Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 115: The Great Victory
"kill!!"

In the middle of the night, when everyone thought that Liu Jilong was leading his army to join the alliance at Fanhe, he led thousands of elite cavalry to attack from east to west, killing everyone by surprise.

The torrent of Shandan cavalry instantly broke through the formation of the foreign soldiers that had been disrupted by the slaves, and began to indiscriminately hack and kill all the armored soldiers and light cavalry in uniform in the camp.

The bonfires that could be found everywhere in the camp became the source of fire in their hands, lighting up one tent after another.

"The slaves have all escaped from the camp! The foreign soldiers will not be killed if they surrender!!"

"Pfft..."

"Uh-huh!!"

The sounds of persuasion to surrender, flesh being chopped, screams and the neighing of military horses filled everyone's ears.

On horseback, Liu Jilong, holding an iron spear, knocked dozens of foreign soldiers away in succession, leaving no one alive wherever he passed.

In the chaotic camp, unification became his target unless they were the elite Shandan cavalry wearing heavy armor.

Not only him, but also Hukesiguang, Shang Duoluo, Zhang Chang, Li Ji and others were the same.

But in the blink of an eye, everyone was blood-thirsty and their actions never stopped.

Faced with their butcher knives and torches, the attacked Guzang army was completely unable to resist.

The fire set the camp on fire. The Shandan elite cavalry, wearing heavy armor, rushed indiscriminately in the camp, killing everyone they could see and setting fire to all the tents they could see.

"Pierce armor! Don't run around!"

"Put on your armor and prepare for the enemy!!"

"Dog slave! I told you to wear armor for me!"

"Your mother's foreign dog!"

Zhe Bu Luo and Mang Longhua were trying to organize a large army. The armored soldiers were intercepting the fleeing slaves and putting on armor for themselves. The slaves who were trying to save their lives were running around and also mustered up the courage to curse the foreign soldiers who were trying to stop them.

For a while, the camp was in chaos. Zhe Bu Luo saw that he could not stop the camp from rising, so he could only break out to the north with Mang Longhua.

"Zhechong! The bandit leader has fled to the north!!"

During the fight, Liu Jilian heard the voice of Huke Siguang behind him.

He looked towards the north and immediately saw hundreds of armored soldiers fleeing towards the north.

"Kill me!"

Amid his angry roars, hundreds of elite cavalrymen followed him and charged northward.

During this period, armored soldiers kept trying to stop them, but facing Liu Jilian's offensive, these armored soldiers often fell to the ground in just a few turns and were trampled by the cavalry.

"This Liu Jilong's ghost is still lingering around, and he dares to chase us out!"

On the way to break out, six or seven hundred armored soldiers gradually gathered around Zhe Bu Luo.

Seeing that Liu Jilian dared to pursue him with only 200 cavalrymen behind him, Zhe Bu Luo could not help but curse angrily.

"Liu Jilong? That's Liu Jilong!"

Mang Longhua looked back and saw the Shandan elite cavalry chasing out of the camp. Their numbers were few, so he turned his horse around and said, "The Jialin army will stay!"

"Dongben! Retreat is the most important thing right now!" Zhe Bu Luo was shocked by Mang Longhua's operation and signaled him to retreat quickly.

Upon hearing this, Mang Longhua said with red eyes: "Liu Jilong is here, it's a good opportunity for me to take revenge!"

"Protector General, you retreat first, I'll cover your retreat!"

"No!" Zhe Bu Luo really wanted to curse Mang Longhua. If Jialin had no one, he would not have wanted to care about Mang Longhua at all.

Seeing that Liu Jilong was about to catch up, Zhe Buluo immediately glared at Jialin's Jie'er and said, "Take your Dongben and follow me!"

"This..." Jie'er was in a dilemma, but when he saw the fire in the camp gradually spreading, he gritted his teeth and slashed at Manglonghua's horse's buttocks.

The military horses ran away in fright, and Jie'er tried to guide the military horses towards Jialin.

"Assholes! You guys are a bunch of assholes!"

Mang Longhua couldn't rein in his horse and could only curse at the soldiers around him.

"withdraw!"

At Zhe Bu Luo's command, the armored soldiers who found horses immediately began to break out and retreat eastward with him.

It was a pity that they wasted too much time. Liu Jilong rode his horse to chase them. The iron spear in his hand was as light as a wooden stick and knocked down several armored soldiers in an instant.

A head of a ten-household was knocked off his horse by him, and the soldiers around him were furious. They jumped on their horses, raised their spears, and shouted angrily, "Dog Han slave!"

Liu Jilong said nothing, but in the blink of an eye he stabbed two soldiers who were trying to attack him from both sides and knocked them off their horses.

Mang Longhua, who was on horseback, saw this scene and felt his scalp tingling. He never mentioned the fight with Liu Jilong again.

As they were trying to break out, Liu Jilong wanted to chase them, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the fire in the camp behind them getting bigger and bigger, so he reined in his horse and stopped.

"Zhechong?!"

Hu Siguang, who was chasing him, asked in confusion, but Liu Jilong did not hesitate at all. He turned his horse around and rushed towards the camp.

"The fire is about to spread, blow the whistle and retreat!!"

"Yes!" Hu Siguang looked towards the camp and just as Liu Jilian said, the fire had spread out of the camp.

If Liu Jilong hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't even have noticed this.

"Beep--"

The whistle sounded, but it could not drown out the sound of fighting in the camp.

The autumn grassland was covered with dry grass. As the camp was set on fire, the grass inside the camp also burned with the help of the autumn wind.

Gradually, the fire became so big that it could not be extinguished.

"Retreat to the west!"

"Beep--"

Liu Jilian led his troops into the camp, continuously blew the wooden whistle and ordered a retreat.

The whistle sounded nearby and awakened the Shandan cavalry who were already blood-thirsty. They broke out to the west in accordance with the pre-war military order, rushing out of the fire one after another.

After they rushed out of the fire, the panicked armored soldiers, slaves and light cavalry in the camp also began to flee.

However, the Shandan elite cavalry who rushed out of the fire did not go away, but gathered together one after another, and surrounded and killed those foreign soldiers who escaped from the camp but refused to surrender.

Some of these foreign soldiers fled towards Fanhe, and some fled towards Jialin.

Faced with their escape, Liu Jilong ordered without hesitation that all deserters be killed.

At the same time, the sound of horns came from the west.

Nearly a thousand elite cavalry and horse infantry led by Zhang Huaishen, in cooperation with the elite cavalry of Shandan, surrounded all the deserters on the grassland from west to east, and bloodily massacred anyone who tried to escape.

The slaves knelt down and prostrated themselves, and the foreign soldiers followed suit.

The fire illuminated the surroundings, like a big fireball.

The sky gradually brightened, but it was still no match for the burning camp.

There was no doubt that the fire was out of control. It burned in all directions and with the help of the autumn wind, it could not be stopped at all.

Even Liu Jilong, the arsonist, was unable to stop it at this moment.

The foot-high weeds were set on fire, and the wind helped the fire spread in all directions. Even the elite cavalry from Zhangye and Shandan had no choice but to flee on horseback.

The flames spread wildly like dancing red snakes, instigated by the wind, and the sky was dyed a terrifying red.

The flames licked every inch of the land and the animals fled in panic.

The neighing and howling sounds intertwined together, especially the whistling of fire made the horses tremble and flee for their lives.

The faces of the foreign soldiers and slaves who did not escape the sea of fire were filled with fear and despair. They waved the objects in their hands, trying to block the merciless flames.

But the flames seemed to have life. They jumped, played, and devoured everything mercilessly.

The smoke was so thick that it was suffocating and my vision became blurry.

The air was filled with a burning smell, and even breathing became difficult.

The flames seemed to have taken over everyone's senses, and the scorching heat made people feel like they were in an oven.

After Liu Jilian and Zhang Huaishen joined forces, they retreated to Fanhe, but the fire in the camp was blown towards the northeast by the southwest wind.

Even though Liu Jilong and his team had evacuated dozens of miles away from the fire, they could still tell the extent of the fire through the billowing black smoke.

"After you set this fire, I wonder how many years it will take for this grassland to recover..."

On horseback, Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilong looked at the fire together and said this with lingering fear.

Even Liu Jilong, the arsonist, couldn't help feeling a little scared at this moment. He took off his helmet and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"I thought there would be no wind tonight, but a strong wind suddenly blew. Fortunately, no brothers were killed or injured in the fire."

As he said this, he saw Zhang Huaishen looking at him with complicated eyes.

"What's wrong?" Liu Jilong asked in surprise, and Zhang Huaishen then spoke:

"Ma Cheng told me what you did these days on the way here."

"After this battle, I'm afraid you will be promoted again." Zhang Huaishen was very happy from the bottom of his heart that Liu Jilian had killed and wounded the soldiers of Liangzhou.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but gradually worry about Liu Jilong's future choices.

He had seen too many powerful young men who grew up to become enemies of their uncles, so he was very worried that Liu Jilong would do the same.

With Liu Jilian's current achievements, it would be no problem for him to be appointed as the governor of a state.

What's more, with their joining, Fanhe City will definitely not survive until today's evening, so their control over Liangzhou is a foregone conclusion.

"Promotion is another matter. What we need to do now is to capture Fanhe City first!"

Liu Jilong spoke in a deep voice, and Zhang Huaishen nodded in approval.

Before the war, both of them just wanted to win the battle, but no one thought that they would end up fighting like this.

Right now Fanhe, Guzang and Changsong have suffered heavy losses respectively, and it is a good time to take over Fanhe.

Thinking of this, the two looked at each other and were about to say something when Suo Xun rode up on his horse and bowed to Zhang Huaishen, saying:

"Governor, I have interrogated the soldiers. According to what they said, Shang Moling is leading two thousand elite cavalry on the way to Fanhe. They will arrive in Fanhe at dusk at the latest. We must capture Fanhe before dusk."

Hearing this, Zhang Huaishen nodded and said, "I have asked the civilians who stayed in the camp to cook. Now we can go back and eat."

"But we don't need to attack the city. We just need to lead these prisoners around the city. Maybe we can defeat the enemy without fighting."

Suo Xun's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself that he had forgotten that attacking the heart is better than attacking the city.

Fan He had persisted until now simply waiting for reinforcements to come and rescue him. Now that the reinforcements had been killed and most of them had been captured, Fan He's hopes had been shattered.

They only need to take the captured surrendered soldiers for a walk, and perhaps Moli will surrender without even the thought of resisting.

Seeing this, Suo Xun, Liu Jilong and Zhang Huaishen waited quietly for the fire around the camp to be extinguished, and then watched Jiu Juyan and others organize people to clean up the battlefield.

Half an hour later, Jiu Juyan, Shang Duoluo and others finished cleaning up the battlefield and rode up to the three men.

"Governor, we captured 1,934 sets of armor in this battle, 70% of which are broken and 30% are intact."

"We lost 4,624 prisoners and slaves, 2,465 killed, and more than 2,036 horses, but unfortunately all the food was burned."

"Okay!" Suo Xun was cheered up and looked at Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong said nothing, but Zhang Huaishen nodded calmly and said, "Give the intact armor to the civilians to wear. We must capture Fanhe today!"

During the conversation, the army had already been reorganized, and more than 2,000 cavalry and infantry and elite cavalry were escorting more than 4,000 prisoners towards Fanhe.

At the same time, although the surrounded Banhe did not know what was happening, the billowing smoke rising from the east made them uneasy.

Two hours later, as the Ganzhou army escorted more than 4,000 prisoners around the city, Fanhe City instantly fell into chaos.

"how come……"

"The reinforcements from Gu Zang and Jia Lin were defeated?!"

"This...this...Dong Ben, what should we do?!"

As Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilian had expected, as the news of the defeat of the reinforcements spread, the morale of the entire Fanhe City plummeted.

Jie'er and Xiaojie'er who were surrounding Moli had vague looks in their eyes and started thinking about how to survive.

Mo Li saw their expressions, and he became as depressed as an eggplant hit by frost.

He knew that standing firm was no longer an option and that their only option now was negotiation.

He didn't want to wait for the group of people below to threaten to surrender, so while Zhang Huaishen, Liu Jilian and others led their troops to surround the four gates of the city, he sent an envoy to the Ganzhou camp at the west gate.

A lieutenant and more than a dozen foreign soldiers walked into the camp under the supervision of elite cavalry, and the camp was filled with elite troops from Zhangye and Shandan who had just won a victory.

They looked at Xiaojie'er and the foreign soldiers with unfriendly eyes, while the group of more than 4,000 captured Guzang, Jialin foreign soldiers and slaves avoided their gazes.

Soon, Xiaojie was brought to Zhang Huaishen's tent.

Inside the tent, Zhang Huaishen, Liu Jilong and others were having breakfast.

The fine flour made from wheat is made into noodles, and a bowl of hot noodle soup is everyone's breakfast.

Xiaojieer came to the front of the tent, knelt down, took out his scimitar and presented it with both hands.

"Zashili has come to surrender to the Heavenly Army under the order of Moli Dongben!"

He held the scimitar in both hands and knocked his head on the grass.

Seeing this, Zhang Huaishen, who was sitting in the main seat in the tent, took a mouthful of noodles slowly, then looked at him: "Mo Li, what do you want..."

His calm voice made Xiaojie even more humble. He prostrated himself on the ground and said carefully:

"Molidong originally hoped to keep the herds he and the city's governors and deputy governors had. To this end, we are willing to offer our entire warehouses and storehouses, and are willing to obey the Heavenly Army's orders and go to other places to graze!"

Since they had chosen to surrender, Moli and his men no longer expected to continue living in Fanhe City.

What's more, with their surrender, Fanhe City will also become the site of confrontation between Hexi and Liangzhou.

Faced with such a situation, the right thing to do is to actively suggest moving elsewhere.

"How much stuff is left in Banhe's warehouse?"

Zhang Huaishen still lowered his head to eat the fine noodles, and Xiaojieer slowly raised his head after hearing this, then turned around, took two books from a soldier behind him, and presented them with both hands.

Hu Shiguang, who was standing at the door of the tent, stepped forward to take the document, turned around and walked into the tent to hand the document to Zhang Huaishen.

Zhang Huaishen did not take it immediately. Instead, he took a sip of soup before taking the document and flipping through it.

Soon, he closed the document and said indifferently: "I can leave them half of the herd. This is the bottom line."

"This..." Xiaojie was a little anxious. After all, this was related to the amount of their property.

However, before he could speak, Zhang Huaishen continued: "If you don't want to, then continue to defend the city. I hope you can survive today."

"I...I need to go back and discuss this with Dong Ben..."

Xiaojieer couldn't make the decision, and Zhang Huaishen knew it. He waved his hand and said, "Go back."

"Excuse me..."

At Zhang Huaishen's signal, Xiaojieer carefully stood up and returned to Fanhe City with his soldiers.

At the same time, Liu Jilong also looked at the two books on Zhang Huaishen's low table.

Without waiting for him to speak, Zhang Huaishen took the initiative to say: "More than 8,000 strings of money, more than 120,000 shi of grain, and hundreds of pieces of silk and cloth..."

"This country is much richer than we thought!"

When he said that, surprise flashed in everyone's eyes.

The 120,000 shi of grain was not only enough to feed the people in the city for two years, but also enough to support tens of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of civilians in the eastward expedition for six or seven months.

As for the eight thousand strings of money, they can be used as rewards to reward nearly four thousand soldiers in the entire army. Even the lowest-ranking soldier can get one string of money.

"With this money and food, and the heavy damage done to Liangzhou by our army, we should send a report of victory to Dunhuang, mobilize the armies of the five states to gather together, and recapture Liangzhou in one fell swoop!"

Suo Xun was the first person to speak, and most of the others also held the same idea.

However, in the face of their thoughts, Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilong looked at each other and shook their heads calmly.

"Why?!"

Seeing the two of them like this, everyone spoke up.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong also explained: "Although after persuading Fan He to surrender, our army captured more than 4,000 prisoners and captured at least 4,000 armored soldiers...but winter is coming."

"It is not a wise move to gather and recruit troops from the five states in this way."

"What's more, Fanhe has enough food. After retaking Fanhe, the population under our army's jurisdiction will reach 50,000."

"Our army has no shortage of armor or food right now, so why do we need to recruit soldiers from other states instead of using this winter to train them?"

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Zhang Huaishen also nodded in agreement.

However, although the two said this on the surface, they had their own thoughts in their hearts.

"You guys go down and rest first. Liu Jilong and I have something to discuss."

Zhang Huaishen signaled everyone to retreat. Shang Duoluo and others did not think much about it, but the people from Suo Xun's faction frowned slightly.

However, the prestige of the two men was at its peak at the moment, so even though Suo Xun was reluctant, he still followed them out of the tent.

After they left, Zhang Huaishen looked at Liu Jilong and said, "You don't want to recruit soldiers from the five states because you're worried that someone will come and take a piece of the pie, right?"

"I'm doing this for you, the governor, and the military governor!" Liu Jilong responded in a deep voice, his eyes meeting Zhang Huaishen's.

"If we recruit soldiers from the other four states, we can get more troops to march east, but we will also attract those guys from Guasha."

"The situation in Liangzhou is already unstable. Even if it is recovered, it will take a long time to govern."

"If this group of insects gets involved, I'm afraid we'll stop at Liangzhou!"

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Zhang Huaishen also fell silent, which was unusual for him.

Looking at him in silence, Liu Jilong turned his gaze to the campfire in the tent.

In fact, he was not worried about the group of insects from Guasha coming to cause trouble, because he was confident that he could suppress them.

What he was really worried about was the Tang Dynasty in the east...

(End of this chapter)