Chapter 494 The Enemy is at the Gates (First Update)
For the next few days, snow fell heavily, and they were trapped in the cave. Gu Jiao practiced archery in the cave when she had nothing to do.
Tang Yueshan regretted it as soon as he woke up last night after giving Gu Jiao some pointers. This girl was an enemy of the Tang family, and he shouldn't have taught her, no matter who he taught.
As luck would have it, Gu Chengfeng knew how to shoot arrows, and when he saw Gu Jiao drawing her bow in the cave, he came over to give her pointers.
He held nothing back from Gu Jiao, sharing everything he knew without reservation. He even made a simple target out of a shield and firewood and hung it on the rock wall for Gu Jiao to shoot at.
Gu Chengfeng's archery skills were not bad, after all, he was a young master of a marquis's family. Even the weakest of them, Gu Chenglin, had been skilled in archery since childhood. However, Gu Chengfeng's level was only high among ordinary people. Compared to the archers of the Tang family, he was not good enough.
It's not that Tang Yueshan is bragging, but any archer from the Tang family could easily outshine Gu Chengfeng's archery skills.
Even the worst archers in the Tang family are required to be able to hit a target from a hundred paces away.
Tang Yueshan really couldn't stand the few techniques Gu Chengfeng had taught Gu Jiao.
“You can’t go wrong by listening to me!” Gu Chengfeng said to Gu Jiao.
Tang Yueshan rolled his eyes in disdain. "You think it's right? It's clearly wrong everywhere! Can you draw a bow like that? Can you aim an arrow like that?"
This is even more unbearable than Gu Jiao pulling the wrong bow.
Then Tang Yueshan acted as a donkey again.
Tang Yueshan is a donkey every day.
We kept going on the donkey until the snow stopped.
The old Marquis's postoperative infection disappeared. He was a bit old, but because he had practiced martial arts for many years, his physique was no less than that of a young man, and his wound healed well. Tang Yueshan's wound was even better.
Gu Jiao then removed the stitches from the two wounds on Tang Yueshan's thigh.
The group walked through the woods and arrived at a small village on the outskirts of Lingguan City. Gu Jiao bought an oxcart from a villager, exchanged the ox for her two horses, and gave the other horse to Tang Yueshan.
Tang Yueshan mounted his horse and said to the two men, "If you keep going along this road, you will reach Yuegu City."
Gu Chengfeng, leading his horse, hesitated for a moment, then looked at Tang Yueshan and said, "You... really want to go to Yecheng alone? Perhaps—"
He wanted to say, "Why don't you come back to Yuegu City with us first? After my grandfather is settled, I will go to Ye City with you."
Gu Chengfeng wasn't very interested in helping Tang Yueshan, but the imperial army was trapped in Yecheng after all. He was no longer the naive young man who came to the border. With the border war raging and the country in ruins, as a son of Zhao, he could no longer stay out of it.
Gu Chengfeng didn't say these words aloud, but Tang Yueshan understood what he was going to say. Tang Yueshan said, "If we can solve this with fewer people, I can solve it myself. If we can't solve it with fewer people, even if you two are added, it won't help. You'd better not go and die."
The fighting power of one person and three people may differ on the arena, but there is almost no difference in front of tens of thousands of troops on the battlefield.
Gu Chengfeng found his words very reasonable, and he couldn't refute them.
The group then went their separate ways.
Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng took the old Marquis back to Yuegu City, while Tang Yueshan hurried to Ye City.
"What do you think he'll do?" Gu Chengfeng asked with concern.
Gu Jiao also wanted to know what method Tang Yueshan had come up with. Tang Yueshan didn't seem like the kind of person who would impulsively throw his life away; he must have some kind of plan in mind.
Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng returned to Yuegu City.
The situation in Moon City was three times more tense than before they left. Almost all the shops on the main street were closed, and there were no pedestrians on the road. It was as if a storm was about to break.
"Is this what happens when war is about to break out?" Gu Chengfeng said with mixed feelings.
Gu Jiao gave a faint "hmm".
The battle for three cities broke out first. The people of Yuegu City were almost fully prepared, but even so, it could not change the fact that it eventually became a living hell. It was the most tragic city in the border region.
The Chen army massacred the city here.
Men, women, children, the elderly, the weak, and even livestock were not spared.
The carriage arrived at the governor's residence.
When they came out to greet them, it was still Master Hu.
After several days apart, Master Hu looked more haggard than before. He rushed out, clutching his official hat, and said excitedly and in surprise, "Oh dear, you two gentlemen are finally back! You left without saying goodbye that night, which frightened me to death! I thought something had happened to you..."
Gu Chengfeng frowned impatiently: "Alright, stop talking and hurry up and go into the manor."
It was windy outside, and they were freezing to death after being blown around all the way!
"Yes, yes, yes!" Master Hu hurriedly agreed. He led the way and, inadvertently, noticed a person lying on the makeshift cart.
When the old Marquis came to the border, he and Tang Yueshan stayed at the Prefect's residence. Hu, the clerk, received them there. Hu quickly recognized the old Marquis and was surprised: "Old Marquis Gu! You...you went to Ye City to rescue people?"
Everyone thought the old Marquis was imprisoned in Ye City.
Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng disappeared after staying for one night. Master Hu and the Prefect had suspected their identities, guessing that they might not be people sent by the court, but just two imposters who came to the Prefect's mansion to gather information.
Seeing that they brought the old Marquis back now has overturned the previous doubts.
Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng did not mention that they rescued the person in Lingguan City.
However, judging from Hu Shiye's reaction, it can be seen that at least for the time being, the Prefect's Office has not colluded with the Chen army and the remnants of the previous dynasty.
The prefectural government is currently relatively safe.
"Enter the mansion," Gu Chengfeng said to Master Hu in a deep voice.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes! Come in now! The courtyard from last time is still reserved for you two!" Master Hu, sweating profusely, led the people into the prefect's mansion.
It was impossible to keep the courtyard for the two of them. Master Hu kept giving the servants meaningful glances, and the servants were quick-witted enough to rush ahead of the two and chase the people out of the courtyard.
"No one has lived here for a few days, and the house is dusty. I'll have someone clean it up first. Please come to the study and have a seat," said Master Hu with a smile.
Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng saw through the situation but didn't say anything. They first took out the stretcher and had the servants carry the old Marquis into the study.
The house was quickly tidied up. The innermost room was still where Gu Jiao lived, while Gu Chengfeng and the old Marquis lived next door, in the room where Gu Chengfeng originally lived.
This time, the governor of Yuegu City was at his residence, and he personally came to pay his respects to the two men, trying to subtly inquire about their identities, but unfortunately, the two men didn't say a word.
The prefect couldn't quite figure out the two men's background, but seeing that they had rescued the old Marquis from the perilous city of Ye, he realized that they were no ordinary people and didn't dare to offend them for the time being.
The prefect's surname was Cheng, and he was thirty-nine years old this year. Perhaps it was due to the hardships of the frontier, but he looked much older than his actual age.
Prefect Cheng cupped his hands in greeting to the two men sitting in chairs and said, "Excuse my bluntness, but Yuegu City is about to be at war. Do you two gentlemen know when the imperial reinforcements will arrive?"
Gu Chengfeng said calmly, "The imperial army is already on its way. It will arrive when the time is right. How many troops are currently guarding Yuegu City?"
"Five thousand," the prefect said sheepishly.
"Only five thousand?" Gu Chengfeng exclaimed in astonishment. "How can it be so little!"
The governor said helplessly, "Moon City is just a small city. There were no troops stationed there originally. Half of these five thousand people were temporarily conscripted."
Those who were temporarily conscripted were basically just sent to their deaths on the battlefield.
Gu Chengfeng fell silent. He truly hadn't expected the situation in Yuegu City to be so dire. With such a small force, if the remnants of the previous dynasty and the Chen Kingdom's army were to launch an attack on Yuegu City, it would be utterly defeated.
"You may leave now. We'll call you if we need anything," Gu Chengfeng said to Prefect Cheng.
Prefect Cheng cupped his hands in greeting: "If you two gentlemen need anything, please feel free to call me at any time."
After Prefect Cheng left, Gu Chengfeng said to the servants guarding the door, "You are no longer needed here, you may all leave."
"Yes." The servants all withdrew from the courtyard.
Gu Chengfeng naturally poured Gu Jiao a cup of hot tea and said, "Have some water first."
Gu Jiao picked up her teacup and took a small sip.
Gu Chengfeng poured himself a cup, and after drinking half of it, he put down the cup and sighed, saying, "I don't know when my elder brother's army will arrive. If they launch an attack on Yuegu City now, I'm afraid these five thousand men won't be able to hold it."
In the dream, Yuegu City did indeed fall, and the Gu family army only arrived after the city had been massacred.
The tragedy in Yuegu City was no one Gu's fault but the Gu family army. After receiving the imperial order, Gu Changqing rushed back to the capital as quickly as possible, and then quickly reorganized the Gu family army, leading 100,000 troops northward.
Unfortunately, not all 100,000 troops were cavalry. Given the current road conditions and military equipment in Zhao, the infantry's marching speed could not exceed 100 li per day, otherwise it would affect their combat effectiveness. Furthermore, due to the border climate, the closer they got to the north, the slower their marching speed would be, and they might even encounter heavy snow blocking the mountain passes.
Not to mention that the speed of an army's march does not actually depend on the fastest cavalry or the second fastest infantry, but on the slowest baggage train.
The baggage included provisions, tents, weapons, and siege equipment.
An army without supplies is like an unarmed soldier; it will soon be unable to fight.
Considering all this, it's already a miracle that Gu Changqing was able to arrive with his army a few days later.
“Five days,” Gu Jiao said.
"What five days?" Gu Chengfeng asked.
“Your older brother,” Gu Jiao said.
If she remembered correctly, Gu Changqing arrived with the Gu family army five days later.
But two days later, the Chen army will come to massacre the city.
Fangfangzai wants monthly tickets again today!
(End of this chapter)
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