Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 111: Fire in the City
"Damn you Liu Jilong! Damn you pig-dog Liu Jilong! Don't let me catch you!!"

Outside Jialin City, Shang Moling became crazy after reading the urgent information.

The content of this intelligence clearly stated that Liu Jilong released Kuleden last night and asked Kuleden to tell him that he was going to attack Changsong.

Faced with this familiar information and familiar feeling, it would be strange if Shang Moling didn't go crazy.

Last time, he wasted three days in the west because he misjudged Liu Jilong's thoughts.

Now Liu Jilong has sent someone to deliver news again. If he makes the wrong choice again, then this battle will undoubtedly be fought in a very shameful way.

Thinking of this, Shang Moling gradually calmed down and thought about what he should do.

Mang Longhua, who was standing next to him, saw this and couldn't help but say, "This Liu Jilong is particularly cunning. You have to be careful when dealing with him."

"I know!" Shang Moling glared at Mang Longhua.

Seeing this, Mang Longhua could only shut his mouth.

Jialin City's strength has declined greatly since his father was attacked and killed by Liu Jilong. If it is attacked by Liu Jilong in the future, it will inevitably need Shang Moling's help. Naturally, he dare not offend Shang Moling.

"Go back to Guzang first!"

After a long time, Shang Moling decided to return to Guzang first.

Mang Longhua didn't dare to say anything. He just provided hundreds of buckets of beans to Shang Moling and his men after they had eaten and drunk their fill. Then he watched Shang Moling and his elite cavalry galloping eastward.

Given their situation, they were destined not to reach Guzang today, but they should be able to reach Guzang early tomorrow morning and Changsong before dusk.

When they rushed to Guzang, the scene outside Changsong City was bleak.

Three or four hundred stripped corpses and hundreds of soldiers and civilians were left exposed in the wilderness. It was not until the elite cavalry sent by Zheduosibie followed Liu Jilian and his men more than 20 miles north that he dared to send people out of the city to collect the bodies and participate in extinguishing the fire.

The farmland around Changsong City was burned beyond recognition, and the flames reaching the sky raised the temperature of the city by several degrees.

In order to put out the fire, Zheduosibe dispatched tens of thousands of men to start rescue work and sent out light cavalry patrols thirty miles away.

In order to cope with the speed of Liu Jilian's troops' advance, he equipped the light cavalry with two horses.

After taking all precautions, Zheduosibie felt a little relieved, and it was already dusk.

Zheduoxibie had no time to get over the sadness of Xiduoyu being captured, and looked at the mess outside the city with anger.

When the autumn wind blows, the scene of the wind blowing the wheat fields disappears, leaving only a few wheat ears that are gray and black due to smoke and fire.

The air was filled with the smell of smoke, pungent and heavy.

The mottled traces on the gray and yellow land contrast with the remaining firelight in the sky, making it look particularly desolate.

“Jie’er, the grain fields burned outside the city…at least…60,000 to 70,000 acres!”

Xiaojie walked behind Zheduoshibie and reported carefully. Zheduoshibie clenched his fists and said, "Pass the order!"

"No matter whether you are young or old, men or women in the city, go out of the city and harvest the remaining food. Don't let Liu Jilong continue to act recklessly!!"

"Yes!" Xiaojie agreed and was about to retreat, but he saw Zheduosibie continue to look at him and ordered:
"Keep sending the light cavalry out, to a distance of forty miles!"

"Also, tell Gu Zang about Changsong's situation and ask Shang Moling what he is doing! We have been fighting with Liu Jilong for two days, where are they?!"

Zheduoshibie was so angry that he was shaking. After all, they had to offer sacrifices to Guzang on a daily basis. However, Liu Jilian had been acting recklessly in Changsong for two days, but Guzang had not sent even one person.

Although Changsong is not as strong as Guzang, it is very difficult for Guzang to defeat Changsong.

Therefore, Zhe Duoxi had reason to suspect that Shang Moling deliberately let Liu Jilian kill Changsong in order to reap the benefits.

Of course, the more important issue now is that his father-in-law has been captured, and he is not the only one in power in Changsong City.

Although he was Sitayu's son-in-law, Sitayu had three teenage children who were not yet adults.

If someone incites them and slanders me with evil intentions, my situation will be dangerous.

Thinking of this, Zheduosibie prepared to go to Xiduoyu's mansion to explain to his three brothers-in-law.

Unexpectedly, before he could take any action, a whistle suddenly sounded from the north.

"Beep--"

"retreat!!"

"retreat!"

When the whistle sounded, tens of thousands of Changsong men who were rushing to collect food and put out fires outside the city fled towards the city gate like crazy.

"Liu Jilong!!"

Zheduosibie growled and looked in the direction of the whistle, his eyes red.

Sporadic light cavalry began to blow whistles and retreat, but they were not on the front line of patrol. Instead, they blew the warning whistles based on the whistles passed back.

A quarter of an hour, two quarters of an hour...

As three quarters of an hour passed, more and more light cavalry withdrew, until almost all the light cavalry sent by Zheduosibe had withdrawn.

At dusk, smoke and dust rose up, making it difficult to tell whether it was the smoke from the grain fields outside the city or the smoke from horse hooves in the distance.

A large number of people were crowded at the city gate, and it took nearly a quarter of an hour to clear the way and allow the cavalry to enter the city.

At this time, a large herd of horses appeared in the north.

When Zheduoshibie saw the herd of horses, his heart almost jumped out of his throat.

He mistakenly thought that Liu Jilong was leading more elite cavalry south, and despair was revealed in his eyes.

Fortunately, as the herd of horses approached, when the flag of the Umudu tribe appeared in front of Zheduosibie, the despair in Zheduosibie's eyes slowly disappeared.

"Pig and dog's dregs!"

Zhe Duoxibie was so angry that he laughed. He didn't expect that Umo would dare to wade into this muddy water.

You must know that Emu is not very strong. In the past, he only dared to plunder the herds of Fanhe and Jialin, but now he has come to the city of Changsong.

This was the greatest insult to Zheduosibie.

He could tolerate Liu Jilong's insults, but not the group of beasts like Emo!

"Gather the troops and leave the city. I want to see what they can do!"

Zhe Duoxi said nothing more, and stared at Xiaojieer: "Send light cavalry to deliver the news to Guzang overnight."

"If Guzang doesn't send reinforcements, Changsong's tribute to Guzang will also be cut off!"

"Yes!" Xiaojie'er quickly turned around to take care of the matter, while the Umudu tribe outside the city looked at the devastated Changsong and could not hide their shock.

"The Tang army in Ganzhou was able to beat Changsong like this!"

On horseback, Dugazhi looked at the outside of Changsong City at dusk and couldn't help but sigh.

But this sigh soon ended because he had more important things to do.

"All the light cavalry will dismount and harvest the food. The elite cavalry will follow me in armor to raid the battlefield!"

"Yes!"

Although Dugazhi didn't know how the Tang army in Ganzhou defeated Changsong City, the second most powerful city in Liangzhou, in this state, he knew that this was an excellent opportunity.

Due to the shortage of iron tools and not having enough craftsmen, the Umudu tribe has not been able to reclaim large amounts of arable land in Baitinghai, so food is very important to them.

Now that Changsong City has been destroyed, there are large fields of millet and wheat for them to harvest.

They must harvest enough food and retreat before Changsong City and Guzang City can react.

Soon, under Dugazhi's order, tens of thousands of light cavalry began to dismount and harvest grain, and the horses ate millet and wheat indiscriminately.

The murderous machete became a farm tool, and the tent became a pocket.

For them, one stone of rice combined with wild vegetables and dairy products produced by the herds is enough food for one person for nearly half a year.

Faced with these vast tracts of grain, tens of thousands of light cavalrymen harvested the grain like crazy.

This scene was seen by Zheduosibie after the city gate was opened, and he was furious.

"Cross the bridge!"

At his command, more than a hundred elite cavalry and two thousand armored soldiers began to cross the bridge.

Seeing armored soldiers with a number times greater than his own coming out of the Changsong City Gate, Dugazhi calmly led his elite cavalry to form a battle array in front of his own light cavalry, protecting the light cavalry that were harvesting grain.

The commanders of both sides observed the sky at the first opportunity, and there was still more than half an hour before it would turn dark.

"Uuuuuu——"

When the horn sounded, Zheduosibe led his troops forward, trying to drive out Dugazhi before dark.

Faced with two thousand elite armored soldiers, although Dugazhi had tens of thousands of people, he did not dare to directly conflict with Zheduosibie.

"Retreat, go around the west gate and the east gate to harvest the grain. I don't believe these two-legged creatures can outrun four-legged creatures!"

Following Dugazhi's order, tens of thousands of light cavalry of the Umudu tribe carried the harvested grain on their horses. Although the time was short, everyone still harvested one or two buckets of grain.

Led by Dugazhi, they circled around Changsong City and began to harvest grain. Seeing this, Zheduoxibie could only tighten the reins of his horse and let some of the men in the city go out to harvest grain, protected by the armored soldiers.

For a while, the two sides started a fierce battle to harvest, and the Tangqi sent by Changsong in the morning also arrived at Guzang City with the news that Liu Jilian had invaded again.

"Liu Jilong is gone again?!"

Inside the Guzang government office, Zhe Buluo stood up from his chair and stared at the Changsongtang cavalry in front of him.

"Report to the Protector General, Liu Jilong has invaded again with more than 2,000 elite cavalry. Please send aid from Guzang!"

The head of the ten households was very nervous. Hearing this, Zhe Buluo looked at Jie'er who was sitting in the first seat on the left and asked, "Did Qiliben send back any news?"

"We have already reached Jialin in the afternoon. We should be only about 10 to 20 miles away from Guzang now."

Jie'er answered truthfully, and Zhebuluo looked at the head of the ten households and said, "Go back to Changsong at night and tell Xiduoyu that Qiliben will lead two thousand elite cavalry to help him tomorrow!"

"Yes!" The head of the ten households stood up and walked out regardless of his tiredness.

After he left, Zhe Bu Luo also looked at Jie'er hurriedly and said, "Send light cavalry to the west to find Qiliben, tell them not to set up camp, but to return directly to Guzang and tell Qiliben the news about Changsong."

"Yes!" Jie'er knew that the matter was urgent, so he quickly got up and told people to go.

In less than two hours, a large number of elite cavalry holding torches appeared outside Guzang City.

Shang Moling led two thousand elite cavalrymen and spent eight hours galloping over 120 miles back to Guzang, with the horse's power almost exhausted.

Zhe Buluo personally led people to the west gate to pick them up and bring them into the city. During this time, Shang Moling rushed to the yamen with a dark face, and Zhe Buluo followed closely behind him.

As the two men and several guards entered the yamen one after another, Shang Moling kicked over the table in front of him as soon as he walked to the main seat.

"What is Xi Duoyu doing? He has 1,000 elite cavalry and 2,000 armored soldiers! Can't he deal with Liu Jilong with 2,000 elite cavalry?!"

Shang Moling was furious, but refused to admit that it was his own mistake that led to Liu Jilian's reckless behavior in Changsong for two days.

Since he didn't admit it, Zhe Bu Luo naturally didn't dare to say anything.

However, facing the emergency of Changsong, Zhebuluo quickly saluted and said, "Liu Jilong has led 2,000 elite cavalry to invade Changsong twice. If we don't send troops again, Xiduoyu will definitely not support us anymore."

"Tomorrow, I will have to trouble Qi Liben to lead his troops to help Changsong..."

"Help, help!" Shang Moling yelled, "After two days of galloping over 240 miles, my horse has become thinner. What can I use to help Changsong?"

Hearing this, Zhe Bu Luo remained silent and dared not respond.

He saw that Shang Moling was angry, so no matter who tried to persuade him, he would be scolded. Only when he calmed down would he listen to his advice.

Sure enough, as time passed, in less than a quarter of an hour, Shang Moling digested these negative emotions by himself and said in a deep voice:

"Feed the horses with fine fodder. I will lead the army to Changsong at noon tomorrow."

"Qili is wise!" Zhe Buluo offered the horse appropriately, but Shang Moling did not intend to accept it.

He stood up and walked towards the inner hall. The other two commanders of the elite cavalry also dragged their tired bodies down to rest.

Because of Liu Jilong's operations these days, they often received intelligence in the middle of the night and did not get enough rest.

The battle is imminent tomorrow. If I don’t have a good rest, my hands and feet will be weak by then. How can I fight against the Tang army?
Zhe Bu Luo also understood this principle, so he ordered people to slaughter sheep and cattle early on and provide rich food to the military camp.

The two thousand elite cavalrymen had a good rest after the meal, but Zhe Bu Luo had not yet rested when he received news from Changsong at midnight.

The news this time was even more shocking than the previous ones. Liu Jilian used false troops to lure Xiduo Yu, and then surrounded Changsong's elite cavalry, captured Xiduo Yu alive, seized more than 800 sets of armor, and burned tens of thousands of acres of grain fields.

"Liu Jilong..."

When Zhe Bu Luo heard the news, he trembled all over.

Jie Er, who was on duty with him, bowed and said, "Are you going to tell Qi Li Ben?"

"No... no need!" Zhe Bu Luo hurriedly stopped him: "It's a done deal. Now it all depends on what Liu Jilong can do tonight!"

Zhe Buluo knew very well that since Liu Jilian had won the battle and withdrawn his troops in the afternoon, judging from the speed of their horses, they would probably be far away from Changsong by now.

Even if the news was told to Shang Moling, it would only wake him up and prevent him from resting, and it would not solve the problem of Xiduo Yu being captured.

Even if they sent out troops to search now, they might not be able to find Liu Jilong.

Now they could only wait for the light cavalry patrols from Guzang and Changsong to see if they could find any trace of Liu Jilong.

"Send out the light cavalry fifty miles away, and do it immediately!"

Zhe Bu Luo gave instructions to Jie'er, then paced back and forth uneasily.

In the previous two nights, Liu Jilian would release the captives and send news to Guzang, so Zhe Bu Luo did not dare to rest at all.

Unfortunately, he waited from midnight to cockcrow, but did not receive any news from Liu Jilong.

On the contrary, when he was about to take a rest, Tangqi was sent from Changsong to deliver a message.

The Tangqi was brought to the main hall of the government office. Seeing Zhebuluo sitting in the main seat, he knelt down immediately and said, "Qiliben, Bai Tinghai's Umotu tribe attacked Changsong and is now looting Changsong's grain fields. Please send troops!"

"I am the Protector General..." Zhe Buluo's face turned dark and he explained hurriedly.

After the explanation, he realized that Changsong was attacked by Bai Tinghai's Umudu tribe, and he subconsciously looked at Yelou.

Seeing that it was only 3:45 in the morning, Zhe Buluo suppressed the idea of waking Shang Moling up and just waved his hand and said:

"Is it only Bai Tinghai's Umudu tribe? Where is Liu Jilong?"

"Liu Jilong has not appeared since he withdrew his troops. Please ask the Protector General to send troops to help Changsong!" The head of the ten households said, and Zhe Buluo also nodded:

"After the hour of Mao, Qili Ben will personally lead his elite cavalry to help Changsong. You can go down and rest first."

“Yes…” Upon hearing that, the ten heads of households could only be arranged to leave.

After he left, Zhe Bu Luo dared not rest any more, for fear that soon he would hear the news that Liu Jilong would join forces with the Umudu tribe to invade.

He forced himself to stay awake until the cock crowed at dawn, then he mustered up the energy to go to the inner hall to look for Shang Moling.

"Tuk tuk..."

"Qiliben, Changsong has urgent news."

After knocking on the door, Zhe Bu Luo spoke quickly.

The next second, the bedroom door was opened, and Shang Moling, with bloodshot eyes, had already put on armor and was standing behind the threshold.

"What urgent report?"

Shang Moling looked at Zhe Buluo, and Zhe Buluo did not dare to delay and hurriedly handed over the two pieces of military intelligence sent by Chang Song.

Shang Moling was not in a good mood because he had only slept for five hours in total over the two days.

After learning the information, he returned to the house and sat for a while before slowly speaking: "No news about Liu Jilong yet?"

"The light cavalry has been sent out for fifty miles, but still no trace of him has been found."

Zhe Bu Luo explained, and Shang Mo Ling clenched his fists and said, "If we can search within fifty miles, we can search within seventy miles, or even a hundred miles!"

"Send all the herdsmen and cavalry in the city to search north for Liu Jilong's whereabouts. I don't believe he would disappear out of thin air!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhe Buluo:

"In half an hour, I will lead the elite cavalry to help Changsong. If Jialin and Fanhe are in trouble, you lead the armored soldiers on horseback first, and I will follow with the elite cavalry."

"Be careful along the way to prevent Liu Jilong from attacking the camp!"

After being fooled by Liu Jilong for three days, Shang Moling finally faced the reality.

In terms of tactics, he could not beat Liu Jilong. Liu Jilong was different from himself. He could fight and roam at the same time, but he could only be led by the nose when facing Liu Jilong's sudden attack.

I lost half a point by taking the initiative, so I can only try my best to make up for it.

Now, apart from sending the herdsmen and light cavalry away to find out Liu Jilong's movements in advance, he had no other good ideas.

Thinking of this, Shang Moling rubbed his brows and looked at Zhe Buluo with red eyes: "Have someone prepare breakfast for me. The elite cavalry will gather in the East City in half an hour."

"Yes!" Zhe Bu Luo responded and left the inner hall. After asking someone to prepare dinner, he returned to the main hall and took a nap for half an hour.

Half an hour later, Shang Moling led his elite cavalry through the east gate and headed for Changsong, more than sixty miles away.

By this time, the sky was slightly bright, and Zhe Bu Luo also sent out thousands of herdsmen and light cavalry to search northward, vowing to find the trace of Liu Jilong's troops.

Standing in the courtyard of the yamen and feeling the cold air all around him, Zhe Bu Luo couldn't help but think of what Liu Jilong had gained from this invasion.

"Winter will finally arrive in a month. Liu Jilong, the pig-dog, didn't get any food or livestock after harassing Changsong twice. Could it be that he is satisfied with capturing Xiduoyu?"

"No..." Zhe Bu Luo shook his head and rejected his own idea.

But after rejecting this idea, he suddenly became confused again.

Liu Jilian led two thousand elite cavalrymen to run around in Liangzhou, but the cavalry could not attack the city.

If his purpose was not to plunder livestock and food, what could it be?

For a moment, Zhe Bu Luo couldn't help but become anxious...

(End of this chapter)