Zan County is all right," Jiang Gan blurted out, without the slightest regard for Ding Kuang's feelings. "Our defensive line along the Wo River hasn't been threatened."
"What's the situation with Prefect Zhou?" Liu Cheng asked directly.
"I think he should be fine." Jiang Gan smiled. "Qiao City has the Wo River at its back, and it was an important stronghold back when Zu Ti advanced through the Central Plains, fortifying every step. Its walls have now been repaired, and supplies are plentiful. There's no reason it shouldn't hold... but what really sets my mind at ease is that these Xianbei people have beaten the grass and startled the snake. Now that word has spread, Prefect Zhou will certainly mount a strict defense. A cavalry raid depends on arriving out of nowhere and striking us unprepared."
That was true. This was precisely what made cavalry formidable. Before Napoleon's era, logistics and reconnaissance all worked along those same lines. A commander could not respond promptly to events forty or fifty li away, while cavalry could race a hundred li in a