Liu Zhao never expected that Jia Lingyun’s move to cripple two cities would have such devastating consequences.
After his threat, Jia Lingyun did not remain idle; he split his forces into northern and southern prongs, driving toward the State of Shu. The northern army, led by Gao Kuohai as commander-in-chief and Han Ling as his deputy, gathered 150,000 troops from the Tieshan Army and the Youzhou Provincial Army, marching majestically toward Hanzhong. The southern army, led by Cheng Han, took command of 100,000 Brave Champion Army soldiers to assault Yizhou.
The roads of Shu are notoriously difficult to traverse, more arduous than climbing to the heavens. Liu Zhao had assumed the Han Army would be crippled by supply line logistics, so she ordered the three surviving Five Tiger Generals of Shu—Zhang Cuo, Zhao Fei, and Huang She—to do everything in their power to destroy the enemy’s grain supply. To her shock, the Han Army moved with incredible speed. Later, investigations by the Baihao Troops revealed that the Han Army had solved their supply problem by utilizing the Wooden Ox, a marvel left behind by Lin Weidao. While the roads of Shu were treacherous, to the Wooden Ox, every path was a smooth highway.
Chapter 864