The first month of the second year of Yongjia (AD 308).
Half a month after Liu Yu's message to attack Gou Xi was sent out, the Donglai Army had just completed all preparations and officially began to march westward.
Because Dongnae County is surrounded by the sea on three sides, only a very small number of troops are needed to defend it.
This time, Liu Yu mobilized an army of nearly 50,000 people. Of course, half of them were logistics and transportation personnel. The main force was basically less than 10,000 people from Liu Yu's direct lineage and newly attached Qidi tycoons.
Xue Qi, Yan family, Gao family and others who came from a powerful family in Qi were all appointed to the positions of Cao Lingshi, Supervisor, Zhonglang and other positions in the Qingzhou Governor's Department.
As for the higher-level positions such as Biejia, Sima, and County Sheriff, they are of course vacant and reserved for the more powerful people in Qi.
These powerful children of Qi were basically gathered by Liu Yu to hold official positions, so the command of their troops naturally fell into Liu Yu's hands and was assigned to Dong Ping, Gongsun Sheng, Li Feng and others. .
Naturally, powerful people like Ju Peng and Ge Rong from Donglai County were transferred away by Liu Yuzheng, otherwise they would be uneasy no matter how much they were left in the empty rear.
As for the important task of staying in Donglai County, it naturally needs the most trustworthy person to assume it, so Liu Yu's eldest brother Liu Yi was appointed as the prefect of Donglai County to command the direct descendants of Donglai County. Liu Yu's other two brothers Liu Zeng , Liu Kai was also appointed as the second assistant officer in the county.
It's a pity that Liu Yu's clan is humble, and he only selected two or three available talents.
Liu Yu's eldest brother Liu Yi had a son named Liu Xun, who was already seventeen years old. Liu Yu also took him with him in the name of training and served as a personal soldier.
This was Liu Yu's last resort, to prevent his eldest brother Liu Yi, who was timid by nature, from suddenly doing something convulsive.
When Liu Yu led an army of 50,000 people across the ice of the Jiao Shui River, he was welcomed by powerful families in Beihai County. The enthusiasm of the scene made Liu Yu think of the word "eating pots of pulp".
If he hadn't known that the so-called secret edict was fake, he might have really thought that he was a loyal dog of the imperial court.
Judging from the performance of many powerful people in Beihai County, they seemed to have no doubts about the recruitment letter claimed by Liu Yu. Of course, no one raised objections, but they were all beaten out by these powerful people with sticks.
Gou Xi has made up his mind to investigate the hidden fields in Beihai County. These powerful people are eager to eat Gou Xi's flesh and blood. Now that Liu Yu is not afraid of death, they will certainly be happy to attack Gou Xi.
In order for Liu Yu to defeat Gou Xi, these powerful men were very willing to sacrifice money and provided all kinds of cattle, horses, food, and labor.
The supply problem that originally gave Liu Yu a headache was relieved by most of it in an instant.
However, there is one sign that makes Liu Yu quite worried. That is that the Donglai Army has not encountered any harassment or obstruction from Gou Xi's troops along the way, almost like a more daily march. This sign always seems to be It reveals something strange.
On Bingwu day, at noon.
In the originally clear sky, a sudden haze obscured the sun.
At first, people thought it was dark clouds in the sky, but when someone looked up at the sky, they suddenly discovered that there was a "solar eclipse" in the sky.
Of course Liu Yu also saw this solar eclipse, but he knew that it was the movement of the moon that blocked the sun's light, which was why such astronomical scenes appeared.
But at this time, it was the Western Jin Dynasty. At this time, the people felt that it was auspicious that something good was happening. This solar eclipse, which darkened the sky and the earth, was a great ominous sign, a kind of disaster that God was warning the world.
At this time, in Duchang City where Liu Yu was located, a large number of scholars and civilians knelt on the ground. They all took out various sacrifices and began to worship, praying to God to give back the sun.
At this time, Liu Yu saw from a distance that Dong Ping, Li Feng and others were bringing some things for worship, and they wanted to worship both heaven and earth.
"What are you going to do?" Liu Yu asked as they approached.
"General, of course I want to worship heaven and earth and pray to God to return the sun to the world as soon as possible."
Li Feng replied.
"Actually, there's no need to go. According to my guess, the sun will rise on its own very soon, maybe in less than a moment." Liu Yu said calmly.
"It's impossible not to go. The army sergeants and soldiers all said that when we are out on the march and encounter such a disaster, if we don't make sacrifices, I'm afraid it will provoke misfortune from God!" another general replied.
At this time, Liu Yu remembered that the social atmosphere in the Western Jin Dynasty was very respectful of ghosts, gods, and spirits. Various gods, demons, and monsters with rich images have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Moreover, in the ancient army, all kinds of superstitious beliefs about ghosts and gods were believed by the soldiers. They were afraid of angering gods, demons and monsters in their daily life, not to mention the moment of solar eclipse.
"Yes, if we don't pay homage properly, I'm afraid this war against Gou Xi will also be affected."
Hearing that the generals around him believed this statement, Liu Yu suddenly thought of why not take advantage of this solar eclipse to boost the morale of the sergeants.
Di Qing, a famous general in the Northern Song Dynasty, once conducted divination before marching to attack. He ordered his people to prepare a hundred copper coins, with one side painted red and the other black.
Then in front of all the soldiers, Di Qing clasped his hands and prayed: "If Di Qing sends troops to conquer the south this time, if he can achieve a complete victory, I will give you a hundred copper coins with the red side facing up!"
Then Di Qing threw the copper coins, and there was a sound when they fell to the ground. Sure enough, they were all red. The soldiers were astonished and excited, running around to tell each other. Their morale was boosted for a while, and soon they returned victorious with high morale.
It can be seen from this that soldiers in the army until the Northern Song Dynasty were very superstitious about ghosts, gods and other supernatural powers, not to mention ordinary soldiers in the Western Jin Dynasty.
"I already know how to solve the solar eclipse. Come on, Chuanyu, the entire army, beat the war drums for me in unison, and use the bravery of your men to coax away this sun-eating god and demon! "
Liu Yu ordered loudly.
Everyone looked at each other in surprise, and no one moved.
"What are you still doing? Why don't you go back and take care of this matter quickly!"
The cadre generals were quickly expelled by Liu Yu to their respective armies.
A moment later, the deafening sound of war drums was heard in Duchang City!
Sure enough, a moment later, after the moon's moving shadow left the earth, the sun reappeared in the sky!
The entire Donglai military camp soon burst into cheers. All the soldiers felt that the general could actually command them to scare away the monster that ate the sun. So what else could they not defeat?
Many people already think that Liu Yu is probably a god in heaven, and it would be easy to deal with Gou Xi, a mortal.
The morale of all Donglai Army soldiers quickly rose several levels higher than before.
