knife

Chapter 832 The war begins
Linghu Ye finally understood why Li Dachui had been consolidating his forces and narrowing his battle lines, as if he was just waiting for Linghu Ye to attack him.

At that time, Li Dachui already knew with absolute certainty that he would win in the South.

So he withdrew his troops from Shanggu and Yuyang and then deployed them in places such as Shapingba, Huxiaoyuan, Cui Family Old Residence, and Boling County City.

Li Dachui has now formed a defensive line of 1121.

At the very front is Shapingba, a plateau that rises abruptly from the flat land. This type of terrain is common in Linghuye, and there are many such plateaus around Chang'an.

Three sides are sheer cliffs, leaving only one side as a gentle slope. Li Dachui deployed 20,000 men to defend this area, with Chen Liang in charge and Chang Jian, a master of innate martial arts, in charge of the defense.

More than a hundred miles behind Shapingba lies Boling County, Li Dachui's main base, where he commands an army of 50,000.

Boling County City was also the place where Li Dachui planned to have a decisive battle with Linghu Ye.

To the left and right of Boling County City are Tiger Roar Plain and the Cui Family Old Residence. Each of these places is garrisoned by five thousand troops from the Northern Protectorate, mainly cavalry. The one stationed at the Cui Family Old Residence is Zhang Quanyi, an old acquaintance of Linghu Ye, while the one stationed at Tiger Roar Plain is the barbarian general An Xuan. Both of them are experts at the ninth rank of Xuan Yuan.

Behind Huxiao Plain and the old Cui family residence lies the rear area of ​​the entire Beiting Protectorate. Yang Guan, Mao Daxian, Ma Dacheng, Zhang Ruo, and others are all here to oversee support for the battle at the front.

It was quite a poignant moment for Linghu Ye, because apart from An Xuan, the barbarian who was an outsider, almost everyone else was an old acquaintance, subordinate, or relative of Linghu Ye.

But now, these people have become stumbling blocks on his path forward.

Li Dachui got into position, waiting for Linghuye to attack.

From a military strategy perspective, launching an attack at this time would be a major taboo, but under the pressure of the prevailing circumstances, Linghu Ye had no other choice.

Fighting now, although strategically they are at a disadvantage, at least tactically both sides still have their strengths, and the outcome is evenly matched. If they drag it out any longer, and Jiang Qian leads her troops north, causing chaos in the rear, Linghu Ye might as well surrender without even fighting.

Shapingba was strategically located, threatening Linghuye's flank and rear, which was intolerable and had to be captured. Therefore, while Linghuye led hundreds of thousands of troops straight towards Boling County, Yang Rong led 30,000 infantry and cavalry directly towards Shapingba.

If Shapingba is a spear aimed at his anus, then the Cui family's old house and Huxiaoyuan are two small daggers aimed at his ribs. Linghuye can ignore the small daggers at his ribs; if they stab him, they'll only draw some blood. But if that spear pierces his anus, it'll be fatal.

Two battlefields were launched simultaneously.

As Linghu Ye's army slowly approached Boling County, Yang Rong led 30,000 infantry and cavalry to Shapingba.

Chang Jian and Chen Liang stood side by side on the seemingly flimsy city wall of Shapingba, watching the black torrent pressing in from afar.

The city wall, only a few feet high, was barely better than nothing.

The army of the Beiting Protectorate is, in essence, still an offensive-oriented army. From generals to soldiers, the idea of ​​offense is ingrained in their very bones.

So even though they had been in Shapingba for several months, they did not put much effort into reinforcing the city walls. It was not an impregnable city to begin with, and no matter how much they reinforced it, it would only be a matter of climbing from the ground to a straw mat.

Just like when we fought against the Yuan people in Yuan'an City, even if we were infantry against cavalry, we could still defeat them and make them terrified.

To the generals of the Beiting Protectorate, this was merely a replay of the Battle of Yuan'an, and in fact, it was far more elaborate than before. Outside the city walls, at the forefront were three thousand heavily armored infantry. Amidst a dark forest, Xia Zhi, clad in striking and extremely stylish red armor and a red cloak, with a large, bright red banner embroidered with a black sparrow fluttering behind him, arrogantly declared his identity to the opposing side: "I'm here. Come at me if you dare."

Behind the three thousand heavily armored soldiers were five thousand light infantry, while behind the city walls, unseen by the enemy, several thousand cavalrymen were already poised to attack.

Chen Liang deployed 10,000 of the 20,000 troops in Shapingba directly outside, adopting a confrontational stance.

"The Li family's elite infantry and the Yang family's white-feathered soldiers have come out in full force this time!" Chang Jian chuckled. "See? There are quite a few veterans over forty years old among them! After this battle, these two units can be disbanded."

In the Battle of Yangguan, the Li family's elite soldiers and the Yang family's white-feathered warriors were defeated by Xiao Changche, and Li Zhengtai, a master of the Li family's innate skills, died in the battle.

This time, even retired veterans in their forties and fifties, like Lao Wuzu and Lao Baiyu, were conscripted and dispatched, which shows that these two families have pulled out all the stops to fight for their lives.

The black torrent stopped several miles away, and a magnificent horse stepped out from the crowd. Chang Jian laughed and said, "It's Yang Rong. It seems he wants to catch up with us. I'll go see him!"

Chen Liang smiled and nodded.

Chang Jian descended the city wall like a wisp of smoke, casually picked up a scout on horseback below and tossed him aside, then sat steadily on his horse and spurred it toward the center of the battlefield.

Actually, riding a horse is slower than flying there himself. He mainly didn't want to stand on the ground and look up when talking to Yang Rong, since everyone was at about the same height on horseback.

"Chang Jian, do you have any shame?" Yang Rong looked at Chang Jian with disdain. "Your son, Chang Lei, just died in battle in Liyang, killed by Jiang Qian herself, and you, you're still fighting for Li Dachui. If you ever see Jiang Qian again, are you not going to kneel and kowtow to her?"

Chang Jian looked coldly at Yang Rong and said, "My son made his own choices and insisted on his own path. He died honorably on the battlefield. I, Chang, will only be proud. The world will not look down on me or my son because of this. They will only say that I, Chang, raised my sons well, and none of them are cowards. Any one of them would be famous throughout the world. On the other hand, there are some old turtles who are seventy or eighty years old and still have to work hard to lead so many people to fight, without even anyone to share the burden. That's pitiful!"

Yang Rong roared in fury: "You old scoundrel, why aren't you lying at home like a corpse?!"

Chang Jian laughed and said, "Why don't we find a place to have some tea and let the men fight it out among themselves? We can then see who wins in the end."

Yang Rong was speechless. His 30,000 troops belonged to different families and regions, and they could only be united by his prestige. However, the Beiting Protectorate on the other side was a unified entity. Even without Chang Jian, they could still fight. Without him, his army would probably fight independently.

He snorted coldly, his gaze passing over Chang Jian and looking towards the city wall: "Chen Liang, if it weren't for Commander Linghu sparing your life back then, you would have been beheaded long ago. Are you going to repay kindness with enmity now?"

On the city wall, Chen Liang laughed loudly: "Lord Yang, now that things have come to this, there's no need for such divisive words. Long ago, when Commander Linghu abandoned the resistance against the Yuan and decided to enter the pass, I had already severed all ties with him. He was kind to me, but I have never wronged him in the past. There's no need for further words today, bring it on!"

Yang Rong said no more, turned his horse and rode away. Chang Jian's presence meant that his power as a master of innate strength had been suppressed to the minimum. After the two forces canceled each other out, it would still depend on the abilities of the leaders.

With the thunderous sound of drums and the resounding horns, countless cavalrymen charged out from their ranks.

Yang Rong turned back, and the cavalry charged forward toward Shapingba. Meanwhile, war drums sounded from the city walls, and countless cavalrymen split into two groups from the rear of the city, one on the left and one on the right, and charged toward the battlefield.

Unlike the other infantry units that held their positions firmly in formation, when the cavalry led by Ding Ergou flanked the battlefield, Xia Zhi's large red flag was also raised, pointing straight ahead.

Accompanied by deep shouts, three thousand heavy infantrymen marched heavily, step by step, pressing towards the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)