Chapter 512 The Art of Delay

Lin Changning happily led the grain transport team to Weihui. The grain routes and waterways on both sides of the road had been dredged. Who would have thought that they would run into the grain transport team from Yanjin?

They captured the grain in Yanjin with almost no effort. After escorting the grain back to Weihui, Lin Changning learned that the King of Chu and his men had gone to Mengjin.

However, it makes sense. If Mengjin can be captured within half a month, Luoyang will be within reach. Now that they have acquired grain, Lin Changning thought for a while and decided to take the grain to support the King of Chu.

Along their journey, as they attacked cities, in addition to their own food and supplies, they also distributed a considerable amount of grain to the people, so food supplies were naturally somewhat tight.

Old Qian had no objection to this, after all, his task was to guard Weihui and provide follow-up support for the army.

"Don't worry, Magistrate Lin. Wei Hui, I, Old Qian, am here. Nothing serious will happen. I will also have people check and guard the surrounding grain routes and waterways every day."

Lin Changning listened to what Lao Qian said and nodded to the man: "I kept a small portion of the grain; Commander Qian can dispose of it as he sees fit."

Old Qian rubbed his hands together, chuckled at Lin Changning's polite words, and said, "Prefect Lin is righteous. On behalf of the brothers, I, Old Qian, thank Prefect Lin."

The grain supply in each garrison is now fixed. Since the prince distributed the grain, although it is not a shortage, there is still some tension.

Eating until you're half full is fine, but eating until you're full is definitely a bit difficult.

Lin Changning gave him food; this kindness should be remembered.

At this time, the King of Chu had already arrived outside Mengjin City with Lao Qian and Lao Zhao. With an army of 40,000 men pressing in, the people in Mengjin City felt immense pressure.

There were only a little over 10,000 troops in the city.

These past two days, they have received another imperial decree from His Majesty ordering him to personally lead an expedition, which has made them even more troubled. The commander of Mengjin is a general who has risen through the ranks and is quite capable. In terms of defending the city, he is confident that he can hold off the King of Chu for a while.

As long as we can hold off the King of Chu for a while until people from other places arrive, then this battle can still be fought.

But now His Majesty actually wants to lead the expedition in person. After receiving the decree, Commander Wu sighed softly.

Thinking to himself, "Isn't His Majesty just making trouble? I heard that he's leading two dukes and all the available troops from Luoyang towards Mengjin."

It should arrive around tomorrow.

Commander Wu sighed softly, watching the four commanders below chattering noisily.

"Your Majesty's intentions are good, but the person on the other side is His Highness the Prince of Chu, who has been fighting on the frontier for many years. Wouldn't Your Majesty's arrival at this time just cause trouble?"

"Who says otherwise? His Majesty has never fought a war. When he comes to speak, should we listen or not?"

"Of course we have to listen. He's the emperor. How can we keep our official positions if we don't listen to him?"

Commander Wu slapped the table: "Alright, alright, stop arguing. Let's take it one step at a time and wait for His Majesty to arrive. Fortunately, His Majesty brought all the available troops in the capital with him this time, which is good news."

After all, the King of Chu was watching him from the outside, and he really didn't have much confidence that he could hold off the King of Chu for long with just the people in the city.

At this moment, the King of Chu was carefully examining the terrain map around Mengjin. Old Zhao and Old Qin stood beside the King of Chu, each looking at a different tributary beside Mengjin.

"Now the grain routes and waterways around the ferry have been occupied by our people, and it will be difficult for the imperial court to deliver supplies in the short term. If we want to launch a strong attack, it is not impossible. We have deployed 40,000 troops around the ferry."

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Lao Qin. Look, although the waterways here seem easy to attack, haven’t you noticed something? Mengjin City is already prepared. If the ferry crossing and various ships are burned down, our soldiers will be in trouble. We’re okay at fighting on land, but naval warfare is our weakness. Just going through the waterways and fighting a naval battle with others will be enough to make us landlubbers suffer on the frontier.”

The King of Chu nodded, inwardly agreeing with Old Zhao's words.

Their troops in Taiyuan were mostly cavalry and infantry, and were not good at swimming, but if they attacked Mengjin, a naval battle would be inevitable.

In his opinion, it would be better to proceed cautiously and steadily. First, seize the ferry crossings around Mengjin, occupy the high ground at various points, and then cut off supplies while launching a combined attack from the north gate with the main army.

"There are many ferry crossings on the various tributaries of Mengjin. Qin, you take men to seize all the ferry crossings below and launch a feint attack to attract the attention of most people in Mengjin. Zhao, you take men to seize the ferry crossings above and lead the army across to eliminate the troops stationed outside Mengjin."

The King of Chu planned the route in his mind, paused, and then continued, "Each of you take 10,000 men, and the rest will follow me. Once Old Zhao has dealt with most of the people outside Mengjin, he will help us cross the river, and we will take Mengjin in one fell swoop!"

Old Zhao and Old Qin exchanged a glance, feeling that there were no flaws in the plan, and then nodded and clasped their hands in greeting.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

At this moment, Commander Wu had already led everyone to welcome the emperor who was personally leading the expedition.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

A deafening sound erupted as most of the soldiers in Mengjin City knelt and kowtowed before the emperor, who was dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe and riding a white steed.

Commander Wu, who was in the lead, was extremely nervous, fearing that the emperor would take over command and give inappropriate orders.

The emperor looked at the soldiers kneeling below and raised his hand to signal them to stand up.

Turning around, he saw Commander Wu looking slightly nervous and dismounted: "Commander Wu, please rise quickly."

Commander Wu was somewhat flattered. After being helped up by the emperor, he looked a little nervous and said, "Your Majesty, you flatter me."

After the emperor helped him up, he smiled gently at the person.

"Why be so polite, my dear minister? Now, in the battle of Mengjin, I am counting on you to fight alongside me and punish the rebels!"

Commander Wu's smile froze for a moment: "Serving His Majesty with utmost loyalty is my duty."

The emperor straightened up, looked at Commander Wu, patted Commander Wu's arm, glanced at the two dukes behind him, sighed, and then pulled Commander Wu's sleeve and walked towards the tent.

The emperor knew Commander Wu to some extent. He had been stationed in Mengjin for many years and was capable of leading troops in battle. However, he was probably more suited to defending cities than to attack them. Therefore, the emperor did not intend to take over Commander Wu's command this time.

After all, he knows that professionals should do professional things.

He came here simply to boost morale; as long as he's here, the soldiers won't easily retreat.

As long as we can hold onto the dream and hold out until the main force arrives to reinforce us, we will surely win this battle!