Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 484 Removing Armor and Cutting Robe (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)
"Squeak..."

The cold wind of December is howling, and the eve of the Lunar New Year is just around the corner.

Along the banks of the Sishui River, many soldiers stepped onto the ice, which soon began to crack, frightening them so much that they quickly retreated to the shore.

Two thousand Han cavalry and infantry were arrayed on the left and right, while six thousand infantry were arrayed in front. The ice behind them was thin, and if they tried to force their way through the ice, they would inevitably be pursued by the Han army and suffer heavy casualties.

Zhu Wen's gaze swept around, his inner emotions difficult to express.

Since he and Erlang left Xiao County, followed Huang Chao in his northern expeditions and southward escapes, and then established his own household three years ago, he has never felt that there has been a moment when he felt difficult.

Despite this, Zhu Wen truly felt the difficulty in the face of the disparity in strength between the enemy and himself.

He knew he had to act quickly, otherwise, once the troops drawn by his feint retreated, even breaking out would become difficult.

"Line up a straight line and attack the left and right wings first!"

Zhu Wen knew that what was hindering their retreat was mainly the cavalry and infantry in the Han army.

As long as he can severely damage the infantry and cavalry, or even capture enough horses, he may still have a chance to make a comeback despite the loss of so many troops here.

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Wen waved his command flag, and his flag bearers waved the flag continuously. The more than four thousand infantrymen began to divide their forces and attack to the left and right, taking a firm stance.

"The cavalry and infantry should retreat to regain their strength, while the vanguard and rearguard should advance to surround them from three sides, preventing them from making any further moves!"

Li Yangchun suddenly waved his command flag, and the cavalry and infantry began to retreat. The six thousand Han soldiers split into three groups and surrounded Zhu Wen from three sides.

"Six thousand surrounding four thousand is far too much underestimation of the enemy."

Zhu Wen remained calm and did not change his military orders. He continued to have the troops on the left and right flanks engage the advancing Han infantry, while the 600 men in the central army remained stationary.

"Susu..."

The sound of armor plates echoed continuously along the banks of the Sishui River. As the Han army advanced, they relentlessly suppressed the Yanhai naval soldiers with arrows fired from their bows and crossbows.

Although the Yanhai army had fewer bows and crossbows than the Han army, they were still able to put up a counterattack. However, on a battlefield where both sides were fully armored, arrows had little effect other than slowing down the march.

Arrows fell to the ground with a crackling sound, or were embedded between armor plates and cleaved in two by soldiers' swords.

The arrows that fell to the ground were trampled by the soldiers behind them, and countless shafts broke.

As the two sides drew closer, the ordinary archers in the Han army began to retreat, while the fierce warriors began to prepare with powerful bows and armor-piercing arrows.

Thirty steps, twenty steps, ten steps...

As the spears of both sides were about to clash, the fierce and resolute soldiers in the Han army took up their powerful bows, turned sideways, and shot at the faces of the Yanhai army's foot soldiers.

"puff!!"

"Uh-"

At a distance of ten paces, over a hundred fierce warriors fired powerful bows at the enemy's formation, instantly felling over a hundred soldiers. Meanwhile, the vanguard of the Han army charged towards the Yanhai navy with long spears.

"kill!!"

"bump--"

"Um..."

In the midst of the collision, the slingers in the Yanhai Navy had no time to fill in their positions before being knocked up by the Han army's spear charge, falling backward with blood streaming from their mouths and noses.

With their formation breached, although the subsequent leaping soldiers managed to form ranks in time, the original straight formation had been broken through in the center and transformed into a concave, curved formation.

Zhu Wen's expression turned grim as he watched his elite troops being outmatched by the Han army.

"Enter!"

Li Yangchun continued to wave his command flag, and the two thousand Han infantrymen in front began to attack Zhu Wen's central army.

"Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!"

Two thousand Han infantrymen advanced in straight lines, while the soldiers at the base thrust their 13-foot-long spears side by side. The sound of their footsteps and battle cries constantly weighed on Zhu Wen's nerves.

"Array up!"

Zhu Wen gritted his teeth and waved the flag, and the six hundred central troops immediately began to form ranks.

However, their hurried steps and flustered expressions clearly indicated that they could sense the disparity between their own and the enemy's strength.

"For every enemy killed, a reward of 100,000 coins will be given; for every enemy killed in battle, a reward of 200 acres of land will be given!"

One qing is equivalent to a hundred mu. In order to defeat the Han army, Zhu Wen used all his means.

He knew very well that nothing could motivate his soldiers more than a generous reward.

His guess proved correct, because as soon as he announced the reward, the morale of the Yanzhou Navy rose at a visible speed.

On the left and right flanks, the curved formations that the Han army had carved out were slowly and steadily restoring their original straight formations.

"General!"

Zheng Hengdong couldn't help but look at Li Yangchun, only to see that Li Yangchun remained calm and composed.

"Like a cornered beast, it's fighting to the last breath when it's at its weakest point!"

Li Yangchun watched as his own frontal line relentlessly pressed down on Zhu Wen's mere six hundred central troops. Compared to his composure, the six hundred Yanhai central troops facing two thousand Han soldiers appeared to be under immense pressure.

It was the dead of winter, and the Spring Festival was just two days away, yet here I was, armored and fighting on the banks of the Sishui River.

The soldiers of Yanhai felt that the Han army in front of them was like a wall, a wall that was constantly advancing.

Under their watchful eyes, arrows rained down from the Han army ranks. Those who reacted quickly lowered their heads and shrank their bodies as much as possible.

Arrows rained down, but apart from a few unlucky souls, the rest of the men were completely unaffected. They prepared to face the enemy, but then flag bearers began to run through the ranks, constantly relaying military orders.

"The commander's order is: Do not look up! If you look up during battle, beware of the government troops' powerful bows shooting at your face!!"

After several battles with the Han army, Zhu Wen gradually figured out their tactics.

Whether cavalry or infantry, whenever they formed ranks to attack, the Han army would use powerful bows to shoot at the soldiers in the formation.

Before the troop formation could react, the Han army used the troop formation to break through the enemy lines.

The method wasn't sophisticated, but it was very practical.

It wouldn't be difficult for other armies to follow suit, but the first priority is to train a group of sharpshooters who can draw powerful bows to engage in close-quarters combat.

"Beep--"

Suddenly, the Han army entered within ten paces, and whistles sounded.

More than a hundred archers in the formation were ready to use their old tricks again, but seeing that the Yanzhou navy was all looking down, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and shoot at the Yanzhou navy.

Fortunately, Zhu Wen did not cut corners on the armor. Although the armor of the Yan navy was not as thick as that of the Han army, it was not easily penetrated by armor-piercing arrows.

The soldiers were hit by arrows in the chest and head; the arrows were either stuck between the armor plates or flew away through the iron armor.

Although most of them only suffered minor physical injuries, their psychological stress increased dramatically.

"kill!!"

At this moment, the Han army's infantry charged forward with their spears, and a wooden whistle rang out from the Yanhai navy: "Defend!!"

Two hundred Yanhai soldiers began to raise their spears and thrust them forward. The spears clashed, and even though they were not affected by the Han army's direct fire, the six hundred Yanhai soldiers were still forced to retreat continuously by the two thousand Han soldiers.

Zhu Wen, leading Xie Tong and more than ten riders, stood ready in the rear. Seeing their side being suppressed in an instant, everyone's face turned ugly.

It is undeniable that the quality of Han soldiers was higher than that of Yanhai soldiers.

This is why, when Zhu Wen was conquering cities and seizing territory in Yunzhou, even though the command abilities of the Yunzhou Commandant and the other generals were not good, the Han army rarely suffered heavy casualties or even a rout on the main battlefield.

This quality also meant that the smaller the number of Han soldiers, the less likely they were to encounter major problems; problems usually arose due to the command of their generals.

However, Zhu Wen is now facing Li Yangchun, whose forces outnumber his own, rather than the unknown Zhang Wen.

"Advance side by side, cavalry and infantry, prepare to pursue and kill the fleeing soldiers. If you can capture Zhu Quanzhong alive, you will be promoted three ranks!"

Li Yangchun calmly gave the order, and at this moment the main battlefield was also intensifying.

Six thousand Han soldiers surrounded four thousand Yan naval troops, while two thousand cavalry and infantry were ready.

"Uuuuuu——"

Suddenly, the sound of horns rang out again from the direction of Xiaqiu City. Li Yangchun and Zhu Wen looked over at the same time and saw a large group of dark figures rushing towards the west bank of the Si River from the direction of Xiaqiu City.

Seeing this, Li Yangchun became even more confident, while Zhu Wen's expression changed drastically.

"My lord, the troops that were lured away by the feint have returned!"

Xie Tong was shocked, while Zhu Wen could only grit his teeth and look at the not-so-thick ice surface of the Sishui River.

He looked at Zhu Zhen beside him: "Take the brothers to see if the ice here is solid!"

"Yes!"

When Zhu Wen and his men arrived, the ice surface had already cracked in many places, and many soldiers had fallen into the ice caves.

There's no time for them to cautiously test the waters before crossing; they have no choice but to grit their teeth and charge forward.

If they could break through to the east bank, Zhu Wen and his men would certainly survive, not to mention the four thousand armored soldiers.

With this in mind, Zhu Wen watched as Zhu Zhen led more than ten cavalrymen toward the ice layer of the Si River, took a few tentative steps, and then quickly retreated.

Before Zhu Zhen even arrived, Zhu Wen had already seen his unpleasant expression.

"General, the ice layer is really not thick. After walking only ten steps, we heard the sound of ice cracking."

Zhu Zhen respectfully reported, but Xie Tong replied, "A crack in the ice doesn't mean it's impassable. As long as you're careful, you can still cross the river."

"Our army should cross the river and form ranks before the Han army. Please, my lord, decide whether to proceed!"

Xie Tong's words were not very clear, but Zhu Wen could understand them: before the main army crossed the river, he would cross first, and then let the soldiers cross.

On the way back, the Han army will definitely pursue, and our side will certainly suffer many casualties.

But as long as they can break through, they still have 30,000 troops at their disposal, so they are not worried about not being able to restrain the Han army.

Zhu Wen knew that coming to rescue Xie Tong was a terrible move, but since he had already done it, he could only try his best to salvage the situation.

Thinking of this, Zhu Wen could only take a deep breath and order: "The three armies retreat and form ranks!"

Seeing that Zhu Wen had made a decision, Zhu Zhen immediately began waving his command flags, ordering the left and right flanks and the central army to retreat and form a battle formation.

The fight between the two sides may not have lasted long, but in fact, half an hour had already passed.

Both the Yan navy and the Han army suffered casualties, but it is not difficult to tell without a close inspection that the Yan navy suffered more casualties.

Zhu Wen personally led 4,600 Yanzhou naval troops to provide reinforcements, with 600 as a feint, and then to support Xie Tong with fewer than 500 men, while the actual number of troops on the battlefield should have been 4,500.

After only half an hour of fighting, hundreds of corpses have already been left behind, and morale is low.

In comparison, whether due to effective rescue efforts or genuinely superior quality, the Han army had only a few dozen corpses on the battlefield, and these were being continuously carried away by the remaining Han soldiers.

This approach left the officers and soldiers of the Yanhai Navy unsure of their casualties, with some even believing that the Han army had suffered only a few dozen casualties.

The troops gathered, and Zhu Wen looked towards Xiaqiu City. He saw that the cavalry and infantry were only about a mile away from them, so he immediately stopped hesitating.

"Cross the river!"

As he spoke, the less than four thousand soldiers of the Yan Navy carefully stepped onto the ice of the Sishui River.

Seeing this, Li Yangchun frowned and instructed Zheng Hengdong beside him, "Order the cavalry and infantry on both sides to scout the frozen surface of the Sishui River!"

"Yes!" Zheng Hengdong replied, and then waved the command flag.

Before long, the cavalry and infantry on both flanks sent out dozens of men to the Sishui River to test the waters by crossing the ice. But upon hearing the sound of the ice breaking, they immediately retreated like startled birds.

Li Yangchun couldn't see it, but the message from the flag bearers let him know that the ice on the Sishui River wasn't very thick.

"The cavalry and infantry on the left and right sides detour to find a place to cross the river. The infantry disperse and cross the river from the left and right flanks of the rebel army to encircle them."

Since Zhu Wen dared to cross the river, there was naturally nothing he wouldn't dare to do.

This was a golden opportunity to annihilate Zhu Wen and leave him behind, and Li Yangchun naturally wouldn't let it slip by.

"Crunch... crunch..."

As the Yanzhou Navy stepped onto the frozen surface of the Sishui River, the sound of cracking ice could be heard constantly. Everyone was careful, afraid that they might accidentally fall into the ice hole.

Thirty feet is not a long distance, but at this moment it feels like an insurmountable chasm.

Even the previously valiant Han soldiers couldn't help but feel fear when faced with the ice surface that kept cracking.

"boom--"

"Uh-huh!!"

Suddenly, the sound of ice breaking came from the direction of the advancing Yanhai Navy. Five or six Yanhai soldiers fell into the icy water, and their men reached out with their spears to rescue them from the ice hole.

But their downfall seems to be just the beginning.

Over the next half-cup of tea's time, the ice continued to crack, eventually breaking into large pieces, and countless people fell into the water.

Tan Kai and Liu Song led their cavalry and infantry back, but upon seeing the scene before them, they didn't even have time to catch their breath before receiving Li Yangchun's military order to find a place to cross the Si River and follow Zhu Wen.

Five thousand infantry and cavalrymen split into two groups, one searching in the south and the other in the north.

Meanwhile, Zhu Wen crossed the Si River without incident, but when he looked back, he saw that the originally orderly queue had now scattered.

Many soldiers of the Yanzhou Navy fell into the ice hole, and after struggling for a few moments, they disappeared into the river. Their heavy armor made it impossible for them to climb out of the ice.

The previously unharmed ice layer cracked into pieces, and many Yanzhou naval soldiers, seeing the scene behind them, no longer cared about being careful and began to run for their lives.

Their running caused the already fragile ice to crack continuously, and countless soldiers fell into the water.

"withdraw!"

Zhu Wen watched as his soldiers continued to fall into the icy river. He felt a pang of heartache for only a moment before ordering a retreat when he saw thousands of cavalry and infantrymen on the west bank splitting up to the south and north.

"That damned Zhu Quanzhong!"

"Dogs and rats, save me!!"

In an instant, the abandoned Yanhai soldiers began to curse and shout, but the Han army paid no attention to them.

Seeing Zhu Wen retreat, the Han soldiers who rushed to the east bank immediately formed groups and began to fight the remaining soldiers who had fled ashore.

Seeing Zhu Wen abandon his thousand or so remaining soldiers and flee, Li Yangchun, though somewhat prepared, couldn't help but feel anxious.

"General, there is a place to cross the river eight miles to the north!"

Suddenly, cavalry and infantry galloped in from the north, shouting loudly.

"Withdraw the troops and cross the river to the north!"

Li Yangchun had already seen many Han soldiers fall into the ice caves, so it was impossible for him to cross the river from there.

As for the hundreds of Han soldiers who had already crossed the river, Li Yangchun had no worries about them.

Several hundred Han soldiers were enough to deal with the more than a thousand remnants that Zhu Wen had abandoned. Now, his most important task was to expand his gains and, ideally, keep Zhu Wen within the territory of Yanzhou!
"Beep--"

As the whistle blew, the Han soldiers who had not yet crossed the river withdrew to the west bank, while many Han soldiers who had fallen into the ice hole were signaled to retreat to Xiaqiu City to rest.

Li Yangchun led more than 5,000 Han soldiers northward to cross the river, while Zhu Wen, who was leading more than 2,000 troops to break through to Qufu, did not get far before being caught up by more than 1,000 cavalry and infantry who had crossed the river earlier to the north.

Zhu Wen ordered his three armies to suppress the Han army's cavalry and infantry with foot archery as they marched, while the Han army's cavalry and infantry did not attack, but simply followed the Yanhai army.

At that time, they were only a dozen miles away from Qufu City, but Zhu Wen also knew that at this speed, it would not be long before they were caught up by the thousands of cavalry and infantry that the Han army was coming to catch up with.

At this moment, all he could do was urge his soldiers to retreat.

"Buzz, rumble—"

"You damn bastard, form the Six Flower Formation and use the Straight Formation against the enemy!"

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves seemed to draw ever closer.

Seeing that the surrounding area was flat and open, Zhu Wen could only grit his teeth and continue to order the troops to form a battle formation.

More than two thousand soldiers formed ranks and then began to steadily advance towards Qufu City, which was seven or eight miles to the east.

However, before they had gone more than a mile, they saw a large number of cavalry and infantry pursuing them from the west. Zhu Wen immediately dared not move his troops and ordered the three armies to remain in place.

After four thousand cavalry and infantrymen joined together, they surrounded them on the outside. Upon seeing this, Tan Kai, who was in charge, immediately ordered them to dismount and rest to regroup, and then confront Zhu Wen from a distance of several hundred paces.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Wen immediately ordered his troops to slowly move eastward, while Tan Kai remained unhurried, simply watching as Zhu Wen's troops continued to shift their positions.

After Zhu Wen moved his troops about a mile away, he calmly led his army to catch up, then stopped in place and continued to watch Zhu Wen move his troops.

Moving in formation undoubtedly takes a toll on the soldiers' physical strength, something Zhu Wen was well aware of.

However, Qufu is very close. If he could retreat into Qufu and wait for Zhu Cun to lead his army to his aid from the east, he might still have a chance to take revenge.

If all else fails, he will have no choice but to abandon Yanzhou, Yizhou, and Haizhou, head north to relieve Ge Congzhou and his men, and then lead his army to retreat to Mizhou.

Thinking of this, Zhu Wen gritted his teeth and continued to command his troops to advance eastward. After moving two more miles eastward, the city of Qufu in the distance became clearly visible.

At this time, another four thousand cavalry and infantry, led by Liu Song, arrived at the location and joined forces with Tan Kai, bringing the total number of troops on both sides to eight thousand.

"A great achievement is within our grasp, are we really going to let it go?"

"The commander has ordered that we can only move our troops when he arrives."

Tan Kai tentatively asked Liu Song, who, although he often felt that Li Yangchun was a bit autocratic, dared not disobey military orders.

Seeing his reaction, Tan Kai could only suppress his impulse and continue to wait.

Two quarters of an hour passed quickly, and Zhu Wen led his army three miles eastward, less than two miles from Qufu.

Seeing this, Tan Kai could only shout, "Even if we don't send troops to besiege him, we must stop him from escaping into Qufu!"

"This..." Liu Song hesitated for a moment, but then the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from behind. The two turned around and saw that the Han army's infantry were marching rapidly toward them, while Li Yangchun led more than ten riders to catch up first.

"General, should we send troops to intercept this traitor?!"

Upon seeing Li Yangchun arrive, Tan Kai immediately inquired about Li Yangchun's whereabouts.

Li Yangchun, however, did not delay. Upon seeing the situation, he immediately said, "Send three thousand troops to surround Qufu, and then send troops to pacify it."

"If we can capture Zhu Quanzhong, that would be great. Even if we cannot capture him, we will surely force him to retreat into Qufu City."

"At that time, there is no need for a direct attack; we can surround Qufu and trap it here."

"Didn't he previously besiege Shouzhang to ambush reinforcements? If so, our army will follow his example and besiege this point to ambush reinforcements!"

Faced with their doubts, Li Yangchun offered his speculation.

Li Yangchun planned to first surround Qufu City, and then send troops to attack Zhu Wen's two thousand-plus men.

If we can capture Zhu Wen, that would be a great achievement.

Even if that's not possible, they can still besiege Zhu Wen inside the city and use him as bait to ambush reinforcements.

Worried that the two might not understand, Li Yangchun explained again:
"Although our army captured Yanzhou and obtained a lot of grain, tens of thousands of shi of grain were not enough to support our army and laborers to penetrate four or five hundred li into Yizhou, Haizhou and Mizhou to attack and seize territory."

"Our army has little money and supplies. It would be better to lure the Yanzhou Navy from Yizhou, Haizhou, and Mizhou here, defeat them in Yanzhou, and then use a small force to penetrate deep into the three prefectures and persuade them to surrender."

Tan Kai and Liu Song nodded in agreement. Ultimately, Li Yangchun was worried that the battle lines would be stretched too thin and that logistical problems would arise.

In addition, stretching the battle lines too far would lead to the dispersion of troops, and the Yanzhou Navy still has a considerable number of troops in the three provinces.

Rather than fighting deep into enemy territory, it is better to lure the enemy to a suitable place to engage in battle.

Qufu was a target that Li Yangchun had long been eyeing, and Zhu Wen was the bait that would force Zhu Cun to come to his rescue.

After Li Yangchun explained, Tan Kai, Liu Song, and others stopped urging them and immediately divided their forces into three thousand to prepare to surround Qufu.

Zhu Wen, a soldier in the Yanhai Army, saw that the Han army had suddenly dispatched three thousand cavalry and infantrymen and was heading towards Qufu. He immediately guessed Li Yangchun's intentions.

"Damn it, they're planning to trap me here to die!"

Gazing at the Han army in the distance, Zhu Wen gritted his teeth and voiced his conjecture, while Xie Tong nodded with a grim expression, then said:
"My lord, we must not be surrounded. Now that our horses are in good condition, why not break through the encirclement on horseback?"

Xie Tong's plan was to take advantage of the still relatively sufficient horsepower to break through to Yizhou in the east.

Zhu Wen had considered things more comprehensively than he had, so he shook his head and said, "No!"

Xie Tong was taken aback, and Zhu Wen immediately explained, "If I were to break through directly, the government troops would surely pursue me immediately. How would I escape then?"

During the conversation, Zhu Wen looked around at the crowd, then ordered the three armies to stop where they were, and dismounted himself.

He found someone of similar build and then began to remove his armor: "Take off your armor and put on mine!"

Zhu Wen knew that his armor was particularly conspicuous, so he exchanged his armor with that of the ordinary soldiers.

Although his armor had been changed, his robe was too long, so he shortened it a bit before helping the soldiers mount their horses.

After doing all this, he instructed the soldiers: "If the government troops come to attack, just run into the city. If you are unfortunately killed in battle, I will take care of your wife and children."

"Yes..." The soldier was prepared and answered in a trembling voice.

Seeing that he agreed, Zhu Wen nodded and looked at Xie Tong and Zhu Zhen behind him.

“Sir, Zhu Lang, you should all change into armor as well. The three of us will disguise ourselves as soldiers and head to Qufu. At the same time, we will ride our horses eastward to break through the encirclement.”

"Yes!" The two nodded without asking any further questions and then began to remove their armor.

Seeing the two men remove their armor, Zhu Wen glanced one last time in the direction of the Han army, and said through gritted teeth:

"I did not lose to Li Yangchun; I only lost because I lacked troops."

"Once we break through this encirclement, I will definitely avenge this defeat!"

Xie Tong and Zhu Zhen nodded to indicate that they believed his words. Then they saw Zhu Wen wait for the two of them to leave the army and then run towards Qufu City.

From the perspective of Li Yangchun and others, Zhu Wen's formation of more than two thousand troops about a mile away from Qufu was clearly out of concern that he would be attacked by the Han army when he entered the city.

Li Yangchun never imagined that Zhu Wen, as a general, would abandon his army and disguise himself as a soldier to escape the battlefield.

For this reason, his gaze was fixed on "Zhu Wen" in the formation, who was wearing brightly colored armor. At this moment, Zhu Wen and his two companions, disguised as soldiers, also arrived at the foot of Qufu City.

At this moment, those inside Qufu City had already seen their own troops being pursued by the Han army outside the city, but when they saw Zhu Wen arrive, they couldn't help but be startled.

"Marshal?!"

"Don't make a sound, lower the basket!"

Zhu Wen raised his voice to remind everyone, since the distance was far enough that he wasn't afraid Li Yangchun would hear him.

Upon seeing this, the city's defenders immediately ordered the basket to be lowered, treating the entire process as if it were any other ordinary soldiers.

After Zhu Wen was hoisted onto the horse track, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back at the situation outside the city and then breathed a sigh of relief again.

Upon seeing Xie Tong and Zhu Zhen being hoisted onto the horse track, he immediately said to the general, "You shall now lead several hundred soldiers out of the city to meet the main army as they enter the city, and prepare six fine horses."

"Your humble servant obeys!" Seeing Zhu Wen before them, the generals, though afraid to leave the city, had no choice but to accept the order.

As the army marched out of the city, Li Yangchun nodded immediately: "The cavalry and infantry will be able to surround Qufu within a quarter of an hour at the latest. The reason they sent out the garrison troops just now is most likely to send the Qufu troops out of the city to provide reinforcements."

"In that case, let's seize the opportunity and deal them a heavy blow."

For Li Yangchun, the best outcome would be to directly defeat and capture Zhu Wen, and then seize Qufu.

The second option was for Zhu Wen to flee to Qufu, where Zhu Wen then besieged the city and attacked any reinforcements.

At worst, Zhu Wen would break through the siege and divide his forces to conquer the entire territory of Yanzhou.

The best time for Zhu Wen to break out was undoubtedly before the Han army's cavalry and infantry caught up.

He is still in the formation, which means his plan is sound.

Thinking of this, Li Yangchun continued to look at "Zhu Wen" in the distant Yanhai naval formation, but the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong.

Logically, since they were currently encamped, Zhu Wen should have dismounted to rest and recover his strength.

But now he sits motionless on the horse like a wooden statue.

“Something’s not right. Order the army to advance two hundred paces, then dismount and break through the enemy lines.”

Li Yangchun decisively gave the order, and Tan Kai and others immediately urged their horses forward. At this moment, the Yanhai Army, which was originally in formation, saw them launch an attack and retreated towards Qufu.

Seeing that the Yanzhou Navy's formation had been so easily broken, Li Yangchun naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass.

"No need to dismount, charge straight at this thief!"

Whoever captures Zhu Quanzhong alive will be promoted three ranks!

"kill--"

In an instant, Li Yangchun no longer hesitated. The two sides were close enough that even if they could not capture Zhu Wen alive, they could keep him in Qufu.

"Retreat back into the city! Retreat!"

In the Yanhai Army, the officers left behind by Zhu Wen began to direct the troops to retreat into the city, while he personally led the horse of the man impersonating Zhu Wen, instructing him to hold the saddle firmly, and hurriedly headed towards the city gate.

Military horses are not slow, especially in short-distance bursts of speed, which far surpass those of mounted horses.

Li Yangchun, who had almost surrounded the Yanzhou navy, saw Zhu Wen break through the encirclement under the protection of his officers and head straight for the city gate.

Seeing that the banner and the commander-in-chief had fled, the remaining Yanzhou navy naturally panicked. Some of them had seen Zhu Wen and his soldiers changing their armor, so they were already prepared.

As the officers dragged the man away from the encirclement, they decisively cut the leather straps connecting their armor and began to run wildly.

The fact that the Yanzhou Navy collapsed at the first sign of trouble was something Li Yangchun had not anticipated.

He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but before he could think about it, he led his cavalry and infantry to surround the fleeing soldiers.

Apart from a few hundred people who followed Zhu Wen into the city, the rest were left outside the city by him.

"Surrender without killing!"

Li Yangchun led his troops to surround the defeated soldiers, who offered almost no resistance and surrendered to him directly.

At this moment, one of the surrendered soldiers suddenly shouted, "I know news of Commander Zhu! It's not Commander Zhu who fled into the city!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yangchun's expression changed, and he quickly raised his riding whip: "Bring that man out!"

Before long, someone brought the man out. He looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, with seven parts fear and three parts greed on his face.

"I know that when Commander Zhu ordered the army to garrison last time, he suddenly changed his armor with someone else and then disappeared. The one who escaped into the city was Wang Sanlang, who was with a certain group, not Commander Zhu."

"Damn it!!" Upon hearing that Zhu Wen had actually pretended to be a soldier and fled, Li Yangchun immediately thought of the three soldiers from the pond earlier.

He was certain that one of the three soldiers was Zhu Wen.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Liu Song and urged, "Send cavalry and infantry to search eastward. If we fail to stop him, he will surely flee to Yizhou!"

"Your subordinate obeys!" Liu Song dared not delay and immediately led his troops in pursuit.

Seeing him leave, before Li Yangchun could think further, the soldier who had reported Zhu Wen's whereabouts tentatively asked, "Commander, could you spare my life?"

"What's your name?" Li Yangchun turned to look at him. Although he didn't like this group of people, this person had provided important information and he should repay him.

"My name is Han Qing, and I am originally from Yucheng, Songzhou."

Han Qing quickly introduced himself, and Li Yangchun nodded after hearing this: "Since I said that surrender would spare you from death, you will naturally not die. However, your hands are stained with the blood of my Han soldiers. You may be spared the death penalty, but you will not escape punishment."

"Your destination is still undecided, but you will certainly be exiled to another place and will not be able to return to your hometown for several years."

He said this to all the surrendered soldiers from Yanhai, to prevent them from thinking he would order their deaths and rebelling.

After explaining, Li Yangchun looked at Han Qing and said, "You do not need to be exiled elsewhere. You can return to your hometown after the war. I will personally write to the local magistrate and reward you with a hundred acres of fertile land, so that you will be rich and worry-free."

"Thank you for your great kindness, General!"

Upon learning that Li Yangchun had rewarded him with a hundred acres of fertile land, Han Qing immediately knelt down and kowtowed.

Most of the fertile land is paddy field. Even in this chaotic world, no matter how high the soldiers' pay is, it would still take several years of not eating or drinking to buy a hundred acres of paddy field.

"Beep--"

Suddenly, a whistle blew from the south of Qufu. Li Yangchun looked over and saw a fast horse galloping towards them.

Before they could even get close, the fast horseman hurriedly shouted, "General, Zhu Quanzhong has broken out of the city from the east with two horses, and Commandant Liu has already led his troops in pursuit!"

Upon learning that Zhu Wen had indeed successfully broken through the encirclement, Li Yangchun gripped the reins tightly, while his generals on either side were even more unwilling to accept it.

Even though they knew it would be difficult to capture Zhu Wen, the fact that he escaped in such a way still made them grit their teeth.

If it weren't for Han Qing's information, they probably would have thought Zhu Wen had escaped into the city and was preparing to besiege it and attack any reinforcements.

"Chase!"

Without a word, Li Yangchun turned his horse around and chased after them eastward, gradually disappearing into the distance...

While he was relentlessly pursuing the fleeing Zhu Wen, Wang Jingchong in Chengde Town to the north finally received the so-called gifts sent by Zhu Wen.

"Damn it, what are you doing bringing all this stuff? Do you think I'm lacking armor?"

Inside Pingji City in Zhao Prefecture, the disgruntled Wang Jingchong stood in front of the government office, looking at the officers sent by Zhu Wen and then disdainfully glancing at the dozen or so carts of armor, his expression not very pleasant.

Seeing this, Song Wentong, whom he had previously recruited, stepped forward and whispered in his ear, "General, these armors seem to belong to Liu Jilong's soldiers..."

"Hmm?" Wang Jingchong became interested upon hearing this, after all, he had originally planned to take advantage of the conflict between Liu Jilong and Li Keyong to seize Yiwu Town.

As a result, he couldn't defeat Li Keyong. After Li Keyong was finally defeated by An Pohu, An Pohu sent Wang Chongrong to intervene in Yiwu.

In the end, he lost thousands of soldiers and could only replenish his strength by annexing less than three thousand troops in Dingzhou under Hou Gu's control. He did not gain much population, let alone land.

It would be impossible for him not to hate Liu Jilong, but he also knew that the government troops were not to be trifled with if they could defeat Li Keyong.

Wang Jingchong was surprised that Zhu Wen was able to persuade Han Junxiong to lead his army to support him, but he was now losing the support of the town because of his failed attack on Yiwu.

Under these circumstances, he would naturally be unwilling to rebel against Liu Jilong.

Despite feeling somewhat vindicated by the armor Zhu Wen sent him, Zhu Wen still did not intend to raise an army.

"This is my husband's handwritten letter and memorial. Please take a close look."

The captains of the Yanzhou Navy dared not say anything, but simply handed over the letter and memorial as Zhu Wen had instructed.

In front of many of his generals, Wang Jingchong accepted the handwritten letter and memorial. He quickly skimmed through the memorial, but the handwritten letter made him frown deeply.

To deal with Chengde, Zhu Wen chose the same rhetoric as when he persuaded Weibo. Although the approach was the same, it was still effective.

Chengde is not like Weibo. The succession of the Chengde Jiedushi (military governor) is relatively stable, and the Wang family has been in Chengde for nearly a hundred years.

Although the throne was usurped midway, the overall situation remained quite stable.

Who would want to live a life of subservience and have to be subservient to others if they could be a local tyrant in Chengde?

"These three towns have governed Hebei for nearly a century; how could Liu Jilong possibly pacify them simply by wishing to?"

Wang Jingchong's words immediately drew the attention of the Chengde army officers who had been chatting and laughing.

Feeling their gazes, Wang Jingchong couldn't help but say, "Let him settle scores with your military commander first before he talks big about dealing with my three towns!"

After he finished speaking, he turned around angrily and walked into the yamen. After Song Wentong followed him into the yamen, many of his bodyguards also followed him in.

Among them, Li Honggui and Liang Gongru can be considered Wang Jingchong's generals, hence they served as commanders and military officers.

All eight generals entered the yamen and sat down. Then Wang Jingchong handed out Zhu Wen's letter, which was passed around among the generals.

Everyone was horrified upon seeing this and couldn't help but curse, "You bastard!"

Despite their criticism, they knew that Zhu Wen was telling the truth.

Anyone who pays even a little attention to the current affairs, even if they can only learn about it from merchants, knows what Liu Jilong's attitude is towards the regional military governors.

Wealth and status can be given, but power is impossible. Moreover, those who hold positions such as governor, military commander, chief of the army, or general might be able to hold honorary titles, but those who are lower-ranking, such as colonel, captain, or guards, will receive almost no benefits.

The idea that it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond is common among most people, while a few might even dream of becoming a phoenix themselves.

Although Zhu Wen was acting in his own self-interest, what he said was indeed correct.

Given Liu Jilong's methods of denying his generals power and soldiers any means of survival, even if a general were willing to surrender, his soldiers would incite him to rebel.

Such is the general atmosphere in Hebei; even in Chengde Town, which has a relatively peaceful history, it is not so easy to provoke.

"If Liu Jilong doesn't give his subordinates a way to survive, then his subordinates will certainly not give us a way to survive."

"Either fight him, or wait for him to send troops to deal with Zhu San and Wei Bo."

News of Weibo's military expedition had already spread, and Chengde Town hadn't even figured out the situation before receiving a memorial from Weibo denouncing Liu Jilong.

"Wei Bo is not so easy to deal with."

"Damn it, since the Tian family, when has Wei Bo ever been of any use?"

"This Zhu San is nothing but a chicken and a dog. What will we do after Liu Jilong wipes them out?"

"Should we send troops?"

"Whether or not to send troops is a matter for you and me to discuss."

Wang Jingchong noticed that his usually arrogant and domineering generals were now silent, clearly trying to shift the blame for the military action onto him or the other three prefectures' military governors.

Wang Jingchong was well aware of Chengde Town's strength.

Chengde was once famous for his elite cavalry, but after the death of his ancestor Wang Wujun, he was restricted from obtaining good horses due to the need to purchase them from Daibei and Youzhou. As a result, the strength of his elite cavalry continued to decline.

Although the town now has 5,000 elite cavalry and 40,000 garrison troops, they are no longer as valiant as they were during Wang Wujun's time.

If he were to join the fight against Liu Jilong, Wang Jingchong worried that he would be outmatched and might even lose his wealth and status.

"General, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it."

Suddenly, Song Wentong spoke to Wang Wujun, and Wang Jingchong looked at him and asked, "What is it?"

Wang Jingchong relied heavily on Song Wentong, and therefore valued Song Wentong's opinions highly.

In response, Song Wentong bowed respectfully and said, "This humble general is young and should not speak like this, but the reason why the Prince of Langya was able to build Chengde into a powerful state and even threaten the court to admit its mistakes was all because of four words..."

The Langya King mentioned by Song Wentong was Wang Wujun, and Wang Jingchong also greatly respected his great-grandfather.

He gestured for Song Wentong to speak, and Song Wentong slowly said, "The reason why the Prince of Langya was able to rebuild Chengde and make it strong again is mainly due to the principle of 'destroying the strong and supporting the weak'."

"At present, Liu Jilong is powerful while the other towns are weak. If the commander is willing to surrender to Liu Jilong, I will naturally not say anything. But if the commander does not want to, now is the best time."

"As long as the commander responds to the orders of the Wei Bo and Yan Hai towns, Liu Jilong will be in a real bind."

"If Gao Pian in the south wants to achieve something, he will certainly not let this opportunity pass him by!"

What Song Wentong said was true, but Wang Jingchong was still hesitant. After all, if he couldn't deal with Liu Jilong, he would definitely be the one in trouble.

Although the atmosphere in Chengde Town was better than in Weibo, when things really got tough, the military governor was still the scapegoat.

"This matter requires further discussion with the three governors..."

Wang Jingchong hesitated, but Song Wentong was moved.

Once Wang Jingchong opens his mouth to discuss it, rebelling against Liu will be a foregone conclusion.

Liu Jilong's policy of denying the warlords' soldiers any way out meant that few of their troops would be willing to surrender.

Even if the military governor is willing, he still has to see if his subordinates agree...

(End of this chapter)