Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 439 Ten Thousand Han Banners Cross the Yangtze River (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)

"Hurry up, everyone! Anyone who tries to sneak away will be punished along with their entire neighborhood!!"

"Snapped--"

At the end of September, with the autumn harvest over, Gao Pian dispatched Zhang Lin, Wang Zhongren, Lin Ruzhen and others to lead troops out of the city to relocate all the people from Bazhou, Bizhou, Kaizhou, Tongzhou, Shuzhou, Meizhou and other places to the south.

Cart after cart of grain was transported south. When there weren't enough horse-drawn carts, manpower was used to carry it on shoulders and in hands.

Anyone who tried to escape was caught up by the cavalry and infantry escorting them and lashed with a whip.

Not only those who sneak away will be whipped, but even neighbors whose homes have been relocated will be punished and whipped as well.

Overlooking the three rivers, the official roads between each city were now teeming with people, like army ants marching down the river.

"Speed ​​up! We must reach Qujiang County tonight!"

Between the hills, dense forests rose and fell together, and the people were driven south by soldiers like ants.

The already ragged people, carrying all their belongings on their shoulders and in their hands, could hardly move quickly.

Many people developed chilblains on their hands, but they still had to grit their teeth and keep going.

It was truly astonishing that just over three hundred cavalry and infantrymen could drive tens of thousands of them south.

"Beep--"

"Damn it! Those damned Kansai bastards are here again!"

The whistle blew, and the colonel leading the cavalry and infantry immediately began cursing. Everyone around him looked at him, and he could only grit his teeth and say, "Withdraw!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, countless wooden whistles sounded, and more than three hundred cavalry and infantrymen abandoned the tens of thousands of civilians and hurried south.

The people were at a loss, with dense forests on both sides, making it impossible to escape with their belongings. They could only stand there dumbfounded and wait.

Before long, as more than ten cavalrymen from the Three Rivers once again galloped past from the north and headed south without stopping, the people finally saw the fiery red that was gradually appearing in the north.

The banners of the Han army came rushing in from afar, from north to south, their numbers growing ever larger, like a fiery dragon charging headlong toward the Yangtze River.

Leading the army south was Geng Ming. As he passed by this group of people, he immediately instructed the captain beside him:

"Ask them if they are willing to be resettled nearby. If they are not willing, send them back to their place of origin. If they are willing, resettle them nearby."

"Yes!!"

After Geng Ming gave a brief instruction, someone immediately came to handle the resettlement of these tens of thousands of people.

Most people still wanted to return to their hometowns, while a small number of shrewd people chose to settle nearby.

Because Gao Pian forcibly relocated people to the south, those prefectures and counties that were relatively close to central Guizhou were already empty, and the southward migration was also fruitless.

As long as one is willing to be resettled nearby, the amount of farmland obtained after resettlement is far greater than that obtained by returning to one's original place of residence.

Many poor people received several acres of extra farmland because of a decision, while many more poor people, seeing the problems, had to return to their hometowns and redistribute their land.

Even so, they became wealthy because of the land redistribution policy, but for the Han army today, this was just one aspect of the policy's implementation.

When Liu Jilong led Wang Jian, Gao Huai, and others south, the front lines of the entire Sanchuan battlefield had become exceptionally lively.

Apart from some troops left behind, the remaining 80,000 troops from Dongchuan and Xichuan were all gathered at the front line.

From the end of September to mid-October, Gao Pian decisively abandoned five prefectures and more than a dozen counties in Shannan West Circuit, north of the Yangtze River.

Geng Ming promptly dispatched troops to intercept the Tang army under Gao Pian's command, thus saving over 100,000 people from Shannan and Xishan.

Even so, more than 100,000 people were still forcibly relocated south, and Gao Pian also recruited many small-time river pirates to form the Yangtze River Naval Force.

With the help of the Yangtze River naval forces, more than 100,000 people from north of the Yangtze River were sent to the south bank. Gao Pian ordered them to be relocated to Qianzhou, Sizhou, Yizhou and other places along with the people from Fuzhou and Yuzhou.

People from places like Lizhou, Yazhou, Shuzhou, Jiazhou, Meizhou, and Rongzhou are being relocated by Gao Pian's troops to places like Bozhou, Juzhou, and Chenzhou.

These messages were quickly relayed back to Jiangbei through spies planted by the Han army in Jiangnan. So when Liu Jilong was drinking from the Yangtze River, Zhang Wu was reporting to him all the intelligence he had gathered recently.

"Your Highness, Gao Pian is indeed as you predicted, attempting to relocate people into Qianzhong."

"Currently, people in various prefectures and counties in Jiangnan are being forcibly relocated, and the people are full of complaints."

"The five prefectures of Shannan West Circuit have been recovered by our army. Of the more than 200,000 people, 130,000 were detained by our army, and the remaining more than 100,000 have already crossed the Yangtze River to the south."

"Gao Pian had a navy known as the 'Captain of the Yangtze River,' with a strength of about three thousand men and more than seventy ships of various sizes."

"As long as Your Highness gives the order, this humble general will lead the army across the Yangtze River and head south today!"

The Minjiang River meandered southwards before Liu Jilong's eyes, but Liu Jilong did not feel much excitement, as if everything had fallen into place naturally.

Faced with Zhang Wu's request to join the battle, Liu Jilong calmly replied, "There's no need to rush. Let's prepare the supplies and provisions first."

"We're ready!" Zhang Wu, oblivious to the hidden meaning in Liu Jilong's words, continued to volunteer for battle.

Seeing his reaction, Liu Jilong could only helplessly explain, "Chunqiao, conquering Jiangnan is easy, but governing it is difficult."

"South of the Yangtze River, there have always been many ethnic minorities."

"Since the Han Dynasty, although our Han people have migrated to the south of the Yangtze River several times, the south of the Yangtze River is still mostly inhabited by native people and less inhabited by Han people."

“Forcibly relocating people is not something our Han army would do. Therefore, Gao Pian’s forced relocation of people into Qianzhong is advantageous to our army.”

After Liu Jilong's explanation, Zhang Wu realized that Gao Pian's relocation of the people was also an action tacitly approved by his own prince.

Although Zhang Wu found it hard to accept, after careful consideration, he felt that relocating people to central Guizhou would indeed be beneficial for protecting Sichuan and Chongqing in the future.

The Bashu region has historically been invaded by various barbarian tribes, including the Bashan barbarians and the various barbarian tribes of central Guizhou.

After so many years of conquest by the Tang Dynasty, the Bashan barbarians were practically no different from the Han people, and their numbers had dwindled to almost nothing. Assimilating them would have been quite easy.

In comparison, the various ethnic groups in central Guizhou, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, were more difficult to assimilate.

Now that Gao Pian has moved people into central Guizhou, the population of the various ethnic minorities in central Guizhou is roughly equal to that of the Han people, so naturally there is no reason for them to cause trouble.

Even if they wanted to cause trouble, they would have to ask Gao Pian if he was willing to let them.

Moreover, the various barbarian tribes occupied a lot of arable land, and the powerful families that Gao Pian brought to central Guizhou also wanted land.

Both sides wanted the land, but there was only enough land for one family to share. The result was obvious.

Since Gao Pian was bringing so many people into central Guizhou, he naturally had to take on the responsibility of developing and resettling them.

If he resolves the conflicts in Qianzhong, Liu Jilong will no longer have to face these problems in the future. Instead, he can lead his army, enjoy the supplies from the developed Qianzhong Road, and directly conquer the Nanman.

Although leaving things unattended will cause some people to suffer, Liu Jilong will find a way to do these things in the future, even if Gao Pian doesn't do them.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong gazed at the south bank of the Min River, then turned and walked back to the camp, not forgetting to give the order:

"The army will rest for three days. After three days, I will issue the order for the army to cross the river in three separate groups!"

"Yes--"

Zhang Wu bowed respectfully, though he still felt reluctant, he knew that what his prince said and did was right.

He watched his prince's figure disappear into the distance, and couldn't help but turn back to look at the south bank of the Min River.

"Ugh……"

With a long sigh, Zhang Wu could only shake his head and follow Liu Jilong's footsteps.

At the same time, Gao Pian, who was in charge of the campaign against the various regions, retreated from the front line in Shu Prefecture to the rear in Jia Prefecture.

At this moment, he was stationed in Jiaozhou, responsible for receiving the evacuation of military and civilian personnel from Yazhou and Lizhou.

Because You Shilong mobilized troops to launch a strong attack on Annam, Gao Pian then sent troops to seize Qingxi Pass on the south bank of the Dadu River.

Therefore, Gao Pian was not worried that Lizhou and Yazhou would fall into the hands of the Southern Barbarians, after all, he had stationed three thousand troops at Qingxi Pass.

As long as these three thousand soldiers don't withdraw, the southern barbarians will never be able to invade.

Moreover, he did not intend to hand Qingxi Pass over to the Southern Barbarians, but rather to give it to Liu Jilong.

The reason he did this was that if he gave Qingxi Pass to the Southern Barbarians, they could rely on the Dadu River and divide the river with the Han army.

However, if Qingxi Pass, the gateway to Xizhou, were to fall into the hands of the Han army, You Shilong would certainly spare no effort to retake it.

If Liu Jilong finds Qingxi Pass troublesome and abandons it, Gao Pian can write a proclamation to denounce him.

If Liu Jilong is unwilling to give up Qingxi Pass, then he will inevitably have to unite his forces at Qingxi Pass in the future, and the Southern Barbarians will also constantly restrain the part of his forces left in Sanchuan, relieving Gao Pian's pressure in Qianzhong.

but……

"Liu Muzhi, why haven't you sent troops yet?"

In the main seat of the yamen, Gao Pian frowned as he looked at the map before him. He was puzzled as to why Liu Jilong had not yet sent troops, but instead allowed him to relocate the people to Qianzhong.

He did intend to relocate people to central Guizhou, but he never thought of relocating all the people in Jiangnan to central Guizhou.

Putting everything else aside, the annual food and drink consumption of these million people alone amounts to millions of bushels of grain. Even now, with Gao Pian in control of central Guizhou and half of Lingnan, he still cannot supply that much food.

Even though he had plundered enough grain from Jiangnan, it was still not enough to feed so many people.

Taking all the people away would not only fail to help him, but would instead become a burden.

In his view, the population was very important to Liu Jilong, so Liu Jilong could not sit idly by and watch his people migrate.

As long as Liu Jilong sent troops, he would decisively abandon these people and then fight the Han army several times in places like Yibin and Bidao, which would be considered an explanation to Luoyang.

With the current situation so chaotic, he had no intention of using his troops to fight Liu Jilong to the death.

If he withdraws to Qianzhong, Liu Jilong will inevitably attack Hedong and Dongji, and may even clash with towns such as Lulong and Chengde.

Let Lulong and Chengde wear down Liu Jilong, while I first resolve the issues in Lingnan, Hunan, and Qianzhong, and then seize the opportunity to take over Jiangnan, welcome the emperor into Jiangnan, and at the very least strive to divide the country along the Yangtze River and achieve a situation similar to the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The Han soldiers were tall and strong, but being tall and strong did not mean that the navy was powerful.

As long as Zigui and Yiling can be held, and with the Jingxiang region acting as an obstacle, the Tang Dynasty still has a chance...

Thinking of this, Gao Pian took a few deep breaths, and at that moment, footsteps were heard in the yamen.

Gao Pian looked up and saw that the person who came was Lu Ruyue.

"Your Majesty, there are far too many people in Shu Prefecture and other places. Currently, apart from the more than 40,000 artisans and their families who have been relocated to Qian Prefecture, the remaining people have not yet been properly settled. What do you think..."

Lu Ruyue had previously been in charge of the garrison in Lizhou and had done a very good job, so Gao Pian put him in charge of the relocation of people in Shuzhou and other places.

As for the powerful families and clans in Shuzhou and other places, as well as the families of soldiers, artisans and their families, he had already arranged for Zhang Lin to relocate them to Qianzhong.

The population of Shuzhou and other places ranged from at least 500,000 to over 700,000.

Gao Pian's original intention was to wait until Liu Jilong sent out his troops, then fight Liu Jilong in two battles at Bidao and Yibin, pretend to lose to him, and then dump these more than 700,000 people as a burden on Liu Jilong.

As a result, Liu Jilong's inaction has put him in an awkward position.

Take it with you, there's not enough food.

If I don't take it with me, someone will definitely impeach me behind my back, for example...

Before Gao Pian could finish his thought, another figure hurriedly entered the hall.

"Lord Gao, I would like to know why the hundreds of thousands of people in Shu Prefecture have not yet gone to Qianzhong?"

When Yang Fuguang's voice rang out, Gao Pian and Lu Ruyue both looked at this formidable Northern Commander Supervisor.

Yang Fuguang was only twenty-six years old, but he had been stationed in Rongzhou for a relatively long time and had been deeply involved in the military and political affairs of Rongzhou. Even Gao Pian did not remove him so easily.

Moreover, Gao Pian had a good relationship with the Yang family of Beisi, and the Yang family had connections in various towns, so he did not want to offend Yang Fuguang.

Now that Yang Fuguang has come to inquire, Gao Pian can only calmly reply: "More than 300,000 people from Shannan West Road and Dongchuan Prefecture are migrating, and the official road into central Guizhou is narrow and blocked ahead."

"Given the current situation, it will take at least three to five days to clear the blockage, so for now we can only ask the people to wait."

There was nothing wrong with Gao Pian's words. After all, Yang Fuguang had never been to Qianzhong Road and did not know that Gao Pian had long ago had Liang Zuan expand and repair the official road in Qianzhong Road.

Now, no matter what Gao Pian says, he can only listen and let it be.

"Is it three days or five days specifically?"

Yang Fuguang was well aware of Gao Pian's methods these days, and naturally knew that Gao Pian had no intention of fighting Liu Jilong to the death.

He could understand that Gao Pian was not confident of defeating Liu Jilong, but he could not understand Gao Pian's actions.

In his view, Gao Pian's current actions are tantamount to separatism.

He did not believe Gao Pian's words about preserving the court, and Gao Pian did not expect Yang Fuguang to understand him.

Faced with Yang Fuguang's question, Gao Pian took a deep breath and said, "Three days..."

"Okay!" Yang Fuguang got the answer and turned to leave.

After he left, Lu Ruyue said indignantly, "King Gao, Yang Fuguang is too arrogant, perhaps..."

"No!" Gao Pian interrupted Lu Ruyue's remarks, frowning as he said:
"Now is not the time to break ties with them; we should be patient for now."

"Yes……"

Lu Ruyue was somewhat unwilling, while Gao Pian had his own plans.

He needs to maintain the current relationship with Bei Si until Bei Si hands the emperor over to him; only then will it be time to break ties with Bei Si.

"Tomorrow I will lead 20,000 troops to retreat to Yibin. Three days later, you will lead your troops to escort hundreds of thousands of people from Shuzhou down the river."

"If Liu Jilong leads his troops across the river, he will not linger in battle, but will abandon the people and head straight for Yibin."

"The last general takes command!"

Gao Pian gave Lu Ruyue instructions, and Lu Ruyue agreed without hesitation.

Seeing that he agreed, Gao Pian began to attend to official business, while Lu Ruyue tactfully left the yamen.

The following morning, Gao Pian led an army of 20,000 and conscripted 40,000 people from Jiaozhou as laborers, heading south along the Yangtze River to Yibin County.

Two days later, Lu Ruyue began to forcibly relocate hundreds of thousands of people from Shuzhou and other places down the river, and the cries of the people echoed along both banks of the Yangtze River (Minjiang River).

The Han troops on the north bank couldn't stand it any longer, and more and more people came to request orders, but Zhang Wu suppressed them all.

After learning about Liu Jilong's plan, Zhang Wu convinced himself in a very short time.

Saving the people of Jiangnan can only bring temporary peace.

However, if the Qianzhong Road can be completely stabilized, then the entire Sichuan region will be at peace.

Zhang Wu could tell which of the two was more important.

Therefore, as time went on, it wasn't until October 17th that Liu Jilong issued the military order.

Of the 130,000 Han troops, 20,000 remained stationed, while the remaining 110,000 were divided into three routes to cross the river.

The Western Route Army, led by Zhang Wu as commander-in-chief and Wang Jian and Gao Huai as deputy commanders, crossed the river with 9,000 elite cavalry, 20,000 cavalry and infantry, and 20,000 infantrymen, and recovered lost territories such as Shuzhou.

The central army, led by Li Shangyin as commander-in-chief and Ma Yi and Gao Shu as deputy commanders, crossed the river with 10,000 cavalry and infantry and 20,000 infantrymen to recover the lost territory of Jiaozhou.

The Eastern Route Army, led by Geng Ming as commander-in-chief and Wang Sifeng and Li Yangchun as deputy commanders, crossed the Yangtze River with 10,000 cavalry and infantry and 20,000 infantrymen, recovered the lost territories of Yuzhou and Fuzhou, and attacked Zhongzhou, Wanzhou, Kuizhou and other places.

Of the three armies, only the eastern army faced significant difficulties crossing the river; the central and western armies did not.

The Minjiang River, which is hundreds of feet wide, can be crossed quickly using small boats and pontoon bridges.

Since Gao Pian did not make any arrangements, the western army encountered no obstacles at all. After Zhang Wu led his army across the river, he immediately sent Gao Huai with elite cavalry to Qingxi Pass, at the very least to defend Hanyuan County.

Gao Huai did not delay and headed straight for Qingxi Pass, while Zhang Wu led Wang Jian to recover lost territories in Shuzhou, Qiongzhou and other places.

Compared to the Western Route Army, the Central Route Army happened to run into Lu Ruyue's army escorting civilians south.

Seeing the central army crossing the river, Lu Ruyue immediately abandoned the civilians being escorted and led his troops to retreat to Yibin County.

Upon seeing this, Li Shangyin sent Gao Shu to gather the people and settle them on the spot, while also sending someone to inform Liu Jilong. At the same time, he dispatched Ma Yi to lead cavalry and infantry to pursue Lu Ruyue.

The two sides pursued and fought, and when they encountered civilians along the way, Ma Yi divided his troops to settle the civilians while he led his own troops to continue the pursuit.

By the time the news reached Liu Jilong's ears, a full six hours had passed, and it was already 21 PM.

"Gao Pian..."

Upon learning of Gao Pian's actions, Liu Jilong immediately guessed that Gao Pian did not intend to confront them head-on, but rather wanted to abandon the excess population and retreat lightly to central Guizhou.

Relocating people was merely a facade to appease the imperial court.

Liu Jilong walked up to the map and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

He didn't know what Gao Pian was thinking, but he knew that since Gao Pian's spirit hadn't dissipated, he must still have ambition.

By abandoning hundreds of thousands of people without grain as a burden, Gao Pian was only taking the first step in dealing with himself.

Without the population of Shu Prefecture, Gao Pian could still govern the Qianzhong Road well with the hundreds of thousands of people who had entered Guizhou from the east, but he would have no chance to expand it.

More importantly, if Gao Pian simply retreats, he will definitely be blamed by the court, so he must have a backup plan.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at the person beside him and asked, "How many troops do we still have here?"

When Liu Jilong asked, Liu Yingyan bowed and said, "There are still five thousand cavalry and infantry!"

"Send word: assemble at dawn tomorrow, cross the river, and head towards Yibin!" Liu Jilong gave the order without hesitation, and Liu Yingyan carried it out without hesitation.

The following morning, Liu Jilong led 5,000 fully armed cavalry and infantry across the Yangtze River and headed southeast along the river.

While they were leading their troops straight to Yibin, Ma Yi had already led his troops to Yibin in pursuit of Lu Ruyue's men.

"Hey!!"

Yibin is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and the official road on the south bank has always been rugged. Yibin is located at the southern end of the hills, right in the middle of the official road.

Lu Ruyue led his troops to Yibin County and immediately turned his horses around to confront Ma Yi, who was pursuing them.

When Ma Yi saw them stop, he immediately led his troops to stand still and looked around.

The area is surrounded by hills on both sides, and the official road in the middle is only a few dozen steps wide. Moreover, the hills are covered with trees, making it an easy place to set up an ambush.

Seeing this, and noticing Lu Ruyue leading her troops in a standoff with him, Ma Yi immediately sensed something was wrong: "Withdraw the troops!"

"Beep--"

As soon as Ma Yi spoke, the order to retreat was sounded. The Han army's vanguard became the rearguard, and the rearguard became the vanguard. The command flags changed positions, and the army immediately began to retreat.

"He's a capable general, what a pity..."

In front of Yibin City Tower, Gao Pian couldn't help but shake his head, while Gao Qin, who was in charge of the ambush, ordered the bugle to be sounded.

"Uuuuuu——"

The horn sounded, and in an instant, countless arrows rained down from the dense forest on both sides.

Moreover, Gao Qin personally led troops to block the Han army's retreat route.

More than 8,000 Han cavalry and infantry were trapped in the valley between the hills. The vanguard was led by Gao Qin with 5,000 ambushers, with an unknown number of ambushers on the left and right, and Lu Ruyue's 10,000 cavalry and infantry behind them.

Seeing the situation, Ma Yi was momentarily flustered, but quickly calmed down. Raising his arm and shouting, he gave the order to his bannermen:
"The rear guard dismount and form a six-flower straight formation; the vanguard and center guards follow my banner and charge with me!!"

After Ma Yi finished speaking, he immediately spurred his horse and charged backward, while the flag soldiers waved their command flags and sent out fast horses to deliver the order to the three armies.

"kill!!"

When Ma Yi led his army to the vanguard, he saw a banner with the character "Gao" fluttering in the wind, and five thousand men blocking their retreat route.

The Han and Tang armies formed ranks and clashed, with the vanguard soldiers constantly clashing with spears and lances, leaping and exchanging crossbow fire, arrows raining down.

Upon seeing this, Ma Yi immediately led his more than 3,000 soldiers in the central army to form a fierce battle formation, with himself serving as the leader of the formation, and led his troops to charge forward.

"Stop their line!"

Gao Qin waved his command flag, and the Tang army's vanguard immediately steadied itself, while the Tang soldiers in the dense forests on the left and right engaged them with crossbows along with the Tang army's leaping soldiers.

Before Ma Yi could even charge into the Tang army's vanguard, he was riddled with arrows, his body heavy and unable to move forward.

Seeing this, those around him quickly protected him and retreated. Ma Yi also took the opportunity to draw his sword and cut off the arrow shafts in his body. After feeling that his body was unharmed, he looked at Zhan Feng.

The two armies were locked in fierce combat, but the Tang army remained completely still.

"Captain, the Tang army's cavalry and infantry have dismounted, formed ranks, and are attacking from Yibin!"

A messenger arrived from behind with news. Ma Yi was anxious upon hearing this, but the more anxious he became, the calmer he remained.

He looked at the mountains and forests on the left and right, and immediately ordered, "The central army shall retreat and follow me to the mountains and forests on the right. Leave my banner here to boost the morale of the entire army!"

"Yes!!" The generals on both sides responded one after another, and then withdrew the three thousand central troops, while Ma Yi personally led the three thousand central troops to charge into the right hillside.

The hills were not steep, but the forest was slippery. Although Ma Yi had been in Xichuan for more than a year, he still had not adapted to the climate here.

They climbed the slippery, wet slope, which was more than ten feet long, almost using both their hands and feet, braving a hail of arrows.

After rushing up the earthen slope, they also encountered hundreds or even thousands of Tang soldiers lying in ambush.

At this moment, they had switched to short weapons, and were all using blunt weapons such as axes and maces to wait for the Han army.

The two sides were extremely hostile to each other upon meeting, and Ma Yi shouted as he led his men forward to attack.

Lu Ruyue led a large army to cooperate with Gao Qin in attacking the Han army from the rear. More than 5,000 Han soldiers were attacked from both sides by more than 15,000 Tang soldiers, with an unknown number of ambushes on the left and right.

Faced with this situation, the Han army did not collapse for a long time, but gritted its teeth and held its ground.

The two sides fought from the afternoon until dusk, a total of three hours, and both sides were almost exhausted.

At this moment, Ma Yi led his army to defeat the Tang army on the right hillside and circled around Gao Qin's rear along the earthen slope.

The defeated Tang army fled down from the dense forest and reported the incident to Gao Qin. Upon hearing this, Gao Qin angrily cursed, "Damn it! Five thousand men, with their superior position, couldn't even stop a mere two or three thousand?!"

Although he was angry, Gao Qin knew that now was not the time to be angry, so he ordered the soldiers on the left and right: "The three armies hold their ground and retreat ten miles!"

"Yes!!"

The flag bearer acknowledged the order and then began to wave the command flag and retreat.

Seeing the Tang army retreat, the Han army immediately realized that the right-wing attack had been effective, so they resisted Lu Ruyue's attack while pursuing Gao Qin.

Seeing the Han army begin to move, Lu Ruyue immediately sensed something was wrong and sent someone back to Yibin to inform Gao Pian of the situation.

At the same time, Gao Pian also received military intelligence delivered by Gao Qin's messenger.

"Damn it, out of 25,000 men, you can't even keep a mere 8,000?"

Realizing the situation was not good, Gao Pian couldn't help but weigh the options, wondering whether he should take over this force or retreat quickly to Bidao before Liu Jilong realized what was happening and continue to set up an ambush in Bidao City.

After a moment's thought, he decided to take down the Han army. After all, the Han army would be more vigilant after being ambushed, making it less easy to set up another ambush.

Moreover, the merit of killing more than 8,000 Han soldiers would definitely allow Lu Yan to speak for him in the imperial court, which would be enough for him to defeat Huang Chao and occupy Hunan in the future.

Thinking of this, Gao Pian immediately rode out of the city. When he arrived at the front line, he could see many corpses of Han and Tang soldiers along the way. The more he looked, the uglier his face became.

Even though it was our own troops who led the ambush, why are there not only a similar number of corpses on the ground, but also a majority of them being Tang soldiers?

After taking a deep breath and calming himself down, Gao Pian went to the front of the battle line and saw that the Han army, numbering less than four thousand, was still resisting the attack from both the front and the rear.

"With gritted teeth and bloodied bodies, they swear to die without retreat; they are truly formidable enemies..."

Even Gao Pian was momentarily moved by the quality displayed by the Han army, but only for a moment.

"King Gao!"

Lu Ruyue rode up on horseback, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Seeing this, Gao Pian did not hesitate and immediately commanded, "The vanguard and the central army will press forward, while you lead the rear guard to circle around the mountain ridge from the right flank and launch a strong attack from the high ground."

"The last general takes command!"

Without delay, Lu Ruyue immediately led more than 3,000 rear guards to climb the earthen slope.

Meanwhile, Ma Yi had already led more than two thousand soldiers to circle around behind Gao Qin.

"Uuuuuu——"

"Commander, the Han army has circled around to our rear!"

"What did you say? How could it be so fast?!"

Gao Qin hadn't anticipated Ma Yi and his men's swift action. His thoughts were momentarily confused, but he quickly regained his composure and said:
"Don't panic. Withdraw the left flank troops, hold the line here, and hold them off!"

"Yes!!"

Under Gao Qin's orders, the Tang army on the left wing and the routed soldiers on the right wing began to retreat back into their positions. More than 10,000 Tang soldiers formed a battle formation there, making the two thousand Han soldiers led by Ma Yi appear particularly weak.

Even so, when Ma Yi led his army to attack from the rear, they did not hesitate because of the large number of Tang soldiers. Instead, they formed a fierce formation and charged forward with shouts of battle.

The Han army's vanguard, wielding spears, clashed with the Tang army's vanguard. The Han army, caught in the crossfire, saw their own banners appearing behind the Tang army, and their morale soared.

The two armies clashed repeatedly in a situation where they attacked each other from both sides. Ma Yi, carrying two armor-piercing axes, acted as the leaping hand behind the vanguard soldiers.

Whenever the enemy's vanguard was knocked down, he would rush into the formation and continuously slash at the surrounding infantry.

Because he was so conspicuous, the Tang soldiers kept attacking him with crossbows.

He was shot into a pincushion several times, then protected by his flanks and retreated to the rear. After removing the arrows, he charged forward again.

The Han army's morale soared because of him, while the Tang army was terrified after seeing him survive being shot multiple times.

As dusk approached and the Han army still refused to surrender, Gao Qin's troops suffered heavy casualties from the pincer attack, causing their ranks to falter.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves rang out from the north side of the official road.

Dozens of Han soldiers appeared at the end of the official road. Seeing the scene of fighting in the distance, they quickly spurred their horses to approach.

"The Tang army has laid an ambush here. Immediately order Chief Clerk Li to lead troops to their aid!!"

Ma Yi did not send out Tang soldiers northward because their horses were left in the central army, and it would take at least two or three days to reach Jiaozhou on foot.

Having served in Liangzhou for so many years, Li Shangyin naturally understood the importance of sending out garrison troops.

Ma Yi and his men had not sent any soldiers to report back for nearly half a day, so Li Shangyin sent his soldiers south, where they encountered this situation.

Upon learning of the Tang army's ambush, these Tang soldiers hurriedly rode back north, a scene witnessed by the Tang army, who quickly reported it to Gao Qin.

Upon learning the news, Gao Qin sensed something was wrong and quickly sent someone to climb the low slope to relay the message to Gao Pian.

As expected, upon learning of the appearance of the Han army's cavalry, Gao Pian hesitated only for a moment before taking the initiative to order: "Order Gao Qin to split his forces in two and let them break through!"

"King Gao!" Lu Ruyue, reluctant to part with this tempting prize, couldn't help but bow to Gao Pian:

"King Gao, the Han army has been defeated in the blink of an eye. This humble general is willing to lead troops again. If we cannot break through the Han army within three battles, this humble general is willing to offer his head to you!"

Gao Pian ignored Lu Ruyue's pledge and said coldly, "Pass on the order!"

"Yes..." Lu Ruyue was very unwilling, but she still had the flag soldiers pass on the military order.

Upon seeing this, Gao Qin quickly made arrangements, and the army was instantly divided into two, each forming a straight line to create a passage.

Upon seeing this, the Han army, which had been besieged for most of the day, immediately formed ranks and rushed into the gap, carefully forming ranks along the gap to withdraw from the encirclement.

The battlefield fell silent in an instant, as both sides were exhausted and did not want to cause any further trouble.

Before the Tang army could react, Gao Pian coldly ordered, "Kill!"

Lu Ruyue's eyes lit up, and she immediately raised her arm and shouted, "Kill!!"

In an instant, the quiet battlefield was shattered by shouts of battle, and the Han and Tang armies clashed again. Ma Yi was furious when he saw Gao Pian resorting to such tactics, and his eyes turned red with rage.

He led his troops to fight against the Tang army, and even though he was exhausted, he still managed to break through the Tang army's formation.

"kill!!"

"Northeast dog!"

"Guanlong Hu people..."

Even though they were exhausted, they didn't let up with their words, still calling the other side "dog" and "bastard" while brandishing their weapons.

Half an hour later, blood pools gradually appeared on the battlefield, and the Tang army also seized many of the Han army's horses.

As the sun gradually disappeared, tremors finally broke out in the north.

"Uuuuuu——"

The Han army marched forward, blowing horns all the way. When Ma Yi and the others heard the horns, they felt an extra strength in their bodies, and their battle cries became even more powerful.

Gao Pian, positioned in the central army, watched as the remaining Han troops, surrounded and annihilated, were wiped out, but his own side suffered even greater casualties. His face darkened.

Especially when the bugle call of the northern Han army reinforcements sounded, no matter how unwilling he was, he could only wave his hand and order: "Withdraw the troops!"

"Dang-dang-dang-dang..."

The sound of the retreat signal rang out suddenly, and the Tang army began to retreat like a tide, but the Han army continued to pursue them relentlessly, and it was unknown why they had such abundant energy.

After the Han army pursued for two or three miles, they watched as the Tang army retreated back to Yibin City. Only then did they feel all their strength drain away, and they collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

With each breath, I felt a burning sensation in my throat, making it extremely difficult.

Ma Yi struggled to stay upright, his body riddled with arrows of all sizes, many of which were embedded deep within him, yet he continued to hold on.

It wasn't until Han soldiers carrying torches appeared on the northern official road that Ma Yi's vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.

Li Shangyin led his army there, but when he saw the situation at Yibin, he couldn't help but tighten his grip on the reins.

A strong, pungent smell of blood wafted from the direction of Yibin, so strong it made one feel nauseous.

The front was littered with corpses, broken spears and banners filled the valleys, and arrows grew densely from the fields like crops.

The valley, which was only two miles from north to south and a few dozen steps from east to west, was now filled with corpses. Many of the surviving Han soldiers were exhausted, and when they saw the reinforcements arrive, they simply fainted.

"Help!!"

Li Shangyin belatedly realized what was happening. Looking at his still shocked comrades around him, he sternly woke them up and began to clean up the battlefield.

Ma Yi was pulled out of the pile of corpses. More than five pounds of arrows were removed from his armor. After the armor was removed, he had fifty-seven arrow wounds of various sizes on his body, and had been hit by blunt weapons at least five times. He was seriously injured.

Li Shangyin set up camp on an open space north of Yibin City to prevent Gao Pian from launching a night attack with fire.

The cleanup of the battlefield did not end until dawn.

Ma Yi was awakened by the sound of horses' hooves, but by then he was already bound like a dumpling.

Seeing that he was about to get up, the army doctor quickly dissuaded him, saying, "Captain Ma, your broken bones have just been set. You can't move right now. If your internal organs are damaged, even a god can't save you."

Seeing the army doctor say this, Ma Yi obediently lay down.

Before he could ask anything, the medic hurriedly came out of the tent.

Before long, a figure that Ma Yi did not expect appeared in the tent.

"Your Highness!"

As Liu Jilong led Li Shangyin and the others into the tent, Ma Yi excitedly tried to get up, but was stopped by the army doctor.

Seeing him wrapped up like that, Liu Jilong roughly knew how serious his injuries were.

"If your father saw you like this, he would probably be so angry that he would argue with me."

Seeing that Ma Yi was about to say something, Liu Jilong praised, "In this battle, your troops killed more enemy soldiers than our own, showing great bravery and skill in battle. This merit is specially recorded."

"However, your underestimation of the enemy and reckless advance led to the loss of many brothers, so your merits and demerits should be considered equal."

"Now you should rest well, I'll be waiting to take you back to the north to fight."

In a few words, Liu Jilong affirmed the merits of Ma Yi's troops and balanced Ma Yi's own merits and demerits, which allowed Ma Yi to release the emotions that had been building up in his heart.

The battle was so fierce that even though the enemy suffered many times more casualties, it was still a defeat for Ma Yi himself.

He was content as long as the credit was attributed to his own men.

"Get some rest."

Liu Jilong offered a reassuring remark, then led Li Shangyin out of the military doctor's tent and towards the yamen (official's tent).

Seeing that they were far from the medical tent, Li Shangyin finally spoke up: "Of the 10,000 cavalry and infantry, apart from the more than 1,800 who were left behind to settle the people, less than 4,000 survived, and 4,252 were killed in battle."

"Although we killed or wounded more than 9,000 Tang soldiers, it was still one of the battles in which our army suffered relatively close casualties since the start of our southern campaign."

"If this guy finds out, he'll probably feel guilty for a long time..."

"Hmm!" Liu Jilong nodded in agreement, and then said to Li Shangyin and his men, "Let him recover from his injuries. We'll tell him the truth once the infantry and cavalry are replenished."

"Yes……"

Li Shangyin, Liu Yingyan, Gao Shu, and others nodded in agreement.

Before long, the group entered the tent, where a sand table had already been set up.

At this time, Yibin had already been adorned with Han army flags, but Gao Pian had taken advantage of the Han army's care for the wounded soldiers the previous night to withdraw his troops south, leaving Yibin as an empty city.

Liu Jilong stood in front of the sand table and pointed to Bodao City: "Gao Pian should have retreated to Bodao, but I don't know if he will continue to set up ambushes there."

"I don't think so," Liu Yingyan said, bowing. "Our army was just ambushed; it's impossible for us to fall for the trap again."

“That’s true.” Liu Jilong nodded in affirmation, but added, “But if Gao Pian thinks the same way, he will definitely continue to set up ambushes along the way.”

"The Tang army, personally trained by Gao Pian, is indeed quite powerful. Even without an ambush, they can inflict considerable casualties on our army."

"Therefore, on the way to the Bo Road, we should deploy more soldiers and cavalry, especially soldiers to climb high and look far, using birds and beasts to determine if there are any ambushes."

"Yes!" Everyone bowed in response. Liu Jilong looked at Li Shangyin:

“Yibin has no civilians, and our army cannot recruit laborers. How many days will it take to transfer laborers from the rear?”

"At least three days," Li Shangyin replied without hesitation, and Liu Jilong nodded in agreement.

"In that case, the army will march south in four days and we'll see whether Gao Pian intends to hold out at Bidao or abandon the Three Rivers region in one battle..."

(End of this chapter)