Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 491 The Battle of Ye City (A long chapter of 10,000 words)
"Damn it, give me this woman! I want her!"

"Whoever offers the most money gets to keep it!"

"We are not military prostitutes! We are not military prostitutes!!"

"Junye, help us! Help us! We are villagers from nearby villages!"

"Damn it, I want this one, it has a big butt!"

As dusk fell, hundreds of tents appeared at the south gate of the camp north of Ye County. In the open space between the tents, nearly a thousand soldiers were surrounding hundreds of women, spewing vulgarities.

Despite their foul language, these farm women, whose hands and feet were bound with straw ropes, tried their best to prove that they were not military prostitutes.

Despite their constant pleas for help and their struggles that left them disheveled and covered in mud, they could not win the assistance of the onlookers. Instead, they were chosen by the soldiers for their fierce struggles and were about to be taken to the military camp to serve countless people.

Having lived in Zhaoyi and Weibo for so long, how could they not know what kind of people they were dealing with?

With the hope of survival right in front of them, even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance, they were unwilling to give up.

Unfortunately, the final result was still despairing. Hundreds of women were bought by groups of thousands of soldiers, dragged away by force, leaving countless traces on the road.

They were dragged into the camp, and soon the sounds of tearing clothes, pleas, and curses filled the air.

Since it was in Weibo's territory, the brokers didn't dare to go too far, as these kidnapped women basically had no background.

Even though she wasn't pretty, she was still seen as an object of venting by the soldiers.

When these sounds rang out, countless soldiers who were still eating went to watch, while many soldiers who had finished their business simply started charging fees at the entrance of the tent.

With just a few dozen coins, one can easily vent their frustrations.

This amount of money is nothing, not to mention the soldiers, even the state soldiers.

As the sun completely set, soldiers came and went in a steady stream to and fro from these tents, making the entire camp look more like a brothel than a military camp.

Faced with this chaotic situation, Han Junxiong, Li Honggui, and others chose to turn a blind eye.

The farce lasted from nightfall until midnight before the soldiers gradually calmed down. Although some soft, seductive sounds could still be heard, they were so faint as to be barely perceptible.

As time went by, and the sky was darkening before dawn, an undercurrent seemed to be flowing towards the allied camp from the west side of the night.

More than ten miles away from the camp, thousands of cavalrymen in lamellar armor stood in the darkness, each with a wooden bit in their mouth and their horses' hooves covered with wild grass and coarse cloth. Many of them carried gunpowder packs weighing dozens of kilograms on their backs.

"Your Highness, it is now the fourth quarter of the hour of Yin (3:45 AM), and the rebel cavalry patrol area is three miles ahead."

Under the cover of night, even Liu Jilong couldn't see the expression on the person in front of him, but all he needed to know was that it was the fourth quarter of the Yin hour.

According to his instructions to Anpohu, Anpohu should have already dispatched his troops half an hour ago.

According to Han military tradition, infantry raids were usually led by cavalry, with the infantry fully armored and riding in oxcarts or horse-drawn carts.

Once the cavalry and infantry spotted the enemy sentries, they began to drive them away. When the enemy appeared, the cavalry and infantry relayed the message, and the infantry dismounted, formed ranks, and charged forward.

This was the only way to minimize physical exertion, but only the Han army with ample animal power and the Han and Tang armies at their peak could do this.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong reached out to feel the wind direction, which was becoming more stable, and nodded, saying, "Light the fire, and follow me to launch a surprise attack on Ye County!"

As soon as he issued his order, in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, five thousand men, in groups, lit torches and shook their horse reins.

The force of five thousand elite cavalry was so great that even gags and hooves could not conceal it.

Amidst the thunderous sound of hooves, the Han army was advancing rapidly toward Ye County.

"Beep--"

Sure enough, shortly after they broke through and entered the area within ten miles of Ye County, piercing whistles sounded all around them.

The whistles were relayed layer by layer, but the Han army remained unaffected, continuing their advance with unwavering focus.

"Beep--"

Before half a cup of tea could be brewed, the piercing sound of wooden whistles rang out from inside the camp.

"Enemy attack!!"

"Dang Dang Dang..."

The sounds of wooden whistles and gongs rang out continuously, abruptly waking the soldiers of the three-town allied forces from their sleep, who looked around in terror.

They went from being dazed to clear-headed, and as the sounds of "enemy attack" continued to ring in their ears, they quickly began to help each other put on their armor.

Compared to them, the more than 50,000 laborers in the camp appeared panicked and instinctively rushed out of their tents, dozens of them running towards the camp gate.

"what happened?!"

Li Honggui lifted the tent flap, his face filled with fear as he looked at the generals who were rushing towards him outside.

Upon seeing this, the officers quickly bowed and said, "We're hearing the enemy's wooden whistles coming from the west!"

"First, send men to keep an eye on the laborers and prevent them from storming the military camp!"

Li Honggui didn't have time to think about why enemy troops had appeared in the west. He could only arrange for night watchmen to suppress the running civilians to prevent a riot.

Shortly after he made the arrangements, the piercing whistle sounded again, but it was not audible in the noisy camp.

From the whistle signaling an enemy attack in the west, less than a quarter of an hour later, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves began to fill the ears of countless people.

Under the cover of night, the sentries standing in the arrow tower on the west side of the camp could clearly see countless lights rushing along the official road at a very fast speed.

"Beep--"

Hundreds of sentries could only keep blowing their wooden whistles, while the military camp remained in chaos.

It had only been a little over half an hour since the whistle blew. For the allied soldiers who had been playing with women the night before, they were only now barely able to put on their robes and armor, while the Han army would not give them any more time to put on their armor.

"Beep--"

The piercing whistle sounded again, but this time it was not the allied forces' whistle, but the Han army's.

The five thousand elite cavalry seemed to have been trained in advance. The vanguard of more than a hundred cavalry charged towards the camp wall from different directions. If they found trenches, they threw torches into the trenches, and the firelight illuminated the trenches to alert those behind.

If a horse stumbles and falls into the trench, it can only wait for other soldiers to rescue it.

That being said, creating a camp for 100,000 soldiers and civilians to rest was no easy task, not to mention that Liu Jilong only gave Li Honggui less than a day and a half.

After breaking through the layers of trenches outside the camp, the elite Han cavalry split into two groups. They began to throw out a small number of torches around the camp, and then took out the fire arrows they had prepared beforehand, lit them, and shot them out with powerful bows.

In an instant, a rain of fire fell upon the camp, and countless tents and haystacks were hit and burst into flames.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Extinguishing!"

"The well! Go to the well and fetch water!"

Li Honggui finally managed to suppress the rioting laborers by sending troops, but then a barrage of rockets struck, causing the laborers to stir up trouble again.

However, this time it wasn't just civilian laborers; many soldiers from the three towns also began fleeing to open spaces under the firelight.

Many soldiers hastily donned their breastplates and began to flee; some even ran towards the open area within the camp without wearing armor, only their robes and boots.

"Organize the troops, march out of the east gate to form ranks, and repel the invading enemy!"

Li Honggui kept issuing orders, and his generals hurriedly ran around doing so.

Amidst the chaos of battle, Han Junxiong found Li Honggui and immediately questioned him, "Wasn't it said that the Han army was already surrounded at Heshan? Why are enemy troops appearing on our western flank?!"

"How could I know!" Li Honggui felt a splitting headache, his mind was in a daze, and his legs were weak from the "hard work" of the previous night.

As soon as he spoke, he regretted it and could only quickly try to make amends: "The most urgent task right now is to take advantage of the fact that the fire has not yet spread and go out of the camp through the east gate to form a battle formation!"

Han Junxiong was humiliated and his face was not very good, but he also knew that if he did not make amends now, the nearly 60,000 troops in the camp would definitely suffer heavy casualties.

"Withdraw! Retreat through Dongyingmen!"

He turned and ordered his generals to lead the troops to retreat from the east gate. However, as they moved toward the east gate, they discovered that the "fire rain" in the sky was also moving toward the east gate.

"Damn it, it's a cavalry rocket!"

Only then did Li Honggui realize that the invading enemy was cavalry. He quickly arranged for his army to break through to the south gate based on the direction of the fire rain.

Thousands of people were putting out the fire while moving towards the south gate. However, before they could get close to the south gate, their minds suddenly went blank. Then they saw a cloud of dust, tens of feet high, suddenly rise from the direction of the south gate under the firelight.

"Boom!!"

The shockwave, carrying dust, swept outwards, causing the flames burning everywhere to suddenly veer off course, but they quickly reignited and burned even more fiercely as the shockwave subsided.

"Um..."

"Put out the fire! Help!"

This was the first time Li Honggui had experienced the power of the Han army's gunpowder packs up close. He had been relatively calm, but after feeling the power of the gunpowder packs, his face turned pale.

"Is this some kind of magic used by the government troops?"

He looked at Han Junxiong beside him in fear, Han Junxiong's face was also deathly pale: "I'm afraid it's..."

"Damn it, forget about all that, let's keep breaking through to the south gate!"

Seeing that the fire inside the camp was growing larger and larger and gradually becoming uncontrollable, Li Honggui had no choice but to lead his troops to break through to the south gate.

The closer they got to the south gate, the more terrified they became, because the scene they saw became increasingly horrific as they approached it.

The original camp gate had vanished, along with the camp wall that was several meters wide, leaving only a long, narrow pit about a foot deep and several meters wide.

There were many severed limbs around the camp gate, while faint flames could be seen outside the camp.

"Buzzing, rumbling..."

The sound of horses' hooves grew closer, and Li Honggui and Han Junxiong's expressions changed drastically. They shouted in unison, "Form ranks!!"

"kill!!"

In the hazy dust, countless cavalrymen crossed the long, narrow ditch and launched a charge against the allied forces of the three towns who were fleeing to the south gate.

Before the soldiers of the three towns could react, they were shot dead by Han cavalry. Countless Han cavalry rushed into the camp and, as they sped up, opened fire on the panicked soldiers and state troops.

Li Honggui and Han Junxiong retreated immediately. Seeing the large number of Han cavalry, their expressions changed drastically as they led their soldiers to flee towards the north gate.

The allied forces, already in disarray due to the fire, became even more chaotic as the Han army stormed into the camp.

However, the Han army did not linger in battle. As the sound of arrows resembling whistling arrows began to ring out from all around, the Han army, which had been shooting at the allied soldiers in the chaos, began to retreat in an orderly manner to the south gate.

Han Junxiong and Li Hongjue planned to take advantage of the Han army's withdrawal to regroup the soldiers in the camp and prepare to break out through the north gate.

The open north gate and the darkness outside it did not frighten them; instead, they felt safe.

"The three armies must march out of the camp, form a straight line, and defend against the enemy. This is not to be taken lightly!!"

Li Honggui was also in a bit of a mess because of this cavalry that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He hadn't received any information about this cavalry, and it was as if they had just appeared out of thin air and were deliberately targeting him.

If he had known the whereabouts of this cavalry, he certainly wouldn't have allowed his soldiers and local troops to molest women last night, resulting in such a disgraceful situation.

"Beep--"

Under his orders, the allied troops began to surge out of the camp, but no enemy troops were found outside. This relieved the officers, who then began to form a straight line to defend against any potential enemy forces, as instructed by Li Honggui.

The army filed out, and the laborers who tried to rush out were either hacked to death or pushed down and trampled to death on the spot.

Seeing this, the other laborers had no choice but to find their own way out, trying to break through to the east or west gate.

Li Honggui finally managed to squeeze out of the north gate, and when he turned around, he could already see the towering flames inside the camp.

Before he could react, a sudden commotion broke out around him.

"Enemy attack!!"

"Beep--"

Whistle, another whistle...

At this moment, Li Honggui was almost driven mad by the whistle. When he turned around to look at the soldiers around him and followed their directions to the northeast, he saw countless flames slowly advancing from that direction.

"Damn it, what the hell are those soldiers I ordered doing?!"

Li Honggui watched helplessly as his own troops allowed the enemy to rush into his camp without warning. At this moment, besides feeling angry, he also felt a deep sense of fear and despair.

At this moment, the officer in charge of controlling the garrison troops also found Li Honggui, looking disheveled, and hurriedly explained:
"The soldiers spotted the enemy two quarters of an hour ago, but our army was ambushed at the time, and I only managed to find you now!"

"The enemy force numbers no less than 20,000; it's likely that An Pohu led an army in a night raid!"

The belated intelligence from the general made Li Honggui's face extremely ugly. He couldn't help but look at the camp gate behind him, only to see that the two-zhang-wide gate was filled with not only countless burning tents, but also countless disheveled soldiers.

With a population exceeding ten thousand, the area was boundless, and the camp, capable of accommodating one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians, resembled a rough city.

Li Honggui's military orders could only reach the ears of those soldiers who obeyed them, while most soldiers were thinking about how to make a living on their own.

The Han army in the north continued to advance south, and the sky gradually changed from darkness to the hazy light before dawn.

The allied troops poured out of the camp, while the fire inside the camp burned ever brighter.

When An Pohu's troops approached, less than two hundred paces from the allied forces, Li Honggui's face turned ashen, like the sky before a storm, so gloomy it seemed you could wring water out of it.

At this moment, he had less than 30,000, or even fewer, soldiers arrayed around him. Most of them were either missing shoulder guards, helmets, or leg guards and other essential armor.

Besides, the weapons they carried were either daggers or spears; very few people could bring all their weapons with them.

With such troops, Li Honggui had no confidence in facing the Han army, Han Junxiong had no confidence either, let alone Meng Fangli and An Jingsi.

"We're a little late, but not too late."

An Pohu's army stopped two hundred paces north of the allied forces to rest and recover their strength.

Although Zhang Yanhui was also slightly tired at this moment, he was even more shocked by the state of the three towns' allied forces.

The rising smoke and dust from the camp, and the disheveled appearance of the three towns' allied forces, all indicated that they had been ambushed and were in a very bad state.

The only person who could have tricked them like this was Liu Jilong, who ordered An Pohu and his men to come.

"Buzzing, rumbling..."

Sure enough, when Zhang Yanhui heard the sound of horses' hooves, more than a hundred elite Han cavalrymen were galloping toward them from afar.

An Pohu waved his command flag, letting his elite cavalry come before him. The captain leading the cavalry bowed and said, "Commander An, His Highness has ordered you to defeat the enemy."

"Your humble servant obeys!" An Pohu respectfully bowed and replied, then asked, "Where is Your Highness now?"

"His Highness is leading elite cavalry in pursuit of the fleeing allied troops, and His Highness has said..."

The captain paused here, then lowered his voice and said, "In this battle, take no prisoners."

The voice was kept extremely low, and only An Pohu and Zhang Yanhui could hear it.

Upon hearing this, the two men felt their breath catch in their throats for a moment; they had indeed never seen such a military order from their prince.

Even when facing the Tibetans who regarded the Han people as slaves in the Hexi Corridor, Liu Jilong tried his best to accept their surrender. However, when facing the allied forces of these three towns, he showed such a ruthless side.

Fortunately, it only took a moment for An Pohu and Zhang Yanhui to guess their prince's thoughts.

The soldiers and generals of the various towns in Hebei have always been arrogant, especially the soldiers of Weibo, who are incompetent in external warfare but adept at internal strife.

The best way to deal with this group of people is naturally to eliminate them completely, a principle that both of them understood.

If the issue can be resolved on the battlefield, it will be better for both the Han army and Liu Jilong's reputation.

Even so, Zhang Yanhui's face still showed a hint of reluctance.

For Zhang Yanhui, who grew up in an environment where "Han people were few and Hu people were many," these tens of thousands of soldiers were a valuable resource.

However, he also knew that wherever these people were sent, their influence would spread with them, and their destructive power would be far greater than that of tens of thousands of barbarian soldiers.

"Enter!"

Unlike Zhang Yanhui, An Pohu was not hesitant or reluctant. Apart from his initial surprise, he simply obeyed orders.

Faced with Liu Jilong's edict, he decisively drew his command flag and waved it down, and the flag soldiers behind him also waved their command flags.

In an instant, the eight thousand Han soldiers, who were the vanguard, began to form ranks and press towards the rebel army, while An Pohu also looked at Zhang Yanhui.

"Zhang Langzhong, you shall lead two hundred brothers to the rear army to pick up the brothers who have fallen behind."

"Yes!" Zhang Yanhui obeyed the order without hesitation. Infantry advances are not the same as cavalry advances. Even in short-distance advances, many soldiers will fall behind.

The Han army started with 30,000 troops, but now at least two or three thousand have fallen behind. These people need to be sent to pick them up, otherwise they will fall into the ambush of the allied forces' outer flank troops, and the losses will be huge.

Zhang Yanhui turned his horse around and led two hundred cavalry and infantry to the rear to support the Han soldiers who had been separated from their own forces, while An Pohu watched as his eight thousand troops pressed towards the rebel army, which outnumbered them several times over.

Meanwhile, while An Pohu was observing the situation, Li Honggui reorganized the military equipment in the army and sent people to try to extinguish the fire near the north gate and salvage the equipment.

Of the more than 20,000 men, less than 7,000 were fully equipped, and Li Honggui could only use them as the vanguard and the base of the army to resist the Han army.

The remaining nearly 20,000 troops could only use short weapons as surprise attacks and leap to defend against the enemy.

"put!"

As the distance closed, the Han army began to suppress the rebels with crossbow bolts after entering within a hundred paces, and with bows and arrows after entering within fifty paces.

The rebels then collected the arrows and launched a counterattack.

This probing attack was nothing to the Han army, but for the rebels, whose armor was "missing arms and legs," their unprotected arms and legs were extremely vulnerable to arrows. This probing and disruptive attack had already inflicted considerable casualties on the rebels, while the real offensive only broke out when the Han army was less than fifteen paces away from the rebels.

"Beep--"

As the wooden whistle sounded, the Han soldiers, acting as leaping soldiers, began to charge at the rebel army with powerful bows and armor-piercing arrows.

In an instant, countless rebel soldiers who served as the base of the formation fell to their faces with heavy arrows, while the rebel soldiers behind them quickly took their place.

"Beware of enemy area fire!"

The Han army's tactic of firing at the front prompted Meng Fangli, who was commanding the vanguard, to quickly remind them. At this moment, after three rounds of frontal assaults, the Han army was using their infantry to collide with the rebel army's infantry.

Two military formations, spanning hundreds of paces horizontally, clashed. Spear against spear, the two sides were locked in a fierce struggle, a battle of attrition where one would defeat the other.

The Han army was far more organized than the rebel army, and faced with this tactic of trading blows for casualties, the rebel army in the three towns gradually showed its fear.

"Hold on! Anyone who retreats will be executed!!"

Meng Fangli and An Jingsi continuously led the stationed soldiers to supervise the battle, and any soldiers who stopped advancing were dealt with on the spot.

"Uh-huh!"

"Help me..."

"Where are the swingmen? Shoot their sharpshooters!"

"You bunch of scoundrels, charge!"

The Han army pressed down in silence, and apart from the wounded who couldn't help but make a sound, the rest of the Han infantry endured the fierce attack.

The rebel vanguard was forced back thirty paces and continued to be pushed back by the Han army, leaving them only able to vent their emotions by shouting and cursing.

All the fallen rebels received no aid, and the Han army had already received orders from the rear that no prisoners would be taken in this battle.

Faced with these fallen rebels, the Han army's leaping warriors used golden maces and axes to take their lives directly.

The rebels were already demoralized by the surprise attack, and now, seeing the Han army pressing forward, their psychological defenses were gradually broken down.

"The central and rear armies will attack the left and right flanks of the rebel army respectively!"

Anpohu noticed the change in the rebels' situation and decisively divided his forces to launch a strong attack on the rebels from three directions.

The nearly 20,000 troops in the central and rear armies began to split into two, pressing towards the left and right flanks of the rebel army respectively.

"Damn it, how are we supposed to fight this?!"

Han Junxiong couldn't help but curse, and Li Honggui's face turned ashen. Little did he know that the Han army's previous "weakness" was all an act.

They thought they were dealing with sheep, but now they've discovered that the enemy is a jackal.

"Hold on! The rear guard will put out the fire, we'll retreat back to Ye County through the south gate!"

"We can't retreat!"

Before Li Honggui could finish speaking, his subordinate couldn't help but say, "The Han army's elite cavalry are blocking our army at the other three camp gates. Under the current circumstances, our army simply cannot break through the Han army's elite cavalry's blockade."

Upon hearing the report, Li Honggui felt a sense of powerlessness rising within him.

The confidence that had previously mocked Liu Jilong for his lack of strategy vanished at this moment, while An Pohu's central and rear armies pressed in from both flanks.

"Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo..."

"Beep--"

War cries and wooden whistles rang out simultaneously, and the Han army on the left and right flanks once again used crossbows to suppress the rebels. For the rebels who were missing limbs, the Han army's arrow suppression was undoubtedly the most effective way to harm them at this moment.

Many soldiers, lacking head armor, had to rely on shields for protection, while many others without shields were struck in the head by arrows and died instantly.

As soon as they fell, people began to fight over their armor, and this chaos was not limited to one place.

"Damn it, tell the troop carriers to hold the line!"

Li Honggui was in a fit of impotence and rage, but how could the majority of the rebel soldiers, armed with short weapons, be a match for the Han army, which was wielding long spears?

Rather than being the foundation of the battle, they were more like cannon fodder sent to their deaths.

"Damn it! That old dog Li Honggui is sending us to our deaths. We're going to die whether we go forward or backward, so we might as well kill those old dogs Li Honggui before we die!"

"Kill them from behind! If we kill Li Honggui, we can still surrender and beg for our lives!"

"Kill Li Honggui!"

In an instant, the rebel soldiers, who had been very weak in the face of the Han army, suddenly seemed to have been injected with chicken blood and rushed backward, completely ignoring the Han army's advancing formation.

Now, all they have left is the chance to surrender and live by exchanging the heads of Li Honggui, Han Junxiong, and others.

This wasn't the first time they'd done this. In the past, when their rebellions failed, hadn't they always managed to appease the court's anger by killing the military governor or the general who led the rebellion?
"You bastards! What are you trying to do?!"

Li Honggui, Han Junxiong, and others sensed something was wrong and immediately shook their reins, trying to break through the encirclement.

However, the soldiers who rushed up from all sides immediately surrounded them, quickly dragged them off their horses, and began to hurl their weapons at them.

"Foolish! If I die, you won't live either!"

"you……"

Before Li Honggui and Han Junxiong could even comfort them, weapons rained down on them. They felt only pain and were beaten to death on the spot without even a scream.

Anpohu only saw the commotion among the rebels. Before he could ask any questions, he saw the rebels lowering their flags.

"Commander, they want a ceasefire."

Seeing that the rebels had given up, the captain beside him took the initiative to speak to An Pohu.

Anpohu was about to agree, but then he remembered his lord's military order and said without changing his expression, "Ignore them, continue the attack, leave no one alive!"

"Yes!" The captain nodded quickly, but the Han army at the front line, having received no orders, continued to launch fierce attacks on the rebels.

"Damn it! Even Father has given up, why are they still going to launch an attack!"

"They're not going to give us a way out. Fight our way out, break through the encirclement and fight our way out!"

The soldiers, who had thought that killing Li Honggui and Han Junxiong would save their lives, realized that the Han army had no intention of stopping, and they immediately realized what was going on.

The Han army clearly had no intention of letting them live; their only way out was to break out of the encirclement.

However, without the command of Li Honggui and Han Junxiong, the remaining military commanders and generals were unable to form a united front.

The Han army pressed forward relentlessly, and these garrison soldiers, who had displayed their ferocity on women's bellies just last night, were now being slaughtered like lambs by the Han army.

Even though the fire behind them was raging, it couldn't warm them at all; they felt as if they were frozen solid.

"kill!!"

Surrounded by the Han army from three sides, they could only be forced back continuously, and in the end, they were squeezed together by the Han army.

"Beep--"

As the whistle blew, powerful bows and crossbows continued to rain down into the enemy lines, and more and more men were killed by arrows.

The Han army's gun emplacements pressed forward relentlessly, and many soldiers, desperate to survive, had no choice but to abandon their armor and flee into the camp, attempting to break out through other gates as quickly as possible.

More and more corpses lay outside the north gate of the camp. The blood of these fallen rebels pooled into small puddles, and the air was filled with an indescribable smell of rust and stench.

Even the most steadfast Han soldiers couldn't help but feel disoriented as they watched more than 20,000 rebels being slaughtered.

This can no longer be called a war; it is a one-sided massacre...

"Crackling"

From dawn to noon, when the fires in the camp burned out, the entire battlefield north of Ye County was littered with corpses.

The nearly 60,000-strong allied army of the three towns fell like wheat after autumn. Apart from a few hundred or a thousand soldiers from the outer perimeter who escaped during the battle, no other rebels escaped.

Of the 50,000 laborers conscripted by the rebels, nearly half died in the chaos of the camp. The remaining 20,000 were surrendered by Liu Jilong and put in charge of cleaning up the battlefield.

Upon seeing that the 60,000-strong allied army had been completely annihilated, the garrison commander of Ye County immediately opened the city gates and surrendered, his previous arrogance completely gone.

An Pohu and Zhang Yanhui rode their horses to the south gate of the camp, where they saw Liu Jilong sitting on the saddle, his body and face covered in dust.

"Your Highness!"

The two men dismounted and approached Liu Jilong, bowing respectfully.

"How is it?"

Liu Jilong took a sip of water and asked as if nothing had happened.

An Pohu nodded upon seeing this: "The rebels have been completely annihilated, and the laborers have already been ordered to begin cleaning up the battlefield."

"The rebels' money and supplies were all burned in the camp. The money can be reminted, but the food cannot be saved."

"Hmm!" Liu Jilong nodded to indicate that he understood, and then looked at Zhang Yanhui, who was looking around.

On the battlefield at the South Gate, nearly ten thousand corpses lay strewn about, most of them killed by face-mounted arrows, while a few were killed by heavy blows from long weapons.

This scene also occurred at the East Gate and West Gate, but the most serious situation was at the North Gate.

"What, do you think I'm a bit cruel?"

Liu Jilong asked Zhang Yanhui, who immediately bowed and said, "I did not think that way. If these arrogant and fierce soldiers from Hebei are not eliminated, they will surely harm the region in the future."

"Your Highness's actions are also for the sake of Hebei, and for the sake of the world!"

That's the logic, but witnessing so many people being slaughtered firsthand still left Zhang Yanhui with a lingering unease.

In this situation, it's normal to get a knot in your stomach, so Liu Jilong didn't take it to heart.

"The army will rest for one night. Tomorrow, An Pohu, you will lead the army south to relieve Zhao Ying's siege. If you can keep Le Yanzhen here, that would be even better!"

In the Battle of Yecheng, although Liu Jilong annihilated seven or eight tenths of the field forces of the three towns of Weibo, Chengde and Zhaoyi, two or three tenths of their elite troops were still stationed within the territory.

These troops had difficulty leaving the city and could only defend themselves within the city. What Liu Jilong needed to do was to eliminate them one by one after this battle.

Prior to this, there was another army in Hebei that possessed the strength to rival the Han army.

"Are there any military secrets in Youzhou?"

Liu Jilong stood up and asked the two men. Upon seeing this, An Pohu quickly bowed and said, "Five days ago, Zhang Gongsu gathered 15,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry to launch a strong attack on Ji County."

"Furthermore, according to the military intelligence of Governor Husi, all the towns in Lulong are recruiting soldiers."

An Pohu explained the situation in the north. Liu Jilong showed no surprise after hearing it, but calmly said, "Send a fast horse to Cangzhou and have Wang Jian prepare enough horse feed and grain. I will be heading north soon."

As he finished speaking, he looked at An Pohu and said, "You will lead your troops from Xiangzhou and Weizhou eastward to take out the towns of Weibo. If the cannons arrive, Zhao Ying will tell you how to use them."

“Yes!” An Pohu replied first, and then continued, “Your Highness, the three towns in Hebei have already suffered heavy losses, and Zhang Gongsu is left alone. He will surely be unable to hold on alone.”

"In my humble opinion, there is no need for Your Highness to personally deal with Zhang Gongsu. We will surely be able to recover Hebei before the autumn harvest."

An Pohu wasn't thinking of taking credit; he just felt that his prince was invaluable and it would be bad if he encountered something bad on the battlefield.

"Now that I have emerged, how can I not complete the mission?"

Liu Jilong forced a smile onto his tired face and reached out to pat the dust off An Pohu's shoulder: "Don't worry."

After calming him down, he continued, "I'll leave the cleanup to you. I'm going to rest now."

"Yes!" An Pohu bowed immediately upon hearing this, and then Liu Jilong went to the tent that had just been set up not far away.

After he went to rest, An Pohu and Zhang Yanhui worked from noon until dusk to clean up the seven or eight corpses on the battlefield.

Since there was not enough firewood, the bodies were buried, while the captured armor was stored in a warehouse in Ye County.

The following morning, Liu Jilong left over a thousand wounded soldiers to rest in Ye County, and mustered three thousand unharmed cavalry to head north to Cangzhou.

Meanwhile, news of Liu Jilong's complete annihilation of the three-town coalition in Ye County also spread as the coalition troops fled.

This news undoubtedly set off an uproar throughout the entire Hebei region.

Upon receiving the news, Le Yanzhen immediately retreated to Weizhou, while Li Gongquan chose to detour through Weizhou and retreat back into Chengde territory.

Compared to Weibo and Chengde, which at least had troops that could be withdrawn, Zhaoyi suffered a complete annihilation.

"Snapped……"

Inside the Xingzhou government office, Lu Kuang stared blankly at the sweating general before him and couldn't help but ask, "What did you say?"

He doubted he had heard correctly. After all, the allied forces had only crossed the Zhangshui River less than five days ago. How could they have been completely wiped out?

"General, Liu Jilong has defeated the allied forces at Ye County, and the entire army has been annihilated!"

It was still late spring, but he was covered in sweat and asked urgently, "General, what should we do now?"

"The town's elite force consisted of those eight thousand soldiers. Now that all eight thousand soldiers are gone, the remaining soldiers don't even have armor. It's likely that defending the city will be a problem."

"General..."

Ya Jiang said a lot more, but Lu Kuang couldn't listen anymore.

At that moment, his mind was filled with the news of the allied forces' complete annihilation in Ye City. After a long while, he swayed and quickly reached out to support himself.

When he looked up again, he could only take a deep breath in despair: "In the current situation, the unity of the three towns has been destroyed. The only way to save our lives is to surrender."

Lu Kuang understood the immense impact of the annihilation of the allied forces on the three towns. It could be said that from then on, apart from Lulong, which could still fight against the Han army in the field, the other three towns could only defend themselves in their cities.

However, defending the city only delayed their demise. After all, judging from the speed at which An Pohu successively conquered various counties, the Han army's ability to attack fortified cities was even greater than its ability to fight in open battle.

Chengde and Weibo were able to urgently train a group of soldiers based on their previous accumulation, but Zhaoyi, which relied on the imperial court's allocation, had no foundation or accumulation.

After Meng Fangli's eight thousand men were wiped out, Zhaoyi couldn't even defend the city properly, so he might as well take this opportunity to surrender.

"It is impossible for Liu Jilong to conquer all the cities in Hebei. We should take this opportunity to surrender. Even if he is dissatisfied, he will have to set an example for the surrender of the cities in Hebei."

Lu Kuang took out a blank memorial and began writing a memorial of surrender, and then volunteered to go to Chang'an to report on his duties.

He believed that given his act of surrendering first, Liu Jilong wouldn't hold it against him.

Before long, Lu Kuang sent a memorial to Ye County, and he was fully prepared to surrender.

Fortunately, most of Zhao Yi's generals and soldiers died in Ye City with Meng Fangli, otherwise he would not have been able to persuade the remaining troops to surrender so easily.

At the same time he surrendered, the towns of Weibo and Chengde also learned of the disastrous defeat at Yecheng and the annihilation of the allied forces.

Wei Bo appointed Yue Yanzhen as the garrison commander, while Wang Jingchong in Chengde Town broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing the news.

"Sixty thousand people, just like that, gone?"

Inside the Pingji government office, Wang Jingchong listened to the news reported by Song Wentong and could not believe it for a long time.

Upon hearing this, Liang Gongru and Fu Xi exchanged glances, and even looked at Wang Jingchong with relief, saying, "Fortunately, we are not the ones leading the army south in this battle."

Wang Jingchong nodded unconsciously, and even sighed, "Li Honggui is a veteran general, yet he was completely wiped out by Liu Jilong in a situation where he had the upper hand."

"Now that all his trusted generals have died in the south, there are no more voices opposing him in the town."

"I'm afraid not." Song Wentong couldn't help but pour cold water on Wang Jingchong's enthusiasm, bowing as Wang Jingchong looked at him.
"Li Gongquan's 5,000 elite cavalry did not participate in the Battle of Yecheng, and are probably trying to find a way to retreat to Chengde now."

"Of these five thousand elite cavalry, how many can the commander effectively deploy?"

Wang Jingchong's face darkened upon hearing this, while Song Wentong continued, "Furthermore, Liu Jilong defeated our three-town coalition, and now the strength of the three towns has been reduced by seventy or eighty percent. Zhang Gongsu in the north will inevitably be unable to hold out alone."

"When Liu Jilong sends troops to attack, will our army be able to withstand his advance?"

"The situation facing the commander-in-chief is still one of internal and external troubles."

"What should we do?" Wang Jingchong couldn't help but ask, seeing how logically Song Wentong's analysis was.

Upon seeing this, a strange light flashed in Song Wentong's eyes, then he bowed and said:

"Right now, we can send a general to Zhen, Ji and Shen prefectures to take command. Before Li Gongquan returns, we can seize military power in these three prefectures, so that Chengde will belong to Your Highness."

He did not mention surrendering to Liu Jilong because he knew that there were still many soldiers in Chengde Town whose interests were closely tied to Chengde Town.

Given Liu Jilong's attitude towards the military officers of various towns, if Chengde Town surrenders, the military officers will lose their wealth and status.

Wang Jingchong was naturally aware of this, but he didn't consider himself a match for Liu Jilong, so he continued to inquire:

"If Liu Jilong attacks, and I wish to surrender but the army forbids it, what should I do?"

Faced with this question, Song Wentong could only bite the bullet and say, "There is no other way but to talk."

“The wealth and status of the soldiers are all in the town. They have served in the army for generations. Either the court will continue to let them serve in the army with the same pay, or they will only receive rewards.”

Wang Jingchong frowned, clearly knowing that Liu Jilong would never agree.

He pondered the matter repeatedly but could not make up his mind, so in the end he could only make arrangements for the present.

"I will appoint the three of you as governors. Among them, Shenzhou and Jizhou are directly facing the Han army. I will appoint Liang Lang and Song Lang to be stationed in Shenzhou and Jizhou respectively, and Fu Lang to be stationed in Zhenzhou."

Upon seeing Wang Jingchong's statement, the three men quickly bowed to him, saying, "We will never forget the great kindness of the Commander!"

As he bowed and lowered his head, the strange light in Song Wentong's eyes intensified. What he had been waiting for was finally in his hands.

However, to secure this position, he still needs to resolve the issue of Li Gongquan before he can settle down and establish himself in Jizhou.

(End of this chapter)