The Exorcising the Dragon Gang's eastern force withdrew to Lihu.
Events proved that as long as some of the grassroots backbone could be persuaded and some of the core troops brought around, the entire half-uncontrolled army would turn with them.
Once the troops reached Lihu, however, what mattered was no longer one man's mouth, but tens of thousands of mouths-nothing soothed people better after a long march through the rainy season than a bowl of hot soup and a hot flatbread.
And if there were dry tents and fires to share beneath broad shelters, so much the better.
Unfortunately, Zhang Xing and the gang's western rear organization lacked the ability to provide everyone with hot water to soak their feet as well. Or rather, if they could truly manage that much, Zhang Laosan, the rebel lodged in Great Wei's very heart, would never have been driven into such desperate straits.
He would have dared take the initiative and lead twenty thousand troops against Xuzhou first.
Of course, the soldiers were not the only ones whose spirits recovered. The exhausted leaders recovered somewhat as well, but not enough, because Zhang Xing was clearly determined to fight. The very reason they were in such a sorry state was that, upon reaching Zhencheng, the gateway to Eastern Commandery, they had suddenly learned that the imperial troops had already mobilized, prompting them to continue retreating.
In other words, battle could descend upon them at any moment.
Under these circumstances, just as Wei Xuanding had said earlier, everyone had to be persuaded, and quickly.
"In terms of manpower, we now have forty thousand troops... and possibly another five thousand reinforcements. I've already sent someone to Mount Mangdang to tell Wang Zhen to head north immediately." Inside a fairly large tent, Zhang Xing stood beside a