Chapter 122: Troops Reach Lingnan, Fires on Dayu Mountain (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Unlike the last time they left Luoyang, the passage of time made everyone feel the ruthlessness of the years.

Gu Ye is no longer that twelve-year-old boy who could bring people countless hopes.

For many in the imperial court.

In this campaign, what they yearn for is not a great victory, but for Gu Ye to return safely.

Even Zhong Hui has changed somewhat.

He is older than Gu Ye and is now nearing the age of sixty, yet his ambition remains undimmed as he gallops through the imperial court.

This is also the difference brought about by the appearance of the Gu Shizi.

In the original history, Zhong Hui was loyal to Sima Shi, and his final end was not satisfactory.

But now—

The Sima family had long since vanished under the iron hooves of Gu Chen.

Even the Prime Minister passed away with a smile.

The emergence of the Gu Shizi ultimately changed too much history, thereby causing the trajectories of many people's fates to undergo tremendous shifts.

"Zhaode."

At the Champion Marquis Mansion, Zhong Hui, whose temples were already streaked with gray, stared intently at Gu Ye, as if he had a thousand words to say, but in the end, they only converged into one sentence: "No matter what, you must come back!"

"Our great cause is not yet finished; no matter what, you must come back!"

"Must come back."

His eye sockets gradually turned red, and he kept repeating those four words in a murmur.

Gu Yi watched this scene silently.

He did not interfere too much with Gu Ye.

Parting is always depressing.

Zhang Hua cared even more about Gu Ye's safety than Zhong Hui; these past few days, he had been almost unable to sleep, wanting to find ways to avoid miasma from various records.

Although the Gu Shizi already possessed these methods.

He still wanted to do his utmost to provide Gu Ye with an extra layer of protection.

He was also no longer young.

Compared to who he was in the original history, he is working much harder now.

This is also a quality that is becoming increasingly rare in the modern era.

He must live up to Gu Chen's assessment of him!

Parting arrived in this silent atmosphere.

The seventeenth year of Qianji, August;

—Gu Ye leaves Luoyang again after several years.

At the moment of departure.

Liu Chen led the people of Luoyang and the officials of the court to see them off.

This scene had occurred many times, but every time, the situation was just as moving.

Generation after generation of Gu Shizi stepped out of this city for the sake of the world and the family.

An unconcealable atmosphere of sorrow permeated the entire city of Luoyang.

In the crowd, there were white-haired elders leaning on canes, their eyes full of reluctance and concern;

There were women holding young children, their tears already soaking their collars, and the children in their arms seemed to feel the sorrowful atmosphere, wailing loudly;

The young men, though not shedding tears, bit their lips tightly, their gazes filled with respect and worry.

Gu Ye walked slowly to Liu Chen, bowed respectfully to him, and said sonorously: "Your Majesty, we will surely fight to the death, not failing Your Majesty's trust, nor failing the people of the Great Han!"

"All soldiers, be careful on this journey, I..."

Liu Chen nodded slightly, slowly pulled Gu Ye up, his voice low but full of strength: "The people and I await your triumphant return!"

Await your triumphant return!

A simple sentence that contained a thousand words.

Gu Ye nodded, then turned and left.

This battle was destined to be extremely difficult.

Its fatal aspect was that the army had to march while facing changes in the environment.

This is also one of the most serious problems faced by the expedition to Lingnan.

High temperatures, miasma, lack of acclimatization, dense population.

There were simply too many factors that could cause the Han army to fall ill, thereby triggering chaos in the army.

In fact, this is also the greatest disadvantage of expeditions in feudal dynasties.

A dense army would become a breeding ground for bacteria, spreading through the ranks.

For this reason, Gu Yi made many preparations.

He divided the entire army into three routes.

—The eastern route army of thirty thousand marched south from Yuzhang Commandery along the Gan River, passing through Luling and Nanye, crossing Meiguan to enter the Zhen River, and heading straight for Panyu.

Among them, the water route was the main one.

It was further subdivided into many units precisely to avoid large-scale illness and injury.

—The central route army of thirty thousand dredged the Ling Canal from the Qin Dynasty from Lingling Commandery, connecting the Xiang River and Li River water systems, reaching Cangwu directly.

The goal was to completely control the Li River.

As long as the Li River could be controlled, the Shanyue's retreat to the west could be completely cut off.

And it could form a pincer attack with the eastern route to suppress the Liao tribes north of the mountains.

The western route army of forty thousand marched along the Yuan River from Wuling Commandery.

The details were countless.

Gu Yi could be said to have made full preparations, including the location chosen for camping; including the requirement that drinking water must be boiled and settled; including sleeping in hammocks to prevent snakes and insects, and everything else, he had already given instructions.

Gu Yi could clearly feel his own progress compared to the last time he was in control.

If nothing else.

He might not yet be able to match the judgment of the overall war situation of those generals who left their names in history, but he already had the ability to oversee the whole situation.

This is Gu Yi's progress!

The most critical thing is—

Gu Yi possessed a vision they did not have, using some modern knowledge to minimize the various risks they might face.

He chose to march in August because he had his own judgment.

As the saying goes, the autumn air is crisp.

Spring and summer are the rainy seasons in the Liangguang region; moving troops at such a time would absolutely be a disaster for the soldiers of the Great Han.

As for the troops led by Wen Yang, Gu Yi also gave him unique arrangements this time.

He abandoned the armor of the Han army and instead had them use rattan armor woven by the Southwestern Barbarians.

This was also Gu Yi's comprehensive consideration.

The environment of Lingnan is ultimately very different from the Central Plains, and the heavy armor of the Han army might become a burden for these elites under such conditions.

But rattan armor is different.

And facing the bows and arrows of the Shanyue, rattan armor is sufficient for defense.

These people are all elites.

Gu Yi must let them exert their absolute combat effectiveness.

The army marched forward.

Where Gu Ye was, was the main force of this battle—the eastern route army.

Although Gu Yi had already reached the limit of this era.

But as the army continued to march.

Various problems still appeared in the army one after another.

Illness and injury were unavoidable.

Long-term marching is destined to cause illness and injury; this is the inevitability of an expedition, and Gu Yi could only avoid the expansion of illness and injury.

October;

The army approached Lingnan, and the abnormal environment finally caused disease.

Gu Yi immediately carried out isolation at the first opportunity.

Besides that, Gu Yi took out the three "Miasma-Avoiding Pills" in his hand, dissolved one of them in water, and let the soldiers drink it.

Although he did not know whether this "Miasma-Avoiding Pill" would still work after such dilution.

After all, this Miasma-Avoiding Pill was only a mortal-grade item.

But no matter what, he had to try.

As for the remaining two.

He had to keep them.

One was to be left for Gu Ye, and the other was for great generals like Wen Yang.

This was a trade-off he had to make.

Gu Yi could only do his best to reduce the casualties caused by this.

As for the casualties on the central and western routes, they would only be greater.

Although Gu Yi had already imparted some basic knowledge to the generals of these two armies, this point was also inevitable.

The news continued to spread.

An offensive of such scale had naturally already spread far and wide.

Whether it was the Great Han or the Gu Shizi, both would make the Shanyue feel incomparable dread.

Facing the Han Army that had already charged over.

The Shanyue tribes immediately sent envoys, wishing to see Gu Ye.

After all, as far as they were concerned.

The policy between the Great Han and the Shanyue had already persisted for so many years.

They did not understand why Gu Ye would suddenly mobilize troops.

"I shall say this again!"

"You all have no choice but to surrender completely and honor the laws of our Great Han; if not, you shall face the heavenly soldiers of our Great Han!"

Inside the main tent.

Looking at the envoys sent by various tribes before him, Gu Yi controlled Gu Ye and spoke in a cold voice.

"Grand General."

The expressions of the group of envoys were incomparably ugly; they had not expected Gu Ye's attitude to be so resolute.

"Our tribes have maintained a century of friendship with the Great Han and have never caused chaos."

"Why does the Grand General treat us this way? Could it be that this is the etiquette of the Great Han?"

The crowd spoke one after another.

All were emphasizing the good relations their tribes had maintained with the Great Han over these years.

Facing the fierce Han Army, no one wanted to start a war directly.

But how could it be possible to let them be completely integrated into the Great Han?

These envoys understood the culture of the Great Han very well.

They wanted to use the etiquette of the Great Han to restrain Gu Ye.

Such methods might work on others, but how could they possibly influence Gu Yi?

He simply could not be bothered to waste words.

He also could not be bothered to cite examples to refute when these tribal envoys had betrayed the Great Han; he simply waved his hand and had them driven out.

This battle was destined to be unavoidable.

Facing the overbearing Gu Ye.

These Shanyue, just like in previous years, once again formed a coalition army.

They could not possibly surrender.

The matter of the northern frontier, after so many years, was no longer a secret in Lingnan.

It could be said—

If they truly surrendered to the Han Army, those who would be affected were the actual power-holders of these tribes.

With them there, it was destined that it could not end peacefully.

And for these people.

They did not believe the Han Army would stay in a place like Lingnan forever; even if they truly lost this battle, the Han Army would just leave directly as they did in the past.

If so, what did they have to fear?

The entire Shanyue coalition army immediately set up defenses along the southern section of the Meiguan Ancient Road.

This was also one of the gateways for the Han Army to step into the north of Lingnan.

Although the Shanyue were lagging behind the Great Han in general.

But after years of contact, they also had an understanding of some of the Han Army's combat methods.

The most critical thing was—they were familiar with the local terrain.

The Han Army indeed had to break through the Meiguan Ancient Road.

Their guess was not wrong, but the only thing they failed to account for was the existence of Gu Han.

Gu Yi did not count on Gu Han providing him with much help on this trip.

To him.

Gu Han had already done enough.

He maintained the habits of a Gu Shizi and sent back the topographical map of the Lingnan region to Gu Yi.

Having this thing was enough!

The eighteenth year of Qianji, November.

Gu Yi officially launched the offensive against the Meiguan Ancient Road.

He ordered Wen Yang to serve as the vanguard to attack the city head-on, attracting the attention of the garrison.

And secretly dispatched a surprise force.

Carrying hooks and ropes, they followed the woodcutter paths to circle behind the Shanyue stockade to create chaos.

In this battle, Gu Yi had to be decisive.

Just like the battle of the northern frontier back then, he wanted to decide the outcome in one battle.

The Gu family still had prestige among the Shanyue.

As long as he could crush the will of these people to resist, he would be able to completely control the entire Lingnan in a short time.

As for dragging it out.

That would absolutely be self-consumption for the Han Army.

The resistance of the Shanyue was very tribal in nature.

Facing the offensive of Wen Yang, they only resisted for a few waves before they completely realized the bravery of Wen Yang.

They knew they could not hard-clash with his sharpness.

Afterwards, they immediately utilized the local characteristics; while resisting, they actually used the bees raised in the tribes to harass the Han Army.

This was indeed a method Gu Yi had not anticipated.

When the dense swarms of bees rushed out of the hives, even Wen Yang found it difficult to exert his strength.

The dense swarms of bees would always find the gaps in the rattan armor.

Gu Yi immediately thought of a countermeasure.

He had the soldiers light fires to create smoke to drive away the bees, and continuously tightened the encirclement to create opportunities for the surprise force.

The methods of these tribes were indeed bizarre.

To the contemporary era, they might be unsolvable and also possessed a deceptive quality.

A moment of carelessness could make people think they could control wild beasts.

But for Gu Yi, who possessed modern knowledge, these methods were simply not enough to affect the overall situation.

As for the morale of the Han Army?

Gu Ye was here.

How could the morale of the Han Army be shaken?

This battle was destined to be incomparably desperate for the Shanyue tribes.

Their various methods were simply useless against the Han Army; due to the backwardness of their technology, their weapons and arrows could not penetrate the rattan armor at all.

The casualties caused were not even as high as those who died from disease.

The nineteenth year of Qianji, January.

A great fire brought the war of the entire Meiguan Ancient Road to a close.

The Han Army officially broke through the gateway of Lingnan.

And charged into Lingnan.

At the same time, the central army also encountered the enemy.

Both sides started a great battle at Qintihuazui.

The Shanyue tribes threw poisonous herbs into the Ling Canal, attempting to make the Han Army collapse from within.

But fortunately, Gu Yi had taught the soldiers filtration methods before this, including boiling water, etc.

Although this method could not completely filter out all toxins.

But do not forget, the Han Army originally had its own methods.

After discovering that the drinking water had problems, the Han Army added alum to remove impurities on top of a series of basics.

Under these various methods—

The toxins, which could not be considered fatal to begin with, could not play any role at all.

When these methods lost their effect.

The advantage of the Han Army was fully reflected; although the Han Army still could not solve the disadvantages brought by environmental factors.

But what of it?

The overall strength of the Great Han was already far, far beyond the Shanyue!

This was a disadvantage the Shanyue could not make up for.

March;

The western army ambushed at Chenxi Etan.

Facing the endless Han Army, the entire southern frontier shook.

Since the time of Emperor Wu of the Great Han, the entire Southern Frontier has once again welcomed its conqueror.

And this time—

It is even more resolute than it was back then!

Gu Yi is not seeking a momentary achievement; what he wants is for Lingnan to be thoroughly integrated into the Nine Provinces!

At the very least, it must not remain as incompatible with the Nine Provinces as it is now!

——————

"The Flame Han dynasty is one of the most charismatic dynasties in the history of our country's feudal dynasties.

This is not only because of its unique political characteristics, such as the 'Ten Directions Expedition Envoys' who could stand alongside imperial power, and the formation of the imperial examination system.

It is even more so because of the ethnic integration policy implemented during the Qianji reign.

This move completely reversed the situation of opposition between Han and non-Han peoples that had existed since ancient times in our country, and it laid a sufficient foundation for the unified development of our nation.

What is indisputable is—

Looking at all subsequent dynasties, one can see traces of the Flame Han system in all of them.

And the pacification of the Northern Frontier and Lingnan

also thoroughly demonstrates that the overall strength of the Flame Han had completely surpassed all previous dynasties."

——《History of the Rise and Fall of the Flame Han Dynasty》

(End of this chapter)