Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 554 Taking advantage of the situation
What Kong Youde wrote clearly in the letter further proved the secret collusion between Kong Youde and these Liao generals, and also confirmed that Xu Xiancheng and Li Xin's suspicions were correct.

Originally, Li Xin made this arrangement just to confirm their guess, otherwise he would not have prepared Zhang Tao's flag in advance.

This idea was proposed by Xu Xiancheng when Li Xin set out. His purpose was to give it a try. If the result was conclusive, it would prove that there was no problem with their previous handling. At the same time, it could also be used to completely convince Sun Yuanhua, who was depressed.

If there is no effect and no loss, it is just a banner anyway, which can also prove that they worried too much before and wronged Geng Zhongming and others. But now Kong Youde's letter just proves the previous suspicion. Li Xin was a little scared while laughing. If Xu Xiancheng had not acted decisively, according to Sun Yuanhua's original plan, he really wanted Zhang Tao to lead the army. If so, Zhang Tao and Kong Youde would have hit it off and directly rebelled to join Kong Youde's army, which would not only make the previous pincer attack tactics completely ineffective, but also make Zhang Keda attacked from both sides and defeated by Kong Youde in one fell swoop.

Once this happens, the result will be the same as what Kong Youde mentioned in the letter. Leiden's main force is gone, and the general stationed in Dengzhou is Kong Youde's sworn brother Geng Zhongming. If the time comes, Dengzhou will be taken directly by Kong Youde and others, and there will be no way to save the situation.

After concentrating on reading Kong Youde's letter again, an idea suddenly flashed through Li Xin's mind. Since Kong Youde had already determined that his army was Zhang Tao's army, why not take advantage of the situation? Li Xin quickly made a decision and planned to take advantage of Kong Youde's misunderstanding to play a big game.

Don't you, Kong Youde, want to attack Zhang Keda together with Zhang Tao? Well, Li Xin decided to pretend to be Zhang Tao to set a trap for Kong Youde, agreeing to Kong Youde's request on the surface, and then give Kong Youde a hard blow after the war. At that time, Kong Youde must taste the power of the enemy.

In this way, Li Xin asked someone to report to the messenger and tell Kong Youde's envoy that he agreed with the other party's suggestion, and agreed to help Kong Youde after Kong Youde and Zhang Ke had a big fight tomorrow.

The other party was very happy after hearing this and originally planned to meet Zhang Tao, but was rejected by Li Xin. Li Xin found a suitable reason and told the other party that nearly half of his army was from Shandong, and there were two deputy generals from Shandong. This matter could only be done secretly and the news must not be leaked. Once the Shandong army knew that Zhang Tao and Kong Youde were going to attack Zhang Keda together, the army might be unstable. So there was no need to meet him and he could just take his message back.

In order to prove that what he said was true, Li Xin also imitated Zhang Tao's handwriting and wrote a note, which was stamped with Zhang Tao's seal. With this thing, Kong Youde would naturally believe it. He immediately came excitedly with the note, agreed on the signal at the time, and rode away on horseback.

That night, Li Xin's troops camped as usual and prepared for battle the next day.

When the sun rose the next day, Li Xin moved his camp and headed north. Two hours later, Li Xin's troops arrived near Zhaoyuan. At this time, Kong Youde and Zhang Keda's troops had been at a stalemate for two days, and neither side took the initiative to attack.

Zhang Keda was waiting for the arrival of Li Xin's troops, and Kong Youde was the same. So when the two armies saw the army with the word "Zhang" on the banner coming from the south, they were all excited. They all thought that this was their reinforcements. Since the reinforcements had arrived, why not fight?

Near noon, the battle finally began. Kong Youde sent 500 cavalry and 1,000 infantry to attack Zhang Keda's army. Zhang Keda was not afraid at all. Although his troops were not as elite as Kong Youde's troops and he did not have many cavalry, he had already prepared and set up a defense line, ready for battle.

After the battle started, the two sides fought fiercely. Although Kong Youde's troops were more powerful, it was not easy to capture Zhang Keda. Zhang Keda wore armor and went to the battlefield in person, holding a sword and fighting with the rebels. At the same time, he shouted loudly for the soldiers to hold on firmly and not let the rebels break through. Their reinforcements have arrived. As long as they can withstand a few waves of fierce attacks from the other side, victory will belong to them.

Kong Youde's idea was the same as Zhang Keda's, because Kong Youde felt that he had already made an agreement with Zhang Tao. Now he just needed to delay Zhang Keda and wait for Zhang Tao's troops to attack. With the combined efforts of the two armies, Zhang Keda would inevitably be defeated.

Both sides believed that the balance of victory was on their side, so they fought without much hesitation. In just a quarter of an hour, the battlefield was covered with casualties, but the two armies continued to fight fiercely, and the sound of killing was deafening.

At this time, Li Xin saw that the time had come and directly raised the flag of attack. Zhang Keda and Kong Youde were overjoyed when they saw the flag, because they both knew that the reinforcements were about to attack and the other side was about to be defeated.

After raising the flag, Li Xin drew the long sword from his waist, stretched out his hand and swung it forward, and the troops, who had been unable to hold back for a long time, headed straight towards the battlefield where Zhang Keda was.

"Good! Good! Good!" Kong Youde smiled so hard when he saw this scene that he couldn't close his mouth. He clapped his hands and praised: "With Brother Zhang's move, Zhang Keda has become a turtle in a jar. This battle will definitely be worry-free!"

"The Marshal is wise!" Li Jiucheng on the side also laughed heartily. Li Jiucheng and his son were important factors in Kong Youde's rebellion. If Li Jiucheng and his son had not led the troops to revolt when Kong Youde was hesitant, Kong Youde might not have rebelled.

After Kong Youde rebelled, he gave himself the title of "Captain Marshal", which came from the Tang Dynasty and was the highest military position in the Marshal's Office of the Tang Dynasty Jiedushi. However, this title was abolished as early as the Ming Dynasty. Now Kong Youde dug this title out of the old papers, just to distinguish himself from the Ming army.

"Hahaha!" Kong Youde was very happy, stroking his broken beard and said, "After defeating most of Zhang Ke's troops, we will go to Dengzhou City and take Dengzhou. You and your son will be the main contributors. I will not treat you unfairly by then and will definitely reward you handsomely!" "In that case, I would like to thank the Marshal first." Li Jiuchen tactfully saluted Kong Youde and put on an attitude of gratitude, which made Kong Youde even happier.

After thinking for a while, Kong Youde said, "By the way, after taking over Dengzhou Prefecture, pass on my order not to harm Lord Sun. After all, Lord Sun treats us well. Although I, Kong Youde, was forced to start the rebellion, it has nothing to do with Lord Sun. Lord Sun is a good man, so you must not hurt him."

Li Jiucheng immediately gave a thumbs up and praised Kong Youde, "Marshal Du is kind and virtuous! I am so lucky to be able to follow him! Lord Sun is indeed a good man. I will definitely tell my subordinates not to hurt him. I also think Lord Sun is quite capable, especially in firearms. If we can recruit Lord Sun to serve as Marshal Du, we will surely achieve great things!"

"Good! Well said!" Kong Youde was very happy. He really admired Sun Yuanhua and knew his ability. If he could recruit Sun Yuanhua to work for him as Li Jiucheng said, then his power in Leiden would be completely stable. Moreover, with Sun Yuanhua as his advisor in the future, he, Kong Youde, might be able to achieve great things.

Although the world is named Zhu, you should know that the Ming Dynasty was conquered by the great ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was born in poverty and was a beggar and a monk. How could the kings, princes, generals and ministers have such a kind of courage? As the saying goes, the emperor takes turns to sit on the throne. It is not impossible for me to sit on the dragon throne and taste the taste of being an emperor. If this day really comes, Kong Youde will be remembered in history and it will be worthwhile to come to this world.

The more he thought about it, the happier he felt. Kong Youde even saw himself taking over Leiden first, then recruiting Sun Yuanhua and others for his own use, then relying on Leiden to recruit soldiers and raise an army, and then occupying the entire Shandong province with Leiden as a base.

By then, it would be no problem whether he went north to the capital or south to Nanzhili. If he could conquer the capital, then the world might really become his. When he thought of this result, all the pores on Kong Youde's body relaxed, and he was full of energy and excitement.

Suddenly, a young general exclaimed in surprise, raised his hand and pointed at a place and said, "Marshal! This... this doesn't seem right. Why are the reinforcements coming towards us?"

"What's going on?" Kong Youde came to his senses and looked in the direction indicated, only to see Li Xin's troops rushing towards him like an arrow shot from a bow. Li Xin's attack direction should be Zhang Ke's army in front of them, but now the direction is turning to their side, which seems a bit strange.

"What's going on? Come on, go and ask Zhang Tao what he is doing? Let his troops turn north immediately!" Kong Youde frowned slightly and gave the order directly.

Before his men could go over to negotiate, the army that was only a mile away from Kong Youde's central army suddenly changed its flag.

The large flag with the word "Zhang" that was originally flying high was replaced by the flag with the word "Li" in an instant, and without hesitation, it rushed straight to Kong Youde's central army. For a moment, the sound of killing was deafening, and faint shouts such as "Capture Kong Youde alive!" "Annihilate the rebels!" and "Don't let this dog thief Kong Youde escape" could be heard.

Seeing this scene, Kong Youde was dumbfounded. He couldn't understand why the other party suddenly changed his mind when they were clearly planning to attack Zhang Keda together? Moreover, even the big flag with the word Zhang was changed to the big flag with the word Li? Whose flag was this big flag with the word Li? Kong Youde racked his brains but couldn't figure out the general named Li in Leiden.

But now the situation did not allow him to think too much. Seeing Li Xin's army rushing over with an unstoppable force, Kong Youde hurriedly deployed troops to stop them. However, the distance between the two sides was very close. Even if you jog, it only takes a few minutes to travel a distance of more than a mile. Moreover, Kong Youde's main force was fighting with Zhang Keda. In addition to a few hundred cavalrymen left by his side, there were less than a thousand infantrymen.

What was even more terrible was that his firearms unit, including the several artillery pieces they carried, were all pointed in the direction of Zhang Keda, and there was no time to mobilize them back.

In a hurry, Kong Youde could only send out the hundreds of cavalry in his hands to buy himself some time, and then let the remaining infantry deploy their formation to intercept the surging Li Xin's troops. At the same time, he ordered the artillery to be recalled to protect the central army.

But the situation changes rapidly in war, and although Kong Youde reacted quickly, it was too late. His cavalry was not well prepared, and before they could line up and speed up, Li Xin led his troops to attack.

Li Xin led the charge, the long sword in his hand was unstoppable. He knocked down an enemy cavalryman in one encounter and rushed forward with his men.

In an instant, Kong Youde's cavalry was killed by Li Xin's troops, and they fled without any effect. At this time, Li Xin did not care about the fleeing cavalry. His target was Kong Youde. He continued to lead his troops to charge Kong Youde's central army. With his morale boosted, he was unstoppable. In a blink of an eye, he was only 200 steps away from Kong Youde.

(End of this chapter)